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Part 18
1.2
Zuli still hadn’t gotten used to the wet squishing sound his footsteps made through the mold. He wasn’t sure he ever would’ve, even if he wasn’t going to die in a few minutes. The manor was far too quiet, and the moldy squishing and squelching felt like the loudest thing in the world. But that didn’t matter now.
Zuli hadn’t visited Jade much since the others had dragged him outside for the last time, but he found that he remembered the way to him rather well.
Against the wall, on the lowest landing in the stairwell from the ground floor to the second floor, a huge mass of mushrooms had grown so big that these stairs were almost unusable. In the center of it, though it was almost impossible to see him, was the blonde-haired guardian.
Jade’s eyes were covered by the mushrooms completely now. He didn’t seem to be alive, but the whole cluster trembled with his movement when Zuli called his name.
“Z-Zuli?”
His voice sounded so hoarse, pained. Hopeful, uncertain, anxious. Zuli swallowed the lump in his throat.
“Hi. H…how are you feeling?”
Jade was quiet for a moment. It was impossible tell what he was feeling. “...Numb, now, mostly. The pins-and-needles kind, like when you’ve been sitting on your foot and cut off the circulation. All over. …It’s weird feeling it in my head. I don’t…like it.”
Zuli knelt next to him, and pulled a kitchen knife from the small basket he’d brought with him. Much to his relief, the mushrooms weren’t as bad as he’d thought. “I’m…I’m going to try to cut you out, okay? At least a little. I…don’t think I have enough time to get you all the way out.” He didn’t say why. He knew the Colony had full access to Jade’s mind, and what he heard, or saw. Mostly heard, now. He couldn’t risk the Colony trying to stop him and Mercury now.
The mushrooms on the upper part of Jade’s face shifted. Zuli could imagine the surprised look on his face.
“Th…the others aren’t nearby. But they might- they might start coming over, in a second.”
Zuli sighed. “I know. Just…hold still, okay? I don’t want to accidentally hurt you.”
Jade silently obeyed. The mushrooms were easier to cut through that Zuli had thought, for their size. Zuli did a little more ‘pruning,’ and soon Jade was able to sit up. He did so, his arms shaking from the effort.
“Zuli, I-“
His voice cracked. He reached one hand out, and Zuli took it without hesitation. Jade’s grip felt so weak, especially through the thick glove of the suit.
“It’s going to be okay.” Zuli set the knife aside. “We're all going to get out of here, okay?”
“…I don’t think we can get out anymore,” Jade said softly.
Zuli squeezed his hand. “We will. Soon. I promise.”
Jade was quiet for a moment. Then he started sniffling. Something wet rolled down his cheek.
Zuli reach forwards to try and comfort him, and then stopped. He stared at the rear for a second.
“…Are…are you crying? I thought…the mushrooms on your eyes..?”
“Huh?” Jade brought a hand up to his face. “…Huh. I…I think my eyes are the only things that aren’t hurting or numb right now.”
Zuli slowly picked the knife back up. “Can I…try to cut them off? You’ll have to be very still.”
Jade quickly let go of Zuli’s hands and propped himself up. “Please. I’ll be still, I promise.”
Very, very carefully, Zuli shifted into a kneeling position in front of Jade. Hopefully no one comes and startles him while he’s doing this, he thinks.
“Okay. I’ll be careful. If it hurts at all, tell me.”
He cupped Jade’s face in one hand, and began to carefully cut away the mushrooms.
Soon he realized that the mushrooms hadn’t grown out of his eyes; only over them. One bright green, slitted eye blinked and squinted at the sudden light.
“Zuli-!”
Zuli bit his lip. “Hold on. Just a little bit more…”
Jade closed his eyes, but a smile crept onto his face. Zuli kept going, taking great care not to cut Jade’s skin. Some of the mushrooms were starting to turn the same color as his skin. …Or maybe he was getting paler and starting to match the color of the mushrooms’ stems.
Trunks? Stems? Zuli didn’t actually know what the right word was. Oh well.
There were still little stumps from the mushrooms along Jade’s brow, but Zuli couldn’t find it in him to care. Jade could see again. He couldn’t imagine how scared he had been, not being able to see or move around in such a dangerous situation.
“There.” Zuli set the knife down again. “You can open your eyes now.”
Jade did. He met Zuli’s eyes and gave him a huge, happy grin, and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you! I thought they were in my eyes, too, but-”
He pulled back and gently held the sides of Zuli’s head. It felt strange through the suit. “I can see you again. I can see you!”
Zuli hadn’t seen him this happy since before all this happened. When it was just Obsidian to worry about. Zuli pulled him into another hug and held him tightly.
They stayed there for a while. Zuli didn’t know how long.
His mind swirled with all sorts of thoughts.
He needed to set the final part of his plan in motion, and soon. If the others came and found the other thing in his basket, they’d fuck it all up.
He missed Jade so much, though. So much had happened, and Jade hadn’t always been the greatest, but they’d still been friends. Jade had still tried to protect Zuli from some things Obsidian did, even if he didn’t realize how bad the rest was.
How long until the Colony realized that Zuli and Mercury were infected?
