Guest: Uh-huh.

Al Drin Hoshizora:...Seriously? You didn't know? I made it beyond obvious that Pale Girl was Patient Zero.

Korrasami 88: Looks like I was wrong. Some people still don't know the correct name for the character.

NexusOscura: Well, if she runs, then she failed the mission.

The Batista: Plot armor. That's the key to survival.

Gloyd Orangeboar: How?

MrScourch: You may be disappointed.

Burglar: What, did you run out of things to steal?

Antha1: Yes, she was.

Creamy Buttercap:...What?

Jacob R. Davis: Eh, IDK.


Yellowjacket stared into the bitter eyes of the Pale Girl, their gazes locked. The eyes of the dead, staring into the eyes of one who was somewhere in-between.

This was the second time Yellowjacket had seen Pale Girl, but it was only now that she could get a good look at the girl. Pale Girl was obviously younger, probably eleven at the oldest. She was a few inches shorter than Yellowjacket. Her skin was hard and clammy, and she had long fingers that stretched into sharp claws, like knives. None of the Others had claws like those.

Riley stood still, facing Pale Girl. She knew, without a doubt, that this. . . thing was Patient Zero.

Pale Girl was silent, and stood still as well. The only movements were her lifeless eyes, making occasional shifts in the direction they were staring at, and her claws, that were twitching erratically, as if preparing to strike.

Pale Girl's mouth was a thin line, and it almost looked like she was pouting. Her eyes held an air of skepticism, as if she doubted something about Yellowjacket.

Yellowjacket knew that she couldn't keep going on being silent. If she continued to stare Pale Girl in the eye, the other girl may see it as a sign of aggression, or a challenge.

So, she spoke.

"I. . . Yellowjacket," She said, pointing to herself. She hoped Pale Girl would respond. Hoped that she could communicate as well.

Pale Girl's face twitched, and she surged forward. Yellowjacket instinctively stepped backwards as Pale Girl leaned in towards Yellowjacket's face until they were almost touching. She stopped when their noses were an inch away.

Pale Girl's knife-like claws grasped the back of Yellowjacket's neck, holding her still. Pale Girl brought her nose through Yellowjacket's face and hair, sniffing her. Yellowjacket stood as still as she could, shutting her eyes and letting out a little whine. She could feel Pale Girl's fingers pricking her skin.

Pale Girl brought her head down to Yellowjacket's neck. Yellowjacket took the opportunity to open her eyes and peak to the left to where Bill and the others were. She caught sight of them, sneaking out of the truck and preparing to take aim.

Suddenly, Pale Girl let out a confused gasp, and jumped away from Yellowjacket. She landed on all fours, staring at Yellowjacket with confusion. She then sneezed, and pinched her nose.

Yellowjacket stood frozen. What had happened?

Pale Girl eyed her suspiciously, and removed her claws from her nose.

"Frrrreeeaaa-" She hissed at her.

Then, the two heard the sound of a gun being cocked. Yellowjacket's blood ran cold as she saw Pale Girl's head snap in the direction of the men. Then, Pale Girl let out a shriek and pounced at Yellowjacket, knocking her to the floor. Then, she scampered towards the men.

"She's coming!" One man shouted, and one fired a dart at Pale Girl. The pale child dodged out of the way, and pounced towards the men. They scattered to avoid her, her claws tearing into one man's back. She spun around, and her claws slashed his throat. He dropped lifelessly to the ground.

"No!" Yellowjacket shouted, and she ran off to stop her.

Pale Girl swiped at one man, knocking him back. From behind her, Joe took aim and quickly fired, but his aiming was off and the dart ripping through Pale Girl's dress.

The girl whipped around and lunged, but Bill dove into her path. His arms shot out and grabbed Pale Girl by the wrists, catching her mid-air. Pale Girl immediately started thrashing and kicking in Bill's grip. Her feet stretched out and pushed at Bill's chest, but he held on.

Pale Girl hissed and started to strain in his grip. One man stumbled to his feet, but Pale Girl kicked him in the chin. His head snapped up, and he crashed back down, unconscious.

Yellowjacket dove through the air and tackled Pale Girl, and the two crashed onto the sidewalk. The two zombies wrestled with each other on the ground, rolling over each other. Yellowjacket struggled to avoid Pale Girl's long claws and fanged teeth.

