the living are hungry hodnes [ lexark ]

8] it means love

I grab my bat and head out to find Elyza. She is up in the exterior loft of the barn keeping watch. I start to climb up the ladder, once I get close enough she pulls me up the rest of the way.

"Thank you." I say with a small smile.

"Have you come for round 2, Hodnes?" She wiggles her eyebrows at me. "We might attract some unwanted attention. Something tells me you just might be a screamer." I literally slap my hand over my eyes. Oh my fucking god. I blush harder than I ever have in my fucking life. She laughs and grabs my hand. Ok! Time to change the subject before she says anymore and makes me test out her screamer theory.

"Are you doing ok?" It's all I can think to say. I guess it was better than so.. Super powers? It's the best I could fucking do. My brain keeps migrating back to what she would be doing to make me scream. Oh god. Ok. Seriously you asked her a question, now pay attention.

"I'm doing a lot better than I was a few days ago." She rubs the back of my hand with her thumb. "Just talking to you guys about it is just making me think about the others. The Lost Boys. That's what they called us."

I looked at her questionably. She laughs. "We were orphans. And the only book we had for a while was Peter Pan." I smile, picturing Elyza wearing green tights. "It fit us perfectly."

She sighs. "I escaped right before the outbreak started. I just couldn't take it anymore. I was the only one who responded positively to the increased cell regeneration testing. That was a major factor in their mission. Soldiers need to heal rapidly in the field and can't afford to get sick." I squeeze her hand, letting her know I'm here for her.

"Because I was the only.. Subject." She sneers the word through gritted teeth. "To respond to the treatment, they had me constantly hooked up to machines. They would drain so much of my blood daily. Even with the rapid cell growth, it would effect me. I just couldn't take it." She pulls her hand away slowly and gets up to go stand at the edge of the loft, looking away from me. "I was going to go back for them. I swear I was. I just needed time. I needed a plan."

She hangs her head in shame. "Jayson, who is in charge of the Corp, wanted me back. He needed me and my blood to finish the experiment. You met the stupid fucker." I shivered thinking back about how close I came to being raped and or killed.

"He started killing them. He would leave me a trail to find. He thought if he killed enough of my family, I would come back. It almost worked. But then I thought about how mad everyone would be if I sacrificed myself to that son of a bitch. So, I was going to sneak in and get everyone else out instead. But the outbreak had started. The piece of shit pussies locked the place down. I couldn't find a way in. I was almost taken down by a horde of ghouls and had to leave. By the time they crawled out of their safe little cozy hole, it was to late." She punches a hole in the barn wall. I jump slightly.