by Taja Kartio
Beckett huffed, "Kate told Kale and I, but it's not a misguided guess either. Brinston was looking for anything that could give him more information on your conditions. Based on what he found in your blood, I honestly can't blame him."
As much as I hated it, being that I was the one who was cut into, neither could I, "What's going to happen to me?"
My brother looked up and straight into my eyes. There was no pause or lapse of time. He spoke firmly, "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing has made you into something that's not... natural. You're not completely mindless. You don't have a desire to feed on the living and you don't make ungodly noises. I don't know why you have black specks in your blood or why your temperature is at the heightened degree that it is, but none of it has made you inhuman. None of it has made you one of the Infected."
I inhaled a deep breath through my nostrils. I wanted to believe him. I mean, I knew he was partially right. I wasn't an Infected. Not entirely. It was the small part of me that was, in fact, Infected, that gnawed at me. Both Kale and Beckett could tell me otherwise but neither of them knew how it felt to be like this. Neither of them were sick like I was.
"So..." I tapped my finger on my stomach, changing the subject, "Will I live then?"
"Yes," Beckett hummed, "We'll take them out soon, but that doesn't mean you can pick at them."
I looked up with an amused, mischievous smile, "I'll try to resist."
My brother reflected my small simpler, "How does your shoulder feel?"
"Sore, but I'll deal," I pulled my sleeve up over my shoulder. The slice where the bullet scraped deep was still in the process of healing. A bandage, was taped overtop, "Should I keep the bandage on?"
Beckett shook his head, "You can take it off. It needs to breathe for a bit anyway. We'll redress it later. Lastly, how's your arm?"
I held my forearm up in front of me. Just recently healed, my thumb slid over a narrow strip of milky white. A washed out fish bone across my skin. It strung from my wrist all the way to the inside of my elbow.
"Beauty,” Beckett remarked.
"One less thing to worry about, right?"
He didn't answer that. Instead, he stood up, "I'll let you clean up. Change into new clothes. Need anything else?"
I shook my head, "No."
"Alright. I'll be outside if you do,” My brother shut the bathroom door behind him and I was alone again.
I turned on the shower and began peeling off my clothes, happy for once that I wasn't wearing my own, more tight fitting pants. In my state of soreness, it was nice having baggy sweatpants. It still took longer than it would for an average person to take off their clothes, but I managed eventually.
Steam rose over the shower curtain and I stepped inside. There was an abundance of soap, shampoo, conditioner and all other body scrubs. As I cleaned myself, I noted how my ribs stuck out like a sore thumb. The loose skin underneath my arms was gone and my thighs were just a bit thinner. It was an abusive sight. My scars and stitches weren't the only thing that reminded me of my time in the hospital. The sad part was that I hardly remembered anything. A month past and I was only awake for a few minutes, the rest was just like I'd been asleep. Yet, it was done. There wasn't anything I could do about the lost time now.
I shut the water off and dried myself, wrapping the towel around my hair above my head. The two sets of clothes were inviting but I decided against the foreign and took my own. The fitted jeans would be a bitch to get into, but it would be nice wearing my own clothes for once. A plastic bag that had my clothes in them was the laundry bag for Beckett's hand-me-downs that I'd been wearing for at least a week. I shook my hair out and hung the towel over the shower curtain. On my way out, I ignored the mirror. There was no way I wanted to take another look at that girl that was supposed to be me.
In the living room, I found my brother deep in conversation with Mack by the bookshelf. A lady, who must have been Rebecca, was also talking to them.
"... I don't know. There were soldiers guarding the rations building. No one was allowed inside and no one will be until they find her," She was saying with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
"I have a hard time believing that they'll let survivors starve because they can't find someone," Mack turned an eye to Beckett. They both knew something that Rebecca didn't. So did I.
"It certainly seems like it. Until she's handed over, rations will be on hold," Rebecca stared at Mack hardly, her eyes burning. She turned her gaze to Beckett when Mack didn't answer, that's when I came into the corner of her view, "They said she was broken out of the hospital. Your sister, Beckett, she's the one they want. Isn't she?"
