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"He smashed your head against the wall?"
"Yeah."
"And punched you?"
"Well, it was more of a-- no, yeah. He did."
"And then he knocked you out?"
I stare at Zombie for a long moment. He lost a lot of blood, which I know for a fact because it's all over the floor in the hall. "Yes, he did. Would you care to relive your dying moments, too, or do you want to shut it?"
He squints. "You got meaner in the past ten minutes."
"It's been an hour. And meaner is not a word."
He sighs. Turns to Dumbo with a grimace. "He gonna wake up?"
"He's messed up bad," Dumbo tells us.
I think about how beaten and broken Evan looked when we stripped him down earlier, to let Dumbo get a look at the damage. I purse my lips at the boy. We already knew that, Bo.
"Sepsis," Dumbo mutters, and when Cassie sends him a blank stare he adds, "When the infection gets into your bloodstream."
I shift my weight on to my other leg. Standing up was hard, sitting down was harder, and laying down was a complete nightmare. I was going to sleep standing up tonight-- if I slept at all.
"What can we do?" Cassie asks.
"Antibiotics," I but in, looking at her. "Which we don't have."
Cassie sits on the bed opposite Evan. Faces Zombie, who leans against the wall and cradles his rifle, staring at Evan with narrowed eyes. "He didn't have a choice," she stresses. "How could he just stroll up in the dark without somebody shooting him?"
I almost but in that he didn't actually have to sneak in and attack everyone. The second he saw Zombie, or even me, he should have known we stayed with Cassie until he managed to get his alien ass here, but of course he thought it was too fucking risky to chance it.
"I want to know where Poundcake and Teacup are," Zombie says through gritted teeth.
Dumbo tells him to get off his feet, Zombie waves him off. He pushes away from the wall, hobbles to Evan, and backhands him. "Wake up!" Smack. "Wake up, you son of a bitch!"
Cassie lurches forward to stop him from harming her precious Silencer. Dumbo and I share a knowing look but say nothing.
"Ben, this won't--"
"Fine," he snaps, yanking his arm away. He hobbles towards the door, slowly, "I'll find them myself."
Sam, jumping off the edge of the bed to run to Zombie. "Zombie! I'll come, too!"
