There they were.
Penny, Amanda, David, and Grandma, standing far away in their zombie-like glory. With a smirk, I stepped into the room while cracking my knuckles. As soon as the doors closed behind me, I began to speak. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" I asked in a loud voice. Then, I lifted my hand forward and gestured for the infected to come over. "Let's see if you've improved." I knew that I was provoking them into attacking me, but I also knew that it was vital for me to do so in order to get them where I wanted them.
Fortunately, the first one to take me up on my offer was Grandma, which was good because she would be the easiest to handle due to her age. However, that also meant that I would need to be careful since I didn't want to break any bones in her body. As I moved away from her, I quickly grabbed a vial from my sash. Grandma tried to attack me again, but this time, I got a hold of her arm. I held the vial between my fingers so that I could use my other hand to grab her shoulder and force her onto the ground.
I grabbed the bat from her and tossed it aside as my other hand removed the cap from the vial. Then, like I did with Bunny, I grabbed her jaw, forced it open, and poured the cure inside. It wouldn't be long before I was attacked again, so I dropped the vial and gently pushed Grandma to the side before David came towards me once more. I lured him away from Grandma the same way I would've done with Dad if I was given the chance. Unfortunately, fate had been cruel enough to take him away from me, along with Mom and Rose.
David was a lot stronger compared to Grandma. His attacks on me were quicker than hers. Nevertheless, it was nothing compared to what I went through after leaving the gallery, so it was quite easy for me to bend down to kick his feet, forcing him down to the ground. I quickly jumped over David, positioning myself behind him, before locking one of my arms around his neck, not hard enough to strangle him, but enough to keep him in place. Then, I grabbed another vial and forced David to take it.
Tossing the vial aside, I picked up David's unconscious body as best as I could. Then, after noticing a shocked and cured Grandma staring at me from the corner of my eye, I quickly shoved him in her direction. Without checking on the two, I quickly turned around and lifted my arm up, blocking a hit from Amanda's bat. With my free hand, I grabbed onto her arm and turned around before flinging her over my shoulder, causing her to let go of her bat and fall to the ground.
I used the bat that was now in my possession to pin Amanda down so she couldn't move. She struggled as I opened the second to last vial and bent down on my knees. Fortunately, she calmed down as the light blue liquid went down her throat. She immediately fell unconscious, and I let go of the bat. I then picked up Amanda's body in a similar form that I picked up David's before dragging her to him. He was awake now, so he was able to catch her when I dropped her.
For a moment, it was silent.
My breaths were heavy, my body was covered in sweat, and three pairs of eyes were on me. I wanted to collapse and forget about everything so badly, but I knew that I couldn't. I simply forced myself to stand tall and suck up all the pain, exhaustion, and everything else I was feeling. I closed my eye, took a deep breath, and let it out, feeling the oxygen go through my lungs and veins. "Cindy... we-" someone said before an ominous growl cut them off. Maybe it was Amanda. Maybe it was David. Or maybe it was Grandma. I didn't know. It didn't matter.
What mattered now was Penny.
Keeping my head low as to avoid eye contact, I turned around to face the only infected left in the room before looking up again. She was still the same as she was when I saw her back at the lab; tall and with obvious signs of being under Huxley's control. My eye then went to my sash. I only had one cure left. That meant that I would only have one shot at curing her. Imprinting those thoughts into my head, I reached to the sword at my waist and pulled it out, shivering at the sound of the metal. Finally, I partially turned my head towards the people behind me. "Don't say anything," I demanded in a slightly cold tone before facing forward once more.
"I'm not done yet."
With that, I ran towards Penny. I knew that she would be more difficult to handle since she had his power, but I was confident in my abilities. Penny tried to slash at my abdomen with her large black claws, but I was quick to jump out of the way. I landed on one foot and used the other one to turn around and kick Penny's back as hard as I could. My strength, the strength from being infected, and Huxley's power combined must've kicked in at the same time, because Penny was practically sent flying to the other side of the room.
The dent she left on the door wasn't pretty.
I ran towards the door in an attempt to land a hit on Penny before she processed what happened, but I wasn't fast enough. She seemed furious with me when she regained her wits. Before I had the chance to pin her to the ground with my sword, she jumped over me. I let out a gasp and quickly stopped myself before turning around to face her, but when I did, I was met with something else. Something that hurt. Something that sent me into a spiral of shock.
