Jacs' POV chapter is coming up next!
Now for a serious question that I must ask: Keep it puppy-love, or venture into lemon/lime territory? These things I must ask, as they will shape the course of the story dramatically.
Enjoy. As always, please take heed of the rating before reading.
Josie saunters through the halls, peering down each linoleum plated hallway and crooning a gentle hum to match the buzzing fluorescent lights flickering above. Where, oh where could he be? For the umpteenth time that day, she smooths her shirt down, pressing her sweating palms against the faint wrinkles in the cotton. Her simple white sneakers set a tapping rhythm that echoes lonesomely through the halls. The sweet hum in her throat sputters as she passes a hall and she is quick to step back out of view. Josie breathes in deeply and tucks her hair behind her ears, then smooths her shirt once more.
Here goes.
"Cody," she greets in her softest voice as she rounds the corner and approaches the lone male figure at the end of the hall. Cody quickly looks up where he'd been inspecting his belt. His face turns white and he unconsciously palms the ugly bruise spread across his throat.
"What do you want?" he grunts, his voice pathetically wispy and strained from his injury. She continues to saunter towards him, her cheeks staining pink despite herself.
"I..." she pauses as he steps back from her. He clears his throat and pointedly reaches towards his waist where the hilt of a nightstick rests. He growls, "One false move and we'll see how pretty you are with a crooked nose and broken jaw."
Her mouth hangs open uncertainly as she fights her first impulse to backhand him. Remember why you're here, her mind reminds her.
"I'm awful sorry about that..." she demures as she rubs her hands together, allowing the honey sweetness of her accent to sugar her words. "I didn't mean to hurt ya as much as I did..." Here, she allows the full force of her blush to light her cheeks. She's probably as bright as a neon light. Cody watches her suspiciously, but little by little his hand is falling from his weapon.
"You almost crushed my larynx," he rasps.
"'m sorry..." She looks up from under her lashes and tilts her head, feeling fully ridiculous as she tries to pout her lips.
"Luckily no one knows about the incident, or I'd be punishing you for real."
Josie swallows her disbelieving snort and instead smiles pleasantly. "Well thank goodness that didn't happen. To be honest... the reason I hurt you..." Cody unconsciously leans further forward as she speaks. The moment she pauses he remembers himself and stands up fully. "You... well, I was uncomfortable around you."
"Really?" He squeaks then quickly clears his throat. "I mean... ahem."
She quickly saves him from his embarrassment. It wouldn't do to have him storming off. "It's just been so long since I've been in the company of such a... fine looking man as yourself." As she speaks, she steps closer and trails her fingers up his chest, lingering over the bruise she left. "When you grabbed me," she breathes, "the feelings in my heart just burst up and they escaped in a violent manner. Oh, sweetie," she coos, cupping his chin, "I'm so sorry." Cody stares down at her, his eyes wide and disbelieving.
"Is this for real?" he squeaks.
"Do you want it to be?"
"You're not going to hurt me?"
"No."
"Promise?"
"Of course." She tilts her head and bites her lip so that it swells into a sweet pout. "You like me, don't you?"
"Fuck yeah I do" he laughs like a teenager and pauses awkwardly before reaching for her to drag her closer.
Deftly, she ducks under his arms and steps away, looking coyly over her shoulder. This is going a lot easier than she'd expected it to.
Now, for the hard part. "I've got another secret," she whispers.
"Oh yeah?" Cody asks huskily, leaning forward towards her. She smirks.
"I'm sure you've heard the rumors about me?"
"That you're batshit insane?"
She pauses and allows her brows to fall into a glare.
"Uh! I mean- shit," he fumbles. "Not that you're insane! I've never heard that before in my life. What have I heard... um. Oh! You're, like, really into Subject 9... like, really into it." He pauses to see if he'd offended her again. When she neutrally tilts her head, he continues. "Those aren't true... are they?"
