“I’m telling you, Willow, I could lock him in one of the isolation bays and throw away the key. It would be better for the female population.”
At least her constant ranting is keeping my mind occupied. Somewhat. “How about you wait until he figures out a cure? Then you can do whatever you want with him.”
“If he weren’t so brilliant, I would have already done it.” She doesn’t sound happy about the fact. I’ve never met anyone quite like Zoe, who can make a compliment sound like an insult, and an insult sound like a compliment.
“Maybe Lyric should separate you two. I could talk to her if you want. I’m sure Julie can take over being his research pet.”
“No, Julie has been scouting the past few days to see if there’s any sign of Stella and Henry. Better her than me. You couldn’t pay me to go out there. Not only are there people monsters, but there are monster-monsters.” She gives an exaggerated shiver. “No, thank you.”
“You? Afraid?” I tease. “Did something happen to you while I was gone? I’ve never heard of you being afraid of anything.”
Zoe scoffs as she notes something down on a clipboard. Who knows what it is? I’m no nurse or scientist. I only do what she tells me. “I’m not afraid of them. I just don’t particularly care to ever run into any of them. If it means being safe, I’ll keep my butt inside, thank you.”
“I don’t particularly blame you. It can be pretty dangerous out there.” My thoughts travel back to the ship we’d encountered, and what had been inside. A shaft of ice stabs down my spine at the memory. What if the ship had been intact, its occupants alive? We all could have been killed. I swallow back the fear that threatens to rise up my throat.
The quaver in my voice has Zoe glancing up at me. “Are you sure it was from Earth II? Could it have been another group of aliens? I mean the morts can’t be the only beings who survived the radiation. There has to be others. Maybe it was one of them,” she suggests, her voice hopeful. But it isn’t confident, as though she knows it’s unlikely.
“It was Earth II,” I confirm, remembering the insignia emblazoned on the aircraft. I still see it in my sleep. In my nightmares, the Earth II army locks Theron and me up in cages for tortures unknown. “I saw their emblem myself.”
“As if we didn’t have enough problems with The Rades, the guards, and the goddamn morts themselves.”
“Would this be a mort in particular?” I say, in an attempt to change the subject back to one that doesn’t make me want to run to the nearest cell and lock myself inside until the threat is over.
She groans. “Don’t remind me.”
“Are we done yet or do you want to complain about Avrell some more? I’m starving.”
“Someone has to stay down here with the patients to keep watch. The women are fine. It’s the guards we have to worry about.” We both look over at the isolation bays. They’d originally been kept in another part of the prison, but we found it to be to inefficient to shuttle back and forth and they were moved to the main medical bay. It still makes my skin crawl to be so close to them, to the memories they represent, but they are handcuffed in the medical bay. I’m perfectly safe.
“I’ll stay,” I offer. “You need a break from this place anyway.”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
“As long as you bring me a plate when you come back, then of course not. Just make sure Hadrian doesn’t eat it all. I swear that boy could eat a rogcow.”
I still haven’t seen this infamous rogcow, but with as much Theron mentions it and practically salivates over, you’d think it was a big, walking steak.
“What’s a rogcow?” Zoe asks, her brows drawn together.
“I’ll get Theron to explain it to you next time.”
Zoe leaves, muttering under her breath about alien monsters, making me laugh to myself. At least she was entertaining and for a moment I didn’t think about how badly I’d mucked everything up. Would Theron even take me back if I asked him to? It wasn’t fair to him to keep jerking him around. Everyone deserves to know where they stand, to be treated with respect.
I rub at my chest, but it’s no use. The ache beneath my ribs won’t go away at my touch. And anyway, it doesn’t matter, I deserve the pain.
Maybe I will talk to him after I have something to eat, time to think. We both could use the space to evaluate where things stand, how we feel. I certainly need to get my head on straight before I do anything else or make any other mistakes.