Just as the last few weeks had progressed, there was a very predictable routine that was followed every day. His shift at the infirmary would begin, where Law would have to endure the multitude of questions from Tara, then to lunch several hours later, before returning to the infirmary for the most part remaining of the day. It was miraculous Law hadn't already resorted to cutting people up to work on them, considering just how bored he had become of staying in that blasted trailer all day. God knew he'd memorized which medications they had stocked ten times over already, to the point he could recite them alphabetically in his sleep.
Still, he remained silent, willing to bear the awful situation as it presented itself. This was for Shachi and Penguin who, every time he passed them by or saw them in the camp, seemed much happier than before. In the short time they'd spent living amongst these people, the two mechanics had apparently hit it off quite well with the others in the construction team, spending most of their time with them, lounging around or off building the wall around the garden not too far from the camp.
It'd be lying if Law tried convincing himself he wasn't a bit jealous of the easy bond they'd grown between the other camp members. Seeing them so trusting and willing to place that unwavering faith in someone they didn't know so quickly…Although, Law's obvious lack of friendships around the camp was due to his own reluctance to pursue any. If he'd put in the necessary effort, he was sure he could do the same. Before the world went to shit, he'd had plenty of friends. But now…he just…didn't want to. The thought of working towards that felt like more effort than it was worth, honestly.
These exact thoughts were swirling around his head as he sat in the middle of the camp eating his light lunch of stale crackers and the last few sips of a water bottle. Obviously it wasn't much, but it was enough to get by for the time being. He knew in another hour, his stomach would begin grumbling from the lack of food overall, the lunch doing very little in terms of curbing anyone's hunger, but there was nothing to be done about that.
There had been a light rain storm passing over for the past few days, leaving the camp waterlogged and damp for the most part. The air felt moist and heavy, even though the sun was currently beating down on them, causing an unbearably moist heat that was exhausting and uncomfortable. Law shift positions in his chair, munching noisily on his crackers, when he heard the squish of footsteps approaching him in the damp earth.
Looking up, he saw Penguin and Shachi saunter up, albeit a bit awkwardly, with small smiles. Law straightened instinctively. It had been some time since they'd initiated contact with him so openly, only conversing when they happened to be near. This was the first time since their fight that they'd openly sought him out.
"Uh, hiya Law." Shachi said, leaning on one leg with a cocked hip.
"Hey." He responded shortly, not quite sure what else to say.
Penguin looked away hesitantly, the discomfort practically pouring from his posture. Finally, he turned to Shachi and nodded, some silent sign Law didn't understand.
"I'll, uh, leave you two to it." The redhead got the message, walking away with a shrug. This left Penguin and Law alone for the first time in a long time.
"You can sit, if you'd like." Law offered the closest chair a few feet away. Nodding again, Penguin grabbed it and scooted it closer, facing the fire pit that was several yards away. He sat slouching comfortably, hands still in his jean pockets.
Law continued to eat his light lunch, waiting for Penguin to say what he was there to say. Neither spoke a word for several minutes, the casual background noise of the camp and the crunching of Law's crackers the only thing marking a passage of time. Law was worried this was the 'It's not you, it's me' equivalent to cutting off their friendship, seeing as Shachi had left them alone. Perhaps this was the end of the line, where they no longer desired him sticking around if it was only for their sakes…
In which case Law would prefer if Penguin didn't say anything at all, but he would still let him speak.
"I forgive you, you know…" Penguin suddenly started after a long period of thick silence. The words made Law tense, glancing over at his friend as if to be sure he'd heard that right. Penguin was staring straight ahead, mulling over his thoughts so he wouldn't be distracted. Or, perhaps, so he wouldn't have to look him in the eyes.
"…" He didn't quite know how to respond. This was…a bit surprising. But in a good way. Needless to say, a large weight he didn't realize had been weighing him down seemed to be lifted from his shoulders, the figurative load evaporated with a single word from his friend. The heavy heart in his chest didn't feel quite so heavy, and he could feel the smile of relief pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"I mean…we're brothers, Law. You, me, and Shachi. We've had each others' backs for the longest time, and some little fight's not gonna erase all that." Penguin continued, leaning forward in his chair to place his elbows on his knees. "You can frustrate the hell outta me sometimes, both of us…but you're still my brother. And maybe I've got a few things to apologize for too…"
Hearing this, Law shook his head adamantly. "No, you had a right to feel as you did. There's nothing to apologize for."
Penguin turned to the doctor and sighed, shaking his head. "Just hear me out, alright?"
Silently, he nodded. He would listen without interruption. Penguin was owed that much, and more.
