II - Infected
Headlights beamed on the littered and ruined street.
Boarded windows, empty cans and bullet chambers in the ground, a toppled stop sign, potholes that were never and will never be fixed, grass and weeds growing from the sidewalks, rotting roamer corpses, some who were police officers, a skateboard with a missing wheel, and pieces of trash all occupied the once busy street.
Bobby came out of Vanzilla with his Luger pistol and flashlight. He looked up at the apartment building and took a deep breath before exhaling a trembling breath.
Ronnie Anne gulped as she grabbed her pickaxe, not ready to enter the bodega yet.
Lincoln looked around the street. He looked at a nearby train track and saw vines hanging from it. The vines swayed as a gust of wind made its way through the city.
The shadow of the alleys and fire escapes remained still, unmoving.
Carol came out with Luan, who was walking slowly as she pressed on her head.
"Is it safe inside?" asked Carol.
Bobby walked up to the bodega and attempted to open the door. However, he was unable to.
"It's locked," said Bobby. "Oh... crap. I forgot the keys back in Royal Woods."
"It's okay," said Ronnie Anne. "I have mines."
Ronnie Anne reached into her pocket and took out her keys. She then walked up to the bodega door and then unlocked it.
"It's unlocked now."
Bobby nodded as Ronnie Anne stepped out of the way. He hesitantly placed his hand on the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door. He walked inside, pointing his flashlight inside.
Sergei and Luna were behind him, holding their weapons. They followed Bobby inside, shining their own flashlights.
"Think it's safe enough?" asked Luna.
"Yeah," said Bobby.
The group members from the three vehicles walked inside. Bobby made one last look outside the street before closing the bodega door.
The bright moon shined high above the sky.
Newspapers drifted along the streets. Barrels stood in the sidewalks, singed by charcoal.
David ran up to a roamer and thrust his knife forward, killing a roamer in the middle of the street.
"Take a left over here," said Lori.
Richard and George turned to the left of the intersection while David and Lori were in front of them. Behind them was Dana and Wavehead, who kept pace.
Suddenly, they encountered a group of roamers that were dawdling towards the apartment building three blocks away. The roamers turned around, having heard their footsteps, and began to stiffen their heads upright and picked up their pace.
"Can't knife 'em all by myself," said David. "Let's go forward instead."
Lori nodded as she and David began to take the forward route in the intersection instead with George and Richard following them as they continued to carry Bruna.
Dana then fired her pistol at a roamer before running up to one and killing it with the katana. She then fired her pistol at another roamer, dropping it to the ground. Then she fired another shot and another.
"What are you doing?" shouted David.
"They already heard all the gunshots back there!" yelled Dana. "We are not going to go deeper into the city!"
Wavehead joined in and fired his pistol, taking out the other roamers.
David groaned and fired his pistol as well, taking out the last couple roamers in the street.
"We gotta hurry the fuck up then," said David.
Richard released one of Bruna's leg, allowing to fall to the street. He took out a lighter from his pocket and flicked it on, lighting up one of the newspapers on the ground on fire. He then grabbed the unlit part of the newspaper and tossed it into one of the barrels, creating a fire inside it. He picked up Bruna's leg and began to move her along with George.
As the group inside the apartment building climbed up the steps, they heard gunshots in the distance.
"Those sounded closer," said Bobby.
"We have no time to concern ourselves with that," said Lisa. "We have other matters to contend with."
Carol nudged Bobby, causing the two to lock eye contact.
"Lori's okay, I promise you that," said Carol. "She's a survivor."
"Yeah," said Bobby.
"She's being strong for you right now so you have to be strong for her."
"Yeah, okay. I can do that."
Ronnie Anne unlocked her apartment door. Bobby walked inside holding his flashlight up while keeping his gun lowered and Ronnie Anne followed her.
A sudden rotting odor hit the nose of every group member that walked into the apartment.
"Ugh," groaned Lincoln.
