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A flash of blue-white light illuminated the jagged silhouettes of the pines. The low rumble that followed was barely audible over the guttural moans and rasps of the zombie horde on Ragatha's tail. One rotten hand snagged the hem of her dress. She yanked at it, tearing a chunk of the skirt away, and skidded in the rain-slick grass. Mud splashed her, soaking into her burlap skin and cotton-filled body until she was heavy and shivering. The last few hundred feet to the abandoned farm felt like a few hundred miles as the cold and fear numbed her.
“Kinger, wait, don't close the door yet!” Zooble shouted. “Ragatha, hurry! The horde's closing in!”
“I am well aware, thank you,” Ragatha grit out.
Twenty feet, ten, five, then she leaped into the dark, hay-scented relative safety of the barn at last, collapsing in a sopping heap.
Kinger slammed the door shut behind her, plunging the cavernous space into darkness. “Are you… alright?” he asked, swaying with exertion.
“Fine,” Ragatha gasped, rearranging her limbs into a sitting position. “I’m fine.” She looked around, doing a headcount. Kinger, Zooble, Gangle, Jax… she squinted in the dark. “Where’s Pomni?”
“Over here,” called a small voice somewhere nearby. Ragatha stood and staggered over to the haystack where Pomni was leaning heavily, chest heaving. One arm hung limply in a way that nagged at Ragatha’s mind-
“Sweet, weapon stash,” Jax said, his grating voice snapping her out of her thoughts. “Enough rifles for everyone. Which tells me there’s gonna be a big boss fight.” He tossed a rifle at Kinger, who caught it with a warning glare.
Jax’s expression didn’t change with Kinger’s silent scold, but he handed the next gun, much more carefully, to Pomni. “What do you guys think-?” He handed one to Ragatha. “-One big zombie, or thousands of normal ones?” Gangle took a rifle gingerly from his outstretched hand, as if afraid he would suddenly shoot her with it. Which… wasn’t exactly an unfounded worry.
Right now, however, Jax seemed almost… normal? His usual swagger was more natural, less of a show, and so far he hadn’t been nearly as much of an asshole to Gangle. Almost like he was in his element. Ragatha leaned against the haystack with a fleeting smirk. Guys Jax’s age seemed to have two shared interests: the Roman Empire and the zombie apocalypse. Of course he was in good spirits.
Jax handed the last gun to Zooble, who muttered a begrudging “thanks” before slipping away to start boarding up the few windows the barn had.
Ragatha found an oil lamp and lit it, providing just enough light to see the color on Pomni’s avatar.
And the gnarled purple-red mark on her forearm.
It was circular, with a bunch of tiny bruises and puncture marks that lined up perfectly with… human teeth.
“Pomni… you’re… hurt,” Ragatha said carefully, gentling her voice.
“Huh?” Pomni blinked out of her exhausted daze, following Ragatha’s gaze to her arm. She gasped, covering her mouth quickly to stifle the sound.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ragatha saw Jax’s ear twitch.
Pomni made a choked sound behind her hand, an aborted scream. “No, no, no, this can’t be happening,” she whispered. She curled in tighter on herself, dropping her hand to cover her wound.
Ragatha reached out a shaking hand and rested it on Pomni’s shoulder, feeling her start to tremble. “Okay, I’m sure it looks worse than it is. We’ll figure it out. We’re not-”
Jax sidled up to the pair, jaundiced grin stretching across his entire face. “What’s going on over here? Something you want to share with the class?” He reached for the hand concealing Pomni’s bite mark. Pomni yelped and shrank back. From the shadows, the other Circus members closed in, drawn by the noise.
Ragatha reached out to block Jax but he pushed her away, finally yanking Pomni’s hand away with one decisive motion.
Revealing the bite mark to everyone.
Gangle covered her mouth with her ribbons, letting out a strained whimper. “That’s not what I think it is… right?”
Zooble narrowed their eyes, expression unreadable. “Afraid so, Gangle. The question is, what are we gonna do about it?”
Kinger laced his fingers together, concerned eyes fixed on Pomni. “We’re not leaving her behind, that’s for sure. The only way we survive this is by sticking together… however that looks.”
“Agreed,” Zooble and Ragatha said simultaneously. Ragatha felt a swell of relief as she shared a knowing look with the usually-abrasive polygon. Pomni’s shoulders sagged ever so slightly.
Kinger paced, tapping the general space on his chess-figure body where his chin would be. “So we have a few solutions. We either take her out now, quickly and mercifully, before the infection spreads…”
Pomni shuddered, curling in on herself again. “Um… don’t I get a say…?”
