Isolation

Chapter 42

Mark didn't get much sleep that night. When the sun was gone, the flowers on the bodies closed and retracted. Their eyes flew open, and they chased around the scattered crew that was caught outside. They all made it inside, and the undead scratched at the doors once again. Mark shuddered, picturing himself or his wolves with those green eyes, roots digging into his dead skin. He wished he could kill them all and be done with it, but they would just come back.

He checked on James's father. He didn't have a temperature, anymore. The medicine was working. He looked in the cabinet. There was only a few bandages left. He couldn't grab any fresh moss, but he was sure they were past that point. He was going to recover. As to how much damage his nerves had... that remained to be seen. He fed small morsels of stew that someone made out of berries and a rodent that was found. It was sweet and a little gamey. He offered small sips from a spoon. All were taken.

James's father didn't acknowledge him, but he was hungrily eating as much as he could. Mark silently thanked him for coming around. He needed some help. Mr. Tanner had leverage over some of the crew. He could use some help.

He chose to check on Trey one last time for the night. He wanted to get it out of the way. He was about to open the door when he saw Austin dragging something across the floor.

"Whatcha got there?" Mark asked.

"I can't take Addison outside, so I'm bringing outside to Addison."

"That's... nice. Do you want help?"

"Sure. Grab the other end, please."

Mark picked up the end that was dragging. They carried the branches to the room. Austin opened the door. Mark didn't have to walk in to catch the smell. He dropped the branches and gagged.

"What the... is that..."

"Yeah, sorry. She can't help the smell.

Mark saw Addison sitting in the chair and didn't know how to respond.

"She wanted it to be more alive in here since she can't go outside," Austin continued. He stuck some branches against the wall and tied them together. "I thought these could look like trees, and some moss would be like grass."

Mark didn't say anything. He just stared at Addison's body. It was discolored, dark spots forming all over her body. Her eyes had turned completely white. She looked so unnatural. Mark couldn't help himself. He ran out of the room.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Austin called.

When Mark didn't answer back, he shrugged and looked at Addison.

"Forgot to do something, I guess."

~~~

They found Sara holding Maria's body. Sasha rested her head on Sara's shoulder in comfort. When she didn't come back, they went looking for her. Tim found them first. He didn't react for a few moments. He just stood there and stared at the sight. Then, he whirled outside and clobbered the wall. His knuckles split, bones shattering with every punch. He yelled and didn't stop. Sara just sobbed more.

It took four men to stop Tim from punching the wall. He nearly hit one of them before he collected himself. He waddled over to Sara, defeated, and fell on his knees. He wrapped his arms around them and cried silently. Sara's sobbs rang like a siren's lament. Tim squeezed, wishing life back into his daughter. It was hopeless. She was long gone.

When she couldn't cry anymore, she started shaking.

"Take her," Sara begged. "Take her. Please. I can't..."

Tim took Maria's lifeless body in his arms.

"We'll give her a proper funeral," Cassidy said.

Sara shook her head.