Chapter Text
Everything seemed to slam into overdrive.
Kim sprinted over to Tommy, who was gripping tightly onto Zack’s hand. Kim and Zack hoisted the girl up between them, tucking one arm underneath a knee and the other under an arm. They moved as quickly as they could to the base, Billy running behind and calling out to them.
“Nine minutes! Hurry!”
Soldiers sprinted around across the perimeter of the base, ensuring that only one walker had entered the fence. Trini saw Jason start jogging into the base and caught up with him.
“Jason, wait.”
The boy stopped and turned to face the girl. His features were blank and reserved, but the slight twitch of his eyebrow gave him away. “Yeah?”
“I just, I don’t get why they’re bothering?”
Jason looked at the girl in shock for a moment, almost to the point of offense, but then his mouth formed into an ‘o’ shape. “You’re new here, that’s why.”
He motioned for her to follow him, and they walked towards the medical wing.
“So, you know Billy’s the head of our research facility, right?”
Trini nodded, so Jason continued. “He’s been studying everything about the zombies. How people turn, how their brains function, stuff like that. Hell, we even brought him a live one to study once.”
“That sounds like some mad scientist shit.”
Jason gave a small chuckle. His eyebrow twitched again. “Billy’s got the whole turning process mapped out. Most people usually don’t see it, considering zombies don’t really act like sharks, ya know? One bite and go away kind of deal?”
Trini’s eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t think I’ve seen it either, actually.”
Jason shuddered slightly. “Be glad you haven’t.”
The two stopped at the beginning of the medical wing and could already hear Tommy’s muffled cries from where they were at.
“It only takes twenty-four hours for someone to fully turn after a bite. It takes a little longer for a scratch, usually a day and a half. But the virus doesn’t spread immediately.”
Jason rubbed at his temple for a moment, his eyebrow giving another twitch, and Trini made a mental note to bring that up with him later. “So, you heard Billy yelling the time behind them, right?”
Trini nodded. “Does that have something to do with the process?”
“Yeah. He found out that the virus doesn’t spread to far from the source within the first ten minutes. So if you can remove the source before the time is up, then theoretically, it won’t be able to spread. ”
The pieces began to click inside her mind. “So, they’re gonna…”
“Uh, yeah.”
Trini shuddered. “Oh, fucking hell. Do they know if it’s gonna work?”
Jason shrugged. “We’ve been lucky to not have to try it so far, but I know Billy and Kim are the best ones for it.”
They made their way down to the medical hallway, where they found Zack sitting against the wall. He was cradling his head in his hands, with his elbows resting on his knees. Jason walked over and sat down beside the guy, giving him a pat on the back. Trini leaned herself against the opposite wall, trying to keep her body posture from looking as awkward as she felt. Zack spoke softly, his voice slightly hoarse.
“We uh, got her in there at about seven minutes left. They kicked me out with four minutes left, and…”
A beeping noise from the medical room interrupted him.
“And time just ran out.”
Zack moved to stand up, but Jason placed an arm on his shoulder and pulled him back down. “Hey, let’s stay out here for a couple more minutes, huh? You don’t want to walk in on the surgery, buddy.”
Zack gave the boy a glare, shoving off his arm and standing up. “Like I give a damn about seeing some blood.”
Jason tried to reach out and touch the guy, but Zack shoved him away from him. Trini straightened up, putting herself between the two.
“Hey, c’mon dude, we don’t wanna get riled up. Tommy’s gonna be pissed when she wakes up and finds out you tried to fight Jason.”
His glare turned to Trini, but she held her ground. “She’s gonna be fine, and she’s still gonna kick your ass, even with one leg.”
His glare faded away as his resolve started to crumble, and a single tear slowly streaked down the curve of his cheek. “I’m scared.”
Trini gave the boy a soft smile, unaware that she had begun comforting the boy like she would one of her brothers. “I have known her for less than a day, and I could already tell you that you have nothing to be scared of. She’s tough, Zack. She’s gonna pull through.”
Zack nodded, wiping away the few other tears that had fallen. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Trini gave him another smile. “Atta boy.”
She looked over at Jason, who had a slight look of surprise on his face. She rolled her eyes, and he grinned. “So, did Tommy come here alone or is there someone we need to tell?”
Zack shook his head. “She came here with Kim.”
Trini found her head tilting in curiosity. “Really? From where?”
Jason shrugged. “Wherever they were going to college at. You’ll have to ask one of them.”
Zack had gone back to sitting on the floor, shaking his leg rapidly as they waited. After a few minutes, Jason spoke up. “You should go check in on your brothers. We’ll come get you when they’re done.”