A scratch. A scratch that could only be caused by a hand with three claws.
Fortunately, I managed to move my head so that Penny hit the eye that was already blinded rather than my working eye, but that didn't change the amount of blood that came out of it. Before I had most of it extracted, that would've been nothing, but now, I needed to save every ounce I could. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as I fell backwards, feeling my eye roll to the back of my head. At that moment, I realized. I couldn't let myself get taken down this easily.
It was my turn to quickly regain my wits and plant my hands down onto the ground below, keeping them there until my forced handspring was over. The stitches I got from Sergeant Monroe must've been torn off by Penny since I was able to open my empty eye with ease. The cold air hitting the empty socket underneath sent a shiver down my spine, and I could feel the blood trickle down my cheek, landing on the ground below.
I grabbed my weapon with both of my hands and took a deep breath, aiming the blade right at my target. Then, after positioning my feet the way I wanted them, I took off towards Penny once more. Then, before the two of us could even realize it, I plunged the sword into her chest. The way she loomed over me was ominous. I could look straight upwards and be met with her face. I could feel The Insolence's black substance land on cheeks and hands. The tip of my blade was also covered in it.
During the silence, I lifted my foot up to Penny's chest and kicked it hard, forcing the blade out of her before she rolled down to the ground between me and her family. While she was supposedly unconscious, the rest of Penny's body became surrounded by a black substance, then, it slowly pulled itself off her before becoming a puddle on the ground. Then, it seeped into the cracks and dissappeared as if it was never there to begin with.
Penny's body was now the same as it was the night my sister died. Minus the small hole in her chest, after all.
I remembered that she was still infected, so I put my sword back at my waist and took the final vial from my sash out before opening it. My boots echoed throughout the room as I walked towards Penny. I stumbled every now and then, but I was determined to make it. I had to. I didn't have much time left before Huxley arrived to do who knows what with me or anyone else. I could only hope that the scientist and soldier were prepared for when he arrived.
I reached Penny before bending down in front of her and gently grabbing her chin in order to face it towards me. Through heavy breaths, I poured the cure down her throat. While doing so, I noticed that her hand was covered in blood, and I instantly knew that it wasn't hers. It was mine. I bit my lip and closed my eyes before sighing. As soon as the cure was down her throat, I rolled the empty vial away before standing back up. Knowing that the first thing Penny would want to see was her family, I rolled her over until she was facing them.
Then, I backed away towards the door, trying to create as much distance between us as possible.
Even though I was alright with Grandma, it was the other three that would make the situation awkward. I wasn't sure how ready I was to face my family's killers again. Before I was dragged into this mess, I was certain that I was prepared. I already figured out the things I would tell them, and I knew the things that they might tell me and how I could potentially respond. However, I felt nervous seeing then for the first time in three years, especially after that night.
Instead, I tried my best to ignore Penny's groans as she regained consciousness once more. I settled for staring at the pool of blood that began to form just centimeters away from my feet. The injury hurt more than I could even describe, but at least it wasn't something that couldn't easily be taken care of. I was sure that Penny's attack would leave a scar, though. The amount of blood on the ground was enough to prove that. It was then that I noticed how pale I was and how dizzy I was becoming at my recent blood loss.
"Mom...? Dad...?" I heard Penny ask, a mixture of shock and relief in her voice. "Grandma...?" Even though I wasn't looking at her, I could tell that she was crying. "Oh, Penny...!" Amanda cried out with nothing but joy. Some light shuffling followed, and I assumed that Penny rushed to her family. "We're... we're okay!" Penny realized out loud. "We're not trapped anymore!" I was surprised that she managed to ignore the wound in her chest. The one I gave to her.
"I... I remember... I remember everything...!"
I stiffened at her words. Even though I knew that there was a high chance she would remember the time she spent infected, I still held on to that small amount of hope that she would forget. I suppose I was wrong. I tried to calm my heavy breaths the best I could when I felt multiple pairs of eyes on my figure. The room was still as silent as ever, and I knew what I needed to do. I bit my lip and didn't bother to cover my bleeding eye as I lifted my hand to my headset. "Oliver, Liam..." I began, keeping my voice loud enough for the others to hear.
"...tell Georgie to come in here."