Katie woke up in the back seat of a car. The first thing she did was look down on herself. She really didn't want to see herself turned into some sort of tree-girl hybrid. She pleasantly found out that she was completely fine.

Sure, her clothes weren’t exactly the modest after getting involved in a firefight, but other than that, she was perfectly fine.

The pain she felt before she passed out was nowhere to be seen. How disappointing. She was actually having quite the fun with that.

The brunette laid there for a few minutes before suddenly raising her voice.

"Anyone there? Hello?"

A person popped her head over from the driver’s seat. Mira.

“You’re fine!” Mira exclaimed in excitement. “Wow! You’re probably the first person to survive Kameron’s transformation! He must’ve pumped all his energy into you! Where did all those energy even go?”

She knew she had some luck when she surprised and killed Kameron. In most cases, a thousand handgun bullets couldn’t kill someone as powerful as him. Even if he was distracted, there would always be some power ready to sprung into action. Yet when he was converting Katie, he was so determined to convert her that he poured all the energy he had in.

That was a risky thing to do, but Mira suspected after multiple encounters with someone like Katie, Kameron no longer had enough logic left to realize that.

At the same time, it showed Katie was somehow able to take Kameron’s full energy to have a chance of turning. That was something Mira hasn’t seen throughout her years in the Seven Tribes.

Katie shrugged. “There are a lot of secrets to my body. If you want, we can explore them together... ;)”

Mira grinned at the Katie’s attempt to flirt with her. Katie continued.

“Thank you for coming back to save me. You know, a part of me wants to snap your neck for disturbing my moment with Kameron, but...I know better. As hard as it is to believe, I could’ve died back there. Thanks.”

“Wait...why is it hard to believe you could’ve died...also, what moment?” The sentence started out nicely, but Mira quickly found more than one thing that she didn't understand.

“Well…” Katie shrugged. She wasn't in the mood to explain everything again. “So, where are we?”

“Hmmm. We are an hour away from the motel. With all the gunshots and the bodies, we couldn’t stay back there.”

“Fair enough. So, now what?”

“If things don’t go terribly wrong, I don’t think I can be tracked down again.” Mira turned back to the steering wheel. “Which I am more than grateful of. Kameron may be a corpse some homeless person may eventually find in a dumpster, but he had a father. Chief is the most powerful person I have seen before, ever. If he tracks us down...we will be begging to die.”

“Tempting.” Katie quickly extinguished the idea of going after this Chief herself, as fun as that would probably be. “You should be able to make a living for yourself, yeah?”

“With my powers, obviously.”

“Good. Just take me to this address.” Katie was a bit too tired to drive, so she gave Mira the address to her home. “Take me there, and if things go well, we will never see each other again. That's a bit disappointing for me, but that should be good news for you.”

Mira nodded and started driving.

----------------------------------------

Katie tossed herself into her bed. That’s not a typo. Not onto. Into. Her body literally sank into the soft mattress.

It was already dark when she came home. Her parents didn't seem concerned at all. Katie was fine with that. She has already grabbed a Drive Thru from a McDonald’s on the way back. It wasn’t like she had to do some homework for school either. She went straight into her room, locked the door, and relaxed.

She had to admit. As troublesome as school and Caitlin was, she did have a good time with the whole Kameron thing. All the pain and fighting...it was like an addiction. Like cocaine. Now, that begs the question. How did she know what a cocaine addiction felt like if she never had drugs before? I was exaggerating, you idiot! That was a figure of speech!

Katie stretched her arms and legs in her bed. It has been a long day. She should probably get some rest so she could wake up in time tomorrow for the class. But if I don’t go, then Mr. Isaac will be forced to kill me, and I really want to see how he’s gonna do that...no! I have done enough stupid stuff for one day!

A bit dehydrated, she sat back up and reached for a plastic water bottle on the counter next to the bed. And…of course! The bottle was just a few inches out of her fingers’ reach! Why? Is my day not bad enough? Damn it! Katie growled in annoyance. Just as she was about to move her body, something she didn't expect just happened.

A brown tree stem suddenly exploded out of her palm and wrapped itself around the water bottle. With quite the efficiency, the stem pulled the water bottle back to Katie.

“Wow!” Katie exclaimed. The pain of having the flesh and skin on her hand pierced was almost nothing. The girl looked down at her palm and the stem and examined it carefully.