Sweat formed in Ronnie Anne's forehead as she her heart began to beat faster.
"Oh, no..." whispered Ronnie Anne before she cried out. "Mamá? Abuela?"
Lincoln handed a flashlight to Ronnie Anne which she used as she walked around the living room. She looked inside her grandparent's room.
"Abuelo? Tia? Tio?"
Ronnie Anne walked down the hallway, checking each room one by one.
"Carlota? Carl? C.J.?"
Ronnie Anne even looked inside the bathroom, getting more desperate.
"Carlitos? Sergio? Lalo? Anyone?"
Ronnie Anne then walked into her room, seeing her bed made. There was a certain fresh aroma to it, different from the rotting odor she smelled from the rest of the apartment.
"There's no one here," said Ronnie Anne in a defeated tone.
"Where's that smell coming from then?" asked Lincoln.
Bobby shined a flashlight at the kitchen, seeing flies hovering over a bowl of rotten fruit.
"Oh, man... I think that's where it's coming from," said Bobby.
Ronnie Anne tossed the rotting fruit out of the apartment window before closing it. She then closed the curtains as Lincoln grabbed some of Rosa's candles. He lit them up using Luna's lighter as Bobby walked out of the bathroom with her mother's tools.
Bobby entered his room, handing the tools over to Lisa, who was sitting on a chair next to the bed where Luan was lying down. Candles lit up the room.
"Here."
"Thank you," said Lisa. "Carol, you are going to point the flashlight where my hands are, okay?"
"Got it," said Carol.
"Is this going to hurt?" asked Luan.
"A tad," said Lisa.
Carol stopped drawing breath as she looked ahead.
"Move the light to her eyes, please..."
The flashing images of the light from a gunshot appeared in her head as instant as blood coming out of Tad's waist. Sweat moved very slowly down Carol's face as she blinked rapidly.
"Carol," said Lisa, nudging her. "I said to point the flashlight at her eyes."
"Right," said Carol.
Carol did what Lisa asked. She then exhaled deeply and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Hmm..." sighed Lisa.
"What's that? What's 'hmm'?" asked Luan in a panicked voice.
"Carol, right temple."
Carol aimed the flashlight at Luan's right temple.
"Ooh," said Lisa, washing a towel with alcohol. "It's a miracle the bullet only grazed you. Just a millimeter to the left and you may not have been here with us."
"Lucky me..." said Luan before coughing. "Oh, crap..."
Bobby sighed and walked out of the room.
"Bobby, can I get a bottle of- Bobby?" asked Lisa before noticing he was gone.
Bobby walked to the living room, seeing the group members all huddled around the candles in front of the sofa and TV.
"Is Luan going to be okay?" asked Luna.
Bobby looked at Luna and nodded.
"Oh, yeah, yeah... she's... she's alive," said Bobby. "Can you help out Lisa and Carol?"
"Sure thing, dude."
Luna walked over to Bobby's room as he continued to move away.
Ronnie Anne removed the latex gloves from her hands and tossed them into the trash can in the kitchen. Lincoln placed a lantern on the table where the rotten fruit was and lit it up.
"Your abuela's candles should remove the odor soon enough," said Lincoln.
"I hope so," said Ronnie Anne. "Man... I can't believe I'm saying this, but... I'd rather smell this than the air fresheners we use in Vanzilla."
Lincoln smiled and lifted a candle.
"Maybe we can take some with us," he said.
"Don't be silly, Lame-O," said Ronnie Anne. "We can't light that in a car."
"I know, I meant for when we get to Houlton. We can find a good house and put these up everywhere. At least until your abuela arrives at Houlton."
"Yeah, that's an idea."
Ronnie Anne looked around the kitchen and opened some counters. She let out a laugh.
"Man, it's crazy. The fact that this kitchen looks like just like how I left it. Only thing that's missing is the canned food. Look, no frijoles, no salsa, no pasta. That's pretty much how it's been for every house we set up in, right?"