In slow steps, I moved toward my brother. I kept myself behind him. Being shy was not usually part of my personality but I knew that if she really wanted to, she could run out here now and play tattle-tale. She could tell the soldiers exactly where I've been hiding. What all did Kale and Beckett tell her about me?
"Yes," Beckett answered cautiously. He went rigid. I could feel his muscles begin to tense up. He too, didn't know what Rebecca would say or how she would react. His hand slipped behind him and grabbed my own. I clutched onto it and felt a small measure of reassurance and guardianship mix into my slowly growing fear.
"She can't stay here."
"Rebecca-" Mack started until she cut him off briskly.
"No. She cannot stay here. What do you think the soldiers will do if they found out we were hiding the very person they've all been looking for?" Her gaze was scorching on Mack. She turned back to Beckett, "Executed most likely."
"We wouldn't be executed." Mack mumbled.
"Why not?" Rebecca countered, "They shot three people on sight for getting too close to the ration building! If they find out that we're harboring a few fugitives?"
"Nobody is going to find her," Beckett insisted, "Not down there."
"You can't promise that," Rebecca pointed her finger, "I can't promise that. People are going to start getting hungry. Some survivors are already helping the soldiers in the search. She'll be found eventually."
"But she won't be found by you..."
The fire in her eyes didn't die completely but it diminished a bit. Her shoulders rose and fell along with a heavy breath, "Not right now. I won't pass on information. Yet."
"What's the benefit of telling the soldiers anything?" Mack asked incredibly.
"A very big supply of rations. Enough for months," She replied coolly.
Beckett gave my hand a squeeze, "How long do we get?”
Rebecca's eyes looked up and down my body several times before looking back to Beckett, "I know about her injuries and I know she's still recovering. I'll give you all six days, not including today. That's a week. I want you gone after that."
I didn't know what Mack's relationship was with Rebecca but he obviously knew that there was no arguing with her.
Beckett breathed, "Alright."
"Hopefully we'll all lucky and nobody has found you by then, " She muttered, casting a glare at Mack before stalking away.
Mack instantaneously began moving the bookshelf to the side, "I'm sorry about her. I'll try to resolve some thing for you."
"It's okay," Beckett spoke. It it didn't sound entirely sincere, "We can't stay here forever anyway."
Mack twitched his lips before pushing the bookshelf back into place behind us, "I'll talk to you soon, Beckett."
"You too."
I wasn't looking forward to the climb back down the ladder and I definitely wasn't looking forward to seeing everyone now that Beckett and I got to be the bearers of bad news. I wasn't sure how they were all going to react.
Beckett kneeled down and did the familiar knock password on the topmost metal bar of the ladder. A moment later was a faint yell to come down.
"You got this?" Beckett asked, looking up at me.
I nodded, "I made it up here. I can make it back down."
I watched him go down the ladder first before kneeling
down and swinging my legs over the hole to step on the first metal bar. I didn't have to reach up which made the my trip down the hole much easier and less painful than it was coming up it. Beckett waited for me at the bottom, giving me a soft rub on the shoulders when I finally touched my feet to the ground.
"Looking good Dani," Alex grinned at my damp hair.
I smirked. I still didn't know Alex very well but his level of humor was about as high as mine, "Thanks Alex."
I dropped the plastic bag of dirty clothes next to my mattress and slowly succumbed to the floor, leaning my back against the wall beside both Alex and Kale. Casey sat on the ground on the other side of the room while Tatum was leaning his shoulder against the wall. Arms crossed. Fists clenched. Teeth grating. His bulky figure was menacing to look at.
"So," Beckett started, not really sure where to start or where to look for that matter, "Mack and Rebecca know Dani is who the soldiers have been looking for and they don't want us staying here anymore."
"What?" Alex tilted his head slightly. "They're kicking us out?"
"They're giving us a week. After today, we need to be gone in six days."
