Infection- Book 2

Chapter 4- Safe Place

Sitting against the bed frame, I pressed my fingers into my temples as my mind wandered. I knew this wasn't going to be a piece of cake to figure out, but I never in a million years thought I'd lose so many people along the way. I pushed myself up and swung my closet door open, pulling Doggy's purple hoodie over my head. When I seated myself back on my bed, I flipped the hood up and grabbed my upper arms.

"We'll figure this out soon, don't worry."

"I'll be by your side the whole time, no matter what happens."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I squeezed my eyes shut and curled up on my bed. "You promised..."

"Hey!" I jolted awake at the sound of an explosion. "Come on, wake up already, Jade! We need to get out of here!" George shouted from the foot of my bed. I jumped up and threw the covers into the wall, opening the door.

"The hell is going on?" I shouted over the explosions. George followed me out and darted
down the hallway.

"No time, get everyone outside!" He took off down the stairs before I could even reply.

I hopped to pull my shoes on as Giraffy's door swung open. "What is that sound?" I tripped over a food cart on my way to the stairs, my cheek slamming into the ground.

"Fuck-!" I shouted, rubbing my cheek. "I don't know. Just get everyone outside." He gave me a single nod and trailed behind me down the stairs. "George is on the second. You get the third and I'll get the last!" Giraffy disappeared through the doors of the third floor as I continued down the stairs. The windows were completely shattered on my way down, and furniture was thrown against the back walls.

I flipped Pony's light on and pounded on the open door. He looked up at me, startled. "We need to get out of here. Quick!" He pulled his beanie over his forehead and threw his jacket over his shoulders, following me down to the bottom floor. Everyone else was already waiting for us.

"Everyone out!" I shouted as we continued down the final stairs. I followed after everyone else outside to see them throwing their hands in the air. The Silver Paw stood in the front of the large gate with weapons drawn, firing a cannon into the Safe Place.

"Rise and shine!" Willow shouted. "Looks like we managed to get you out of bed!" I growled, stepping out in front of everyone with my arms across the group.

"Where are the girls?" I muttered to Pony. Zee and Zuzy were nowhere to be found inside or outside the Safe Place. He shrugged.

"I've been told that some of you caused quite a stir at one of our outposts." She snickered, tapping her food against the ground.

Pony looked at her, disgusted. "How could you do this, Willow? You're destroying the home of many innocent people!"

Willow scoffed. "And you really think you didn't do the same? That's cute. The refinery was the home of many people, too."

I looked back at Pony, who looked confused out of his mind before realization hit. "Zizzy," he murmured to me. Pony and I hadn't destroyed the building, but she said she'd sabotage as much as she could when we left. I turned back to Willow and her crew.

"You, the sleazy cop and that zebra have all caused many relocations. We can't afford to feed them all in one place."

George ducked underneath my arm and pointed a finger at Willow. "Leave them alone! You took Zizzy away from us!" he screamed. Willow cocked her gun, and I threw George back behind me.

"Listen, kid. As much as I'd like to defend your friends' actions, they've done some horrible things to my people." George rubbed his elbow as he stood up from the ground. "Take them with us. We'll keep them all in one place where we can control what they do."

Giraffy shouted out from behind me, "You can't do this to us! We haven't done anything!"

Willow narrowed her eyes. "And we'll make sure it stays that way."

The rusty cell door clicked shut as the lock was fastened. Willow stood with her arms crossed in front of us, leaning to the side in a relaxed manner. "You'll all be staying here until you either cooperate or wear out. I'll be looking forward to talking to you soon!" She twirled her gun around her finger as she left the room.

Giraffy sighed, turning to Pony. "Pony, we owe you an apology."

Pony leaned against the concrete walls with his arms crossed. "What for?"

Mimi stepped in front of Giraffy. "We shouldn't have met with the group. You were right to be suspicious of it. We were wrong."

I ran a hand through my hair as the group said their apologies, thinking back to the radio encounter we had, and how the voice sounded so familiar. The thought began eating at me. "I
need to apologize for something, too." The group all turned to look at me. "I recognized her voice when the radio picked up the signal. I didn't know who it was at first, but I was suspicious of it, too. I just didn't want to say anything since we hadn't encountered any survivors for so long. I'm so sorry, you guys. I could've stopped this if I hadn't ignored it."

The others blinked at me in disbelief for a moment. They all fell silent, which only made me feel worse as I staggered to the corner of the cell. Against the ground, I curled up in the corner and buried my face in my knees, feeling the cloth of my leggings dampen.

I couldn't even hear the others' breathing. That's how quiet the group went after I confessed. Even with my head down, I could see their disappointed faces. Staring in disbelief at me on the ground, or at each other. I threw a hand over my head and pressed my face deeper into my knees when I felt a sudden wave of tears force their way out of my eyes; trying to contain them only made it worse.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of silence, I heard somebody kneel down in front of me and gently rub my shoulder. My head shot up in surprise before seeing Mimi with her head tilted off to the side. The others continued to stare at me, but nothing in their expressions read disappointment. They looked... calm.

"We all made a mistake today," Mimi started, squeezing my shoulder. "Nothing you did led us here; we're all partially at fault." I leaned my head against the wall and squinted my eyes. "But the important thing is that we get out of here, okay?" I wiped my eyes and gently nodded before resting against the wall again.

Mimi pushed off her knees to stand and extended her hand to me. After helping me up, she pulled me into a tight hug. My arms were frozen in mid-air from shock. "Don't beat yourself up too much. We're in this together."

I sighed and placed my arms around her, burying my face in her shoulder. "Thank you," I squeaked, squeezing her tighter. She pulled away but placed her hands over mine, which were against her shoulders. After a couple nods, she released me and turned to the group. They all smiled tiredly, and George even threw his arms around my waist.

"Guys, thank you," I finally said. "I promise you, we'll find a way out of here. One way or another."