Shakin All Over

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Behind her was one of the infected civilian. She flipped her hand and the shoes of the girl caught fire, but it didn’t stop her. Lenna saw the wild rage in the girl’s eyes and it scared her. She had infected Rome… and this girl she was fighting right now scared her, but not just the fact that the girl was crazy and trying to kill her, it was more the fact that she liked how much Croatoan increased her powers.

“I’m sorry.” Lenna mumbled before she set the girl on fire and burned her to a crisp.

Lenna turned around to Morrigan and Richard. They looked at her in horror. “I don’t think we need to worry to set anything on fire.”

“Lenna how do you feel?” Morrigan asked carefully.

“I’m still hot, but my head is clearer.” Lenna suddenly grinned. “I always wanted to try this.” A wave of fire rolled over the forest ground, it didn’t hurt Morrigan or Richard but it melted all snow and you could now easily see where the remains were.

“Let’s hope the rest comes with the salt soon.”

There was a humming in the air a weird humming, but neither Richard nor Morrigan seemed to hear it. “Um guys? I think we have a problem. The ghosts are coming and they are not friendly.”

“Definitely not!” She shot him a warning glance. “I was very close to attacking you, it could have gone wrong. I most certainly won’t try it again.”

“Well…” Rome stretched his arms. “Unless we don’t suddenly turn into X-Men with incredible superpowers, I guess we will have a hard time getting those tanks out of here.” He gave Callum a nod and they heaved up one of the tanks.
“Holy shit!” As soon as they were outside they dropped the tank.

“It’s too heavy”,Callum said.

“We have to roll them somehow.”

“I have a perfect idea”, Georgie said, looking at Rome. “There’s a sled next to the salt bags. Why don’t we tie you to the sled and let you pull it like a husky. Does that sound good?” She flashed him a smile. "You'll receive a reward later."

Rome didn't even try to hide how his eyes glazed over and his flushed cheeks had nothing to do with the cold. He grinned widely. "You know, you get kinkier every time you open your mouth?"

And yes, okay, that was just his normal libido at work when the thought of being ravished by a psychotic and super-strong killer Georgie didn't actually give him a full on--or, you know, would have, if it wasn't so freaking cold outside.

"And anyway, living through this nightmare'll be reward enough," he huffed, and just as he was about to start loading the sled, he spotted something: "Holy crap, look!"

Because also stowed in this garage was a van. Rome pulled the tarp off of it and laughed as he gave it a quick once-over: "This is, like, your proper zombie-apocalypse-surviving Chevy! This is perfect! Dude, if I wasn't into getting a date occasionally, I'd say we needed one of these for the team--"

"Will it work?" Georgie interrupted. She seemed disappointed not to see him strapped to a sled. That dirty girl.

Rome lifted the hood, gave it a cursory glance, attempting to look like he knew what he was doing (when he absolutely didn't). "Uh, yeah. Think so. Tank's full, anyway. I think I can jump-start her--these old cars, no problem. You guys get her loaded up, I'll see what's going under the hood."

While Georgie and Callum loaded up the truck with the tanks of propane and salt bags, Rome checked if the truck was working- which it did. He helped loading the rest, and then the three climbed into the truck, squeezing together on the front seats.
Georgie scrutinized Rome closely. “I hope you know what you’re doing…”

He grinned. “Always.”

“Yeah, sure.”

It was a rather bumpy ride, and as closer they got to the forest, the warmer it got.

“I have the weird feeling that Lenna is behind this…”, Georgie mumbled while she observed the landscape around them. “She was so hot, she could have melted the snow”, she said half-jokingly, half serious.

Lenna was sitting on a tree trunk, juggling with fireballs. She was annoyed and tired of burning civilians that tried to kill them, and yes she really liked how well her powers were working but being watched by Morrigan and Richard wasn’t fun at all. Lenna felt a little bit better but she knew that this wasn’t normal. It needed to end and Lenna hoped that with burning the remains this would end, but for that they needed the salt Rome, Georgie and Callum were supposed to get.