“No!” Gangle shouted. “I mean… we can’t kill one of our own!”
Pomni nodded vigorously. “Yeah, c’mon, I feel fine, guys. Just a little sore. Let me find something I could use as a tourniquet.” She searched her inventory frantically.
Ragatha’s gaze immediately fixed on the sclera of her eyes, where a slight shimmer was just visible against the white. A telltale pattern she had hoped, prayed she wouldn’t see. But since when had prayer done any good in this place?
Zooble rested a heavy hand on Gangle’s shoulder. “A mercy kill might be the least bad option. Turning into a zombie… that’s not a good way to go out.”
"Let's keep that as a last resort," Kinger said, waving his hands urgently. "Thinking out loud here... is there a way to draw out the infection?"
Jax dropped Pomni’s arm, which she pulled in close to her body. He stepped back and tilted his head slightly, rabbit ears drooping to one side. “Well then. If we’re not leaving her to the zombies, and we don’t want to kill her…” he pulled a chainsaw from his inventory and revved it in Pomni’s face with a manic grin. “I guess we’ll just have to amputate.”
Pomni screamed in pure terror, and in the dancing flame of the oil lamp, colors shimmered across her eyes. To Ragatha's surprise, Jax flinched.
A surge of protective, terrified fury jolted her, but it was like she was in a waking nightmare. Time slowed and her feet refused to move.
Shouts of protest rang out, and Zooble lunged. They hooked their arms under Jax's armpits and yanked him back, sending the chainsaw clattering to the floor, sputtering to a stop. Jax kicked wildly, the smile gone from his face, pupils shrunk to pinpricks as he struggled to process the attack.
“What the actual [boing!], Jax?” Zooble shouted.
Ragatha finally broke from her frozen state and stood protectively in front of Pomni, shame burning in her gut. She should have been faster. She should have spoken up. But right now, her job was damage control, and she couldn't lose focus.
Crushing down the awful feeling, she squared her shoulders. “Everybody just calm down,” she said evenly, projecting her voice so that everyone could hear it. “Caine wouldn’t create an adventure that would require us to kill each other. There has to be a solution.”
Jax rolled his eyes. “Oh, sure, as soon as you find the tiny green potion bottle labeled ‘Magical Zombie Virus Cure,’ let me know.”
Pomni struggled to stand, swayed dangerously, and sat back down with a groan.
Zooble leaned against a support beam. “I hate to say it, but Caine did literally have us shoot each other to death not too long ago.”
Ragatha shook her head, yarn hair tangling with the motion. “That wasn’t… we had three lives, and when we lost them, we were sent to the Loser Corner. We didn’t actually die.”
Jax’s laugh was cold and forced, teetering on mania. “We can’t die, fluff-for-brains. That’s kinda the whole point.”
Ragatha’s chest burned with fury. She let out a harsh breath, willing the fire to subside with it. She couldn’t escalate. Pomni’s eyes… she was dangerously close to abstracting already. Jax was always one step away from it. Gangle was looking frayed, and even Zooble lacked the energy to argue much. Kinger… it was always hard to tell with him. Caine was running them all ragged. If one of them snapped, they all would, and she couldn’t be the weak link. Not when they all relied on her.
Clasping her hands together, she forced a smile. “Okay,” she said pleasantly. “We’re all tired and stressed. But we’re safe here for now. It’s dark and relatively quiet… or at least the downpour is masking the sound of the zombie hoard. Let’s just rest for now. Pomni’s stable. I’ll take first watch. Everyone else, resupply, use health packs, get some sleep if you can.”
Jax’s expression shifted into something she could only describe as condescendingly blank. “You sure you can handle things if she turns?”
Ragatha winced and risked a glance at Pomni. Though her lower lip trembled with suppressed tears, she nodded firmly. Ragatha dragged her gaze back to Jax. “I can handle it,” she replied.
With a theatrical yawn, Jax slung his rifle across his shoulders and slouched away. “Alright. Might as well sneak in a nap while I have the chance. Not like Caine will give us many of those.”
Zooble pushed off the support beam, found a soft haystack, and lay on their back, though they didn’t seem particularly tired. Hesitantly, Gangle joined them, her ribbons almost getting lost in the hay.
Kinger sat against the wall, rifle placed carefully by his side, and looked straight ahead, his eyes surprisingly alert. Even though Ragatha had promised to take the first watch, Kinger seemed determined to be sentry.