"I'm not apologizing for the way I felt about staying or anything. That's still something I'm sticking with. But the way I acted about it was…maybe a bit of an overreaction. And I dragged Shachi into it without him getting a say."
"Then you should apologize to Shachi for that. I don't feel you were out of line, considering the situation." Law shrugged when Penguin gave him a pointed look, obviously displaying his doubt. "I didn't have to like what you said. Brutal honesty, if you want to call it that. It was something I needed to hear, you just had to say it a little louder this time."
At that, Penguin chuckled quietly. "You always were a tough sell, yeah? Still, I'm sorry for acting like I did."
"Forget about it." Law gave him a forgiving grin, showing him that there were no hard feelings between the two of them. "And I'm sorry for neglecting to think about what the both of you wanted before making a decision." He looked away a moment, frowning in thought. "Perhaps one of you should make the decisions from now on."
"Ah, come on. You've gotten us this far just fine. Between the three of us, I'm pretty sure you're our best hope for surviving." Penguin waved a hand dismissively. "Besides, all that's water under the bridge now. Things worked out alright in the end, didn't they?" Penguin gestured around the camp vaguely. He followed his arm's sweep, taking in their surroundings again.
"Depends on your definition of 'alright.'" Law answered bluntly, eyebrow cocked, but Penguin didn't seem bothered by his ever-present pessimism.
"Still don't trust this place?"
"I told you before. You can't force me to."
"No, I get that now. Sorry for that, too." Penguin conceded, scratching the back of his neck. "I at the very least, and I'm pretty sure Shachi does too, think that this place isn't too bad. We've got food, a decent place to sleep. I guess you could say we've got jobs again too, heh. The people aren't too bad, and the hot girls…"
"Aannnddd, there it is." Law smirked, having expected something of that nature to be one of the 'perks' he mentioned.
"What? Have you seen that redhead you work with? Tara, right? She's at least an 8."
At the mention of the young woman in question, Law sighed tiredly, reminded that soon he'd have to go back to the infirmary and actually associate with her. "I'd appreciate if you didn't bring her up."
Confused, Penguin cocked his head to the side. "Eh? What's wrong with her?"
"She never stops asking useless questions."
His hatted friend chuckled and leaned back casually in his chair, arms crossing over his chest. "Ah, she can't be that bad!"
Law's only response was a long, blank stare in Penguin's direction. Finally, he shook his head.
"Well, maybe you should just try harder to understand her. Women like being understood. Who knows? Maybe it's her way of coming onto you or something." Penguin leaned closer and lowered his voice. "In case you haven't noticed, there aren't many options for the, uh, opposite sex around here. You can't afford to be choosy anymore."
"Why does it always come back around to sex for you two?" Law bemoaned to the sky above, eyes rolling up in faux annoyance. If Penguin was offended by the claim, he showed no sign, doing nothing but shrug good-naturedly with a grin.
"There's nothing wrong with…'perusing the merchandise', so to speak." He claimed, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Besides, it's not like they aren't thinking the same thing. We've all got needs."
"Hmm." Was all Law said, or rather, hummed, seeing as he didn't really have an answer to that one that wouldn't insinuate anything. They settled into another easy silence, no longer thick with the previous tension their fight had caused, instead feeling contented that they'd seemingly fixed the cracks in their almost broken relationship.
The rest of his lunch was spent catching up with Penguin, before he had to go back to the infirmary and finish the rest of his shift. It was nice to just sit there and talk for awhile, something that none of them had done since out on their own, crowded around a campfire or lounging around some nondescript apartment. Idly, he shook his head ruefully. Out of all the memories he had, the once spent roughing it up with his two best friends in a zombie-infested broken world were the ones he cherished most. How strange.
Finally, he stood, promising to head over to their trailer once his shift was done so they could catch up and hang out like old times. With a small wave, he left Penguin and headed off towards the infirmary trailer.
Once again, he could feel a feminine stare at his back, blue eyes piercing into the back of his neck like pins and needles. His eye twitched, the thread of his patience growing shorter and shorter with each second she stared. It was almost a relief to be back in the trailer with Tara, no longer feeling that intense gaze boring into him.
How long would it take her to just say what it was she wanted? He was tired of all these games.
"Law."
The authoritative, yet small, female voice called his name as he was heading to Penguin and Shachi's trailer later that day, and he stopped in his tracks at the sound. The effort of restraining his deep sigh was greater than he'd imagine it would be, but it didn't stop the slight eye roll once he realized who it was. Turning, he saw Margaret walking to catch up with him, finally coming to a stop with her arms crossed.
