Day's End

Fear is Why We're Still Here

"Adapting? What do you-"
"I'll explain it later, Sidney. We really need to get Rose help," Lea stressed, nearly glaring at Sidney for extra emphasis on 'really'.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry.." They whispered, shifting their weight to the right to better cope with Rose's own weight. 
"Here, stop," Lea said, suddenly letting go of Rose. "There's a car."
Sidney grunted with the sudden weight and advised, "We'd better not waste our time with it. We passed by some on the-" A car engine shut them up.
"Come on; hurry," Lea rushed as she helped Sidney, still quite confused, get Rose and themselves into the car. 
            The car wasn't covered with snow and frozen over like all the rest of the abandoned vehicles. As they watched Lea lay Rose down in the backseat from their own passenger seat, Sidney wearily spoke up, "Are you sure this is abandoned? Is it okay to take?"
Lea hurriedly buckled herself in and only when they were slowly rolling away did she finally answer, "If someone offered you candy or chocolate or whatever kids like, would you take it?"
"I guess," Sidney muttered, drawing out their words as they looked at the mirror beside them, catching a glimpse of a faint silhouette. Their voice barely a whisper they tried to add, "Hey, there-"
"Well, don't."
"What?" They asked, turning their head to face the driver.
"Don't take it unless you really need to. It could be dangerous," Lea's words lessened in volume by the end of her sentence. "What were you saying?"
"Um. Nevermind." Sidney's gaze turned back towards the window. "So, where are you from?"
"I was born and raised in Japan. We had recently had a breakthrough in neuroscience, so I was called over here to study it more in-depth."
Sidney jumped up. "Breakthrough?"
Lea shook her head. "I don't think it was this."
"But, if you wanted to, could you study this thing?"
"If I had the right facilities and the right specimen, but.. that might not be for a while."
Sidney slunk back into their seat, trying to guess at what they had just drove over, but they continued, "When you said the virus was 'adapting'-?"
"Well, that was just a guess. Because the virus takes over already deceased hosts, the dead bodies would freeze in cold like this, but if the virus is adapting so strongly where the deceased hosts are even beginning to adapt, we might have a bigger problem. Who knows what else they could potentially adapt to."
"You seem to know a lot about this for a neuroscientist."
"Neurologist, and, yes, it's clear the virus takes over the brain, which may make it a little easier to understand." 
"So," Sidney looked at Lea, "you might be able to fix this?"
"I didn't say that. I only said it might be a little easier to understand. That's the thing; we have to understand it before we can start potentially curing it, which who knows how long that'll take."
Sidney faced forward, sighing. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"Away from the city. Probably to some neighborhood so we can find someplace for Rose and start treating her wounds, and that's another thing; expect the worst. There's a chance she won't survive this."
                 Sidney writhed in their seat until they managed to prop themselves up next to the window and let out an over-the-top sigh, before muttering, "I know."
                  Lea finally slowed the car down when a figure suddenly jumped out in front of them, waving their arms frantically. This caught Sidney's attention as well as they sat straight up in surprise. "Who's- Hey, Lea, don't go out there!" They shouted, sticking their arm out after her.
"Just stay here. They might need help," she commanded, her hand resting on her weapon.
             The figure suddenly lurched forward, shouting something unintelligible from Sidney's view. Lea, however, yelled, "Shit!" loud enough for them to hear, and she grabbed the person's wrist and pulled them down beside the car just as an array of bullets struck the ground.
             Sidney knew this as a cue to duck down, which they did not seconds before bullets met the car, flinging shards of glass in every direction with a loud crash. Movement caught their eye as Rose shifted in her position before falling still again. The barrage of bullets suddenly stopped, and Lea slowly cracked the driver's side door open, broken glass falling onto the snow as she did so. She mouthed a curse and whispered, "Sidney, we need to get out of here." 
Sidney jerked their head towards the woman, "No shit, Lea! But what about Rose? And who are they?"
"Turns out it didn't take them too long to figure out what happened and find us." 
Sidney quickly turned to peek out their window and ducked down once a bullet shattered the mirror beside them. "Are we going to be able to get away? Can we fight against them?"
"Not likely. We'd better just wait and see what they do next." 
Sidney leaned against the door, sighing as they relaxed. "And we're just going to let them do what they want? We have to-"
"Shit, Sidney, move!" 
               The door was roughly pulled open, hurling Sidney onto the cold, icy snow beneath. They gazed up at a man from their vulnerable position, and he kneeled and rolled Sidney over, pocketing their gun as well as holding onto his own. Lea suddenly stood, aiming Nicholas' pistol at the stranger as she spoke, "Who are you?" 
The stranger waved a dismissive hand as his left foot held Sidney to the ground. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Put down the weapon, and we'll talk," the man aggressively ordered.
"Why should I?" Lea dared; her twitching movements gave away her nervousness. 
The man spread out his arms, and a twisted smile spread across his face. "You might not be able to see, but we've got you surrounded." The smile disappeared as he brought his arms down. "We know what you did. Put it down." 
Lea opened her mouth to retaliate but, instead, simply laid her gun on the hood of the car. "There." She backed away. "Now what do you want?" 