"I think so, yes."
"It's like time froze. And every time we find a house to sleep in for the night... we're watching what the house looked like as time froze. Like, look at this fridge. The pictures are still up..."
Ronnie Anne's eyes widened.
Bobby walked into the kitchen and closed his eyes, thinking about the gunshots and the roamer that took down Tad.
Ronnie Anne looked over at him.
"Bobby, look," said Ronnie Anne.
Bobby opened his eyes and saw Ronnie Anne aiming her flashlight at a note on the fridge. The two of them walked up to it.
Lincoln scratched his head as he walked up to the fridge as well. As soon as he read the first four words, he backed away.,
"To Roberto and Ronalda. Hopefully, you enjoyed your trip to Royal Woods to visit Lori and her family. However, as you can see, there has been a crisis going on around the world. The airports closed so there was no way for you guys to fly back to us, just as there is no way for us to come to you guys by plane. We are taking a trip to Detroit and then Royal Woods in hopes of finding you guys. However, after realizing that you guys are not there, we will come back. So stay put, my children. We will come back and we will be together. We will be together so we can face this nightmare as a family. I'll be back soon. Con amor, tu madre."
Ronnie Anne sighed and smiled.
"So it looks like Liam's right," said Ronnie Anne. "They're on their way here."
Bobby went speechless as he rubbed his lips with his hands. Tears welled up in his eyes as he turned around and leaned against the wall using his head against his arm. He felt his heartbeat slow down as he thought about the gunshots and the roamer that took Tad down.
Tears dripped from his face as he whimpered.
"Bobby?" murmured Ronnie Anne.
Bobby's crying became more audibly clear as he tried restraining himself.
"Bobby, they're gonna be fine!" said Ronnie Anne. "Right, Lincoln?"
"Yeah, your mom's tough and your abuela's fierce. Your Tio Carlos is pretty smart and-"
"I'm sorry," sobbed Bobby quietly. "I'm so sorry..."
Ronnie Anne began to get choked up.
"What... why are you sorry?" she asked.
"I'm a bad person... please... forgive me..."
"I don't understand..."
Lincoln walked closer to Bobby.
"Bobby, please calm down," said Lincoln. "You're... you're not making any sense right now. What's wrong?"
Bobby thought about Tad's words from yesterday. He began to sob harder, enough for the group members to hear him from the living room.
"You hear that?" asked Clyde.
"Yeah, it's coming from the kitchen," said Sam.
"Let's go check it out," said Zach.
"Dude, no."
"Why not?"
"Because someone's crying in there, you dolt," said Tabby.
"Yeah, what she said," nodded Liam.
"Oh," said Zach.
Bobby continued to sob as Ronnie Anne grabbed his arm and shook it.
"Hey, stop that," said Ronnie Anne. "You're kinda freaking me out."
"Mamá's not coming back," sniffled Bobby. "Not Abuela. Not Abuelo. Not Tio Carlos. Not Tia Frida. Not Carlota. Not C.J. Not Carl. Not Carlitos. No one. They... they're gone."
Ronnie Anne began to tear up as she looked at Bobby.
"Alright, that's enough," said Ronnie Anne. "I'm gonna hit you in the arm if you don't stop messing with me."
"I'm not... messing with you. They're really... dead. I don't know about Mamá, but I saw the others outside of Detroit. I saw their bodies... with bullet holes in them. I saw Abuelo's van."
Bobby turned around and grabbed Ronnie Anne's shoulders and looked straight at her with sorrowful eyes.
"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Please... forgive me..."
"You... you... they're dead?"
Bobby wiped his nose and nodded before Ronnie Anne shoved his arms away.
"H-How... how did you... when was this?"
"Just after we escaped the Detroit Safe-Zone... we took a break in the highway... and that's when I saw them."
"And what do you mean you don't know about Mamá? What, you didn't see her there?"
Bobby shook his head.
"But... she could be out there as a roamer," sniffled Bobby. "Maybe that's why I didn't see her."