Her shoulder-length hair was tied back today, out of her face, but she looked much different than what Law was used to. Like seeing her in a backwards mirror, it just seemed…off. She'd only ever worn it down that he'd seen.
"Yes?" He prompted, after there was several seconds of silence.
"Ah, right!" She caught herself, face displaying her surprise as she realized she'd been silent. "I wanted to ask how Tara's training is going. Is she improving?"
Law shrugged nonchalantly. "There aren't many things for her to treat at the moment, but from what I can gather, yes she is improving. Albeit, a lot slower than I'd hoped."
Margaret sighed, her shoulders slumping an inch or two. "That's not exactly what I hoped to hear." Then, she brushed back a stray bang from her face behind her ear, only to have it flop back in front of her eyes again a moment later. "At least there's been some improvement, though…"
Sensing she wanted more than that in way of explanation, Law decided to elaborate a bit more. "Tara knows basic first aid, she can treat various cuts and scrapes, so long as they don't go too deep into the flesh. Her knowledge of the medication isn't what it should be, but for simpler procedures, she should be fine."
Margaret seemed to think this over a bit, eyes cast to the ground, just as the moon reappeared from behind some clouds, illuminating the camp in a faint white light.
"Would you feel comfortable leaving her by herself for a day without supervision?" She finally asked, looking back up at him curiously. He frowned, unsure of what she was getting at.
"I suppose, granted there are no life-threatening injuries during that time where an active surgery is required…why exactly?"
"Well, there's something that I'd like you to do, but it's a bit of a hike to get there. You'd be gone most of the day, maybe even two."
"You want me to go on a field trip?" Law asked incredulously, one eyebrow cocked. Had he heard her right? "What exactly is it I'm going out there for?"
"There's a survivor holed up in a house in the city, but he's injured. We've tried moving him, but he refuses to go anywhere until we bring a doctor of some kind to look at his injuries. I'd considered bringing Tara before, but to leave the group without a medic for a day or so is something I don't want to risk." Margaret shrugged, rubbing at her arm as if to warm it.
Law frowned, eyes flicking back and forth as he listened to what she was saying. "How long has he been injured? You don't seem very urgent to help him."
"Well…we've brought him medicine in the past. He's survived as is for several weeks, but we can't keep using manpower to keep him alive if it isn't going to do anything. If we can help him, I want to try moving him back to the camp, I don't want to just leave him out there. And if there's nothing we can do…" She trailed off, crossing her arms and looking away in discomfort.
"You want me to kill him." Law said blatantly, understanding what it was she was getting at. He didn't much care for this errand, to be quite frank, but it sounded like this man was in need of help, in which case his responsibility as a doctor kicked in, telling him that this was a human being who might possibly be saved.
It was Margaret's turn to sigh, nodding slowly to indicate he was correct. "I've…" She started, but had to take a minute to think about her words. "I've caused enough people to be killed, I don't think I could just end his life like that. And as weak as that sounds coming from a leader, if at all possible, I'd like to avoid it coming to that."
Law looked away, feeling both used and as if he was doing her a service by considering her proposal, a strange combination to feel. Still, something bugged him above all else. "Look, Margaret…" He started, gesturing to the camp. "I get that you don't want to leave anyone else to die, that you feel like this is your penance of a sort, but you also have to think of those who you're already responsible for."
She frowned. "What do you mean exactly?"
"From an objective view, this group is fairly close to starving to death at any given point, and yet you continue to bring in additional mouths to feed, struggling to find ways to support these new people, all the while wondering how you're going to fix the problem." Law tried saying as politely as he could, yet frustrated she couldn't see the flaw in her own thinking. "The problem is bringing in the new people. There's a limit to how many can be supported in any given population. You have reached that limit, and surpassed it."
She frowned, opening her mouth to retort, to deny or defend her actions. Law didn't give her the chance.
"How are you helping more people when you end up starving everyone else in the process? How is that logical, Margaret?"
The black-haired leader said nothing, staring at the ground in either shame or anger. In the darkness, Law couldn't quite tell. The moon went behind another cloud, shrouding the camp back into the blackness. The camp around them was quiet, most of the other occupants having retreated to their personal campers, leaving only a handful of survivors not including the guards lounging around outside.
For several seconds they both just stood there, two leaders in their own right, but Law figured he'd drive the point home for the sake of emphasis that her way of thinking was not as sound as she thought.
"You may have the right intentions with accepting everyone you meet, but that is not the path to redemption. You can't save everyone. You more you ignore that fact, the fewer people you actually help."
