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Chapter 9:

"H - How could he have been bitten? He's always been careful!". Boone stuttered out after a moment.

"Cordyceps are unpredictable attackers, even more so than regular infected". Joel explained grimly. "It would have been pretty unavoidable, no matter how careful he is".

"It's my fault Uncle Boone, I stepped on a piece of glass and it got attracted by the noise". Luca piped up guiltily.

"Hey, this is no one's fault, alright? It was an accident". Rocky replied sternly as he turned to face the young man.

"Yeah, an accident that caused my brother to get bitten". Luca retorted, folding his arms across his chest as tears sprung to his eyes.

"His immunity is still intact though, right? That's gotta count for something". Tony chimed in hopefully.

"To the normal infected, not the Cordyceps". Boone corrected before turning to look at Joel. "How much time does he have?".

"Anywhere from one to eight hours". Joel deduced sadly.

"I'm not killing my own kid, I don't have it in me to do something like that". Boone said, his chest heaving as he started crying.

"You think he knows?". Miguel questioned quietly.

"Most likely, I saw him tugging at his sleeve as he was going up to his room". Tommy replied.

"Losing motor functions and irritability are tell-tale signs that a person's been infected". Joel rattled off. "That's why he got snappy and tripped going upstairs".

"Goddammit, why is this family incapable of having happiness for more than an hour?". Boone mumbled tearfully as he got up and ran to his own room, with Tony following close behind to comfort him.

Back upstairs Ellie watched as Cedar quickly packed up his backpack with some supplies. "Cedar, whatever you're doing It's a horrible idea".

"I'm gonna die from being infected anyways, Might as well go out by getting rid of Manny and Mel in the process". Cedar replied with a shrug as he hefted the bag over his shoulder.

"Then I'm coming with you". Ellie insisted as she followed Cedar over to the window.

"Same". Lev volunteered as he grabbed his own backpack.

"I'm not risking either of your lives, I need to do this on my own". Cedar said firmly.

"I'm immune anyways so It's not like I'll get infected if you do turn". Ellie argued.

Cedar glared at his friends for a few moments before sighing and nodding his head as he quietly eased open the window and stepped out onto the rooftop. "Fine, you guys win".

"What are you doing?". Miguel asked, watching as Joel got up from the couch and headed towards the staircase.

"I'm gonna talk to Cedar". Joel replied simply as he unholstered his pistol from his hip and placed it on the coffee table before heading up to Cedar's bedroom.

Once Joel made it up the stairs he padded over to the closed bedroom door and gently knocked on the smooth surface. "Cedar?".

Seeing that there was no answer after a few moments of waiting, Joel eased the creaky door open and cursed to himself as Cedar, Ellie and Lev were nowhere to be seen.

"The kids are gone!". Joel announced as he jogged back down the steps and walked into the living room.

"Hold on, what do you mean gone?". Rocky asked carefully.

"None of them are in their room". Joel replied as he ran a hand through his graying hair.

"They just went up there less than five minutes ago, How the hell could they sneak out that quick?". Tony asked.

"They probably went up to the roof, that's how Cedar and Ellie first snuck out, remember?". Miguel recalled.

"Wouldn't we have heard them walking around?". Tommy questioned.

"Not with how distracted we all are ". Joel replied as he anxiously twisted his hands together.

"Do we have any idea of where they could be headed?". Miguel asked, trying to get everyone back on track.

"What about the barn you guy's found Tommy in? Maybe Cedar figured Mel and Manny would be there". Luca suggested.

"Why would he purposely go after them? I mean, obviously they tortured me and shit but I'm safe now". Tommy said with a shake of his head.

"Because Cedar's half suicidal and obviously not thinking rationally". Miguel cut in. "Once he gets in this state of mind It's hard to snap him out of it".

"Okay, let's say Mel and Manny get the upper hand, where would they take the kids?". Tony asked.

"Wouldn't they go back to Seattle since that's where their base was?". Luca chimed in.

"That's too obvious, they'd know that's the first place we'd check". Rocky disagreed.

"I say we check anyways". Joel piped up. "At least It'll be a start".

"How do the kids even plan on leaving the island exactly?". Tony suddenly brought up.

"They took the damn boat". Luca pointed out, looking out at the empty spot at the dock where the boat was previously parked.

"A one hour boat ride to Los Angeles, then another seventeen days to get into Seattle". Rocky rattled off. "The kids are gonna be a few days ahead of us at most since we'll have to find a new boat to get off the island ourselves".

"I clearly underestimated how thorough Cedar really is". Miguel chimed in with a shake of his head.

"Ya think?". Luca snapped with a roll of his eyes.

"We'll have to wait until morning, It's getting dark out". Joel piped up, looking out at the pink and orange speckled sunset.

"Oh yay, just another couple hours my brothers and sister are able to get further ahead of us". Luca said sarcastically as he raced upstairs, slamming his bedroom door as everyone else sat around in despaired silence.