Deliberate avoidance felt… subconsciously logical, at the time. I had a pup to worry about. I couldn't risk learning things that would make me shut down.
Now with the deaths out in the open and directly on my conscience it felt like cowardice. Vrika isn't here to berate me, so I have to do it myself.
> You're stalling. <
I'd stopped three minutes ago in a little alcove between residential floors. A spot that held a fire extinguisher and emergency light. Just leaning against structural concrete with my own Tolerance off.
As heat leeches out of my back where she'd pressed a half hour ago. While warmth enters from my front, from holding my son - his own little bundle of *perfect* temperature now. I stare again at the name whose guilt stabs at me more than the others.
| Jessica Sullivan - Deceased |
