“Did something just fall down the fucking stairs?!” Daisy asks, her pitch high, her words rushed.
More stomping down the hall, increased pressure on the door, the slamming of more than two hands. Karo motions at the desk with his head.
“Pull the desk over! Pull it over!” he says, keeping his voice low.
Norman and Daisy pull the desk across the room, push it flush against the wall the door is on, and then shove it in front of the door. Karo quickly moves from the door and helps shove the desk up against the adjacent wall, covering all of the entry way.
The pounding cuts in half, and a voice carries over the barrage.
“I know you’re in there. Do you need help?”
Karo rips his backpack off, pulling the map out. He puts a finger to his mouth, then hands the map to Norman. Karo glances to the glassless window on the far side of the room, then back to Norman.
“Can you read a map?”
“Well enough, why?”
“This is where you’re going.” -he points to the map- “There is a huge billboard for Oasis on the highway, U.S. Route 19, multiple advertisements for it that lead to it. Follow the highway to Casselberry, the exit is Maple Drive, that leads right through the center of the city. Not far into the city, two or three miles, you’ll find Gail Parkway. It leads directly to Oasis, you can’t miss it. It’s possible they’ve expanded their boundaries so you may come across it sooner.”
“You want me to just leave you here?”
“You and Patrick go, Daisy and I will stay to deal with the infected. They’re Adapted, at least one of them is, we can’t risk being followed. We have to kill them. You two make a break for it, we’ll catch up to find you. Find somewhere safe and wait for us, but don’t wait too long. Either we make it to you or we don’t, that doesn’t matter.”
“We can’t just leave you two here!”
"The blood is all that matters."
"Karo-"
"You understand everything I told you?"
"Karo we-"
"Do you?!"
"Yes." Norman replies, defeated and worn out.
"Repeat it."
"Route 19 to Casselberry, Maple Drive exit, Gail Parkway to Oasis."
Karo looks to Daisy, her brow furrowed, her eyes drooped, his pale face a mirror of hers.
“Fuck!” -her eyes well, her head shakes- “The first fucking house we go in!”
“Are you with me?”
“Yeah, I am.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
“Is it fresh enough?”
Zee’s head tilts, her hand covers part of her face, blocking the sun from her eyes. KP continues to inspect the deceased Adapted, prodding it with a knife, then running her hand across it’s torso. Rosaline remains in a firm stance, several feet behind the two, her gaze intently fixed on KP, as it has been for the duration of this trip. KP looks up from the infected, pointing to the top of the worn building with her knife.
“This old barn has provided a little bit of shelter from the sun, albeit not much, but it might’ve been just enough.
“Is this body the only option?”
KP rises from her knees, bobbing her head.
“Yeah, definitely. The other two were torn up nicely, and weren’t shaded at all.”
KP peers over her shoulder at Rosaline.
“You did this? All of them?”
“All except the one shot in the head back there.”
“This is impressive, a bit extensive and rushed, but still, impressive.”
“Didn’t have much time for planning. They surprised us, and people were in danger.”
KP pivots on her heel, fully facing the young warrior.
“Are you usually this vicious with them?”
“If I need to be.”
“Why?”
Rosaline squints, her face scrunches.
“Why? They’re monsters, killers, if I don’t do it to them, they’ll do it to someone I care about, or to me.”
“It’s interesting that you said people I care about, before you said yourself.”
“What’s so interesting about that?”
“It shows you’re selfless. We could use more of that in this world.”
Rosaline’s eyebrows raise, her clenched fist loosens. She hadn’t even realized she’d clenched it.
“You call them monsters, which to be fair, I agree with, but also killers. Are you not a killer yourself?”
“I am, but” -her gaze wanders, the question momentarily stumping her- “I don’t feel bad about that, not about killing them. Maybe I should, they were human once. I do feel sorry for the people I’ve killed, even if they had it coming.”
“How do you judge that?”
“Judge what?”
“Whether they had it coming or not?”
“If they hurt someone, or killed someone, a person, a person who hasn’t done anything, then, well, they’ve given up their own right to life.”
“I’m not sure that I’m that far along, but in general I agree.”
“Is there a reason for these questions?”
“Just” -her lips curl up- “assessing.”
“It's only getting darker, can we get on with this, or are you stalling for a reason?”
“Oh, I’m not stalling. You can assess as well, I don’t mind, you should do it, actually.” KP says, as she turns back to the infected body.
“Believe me, I will. We will.”
KP lifts the body, holding it propped on it’s side, smirking to herself.
“I don’t doubt that.”
She studies the composition of the infected, deciding the best possible area to find the freshest tissue within it. After a long moment she cuts a piece of flesh off from the back of its calf, a square piece, thick and putrid, the underside still holding a hint of gloss. Zee’s face contorts, a shallow sound of disgust escaping her.
“What’s the plan?”
“Well, I’m going to eat this, and then we’ll wait. We can stay here, so you don’t have to worry about me becoming infected and attacking your friends.”
“But you’re immune, so you wont get infected at all, right?”
“Correct, but you don’t really believe that yet, so I’ll put your mind at ease as much as I can.”
KP moves away from the body, closer to the barn, and leans against it. She detaches the canteen from her belt.
“I’ll even stay right here, on the ground, up against the barn.”
KP holds the bit of
