Cole was wandering the streets, heading for the hospital. He was passing the fountain at Archer's square when he spotted the sick people. People who looked even worse than he felt. They were gathered around the fountain, some laying on the ground covered in dirt, some puking into the bushes. Cole began to back away.
Then he saw her. An angel in skinny jeans and an army jacket, wandering down the sidewalk, barely paying any attention to the black vomit covered zombies moaning around the fountain.
"Hey!" he called out to her, his voice cracking from lack of use. She didn't look up. He had to get her attention before she disappeared on him again.
"Hey!" he said a bit louder, after clearing his throat. Her head jerked up and her blue eyes locked on to his. The frown on her face was replaced with something softer. She motioned for him to come over. Cole tripped over his own feet crossing the street. He did his best to pretend nothing had happened.
So many questions were swirling in his head as he approached her. He wanted to ask why she ran off on him the other day. He wanted to ask if they both happened to have an imaginary friend. Eventually he settled on the most pertinent question at the moment...
"What are you doing out here?" he asked as soon as he got close. She sighed and ruffled a hand through her hair.
"Helping the paramedics," she said after a moment. "There are people with cancer who need their blood work run so I offered to do it for them. It's about the only thing I can do, I'm not much of a nurse."
"So you're going to the hospital?" Cole asked. A chill raked his body and he shivered. Shane didn't seem to notice.
"I have to," she said. "There's no other way I can do it."
"You can't go there! There's bandits there!" Cole blurted out, his hands twitching as he remembered the men he'd killed there. "Besides, I don't know if the power at the hospital has come back on..."
Shane cursed, pulling little purple topped tubes of blood out of her pocket.
"Then what am I supposed to do..." she said, tilting her head back.
"I could go with you..." Cole offered after a moment. "I'm not doing anything else."
Shane shook her head, stuffing the blood back in her pocket.
"You don't have to do that," she said, continuing towards the hospital. "I have to see if the power still works. The instruments might still be functional."
"I'll go with you," Cole said again. "I owe you for, um... saving me. Again." He hoped the back of his neck wasn't red.
"No," she said under her breath, not meeting his eyes. "You could get hurt." Cole eyes widened slightly.
"I could get hurt? Are you serious? Have you looked in a mirror lately? What are you, ninety pounds soaking wet?" Cole said incredulously. Shane's mouth twitched, but she consented to pause to continue talking to him. She stopped and turned to face him, peering into his eyes. She frowned.
"You're sick," she said after a minute of staring at him.
"Why, because I want to make sure you don't get yourself killed?" he mumbled.
"No, I mean you're physically sick," she said, reaching up to touch his forehead. A moan escaped his lips without permission, her hand was blissfully cool and felt amazing against his skin.
"You have a fever," she said, now a touch of concern in her voice. "Okay, I give up. You can come with me."
"Oh," Cole said, slightly taken aback at her abrupt change of mind. "Okay, I will."
"I have ibuprofen in my locker at the hospital. You need some," she said.
Cole fell in line beside her as she continued on her way. He wanted to start some kind of neutral conversation with her, but his brain felt like it had turned to soup in his skull and he couldn't think of a good topic.
"So I take it you never went home?" she asked him suddenly. "You were sleeping on a park bench."
Okay, his neck was definitely burning. She obviously thought he was incapable of taking care of himself, since she'd had to save him twice now. How to explain sleeping on a park bench... He considered telling her his fears about how his old apartment would be haunted, but he didn't want to sound crazy.
"No, I never went home," he said simply after a minute. And soon after a different thought burst from his mouth. Maybe it was a result of the fever, but he spat out quickly, "How do you know me?"
Shane didn't miss a beat.
"From dragging your heavy ass up seven flights of stairs."
"No, you know me from somewhere but I just can't remember!" Cole rambled.
"You're delirious," she replied without even looking at him. That ticked him off.