The man stepped forward and took it. "Who's that beside you?" 
"We found him," she said, nudging the boy with her foot. "Come on, stand."
The boy shakily stood, trying his best to avoid eye contact with the stranger. 
"Where'd you find him?" 
"Why does it matter?" Lea snapped.
The man lifted his hands mockingly. "No need to get so defensive. That boy happens to be with us, is all." 
"With you?"
"You heard me."
"Why was he running?"
"Who knows? This world isn't exactly for children, you know?"
"Don't think I don't know what you do," Lea said, keeping her voice low and cautious. 
"And what do we do, according to you?"
"You kill people for the sake of turning them into those monsters!"
"We do? What if I told you we only do that because we're trying to find a cure? What if I told you we do that to figure out how these things behave and how they function? We know those things are monsters, but that's all the more reason to try to understand them. You see, that's what we do. We try to understand." 
"Then what the hell is with this whole 'Feed the Fire' bullshit?" 
"Pretty self-explanatory. Feeding the fire of curiosity." 
Lea remained silent.
"Have I swayed you? We're simply trying to make people.." he paused to find the right word, "..realize that there's nothing to be afraid of. Fear is the reason nobody has done what we do; fear is the reason people refuse to understand them." 
"No, you're wrong. Fear is the reason people are still alive, and why we have enough sense to stay away. We do understand them; we understand that they're dead and that there's nothing left of who they used to be." 
"How are you so sure that there's nothing left?"
"Do you really think a mother would choose to eat their child alive?"
"Of course not, but what if they're still in there? What if some part of them is there, but the virus only controls their body and actions? That is what we are trying to understand. We kill to understand." After a moment of silence, he continued, "I know who you are. We need someone like you; someone who could increase our odds of understanding this."
"How do you know who I am?" 
"Even though the media may be gone, books are still around. My wife was actually a big fan; she studied neuroscience." Sidney squirmed under the man's foot. "Oh, sorry." He lifted the weight, and Sidney immediately shot up. "I see you have wounded. Come back to the city, and I'll show you what we actually do. We'll take care of your friend, of course." 
Lea looked down, weighing her options carefully. "Fine. Take us there." 
The man smiled; not mockingly but genuinely. "Good choice, but I'll drive if you don't mind. I'm sure you understand why." 
Lea nodded, "Yeah." She looked at Sidney and then at the boy. "Do you guys mind sitting with Rose?" 
The boy remained silent, figuring he didn't have much of a choice, and Sidney shook their head, keeping their suspicious glare on the man, "No, it's fine."
                   The stranger walked around to Lidia's side and vice versa, both entering the car. Sidney opened the door and grunted as they pushed Rose to the far side of the row of the three seats. They motioned for the boy to come over, which he did hesitantly, and they got in between the newcomer and Rose. As they rolled off towards the city they had just escaped, the man spoke, "I guess we should introduce ourselves. 'Course I already know you, Lea Aneko." He adjusted the mirror to look at the rest of the group, particularly Sidney, as they were in the middle. "I'm Andre."
Sidney looked away from his gaze and stubbornly muttered, "Sidney Ross."
"Yes, I've heard about you. Your father told us about you from time to time. Who's the woman?"
"Rose Tristen."
"The boy is William Mathias. He's probably too shy to introduce himself."
Sidney took a glance at the boy before turning their own gaze to the window. "How old is he?"
 "I'm thirteen," William finally spoke. "How old are you?"
Sidney stayed in their position, momentarily glancing at Rose. "Fifteen."
Andre smiled again. "You two should talk once we get back; might make a new friend."
             William recoiled back into the corner of their seat, and Sidney simply sighed, partly in annoyance at Andre's eagerness and partly to hide the fact that they were actually eager to do so, too. They passed the horde of partially frozen walkers, which brought Andre to apologize about shattering their car windows, as he now realized that that could be potentially dangerous. Lea responded with a simple, "It's no big deal," which, obviously, was a lie, but Andre didn't seem to notice or, if he did, care. 
               As they slowly drove into the entrance of the city, Sidney's eyes were met with the sight of his father's corpse; they hadn't even bothered to clean it up. They quickly shifted their gaze to William, who seemed to notice the body, too. Before the boy could ask, Sidney shook their head at him, adding in a slight glare to get the message across. Sidney's uncharacteristic scowl deepened as they neared the familiar building; they had an incredibly off feeling about this, as they were sure Lea did as well. The car parked in an awkward position, practically on the sidewalk, and Andre was the first to get out. 
                Sidney opened the door on Rose's side and maneuvered their way around her. Andre put his hand on their shoulder and said, "Here, let me get her." As he reached in to scoop Rose up in his arms, Sidney felt the urge to slap his hands away but was distracted by Lea's voice, "You have doctors here?"
"Two, but I'm sure they'll be able to handle her just fine."
"Is that where you.. handle things?"
"No, we have a special place for that. The doctors usually only take care of our own, but since you're guests, we can make exceptions." 
Sidney spoke up, "Can I come with you? I want to see where you're putting Rose." 
"Understandable. Lea, can you wait with William while we take care of this?"
