𝙵𝙻𝙴𝚂𝙷 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙱𝙾𝙽𝙴 | 𝚃. 𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙾 𐂃

Chapter 10

This chapter is a bit longer than usual. Enjoy!

"Hey, hey, hey, long time no see!" Cristine licked the corner of her lip before she gruffly gnawed at it with her teeth and turned around to face a cheery Troy. He held his arms out as if he was ready to hug a close friend he hadn't seen in years. She blinked at the bloody patch on his right eye, Madison Clark's handiwork, and some liquid leaked down his cheek. Cristine's expression remained the same. Troy dropped his arms and turbulently wiped his hands against the sides of his pants. The mercurial smile on his face was like that of a child who had a secret to tell.

Cristine didn't want to comment on the state of his eye and asked, "I'm looking for-"

"Martha died." Troy bluntly delivered the news with a light tilt of his lip. When he said it, he tipped his chin up and watched her reaction. "Last night. She and Russell burned to ashes. You were out on guard duty at the sentry tower, so you missed the fire." Cristine blinked, her face stiff and refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response. Troy didn't seem to care too much, his mood was surprisingly good, as creepy as it was talking about the deaths of fellow Ranch members. His supposed people. He stalked in the direction of the medium sized table with some prepackaged medical equipment and took one. "You seem to find the best things lately."

"I seem to be lucky lately." Troy looked back at her and put forth a mock impression of awe, but didn't press on the issue.

"When we could finally pull out what was left of the bodies, you know since we couldn't waste the water, I thought they would turn." Troy switched back to telling the tragic story of the elderly couple. "But then we realized that the fire was an accident, but their deaths weren't. Russell put a bullet through both their brains. I guess he wanted to go out with his spouse who had already turned." Something of an enthused sigh relaxed Troy's broad shoulders. He wiped the side of his cheek from the blood line trickling down and muttered a curse under his breath.

"Let me fix that." Cristine offered not out of concern or courtesy, but he most likely came here to get his injury treated. While she cleaned his wound, the sound of him crumpling the plastic sterilized kit filled the infirmary. He didn't so much as flinch when she swiped at the injury with a cotton of saline solution.

Then Troy wondered out loud, "it's fascinating you know. How someone would give their life for another person for no other reason than loyalty and love." It made Trot think back to what Madison said, talking about her now dead husband. He didn't understand how someone could love another's life more than their own. It was bizarre and fascinating and seeing it again with Russell and Martha just piqued Troy's interest again.

Cristine patted the damaged skin dry with a clean towel and looked down at her hands to undo the non-adhesive and waterproof plaster from its cover. She didn't put much thought to her words, too focused on planting it against his blood soaked eye. "For some people that's more than enough."

"Was it for you?" He asked the woman that stood right across from him. The question emerged from his mouth amid his thoughtful daze - but it was no longer about love- it had changed into something disturbing. "I mean, that's why you crossed half the state right? Risked it all to come here knowing that you could get killed at any point. At any time." His eye was almost translucent, glossy from the light. Like the palest blue tintes glass, it was too soft to be turquoise, too bright to be baby blue.

"Wouldn't you do the same for your father? For Jake?"

When Cristine countered with the exact same question, his lips curled into a smile and he shrugged. "It's different, we've always been together. We never had to worry about separating, because there was no reason for us to."