Covered in blood, Gerry sat at the table closest to the door. His leg bounced as he stared at the puddles of red on the floor. He scratched at his hands, then observed his nails. His moment of disgust was relatable.

Having grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge, I passed it over to him. He glanced at it before averting his gaze. "That doesn't work."

I cocked a brow. So, the whole water thing was bullshit, huh? I knew it. I pursed my lips. "Humor me."

He looked up at me when I refused to move. He waited a minute but grabbed the water. "Fine," he muttered.

I understand how he felt. I knew the feeling. Sitting with someone else's blood on you wasn't great. It was hot, gross, and honestly... made you question yourself. Gerry needed a moment. And I needed new clothes.

I turned away from Gerry, giving him his space to mentally sulk. I needed to do the same thing. Looking down at my chest, I stared at the rips in my tee. It wasn't my favorite, but it was still a good shirt. The white was gone, stained dark red and black. The blood crusted over, and it itched. Tugging at the color, I pulled it off over my head.

I carried my shirt with me as I walked over to the windows. I took one glance outside, making sure that the 'customer' who'd bothered Gerry earlier was long gone. Once I knew the streets were empty, I closed the blinds. Then I sighed.

I hope that guy doesn't find Riley or Fiona. They don't need that tonight.

"Ugh," I sighed as I looked down at my body. My right arm, with the half sleeve I wanted to complete one day, was redder than the rest of me. Lifting it closer to my face, I noticed my skin was broken. Teeth marks dug into my tattoo. I pinched my brows together, confused because I couldn't remember him biting me.

Was my adrenaline so high that I hadn't felt the attack? Or was it because I was infected too that the moment made me numb?

When I looked back at Gerry, his normal pale returned to his face. His breathing slowed. He humored me because his water was halfway gone.

I licked my lip as I pushed off the door and approached him. "So," I cleared my throat, "are you going to cut the bullshit?"

Gerry shifted his eyes to me. They hadn't gone back to normal; parts were still red and bloodshot. "I don't—"

No. We weren't going to play this game. Pulling a chair, I flipped it so I sat with my legs on either side of the back of it. "I said cut it. What's going on here?"

Gerry sighed and rubbed his face. "It's hard... really hard to explain."

I blinked, unphased. "I bet it is. So, try."

He didn't try. Instead, he fell silent. And the sound of it took over the room. I heard our heartbeats, and our breathing; I even heard the gentle sputtering of a coffee machine we hadn't shut off.

Gerry leaned back in his seat but remained silent. He blinked at me, slowly.

I shook my head. Since he doesn't want to talk... "We're infected," I pointed at him and then at myself, "but that isn't news to you, right? This is normal. Our normal."

Gerry squeezed his eyes shut. "Axel..."

Chewing on my bottom lip, I glanced out the side window I hadn't blocked from view; not that anyone would peer through it. Too far off to the side, and hard to get to from the sidewalk. But a pigeon had landed on the ledge, its beady eyes peering at me from the other end of the glass. I watched its wings flap, and its head shake; I wondered... were animals the carrier of the virus? I wondered if it was ever announced. Considering I had fallen deathly ill at the beginning, I could've missed it.

I looked back at Gerry. "My girlfriend isn't infected. Anyone who comes into the q-zone is healthy, just people trying to survive."

Gerry rolled his shoulders back as he burped. Bile? Blood? He did take a bite out of me,

Covering his mouth, he shook his head. "Axel, do you honestly believe what you're saying?"

Of course, I did. Why wouldn't I? I widened my eyes as I stretched my legs forward around the chair. "I know I killed a man. And ate him," I said.

"That's—"

I pressed my chin against the back of the chair. I hardened my gaze. He couldn't beat around the bush with this. "You just tried to kill me. Not throwing out the trash in fifteen minutes doesn't amount to murder, Gerry. Were you going to eat me, too? Do infected people eat other infected people?"

Gerry looked at the palms of his hands. He was covered in the blood that came up from inside of him, but I knew my blood was there, too. He drew in a hiss as he stretched his fingers, opening and closing them.

"Hurts like a bitch, doesn't it?" I whispered.

"This can't be all of my blood..." He lifted his gaze. "Is it?"

"Most is yours," I showed him my arm, the bite mark over my tattoo, "but some is mine, too."

"Listen," Gerry sighed and placed his hands on his knees, "Mertz is coming back tomorrow. He'll... explain it all."

"Will he?" I blinked. "Or, will he ignore me like he did the last time?"

"No." Gerry slowly pushed up from his seat. "I'll make sure he tells you."

*

The morning light came in through Gerry's kitchen window. The rays shined on the three cups of coffee neatly set on the table, and the two men sitting at it, in front of me. My gaze passed over Gerry and Dr. Mertz as I leaned against the wall. After last night, I didn't want to get close to anyone.