Ronnie Anne grabbed her knees as Lincoln took a deep breath, trying not to cry himself.
"I was afraid of how'd you react..."
"I had the right to know!" screamed Ronnie Anne. "What the actual heck were you thinking? You made me hope they were alive all this time! All this time... you lied straight to my face! This... this stupid letter means nothing! Nothing at all!"
Ronnie Anne ripped apart the note as Lincoln approached her with his arms slightly raised.
"Hey, Ronnie..." whispered Lincoln.
"You have to be seeing things. No way you saw our entire family dead outside of Detroit. You're an idiot. Idiot make mistakes. Lots of them! That's why they're idiots! You're seeing things aren't you?"
Bobby shook his head.
"I don't believe this. They can't be dead. They can't be."
Ronnie Anne stormed out of the kitchen. The group members watched her walk by as she stepped outside of the apartment.
"They can't be. They can't be."
Lincoln looked at Bobby as he tried to follow her out of the kitchen. He then grabbed his arm and shook his head.
"I'll go," said Lincoln.
"Okay," sniffled Bobby.
Lincoln stepped out of the kitchen and walked out of the apartment. He heard footsteps from up the stairwell and followed it.
"What was that?" asked Luna, coming out of Bobby's room.
The group members all looked at Luna awkwardly.
"We'll tell ya later," said Chunk. "Just focus on helping your sister, love."
Bobby grabbed a chair and sat on it, staring blankly at the ripped note. He then looked at the candles and closed his eyes with his hands, sobbing again.
Lori pointed ahead.
"That's the apartment," said Lori.
"Our vehicles are right there too," said David.
Lori, David, Richard, George, Dana, and Wavehead walked by Vanzilla, Chunk's van, and Chaz's car. Lori opened the door to the bodega and allowed George and Richard to drop Bruna inside.
"Fuck, how can a carrying a hundred-pound woman get me so fucking exhausted?" groaned Richard.
"Our brain's missing some sleep and our stomach's missing some food," panted George. "Plus, those five blocks were long as hell."
"True that."
"I see our vehicles," said Wavehead. "But I don't see any of our group members."
"I think they're upstairs," said Lori, grabbing her walkie-talkie. "Let me check."
David grabbed Lori's wrist and shook his head.
"The Piranhas can hear," said David.
"Oh. Right. I'll go check upstairs then."
Lori walked to the stairwell and up to a door that led to an apartment floor. Dana and Wavehead were behind her as she continued to walk upstairs.
Bruna groaned as she blinked her eyes open.
"Ugh... what the fuck... just hit me?" groaned Bruna.
George unbuttoned his shirt and grabbed his knife. He cut off the sleeves and tied them together before using it to gag Bruna.
Bruna made some muffled protests as George put his shirt back on.
"Next time... a warning would be helpful," said George, looking at Richard.
Lori looked at the floor. She then mustered the strength to say something.
"I'm... I'm sorry about Tad," said Lori.
"I'm sorry too," said Dana. "I can only imagine what Becky is feeling."
"Yeah."
Lori, Dana, and Wavehead arrived outside of the Casagrande apartment. Lori knocked on the apartment door softly.
"Who is it?" asked a voice from the other side, sounding like Clyde.
"It's Lori."
"L-Lori? Okay, come in!"
Lori opened the door and found all the group members huddled around the candles in the living room. She smiled and felt relieved seeing them all safe. However, the mood seemed tense.
"What happened?" asked Lori.
"Oh, nothing," said Clyde. "This is a really nice apartment. And nice curtains. And nice... oh, I can't do this. Someone tell her already."
"Tell me what? Oh, please tell me Luan's alright."
"Oh, no, she's fine," said Sam. "It's just... Bobby and his sister got in a fight. Apparently... their family's... dead?"
"What? Where are they?"
"Bobby's in the kitchen," said Tabby. "And Ronnie Anne walked out. Lincoln followed her too. B-But you did hear Sam, right?"
