ecstasy | corpse husband

chapter 26.

It's night again once everyone's returned to the 7-Eleven.

monroe is placing the iron crowbar through the metal door handles again when anette begins pacing by the front register. she chews on her thumb nail, though it's already bitten raw and a clear indicator it's a bad habit of hers.

"annie, your pacing is making me anxious," flare eventually complains.

she whirls on him, frizzy hairs falling to frame her face. "we're getting too comfortable," she starts to explain. "staying in one place for more than a few days—It isn't smart. the noise we made today in the parking garage was a mistake. someone has to know we're here already, or the guard will be making their rounds to this side of the city soon enough, and when they do, we're done for."

"you requested training," he points out.

elowen lowers her bag of gummy bears, perplexed. "hold on, I don't get it. why would it matter if they found us in here? what are they going to do, execute us?"

"yeah, quite literally," flare nods.

she furrows her eyebrows. "you're joking."

"he's not," says monroe. "do you not remember us telling you guys that they're operating on KOS orders now?"

"I thought you meant against skin-eaters," she says, realizing her error.

monroe rolls her eyes. "yeah, that's not how it works. kill on sight means they're shooting anything that moves. the way they see it, everyone sane and human evacuated to the safe haven. there should be no normal people in the streets anymore. unless, you went rogue—i.e., us."

"which is punishable by law now," flare adds. "technically."

"what fucking law?" corpse speaks from the far corner by the slurpees.

"that's why I said 'technically,'" flare emphasizes with a wag of his finger. "the justice system probably means diddly shit these days but punishment by death seems very possible. my point is—"

"we're in trouble no matter what," elowen finishes somberly. the mere idea of making it to her house seems an impossibility, especially if they stick around here.

flare sighs. "you gotta remember, it's so fucking hard to tell a regular person from an infected person, particularly from far away. so for them to hesitate might mean it's too late. they won't give us the time of day if they find us in here."

"don't do that. don't defend what they're standing for," snaps monroe.

"I was just seeing it from both sides—"

"only ours matters." monroe spins the rack of sunglasses by the door before settling on a black cat-eyed pair, slipping them on. "even if they miraculously did spare us, we're breaking laws being here in the first place. having mercy means they'd send us off to their haven of hell and lock us up as felons. no way am I going there to die. or worse, turn." she slides the sunglasses to the top of her head.

"we should be preparing to leave," anette pipes up, her voice ever frail, "and soon."

"I agree," says elowen, and she stops there. something is still holding her back from telling them about the bunker. fear, mostly. trust is a fickle thing.

flare is walking towards the doors to the convenience store, peering out the glass. "yeah, okay. sounds good to me, except, there is the slight issue of where the fuck we're fleeing to?"

"I hear texas is nice this time of year," corpse says under his breath, joking. everyone seems too surprised to laugh.

"so he can joke," monroe comments dryly.