After looking at Zack and receiving a nod in agreeance, Trini walked over to the boys. She gave them both a gentle pat on the shoulders before making her way back down the hallway.
~
It had been a few hours since Trini had left them, and she decided to go back to the medical ward on her own. Granted, she didn’t really know how long a surgery like this was supposed to take, but her brothers had gone to bed and Trini didn’t want to wake them up with her pacing.
After a few minutes of walking,Trini was beginning to question if she had gotten lost when she spotted Billy walking down the hallway, and she waved at him.
“Hey, Billy. I was actually coming by to ask about Tommy.”
Billy gave her a smile. “I was on my way to come get you! We just finished up, Zack is in there with her now. She’s not gonna be awake for another hour or two, so we’re thinking of getting some food and coming back in there. Would you like to join us?”
Trini nodded, a grin forming on her face to match the boy’s. “So I take it everything went well?”
The two began walking back towards the medical ward. Billy nodded quickly. “Oh, of course! I probably should have started off with that, huh? My mistake...but yes! It was a little stressful getting the first part of the procedure done in seven minutes, but we did it. Tommy was even able to describe to us what she was feeling from the bite, at least before the procedure started. That is going to add so much information to our research, and I don’t even know how she was able to do that while she was in so much pain! She was such a trooper.”
Trini smiled again at the boy, who was finishing up his monologue. He took a deep breath before speaking again. “I’m sorry for rambling, I know it gets annoying. Zordon isn’t a fan of it either, so I just try to stay quiet, but I got carried away.”
Fuck Zordon
Trini kept her growing anger at bay. “Billy, you can talk as much as you want when it comes to me. I’ll always listen, alright?”
Billy held out his fist to the girl, and Trini bumped hers against it. A body brushed past them, and Trini turned to see Kim’s retreating figure turn down towards the red-striped hallway. Billy shrugged his shoulders. “She must be tired. Do you think we should go check on her.”
Trini eyed the path the were heading down, before taking another look towards the direction Kim went. Ah, fuck it.
“I’ll go check on her. You go get some food, and some sleep too.”
Trini turned to follow Kim, but stopped after a few steps. “Oh, and Billy?”
“Yeah?”
Trini smiled. “If you see Zack, can you tell him that I said ‘I told you so’?”
Billy looked confused, but he nodded. “Uh, sure! See you later, Trini!”
Trini watched the boy walk the rest of the way down the hallway before turning on her heel and heading in the direction that Kim went. She began following the red line on the wall that led towards the living quarters. A slammed door brought Trini’s eyes to an adjacent hallway, and Trini carefully walked down it. She peeked into the window of the first door, spotting a little girl that was working on a puzzle on the floor of the room. The flickering light from a candle by her side barely illuminated the army fatigues on one of the beds, and the small patch that read ‘Scott’.
So this must be Jason’s room.
Trini made a mental reminder to ask Jason about the little girl, and continued down the hall. After a few more empty rooms, she approached the one at the end of the hall. Looking inside, she found Kimberly sitting on the edge of the bed. Her head was held in her hands, and her shoulders shook slightly as she cried. Trini found herself hesitating for a moment, unsure if she should knock or let the girl be, but her dilemma seemed to be answered for her when the door opened and Kimberly appeared in the doorway. She had wiped away the tears, but the puffiness in her eyes gave her away.
“Can I help you?”
Trini felt herself regretting coming down here. It’s obvious she doesn’t want you here right now, what the fuck are you doing?
“I, uh, I just wanted to ch-check on you.”
Kim’s surprise wasn’t well hidden. She stared at Trini for a moment, unsure of what to say. After a moment, she tilted her head ever so slightly. “Why?”
“I was told you and Tommy went to school together, and you came here together too. I just thought…” Trini trailed off, her eyes staring holes into the floor between them.
Kim whispered her next question, her voice cracking slightly. “You thought what?”
Trini inhaled deeply and forced herself to look at the girl. “I thought that you were, uh, probably just as upset as Zack about all of this.” Trini found herself pleading for a moment for the floor to open up beneath her.
Kimberly stood there for a moment, staring intently at the girl. Trini watched the corners of the girl’s mouth lift ever so slightly, and she felt her stomach flip. Jesus Gomez, it’s been two days. Quit that.
“Do you want to come inside for a minute?” She pointed her thumb back towards the room. “I snuck some beer from the kitchen.”
Trini hesitated for a minute. Stay strong. Emotions get you killed.
Then Kim gave the girl a genuine smile. “They’re cold.”
Trini’s last shred of resolve crumbled. Kim opened the door wider, and Trini stepped into the room.