"No I'm not!" he roared. That got her attention. Shane stopped to look at him, an expression of mild shock on her face. Cole was breathing hard.
"Cole, just relax," Shane said, raising her hands in front of her as if to ward him off.
"I am relaxed," he hissed. He could feel his face turning red. "I want to know how you know me."
"If we knew each other before I found you in that alley, why wouldn't you remember it?" Shane questioned reasonably.
"Well..." Cole said, momentarily stumped. He tried to marshal a counter argument. Her voice was just so damn familiar. He must have met her before...
"Listen, let's keep going, okay? Maybe you'll remember as we walk," she said.
Cole was already feeling foolish, so he nodded. But he knew he wouldn't remember. If he could have remembered, he would have by now. Still... he was starting to doubt himself. What if he was imagining this feeling that he knew Shane from before?
The hospital loomed in front of them, sad and silent. Cole swallowed hard. Were the bodies of those men he'd killed still rotting in the lobby? Maybe once he entered the doors, they'd rise from the dead and attack him.
"Cole? Hello? Are you in there?" A hand was waving in front of his face.
"Yeah," he said, his voice sounding dry. "I'm here. Is there another way in?"
"I guess," she said. "Why?"
"Can we use the back door?"
"Um, sure? This way."
Shane led the way around the side of the building. She pulled her ID badge out of her jacket pocket and swiped it through the scanner. The door unlocked itself and the two of them slipped inside.
The hallway inside was pitch dark and lacked a ceiling, so that the pipes and wires twisting above them were exposed. Cole let his arms spark to provide some light.
"Don't touch the walls. There's still asbestos down here."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. This is an old building."
"Great. Just what we needed. Asbestos."
Cole saw Shane grinning in the dim light.
They crept down the narrow halls, Cole half expecting bandits with guns to ambush them at any moment. But nothing happened. He'd never thought that underneath this hospital were so many twisting corridors.
"Have you noticed... the Reapers?" Cole asked hesitantly.
"Yes," Shane responded instantly. "How could I not?"
"No, I mean... I've killed a lot of them," Cole said quickly. He immediately felt guilty. He wondered if Sam was listening to their conversation. "But there's always more. Have you noticed?"
Shane turned to face him. Her blue eyes reflected the electricity on his limbs. Those wide eyes danced with sparks.
"Yes," she whispered. Then she kept walking. Cole felt strangely validated. At least that was one thing he wasn't imagining...
Shane led the way until they encountered another door with a sign on it that read "Biohazard: Authorized Personnel Only."
Shane swiped her badge again and the door buzzed, admitting them. Cole's first thought was that this place was only slightly less creepy than the morgue would have been. The rooms beyond the door were full of gleaming white machines. A large walk in refrigerator was full of racks of little tubes like the ones in Shane's pocket. Up against one wall was a smaller glass door refrigerator full of bags of donor blood. Shane swept between the rows of machines until she found the one she wanted. She switched it on and the machine hummed to life.
"Here," she said, beckoning to him. "You need some medicine."
Cole, who felt so out of place in this room, followed her without complaint. Around the corner was the break room and lockers. Shane unlocked her locker and dug him out a few pills, which he was so desperate for at that point that he swallowed them dry.
"Thanks," he said as she pressed the entire bottle into his hand. He slipped it in his pocket, feeling grateful.
"No problem. You can wait in there if you want," she said, pointing towards the break room.
"No. I have to stay with you," Cole said firmly. He saw Shane quirk an eyebrow at him.
"Okay," she said, walking back to the machine that was warming up. "It's pretty boring though."
She booted up the computer sitting on the work bench, and then set the tubes of blood from her pocket on the machine, which sucked them up.
"So is this what you do all day?" Cole asked, looking around the room again.
"Yup," Shane answered, typing at the computer. She glanced at the machine. "This shouldn't take long, there's only those two samples."
"I can, uh..." Cole began, looking around at the dimly lit space. "I can keep a lookout."