Kale slid a hand over his head, ran his fingers through his hair, "Well... I know we were planning on getting the hell out of here but that's still kind of soon."
"Too soon," Beckett agreed, "Dani won't be completely fit for traveling yet."
I hated being the burden in the middle of this.
"Do we have another choice?" Alex asked.
Beckett shrugged at that, "Mack is trying to negotiate with her but by how she told it straight, I don't see that doing much good."
"How unfit for traveling will she be?" I could feel Kale looking at me.
I felt my eyes roll, "I am right here you know!"
"Ya? I know that. But you're not the doctor, you're the patient. I'm asking the doctor," Kale bumped my elbow. I bumped back a bit harder.
"The patient can decide for herself in six days."
Kale hit me again, "We need to know now."
This time, a floppy hand smacked his stomach, "Nobody can say right now what I'll be like in six days."
Kale didn't aim for my stomach due to my stitches, but he did hit my leg, "Your doctor can."
"Knock it off," Beckett barked, "Dani is right. Only she'll be able to tell in six days how well she is. She'll be better of course, but who knows how far we'll be traveling when we leave."
"Hopefully we don't starve in the next week without rations then," Casey muttered.
"You won't starve in a week, idiot," I didn't know Casey and Tatum well enough to speak up like that. It was more instinctual.
Both of them glared. I shouldn't have said anything.
Fourteen
"Your turn," I muttered in irritation.
Alex graciously picked up my handful of half-marbles, "Don't mind if I do."
My boredom of sitting in the room we'd been hiding in for a week and a half was beginning to deeply rattle my core. It was nice that Beckett had snagged this Mancala game from a department store but Alex and I had been playing this for three days straight. Today was the beginning of day four and Alex had somehow won all seven games we'd played so far.
And now I was losing again. Big time.
Across the room, I could feel Tatum's glare. Maybe that was why I was so distracted. He was blaming me for the lack of food rations and even food in the quarantine zone all together. The soldiers had gone into all the shops and convenience stores, pulling any kind of edible goodies from the shelves just so that the survivors would search harder for Brinston's lost prize. We'd already gone through majority of what we've collected. There were only a few cans of fruit, half a box of cereal, and one last bag of Kale's jerky left. A couple bottles of water too.
Alex dropped his last marble, "Your turn."
Kale kept screwing around with the AK, perhaps as a warning for both Tatum and Casey not to try anything. The tension in the room was already thick enough to choke on so it was fortunate that I was recovering faster than Beckett had expected. Perhaps the six days that Rebecca and Mack had offered us was all I needed. Injury wise, Beckett had removed my stitches and I was stuck with a near perfectly healed scar running up my entire torso. My shoulder wound was just about healed as well, there was a small bit that was crusted over but that shouldn't tear unless I pick at it. The bruises that rung around my wrists and ankles were in their last stages of healing. Very light yellow and green blotches remained, not enough to notice at a first glance. The only thing that was still holding me back right now was how easily exhausted I got when moving just a bit and the overall soreness I was still feeling. Tatums hostility was getting to us all so hopefully we could get a move on out of here soon. Kale especially. His brotherly protection for me had risen levels upon levels alongside the unfriendly environment we were living in. He wouldn't leave my side now.
"Is he still staring?" My voice was loud enough for only Alex to hear.
I watched his eyes flick upwards, flashing over my shoulder for a second. He shifted uncomfortably as he continued to drop the half-marbles in each wooden hole on the game board.
"Yep. He keeps switching back and forth between staring at you and reading his bible."
"Doesn't he have anything else better to do? He's been watching me all day."
"Just ignore him," Alex mumbled at the board.
"Easier said than done when he's sitting ten fucking feet away," I said behind my gritting teeth. I felt a light jab to my arm.
"Language,” Kale growled behind his own clenched jaw.
My mouth quirked in annoyance, "Sure Kale. Whatever you say."
The familiar knocked-password vibrated to the room from above. Kale held the AK firmly but his muscles didn't tense up as much.