“Seriously stop starring at me you two. I’m okay.” Lenna suddenly shouted at her friends.

“Really?” Morrigan looked sceptical at her. “And the fireballs are normal?”

Lenna’s toys disappeared in smoke. “At least I got rid of all the snow.” Lenna snapped back but before a new heat rush hit her she heard something but crush through the woods. Until she suddenly saw the truck and Rome was driving it.

“Guys finally we got bored. You got salt? We found the remains. Join the party and let’s burn some bones.” Lenna greeted Georgie, Rome and Callum. “Meet the lost first colonists or their mass grave.” Lenna grinned with wide open arms on the clearing that was the mass grave. “And it better stops this madness. I wanna be normal again.” She looked at the ground, for some reason she hoped Georgie knew what she felt. Lenna was scared of herself, she was scared of her own powers, and scared that she infected Rome and at that moment didn’t feel bad about it. She didn’t even dare to look at him, he sure was mad at her for infecting him.

Rome didn't look at Elenna. He couldn't. Or maybe he didn't want to. He couldn't look at Georgie, much, either, not when she got that glazed-over-hungry look in her eyes that wasn't the sexy kind of hungry and really only scared the crap out of him.

Because if he had to shoot his girls, he wasn't going to be able to do it looking them in the eye.

Rome shook himself--noting that they'd just as likely needing to shoot him--and set to work unloading the salt. Everyone grabbed a bag, cut open the top, and spread it around the alleged grave. He wasn't sure why no one else had seen this before now, but whatever.

"Okay, everyone stand back," he said, waving the team away. They looked on, sullenly, as he tipped in a canister of propane. "Elenna. Light us up."

She seemed all too happy to do so, and as she set fire to the area a wave of warmth moved over them like someone had opened an oven the size of Texas. Rome stepped back a few feet, watched it burn. He didn't feel any different. Georgie didn't look any different. Elenna didn't look--

"Okay, Elenna," he warned, "you can scale it back now, I think that's enough."

She just kept pouring on the flames. Like the handle was stuck on her blowtorch. It was a solidly steady stream, just of fire from her hands, and she didn't look like she could hear him and now her eyes weren't the right color, and--

"Elenna, stop!" he demanded, taking a half-step toward her before he realized she was likely to burn his eyebrows off. "Elenna!"

Lenna smiled when Rome told her to set the remains on fire. It felt good to use her powers.

Just let go, you don’t need anyone as long you go with the fire.

From very far away Lenna heard Rome. “Elenna, stop! Elenna!” But Lenna couldn’t she was trapped in her own powers, and it felt so nice in this trap, warm cosy and safe. There was just one thing that wasn’t there. Her family, she had difficulties of seeing Rome and Georgie and everyone else who was important for her. It took all her strength to pull her hands away from her fire, but she let go of it and collapsed on the burnt ground. Rome hesitated to go to her, but Georgie didn’t she ran to Lenna and pulled her into a tight hug. “Lenna are you okay?”

“I think I made a mistake using my powers so much. Something is happening with me.” Lenna mumbled, she was out of breath and for the first time she was shivering because of the cold.

“It wasn’t you it is the disease.” Georgie held her friend close, for the moment they were both themselves but who knew for how long.
The forest around them caught fire and even though it was all covered in snow it was all pretty dry and caught easily fire.

“Seems like I overdid it a little bit, huh?” Lenna giggled a little.

“I think we better get out of here,” cried Richard. They began running away from the onrushing flames.

And then they heard the shrieks.

Arrayed ahead of them were the infected ghosts. But now with their graves burning, their forms seemed to be bubbling and smoking, gradually dissolving away with hellish screams. The shocking sight took a few seconds to sink in, by which stage the burning ghost were already approaching fast, with unnatural, flickering motions.

Most burnt up before they even got close, but a few made it toe to toe with the group, before being repelled by the salt loaded shotguns. It didn’t take long for the others to realised they were homing in on Richard.