"Alright," Shane said, still intent on her work. No sooner had that word left her mouth that the lights overhead snapped out and music began playing over the intercom.
"What the..." Cole began, before Shane grabbed his hand and pulled him down behind the bench.
"Shh!" she said, placing her hand over his mouth to silence any protests.
"What's the big deal?" he mumbled through her fingers. "Sounds like your system is on the fritz."
"No," she whispered. "It's not. Music never plays over the intercom. Never. Somebody set this up. Somebody who doesn't work here."
Cole felt his muscles tense instantly. Somebody was here. He peered into the darkness, feeling Shane's cold hand on his arm. The sound of the printer next to them nearly made him piss himself. Shane reached up and pocketed the print outs.
"I told you this was a bad idea," he hissed. "You've got what you needed, now let's go."
Cole hoped with all his heart that Samantha was nearby. They might need her help...
Cole helped Shane to her feet. But as soon as they started to move, a hand emerged from the darkness next to them and grasped Shane's skinny arm, pulling her out of sight.
"What have we got here," said a greasy voice. Cole didn't even hesitate for a moment. His mouth open in a snarl, he lit his arms up with lightning with the intention of scaring off whoever it was. The light from his arms allowed him a good look at the thug who was already holding a knife to Shane's neck. He wasn't much to look at, but that didn't matter. He had to go.
"Let her go and I won't have to hurt you," he snarled, raising his hand.
"You're that Demon," the guy said, a squeak of fear in his greasy voice. He gave a little nervous laugh. "Too bad, Demon. My friends got their guns on you. You make one move and they'll shoot."
"What's your point?" Cole spat, not even looking around even though he could hear other people approaching. "Let her go."
Shane was looking bored and sort of dejected. That was weird. Cole saw the knife shaking in the guy's hand. The guy licked his lips before he replied.
"I'll make you a deal, Demon," he said slowly. "You let me keep this girl and my friends won't blow your head off."
Cole growled, glancing at Shane again. She blinked serenely at him.
"It's okay, Cole," she said calmly, but with a kind of exasperated note in her voice. "You can go. Just take these to the paramedic on Walnut Street," she added, holding out the sheets of paper form the printer.
"No," he said, his voice shaking in anger. "You're coming with me."
"You wanna die, boy?" said a voice behind him. Cole heard the click of the hammer of a gun. He'd been shot before and lived, but had no desire to find out if he could survive a gunshot to his skull.
"Cole," Shane said, waving the papers at him. "Just take these and go."
Cole still hesitated. But something about the look Shane was giving him made him reach out and take the papers. She had a plan. What kind of plan he didn't know, and that made him nervous. The guy holding Shane began leading her away, the knife still at her throat. Three others filed behind him, their guns still trained on Cole. But Cole only had eyes for the tiny blonde girl being pulled along.
Some lookout you were, MacGrath.
They were nearing another door at the end of the hall and Cole still hadn't made a move. The four of them plus Shane disappeared through the door, leaving Cole alone with his guilt. Maybe the ibuprofen was finally kicking in, but his thoughts felt clearer than they had all day. Was he really just going to walk out of here, leaving that girl with those sick thugs? Hell no.
He ran forward like a bat out of hell. When he reached the door he banged on it and yelled at the top of his voice:
"I changed my mind! I want my friend back, assholes!"
"Get lost, Demon!" came the response. "We're trying to have a little fun with your friend here."
"Fucking bastards!" Cole howled in frustration, sending bolts of power into the door. The metal crackled and sparked but the latch held. "Open this door and fight me! You wanted to shoot me a second ago, so open this fucking door!"
"Are you deaf, Demon?" came a second voice. "We ain't fighting you!"
"Go, Cole!" came Shane's muffled voice. "Just get out of he... aaah!" her voice was suddenly cut off.
"Shane!" Cole screamed, banging on the door again, but it still wouldn't yield. "Argh! Open this door and give her back to me and I might let you leave here alive!"