"You're good," He called, watching the dust covered boots that belonged to Beckett descend the metal steps of the ladder. Casey followed after.
"Alex has beaten me seven times, Beck," I turned back to watch my cocky opponent ending his turn.
Alex grinned. His crisscrossed legs jiggled enjoyably at his own, "This will be the eighth time. Beckett, are you sure your sister is as good as you said she-"
"We have a problem,” His cheeks were lightly flushed and his shoulders were rising up and down at a steady pace.
"What is it?"
"The soldiers. Outside. They're coming inside the building," His eyes shifted directly to me. "They know she's here."
"How the hell would they know Dani's here?" Kales anger wasn't directed at Beckett. Or me. His attention was on Tatum.
"You think I told them to come here? I haven't moved from this spot,” Tatum pushed himself to his feet. The permanent scowl on his face deepened into a malignant snarl.
"What should I think? You're the one who's been-" Kale started until there was a loud banging and shuffling upstairs. The crashes and bangs sounded like furniture was being moved and overturned. Yells and shouts were muffled but I could only assume they were about me.
"We don't have time for this," Beckett whispered.
Kale turned to Alex and I still on the ground, "Get your stuff. We're leaving now."
I didn't really have anything for valuables or even essentials for that matter. My backpack was still in Kale's suburban and it would be a goddamn miracle if that car was still parked there at all let alone it hadn't been ransacked for the goods inside. The only thing I had was my dirty clothes still stuffed in the plastic bag, which Alex promptly shoved into the backpack he had found on one of his supply runs. It took me a moment to get to my feet. Sitting on your ass all day and your body needs some time to fire back up again. Unfortunately, we didn't have time.
"How do we get out of here?" Beckett asked, turning to Casey.
"Out of the alley and down the street to the sewer line. We can take it to the next manhole cover a few alleys out of the quarantine zone," He said quickly, heading for the ladder that led outside, "Come on, Tatum."
Tatum didn't move.
In fact, he hadn't even stood up. He was still back up against the wall with a bible in his hands.
"Tatum," Casey dropped off the one step he'd been standing on, "What are you doing? We need to leave!"
Calmly and smoothly, Tatum closed his bible, "I'm not leaving."
Casey stared and after a moment, broke into a nervous laugh, "What?"
Tatum repeated himself, "I'm not leaving."
Tatum didn't even open his mouth to answer. Casey was about to scream, maybe, it looked like he was going to, but a metal cannister bounced onto the floor. It fell from the ladder leading up to the apartment complex.
"Shit! Move!" Kale yelled, pushing Alex and I forward.
The canister blew and heavy smoke poured from, quickly beginning to fill the room. Kale threw a blanket over it, hoping to give us time to climb out. I of course, was slowing us down. Even Beckett, who waited for me at the top of the ladder was clearly impatient.
"Dani, you gotta climb faster!"
It wasn't even that far of a climb but scaling it burned. Not even half of the height of the other other ladder, but a few steps up and my arms were already beginning to fail.
"We don't have time for this," Kale grunted. I felt his hand grab the sole of my boot and boost me up. Beckett's hand took my wrist and pulled me up onto the pavement. It was painful and a raw cry spurted from my throat.
"Kale!" Beckett hauled me to my feet, "Come on!"
Kale took a moment. I wasn't close enough to look down the hole but Beckett kept edging forward, eyes peering.
A hand gripped the ground, followed by heaving coughing "Here."
Beckett released me and kneeled down to grab my brothers hand. Behind me, Casey suddenly pushed me aside. Rather harshly. I didn't think it was on purpose but I didn't appreciate losing my footing. Alex once again helped me to my feet.
"Tatum!" Casey shouted, "Tatum, let's go!"
"Stop Casey! Tatum isn't coming!” Kale yelled, taking Casey by the shoulder, "He's staying behind."
Eyes wide, Casey glanced back at the hole. It almost looked like he was going to jump back in after his friend but Beckett with Alex's help, pushed a garbage dumpster over the hole, "What are you doing? He won't be able to get out now!"
