Kismet

Thirty-Two - Konrad

Konrad didn't understand why Ophelia was so enthralled in how Zeke was acting. It wouldn't be any surprise that he would be quiet. He witnessed Kory die, and Aaliyah, supposedly his second closest friend, had recently killed herself. Less than at least an hour ago. He tried to not pay too much attention to the fact Zeke was acting 'strange.'

He felt it was a bit much for Ophelia to be worrying this much. But Zeke was only thirteen, and he witnessed two people die, hell, perhaps even more considering the fact Konrad killed almost everyone at the lab. He still wondered how the three had lived, out of everyone. How peculiar. A part of him felt a bit hypocritical for thinking this way because he had been worrying about Kory mere minutes ago. Konrad looked behind Ophelia, seeing Zeke blankly staring at Aaliyah's corpse. His hands fidgeted with his shirt and even from this distance, Konrad was able to see that Zeke had dark half-moons under his eyes.

"He seems fine." Konrad mutters. "He's shocked. Give him some space. He's been staring at Aaliyah's body for at least an hour, it's obvious that he needs time to process this. So let him."

Konrad's words made Ophelia turn her attention to Zeke, who was in his own world at the moment, thinking of God knows what. He might be confused, in denial, or all of the above.

Ophelia reluctantly nods, her fingertips tugging on her sleeve. She murmured a quiet 'okay,' looking back at Konrad. "I just worry." She said. "I can't help it."

"It's not your fault." Konrad reassured. "Stop thinking about it," a pause ensued. "Think about me instead." He teased, a weak smile turning his lips. Ophelia smiled, scoffing.

"I do that every day."

"Do it more often then."

***

He wasn't sure if Zeke had talked throughout his time sitting and staring at Aaliyah. The stench was just about reaching Konrad's nostrils, who was keeping his distance from everyone other than Ophelia. She was the only one he was able to talk to right now. Raymond fell asleep as well, Kory was still slumbering in his arms, and Zeke was... doing his own thing. He didn't exactly know what he was doing. It felt odd for this to happen again. Only this time, she wouldn't come back. She wouldn't wake up.

Konrad sat underneath a tall, chunky tree that would give everyone shade if the others would wake up. It was a bit far from everyone else, but the temperature outside felt unbelievable for him. It felt like it was ninety degrees out here! Why in the world would be want to spend one more minute out, melting in the hot Sun? Perhaps Raymond hadn't noticed how hot it was yet, but when he soon woke up he would, for sure, notice. He hadn't awoken yet.

Ophelia was rambling on about something to Konrad, her voice low in terms of volume to not alert the others, especially Zeke. Konrad wasn't sure why her voice was quiet. They were quite far away from the three. He absentmindedly listened, nodding his head despite not listening to anything she was saying. "Are you listening?" Ophelia then said, her tone laced with a bit of frustration. "I'm serious, Konrad. Something's wrong."

"We've already established that, Lia. But now what? We know what's wrong, but what do we do about it? What can we do about it, exactly?" Konrad's words made her go quiet, a sigh escaping her lips.

"I don't know." She mutters.

"Don't do anything stupid."

"You think I'm stupid?"

Konrad immediately shook his head, his eyes widening in slight nervousness. "I didn't mean it like that, you know what I meant!" He said, trying to save himself from a supposed trap. "I think you're really smart." He huffed. Ophelia giggled, an amused smile turning the corners of her lips up. At least her mood was getting better, Konrad internally thought.

"I know I am." She smiled.

Konrad forced a smile, covering his nose to conceal the stench of Aaliyah's dead body wavering towards the two. Ophelia did not seem to notice the strong smell, which only increased his lingering annoyance. Unsure of why he felt this way, Konrad forced himself to soften up for Ophelia. It was clear that she needed some sort of comfort, right? He just needed to figure out how to reassure her completely that Zeke would be fine, at least for now. He simply hoped that this would all go away. Everything would be fixed soon.

Zeke would be fine.