Deliquesce

Chapter 13: Glass

Rated: T

Warning: None

Disclaimer: Wait wait wait. Isn't posting this on fanfiction a disclaimer in itself? Oh well, I feel like it's tradition now, too late to turn back. 'I own nothing'.

A/N: Sorry again for the late update… I do have all the chapters but I've been super duper duper duper busy lately. I figured I'd post one now since I have finally got some fucking down time. Side note, anyone watch Tokyo Ghoul? Just wondering, since it's fucking amazing and all. Thinking about writing something for that.

SecretReading: Thank you!

So… turns out I'm capable of feeling emotions for people after all.

Don't know why. Don't know how. It was kinda stupid, actually. Sure, I'd thought he was hot since the moment I'd met him but it was never anything more than that. Never more than a half glass. Now it overflowed.

His face played around the edges of my mind, an underlying, constant thought that never fully left. It's fine, I said to myself. It was just a mix of adrenaline and relief, in effort to rationalize whatever I was feeling. I was going to die, and he saved me. That's all it was.

But god. The way my heart hammered against my ribcage every time I thought about his hands on my shoulders, unflinching, his eyes on mine.

No. Shut up. Get back to your plan, I told myself.

My pen tapped against the piece of paper, mapping out the streets below, the areas we had secured and the areas to be secured next. The group had given me a rundown on how many infected were in the areas, and I used that to plan out what they had to do.

They're taken out the three streets that were in front of the factory. From there, it would get trickier since those streets branch off to even more. I figured we'd take the left side first. Work our up to the very end of the street gradually, do the other side, then trap everything in the middle.

Molotovs turned out to be very handy, so I could make some more if they found me the supplies. Or maybe I could ask Wonka… which would involve going up to him again… and talking to him again… Oh lord...

Right. Back on track. We'll need things to lure them in, and take them down at once. It was too risky and unpredictable to look for them all spread out and kill them one at a time. It would take too long, even though this city was pretty damn small.

It was late. Spencer and Daniel had gone to bed already, but Briley and Jackson were still up playing a card game of some sort.

It was quiet. Peaceful. Warm. I looked out the window, saw the makeshift barricades. Beyond that, the rest of the derelict, dilapidated city. It was strange, sitting here in the warm. Feeling full. Bandaged up. Having the time to actually sit down and plan out ways to take down the infected. Not even a week ago, I was down there in the dark, alone.

I didn't even notice the elevator arrive, and someone walk up behind me. Too lost in thinking. A hand touched my shoulder.

"Ember, once those two go to bed, would you please meet me in the experiment room?" He said in a very low voice so that only I could hear.

Strange, how hearts just stop beating sometimes.

"When they go to bed?" I asked after a noticeable delay, not even daring to look up at him. Keep it cool, Ember.

"If they see you going with me, they're going to ask questions. We don't want that. Kay?" His voice sent a shiver down the left side of my neck, turning into goosebumps at my arm.

"Sure." Calm. Calm. Calm. It's fine.

"Anyway, here ya go. These should fit you." Wonka said in a louder voice, placing a pile of clothes next to me. I smirked, nice cover.

"Thanks."

Briley went off to bed pretty quickly after that, but Jackson was up for another hour or so. Daniel had found a carton of cigarettes, and gave me half of the plunder. A few of the empty rooms had balconies, so I found out and went outside while I waited. Jackson eventually popped his head out to say goodnight, and I went off quietly to the experiment room.

Mr Wonka was there already, writing things down on the clipboard.

"Sorry I took so long. Jackson was up for a while."

"That's fine." He smiled, finally looking up at me.

"What's happening?" I looked over to the slab. A new infected was on the slab, tied down with rope.

"A mutation in the virus!" He said excitedly, eyes lighting up. "We need to extract a sample and implant it into another one as soon as possible before it dies off, you see. That's why it was a little urgent. I would do it myself, but that's no fun, is it? But no, I'm going to need you to hold down the subject while I do my thing. The restraints are kind of destroyed. I don't have anything else to substitute besides rope, and that has proven to be ineffective. Also, would you mind asking the group to find some leather material or chains of some sort?"

"Um.." I held up my cast. "I don't think this is that great at holding it down."

"Oh. Right. Right. I'll give you some medication tomorrow to speed up the healing process. If you could just stand by for some extra precaution, that would be great. Last time was a bit risky, wasn't it?"

"It was." I said, and he handed me the gun.

He got to business right away, and within 10 minutes transplanted the sample into the new infected. It struggled against the rope, but didn't break through.

"What now?" I asked as he sewed it back up.

"We wait."

"For how long?"