…Did it even know? Mercury said he’d take off the hazmat suit once he’d placed the bombs. But unless he’d run into the others, and told them Zuli was infected…
Huh. Maybe it didn’t know after all.
Maybe…maybe Zuli needed to encourage it to come in.
“Jade, I have to tell you something.” Zuli pulled away, and reached to the zipper behind him.
Jade’s eyes widened. “Wait, what are you-“
Zuli unzipped the suit. A rush of damp, suffocating air filled it, and he nearly gagged. It smelled awful in here. The suit didn’t smell very great, but outside of it was even worse.
“Zuli!” Jade grabbed his arms, not that there was anything he could do now. He looked terrified. But Zuli just shook his head, pulling the suit off of his upper half.
“Mercury’s infected. I was in his office with him when we realized, so I probably am too. The suit was just delaying the inevitable.”
Jade’s lip trembled. All the joy and delight had vanished, as if it was never there to begin with. Now all that was left was hopelessness and despair.
“...Oh, god, it’s coming,” Jade said suddenly, his head jerking to the side. His eyes seemed to see something beyond the wall next to him. “It’s coming.”
Zuli pulled a small plastic box from the basket before wrapping his arms around Jade again. His eyes stung.
He didn’t want to die. Not like this.
But it was the only way…
“I’m-” he choked. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t give you what you asked for the last time I saw you. It probably would’ve been easier than this.”
Jade hugged him tight. “I’m…I’m sorry too,” he said softly. “I haven’t been a great friend, have I?”
Zuli laughed shakily. “That’s okay. I’m…I’m glad you were here. You still made it better, a little.”
“It’s not going to kill us, you know,” Jade said, though it sounded more like a warning. “It’s just trying to merge with the manor.”
Zuli took a shaky breath, and held out the remote in his hand. Jade hadn’t seen it. “I-”
The building shook. The fungal growths around them and along the walls shuddered, spores falling from the ceiling, the mushrooms around them.
“I know,” Zuli finished. He clenched his teeth. “I’m going to do it.”
He pushed the button.
Another, larger tremor spread through the manor, and Jade tensed.
Zuli heard a deep, distant moan. It sounded…unearthly. He shuddered.
“You…You’re going to burn the place down,” Jade said in a hushed voice. “...It’s spreading so fast…The others are already trying, but they aren’t going to be able to put it out.”
Zuli chucked the remote to the side, and held Jade tight. He was starting to shake.
“Mercury couldn’t- he couldn’t find a cure fast enough. It- It’s the only thing I could think of. To keep it from spreading.” His vision blurred. “Fuck, why am I afraid now?”
Jade pulled back slightly and pressed his forehead to Zuli’s. He looked so calm. “For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing.” He offered Zuli a small smile. “It’s going to be okay. It’s going to hurt, but you can hold on to me. Or, if you’d rather, and you think you can make yourself do it, you can use the knife.”
Zuli looked over at the knife. The idea made his stomach churn. “I…I don’t think I can.”
Jade closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he said, “Then hold on to me. As tight as you want. I don’t think I’ll feel much of it.”
Zuli did. The fire hadn’t reached them yet, but he was so scared, now that it was actually happening.
It was so easy to think and talk about duty and sacrifice. It was much harder to actually commit to it. Even if he’d managed to push the button, every nerve and neuron in his body told him he should run. Run away, escape, get to safety. But he couldn’t. Even if he wanted to.
“...Can we try again next time?” Jade asked. “Being friends?”
Zuli smiled. “That…that would be nice. Maybe we can make silly snowmen again.”
“Or bake cookies!”
“You burned every batch of cookies you made when you stayed with us.”
“Not the last one! I was getting better!”
A strange sound was approaching.
“...Huh. I can hear Obsidian now.” Jade looked up. “He’s been silent for ages. …He says ‘thank you’.”
Zuli huffed. “Tell him I hope the fire follows him to the afterlife.”
“...He thinks that’s funny. And fitting.” Jade took a breath. “...It’s funny, you know. After something much worse happened, I finally realized how awful everything was here. For me. For you. He didn’t actually bring you out of the basement like he said he did, did he? He left you down there.”
Zuli nodded. “The whole time.”
Jade buried his face in the crook of Zuli’s neck. “...I kind of wish I’d gone back down there. He told me not to, and I know all it would’ve done is gotten me in trouble, but a part of me still thinks I could’ve done something.”
Zuli ran his fingers through Jade’s hair. It was dirty, oily, and the fungus had started growing in it. Zuli didn’t care.
It was getting hard to breathe.
“It’s too late for regrets,” Zuli muttered. It was getting hot, too. “For any of us.”
“I hope the others don’t come to their senses before they die,” Jade said. “I think it’d be better to die angry about foiled plans, then overwhelmed with guilt about what they did.”
“Yeah…I hope so too.”
The flames appeared around the corner, at the bottom of the stairs.
“...I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I think we mean it in different ways,” Jade said with a sad laugh. “But I don’t really care. I’m…I’m glad you’re here.”
Zuli wasn’t sure what Jade meant. But he said, “I am too. I’d be too scared to face this alone.”
The fire took no time in rushing up the stairs.
Soon enough, it had engulfed them.