"Yeah, I heard."
"Just thought you'd have a bigger reaction."
"Oh, I knew. It's Ronnie Anne I'm worried about. Where exactly did she go?"
"I think I heard them go up."
"God. If Lincoln's with her..."
Lori walked into the kitchen.
The group members then heard vomiting coming from Bobby's room.
"Oh, what now?" groaned Clyde.
Lori looked at Bobby, who was sitting alone in the dining table with a candle in front of him. He turned around and stood up, opening his arm.
Lori gave him a hug as Bobby's arms wrapped around her.
"I told her," said Bobby. "I didn't want to, but..."
"I get it," said Lori, crying too. "We're going to go through this together. Okay, Boo-Boo Bear?"
Bobby nodded. He then heard vomiting coming from his room.
"Oh, man," sniffled Bobby. "That doesn't sound good."
"Let's go check it out," said Lori.
The two stepped outside the kitchen, catching the attention of all the group members, despite how hard they tried not to look.
Liam then stood up.
"I'm gonna go check up on Lincoln and Ronnie Anne," said Liam. "Gonna make sure Ronnie don't throw Lincoln off a roof or sum'."
"Okay, Liam," said Lori. "Stay safe and remember everyone: don't use a walkie. The Piranhas may be on the other line."
"Gotcha."
"Oh, and Wavehead, tell David everyone's up here," said Lori.
"Got it," said Wavehead.
"Hold on, Liam," said Tabby. "I want to come with."
"Oh, naw, it's fine. Trust me, it's better for me to be alone."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Tabby rubbed her arm.
"Okay," said Tabby, sounding dejected.
Liam gave a guilty nod and walked out of the apartment with Wavehead.
"She seems into you," said Wavehead.
"She is into me," said Liam. "I just can't let her come with me. I don't want her to hear what I gotta tell Lincoln and Ronnie Anne."
"Ah. Gotcha."
Wavehead walked downstairs. Liam sighed before going up the stairs.
Luan held a bucket as she vomited into it before lowering it down to the floor. She then lay on her back and groaned softly.
"Is throwing up part of having a concussion?" asked Luan.
"Actually, yes," said Lisa. "But I suspect something else may be at play."
"You think so?" asked Carol.
Lisa nodded.
"And you can't tell right away what it is? I think I'm in real trouble," Luan chuckled nervously.
"With no MRI, CAT, nor X-ray scans, it is quite difficult to tell what is going on inside your head," explained Lisa. "But perhaps... the problem is not neurological."
"What do you mean?"
Lori and Bobby walked into the room, causing Lisa, Luan, Luna, and Carol to look at them.
"Ah, welcome, eldest sister and her partner," greeted Lisa. "Good news. I made a small incision in Luan's temple and found out that her brain is undergoing some pressure, but not enough to require a cranioscopy. It's a serious concussion for sure, but it's manageable with medicine and rest."
"So she'll be okay?" asked Lori. "No internal bleeding or anything like that?"
"Not to my knowledge."
"So... what's the bad news?"
"Her eyes are yellow. She has a fever. She is coughing. She is vomiting. She is sweating. Her heart rate is slow. Do any of these symptoms sound familiar to you?"
Lori looked at Luna, who shrugged.
Carol thought about her time in the attic of the grocery store back when the herd trapped her with a bitten Lola. Her eyes then widened.
"Oh my god..." whispered Carol. "She's infected."
Lori was shocked. She looked at Luan and shook her head.
Luna uncrossed her arm, not believing what she just heard.
Luan herself was shocked as well.
"W-What? Infected?" gasped Luan.
"N-No... she can't be... when was she bit?" asked Lori.
"That's the thing," said Lisa. "She wasn't. I inspected every part of her body. And yes, I mean every part."
"No need to repeat it!" groaned Luan.
"So how...?" asked Lori.