Richard appeared to have already noticed. Flinging the now empty shotgun aside, he drew away from the other, giving them both clearer shots and breathing space. From a concealed sheath Richard drew a cold iron knife, and thrust it towards the two oncoming spirits, causing them to disperse. But more kept coming. Despite the gravity of the situation Richard’s face remained impassive. The only movement was his mouth in an in ancient Greek prayer as he was pushed back.

Earlier that day Georgie thought she had completely lost her marbles when she heard the female ghost talking strangely to Richard after he went into the hut to help her, but she blamed it on her sickness and the fact that she bumped her head a couple of times, so at the end she was pretty sure she just imagined that weird conversation between him and the ghost.
But seeing this…
She started to doubt that it was only her mind that had played tricks on her back in that hut. Maybe she did hear it right, those strange things the ghost had said to him, something about Hades, if she remembered correctly. She couldn’t recall everything the ghost said, but she sure as hell knew that something strange was up with Richard, and that scene right there was a definite proof.
She wanted to say something, but the same moment the fire caught up with them and started to spread all over.

“We have to get away from here!”, Rome yelled while he aimed for a ghost that came dangerously close to him, but already vanished in front of his eyes.

“How can we get off the island?”, Lenna looked around. “Maybe there’s still a boat or something…”

Georgie got out her cell phone, but as expected, there was no signal, so they couldn’t call anyone. She had talked to her aunt shortly before they went to the island, but now she couldn’t reach her and they were stuck on this island.

Rome realized the danger too late.

He only had time to say, "GET DOWN!" and tug Morrigan and Georgie to the ground as the van caught fire and the full tank of gas he had been so happy about before now went up in a fiery KABOOM!

Those who hadn't hit the deck fast enough--Richard, mainly--were knocked down by the blast, and more and more ghosts poofed! out of existence as the forest fire now turned into an inferno.

"Get back to the bunker!" Rome shouted, hauling those he could to their feet. He went over to Richard and rolled him over. "Rich? Richard, dude, you all right?"

Richard shook his head. His forehead was bleeding, either from shrapnel or hitting it on the way down. He appeared less hurt than disoriented.

"You with us?" Rome pressed. "How many fingers am I holding up? You know what, screw it, concussion or no, you're coming with me," he said, slinging Richard's arm around his shoulder, "you lying sonofabitch," he added with a grim smile. "You're going to tell us what that little song and dance number was or you're gonna burn with the rest of us, now come on."

Rome did a quick head-count. Everyone seemed to be headed towards the cluster of buildings. The shelter was supposed to be bomb-proof, right? They could only hope that meant it was fire-proof.

And, you know, Crazy-proof.

For moment Lenna was standing in the burning forest watching the flames as if she was hypnotized. Georgie grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

“Lenna you do remember that fire usually is bad? So move your ass.”

Lenna wanted to give her a sneaky remark but she suddenly got scared. Scared of how much she was pulled to the fire. She knew that she was more herself again, but the connection she made with the fire stayed and it made her feel strong and useful.

“We need to get off this island. We all gonna burn just like the ghosts. Georgie we can’t stay here!” Lenna sounded so scared.

“Hey, hey Lenna look at me. Do you hear me? Brownie look at me. We will get off this island and we won’t burn okay?” Georgie ensured her friend. She was just as scared as she was, but it wouldn’t help to panic. “We are always in a mess like this and we always find a way out of it and first of it we will go into the bunker to be safe okay?”

Lenna nodded and followed Georgie, she made sure she didn’t look at the fire so that she didn’t get distracted by it again. She flinched when Georgie shot one of the crazies getting closer to them to attack them. Georgie was holding her hand making sure she stayed with them, together they would stay themselves. The girls arrived at bunker and entered just the bunker before the boys.

"I can't believe she just did that," Morrigan shrieked. "She just torched the whole damn place! We could have been killed."

Morrigan was more than a little irritated, but her anger went away just as quickly. Lenna seemed terrified, maybe even more than she was. How were they going to get out of there?