Pomni stumbled to her feet, clutching her injured arm, and stepped into the shadows further away from the oil lamp. “I’ll give you some distance. In case I turn.”
Ragatha rushed to match pace with her, grabbing her uninjured arm firmly. “No, Pomni. Not happening. You are not gonna be alone tonight, alright?”
“But-”
“No. We’re in this together.”
The jester’s knees shook and she staggered backward, collapsing against the wall of a stable. She sniffled hard, then let out a choked sob. The rippling colors in her eyes grew more vivid.
Ragatha’s heart clenched. She sat next to Pomni, leaning into her to offer what little warmth she could. “It’s not just about the bite, is it?”
Pomni hugged her knees to her chest. “It was like I wasn’t even there. Like I was already a zombie. All I do is cause problems for everyone else. You should’ve left me to the zombies.”
Ragatha pressed a hand to her own chest as her heart threatened to tear in two. She struggled to calm her breathing. The last thing Pomni needed right now was more sorrow. “Pomni, you are not a burden. Even Jax likes you, and he doesn’t like anybody. We’re all glad you’re here.”
Pomni made a doubtful noise. “I egged him on during the gunfight. I pushed him too hard, and I think… I think I hurt him… somehow. I mean, he was being awful. I couldn't just sit there and take it. But I should have… I…” she trailed off.
“You’re tired,” Ragatha pointed out. “We all are. Those thoughts you’re having? They’re not facts. They’re worries. Your brain hasn’t had time to power down, so everything keeps piling on until it feels bigger than it really is.”
“But how am I supposed to sleep when my mind won’t stop racing and I have a zombie bite on my arm?” She gestured to her injured arm. The bruise looked darker and angrier.
Ragatha leaned closer, gently turning Pomni’s arm to catch the faint moonlight. No dark veins spread from the area. No discoloration anywhere other than the initial bite. Her eyes shimmered with those haunting colors, but nothing else looked off about her.
“You look fine to me,” Ragatha said, her voice a bit brighter than she felt. “Maybe you’re immune. Or maybe you have more time than we thought. Either way, the best thing you can do for yourself now is sleep. I’ll stay up in case anything happens, alright?”
Pomni leaned her head on Ragatha’s shoulder, the warm weight as steadying to Ragatha herself as it seemed to be to Pomni. “If you say so.” She closed her eyes, which sent a pang of worry through Ragatha as she couldn’t see Pomni’s sclera anymore. Couldn’t see whether the abstraction was progressing. But slowly, Pomni relaxed, her breathing relaxing from panicked hiccups into the hushed, even breaths of a tentative sleep. Her avatar stayed solid. No pixelation or glitching.
She was just sleeping.
Ragatha let out a slow, careful sigh, mindful of disturbing Pomni’s rest. Her own eyelids grew heavy and she blinked hard to keep herself awake. She had promised Pomni, promised everyone, she’d take first watch, and so she did.
And when the sun rose, her eyes felt like sandpaper, and still nobody relieved her, that was fine. At least they were safe. Even Kinger dozed off when the sky began to lighten.
The son shone through a gap in the boarded-up window, landing on Pomni's face. She blinked awake and pushed herself upright, rubbing her eyes. Ragatha peered close, heart freezing in her chest.
Pomni squinted at her in confusion, her eyes clear and still.
And the relief that washed over Ragatha nearly dragged her into sleep.
The rest of the adventure was a blur, an almost tedious boss fight against a towering behemoth of a zombie. The only moment Ragatha remembered was when she managed to take out one of the zombie’s six eyes with a clean headshot, although all six needed to be taken out before the zombie finally fell over dead - again.
When Caine finally pulled them back into the Circus, there was a collective groan of exhaustion.
“That,” Zooble declared, “was a [boing!] slog.”
“Hate to agree with Google,” Jax said, flicking Zooble’s zig-zagging antenna. “But yeah, that had to be one of our longest adventures in a while. What gives, Caine?”
Caine shrugged, his mouth-face curving upward in an easy grin. “Well, Jaxy boy, you’re the one who set a stopwatch during the last adventure and predicted exactly when it would end, so you tell me.”
Jax dragged a hand over his face, ears drooping. “You noticed, huh?”
Caine threw his head back in a hearty chuckle, then snapped forward, teeth inches from Jax’s face. “I notice everything. Everything.”
Then, just as quickly, he was back to normal. As everyone slowly began creeping back toward their rooms for a much-needed rest, he held up a finger. “Wait!”
