Torn Apart

Chapter 14

Vanessa had walked away after her final remark, leaving Lily to stew over the comment. She had no idea what she had meant, other than the ominous implications behind it. Vanessa knew something that Lily didn't, but what else was new?

She yawned, the weight of the day pressing heavily on her. She couldn't remember if she had slept at all since the short nap she had taken in the motel room. There was a great possibility that she hadn't, when had there been time? It didn't seem like there was any place that even remotely resembled a bedroom, as the only place with a bed was the infirmary. Though there was only one and she was certain that Jamie wouldn't appreciate her taking up more space in the already small cot. No, she'd have to find somewhere else to crash for the night, considering the fact that it had been dark when they got to the place. Which meant who know how late it had gotten since then?

Lily squared her shoulders as best as she could, and set off to find someone who could point her in the direction of a bed. There was nobody in the common space, where she had just stood, nor was there a single soul in the infirmary other than a resting Jamie. She poked her nose into the few other rooms as well, hoping to find someone, preferably not Vanessa, considering their last conversation. However at that point she couldn't exactly be stingy with whom she posed the question to. Fatigue was beginning to make her movements exaggerated and sluggish, her brain muddled with longing for sleep.

Just when she was beginning to view the floor as a rather comfortable place for a nap, she heard muffled voices through a closed door. They were coming from just outside the building. Lily staggered towards the door. She was just fumbling with the latch when the door swung open before her and she was face to face with Vanessa, Zane, Jesse, and Liz. They had appeared to be in the middle of a pretty intense discussion, which had just been cut short by the looks of things. Jesse's mouth still open in mid-sentence, his hand in the air as though he was arguing a point.

"Lily?" Liz asked, subtly elbowing Jesse to put his arm down.

"Uh, sorry," Lily stammered. "I'm interrupting something."

"Yeah, you are," Jesse said, almost accusingly. Zane glared at him.

"No, she should be a part of this conversation," Zane glanced back at Lily. "Step outside a moment, if you want." In reality, there was no way Lily wanted to step foot out that door. Despite her frustration at so much information being kept from her, the one thing that nagged at her mind consistently was the thought of a warm bed and a good night's sleep. She was startled to find that her feet were already carrying her forward towards the group, against her better judgement, as she shut the door behind her.

"So what's going on?" Lily asked, halfheartedly.

"It's about Jamie," Vanessa said. That woke Lily up.

"Well, that's half of it," Zane contributed. "We're fresh out of medical supplies. Hudson used the last on your friend in there," he nodded his head towards the door that Lily had just come from. "Without the proper medication and wrappings, his wound is going to become infected real fast." That was worrisome. If Jamie had used up all of their supplies, what were they going to do if his health took a turn for the worse? Of course, this was bad news for everyone else. There were six others living in the building, including herself. It could be a matter of time before one of them fell ill, or became injured in some way and required Hudson's attention.

"So what are we going to do?" Lily asked.

"It's not what we are going to do," Jesse spoke, "Zane's going to go on a supply run." Zane didn't move, but his expression had become like granite.