She began to look around the bunker, trying to find any way them might be able to get off the island. Anything that wasn't either ablaze or about to go up. There was an inferno just above them. "I think we could use that deus ex machina about now," she said with equal parts comedy and tragedy. "Anyone have suggestions? A big hose? A private jet?"

"I have only one suggestion," Rome said. Everyone had gathered in the bunker: it was torn to hell and back, with blood everywhere and supplies and furniture strewn around. There were no bodies in here, luckily, but there might as well have been. Something blew up just outside and the power flickered and went out, so the only light came from flashlights and cell phones. The office door was still intact, though, and since apparently small favors were all they were going to get tonight, Rome was going to take it.

Rome grabbed Elenna and Georgie each by an arm, using surprise to his advantage in case either of them decided to Hulk out and kill him, and before anyone knew what was happening, he had thrown himself with the girls in tow into the office and slammed the door behind him.

"Don't let us out until you're sure we're all right!"

"Rome, what are you doing?" Elenna shrieked, looking horrified at him, though exactly why was hard to tell.

"The three of us are infected, and I'm sure as hell not going to risk the other three getting it, too, okay?" He turned and pounded on the door, hearing cries of alarm from the other side. "Guys, it's okay," he insisted. He actually still felt fine, and was wondering when the Crazy was supposed to kick in, but he added this to the list of small favors.

"Rome, are you sure this is a good idea?" Richard's voice, muffled, through the door.

"No, I think it's a terrible idea," Rome replied, "but we're kinda out of options right now, and twenty-three casualties is better than twenty-six." With that, Rome grabbed the desk chair in his hands, threw it over his head, and slammed it down on the door handle.

The doorknob snapped off.

No handle, no way of opening the door from the inside.

For better or worse, they were stuck in here until the others let them out.

"Rome!" Now Georgie looked pissed. Which, you know, since she could probably kick his ass even not amped up on Crazy, was a bad sign. And since Elenna didn't look much happier and her eyes didn't look right, Rome was beginning to think his list of small favors was about to come to a very abrupt, unfortunate end.

Lenna turned away from Rome and Georgie and sat down in the furthest corner from them she could find. She wasn’t really mad at Rome but she was overwhelmed. On the one hand she enjoyed being able to use her powers so easily but on the other hand she felt actually really sick. She felt as if she had the worst fever ever. She was surprised that things around her didn’t start to melt. And suddenly she saw her reflection.

“Whoa!” Lenna jumped up, so quickly that Georgie and Rome looked at her worriedly. “What the hell is wrong with my eyes? They are not blue they are brown!”

“They turned blue since you set the forest on fire.” Georgie said too calmly for the situation.

I don’t want this.
Really?
I don’t want to kill innocents, that’s wrong.
That’s just a matter of your point of view.

Lenna sat back down and dropped her head on her knees. “This is not happening. I don’t want to kill one of you or want you to have to kill me.” Lenna was breathing very slowly, in and out, in and out. After a few moments she looked up and checked her eyes again, they were their usual brown.

“What if it doesn’t go away? What if we will die tonight?” Lenna had tears in her eyes. “Gee I’m so hot.” Lenna took off her shoes and striped down to a tank top and her panties, she didn’t even care what Rome or Georgie thought about her little disrobement number.

Georgie didn’t know what was more disturbing; her friend’s changing eye color, the fact that she was crying, or that she just took off most of her clothes. It was all disturbing, but nevertheless, Georgie walked over to Lenna and touched her shoulder carefully.

“Your skin feels like it’s burning…” She frowned.

“Chica, are you okay?” Rome looked worried at her.

She didn’t answer. It was strange to see Elenna looking so small and helpless. She actually looked very fragile, and that worried Georgie.
“Don’t you want to put your clothes back on?”

She shook her head. “I wish I had a fridge where I could lock myself up.” Her voice sounded broken. “Why is this happening to us?”

“Because we’re the lucky ones who always manage to attract those kind of situations.” Rome tried to joke, but he didn’t really smile.

