Chapter Fourteen; Baby Blue Eyes
The gang remained at the Military School for two days straight, and in the midst of the second night Cat had awoken. Robbie had been with her when her eyes snapped open and she shot out of her makeshift bed in the back of Jade's stolen Hummer, as her girlfriend was currently training Tori senseless in the back. She had been doing so for hours on end, but he had just presumed she liked beating the skinny girl, tossing her about as though she was a doll (which reminded him far too much of Rex, whom he had lost the day of the apocalypse) because she was just letting all of her anger out. But Tori was picking up since the last time he had watched them, however that did not mean that she would come back to the RV with new bruises, nor did it change the fact that she was most likely going to scar from the newest vertical slice along her back.
Robbie may have been the nerd of the group, the one in charge of all things electrical, but he at least knew how to fight. Beck and Andre had instructed him how to defend himself when necessary and Sikowitz gave him further guidance on the hot spots, and how to sense life – or rather, sense the undead – in particular areas. He preferred not to fight unless it was desperately needed, as he wasn't quite as pugnacious as any of his peers (in some instances, he still can't believe that the happiest of the group [i.e. Cat and Andre] had fought as expertly as they do now). He'd kill if he, or anybody else was attacked. And that was it.
Yet Tori didn't seem to have known a thing except how to angle a gun correctly and pull the trigger.
She had quite a lot to learn.
When Cat had woken up she wasn't certain where she was, but he, like the good friend he was, explained to her that if she moved any further back she would topple over and land in the front seat of the Hummer. He sat her down and told her that she needed rest, and that Jade would be there the following morning. It was far too dark for him to see any physical changes (which he expected none), but he had noticed a particular change in her eyes. Habitually dark coffee irises remained the same, yet about the outer ring of the pupil was a peculiar shade of steel, which had nearly glowed within the obsidian of the twilight.
And, for the lack of better terms, Robbie found this quite frightening. The moment he had noticed, how they shone so bright when her mood turned serious, he told her that he'd be off to retrieve Jade and nearly leapt from the vehicle. And get Jade he did, sprinting all the way around the Military Base in hopes that he wasn't about to interrupt a full out brawl – he doubted that they wouldn't be training, knowing just how hard the Goth was pushing Tori.
"Shapiro," Jade snarled as she straightened herself up minutes later, one boot pressing firmly against Tori's head, keeping it firm against the ground, "what do you want? I'm busy."
"Cat's awake!" He gushed loudly, his cheeks crimson from the amount of energy previously exerted.
Tori's hand swiped out from beneath her and connected with Jade's ankle, and the off-guard female topple to the ground with a sickening thud. Robbie winced at the contact and straightened his askew glasses, chest heaving in attempt to catch his breath. The Latina stood up quickly – as well as Jade – and the duo jogged toward him. "What do you mean she's awake? She's okay?" Asked the latter impatiently as she brushed passed him, walking expeditiously toward her Hummer in which her girlfriend lay resting.
"Yeah, she's awake…" He murmured, walking at Tori's pace behind her, his feet shuffling loudly against the grit beneath his shoes, the very same sand that blanketed a majority of the ramshackle world. "Wait, Jade! Before you go in there…"
"What!"
"There's something different about her, and I suspect that it's because of the antivirus. I don't know much about it…but I know that the rings around her pupils aren't natural. Tori has the antivirus in her blood, yet I don't see them." Robbie explained nervously, wringing his hands.
"Rings?" Inquired Tori, her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. Before them, Jade ceased her trek, her back facing them.
"Um, rings, yeah. They're light blue, around there, and they glow. Glow!"
"Do you have any theories, Shapiro?" Asked their Leader impatiently, looking feebly over her shoulder at him. Robbie almost felt a bit bad for her; whatever this could mean, meant that Cat wasn't the same Cat they all knew (who knew what the other side effects would be), and he could nearly feel the stress pouring from her demeanor as easily as he could see tendrils of thick smoke exhaled through someone's mouth, or nose. He doubted he'd be able to take such a change in his loved one as well as she was, albeit he did suppose that beating Tori in multiple fights was her way of expressing how truly angry at the world she was. And he couldn't necessarily blame her for that. He hated the world too, for what it did to them.
"Not necessarily, but I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet." He elaborated uneasily, he and the skinny Latina beside him stepping forth toward the rigid female several feet away.
"Give me them anyway."
"Well, maybe, possibly…the antivirus may have bonded with the infection within her blood. Successfully, being that she's not exactly human," He glanced toward Tori, who was gaping at his sudden knowledge upon the subject, "but she's not exactly one of them."
"How do you know all of that? Do you know someone who works at the Odyssey too?" The query elicited from Tori's lips in a rush, and for a moment she almost sounded excited, for whatever reason he couldn't quite place.
"I just gathered all of the information you told me about it, analyzed Cat –"
"You analyzed my girlfriend?"
" – and her reaction toward it. It was completely different." Robbie explained dryly, ignoring Jade's furious remark, "see, you said you felt no pain whatsoever, but Cat clearly did. And, you weren't infected when your dad injected the antivirus into your blood system and it had nothing to fight against, so it just embedded itself in your system. With Cat, it had to fight a vicious war with something superior to it, which evidently caused her the anguish that she was feeling-"
"Okay…not to be rude, but where exactly are you going with this?" Tori furrowed her brow at him, her swollen lip split; a small, trickle of blood cascading down her narrow chin. He was tempted to reach over and wipe it with his thumb, but then again, he always got queasy when it came to touching someone else's blood, much less see it. "I mean, I get that you think that her blood, the antivirus and the infection all bonded together and all, but…"
"Ju – just." Robbie stumbled over his words, attempting to word it right without getting beaten. "Just, I don't think that Cat's the same Cat anymore."
"And just because she has some stupid ring around her eyes means that she's not herself?" Jade retorted bitterly, turning around so hastily that both he and Tori jumped back in fright.
"I can just tell Jade, why don't you see for yourself? She's in the car waiting for you to get there anyway."
Robbie walked away and to the RV.
Once upon a time, he was thanked for his actions. Now? He was ridiculed for them.
He could never win.
Filler. T _T
Complete and utterly short filler because now I'm suffering from writers block. I know what the next chapter is going to be like, I have the entire story plot jotted down in a word document, it's just I have no idea what to write for it (as that goes for detail and whatnot, since I'm picky when it comes to that. Especially when this chapter is the most important out of the entire story so far, lol). But I felt like I was abandoning you guys and since I haven't updated since the 22nd, and I was like…yeah, I should probably update so you guys don't think I fell off the face of the Earth. And plus, I missed all of you reviewers :P
But anyway. I have a terrible headache. I got home from my new job, which involves working with little kids around the ages 3-7, and then helped my friend with moving, came home, and did my homework. So I sincerely apologize if this seems half-assed or anything like that. I feel like it is. Plus, I don't write in Robbie's perspective often so it was kind of a challenge for me to get him just right, which I probably didn't do -.-
Not to sound pessimistic or anything…
Oh. And the real fun begins next chapter, so get prepared. It's going to be a long chappy, so there might be a little bit of a wait again.
Anyway. Big, big thanks and love to: CorsomeeCorey, Boo, Mister X, Cat, Infinii, Kidd, DividebyZhero, Velveteenstars, LostInASeaOfSilence, and SeaIng for you reviews!
DividebyZhero; Glad to hear that you (as a Jori fan) took interest in this story even though it was Cade! Don't get the very often, all things considered. Jade and Tori will possibly be friends in the future, I just don't want to give anything away. And I guess it's a good thing that I mainly update at night then! Lol. Thanks for reviewing!