REANIMATION

(29)

     "I told you!" Remote's voice was sharp with fury, "I don't want to talk to you or Pie or anyone in this fucking house! Now leave me alone!!"

     "Don't you think this may be going a bit overboard?"

     "She needs to face us eventually, I'm just speeding up the process."

     "Yeah, but..." Bottle trailed off.

     Tree didn't bother to listen her out. His gaze traveled over to Pen, who was struggling lockpick the door with a bent paperclip. The doorknob rattled loudly with each attempt, but every time Pen tried to test his luck with opening the door, it amounted into nothing.

     "This may take a while," Pen told the others, "I'm a little rusty."

     Bottle sighed, taking a few steps away from the scene.

     Nobody noticed.

     She turned and slowly tiptoed away. If they heard her escape, they didn't even bother to go call out to her.

     She turned the corner and stepped into the living room, looking for a familiar face in particular.

     However, the living room was empty.

     "Fanny...?" She mumbled quietly.

     A grunt sounded from behind her, causing her to whirl around in shock.

     "Oh! I was... looking for you."

     Fanny's head tilted.

     "N-No reason specifically," Bottle swiftly added, "I just... don't wanna be around the others."

     Fanny walked past her, halting right before the cage she used to be kept in and reaching her hand in to grab the notepad that had been left there. She instantly began to write on it and turn it around for Bottle to see.

     'What did they do now?'

     "Well, uhm... you see-- they're trying to break into Remote's room because she had a little outburst in front of Tree and Pen. They took it pretty personally, and now they want to talk to her again to settle it."

     'Sounds like a shitstorm.'

     "Yeah..." Bottle nodded solemnly, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes, "the moment they can break through i know the entire house is gonna delve into yelling. I don't... like it..."

Fanny's gaze morphed into concern as Bottle continued.

"It reminds me of my o-old home," She went on to admit, voice cracking under the pressure of overwhelming emotions, "never one s-second of silence. I thought I'd be free of these th-things..."

The zombie was staring in shock.

"Th-the group is being torn apart! And-- and I'm trying to stay happy and c-calm- but it just keeps getting worse and!! A nd..."

As she felt her breathing begin to increase rapidly, Fanny dropped the notepad and rushed toward the panicking girl, gripping tightly onto her her hands.

Bottle felt the tears rush down her cheeks, and on instinct grabbed ahold of the zombie to pull her into her embrace. Fanny visibly flinched, stiff in shock. That fact didn't change throughout the entire time Bottle held her.

She probably should've taken the hint the shorter girl was uncomfortable, but in that moment she couldn't process it. She needed to hold someone close, even if that someone was a zombie.

Once her breathing regulated, she pushed Fanny away.

"Sorry..."

Fanny's expression didn't shift, maintaining that same judgmental resting expression she almost always had; yet, she didn't feel like Fanny felt anything of the sorts. She hoped she didn't.

They stood in silence, only to be broken by the words being shared downstairs. By the sounds of it they had broken in, and Remote wasn't happy in the slightest.

Bottle felt her heart stop. She knew where the confrontation was gonna head and she didn't wanna stick around for it.

Fanny appeared to have noticed her uneasiness.

She gestured towards the exit of the living room, walking out before she had a chance to listen to Bottle speak.

She took after her anyway.

"Where are we going?"

Fanny reached out her arm and pointed toward the front door.

"Oh, yeah. Outside. Is that... safe?"

Fanny nodded.

"I... I don't know..."

She was ready to speak her concerns, quickly getting cut off by the sound of Remote and Tree beginning to raise their voices.

She shot a glance toward the staircase leading downstairs, then back to Fanny.

"...Okay. If you're sure it'll be safe."

"Remote, I'm sorry. But you need to get over it. There was no hope for her in the first place! What were we supposed to do, let her stay and infect us?"

"She didn't deserve the harsh treatment you guys gave her!!" Remote snapped, "Have you ever considered the fact she could be dead at this very moment!? She could have died alone and YOU DON'T CARE! SHE WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM ME AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT--"

"It was her fault!!"

Remote went dead silent as Tree continued.

"She was too brave and too reckless! It was her own downfall! I regret what happened but I can't do anything now...!"

"You couldn't give less of a shit about her!!"

Tree paused after that accusation, gaze slowly hardening into fury.

"Tree--" Pen called out quietly as he took a step toward Remote, "Tree please stay calm..—"

Tree ignored his pleads.

"You know what Remote!? I get you loved her, but you weren't the only one who suffered from her leaving! Just because you were closest to her doesn't mean you were the only one who was effected! Do you realize how much this has hurt me!? Of course you wouldn't, because you NEVER LEAVE YOUR DAMN ROOM."

Remote flinched.

"You're grieving, I get that! But there is a fine line between grieving and taking out your pent up sorrows and rage on everyone around you! Do you have any consideration for everyone else here!?"

"I—"

"No. Don't answer that." Tree spat, "I'm done here. Go hide in your room if you want, doesn't make a difference to me."

Remote fell quiet. She was clearly wanting to retaliate, but nothing escaped her mouth.

As Tree began to walk away, he added a small remark, "I'll never know what Liy saw in you."

"You wouldn't understand," Remote snapped, "you don't know what it's like to have the one you love most ripped away from you when it could've been avoided. You've always had Pen by your side."

She added extra emphasis on Pen's name, practically spitting out his name. It caused both him and Tree to wince.

"Maybe if he died, you'd understand."

"What!?"

"Woah! Okay!" Black Hole, who was previously standing by, pushed in between the two, "We're not threatening our friends, okay?"

"I wasn't threatening him." Remote said, eyes blank as they set on Pen. "It was just an observation."