“What if this is it?” Lenna looked from Rome to Georgie. “I mean, we’re hunters, so the possibility that we die younger than an accountant is very high, but-“

“We’re not going to die!”, Georgie interrupted her. Of course she wasn’t sure about that, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to accept it. “You’re not going to die, I’m not going to die, and that maniac behind me who managed to snap off the doorknob is not going to die either, unless I’m in the mood to kill him after we’re through with all of this and out of here…” Georgie shot a brief side-glance at Rome who smiled sheepishly at her, then she turned back to Elenna.
“You understand? Nobody is dying here, at least none of our group.”

“But-“

“Don’t argue with me, Elenna Fee!”

Lenna looked at the ground. She still felt hot and miserable. Georgie hesitated for a moment, but then she pulled her into a hug. She didn’t care that it felt like hugging a human torch, she just wanted her friend to calm down again.

At took her a couple of moments but then she nodded and leaned into Georgie’s embrace.

“We will fight this right, we will shake it off right? We always duck the bullets. So how do we treat a demonic virus? Exorcism?”

Lenna forced herself to breathe slowly, to stay calm and not give in of the rush of power lurking in the back of her mind.

Really? That’s what I want? Rather be the little geek of the team, their pet then have power of your own? But when I let the door to my powers open, I’m strong. I am someone!

Lenna held on to Georgie as if her best friend was the only thing in this world keeping her safe.

“I’m sorry I set the forest on fire, I got carried away.” Lenna looked over Georgie’s shoulder at Rome. “And sorry that I… erm infected you. It was as if I wasn’t thinking at that moment. It was as if I watch my body move without me doing it. I know it was wrong, but I couldn’t stop.”

Lenna felt like people after they jumped out of a plane or the moment before you are sick drunk, the rush when she uses her powers, a part of her want to feel it again even though she knew that it wasn’t right.
Suddenly Lenna pushed her friend away and got up, her eyes are ice blue again and her hands were on fire. The room was gettting warmer.

Rome wasn't mad. He just wasn't. This wasn't her fault--it would be like someone being mad at him for the things he did while Andre was at the wheel.

Which he deserved.

And it was all Elenna's fault he was infected, and now all those civilians were dead and Georgie nearly killed that one teenager and it was looking more and more likely that he would have to murder his two best friends. Like putting down Old Yeller when he got rabies.

Except this was so not Disney.

Rome was also beginning to suspect that she hadn't actually infected him. Really, he felt fine. At least he was exhibiting none of the symptoms anyone else had: he wasn't hot (well, no more than usual, anyway), he wasn't angry (he simply was not angry!), and he certainly didn't relish the idea of having to kill his best friends with his bare hands (he had a gun for that, if it came to it--please, God, don't let it come to that).

But then Elenna went Crazy again. She shoved Georgie across the entire room and into the wall, which she hit with a sickening crack. Her eyes went blue again and her hands lit on fire.

"Hey!" he said. "Cool your jets, Pyro, we are not going Crazy in here! You can not let it win!"

Georgie picked herself up out of the rubble. He went to offer her a hand but she looked like she was going to bite it, so he recoiled. He heard his heart pounding in his ears. He felt like he was a mackerel swimming in the ocean between Jaws and Jaws II.

He didn't want them to kill him, sure, but he also didn't want them killing each other!

The desk slid against the wall, BAM!, pinning Elenna from the waist down. A filing cabinet similarly pinned Georgie.

And now he had a splitting headache.

And, you know, was a freak that moved things with his brain!

"What the frak?!"

Rome was pretty sure he screamed like a girl, if not when he started rearranging the room like he was Phoenix-Jean Grey, then certainly when Elenna set the desk on fire and Georgie shoved the half-ton filing cabinet over like it was a cardboard box.

What did that make this, then? Godzilla vs. Mecha-Godzilla vs. Mothra? Darth Vader vs. Darth Maul vs. Darth Tyranus?

Whatever else it was, it was getting out of hand.

