Chapter 6 Corporate Retreat
The amount of smoke in this area was sickening and for killing Z's it was even worse. Handling them took a bit of time but I managed to make it to this hotel building with the others, the doors were locked and we were shouting in there. I look down at my leg, the scars had stitches on them, "I have an idea, but it's going to hurt." I say getting my knife and cutting over the scar. "Please some of us are injured." I say holding back a bit of pain. The door opens, and a short man with glasses and a bit of bad breath rushes us inside. Addy leans into me, "Are you crazy!" she whispers, I nod, "It got us in." I whisper limping a bit. There was a bit of blood coming out. "Do you guys have bandages?" I ask. "Yes let me get them," he says going over to a shelf and taking some off. "Here." He says handing the bandages, I smile and thank him.
Wrapping the bandages around my leg and sealing them up tight was too easy and natural for me now. Doc sits next to me, "Kid that could've been bad." He says looking at my leg, it was more visible now that I lifted up my pant leg to put the bandage on. A man carrying a stick around started talking, I had zoned out, this was happening more frequently. Whatever drug That man gave me, it had done damage to me. I zone back in to hear a women say "Popcorn circle process." and I laugh under my breath, 'what were we in kindergarten' I think.
She starts explaining how the log was used like a talking stick to resolve conflicts peacefully. She hands the man who's "in charge," the stick. He starts making judgements on everyone. He gets to me, "You are lost, hopping no one will think less of the new you, you hide your real feelings," He says moving onto Cassandra I grab my knife, just incase, "You and him have been through too much, you try and be strong for the both of you." He goes to 10K and I sit down, this was not good.
Him Gideon and a woman named Dana leave with Warren and Addy. We start to settle in this hotel. I sit on the ground and start looking at my weapons and clean them off. Cassandra looks at me with concern from what Gideon had said. "Don't worry about me, why don't you head with 10K and Doc I could use the alone time alone." I say looking at my knife. "Okay, if you're okay." She says leaving me in the middle of the lobby, alone. Maybe I was different than I was when I first left with Warren and the others but, I was still me. Not some cure like Murphy, right? I mean that lady could of lied when she said that about me, or it could've been a dream.
A Z at the door starts hitting it over and over again I see Vasquez take it come down, "Go watch Murphy for me will ya kid." He says, 'First time he's talked to me since I joined the group again. "Sure, watch my guns." I say grabbing my knife. I head to the couch where he was supposed to be and hear thumping in the stairwell, starting to climb I see Murphy and one person following him to a room, I run in.
Seeing a man behind the both of them I jump in front of them as a shot is fired. Pushing Murphy out of the way, lucky me I get shot in the gut and the other guy gets it in the heart. The door is slammed shut and what feels like it's been locked. Murphy is trying to stop the blood, "There's a lot isn't there?" I ask looking at him, the door is slammed open. "Ziggs!" Someone shouts, starting to drift off, someone picks me up. "Come on Ziggs stay with me!" I can barely make the face out but it's Addy.
They lay me out on the bar counter, I look at my torso, my shirt was soaked in blood. I close my eyes attempting to, not only do I fail I can hear everyone's conversation. "Can you fix him?" Warren asks him. "To major, he's already lost a lot of blood, if he's lucky he has an hour maybe more." Doc says looking over me, my eyes were wide open now. Every part of me wanted to scream but my vocal cords wouldn't work. Cassandra saw me awake. "He's awake," She says looking at me, I try and move a bit but a strike of pain surges through me.
She puts her hand on my forehead, I can barely talk managing a word would be difficult. I point to the man next me, and mouth Mercy the best I could. She shakes her head. I look over at Murphy, "You..Alrigh.." I stutter out at him, managing a smile or sentence was difficult enough, trying to be sincere to MUrphy was to much. "Yeah kid, I'm good." he says looking at the wound.
Cassandra
Finding him bleeding was horrible, he looked dead, more dead than me or Murphy. His already pale skin became that of a ghost and his eyes were bloodshot. "We have to go for a second Doc is going to make sure your good." I head off with Addy to that, "We have to get who did this." I clench my fist, he didn't deserve this. "Hey guys, could I ask you to come in here and join our trust circle, were going to resolve this conflict peacefully." Gideon says, Warren comes in with a furrow of anger on her face, "That's going to be difficult, considering one of you, just shot one of us." She says, looking more irritated than normal.