"Perhaps ingestion? Inhalation? The infection has fungal traits- or at least, it appears to display that. Meaning the blood can have spores that Luan inhaled through her nasal holes. Or perhaps she accidentally ingested some roamer blood. There were, after all, a lot of roamer corpses near where she landed after she suffered her gunshot wound."
"No, no, she didn't land by any roamer," said Bobby. "Just on the ground."
"On her side?"
"Y-Yeah."
"There was a pool of blood in the ground, was there not?"
"There was almost no blood in her face though!"
"It may be enough to just inhale it," said Lisa.
"But she wasn't breathing when she got shot," said Lori. "So she couldn't have inhaled it, right?"
"I suppose not. Hmm. Curious."
"Wait... she had blood on her lips," said Carol. "I know because I tasted it when I gave her CPR."
Lisa looked at Carol with a concerned expression.
"Now that you mention it..." said Luan, "...I did taste something weird when I woke up. Like, the taste of blood in my mouth."
"If you're infected, then... does that mean I'm infected too?"
Worry grew in Carol's eyes as she looked at the fearful group members around her.
The only person not looking at her was Lisa.
Ronnie Anne looked out the roof, her sorrowful eyes looking at the light in the distance coming from the burning cars, though she couldn't see the burning cars themselves. Her wiped the mucus from her nose, though she continued to sob quietly.
Lincoln stood next to her, looking out the roof. He was crying silently with Ronnie Anne.
Then, Ronnie Anne took a deep sigh and broke the silence.
"Do you think... my mom's actually alive?"
Lincoln wiped his eyes.
"I don't know," he answered.
"That's... that's not what I wanted to hear."
"You deserve to know the truth, right?"
Ronnie Anne placed her arms on the parapet wall on the edge of the roof and buried her lower face in it.
"Why don't you know?" she asked.
"If Bobby didn't see your mom, then there must be two possibilities. One, she survived and escaped- like Mr. Yates. Or two, she was bitten by a roamer at some point, and she turned and wandered off the area. But... if it were the former... wouldn't she have been in Royal Woods with the others? Wouldn't she have tried to go to my house to see if you were there? And if it were the latter... wouldn't Bobby have found her nearby? The highway outside of Detroit... it had guardrails and was full of cars. It was like a maze, and as we were able to see back near Lake George, it's hard for roamers to escape jammed roads. So... could she have escaped initially then later died? Or did she hole up somewhere with some other survivors and did make it to my house... but we were already gone by the time she got there?"
"That's assuming Bobby is even telling the truth. Maybe he did see my mother too."
"I don't think he's lying. It sounded like he wasn't holding anything back."
"Regardless... I don't think my mom's alive. She's tough and smart, yes, but... she can't make it alone. With everything we've faced, who can?"
"Maybe she's not alone. I mean... did you expect to come home with Liam, Zach, Rusty, Tabby? Sam? Carol? Benny? Sergei? Who knows who your mom will come back home with?"
"Darn it, Lame-O... don't start giving me false hope..."
"Not false hope. Just hope."
"It doesn't matter anyways. She's not coming back with the rest of the family."
The rooftop door creaked as it opened. Both Lincoln and Ronnie Anne turned around, seeing Liam come out of it. Ronnie Anne quickly wiped her tears.
"Hey, y'all," said Liam, closing the door. "Hope I ain't interrupting nothin'."
"What do you want, Liam?" asked Ronnie Anne, clearing her throat.
"Just checkin' up on a friend. We all overheard back there and... geez, it's a lot to take in."
"Geez, you think?"
"I wanna apologize for raising your hopes up the other day. Honest to God, I thought your folks were still alive.
Liam sighed.
"As someone who knows what you're goin' through... it doesn't really get that much easier. When things get real bad, don't hesitate to talk to me or someone."
Liam tilted his head towards Lincoln.
Ronnie Anne looked away and walked past Liam as she headed for the rooftop door.
"Whatever, Liam," said Ronnie Anne, her voice breaking. "I just want to be alone for now."