"Not sure. I estimate not very long. The virus itself takes a few hours to a few days to develop, but the virus I implanted is already fully developed. It just needs to spread now. Then we see what happens."

"Oh. So we just wait."

"Yup."

A moment of silence went by.

"This is kind of boring." I said.

"Sorry."

"So um. How was your day?"

"Fairly adequate. Yourself?"

"Likewise."

"Tell me about yourself."

"Huh?"

"You. Tell me about that. I don't know very much about you."

"I'm from Evington, it's not really near here so I've come pretty far. I'm 24. I'm a girl. My birthday is on halloween. Did you ever hear about that murder? Where the woman was stabbed 20 times and dismembered? I lived on that street. I studied fine arts in University, and was going to do a secondary teaching degree but that didn't happen. Uh… let's see… I don't know what else."

"Surely there's more about you than the street you lived on."

"Um. Well. I had two parents, a mother and a father. No siblings. I lived in the same house since I was a kid." I felt a dull ache in my chest. Memories tugged against my heartstrings. "What about you? Any family?"

"My um. My.. m-mother. She passed away when I was a kid."

"Your dad?"

"We disowned each other when I was a kid too. We came back into contact a few years ago, but he didn't make it through the initial outbreak."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I think he would prefer it. This life isn't for everyone, even when you're tucked away as safe as can be. The only reason I'm still here is because I'm used to the solitude. Actually, two people came into my factory the week after the outbreak. A couple. They survived the first waves, and managed to get in. I see you guys had a system, with the ladder and all. You passed it back and forth through the gates. Funny story about how that ladder came to be there. They brought it here, and jumped straight down because they couldn't get it back over to climb down on. Gosh, desperate times call for desperate measures, huh?. They stayed with me for a few days, and committed suicide together because they couldn't stand to live in a world like this. I found them."

I didn't know what to say.

"Fuck." There's that, of course.

I wondered if that was the reason he'd gone nuts when we first met him. I don't think many people can deal with a double-suicide reasonably.

"Did you have a boyfriend?" He asked, eyes snapping back to the present.

"Huh?" That was abrupt.

"We delved into some dark territory before. I'm attempting to lighten the mood."

"I didn't. I was with someone, but we broke up a few months prior. He left me for the girl he cheated with. Then she in turn cheated on him. Dunno if he's still around, but I assume not. Did you have a girlfriend?"

"I had a fiance quite a while ago."

"What happened?"

"I discovered she was Slugworth's number one undercover spy sent in to my factor to steal my recipes. In for the long con, heh. I mean, it was pretty smart. Once we were married, she would have access to everything without me ever questioning it. And when I died, she would simply inherit it all."

"Wow. I'm sorry. That's… actually a really shit thing to do."

"It is."

"That had to have been like 15 years ago. No one since?"

"No one serious, no. I'm not a very likeable person, according to the few I know."

"You don't know that."

"Charlie, on his death bed, told me that I was an anal-retentive weirdo. I had high hopes for him at first, but over the years his aspirations shifted and he wanted to become a teacher and leave the factory."

"...Oh. That's not very nice at all. For what it's worth, I like you. Apocalypses tend to bring out the worst in people, but I still think you're cool."

He looked at me and gave me a smile. "That's very kind of you."

I shook my head. "I'm not being kind, I'm just telling the truth."

"I like you too, Ember. By that I mean you have a tolerable personality and you haven't done anything to make me hold a grudge against you, so congratulations!"

I laughed.

"So, how is your ankle?" He asked.

"It's getting there."

"I have something for it."

"Oh?"

He went into a cupboard and brought out a syringe.

"Please make sure that is the right syringe. I don't want to be the subject to one of your experiments, if that's okay."

"Don't you worry. Your arm, please."

I held it out, and he shoved it straight it. No mucking around. I winced a bit as the liquid entered my arm. He put a cotton bud over it after, and looked up at me. He was pretty close, and I was pretty breathless. He didn't look uncomfortable when he grabbed my arm.

"That should significantly speed up the process. It'll be fully healed in a week, you might even be able to walk on it tomorrow."

"Thanks."

There was a beeping. "Oh, goody! He's finally starting to come around!" Wonka exclaimed, rushing over to the slab and writing down information he was looking at from the machines.

"What's happening now?"

"He's processing the mutated virus."

"What are we doing now?"

"The implant was a success, so it's safe to induce paralysis. To stop it from, you know, killing anyone. Should be smooth sailing from there. I'm going to leave him be for a few days, let everything settle in. I'm sorry for disturbing you, after last time I need to take better precautions."

"It's fine. Am I good to go now?"

"You sure are."

I gave him a smile, and walked out.