She held the door open for the others and looked around before answering, "Sure.."
"Good; thank you." Andre walked to the staircase on the left, where Rose and Sidney had shot at Nicholas. 
"Wouldn't it be easier to keep it on the first floor?" Sidney asked.
Andre hummed to imply he didn't understand.
"I mean the infirmary. Wouldn't it be easier to keep on the first floor?"
Andre smiled. "We like to keep it hidden so, in case of any emergency, nothing happens to the ones who can't defend themselves."
"Why do you always say 'we' instead of 'I'?"
"It's a habit. We're a community, see?"
"Community? More like an army."
"They can be the same, depending on how you look at it." He paused. "How old did you say you were?"
"Fifteen, why?"
"You act older, but you look younger." Andre smiled a bit.
After about a minute of tense, and slightly awkward, silence, Sidney said, "Was that a compliment?"
Andre suddenly stopped. "Here we are. Do you mind opening the door?"
             Sidney did as they were told, and, as soon as the door was opened, a strong scent forced a small gag. The scent wasn't disgusting, actually quite clean-smelling, but was so overwhelmingly strong it actually took some effort to breathe at first. "Shit.." they whispered. 
              In the center of the large, barren room was a metal table, littered with patches of rust. Andre laid Rose down on the table, and, as soon as Sidney shut the door, a woman rushed in from an area only separated by a thick curtain. "Dr. Winters," Andre adressed. "I'm sure you remember Rose."
"Yes, of course."
"And I'm sure you know that they've escaped."
She nodded quickly.
"But they've had a change of heart, and Rose needs severe medical care."
"Oh, uh, of course. Yeah, I'll get on it," she meekly said, rushing around in order to get an IV ready. 
"Where's Dr. Rowley?"
"He's with another patient," Dr. Winters answered, slowing down her inspection of Rose as she said, "Someone was bitten.."
A ghost of a smile appeared on Andre's face. "May we go see them?"
"Oh, of course. Yeah, I'll make sure Rose is okay, and I'll let you know of anything alarming comes up."
"Thank you, Winters." Andre's smile became more apparent, which only further unnerved Sidney. "I think the boy would like to spend some more time with Rose before they're seperated. Is that alright with you?"
Winters looked up from Rose's wound and smiled. "Yeah, of course. I'm sure they've been through a lot together."
Andre nodded and left the room, leaving only Sidney and Winters. "So, what's your real name?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean your first name."
"Oh, it's Ren. Ren Winters." She held out her hand, which Sidney reluctantly shook. "I've heard about you, from what your father said. Sidney, right?"
"Yeah. So, will Rose survive?"
"I don't know yet, but her wound is infected all to hell. We'll try our best."
"Thank you, Dr."
Ren smiled and wiped her hands off with a towel. "You can just call me Ren, if you like."
Sidney nodded, forcing a tight smile as they backed up towards the door. "Thank you, Ren."
             Without another word, Sidney half-bolted out the door and almost slammed into Lea, who jumped out of the way in time. "Are you okay, Sidney?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Where are you going?"
"I was just looking around. Is Rose okay?"
"A doctor is taking care of her, so I think so. Is it okay to just be wandering around?"
"It's not like they'll just kill me."
Sidney lowered their voice into a whisper, "They might. Lea, I'm getting really bad vibes from this place."
"Did something happen?"
"Not yet, but something could happen. They're just.. too.." they paused. "They're way too friendly to strangers; more than you should be."
"I guess you're right. I did notice the way he said 'guests' before we went inside. I'll keep an eye out."
"Lea?" Andre asked, turning the corner. "Good, I have something to show- Ah, and Sidney, I have something to show you both."
             With a nervous glance exchanged between the two, Lea and Sidney were lead down the long hallway to a large doorway, which was held together with a small chain and padlock. Andre unlocked it and opened the door on the right, "Be careful inside."
               Two walkers were chained on either side of the room, a cell in the middle, and a single, small window to the left of the cell. Sidney suddenly stopped and stepped back; their heart suddenly lurching as a pit in their stomach threatened to force them to their knees. "F*ck! Lidia? What happened?"
               They rushed forwards and grasped the bars as they kneeled down to her level. A deep bite tore through her clothes and skin but had already stopped bleeding. Lidia slowly raised her head; the fever had already set in, from the looks of it. "Oh.. Hey, Sidneh.." Her voice slurred as she winced in pain.  
"What happened? Where's Micheal?"
"He's.." Lidia coughed and blood splattered on the ground; her breaths were labored and deep. "He's.. okay, I think.." She shook her head, trying to stay conscious. 
Lea stepped forward. "You know her?"
Sidney ignored her question as they cursed, "F*ck! Did he get out of the city?"
"M-maybe.. Where's.. Rose?"
"She was shot, and they're taking care of her now. Damn! I'm so sorry, Lidia."
Lidia chuckled slowly. "Sorry isn't.. gonna help anythin' now." Her voice quieted to a whisper, "Don't.. don't trust them.. with her.. or with anyone.." Sidney had to lean in to her her near-inaudible voice as she muttered, "You.. n-need to get out.. of here."