Ronnie Anne left the roof, leaving Lincoln and Liam in the rooftop together.
"What about you, pal?" asked Liam. "You're doin' alright?"
"Not really. Ronnie's family were really good people. They didn't deserve to die."
"Does anyone?"
"Only the people who killed them. And the ones like them, like the Piranhas."
"Yeah, I guess they do."
"It really hurts me to see Ronnie Anne like this. Bobby should've... said something earlier."
"But you can see why he didn't, right? Same reason why we're not telling our people about the darn logbook."
"I think I should. Keeping it a secret is just going to get people killed. Forget giving them false hope. I'd rather have them alive than come with us to this trip."
"Would you really be keeping 'em safe if you tell 'em about the logbook? They can't just pack up and head back to Royal Woods. All you'd be doin' is takin' their hope away."
"But you saw how Ronnie Anne reacted."
"What did you think she came up all this way to do? You're a good guy, Lincoln. If you hadn't chased after her, who knows what she would've done."
"Liam..."
"I'd be darned if you tell anyone, especially Tabby. Some people need hope to live. You gotta understand that."
Lincoln sighed and groaned as he rubbed his forehead.
"I hate keeping secrets," said Lincoln. "Now I see how Bobby felt."
"You don't gotta keep all secrets. The other day, I snuck out and told Tabby how I felt. She says she felt the same. I couldn't be happier, Lincoln. But then Ronnie Anne caught us. She was gonna rat us out, but then... well, I threatened to reveal your logbook secret. Wasn't really going to, but Ronnie Anne didn't know that. Only reason she didn't rat us out was because she didn't want our people to turn on you. She really digs you, you know. You should definitely tell her how you feel about her."
"I... I only see her as a best friend."
"Huh, looks like I was wrong. You ain't such a great liar after all. We can die at any moment, Lincoln. May not be the best timing now, considering Ronnie Anne just found out her family's dead, but... when she's ready... you better tell her you dig her."
Liam sighed and walked away from the parapet.
"Let's head back now, Lincoln. Your sister's back."
Lincoln nodded and followed Liam as they walked to the rooftop door.
David looked out the bodega door, keeping watch.
Richard kept his flashlight pointed at Bruna's face as she tried to speak and move her arms.
"Hey, quiet down," said Richard. "Can't you see Agent Cane's trying to speak?"
Bruna stopped struggling as she looked up at George, her eyes displaying anger.
George crouched and looked at Bruna at eye level.
"I know who you are, Bruna. You know who I am. We don't have to make this difficult. You answer my questions... and I won't hurt you. Hell, we might even let you go. But if you refuse to cooperate... well, I really don't wanna hurt you."
"But I do," said Richard. "So, please. Give me an excuse."
Bruna's eyes turned into one of nervousness.
George then removed the makeshift gag from Bruna's mouth. She gasped as saliva dripped from her mouth.
"Why... why would I tell you anything?" panted Bruna. "You... you killed my people. We killed yours. I don't believe you. You're... you're just going to kill me after."
"I won't. My people won't. You have my word."
"You sure had us fooled when you were one of us. I can't trust you."
"Well, you don't really have a choice," said Richard. "We will get answers no matter what."
Richard grabbed his knife and pointed it close to her face.
"You're probably familiar with all the ways to get answers out of someone, huh?"
"I... I'm not. I only moved stuff."
"He will seriously hurt you if you don't cooperate," said George.
"What Sherry will do to me is worse if I talk. Besides... I don't have anywhere to go. So letting me go free... there's nowhere to go."
"First question."
"W-Wait-"
"Where did Sherry take the RV?"
"I-I don't know."
Richard grabbed her arms and pinned her down.
Bruna began to whimper. As Richard kneed on her legs and grabbed her wrist, she began to scream.
"Wait! No, stop! Please!"
"Wait," said George.
Richard placed his knife under her thumb nail.
