Chapter Text
“Get lost,” Schlatt had said.
Katie had thought about going to the Polish cave but didn’t really feel like talking to anyone else right now. Not only had her KFC been blown up, which she spent so much time and effort working on, but Schlatt also kicked her off the island, without even letting her explain herself first!
So now she finds herself in the middle of the woods.
She doesn’t necessarily know why she chose to come out here of all places. Maybe she just needed some quiet, some place to think, and while she’s out here, maybe she can find something valuable to give to Schlatt as an apology.
As she was walking, she couldn’t stop thinking about what had caused all of this. Ash had called her an animal and demeaned her. She had tried to blow him up, failed, and ended up accidentally blowing up Schlatt’s front lawn instead. She admits it was a little drastic and a bit impulsive on her part. But she was angry, and Ash totally deserved it!
Maybe she could go back to Schlatt’s house at some point and fix his lawn. She thought as she continued aimlessly walking deeper through the forest, totally not tripping and nearly face-planting for the fourth time that night.
It was getting dark, but she didn’t have anywhere to go back to, so what does it matter? It’s not like Schlatt would be welcoming her back anytime soon, if ever.
Although she had to admit it was getting a little creepy as night was falling upon the forest, the wind whistling as it passed through the trees.
She heard a branch snap and whipped her head around to view her surroundings. She couldn’t see anything, mostly because it’s too dark, and it’s only going to get darker as the night drags on.
A few minutes go by and she is still standing in the same spot, wondering where she should go.
Then she heard it.
A distinct grotesque growling. It almost sounded like choking.
A zombie.
Of course. Of course this happens to her alone in the middle of the woods.
Fuck it. She has to get out of here.
She takes off running in the direction she’s confident enough that she came from. The growling is closer, and she can’t see shit with these glasses.
She feels branches and leaves scraping against her face as she runs.
As she navigates around a tree in her path, a zombie appears on the other side of it.
She abruptly turns to run in the other direction but overcorrects herself, loses her footing, and ends up falling on her ass. She scrambles back as fast as she can manage while on the ground, but the zombie is quickly approaching.
She kicks at it in a desperate attempt to get enough space so she can get up. She winces as the zombie manages to scratch her leg.
She continues moving backwards away from the zombie; her hands scraping against the rough forest floor, she feels a rocky edge.
A ravine.
But it was too late.
Fuck.
She feels herself careening backwards into the ravine.
An impact.
Then nothing.
She slowly woke to a cold dripping on her face.
She opened her eyes and saw the night sky and the walls of a ravine.
She let out a gasp as a sharp pain shot through her head. Her vision was blurry, and the ground was spinning beneath her. Her stomach twisted, and her ribs protested with a terrible ache as she quickly turned on her side, and she proceeded to vomit.
She groaned at the searing hot pain her ribs and head felt from the strain.
When she was done hacking up her guts, she sat up. God, her head was pounding.
Why was she at the bottom of a ravine?
Her memory was fractured.
Trying to remember felt like a jackhammer pounding in her skull.
She vaguely remembers running from something.
She couldn’t think too much about it now; it won't help her get out.
She looks up at the walls of the ravine, branches protruding from its cracks.
The leaves were dripping. It didn’t rain, so it must be from condensation. That means it’s most likely early in the morning. The sun should be coming up soon.
Shit. She must have been out here all night. Schlatt could be wondering where she is. She has to go back to his (their) house.
Something felt off about that thought, but she was in too much pain to care, so she didn’t linger on it.
She uses the ravine wall to help pull herself up. Her whole body ached. She wants nothing more than to just lay back down until the pain goes away.
But she needs to go back home.
She slowly walks along the ravine, occasionally using the rocky wall to steady herself, and makes her way up a rocky path that leads out of the ravine. After several breaks to catch her breath, she makes it to the top, back on the forest floor.
The sky is starting to lighten as the morning comes. She pulls out a compass and figures she’ll just head west until she hits water.
After a grueling two hours of walking with her body barely cooperating with her, and with the forest now behind her, she makes it to the shoreline and spots her boat in the distance. Her feet drag as she makes her way to the boat.
She gets in her boat with a pained moan. She doesn’t even know how extensive her injuries are; all she knows is that her eyes feel like they’re about to pop out of her skull, and her ribs feel like hot knives stabbing through her skin.
She just wants to sleep. She’s never felt more tired in her life.
As she rows, the sun begins to peek up from the horizon. She’d think it was beautiful if the light weren’t reflecting against the water directly into her eyes, which currently felt like they were melting inside her skull.
She sighed tiredly as she continued to row, arms burning from the strenuous task, and the repeated motion certainly didn’t help the pain in her ribs.
She almost puked as the boat rocked against the water.
She was so dizzy.
With her vision swimming, she saw an island in the distance.
Schlatt's island.
It had to be.
She could cry with relief. She was so close to home. So close to being able to rest.
Maybe Schlatt would let her crash on his couch.
As she rowed closer, she saw a figure standing there watching her approach.
She recognized the suit.
It was Schlatt.
He looked angry. Katie didn’t know why.
Maybe it’s because she was gone all night?
Suddenly a memory made its way through the fog of her rattled brain.
He kicked her out.
Shit.
She’s not supposed to be here.
Looking at his disappointed expression, she wanted to cry. She was shaking with exhaustion. Her whole body hurt with a level of pain she’s never felt before.
She knows she wouldn’t be able to make it anywhere else with the state that she's in.
So she makes the decision to continue to the island. Willing to face whatever consequences Schlatt gives her.
Her stomach lurches as her boat hits the edge of the shore; she closes her eyes until the nausea calms down enough to ensure she doesn’t vomit and cause more embarrassment for herself.
She hears a distorted voice call out to her, but her adrenaline has completely faded at this point, and she’s fully feeling whatever’s wrong with her head.
The edges of her vision are going black as she stumbles out of the boat and onto the grass. She crumples to her knees, no longer able to fight the pain and exhaustion weighing her down.
She grabs at her head and winces at the searing pain shooting through her skull.
She hears the voice again, closer. It must be Schlatt coming to yell at her or give some disappointed lecture.
“K’tie?”
She vaguely feels a warm pressure on her shoulder.
Everything sounds distorted, and the ground is spinning. The blackness in her vision spread.
She lets the darkness pull her under.