Josie smiles and tucks her hair back behind her ear. "Of course not, silly!" She giggles like a foolish high school cheerleader. "At least, not all of them." Cody's face, which had been relaxing, immediately morphs into distrust.
"It's just..." she continues and sighs frustratedly. "I don't know what's wrong with me but..." she swallows and rubs her thighs together. "The thought of the danger... the imminent death." She looks at Cody under her lashes as she breathes heavily.
Cody is staring at her. "You're a fucking masochist, aren't you? You get off on the danger?"
She smiles softly and bites her lip. "Exactly. And I really, really like you..."
"Shit." Cody runs his hands through his hair and adjusts his glasses. "Shit, shit, shit."
He looks around them for a moment then back at her. "I could get fired for this..."
She tilts her head as if she has no idea what he's insinuating. What a fool he is, playing right into her hands, and so easily at that. He must be truly desperate.
"Ok, come on." He grabs her arm and begins tugging her forward. She releases the tension in her muscles and breathes away the need to throw him away from her. It will all be over soon.
Cody leans past a corner then quickly tugs her along, pulling her off of her feet for a moment. She scrambles to keep up with him. For such a small man, he's pulling her around as if she were a ragdoll.
"Almost there," he whispers. "Wait." He pulls her back into his chest and unnecessarily covers her mouth. She cringes against the touch, even more so when he leans down and breathes into her ear. "This better be worth it...," he threatens.
She bites her lip and digs her nails into her palms. "That and more," Josie promises truly.
He grins and trails a hand over her stomach. Her smile becomes strained and her giggle is shrill and forced.
Cody doesn't notice. "Alright, come on."
Once more they are hurrying through the halls.
Josie had planned her seduction in accordance with the time when the halls would become silent, what she could only guess meant nighttime has fallen. She has no true way of knowing with her lack of windows. Gods... what is she going to do when she gets Jacs out? She doesn't even know where the exit is... No. She shakes her head and focuses on the moment. She'll figure it out when she gets there.
Josie's heart fills with relief when the door to the cells comes into view. Only steel, a flight of stairs, more steel and plexiglass, then her hunter would be free.
She watches with unrestrained glee as Cody reaches into his waistband and procures a ring of keys. He flicks through them with haste, his fingers trembling in his excitement. He lifts one in particular and inserts it into the lock. The sound of the bolts sliding and releasing with a click makes Josie's heart soar. She hums, pleased.
A sound at the end of the hallway grabs both her and Cody's attention.
Chloe stands like a deer in the headlights, a mask of dried green paste spread over her face and fuzzy slippers adorning her feet. She's staring at them, her mouth gaping.
Josie freezes, her face going white. Cody stiffens at her side. "Go on, then," he growls, straightening as if his small stature would scare the girl away. Chloe begins to sidepass, obviously eager to get away. "You didn't see a thing," Cody calls after her as she hurries away, still wide-eyed.
Josie drags a hand through her hair as her heart drops to her stomach. "It's ruined," she mourns softly.
"What are you talking about?"
"Chloe knows. She's gone to tell someone. Probably Jason. It isn't safe to go down there." If they hurried away now, maybe they wouldn't get in trouble... shit! Of all the things that could happen, of course Chloe would be the one to ruin it all. Jacs would just have to wait another night.
Cody balks. "Not safe? I'm the head of security, everywhere I go is made safe because I'm there."
Josie is tired of him and his breath that smells of garlic, which continually puffs into her face in unpleasant wafts. She shoves his chest, sending him stumbling away. "You idiot," she hisses. "The night is failed. We'll have to try again some other time. Now give your ego a rest and come find me some other time."
She turns on her heel and walks away, muttering the whole way. She'd probably have to wait a whole week before it would be safe to try again... What would happen to Jacs in a week's time? Who knew what sick things Stuart and Abe were putting him through.
A solid crack rings in her ears. Josie blinks and shakes her head. She opens her eyes, not having realized she'd closed them, only to find that she's no longer standing but rather slumped against the floor. Groggily, she looks upward, her movements sluggish and as if in slow-motion.