“What the hell!” Lenna yelled at Rome. “Let me the fuck out!”

Lenna didn’t care that Rome just had moved the desk with her mind, she didn’t care that Georgie hulking out again.

That’s what I meant.

Lenna was standing in front of Rome, considering setting him on fire, punch him, or try to burn the door to get out.

“Get out of the way! I won’t stay with you two yahoos here.” Lenna bellowed at her best friend. In each of her hand was a ball of fire resting ready to throw it at anyone or anything that would come in her way.

Georgie wasn’t focused on Rome, her eyes were set on Elenna who had fireballs in her hands and looked like she was about to throw them at anyone. She knew it was dangerous, but she couldn’t think straight right now, so she grabbed the corners of the filing cabinet and pushed Lenna so hard against the wall that she let go off the fireballs that went up to the ceiling.
Lenna pushed the filing cabinet away, but Georgie lunged at her and dragged her to the ground.

“Stop with the fire!”, she yelled at the younger girl.

“Get off me!” Lenna kicked Georgie in the stomach, and she fell back, but before Lenna could get up Georgie grabbed one of her arms and twisted it.
Lenna let out a scream, and she formed a fireball with her free hand.

But before Lenna could set Georgie on fire her friend pushed her arm down to the ground and the fireball hit the chair and set it on fire.

"I said get off me!" She closed her eyes and concentrated, the fire on her hands went off but her body started to smoke. Suddenly Georgie screamed in pain. Lenna's skin was burning hot. The young brunette got up.

"All you do is hold me back and I'm not letting you do this anymore." Lenna set the floor around Georgie on fire and looked angry at Rome. "Get out of my way, or I will hurt you too."

"No. You won't."

Rome's eyes flashed. He didn't think they really flashed, or anything, but it felt like it.

Part of his headache was a vision: the two images on top of one another, like two sets of film running at the same time.

Lenna and Georgie were fighting each other, but they weren't really fighting.

Actually, if Rome had to describe it, it was kind of like a twisted porno. They were both clawing and fighting, and Georgie's clothes had burned off but now they were kissing--or maybe biting?--each other. Instead of oil, their skin was slick with blood. And they were loving it.

He, black-eyed, was loving it, too.

As slow-motion as the vision was, in real life everything seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. Pretty soon the whole room was on fire. The filing cabinet was actually bent from having being thrown across the room and punched by the girls. Rome had heard chick-fights were vicious, but this was--

Well, inhuman.

Rome strained himself. Somehow. It was like flexing a muscle he didn't even know he had. Only if the muscle, rather than being atrophied from disuse, had actually been coiled, spring-loaded for this one strike.

And he struck so hard he was pretty sure his brain exploded.

"Sit down, both of you." Is that my voice? Are my lips even moving?

As one, Georgie and Lenna turned their heads toward him, like owls. For a single, terrifying moment he thought they were going to turn on him, but "Now," he added for emphasis.

Real-life and the vision he was still seeing had synched up. Both pairs of girls were staring at him.

And both pairs of girls sat down quite obediently. They crossed their legs and folded their hands in their laps.

"Stay."

They didn't move. They couldn't move. He was vaguely aware of struggling, maybe, but he held them firmly. It was kind of kinky, actually, if you were into that sort of thing. Apparently Rome was very much into that sort of thing right now.

Briefly, he caught sight of his reflection in a shard of broken, melting glass. His nose was pouring blood. And his eyes had faded to the gray everyone said they did when he had a vision.

But now the vision-part was fading, and it was just two girls sitting quietly in a burning room.

Rome quelled the fire. Somehow. Again, flexing that muscle he didn't even know he had, couldn't actually feel, wasn't sure really existed.

The fire went out. Like it had never been there.

It was quiet, dark. The heat was cooling. He joined them, sat down cross-legged in the center of the rubble-torn room. They looked like a meditation circle or a yoga class, just sitting there. His nose was still bleeding--it ran down his chin and dripped onto his shirt and his crotch. He would hold them. They would sit here until they got better, the world ended, or someone put them out of their misery.