Ragatha clenched her teeth against a groan when a survey pamphlet materialized in front of her.
“Okay, now you can go! See you soon!”
With that, Caine vanished with a pop.
Ragatha sat at her vanity mirror, undoing her hair bow. It was perfectly clean, as if the last adventure hadn’t happened, and her dress was in one piece again, her stuffing clean and dry once more. No physical evidence existed of the desperate fight.
She dragged her gaze back into focus, studying her reflection. Her one visible eye shimmered with color like oil on water. Her surroundings looked hazy, dissolving into fractals as she stood and stumbled her way to bed, hair hanging limp.
The first time it happened, it had startled her so badly she snapped out of it.
But then it kept happening.
The colors came when she was alone, when everyone had gone to bed. When there was no problem to solve. Nothing else to focus on.
She wasn’t sure what the others did in their rooms. Read books? Play games? Listen to music? Ragatha just sat on her bed until she felt tired most days. Sometimes she paced. She used to cross stitch, when she had first arrived here, but the half-finished project was now collecting dust and artefacts on her nightstand.
She closed her eyes, watching the fractals for a while, feeling a chilling numbness creep over her body. It would be so easy, so nice to just fade away.
Pomni’s haunted eyes peered out at her from the fractaled landscape behind her eyelids, and the colors faded to background static again.
She couldn’t. She couldn’t afford to. Not when her abstraction would drag everyone else down with her.
With a heavy sigh, she turned over onto her side and tried to focus on her breathing.
A soft knock on the door jolted her out of her fitful attempt at sleep. She crossed the room, footsteps silent against the outdated shag carpet, and opened the door to see Pomni. Her eyes were still clear, thankfully, but her face was heavy with worry.
“Oh, hey, Pomni,” Ragatha chirped, plastering on a smile. “What do you need?”
“Just checking in,” Pomni said, studying Ragatha with alarming intensity. “Are you… doing okay? That adventure was rough. Everyone else got a chance to sleep, but you were up all night by yourself.” She winced. “I… know how scary that can be.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Ragatha said, with a pang of embarrassment at how strained her insistence sounded. “Just a little tired is all.”
Pomni was silent for a moment, her gaze dropping to her shoes. “Also… I… almost abstracted back there, didn’t I? That weird feeling… it wasn’t the bite. I asked Caine, and he said zombie bites only take chunks of your health bar. They don’t turn you into zombies.”
Ragatha’s smile dropped, fracturing as surely as Gangle’s comedy mask. “Pomni, don’t… you’re still…”
“I’m not fragile, Ragatha,” Pomni cut her off, a fierce anger flashing in her eyes. “I need to know for sure. Don’t keep things from me just because you think I can’t handle them. Anything.”
Ragatha sagged with defeat. “Yes, Pomni, you… there’s degrees to it, and I saw signs. But I don’t see any now. You’re okay now. Just… let me know when you’re struggling, okay?”
Pomni’s expression softened, though her brow still furrowed with a hint of fear. “You know you can lean on me, too, right?”
Ragatha blinked, momentarily forgetting every word she knew, because how was she supposed to respond to that? Of course she couldn’t break down. She was the support. The healer. Everyone relied on her. If she couldn’t be relied on… where would they all be? She’d already failed Ribbit and Kaufmo. Nobody else was abstracting on her watch.
Pomni sighed. “Can I sleep over tonight? I don’t think either of us should be alone, at least for now.”
Ragatha swallowed hard past a lump in her throat. She stepped back and held the door open. “Well… alright, if you think you need to.”
And suddenly, the room seemed… quieter. It was always quiet, of course, but now, it wasn’t filled with quite as much static.
“I’m not gonna abstract,” she assured Pomni. “I can’t. Because if I do…” she shook her head. “I’m rambling. I guess I’m a little shell-shocked. Don’t worry about me, really. I’ll be fine after I get some sleep.” She crawled under her covers, pulling them up to conceal as much of her face as possible.
Pomni sat on the edge of the other side of the bed, the mattress dipping beneath her weight. There was a quiet swish as she ran her hands over the plush quilt. “I get it. More than you think. But… I hope you can find a reason for yourself, too. One day.”
Ragatha blinked in surprise, the words slicing through her like a sharp blade - hardly noticeable at first, then a blooming sting. For herself? Not allowed. Don’t even think about it.
Sleep pulled at her, driving away the errant thoughts. Her brain just needed a reset, she decided. She’d wake up and Pomni’s words would dull to a weird, dreamlike memory.
She hoped.
Because if they stuck… that was dangerous.