Cody stands over her, pocketing his nightstick and reaching down to thread his arms underneath her own. He grunts as he lifts her, pulling her backward and through the door.
She's unable to move, no matter how hard she tries, and her head throbs dully with each attempt made. Cody is speaking, but his words are muffled behind what sounds like a river rushing through her ears. Something warm drips from her head and down her neck, staining her pure white shirt and sweatpants. Her legs are limp, useless, dragging in front of her as Cody hauls her down the narrow stairway. His arms tremble as he holds her. He's too weak to carry another human being. Before she has time to panic, a curse fills her ears and then the world is spinning.
Josie groans as her vision returns to her in flashes. She's at the bottom of the stairs and a puddle of red is slowly spreading below her. She groans softly, fearfully. She's so scared, but she's unable to do anything.
"Sh-. D-, o-!" Cody's words are gibberish to her, but they're slowly beginning to make sense as she blinks slowly up at him. "Fuck! Oh, shit, that's a lot of blood... Abe is gonna kill me! Fuck... I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean to drop you."
The pain is intense, riveting, blinding. Her body feels like a glass vase shattered upon the floor.
"Take..." she wheezes and coughs, "take me to... to Nancy... q-quickly..."
Cody runs his hand through his hair and shakes his head as he stands over her, staring at her.
"Co-...dy..." she implores.
He continues to shake his head. "Nobody can know about this. I'd be thrown out of here for sure. I can't go back out there. I can't! You... you understand, don't you?" Tears are trailing down his cheeks as she once more whimpers his name. "All of my friends died out there. My family." He sniffles pathetically and rubs away his tears. "I'm sorry... really, I am. I didn't mean for this to happen."
Before she has time to protest, he's leaning down and once more hooking his arms underneath her own. He begins dragging her backward, her head lolling uselessly to her chest. Her vision flutters as she's jerked backward, a thick trail of red smearing after her. Wet warmth stains her back from her own blood. Is this how she dies? Not by the infected, but by humanity? How poetic. She sighs softly, losing herself in the swaying rhythm as she is dragged somewhere so that her dying body might be hidden. What a turn this night has taken. From threading her own strings of fate only to have them snipped.
Who knows how long it would take for her to bleed out. Hours? Perhaps. But not if Cody decided to finish the job himself... No. He's too much a coward for that. She'll be lingering in pain for a while, she expects.
The rocking motion, like that of being on a boat, suddenly pauses. She doesn't know how long they wait but suddenly she's gently being laid back on the floor and Cody fills her vision. He runs his hand through his hair, smearing his cheek with her blood. There's something in his eyes. Something she'd only ever seen in that of the mad, of the infected. An evilness, a carnal greed.
He's holding his throat, where the bruise she'd given him blooms.
"Didn't you say... didn't you say you got off on this kind of stuff?" He tilts his head and a sick smile slowly spreads across his face. "You did, didn't you? What was it you said? On the danger of it all? The imminent death?" He chuckles coarsely and reaches down, tugging on her blood-drenched locks. She whimpers softly as he laughs. "This is pretty imminent if you ask me. Wouldn't it be a waste if I put you away now?"
He leans down, garlic-breath puffing across her face. "Why don't we play first?"
Josie's heart begins to tear through her chest, knocking against her ribs. "No..." she whimpers, "no."
Cody hushes her and produces his ring of keys. "Uno, dos..." he continues to flip through them until settling on one in particular. "Nueve," he grins, brandishing it like the cure for cancer.
Terror gnaws on her mind. No, please. Just let her bleed out. Don't debase her like this. Please. She wants to beg, she's not above it. But her swollen throat keeps her pleas trapped inside her chest.
The sound of a lock clicking fills her ears. Where just minutes before it had made her heart leap for joy, this time it only filled her with dread.
"Don't cry," Cody soothes as he roughly swipes away her tears. She cringes away from him as best she can.
He once more picks her up and carries her to her doom.
There's nothing she can do to stop it.