"You guys okay in there?" Morrigan asked, pacing back and forth. "Probably not the best idead in our current state to lock yourselves in there."

Georgie pulled out her phone and stared staring at the screen.

"Any news on getting us the hell out of here?"

"It's kind hot, but we're fine!" someone says from inside the door.

Yeah, right

It was strangely quiet in the room. None of them said anything. None of them did anything. They just sat there, both girls unable to move. It was like an invisible force that held them back from doing anything. Georgie tended to be a control-freak, so naturally she hated the fact that she could not only do nothing at the moment, but actually someone else was in control over her. That sucked. That really sucked.
She stared at the floor, feeling warm from all that fire that Lenna had created. She slowly started to calm down and didn’t have the urge to attack anyone at the moment- well, except Rome maybe, but not because the Crazy was talking, but a pissed Georgie who felt like his puppet. Well, she knew that he only did it to keep the girls from killing each other, but something told her that he wasn’t particularly averse to controlling two women at the same time.
Georgie slowly looked up and noticed a piece of glass behind Rome. She wanted to get up, but she couldn’t, she felt like she was literally glued to the floor. She cleared her throat.

“Ahem…would you pass me the piece of glass behind you, please?”, she asked Rome, trying not to sound too pissed. She felt like a little kid who had to play nice in order to get what she wanted.

Rome raised an eyebrow. “For what? So you can cut my throat?”

Georgie took a deep breath. It was getting difficult for her to play nice. “I’m not going to cut anyone’s throat. Just give me the glass already!”

“Why?”

“Give.It.To.Me.”

“Okay, okay…” The only reason why Rome gave her the glass was because he knew that she couldn’t attack them, not with him controlling her. He eyed her suspiciously as she took the glass, but then the unexpected happened. Georgie sobbed. It was just a quiet sob, but she sobbed. She never sobbed. Not in front of other people. She would rather wear an orange sweater or Walmart underwear than to cry in front of someone.

“My hair…it has never looked so bad. And what’s that…am I getting a scar? Right on my forehead? I look like I’m from a freak show!”

Elenna and Rome exchanged confused looks. At least Georgie sounded a lot more like herself, just the sobbing was very irritating.

Georgie put the glass away and stared at the floor, avoiding any eye contact with the others.
“I look like the freaking Cryptkeeper!”

On the plus side, things seemed quiet on the other side of the door. On the negative side, things seemed quiet on the other side of the door.

Richard sat there, slightly torn. Part of him wanted to break the door down. To check that Georgie, the only link to his family, was still alive. The other part, the experience hunter part, knew that doing so would be at best foolish, at worst suicidal not just for him, but also of Callum and Morrigan. But he had to do something, anything to take his mind off it. He started pacing, back after a few minutes that was just irritating. Then Richard spotted a discarded box of cards lying where it had fallen from a table.

“So, erm, anyone for poker?”

At that moment there was suddenly sounds of hammering. Not from the locked door, but from the door leading outside. Muffled shouts of ‘Let us in’ and ‘We’re burning out here’. Callum rushed to the outside door to open it but Richard grabbed him by the arm.

“No we can’t let them in, what if they are infected?” Richard pointed out as he struggled to hold Callum back.

“What if they aren’t?” Callum replied. There was an uncomfortable pause as the cries from outside continued.

“Maybe… Those infected seemed to have some connection with each other. Perhaps our… infected friends could tell us?”

Lenna looked disbelieving at Georgie, did she really worry about how she looks?

"You are insane Georgie. Rome? Can I at least sit more comfortable on the floor, please? I'm really not into crossed leg yoga sitting."

Since Georgie was the one with the sharp object Rome watched her closely, while he let Lenna move into a more comfortable sitting position. It was weird she felt the chains he mentally put on her and a part of her wanted to fight those chains, but Lenna conscious knew he was right. They either sit here until they are cured or until they die.

"What do you think the others are doing on their said?" Lenna asked her friends.