Mardy and Ken went back into the break room loaded up with carry cases and plate carriers. They assembled a makeshift mattress out of the equipment, and two pillows made out of carrier cases stuffed with extra toilet paper rolls.
Mardy insisted that Ken use the couch seeing as he is the most injured. His protests fell upon a wall of Stubbornness by way of Mardy's plain "No".
Ken went to the kitchenette to inventory the current food "Stores" they had on hand for their extended time in the store. His stomach grumbled as he stared into the minifridge: a pack of Mr.Pop, Mardy's empty Tupperware lunch, 3 Greek yogurts, and one whole lemon. He closed the fridge and opened the cupboard for any other supplies. It also wasn't all too promising for an extended stay at "Hotel Gun store": Half a bottle of dried coffee creamer, a tub of Forgers instant coffee, and a box of sugar packets.
"Good thing I ate breakfast this afternoon." Ken's sarcasm wasn't heard by Mardy as he went back to the fridge and grabbed one of the yogurts. No spoon in sight he shrugged his shoulders, which he regretted, and proceeded to excavate deep lines in the virgin yogurt cup. Making sure that his tongue got every nook and cranny of the shallow basin.
Mardy finished stuffing her "Pillow" case with her preferred amount of toilet rolls and saw her idiot of a kid brother. Shaking her head she chuckled as he went nose deep in the Greek cream. Ken heard her and turned, still tongue deep. Seeing she was just teasing him he turned back around and continued his ministrations.
Her chuckle petered out as she stared at him. She remembered the week after his parents went missing. Ken somehow got over their disappearance quicker than when her dad died. At the same time during that week he was completely inconsolable. Just staying cooped up in his parent's house. Tom told her about whenever he would stop by he could hear Ken from the outside of the front door. Just babbling away every bit of thought process dedicated to the loss. Then when next Monday rolled around he was happily chatting to Tom and her like his parents' disappearance happened decades ago.
It made her wonder why Dad's death hit him harder. Was it because of her? Was it the fact that it wasn't him taking the brunt of the grief that made it harder to make peace with? She didn't know. However, what she did know was that; she was going to protect that idiot whether he wanted it or not, and her shop was the safest thing around.
--I'll make sure that you are protected here-~-After all a Queen needs subjects, and this shop is mine to rule~-
Ken finally finished off the yogurt cup as he started to leave the break room. As he passed by Mardy her eyes followed him like a mall cop watching a teen with baggy clothing, and backpack, entering the building, though he didn't notice it.
"Where ya goin' Ken?"
Mardy's flat tone caught him off guard causing his steps to falter just before the threshold.
"Well I was going to check the outside for any other cop playing an AR game, But if you think that isn't a good idea, I'm open for suggestions" His voice was only slightly tinged with sarcasm as he made his reply.
Mardy's glaring face became full of humor and kindness immediately.
"Okay Ken, just, make, sure, you, stay, inside. Got that?"
Her playful motherly condoning speech and smile; was a full 180 and caused Ken to just stare at her. After blinking a couple of times to make sure he wasn't imagining this turn of events, he dialed his angst up to 11 and replied as he walked past the threshold.
"Okay Mom, I'll make sure to come back before 10, or whatever."
Mardy kept her smile till he was completely out of view, her face falling flat.
Further down the hallway Ken started his normal mutterings.
"What is up with Mardy today? I get that she is feeling stressed with the whole city fucking killing itself, but what is with the super weird clingy attitude? Sure she's always been the "older sis", but today feels like she's about to start dying her hair pink and call me Yukki..."
He started to round on the shutter as he continued his venting.
"Then again this whole afternoon has been fucking strange. We're nowhere near Seattle or LA, but still have cops gunning down civilians. Well only one so far, but this one cop also looted the dude. That ain't even close to police brutality..."
Ken peered through the tiny vision slits, searching the now active darkness with the Crescent moon overhead resembling a Cheshire's grin. Several corpses lay in various poses and in various pieces across the parking strip and street. The looted cop victim still lay where he was executed, but now is accompanied by one roadkill toddler, a couple who lost their minds at the business end of a barrel, and one copper who was probably axed a few questions about his involvement with the couple.
"Too top off the crazy shit happening today, there is a fucking car on fire that crashed into the street lamp, ironically providing more lighting than the shitty government lamps. Fuck... Just, Fuuuuuhcking Jesus Christ, shit!"
Ken was startled when he glanced to his side and found Mardy smiling at him with that motherly smile, eyes almost mimicking the very same moon he saw just now. She put her hand on his bandaged shoulder and lightly squeezed as she addressed him, eliciting a slight wince from him.
"Looks like everything's fine out here. Let's get you back on the couch, okay? Gotta make sure you heal right up now."