It seemed like whatever Kameron invested in her paid off, somehow. The stem growing out of her hand seemed to be a stem of some sort of special plant that looked exactly like the same plant that possessed the hotel clerk Kameron converted. More importantly, this plant inside her and the power it contained appeared to be completely under Katie’s control.

With a single thought from Katie, the stem suddenly dropped the water bottle. It picked the bottle back up with another order.

“Wait...does that mean...”

Katie gave another order, and three more branches exploded out of her left arm and both legs. Again, the feeling of that itself was enough to make most people collapse, but for Katie it was no more than a “hmmm”.

At that point, Katie’s interest was fully occupied with whatever was happening to herself. Screw sleep! This is so much more fun!

Half an hour later, from the wreckage of her room, Katie came to a series of conclusions.

Ok. Katie confirmed whatever plant in her was fully under her control. She suspected the seed Kameron planted in her finally blossomed after all the energy he put in, but unfortunately for that sick sadistic psychopath(the male one, not Katie), Kameron was dead before he could control Katie. All he did was give her a carefully wrapped gift.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

It was something Katie could really use right now. With all the things going on, having guns and a twisted mind was helpful, but not sufficient.

The plant gave Katie a lot of abilities. First of all, she could pretty much pop out the plant anywhere on her body. Literally. Anywhere...Katie promised that line was backed by sufficient evidence and a ton of trials.

The stems could take any shape with a single command from Katie. One second, it could be a soft whip that could crack through a wooden counter. The next second, the stems could be piercing blades. And the plant was far from only a weapon. Katie took a page from Kameron’s book and realized she could form a layer of the brown stem around her body, acting as an armor.

Wait...Kameron could deflect bullets with that stem shield! That means...where’s my Glock?

Bang!

“Ok…” Katie looked down on a bloody hole in her stomach, along with a layer of broken stem shield. “I may need to work on that more. Note to self. That thing doesn’t deflect bullets. I wonder what it’ll do against knives though...”

Those were the only things Katie was able to discover. There were probably more, but she needed a bit longer to identify.

Anyways, that’s it for the day. Katie decided as she let out a yawn. I really need to go to bed.

Katie sighed and took off her bloody t-shirt and changed into her pajamas. She stretched again before using her newly gained stem to pick up the water bottle on the ground. She emptied the entire bottle into her mouth before collapsing back into the bed. As she closed her eyes, exhausted, she suddenly had the strange feeling she forgot to do something.

Something important…

Ah, well. I’m sure whatever that is, it can wait till tomorrow!

In her stomach, a Glock bullet laid there in peace.

----------------------------------------

The next day, in the football field of Riverside High School, Mr. Isaac pulled out another stack of cards. He turned to one of the students, who was practically shaking in fear.

“You, choose.”

On the side, Katie yawned.

What? It’s not my fault! I went to bed late yesterday night, and guess what? A few hours into my nap I was woken up by something in my stomach! Took me a full hour to realize I was getting lead poisoning from the bullet I shot myself with! How did I even forget to take the bullet out? That’s just not something you forget!

As a result, she was extra bitchy today.

Katie spoke up loudly.

“Ok...after yesterday, I actually checked out this Cabin in the Wood movie.” That was true. She couldn’t sleep last night after digging into her stomach and pulling out the bullet. The removal surgery got really bloody near the end. So she ended up watching the movie Mr. Isaac talked about.

The class turned to Caity. Should they be surprised? Probably not. But that didn't stop them from looking at the only student brave enough to talk to Mr. Isaac like this in a weird way. Does this Katie have a death wish? If she does, there are probably a lot of better ways to die than being killed by an undead teacher.

Mr. Isaac paused and turned to Katie, wondering what she had to say.

Katie growled.

“Look, I know you’re probably not a professional movie person, but the Cabin in the Wood was widely praised by the critics for a lot of things, like poking fun at stupid cliches in the whole horror genres. Also, Chris Hemworth is in it...anyways. My point is, how the hell did you look at a masterpiece like that and say, hmmm...poker cards and giant spiders sound fun!”

The open field was oddly quiet for a moment.

Mr. Isaac suddenly let out a wicked smile. Just when the class thought he would rip Katie apart bit by bit, he simply ignored Katie’s words and turned back to the student.

“Choose.”

