DREAMER ↝ Ravi Chakrabarti

↳ CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

        "Your research. Do you really think there are zombies out there?" he questioned boldly, his old persistence growing back, and while Freja was happy to see him back to himself, she wasn't quite sure what to say. Surely, she couldn't slam the facts onto the table, but she knew that he'd see right through her lies, as well.

         "Yeah, I do. That's how I knew Scott E, actually. He told me about them. I mean, I don't have any proof, but I can't imagine we're all alone in this big universe, you know?" she explained, relying solely on what she had known before Liv, and the vague albeit truthful answer seemed to sit well with Major.

        Nodding, the man rested back in his chair but made sure to keep his voice quiet — though Freja guessed that the rest of the residents would hardly question his ramblings. "He told me about a video. It proves that zombies are real. You can see their red eyes, just like I saw on the Candyman that night", he raved on, desperate to find evidence that he wasn't out of his mind. Freja truly wanted to be the one to help him figure that out, but knowing that she needed to at least talk to Liv about it first, she pursed her lips together as encouragingly as she could.

        "That would be awesome. Is it even possible to find that video, though?" she wondered, purposefully attempting to plant doubts in Major's head, but he had thought his plan through far too many times for anything she said to blow holes in his ship.

        "It has to be. Either way, I'm getting out tonight. I'll find the truth one way or another", he insisted, and knowing that thirst for knowledge all too well to even try and change his mind, Freja gave him a firm a nod, even if deep down, she just hoped for him to come out of it alive.

        Nevertheless, it seemed that her plans for the night had already been decided for her.

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        NO MATTER WHAT Freja did, no matter where she went, no matter how hard she tried, death had made it its mission to follow her around without end in sight — first Holly, then Lowell, and now, she was stood in the morgue with Scott E's pale, autopsied body resting on a silver tray in front of her. Ravi's arm was draped over her shoulders in an attempt at comfort, and appreciative of the support, Freja didn't hesitate to rest against his shoulder, a sigh slipping from her lips as she watched the poor man's corpse lying there.

         "You know, he was my first source. When I brought up zombies on my blog, he reached out and he gave me most of my information that I ended up writing all those texts about", Freja recalled quietly, her heart fragile although she had never been that close with Scott E. Nonetheless, losing someone, even someone distant, was always difficult, and in this case, they might not have been best friends but he had helped her in a tipping point in her life. In a way, he had given her a reason to go on. "Never mentioned a video, though", she added weakly, but instead of waiting for her to spin further down the rabbit hole of guilt and loss, Ravi was already tightening his squeeze on her.

         "It's okay, Liv will find it. Just because you knew him, we didn't expect you to magically have all the answers", he comforted softly with his doe eyes darting down to her and his lips squished in an affectionate smile. With support like that, it was hard to get sucked into the void of what-ifs, and looking up at him with devotion obvious in her gaze, Freja nodded.

         "Yes, I will", Liv's determined voice piped up from behind them, and automatically spinning around, Ravi dropped her hold on Freja who lifted her eyebrows at the woman's entrance. "Don't worry, I got this", she continued for good measure, and while Ravi began to seal Scott E's body back into the cold locker, Freja trailed over to Liv as she tugged her white coat on.