A low groan echoed outside the metal gate. The city beyond the cracked garage door remained eerily silent.
Inside, the dim light of a dying flashlight flickered across peeling paint and oil-coated shelves. Eddie sat, slumped and gagged in the middle of the room-hands tied, sweat clinging to his temples. He didn't know how long he had been kept like a miserable being. His eyes, shadowed and hollow, darted lazily between the three strangers who'd captured him.
The so-called Mel leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, jaw tense. Cas paced, arms wrapped tightly around himself like they might hold in the fear leaking through his skin. Liam stood nearest to Eddie-silent, unmoving-eyes narrowed with the kind of pain that didn't leave room for hope.
"Two days," Cas mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's not changed... tsk! I'm tired of this sh*t..."
"Doesn't mean he's safe."
Mel's voice cut through the stillness like a sharp knife. "Some of them take time. Remember that kid in Sector G? Took four days before he went rabid."
"He was a kid, Mel. This guy's just..."
Cas gestured toward Eddie in disappointment, taking in his pitiful situation.
Liam exhaled through his nose. Loud. Tired. Heavy. "We have to know what he is. We wasted enough time here thanks to SOMEONE ... " he said finally... "It's no use staying in this town any longer... whether he is possessive or not... It's none of our business... If we're lucky enough...we can leave in time before the pandemic reaches here."
"We didn't waste time. If he is possessed, then it means that the pandemic has reached here and the near cities too...so we'll change our destination... and if he is not..." Mel looked at Eddie with irritation, then continued "Well... we'll find a use for him." Liam didn't answer. Cas complained "Mel! He is a human! How can you say we'll find a use for him?!"
Mel replied quickly "You say human, I say a to-be-possessed. You're still being naive, Cas.".
-"Mel!!"
Liam didn't give him the time to talk. He stepped forward. His tall frame showed his authority in a way that sent a shiver down Eddie's spine.
"Sigh...We could... ungag him. Just that. He acts weird? We put it back." Cas suggested with hesitation.
Liam agreed with a simple nod.
Mel looked at the two with wide scared eyes and raged"You two....must've gone insane!! OPEN A POSSESSED TO HAVE CHIT CHAT WITH HIM?!"
"You're overreacting Melissa..." Liam said with his calm, cold voice.
"I'M NOT! YOU TWO LIKE TO GET KILLED?!"
Cas leaped forward, trying to stop her from gripping Liam's collar.
"Laim!! This is serious!" Mel continued.
"The only thing that matters now is to quit this city as soon as possible! We were already short on time, I don't want Mara's case to happen again... Cas almost died because of me... I can't let you repeat my mistake, Melissa."
Laim stood up...
Melissa calmed down..."you're... right."
Silence. Then Liam crouched in front of Eddie. The tension in his jaw said he didn't like this any more than the others did... but it seemed like they had no other choice...
"...One sound I don't like, and you're out. Got it?" Liam threatened.
Eddie blinked slowly. He was too tired to nod anyway...
Liam reached out and undid like he was disarming a bomb. The cloth fell away, damp with breath.
Eddie coughed, a raw, ugly sound that scraped through his throat. His lips trembled. His tongue moved, but no words.
Eddie opened his mouth. Closed it. Swallowed hard. Tried to talk... but he couldn't... it had been so long since the last time he talked... since the town's evacuation 4 years ago.
After several minutes.. he finally managed to say something...
"I... I-I'm... n-not..."
"Not what?" Melissa asked.
-"N-not... one of... th-those th-things..."
His voice cracked mid-word. He looked down, ashamed of the stutter. Like he used to speak once. Long ago.
"You been alone out there? In the city?" Cas murmured with pity.
-"...Y-yeah."
A beat. The three looked at him in other way...
"For how long?" Asked Melissa... her cold expression turned into a warmer thing.
Eddie's eyes lifted toward her, then dropped.
"I... I d-don't kn-know. Y-years...?" Eddie closed his eyes, trying to remember.
The way he said it-like he wasn't sure what a year even meant anymore-made even Melissa falter.
"Holy shit..." Cas said while covering his face, drowning in his thoughts again.
"Why did you run at her? At Mel?" Laim asked softly.
Eddie froze. His throat worked, but no word came.
-"You saw her and bolted. Like you knew her. Why?"
Eddie's eyes flickered to Melissa, then away.
"...I... th-thought she was..." Eddie replied, barely audible...
"Was what?" Mel asked suspiciously.
Eddie shook his head quickly. Tight. Like he regretted speaking at all.
-"I... m-mistook her. Th-that's all."
The air thickened again. Like the room itself was waiting to see who would crack next.
After a long silence... they opened his ropes. Eddie's wrists were raw when the rope finally slipped free. He rubbed them absently, eyes flicking between the three faces in front of him. Liam shoved a dented water bottle into his hands.
"Here. Don't waste it."
Eddie drank fast, almost desperate, then slowed when he felt their eyes on him. Mel crouched nearby, holding out a strip of dried bread from her pack. She didn't look at him when she muttered, "You should eat."
He took it, chewing in silence. The quiet pressed down until Liam's voice—rough, reluctant—broke through.
"…We were wrong."
Eddie looked up, startled. Mel exhaled hard, like the words cost her.
"Yeah. Sorry. Don't think it means we trust you completely."
Cas shifted uncomfortably, arms crossed, his mouth opening like he wanted to speak, then snapping shut again. The apology lingered unspoken, but it was there...
The four stayed there for a while... thinking about the untold past , the sad present and the unseen future.