Necrocide

Chapter 10

Back in Matheson, Jonah and Kat were in the mess hall of the DZI headquarters waiting for their mission. Normally they'd be doing stupid stuff like Knuckle Chompers to pass time, but ever since Rupert came back with a fist that looked like it was brushed against a cheese grater, no one was in the mood to play. And it didn't help that he was being lifted to the infirmary on a stretcher when they last saw him.

"The hell happened to him?" Jonah asked. "Did he go crazy with the wood chipper again?"

"Nah, mate," Kat replied. "He was out cold when they found him. They said he was trying to kill Aaron since he blames him for what happened to his hand."

"That wanker. If he tries killing my best mate again, I'll take his own bullet and shove--"

"Franklin. Mathis," Shaw interrupted, appearing behind them. "You two have been reassigned to prison duty."

"What?!" Jonah exclaimed. "Why?!"

"We have more than enough soldiers for the trip back into our new base in Longridge. And you two already completed your missions out in the Dead Zone for today, so why not take it easy?"

"Who cares about how many missions we did today?" Kat said. "If you keep putting limits on how much help we can provide Matheson with, that'll just make the reclamation of the Dead Zone take longer."

"I like your determination, Mathis. But Colonel Schaefer ordered that you two work prison duty for the rest of the day."

"Bollocks!" Jonah retaliated. "That's all this is!"

"Franklin, calm down," Shaw replied.

"I specifically remember reading that the duty of a Dead Zone Infantryman is to secure the tower, protect its inhabitants, and exterminate the Deadmen."

Shaw raised an eyebrow. "Well did you also recall that working in Matheson's prison counts as securing the tower and protecting its inhabitants just as much as killing Deadmen?"

Jonah prepared to respond before realizing there was a part of the DZI handbook that mentioned how prison duty was a possible requirement for the Infantrymen if they had nothing else to do. Kat knew it already; she just didn't want to do it. She face-palmed herself at Jonah's forgetfulness.

"Oh fuck me," Jonah groaned.

"I hope that means you've realized your mistake," Shaw said. "Now both of you, get out of here."

Kat and Jonah rose from their seats and sullenly made their way out of the mess hall. Jonah gave Shaw one more angry look before exiting the room, adding one more bitter comment.

"It's already bad enough I made myself look like a goddamn idiot, you took away one of the only things my best friend had to live for!" he shouted angrily.

"Shut your trap!" Shaw replied. "If you're lucky, you can find him in the prison with the other traitors."

"You motherf—"

Kat clamped Jonah's mouth shut with her hand. "Just give it a rest. Shaw could get rid of you, too, y'know. And not just in terms of your job."

Jonah swiped her hand off. "I know," he groaned in defeat.

The two exited the headquarters out into the Commons. Jonah kept the door open for Kat as she passed through and let the door close behind them. The two continued their journey down the path to the elevator.

"Kat, be honest," Jonah continued. "How would you feel if we found Aaron in the prison level?"

"I don't care if we see him behind bars," Kat replied. "The one thing I wouldn't want to see is a Deadman Aaron nor would I want to see you infected."