"Who is she? Did you see her face?" Zombie asked impatiently, making an effort to get up.

I gently pressed my finger into his chest, pushing him back down. "Stay," I said. "You're not getting up, got it?"

Without wait for his response, I moved over to the window, glancing outside.

White snow. White trees. White world. There was no girl.

"I don't know. But it's not Ringer if that's who you're thinking about. I couldn't catch much of her, just a glimpse...but she seemed small." Dumbo said, shifting slightly by the doorway.

"A young girl then?" I asked, my eyes gliding over the deceivingly peaceful landscape.

Dumbo nodded. "I didn't recognize her. I don't know which direction she came from. Poundcake, Flint, and I did heard a chopper about twenty minutes ago. I don't kn-"

"You what?"Zombie asked, his eyes narrowing.

"We heard a chopper?" Dumbo asked slowly, darting his eyes everywhere but at Zombie's face.

"You heard a chopper and you didn't think that was something I should know about?" Zombie asked, his tone turning cold and harsh. "That could've been the fucking Others-this girl could be an Other."

"We uh didn't want to interrupt you two for something that may or may not have been a big deal..." Dumbo trailed off, looking down at his feet uncomfortably.

Ok, this wasn't helping anything. The girl was still heading towards us- it was quite likely she was already inside the hotel.

"Can you two plan on finishing this conversation later?" I cut in. "Is anyone doing anything about the girl right now?" I asked, turning to Dumbo.

"Flint and Poundcake are on watch..."

I nodded quickly. "Let's go," I said to Dumbo.

Dumbo pursed his lips, giving me a curt nod. He turned around and stepped back into the hall.

I took a step forward, making my way to the door until I heard rustling behind. I swiveled around on my feet to face Zombie. "Don't move," I said.

He forced himself to his feet, grabbing his shirt from the ground.

"I'm not going to just sit here," Zombie said crossly, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

He slid his shirt on over his head, tugging it down over the fresh bandages wrapped around his lower abdomen.

If it weren't for the girl we expected to be here any minute, I'd take my own sweet time savoring the view I had right now.

I shook my head once, blinking. "You're never going to get better if you don't rest," I pointed out.

He limped towards me. "I will rest and I will get better," he said, holding my gaze. "But now isn't the time."

He shuffled around me, tracing Dumbo's steps out into the hall.

I crossed my arms, gritting my teeth in annoyance. I loved the squad, they were my family now. But if it was just Zombie and I, I'd be able to take care of him and he'd be able to heal without having to deal with all the other issues we were currently faced with.

I followed them into the hall, stopping cold in my tracks when I saw the little girl standing opposite of Dumbo and Zombie.

Nugget appeared in the hall, coming out of the room Cassie and Evan were in.

"Megan? Is that you?" Nugget squeaked, pushing past Zombie.

Zombie grimaced, leaning heavily against the wall. "Who the hell is Megan?" he said.

Cassie arrived in the hall then, skidding to a stop by Nugget's side. "Sams, do you know who she is?"

"It's Megan! She was on the bus with me to the base. Hi Megan! Remember me?" he asked, taking a timid step forward.

"Check the stairs. Get Poundcake and Flint to help you. There's no way she's alone," Zombie said to Dumbo.

He just nodded, obediently rushing off to follow his leader's orders.

I took a look at the girl, taking her in fully. She was wearing a tattered, faded Hello Kitty shirt, with dirty white shorts and a pair of flip flops that had most certainly seen better days. Her skin was nearly plastered to her bones, creating hollow dark shadows across her pale skin.

She looked horrible- like death had taken her in and then spit her back out.

"My throat hurts," she mumbled, reaching up to her neck.

A second later, her face was heading straight for the ground, her knees buckling and her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

Zombie reached out, cradling her head right before it collided with the floor.

"Sullivan! Check her for a tracking chip," he said, picking up her frail body in his arms.

He staggered towards the closest room, pushing the door open with his side. He set her down on the closest bed, not giving her much of a second look before limping out.

"Dumbo. Flint. Poundcake. Check the perimeter. Go," he said forcefully, jutting a finger in the direction of the stairwell.

I crossed my arms defiantly. I wasn't going to do anything he told me to do. As long as it was with that attitude.

