Epilogue

Epilogue 2.06

---Em---

     "Does anyone else have any concerns they'd like to address?" Wates searches me out in the crowd and locks eyes with me, as if egging me on. I'm not stupid enough to take him up on it; if he can send Comma flying with a flick of his wrist, there's no telling what he can do to me.

     "Looks like there's a new player in town," I mutter.

     "Technically, this is their town," Topher points out. "That'd make us the new players."

     "Comma—"

     "Go check on her. I'll keep an eye on the wiz kid."

     I nod and hasten off. Comma's already back on her feet when I get to her. She leans against the subway car for support, the side of it plastered with scratched up paint from some movie ad campaign. She snaps her neck to the side, and it makes an unsettling crunch.

     "Are you okay?"

     She gives me the dirtiest of looks.

     "What?"

     "Don't what me." She averts her gaze when I look at her, scowling at the ground. There's a funny sort of look on her eyes that I can't quite put my finger on, until it dawns on me that I haven't actually seen her bested before. Not even by the glowdark that tried to chew out her insides. She's embarrassed.

     Comma, embarrassed. Go figure. I must have one hell of a smirk on my face, because she grabs me by the collar, choking me a little.

     "You have something to say?"

     "It's not a big deal, you know," I wheeze. She loosens her grip when I start gasping for air. "You're only human."

     "No, I'm not."

     "Oh yeah. I forgot. In that case, you should be ashamed of yourself."

     She winces and closes her eyes. Rubs her palms against her temples. Universal sign language for "I've got a headache from hell."

     "But really, are you okay?"

     "I'm fine. Need to take a walk." She shoves past me and then stalks off into the shadows. Hopefully she doesn't get bitten by another rat.

     I sense a yawn coming on. Hard to believe we've only been here a single day—feels like six. A good night's rest will do me good. Just the thought of sleep has my heart racing; every time I slip into that hazy state, there's a chance Olivia will try and reach out to me. I know she spoke to me when I was on death's door; I'm certain of it. She was trying to tell me something, but I keep on drawing a blank. If I could just hear her voice again...

     When I get back to our not-so-mobile home, Gail, Mya, and Crawford are all in deep contemplation. I don't mean to disturb them, so I kind of just quietly head for the east end of the car, where there are a couple of holey mattresses and unwashed blankets from the last batch of new recruits. I try not to think about how we're all basically a bunch of hobos now.

     Before I can flop down on the mattress, Gail snaps out of her trance. "What happened out there? Is Comma...?"

     "She'll be fine." I hope. "For now." Gail's got heavy circles on her eyes, and her hair is all frizzy. Normally that dishevelled sort of look would be off-putting, but that was pretty much the look back in zombie central. And she looks cuter when her hair's a mess, anyway. And that's not just pseudo-Olivia's brainwashing doing the talking.