Bill watched the two from afar, and picked up the dead man's tranquilizer gun. He took aim at Pale Girl, who had Yellowjacket pinned, but suddenly, Yellowjacket rolled atop of Pale Girl.

"No," Bill whispered, the gun trembling in his hands as he struggled to aim. Each time he managed to get a shot at Pale Girl, Yellowjacket blocked his aim.

"Move, one of you, move," Bill whispered, directing the gun to fix his aim on the Patient Zero.

"Shoot, or you'll lose your daughter!" Joe shouted at Bill.

Bill aimed the gun, closed his eyes, and fired.

There was a howl of agony, followed by the sound of someone collapsing. Bill kept his eyes closed, not wanting to open them and see that he'd hit the wrong girl.

". . . You shot her," Joe said from behind him, surprised. Bill kept his eyes closed, fearing the worst. What did he mean by, 'her'?

"Bill!" Joe said, this time ecstatic. "You did it! You got her!"

Bill's eyes snapped open, and he saw Pale Girl lying on the ground, face-first, the syringe in her neck. She was lying on Yellowjacket, who was too scared to try and move off of her. He eyes were closed shut.

Bill immediately broke into a relieved smile. "Riley, we did it!" He told her. "We got her!"

Yellowjacket opened her eyes, and rolled her head to face Bill. She then shoved Pale Girl's limp body off of her, and scrambled to her feet. She ran to Bill and hugged him, breathing heavily.

"It's okay, you're alright," Bill reassured her. "We did it."

Joe walked up to Pale Girl's unconscious body, and shoved her over so she was lying on her back. Her head was rolled to the side, her hair matted on the ground. Her mouth was hanging open, and her eyes were closed.

"Wait 'til the Boss sees this," Joe told the others. "We did it! We finally did it!"

Yellowjacket smiled softly, relieved. But then, she heard a voice that she recognized.

"Yellowjacket!"


Ghoul had been walking with Noose towards where the Freaks were located. She'd slowed down so he'd catch up with her, and the two were walking side-by-side.

"So, what do we do hen we see the Freaks?" Noose asked. "Since Sawbones isn't here."

Ghoul shrugged. "I don't know," She said. Then, she smiled and said, "Hey, remember when it was just you and me, those first few weeks. Remember when we first met Yellowjacket?"

"Yeah, we first met her in that forest," Noose recalled, snapping his fingers. "Near the neighborhood. There were so many Freaks there."

Ghoul nodded. "It was a good thing we got to her before the Freaks did," She said. "I remember it so clearly."

"I can see her now," Noose said, standing still.

"Yep, it's one of the few things I remember so clear-"

"No, seriously," Noose said, and pointed down the street. "I can see her now."

". . .What?" Ghoul said, and snapped her head to where Noose was pointing. There, she saw Yellowjacket, surrounded by several Freaks. She could just barely make out one man carrying a smaller, paler girl into a large truck.

Ghoul gasped. "Yellowjacket," She whispered. Without thinking clearly, she ran off down the street, and shouted, "Yellowjacket!"

She saw Yellowjacket's smile fade, and her head turn to Ghoul's direction. Her eyes went as wide as saucers.

"Riley," Ghoul heard one Freak say from within the truck, and she recognized him as the man Sawbones was after. She stopped running.

Ghoul expected Yellowjacket to run into her arms. Instead, she was surprised when Yellowjacket hesitated. Then, Yellowjacket bolted towards the truck and jumped into the rear. Ghoul instantly resumed running.

"Yellowjacket!" She shouted, but her cries were drowned out by the sounds of the truck's engines turning on. Instantly, the truck sped down the street.

Ghoul caught one last look at Yellowjacket as she stared back at her. She could see in her eyes a sorrowful glance. Yellowjacket said nothing, but her gaze said it all.

I'm sorry.

Then, the truck vanished from view. Ghoul tried to run after it, but after a while, she knew it was hopeless. She collapsed onto the street, her hair wild. She breathed heavily as she stared at where the truck had gone.

Noose arrived soon afterwards, out of breath. He hadn't seen exactly what happened.

"What's going on?" He asked, doubling over as he tried to catch his breath.

Ghoul choked, and then she responded.

"We lost her."


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