Before Ken could protest, Mardy grabbed his other shoulder and started to usher him back to the break room.
"What the hell Mardy!" He attempted to break free from her grasp, but between his injured shoulder and the fact that she was built, his attempt was futile.
"Gotta make sure you get your rest, now. Can't be havin' my gallant knight defend the Queendom when he's injured."
"Wait, what?! I slept during the day Mardy, I don't need any more sleep till tomorrow"
He looked back trying to plead his case only to be met with the same smile that now held a more crazed aspect to it. She was going to have her way whether he liked it or not.
Quickly patching together an excuse to not be in the same room as her he blurted out.
"Well at least let me go use the restroom, I have been holding it since I left my house!"
This finally broke through her insanity and she let him go.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"A'right then make it quick, okay, gotta get you rested up now."
Ken calmly walked to the restroom inside of the break area. He opened the door and walked in, then flicked the lock on the inside quickly. He slumped to the floor resting his back against his improvised barricade. He let out a breathy "What the fuuck." as he opened his phone to check for any notifications. Outside of notifications from apps he had installed and one from the government, there was nothing from Tom.
"What is happening with him? The messages were sent and yet not even a sign of him even seeing them." He clicked the speed dial for Tom's cell, before putting it to his ear.
*Riing**Riiing*-
*Thump* *Thump* Thump*
The abrupt knocking on the door startled Ken resulting in his phone clattering on the ground.
"What's takin' so long in there!?" Mardy's voice came barking out as Ken fumbled to grab his phone. He quickly came up with some sort of plausible BS that would hold her curiosity a bit.
"I-uh, I had to... eeeh take a dump, yeah, that’s why it's taking me so long!"
Somehow she believed it.
"Fine! Just hurry up! We need to make sure you get enough rest!"
He finally grabbed his phone seeing it start to record the length of the call, and hastily put it to his ear.
"HI! You’ve reached the phone of Tommy Thompsson, I am currently away on important business. If ya need to reach me try callin' back at a later date, unless yer a FEDboi then leave me-"
Ken hung up. He stared at his phone in shock.
"Ooookay. Okay, okay. No need to panic. I'm sure he's fine, just busy killing lunatics. Yeah, that makes sense. He's got lots of stuff to protect." Even Ken didn't believe his excuse. He scratched at the bandages a bit, causing more pain to spread, and only rewarding him with regret. Trying to distract himself he opened his meme app and started to browse the dankness.
It helped.
Thirty minutes later Mardy's patience ran out. Or more likely she heard him chuckling and not making bathroom noises.
*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*
"What the hell’s goin' on in there? Ken get out if you're done!"
Ken this time did not drop his phone when he was startled from his Meme induced oblivion. He was still flustered though, so his BS excuse came out instead of a well thought out one.
"Wha... I am still going at it... just going slowly!"
She however did not believe him this time.
"That's a load of bull shit an' you know it! Get out of there right now!"
Finding his verbal shields being torn apart from her high perception skill, he went for a direct approach.
"Like hell I am! I'm not going out there till you stop acting like a psycho bitch! What's gotten into you Mardy?!"
"What the hell ya mean by "psycho bitch"? You’re the loon who's not resting despite bein' wounded!
"God Mardy! For one: It's merely a flesh wound, and two: I got up at 4pm! What I need isn't rest, but for you to look at what you are doing right now! You’re banging on the god damned restroom door trying to put me on the fucking couch!"
"EEERRARGH!" Mardy let out a cry before she slammed into the door.
"THIS IS MY STORE! IT'S MY DOMAIN! I AM THE LORD OF THIS PLACE! AND YOU WILL LISTEN TO MY COMMAND!" with each declaration she slammed her arms against the door. Ken meanwhile was bracing against the onslaught by putting his weight on the door and pushing against the floor. All the while trying to resist the urge to scratch at his wounded side.
Mardy continued to assault the surprisingly durable restroom door for ten more minutes, yelling at Ken in a primal rage. Declaring how she is "Da Queen" or how "serfs need to follow da Queen". Ken couldn't help but shout out if she knew "Da wae", only for her to let out another cry of rage before slamming her whole body against the door. She finally stopped her slamming and proceeded to start having an adult sized tantrum by the sound of shit being thrown around the room, and colliding with less than sturdy objects.
Thirty more minutes of the tantrum went by, finally settling like a tornado in Mississippi. No more signs of the slap-stick sounds that were being made by the irate woman, Ken didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Sadly it didn't matter either way, as he only had the guns that were the God given attached to his shoulders, and one of those wasn't in any condition to deliver a payload anywhere near enough to be useful. His pump gun was left by the couch since holding it was turning out to be incredibly painful, and in his rush to escape the mad woman he forgot to grab it, but then again it would have been, and still is, useless to him as has been in a state akin to a woman expecting a "Here's Johnny!".