There was silence from the other side of the door. Then a scuffling sound.
"Where is she?"
Cole froze with his fist half way to the door, about to bang on it again. What was that supposed to mean, where is she?
"You let her get away?"
"No, man, she was right here!"
"Well she ain't there now, idiot!"
Cole listened to the men argue with baited breath. How on earth had Shane managed to slip away right out from under their noses? And where did she go?
"Psst!"
Cole thought he was having a heart attack. He turned on the spot, sure that his fever must have gone through the roof and he was now hallucinating because of it. He had to be, because unless his eyes were deceiving him, Shane was peeking out at him from behind the door at the other end of the hall. She gestured frantically for him to come over.
Cole spared one brief glance at the door behind which the men were still arguing before sprinting down the hall towards her pale, anxious face.
Before he could even open his mouth to ask what the hell was going on, Shane had grabbed his hand and was pulling him down the hall behind her. He grunted as she pulled on his arm, not because she weighed very much, but because of how very hard she was pulling on him. But he had more pressing issues on his mind.
"How the fuck did you get out of there," he hissed, gazing still somewhat stunned at the back of her head. "Not that I'm complaining..."
"Later!" she breathed back, leading him through the maze of dark hallways. A second later she took a sharp turn and Cole, hardly able to see because he couldn't light up his hands without electrocuting Shane, smacked his head on a low hanging pipe.
"Ouch! Fuck!" he said, now dragging his feet and holding his free hand to his head. Shane stopped abruptly.
"Sorry!" she said hastily. "You okay?"
Cole groaned, his headache soaring to exponential levels. That's when Shane copied him and said, "Ouch!"
She shook off his hand. Even through his throbbing headache, Cole realized that he'd just shocked her.
"Sorry," he groaned through his pain, now copying her. "I didn't mean it."
"It's okay," she said, rubbing her hand. "We have to keep going, we're almost out."
"Ugh," he moaned, feeling like his head was being split with an axe. "Okay, but I can walk myself."
"There they are!" came a shout from behind Shane's back. The skinny girl jumped, turning towards the source of the noise, but she barely had time to do anything else. A small rectangular object flew towards them, striking the girl hard in the head. He watched her fall in slow motion as she tilted sideways, sliding down the concrete wall.
Cole was vaguely aware of making a sound of outrage as he watched her crumple to the floor. The object, which he now saw was a brick, had cut a large gash in her forehead. He looked up, rage burning in his heart. He flew forward, lightning gathering around his fingertips. Anger left no room for guilt as lightning bolts flew from his hands towards the figures, even as gunshots rang out in that narrow hallway. They were terrible shots though, because not a single bullet hit him. Cole, on the other hand, had only improved his aim.
How satisfying was it to watch them fall, dead at his feet. Cole suddenly froze, dead in his tracks, horribly aware of that feeling of satisfaction.
What am I doing? I'm not a murderer!
But the evidence was all over the floor. He didn't know what he was becoming. These hadn't been reapers... but they were still a threat, he reasoned with himself. They had guns. They would have hurt his new friend... no, they had to die. Maybe if they hadn't been in quarantine like this, he could have called the police, but the police could barely function anymore... this was about survival.
He spun around, trying to divert his attention from his morbid thoughts. Shane was still lying slumped over against the wall like a rag doll. Cole went over to her and touched her arm. The gash on her forehead was trickling blood down her cheek. He didn't know what to do to help her.
"Hey," he said loudly, feeling awkward as his voice echoed around in the tight space. She didn't respond. He grasped her other arm, intending to pull her up off the floor, when he felt a pulse surge through the two of them. He dropped her in surprise. That jolted her out of unconsciousness. Not the way he had meant to wake her up, but oh well...
The first thing out of her mouth was a cuss word.
"Fuck," she groaned, attempting to lift herself up. "My head hurts."
"Welcome to the club," Cole said, hesitantly offering her his hand to help her up. She didn't hesitate, however. She grasped his hand. "You okay?"