Law waited, staring at her intently so she understood that his reasoning was logical, and she eventually nodded slowly. "Yeah…maybe…" Understandably, she was rather morose at the thought of not saving anyone else, but at least she was reasonable enough to understand he was right about this. "But…I still want to save him. If I can, I want to save this man. Just one last life that I might be able to help."
Her blue eyes were muted in the darkness when she looked up at him, but he could still see the hope and silent plea for him to understand that she needed to do this. Something in her demanded she save this man. He supposed it made sense, up to a point admittedly. As illogical as it was to go out and save a single dying man, there were times when you just had to accept the emotional attachment other people placed on strange things and concepts. Sentimentality ran much deeper than fact and logic ever could.
"Fine. I'll go to help this man, but if he's in as bad a shape as it sounds, it may be too late to do anything. Medically, I have the say if he is in any condition to live, no matter how much you may beg for it to be done."
"I understand." She nodded resolutely, all business-like again. The leader that she was began to merge back from the broken woman she'd been just a moment ago, her mask piecing itself back together again right before his eyes. Fascinating, indeed. "Thank you for agreeing. I owe you one, Law."
"Hmm." Was all he said, watching her smile in appreciation before walking off to her own trailer. He cocked his head and watched her go, before remembering that he was supposed to be meeting Shachi and Penguin, and turned to head that way.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Damien shouted at his guard, pacing the floor of his bedroom back and forth with agitation. Scowling deeply, he glanced at the closest object-a lamp that sat on the hallway table-and viciously sent it flying into the adjacent wall, shattering it into a hundred pieces. The clash of glass against plaster rung out through the little house, instantly dampening the silence even further.
The young man, swallowing nervously, eyes glued to the wood floor, shifted from foot to foot. Damien was not a man to be trifled with when angry. This was the most explosive he'd seen so far.
"Tell me again." The leader mumbled, running a hand through his hair to try to calm his temper.
The young man almost didn't catch what he'd said, and the pause of hesitation in answering was enough for Damien to believe he hadn't. Suddenly, the older man rounded on him and gripped the lapels of his jacket in a restricting grip.
"Tell me again! Tell me! I want to be sure I heard that fucking right!"
"I-I'm sorry!" The young man backed away but only hit his back against the wall, Damien pushing him as hard as he could into the fading wallpaper. "She just-I never saw…I don't know how she escaped!"
"Well, there'd better be a good fucking reason why you didn't realize it! How am I supposed to keep this place running when you don't do your goddamn jobs!" Face inches away from the boy's, he could practically see the fear in his pupils, but it only fueled his rage.
"I stepped out to have a smoke! A-a-and when I got back inside the cage was open! I'm sorry, Sir!" Damien hands clenching his jacket tightened, shoving relentlessly against his chest with growing strength. The young man's hands scrabbled against his hands to try to pry them off, but to no avail.
Just as suddenly as the rage had presented itself, it vanished, and Damien released the boy from his grip. Stepping away from him, he exhaled audibly, straightening his clothing with his hands.
Too terrified to say anything or go anywhere, the young man simply stood, trembling against the wall, gulping down precious breath.
"Sorry ain't gonna bring her back, boy." Damien responded in almost a whisper, and the younger man strained to hear. Before he could register what happened, Damien whipped back around, knife in hand, and stabbed him fully in the chest with the blade.
"Argck!" He cried out, doubling over from the pain, forcing him to lean into Damien's form. "Whrgh…D-Damien…" He tried saying through the pain. The knife twisted, tearing an wretched mix of groaning and screaming from his body, to the point where he wondered if the noise was actually human. Just to prove a point, Damien retracted the weapon and stabbed him again, this time a bit higher up, closer to where his heart was.
"S-ssss-top…" He croaked out, a trickle of blood leaking past his lips and onto his jacket. The strength was being leeched from his body, and he slowly sank to his knees, Damien following the entire way as he crumpled to the floor with a thud.
Feeling the rest of his strength leave his body, Damien stood back up, yanking the knife from the boy's body, and watched as he fell the rest of the way to the floor limply. Eyeing the red-covered blade expressionlessly, he wiped the blood onto his pants, ignoring the whimpers of pain from the boy trembling and scrambling for something to help him on the floor.
His boots thumped against the wood as he walked out of the house, approaching the first man he saw on the stairs going down.
"Clean up the shit upstairs." He commanded gruffly, pushing his way past the dazed man before going about the rest of his business for the day. He was tired of things not working out for him. Maybe he'd grab the nearest woman and release some stress. Yeah, that sounded pretty good.
So saying, he headed towards the Doghouse in a much better mood.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