Some of the classmates rose their eyebrows in shock. This was a monster who killed multiple students to make a point! Why the hell was he showing mercy? Wait...is he the type of monster who respects those who are brave? A few students wondered if they should learn from Katie, but looking into the cold, lifeless eyes of Mr. Isaac, those delusional few backed down. A decision that saved their lives.

The student slowly pulled a card out of the stack with shaking hands. This time, without even looking at it, she threw the card as far away as possible.

The football court was silent once again. The class waited for hell to be unleashed, but nothing happened.

Katie sighed, walked over, and picked up the card. She read what was on the card before tossing it back on the ground.

“Zombies! We’re fighting zombies!” She announced loudly before turning to the girl that chose the monsters. “Yeah...I guess the cards are all terrifying and all, but can’t you at least read it first? Also…” she turned to Mr. Isaac.

“I know you’re trying to create anticipation or something, but...I feel like there are smarter ways to do this.”

As if a signal was given, a hand suddenly reached out of the ground. It was half-rotten, with maggots all over its skin and its flesh. Katie frowned. Just like pain, this grotesque scene didn't seem to be a problem. Nonetheless, she took a few steps back.

The students gasped. Zombies. Zombies have been a frequent guest in horror films. In some worlds, zombies were brainless idiots who only served as target for the bullets of the protagonists. In others, zombies could devour entire armies of professional soldiers. Either way, the unfortunate souls held their breath. Even Caitlin and Zach were obviously distressed.

Katie stretched her fingers. Zombies...perfect!

Mr. Isaac smirked, enjoying the intense environment. He could almost feel the fear in the air, and it made him glad. Suddenly, he sensed something else. Something foul...

Thrill. Excitement. Anticipation.

Katie Lockwood...damn you!

“Bob. Aaron.” Mr. Isaac paused as two boys in the class collapsed. Before he spoke the third name, he looked across the crowd. Katie felt her heart beat accelerate when Mr. Isaac looked to her.

“Finally!” She exclaimed before realizing she was speaking it out loud. “I mean...oh no! Please! Don’t choose me! Here...” She moved aside and pointed at Zach. “Take him!”

She was perhaps the worst actress possible. And her act of showing fear and trying to get selected? Stupid.

Mr. Isaac was furious by the mockery. Anyone could see it. In fact, Katie was surprised he hasn’t struck her down yet with all her transgressions. Suddenly, a mocking smirk appeared on Zach’s face.

“As you wish.”

Oh shit….oh shit! No! I was joking!

Katie’s eyes widened in horror as Mr. Isaac named Zach as the third champion! Why? What the fuck?

But this wasn’t over!

Caitlin walked up to Katie, but Katie already knew what her friend had to say.

“Here’s the thing, Caitlin.” She said quietly at the worried look from her lover. “I’m not gonna stab him in the back, but if you’re asking me to lend him a hand, don’t bother.”

This was already a great concession on her part. Otherwise, the moment the fighting began, she would shoot Zach in the head before even thinking about the zombies. Caitlin was hers!

Caitlin’s mouth opened, as if she wanted to say something, but she changed her mind. She knew anything else would be meaningless.

“Thank you, Katie.” She said quietly before leaning forward and kissing Katie on the lips.

The public demonstration of affection would’ve won the attention of many students, if they weren’t about to witness a brutal slaughter of their own peers.

“Wow…” Katie stood there for a minute, shocked. Did Caitlin just kiss her? Yes! Suddenly, she felt brand new energy running through her body. For a moment, she felt like she was invincible! Screw Mr. Isaac! Screw the zombies! She could kill them all!

When she turned to the two other boys who were unlucky enough to be selected, she was smiling. One of these lucky bastards was getting out of this mess unscathed.

“So…” She spoke up quietly before one of the boys cut her off.

“I can pay you $2,000!” Aaron exclaimed loudly. This was all his savings, and he wasn’t afraid of throwing it away to save himself.

Katie suddenly snapped.

“How dare you! Do you think I need that money? I’m a millionaire...but I do like money, so...that’s a deal!”

“Wait...what?” The other boy, Bob, coughed in surprise as the deal was struck before he could say a single word. Come on Katie! You sounded so determined at first! What happened to being insulted? And what happened to you being a millionaire and not needing that money?

Then again, it’s Katie Lockwood, so...no surprises there.

On the side, Mr. Isaac’s face twitched in fury before suddenly relaxing.

Enjoy life when you can...Katie! Cause you're not getting another chance...