"I stopped going to classes when people were getting so sick. Luckily I was living off campus instead of those cramped dorms. Most of them died because living in close quarters is so dangerous. I broke into one of the labs, took supplies, and ran for it with my boyfriend…" Pollux explained, "I've been collecting supplies as I go, but I think endgame here is getting to Atlanta. The CDC is probably best bet, if I want to help research and maybe be one of the first to get a vaccine, if they come up with one. So, I'm kind of trying to go that direction. It's pretty far from here though."
"Mm. I would go with you, but there's something I need to do here first, and I can't afford to do it yet," Logan said.
Pollux then connected the dots between the selling drugs and the phrase 'can't afford.'
"Anything I could help you with?" he asked, "within reason, of course."
"Unless you have 4,000 dollars, then no can do," Logan told him. Then she muttered, "What if I robbed a bank… I'm sure I would find one… but all the money would already be stolen by now, wouldn't it…"
"I may be willing to help you find a way to do this," he said, "However, I would like to know what you need four grand for."
His gaze intensified.
"You must be a level three friend to unlock my tragic backstory, sorry babe," Logan joked. She then sighed and answered seriously. "There's this guy named Elijah. He does all the stuff for a funeral, y'know the coffin, the headstone, the hole, all that shiz. I've been saving up only partially so I can keep this place stocked with food. I really just want to give my brother a proper burial." She looked away, fixating her eyes on the wall behind Pollux.
Pollux looked away.
"Well, hon… I had you pinned wrong. You're a better person than I am…" he murmured.
He debated on whether or not to tell her what happened to Will. He eventually decided not to, and hoped she wouldn't ask about the boyfriend he had mentioned.
"I literally run a free shelter for people to hide from monsters, and I supply them with food and water. Of course, I'm a dick just because I sell drugs for money," Logan scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Okay, so I'm not the perfect judge of character. I also wasn't sure if you were going to charge later for us spending the night, or do something else to bring us down…" he said, "but I gotcha now. Sorry for being an ass."
He paced a little.
"Uh, that said, you wouldn't happen to know if this Elijah guy has any guns, would you? If he's unarmed, I'd be plenty happy to go down there and threaten him. Much easier than $4000, don't you think?"
Logan shrugged. "Probably doesn't. Haven't tried talking to him in a while. He actually might be dead by now."
"Sounds like it might be worth a shot then," Pollux said, "If he's not dead yet, he could be by the time you have the money. No time like the present."
"Yeah what better time than the middle of the night during the apocalypse," Logan said sarcastically.
"Yeah, no. I'm going back to sleep before we do anything else," Pollux replied with a laugh, "But if you would like to do this, give me the word. If not, I'll probably leave soon."
Jaylin eyes shot open as she woke up, breathing heavily. Her heart was pounding quickly.
Look…you're in the hospital still. You're fine. It didn't happen. She told herself, leaning back against the wall. Jaylin noticed that Pollux wasn't next to her, so she stood up to go find him.
Pollux had waited for a while for an answer. He didn’t get one right away, but he tried not to be impatient.
“Just let me know, yeah?”
He sighed and stood back up straight.
Jaylin found Pollux by the pharmacy. She shook off her nightmare before walking over to him, unable to hide her yawn.
"Ugh, what time is it?" She asked casually, looking around for a clock.
“It’s still dark out,” he said, “Don’t know the exact time.”
He yawned and stretched his arms out.
"Well I don't think I'm falling back asleep. I might as well stay up." Jaylin said, sitting down on the floor.
"I might… we shall see," Pollux replied, "I dunno. I'm feeling pretty off at the moment."
He sat down next to her.
Jaylin looked up at the ceiling. "Did you figure anything out while I was sleeping? Anything that could lead to a cure?"
"Logan says she thinks they did some actual research on the disease here. However, I think the files might be on the computers, and I can't get into them," Pollux explained, "Also my research was novice stuff. I made sure to tell her what I found, and she said she'd already been told that by a doctor around the start of the outbreak. So… I helped myself and you, but clearly other scientists already know what I 'discovered.'"
Jaylin had completely zoned out after Pollux mentioned that he couldn't get to the computer files.
"Those computer files hold important research, huh? I wouldn't give up on them quite yet." She said, a jolt of excitement running through her.
"Oh, that's right. You're good with computers, aren't you?" Pollux asked, "Are you suggesting you could help?"
He raised an eyebrow, very interested by now.
Jaylin grinned. "Oh, I can help alright."
She stood up, stretching her arms out before turning back to Pollux. "You wait here. I'm gonna go get my laptop."
With that, she ran off to where she had left her bag.
Pollux nodded and waited for Jaylin to return. He wasn't showing it outwardly, but he was ecstatic that they might be able to find some helpful research.
After a few minutes, Jaylin returned with her backpack. She was still smiling as she took out her laptop, opening it up and leaning back against the wall.
"Okay, what's the name of this place?"
Logan kicked her chair back to Pollux. "What're we doing now?"
"Hell, I dunno. I'll go find a sign."
Pollux got up and found the map on the wall he had used earlier. He came back with an answer.
"Grayborough General Hospital," he said, "And we are in… are we in Virginia? Forget the town name, I don't even know the state for sure."
(Time to make up a bunch of hacking stuff)
She ignored Jordan, focused on this research.
"Grayborough…" Jaylin typed in, eventually finding the hospital's website. "I've done plenty of stuff like this before. I even have a program designed to make stuff like this easier." She was in her element now, copying and pasting seemingly random numbers and keywords.
Pollux heard Logan's question and looked over.
"Trying to get into those files that the hospital may or may not have," he said.
"I'm glad you know what you're doing… I wouldn't even know where to start."
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