So he sat there, curled up in a fetal position, with his back against the door, mumbling to himself, and wishing he wasn't alone and powerless. The occasional crunches and footsteps of what he could only hope, and not hope, was Mardy could be heard on the other side of the door. For the rest of the night, for it seemed she had no need of sleep, he was kept in a constant state of tug-o-war. He would shake and shudder with fear and nerves that were shot, then cease all movement when he heard the footsteps grow closer to the door and hearing the occasional whisper.
The strangest thing though, was that sometimes the whispers didn't sound like Mardy, and stranger yet some sounded like they were coming from the very room he was in. Even when Mardy had walked out of the lounge.
Could he be going mad?!
"Could I be going insane?"
-~mic check~- -~mic check~- -~one, two~-
-~ONE TWO~- *Bompf**Bompf*
*)(@&@%$*%^*&@(%@$*
"GOD fUCKING HELL!"
Ken held his ears as a sound of microphone feedback flooded his mind
-~Ope, sorry! Trying to get the setting right. Can you finally hear me Kenneth?~-
"What the hell is going on? Who are you? WHERE are you? HOW do you know my name?!"
-~SHHHHH! Kenneth library voices, okay? Else Mardy is going to come check on us... Oh crap! I think she heard you! Quickly act like a possum!~-
"Wha...?"
True to the strangers' words, Ken could hear the heavy footsteps of Mardy quickly approaching. He froze in place with the stillness of a statue, though with less of the grace. She stepped closer and knocked on the door.
"Kennn~~~ is that you in there? Why not come out so you can rest on the couch~?" her sing-songy voice sent shivers down his spine, and if she started to ask if he wanted to build a snowman, then he would have finally broken down into a sobbing mess. Only so many cyanide-laced words can a man handle before truly falling into despair, and he was nearing the limit. They all waited for a reply. Luckily for Ken whatever was affecting Mardy was causing her judgement to be poor, as she started to walk away after a "Harrumph". Ken stayed silent long after he could no longer hear Mardy's footsteps.
-~Soo, now that we are alone again, let me answer some of your questions. First off: you have been infected with something, probably from the raccoon wound. Second: I am you, but not you-~-
"What! How does that make-"
-~LIBRARY VOICES KEN! AND NO INTERRUPTIONS AS I EXPLAIN! Sheesh. So to answer your third question: I appear to be in our head... Not like IN our head, But IN our head. If that makes sense?...~-
"No, it doesn't."
HIs reply was flat since he was starting to become quite annoyed at the confusing way the voice spoke.
-~fuuuuuuuh! Okay! Let me explain this in a way that I hope will get through our thick skull. Jeez for being so handsome you can be a real handful. Anyhow, you know how in some books there will be a line of "Such and such did this' He thought"? You know how it always made us confused in English when Mr.Applestein talked about "inner dialogue", and the concept of hearing voices in one's head sounded like schizophrenia? Or how none of the other "normal" kids had to mumble their thoughts?~-
"Okay... I am not QUITE following, but go on."
-~Welll... What if... what if it IS normal to have a voice in your head talking about your thoughts? And what if our lack of inner voice ISN'T normal?~-
Ken folded his arms and plastered a thinking face on.
"Soo... if what you are saying IS true, which I still think it isn't, then how does that explain your presence? I mean, in those lectures Mr.Applestein never said anything about the "inner dialogue" being its own self. How do you explain that one smart-ass?"
-~Ooooh, self-burn I like that. I blame the infection. Think about it: when did Mardy say she got bit?~-
"She said around the morning."
-~okay and now what time did she start to go mental?~-
"Around the afternoon, soo about 12 hours?.."
-~Good! Glad to see public school at least drilled some math into our head. Now what time is it right now?~-
Ken pulled up his phone screen and checked the time.
“Around 6:45... Which is around 12 hours since I got bit by the raccoon...OH my god I have been infected with what Mardy has! SO i am going insane."
-~SHHHHHHHHush! You fucking beautiful idiot! Library voices. SO know we know I am a result of the infection, most likely. But what I need to tell y..~-
"AAARRRRGH!!!!!"
A loud bellow that sounded like Mardy but warped rang through the building followed by what sounded like the Snapping of bones and the Squelch of tearing flesh.
"SHIT WHAT WAS THAT!"
-~OH FUCK! NO TIME TO EXPLAIN KEN! I am going to need to put you in stasis for a bit. I'll make sure to wake you when the time is right! I'm So sorry my Love!~-
Just like turning off an old Television set, Ken's sight went white then blinked into darkness along with his consciousness.