Unless Riley wants to open that door.

"Axel, won't you join us?" Mertz smiled at me. "Gerry made us coffee and you wouldn't want it to get cold."

Hungry, Axel, hungry.

"I'm good," I said quietly as I scratched the side of my face.

Mertz nods and looked over at Gerry, placing a hand on his shoulder. "And how are you feeling, Gerry?"

Gerry wasn't the focus. He knew what was wrong with the old man. I needed this doctor to tell me what was wrong with me. "He's fine," I cleared my throat, "he drank water."

When Mertz raised his brows with a forced fake smile, I had to smirk. I said Gerry drank water and the look on Mertz's face was exactly what Gerry had said last night; it doesn't work anyway.

What's with all of the lyings?

"How are you doing, Axel?"

Oh, finally, a question for me. I knew, in order for me to get answers, I needed to ask the right questions. Closed mouths don't get fed.

"I'm just going to cut straight to it—because the two of you keep passing over the fact that we're all infected here."

Mertz looked over at Gerry as he leaned back in his seat. Slowly passing his hands over the table, he reached for his cup of coffee. He brought it to his face and inhaled.

There it was again.

Just say something!

Or your flesh will do the job!

"Hey," I pushed off the wall and went over to the table, not sitting, but leaning against the chair, "we are infected, aren't we?"

Gerry slowly nods, as if permitting Mertz. Then the doctor nodded. "Yes," he said. "we're trying to stabilize a cure."

I lifted my brows. "A cure... for us?"

Mertz shrugged. "For everyone."

I breathed slowly. A cure for everyone. Was it a way to unite us? Recover the world? Fix the situation destroyed by a virus. "So, this cure is to help us live or...?" I let the question linger in the air, fishing for an answer.

"Yes." Mertz took the bait. "Our way of reuniting the world."

"Because we're separated." I nodded.

"Exactly. We are." Mertz brought his coffee to his lips and drank. He blew at the steam passing up his nose. "We carry the virus and all of its mutations—"

"So why is everyone else pushed outside the q-zone walls?" I gripped the back of the chair tightly. "They're struggling, they've run out of food, they—"

"They're out there to protect them." Mertz took another sip before placing the cup back on the table. He leaned against it, folding his hands as he sighed. "But, if we explained that to everyone, it could result in chaos. So, we lie. We lie and blame them. Because those in here," he traced the table, "will not approach the walls if they're afraid."

My jaw dropped slightly. Of course, fear was the tactic. You could control a group if they were afraid. And we were a big portion of the world. There was a radio station that had news, daily, detailing the activities of all fifteen q-zones in the US. Did other countries have the same tactic?

The fact hurt my heart. "You're saying we're protecting them outside the walls, right?"

Mertz nodded.

"You do realize we're starving them." The image of Riley risking her life for a pack of bread passed through my mind. She was willing to die to eat.

"Listen, Axel," Gerry finally broke his silence and straightened in his seat, "the fact is we do take up most of the world. The outer zones, unfortunately, became smaller and smaller until—"

Mertz waved away Gerry's words. "Axel, it's simple," the doctor said looking at me. "In our areas, the proper equipment is here. We have the facilities and the supplies. Keeping us in the cities was the only way to save the world."

"It can't be." I pushed away from the chair and stood in the middle of the room. "Making a cure doesn't fucking matter if the rest of the world is dead."

"They're not dead," Gerry sighed.

"Yet." I cocked a brow. "They're not dead yet."

"But if we open the doors, take down our walls," Gerry flattened his hands on the table, "they won't make it. They'll die in here. Which death is more humane, Axel? Starvation or being eaten alive?"

What he said made me sick. We were murderers. Hyper-aware zombies with a strong desire for flesh when we smelled it. Gerry and his doctor friend expected me to think it was okay. It wasn't.

I passed my hand over my face, speaking into my palm, "How is this cure shit supposed to work? You need samples, right?" I looked at them through the parts between my fingers. "Do you experiment on us in here?"

"No." Mertz shook his head. "We only work on the dead bodies of those who died after they've mutated."

Dead bodies. Dead mutated bodies. "We die?" I whispered. "I can die."

Gerry nodded. "If someone kills you, yeah, you're not immortal."

Pinching my brows together, I stared at him. "And you know this," I waved my hands in a slow circle, confused, "how?"

Gerry didn't blink, didn't move. Fuck, I couldn't even tell if he breathed. But he tapped his fingers against the table in a slow rhythmic fashion. "Because I killed my son," no emotion, no fear or sadness, "and I buried his body."

*

A/N:

Word count total: 13,328 
I'm getting there! This was the chapter I figured out... where I need to go.

Can you figure it out?? :P