The room was set up similarly to all the others. Two beds, one against each wall. Each of them had a side table, and Kim’s held some books and a lantern. The opposing side was fairly blank except for a framed photograph and a green varsity jacket, embroidered with a finely-detailed dragon. Trini looked at the jacket for a moment, then glanced over to the photograph. It contained a picture of a younger Tommy, gap toothed and grinning, with her arm thrown around the face of another young girl. The other girl had ice cream smeared around her mouth, and a smile that could be seen in her eyes.
“So you and Tommy have been friends since you were kids, huh?”
Kim nodded as she walked over to the girl, handing her a beer. Trini held her bottle out, and the two clinked their glasses before taking a drink. After a moment, Kim sat down on the bed, and Trini joined her on the other end,
“Yeah, we both grew up in Angel Grove. I met her out on a trail near the quarry when we were kids. We’ve been inseparable ever since.”
She took another drink from her beer, and Trini continued to ask questions. “So, why’d you decide to go to medical school?”
Kim gave a soft chuckle. “Technically, I was going to med school, but I didn’t plan on staying for long. Although my parents didn’t need to know that.”
Trini’s eyebrows rose, and she laughed into her beer. “Alright there, Hart. You might be a badass after all.”
Kimberly lifted her eyebrow at the girl. “You don’t know the half of it, Gomez.”
She gave the other girl a wink and finished the rest of her beer in one large gulp, which gave Trini just enough time to calm down her spiked heart rate and wipe her sweaty palms.
“I um, I actually want to thank you.”
The girl tilted her head slightly. “For what?”
“My brothers. I know you played Tooth Fairy for Diego.”
Kim gave a small smile. “They’re sweet kids. Little spitfires when they want to be, but I think I know where they got that from.”
Trini scoffed, but gave the girl a wink of her own. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Kimberly laughed loudly, and Trini’s smile grew at the sound. The two fell into a comfortable silence after that, Trini relaxing as she sipped her beer, while Kim began drinking another one.
Kimberly looked over at the other girl, her face filled with curiosity, and Trini smirked. “All right, Hart, what’s your question?”
“That group of people at the hospital today...how do you know them?”
Trini finished the last of her beer before speaking. “I think I should wait to talk about that till we’re with everyone.”
Kimberly nodded, seemingly satisfied with the response, and let out a long yawn. She leaned over to check the time on a watch that was resting on the nightstand. “Shit, it’s late.”
Trini stood up from the bed. “You should get some sleep. I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow?”
Kim stood up as well, walking over to open the door for Trini. As the girl walked out into the hallway, Kim reached out and grasped her hand.
“Thank you, for tonight. I really needed it.”
Trini felt the blush rising to her face, but she fought past it. She squeezed the girl’s hand with her own, then let go.
“Anytime, Hart.”
~
Trini decided to make the promised visit to Tommy before she called it a night. As she entered the medical ward, she gave a soft smile at the sight of Zack asleep in a chair beside of Tommy’s bed. He looked incredibly uncomfortable; his head was tilted sharply to the side and his legs were flailed out over an armrest. He’s gonna be bitching about his neck all day tomorrow.
Tommy looked over at her as she watched Zack, and she spoke out hoarsely. “I told him to go to his room, but he’s stubborn as hell.”
Trini walked over and carefully sat at the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
Tommy shrugged. “They’ve got me doped up enough to not feel anything, but ask me that again tomorrow.”
Trini’s eyes drifted over to the girl’s legs. Underneath the amount of pillows and blankets that were there, the only sign of anything being different was the noticeably flat area where her lower leg should have been. Trini averted her eyes quickly, hoping to have not been caught staring. She gave the girl a small smirk. “I’m glad you’re okay. Zack was freaked the fuck out. So were the rest of us.”
“Thanks. Didn’t expect you to come around tonight, but I sort of expected Kim to stick around longer than she did.”
Trini didn’t realize just how upset she was at the statement until she realized she had already started speaking. “Considering you’re her best friend and she saved your life, I’d think you’d figure out that everything was pretty overwhelming. She was probably terrified.”
Tommy looked the girl in the eye, surprised at the response that came out. She took a minute to process Trini’s response, and a smirk slowly creeped onto he face. “You’re into her, aren’t you?”
“So what if I am?”
Tommy lifted up her hands in the air jokingly, softly rasping out, “Easy there, Gomez. Just looking out for my girl.”
Trini rolled her eyes but the anger she had just felt had all but disappeared. She stood up and began walking to the door. “Whatever. You should get some sleep.”
Right as Trini was exiting the doorway, Tommy called out to her. “She’s really into constellations. And I can get you up onto the roof, if you want.”
Trini looked at the girl, unsure of what she meant by telling her that. Once it clicked, she smirked.
“Goodnight, Tommy.”