Calamitous (Kaylor)

14

"You want to do what?!"

"You heard me." Karlie was in the commissioner's office, where she had been for the past ten minutes as she explained her idea. To no one's surprise, he reacted quite negatively.

"Just consider it for a moment, Sir," Lily cut in. She had joined Karlie for moral support. "Taylor's shown considerable improvement just in the last few weeks interacting with us. I mean, apart from her stint in solitary confinement. But it's not like we can blame her for that."

"I'm not sure what you mean by 'improvement.'" The commissioner folded his arms, disbelief still written across his features. "Just because she told you her name doesn't mean she's all of a sudden trustworthy. She attacked you this morning, didn't she?" he asked, looking to Karlie.

"How did you -" The man pointed to his computer. "-Oh. I forgot about the cameras," she said. Imagine if she'd actually kissed me. That would not have been good. "Look, that was just a simple misunderstanding," Karlie started again. "She was a bit upset that I brought something up that she said when she was high on morphine, that's all."

"If that's all it takes for her to get violent, I can imagine the horrors that would await with the two of you living together," the man said. "What happens if she doesn't want to go everywhere you go? What if she decides she'd rather go back to her gang? What if she doesn't like your cooking?!"

Karlie and Lily exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. "With all due respect, Sir," Lily said, "I think you're being a little dramatic."

"Need I remind you of her record? The girl's a killer. Always has been, always will be. She should be guarded at all times -" He paused and looked at them, his eyebrows furrowed. "Wait a second. You're here," he pointed to Karlie, "and so are you," he motioned to Lily. "Did you seriously leave her unguarded?"

"No, of course not. Martha's with her," Karlie huffed.

"And you think that the nurse is going to be able to stop her from escaping, I suppose."

"She won't try to escape. I swear, she's practically harmless," Karlie pleaded. "She's still weak from the infection, and besides that, she loves Martha. They're pals."

"That's what she wants you to think," the commissioner said. "Perhaps you've been too trusting. This is the perfect chance for her to make her move."

"Oh, for goodness' sake," Lily said, tugging at her hair with frustration. "Why don't you check your fancy cameras." Nodding, the man began to fiddle with his computer, pulling up the program. Karlie felt herself begin to sweat a little. He wasn't right, was he? Taylor was smart, and even in her weakened state, it wouldn't be too difficult to neutralize Martha...

The commissioner sighed. Curious, Karlie walked around the desk to look at the screen, and saw...Martha and Taylor sitting on the bed, playing Go Fish.

"You see that?!" Karlie said triumphantly. "She'll be fine, I swear. Just let her move in with me, and you'll never have to worry about her again. No more wasting resources and guards watching her, no more fighting with the chief over how best to drag information out of her, and no more nasty comments from her whenever you walk by."

"I must admit, that is tempting."

"Look, just give her a chance. She's trying to turn herself around, I'm sure there won't be any trouble." Karlie suddenly felt Lily tugging at her sleeve. "What?"

"Trouble," Lily said, her face pale. She was pointing at the screen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------