A man asks if she had any proof, I glare at him, I don't even pay attention to Warren or the others. The people of the Hotel start saying things about Ziggs being suspicious. I interrupt one of them, Gideon maybe, "Ziggs.." He stops me and gives me the log, "None of us would've shot Ziggs, he has no bad bone in his body." I say looking at Gideon, "Invume." A guy says, he introduced himself as Iggy, "I looked at his wound from earlier, when he got in, self inflicted, maybe he shot our guy, and then shot himself." He says handing the log back to Gideon, Vasquez stands up, "Ziggs didn't have his guns on him, couldn't of done it." Vasquez defending Ziggs a rare sight.
They continue on until they point a finger at Iggy, "Your diet was reduced to nine hundred calories and you don't look like it." Was one of their points against him. It didn't make sense to me, but they banished him. I get back to Ziggs and Doc, Ziggs is asleep but has a horrible fever. "He doesn't have much time, poor kid." Doc says looking at him. After everything me and him had been through this last year, I thought for a bit maybe he couldn't die. This couldn't be the end for him.
Ziggs.
"Doc...Pls." I said him, he was dodging the questions I asked him but I finally wore him down. "Not long kid." He says to me. I smiled, it might of been insane but I was happy, I had been fighting so long to survive but it was the end. I survived longer than most of the people who thought I couldn't did. "Thanks…" I say to him starting to cry it wasn't like me to break down crying, but I needed to more than anything. "Kid, I'm sorry." He says patting my shoulder. "No..need.." I say to him blinking my eyes to stop the tears.
"Why hasn't.. he turn.?" I asked him. "It might be because the bullet got some of your blood and then hit him, seems like that lady was right about you. You might of been immune." He says. My mind seemed to ease a bit. When talking to Doc or 10K they didn't treat me like a kid, like the others, but on equal ground. "Tell 10K I lo.." I'm interrupted by him. "Kid you're not dead yet, tell him y.." I start to sleep.
First time in a while I had slept on my own will and not because of sleep deprivation. My dreams were never the same, all of them had different details. This one was a nightmare, dreaming of the situation that had gotten me shot, I wasn't looking at the man directly, the one who shot me but I saw him. My mind started to dwell with anger, 'Now you tell me.' I dream shuts down, I feel my body raising itself up, I could barely see out of my right eye now.
I see the guy who had shot me in the torso, my mind races with so many possibilities but I choose none. Getting up and walking in the shadows of the room til I was right behind him. That was what I had chose, or whatever was in control chose to do. I was not in my own body any more just a witness.
10K
The guy who shot Ziggs was holding us at gunpoint had shot the guy who had directed us to him. "Dana let's go!" He yells at her, she doesn't move just points at where Ziggs was. "Where is ….!" The guy is cut short by a tackle from behind by Ziggs. "Kid!" Doc yells, the tackle pushes them both through the guardrail and onto the floor. His eyes were unfocused, he was a feral beast, no longer the Ziggs I had known. Getting up Ziggs throws the man through the door, hitting and knocking him around until he got on top of him and ripped out his jugular with his bare teeth. Realization dawns on his face, Cassandra runs to him.
Ziggs
"What did I just do!" I repeat over and over again. My mind not believing what I had done to him. I start crawling backwards into a corner. Cassandra tries to calm me down, but nothing works I just keep repeating those words. "STOP!" She yells at me, somehow snapping me out of it. Looking at my victim I see he isn't turning, and I couldn't see the jugular I had removed from. "Did I, Swallow hisss…" I start vomiting. Cassandra helps me up by my back, I feel her touch the area the bullet went through, it was sealed completely, she looked at me with a questioning glare. Shrugging I look at my stomach, completely new skin. Whatever the Hell happened to me, stopped me from dying.
The others looked at me with what looked like disgusted faces, and 10K was the final blow. I grab my gun and sit in the corner of the room, Gideon was right about me, no spot on. This was exactly what I feared, and they didn't even put me down. As time passes on Cassandra gets me up, "We're leaving," She says pulling my arm, making me get into the car. I look outside the car to see Ady and That Dana woman talking and I smile. 'Just Hold on!" A voice tells me. Addy walks back to the car and I smile, "What!" She defiantly says. "No need to say anything," I say looking at her. She smiles at me.
"Ziggs you have a bit of blood.. on your cheek." Cassandra says handing me a bit of fabric. 10K still wouldn't look at me still, the others seemed to have mixed feelings on me. Putting my head on Cassandra's shoulder the car's engine starts. Maybe this wasn't so bad, I just needed a bit of time to get trust back right.