"Ugh," she said, putting her other hand to her head. "Barely."
She peered around his broad shoulders.
"They're gone?" she said uncertainly. Cole noticed her free arm drifting from her head to cover her small chest. Had they touched her? The thought pissed him off, but he held himself back from asking her if they had.
"Yeah," was all he said.
She nodded. Then she smiled at him, wiping her wound with the back of her hand, smearing the blood across her face.
"Thanks for coming back for me. That was really brave," she said. Cole could feel a blush working it's way up his neck. It only heightened his embarrassment when he realized that she once again wasn't calling him a monster or a murderer. It occurred to him that even though she'd tried to keep him from coming here with her in the first place, that she was in fact glad that he was here.
"Yeah, but I didn't really do anything," he muttered, helping her to stand.
"Sure you did," she said, struggling to her feet. Cole held her arm to steady her. He searched his pockets for a tissue or something to help her clean off the blood. He came up with half a roll of toilet paper. It was kind of gross from being in his pocket, but Shane didn't seem to mind. She wiped her face with a wad of it.
"Um, did I get it all?" she asked. She gazed at him with those wide blue eyes, and for a moment Cole didn't see a girl trying to be distant from him. He saw a girl about his age looking for his help, even if it was with something as simple as getting blood off her face.
"Y-you missed some," he said, painfully aware of his stutter. He took a piece of the dirty paper from her small hands. He barely managed to keep his hand steady as he gently wiped the rest of the blood from her forehead.
"Thanks," she said softly. She braced herself against him for a moment as Cole helped to steady her. She smelled really nice, a lot better than he did. But as he held her, he felt a little guilty. Almost like he was cheating on Samantha... which was totally crazy. He was not about to start dating his imaginary friend.
"Well," she said slowly, sounding a little out of it. "We can, uh, go now. If you want."
"Yeah," he readily agreed. "We really should before anything else happens."
She flashed a smile at him and Cole felt a warmth inside. His hands sparked. A minute later they exited the hospital, Cole lighting their way. Shane turned to him once they were down the driveway.
"Thanks for coming with me, Cole," she said. She surprised him by slipping between his arms and hugging him around the chest. She could barely reach halfway around him. "I can take it from here."
"Wait," he blurted out. "You need to tell me how you got away from those assholes."
He almost regretting asking as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Shane bit her lip, looking nervous.
"I couldn't have without you, really," she said after a moment. "You distracted them long enough for me to slip away. I know every inch of that basement."
"Yeah, but..." Cole said doubtfully, unsure if his fever was still affecting him or not. "How did you get behind me without me seeing you?"
"Through the sterile processing department," she said, not quite meeting his eyes. She was lying, he was sure of it. But why? He was just curious how she had disappeared right out from under the noses of those thugs. That was pretty impressive. Maybe she was a secret ninja or something. It didn't make sense why she would lie about this. But he decided not to push her.
"Okay," he said. "I was just wondering. It uh... definitely surprised me."
"I'd say, of the two of us, you're probably the more surprising one," she said playfully, grinning at him.
There it was again. That warmth in his stomach. Why was this girl being so nice to him? Everybody else in the city was treating him like a plague bearing rat that needed to be stomped out. The gash in her head was glistening with little droplets of blood again. He realized he was staring and looked up at the sky like he was interested in the weather.
"Well I need to get these results back," she said, tilting her head to one side as she regarded him observing the sky. She touched his elbow in a gesture of farewell. "Thanks again, Cole." She smiled and started on her way down the sidewalk.
It occurred to Cole as he watched his only flesh and blood friend walk away that she was purposely keeping things from him. Then again, so was Samantha. Maybe his two friends didn't trust him... no, that wasn't it. So then what was it?
As Cole swept off to look for food once again, he failed to notice a large brute of a man emerge from the shadow of a building and begin following Shane towards Walnut Street.