"Nugget-"

"Is she going to be ok? Is Megan going to be ok?" Nugget asked, looking up at Zombie with his puppy dog eyes.

Zombie exhaled deeply, a tinge of annoyance starting to creep into his attitude. "Shit, I don't know Nugget. I don't know everything, ok? If she makes it, she makes it. If she doesn't, she doesn't. I'm not Jesus Christ, I can't make freaking miracles happen."

I blinked twice, caught off guard for a split second.

I shouldn't be surprised anymore at Zombie's random mood swings, but every time he was the slightest bit on edge, I couldn't help but compare him to the Ben Parish I knew. It took a lot for me to admit that that boy was gone.

"We're going to do everything we can to make sure she's alright," I said to Nugget, squatting to his level. I brushed some curls out of his eyes and straightened the collar of his jacket. "How about you go rest? I'll come get you if anything happens," I continued softly.

Nugget took a quick, sad look over at Zombie before turning back to me. "Ok," he said, giving me a small hug before sulking off down the hall.

"I'm getting real sick of you being rude to them," I said to Zombie. "Can't you just try to act like you don't hate the world?"

I tried to keep my frustration at bay by making my expression appear as calm as possible. Zombie and I only ever seemed to get into arguments now a days, and I really didn't have the energy or the patience to get in another one.

"I wasn't being rude to him," he said, defensively. "I was being realistic."

"You were being rude him," I corrected him. "Don't you even try to deny it. He just cares about what happens to Megan. Don't you?"

"I care more about the squad," he said. "Whatever it takes to make sure the squad is safe, that's what we're going to do."

"Well being rude to Nugget- and Dumbo earlier, doesn't show you care about the squad much."

He crossed his arms, looking down at me with a steady gaze. "Dumbo heard a helicopter and he didn't say anything. He put us all in danger."

I mimicked his pose, refusing to let him get away with this.

"I don't care, Zombie. I don't care if the helicopter was the Others and I don't even care if they found us. That's still no reason for you to treat people, your family, like shit," I snapped, uncrossing my arms to jam a finger into Zombie's chest.

He started to respond, but I silenced him by bringing my hand up to cover his mouth. "No, don't say a thing," I warned. "This is what you're going to do. You're going to apologize to Dumbo. And then you're going to apologize to Nugget and tell him how much he means to you. Because he adores you and he really needs you right now."

"Canary-" he managed to say through my hand.

"Shh," I said. "I'm not done. Only until after you've apologized, can you talk to me. I'm not going to speak to you, I'm not going to be near or around you, I'm not going to even acknowledge your presence until you set things right."

I took my hand down, raising my eyebrow and directing my eyes at his intently.

"You're tough Zombie, but you still need us. So start acting like it."

It was official. Like a twig, I'd snapped. Snapped right in two. With the controversy of Evan and now this girl 'Megan', the last thing we needed was our leader being a jackass.

Just because Zombie wasn't Ben Parish anymore, didn't mean he couldn't still be half-way decent.

"Zombie! Get in here!" I heard Cassie say.

"Canary-" Zombie said, ignoring Cassie. "I'm-"

"Zombie! Now!"

I lowered my chin slightly and shifted my feet. "Go. I'll be waiting," I said.

He took a step forward, his brows creasing. "Please, listen-"

"I'll listen once you've said sorry and pulled your head out of your ass," I said.

With that, I spun on my heel, turning away from him.

Was I using the fact that he liked me to yield outcomes I wanted? Yes. Did I feel bad? Not in the slightest. What I was doing was for the good of the squad. And deep down, he knew that too.

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The chapter was a little short but I hoped you liked it nonetheless! It was mainly a transition for the things coming in the following chapters!

Just a question because I'm genuinely interested in what your responses will be... What is the single most thing you want to happen in Part 2?

Below I've added the spotify playlist for Part 2 ! As seen below, my username is southofparadise on spotify (which is also my username on here), so follow the playlist if you want to hear some of the songs I feel like represent Canary and Zombie's journey in The Infinite Sea. Feel free to either comment or message me some of the songs you feel like fit with Part 2, and I'll add them to the playlist!

Thank you all so much in advance for your support and until the next update, stay rad.