Entry 31: Tessa Cooper

*sniffles*

Tessa Cooper:  "My brother was an idiot, but he was just trying to keep me safe.  We didn't have any more food.  And besides that..."

Steven Bryce:  "We know that now and we're sorry for your loss."

Tessa:  "Loss?  Loss?!  You bastards don't get it.  I lost him days ago.  He just didn't let that stop him."

Steven:  "Tessa, if we hadn't...  If you two and our group hadn't met, his infections could possibly have been treated if you found the right medicine for him.  I don't know what that would be, Jane would, but, we're trying to"

Tessa:  "He was bitten!  Twelve days ago."

Jane:  "Tessa, that's impossible.  The incubation period is only sixty hours at most.  He was infected and dying, but not with the zombification virus."

Tessa:  "He told me.  He showed me.  He took that stuff that made him get angry at everything in the world but me.  I told him to just say hi when we saw you guys.  To get you guys to help him get better."

Richard:  "Is that even possible?"

Jane:  "I...  I don't know.  There was so much damage to his arm it would have been hard to tell.  Maybe the drugs he was taking retarded the cells that carried the virus best, slowed it down?"

Tessa:  "He was just supposed to see if you could help.  I don't know why he tried to grab that woman."

Richard:  "Maybe the drugs stopped working?"

Steven:  "He sacrificed himself."

Tessa:  "But...  He was doing okay, I mean, he grunted more than he talked, but..."

Steven:  "I think...  Maybe he wanted to ensure you'd get help.  That he either couldn't fight it much longer or knew he'd die from his other infections."

Jane:  "Damn, I need to check on Miriam just in case he did break the skin."