Chapter Four: The White Ward

Children began coughing. Behind glass, a girl receiving chemotherapy watched him while clutching an unfinished spider made of blocks. His danger sense suddenly offered two paths. Left: dispose of the gas within thirty seconds. Right: an overlooked infant lay deeper in the sealed ward. The seven red beads had never included that child. “It left someone out on purpose.” Lu Chen handed the cylinders to arriving firefighters and turned right. “Come back!” Lin Wan shouted through her respirator. “You've already inhaled it!” He kept moving. His lungs felt packed with broken glass, and each step stole more strength. The backup power to an incubator had been cut. He tore open the sealed door and lifted the infant as his vision went black.