Bruna began to hyperventilate before George stepped in and grabbed Richard's wrist.
"Wait!" said George sternly. "Don't."
Suddenly, the two turned towards the back door as they see Wavehead staring at them.
"I... uh..." stammered Wavehead. "Everyone's... upstairs."
David walked over to Wavehead.
"You guys are good here?" asked David.
"Yeah," said George.
"Let's go, kid," said David.
David and Wavehead went upstairs through the back door.
Richard looked at George and moved his hand away.
"The more she wastes time, the farther Sherry's getting away," said Richard.
"Yeah, I know, it's just-" said George before looking down.
Bruna kept hyperventilating.
George motioned Richard to move away from Bruna before picking her up.
"Hey, easy there," said George. "Take slow breaths. Easy."
"My god, what a pussy," said Richard. "Now she's not gonna take you seriously."
Bruna began to breathe slower as her chest continued to move back and forth.
"I... I..." stuttered Bruna.
"I know," said George. "I'm sorry. Like I said... I really don't want to hurt you."
"You... you know?"
George nodded. He grabbed his canteen of water and fed it to Bruna, who took a few sips.
"What Sherry did with Cassie... you couldn't stand it, huh?"
"And Joan. We... we deserved better..."
Bruna sniffled as George carefully sat her down.
"What in the hell are you two talking about?" asked Richard.
George raised his hand in an attempt to shush Richard. He then continued to look at Bruna.
"Are you really going to let me go if I tell you everything?" asked Bruna.
George nodded. He then took out a small packet of marijuana joints.
"Will let you even keep this," said George.
"What the-?"
Bruna looked down at her own vest. She looked back up at George.
"Had to make sure you had no weapons on you," said George. "You only had a pistol and a knife. A full pistol? Not too used to firefights, huh?"
"Don't mistake it with me being a good person. I just didn't want to get shot."
"Why are you still with the Piranhas?"
"I want to stay alive. We're armed. We got numbers. And... because I owed it to Joan."
George sighed.
"You tell us what we need to know and we'll let you go. You go and you don't look back. Deal?"
"Yeah. Deal."
"Great. First question..."
Ronnie Anne stepped into her room, the fresh aroma surrounding her. She sat on her bed, looking at the dust around the cabinets, the TV, the closet. She then turned over and cried into her pillow.
David stood in front of the group members inside the Casagrande apartment.
"I know, I know... you're all worried about them," said David. "We're still looking for answers, but rest assured, we're getting them."
"How?" asked Lincoln.
"We captured a Piranha. At this moment, both Richard and George are questioning her."
"Like we did with Gus?" asked Sam.
"Yeah."
"We can't make the same mistake we made then," said Dana. "Once they're done questioning her... they should kill her."
David sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"You're right. We can't make the same mistake. We're not doing any hostage trading. But we're not going to execute Bruna. Not yet, anyways."
"So that's her name?" scoffed Tabby.
"We have every reason to," said Dana. "Keeping her alive is only going to endanger us. It's going to get our people killed."
"We can't focus on that yet," said David. "For now, we have to focus on getting our people back. When we get our answers, we're going to mount a rescue mission. It's not gonna be any easy task."
"How do we even know if they're alive?" asked Rusty.
"Last thing Bobby saw was Sherry holding Benny at gunpoint. This was after shooting Tad and Luan. If she wanted to kill everyone in the RV, she would've started with Benny."
"So what does Sherry need with hostages?" asked Zach.
"George says the Piranhas did experiments on some of the people they trafficked not too long before the GIE. He doesn't understand exactly why, but if that's true, then we're dealing with another situation not unlike that with the rogues."
The group members looked at each other.
"If Sherry's smart, she will keep them alive until the very last moment. She needs them after all if we're going to confront her. And that's what we're going to do."
David opened the door.
"I'm going to go check on the others."
As David reached the bodega downstairs, he saw George, Bruna, and Richard all standing up, looking at him.
"We got answers," said George.