Even after the day broke, Iggy couldn't sleep. With each aching breath, with each burning inhale, with each itching heartbeat he felt himself coming closer to the end. Any second could be the last one. The incision was a disaster and it wasn't going to hold up much longer, yet there he sat at the edge of Becca's ruffled bed with an elbow stabbed into his thigh and his knuckles holding his head up, while he stared down at the dusty carpet, doing nothing.
Becca was lying on her stomach next to him, sleeping with her feet dangling off the bed to his right, dressed in the oversized T-shirt that she often slept in. The scent of human blood came from her still, but the overlying vanilla that Iggy liked so much continued to grow stronger. He leaned over Becca and kissed the top of her head. He wanted her in every way, but especially in this innocent friendly way. Unfortunately, he couldn't be there for her in the way that she would soon need him to be. He couldn't be there for anyone he cared about. And it was hard to care for someone after telling them a final farewell. He'd made the mistake of letting Emi go too early, but Becca's goodbye was overdue. He was saddened by the thought of letting her go. As he peered down on her clean brown skin and her serene face, he gave his soul permission to tell her goodbye.
He rose to his feet and shuffled down the hallway into the living room to where Emi was spread out across a couch, sleeping with her forearm shielding her eyes. Her whole body was open and relaxed and melted into the curves and crevasses of the couch in blind trust. Many would have called Emi brave and courageous for accepting the situation as what it was, all while still finding the strength to relax into it, but Iggy didn't agree. No way. Her openness was reckless, naive, and lucky. Oh, so lucky. So lucky to have been overlooked at New Eden and then so lucky to have been found by a good guy.
Even while Iggy stood watching her, the bursting heart inside of his chest worked outward, trying to crawl away from his unfit body. The curse of all curses. He guarded his left breast with a shaking hand, glimpsing the vandalism along his forearm, too. He was doomed for death. He was exploited. He was abused. He was marked, all while she was not.
And, he hated her for it.
Takeshi was sitting at the base of the stairs with his suitcase propped up in between his folded legs with his cheek lying along the top edge like a pillow. Afraid and uptight, he wouldn't have laid himself out for the simple reason that the floor was grungy, but even so, his eyes were open, and he watched Iggy silently. There was intense danger seeping from Iggy that frightened him.
Regardless, Iggy's energy was failing him. He didn't have the power to be dangerous anymore. He slouched his upper half forward and shuffled across the room to the couch. He knelt down before Emi and waited for her to awake on her own. "Emi," he prompted her impatiently.
Emi opened her pink watery eyes and looked at the center of his forehead. "Iggy?" she swallowed. "What's going on? Why aren't you sleeping?"
He laid his palm on the side of her cheek, feeling the stiff muscle behind the softness of her skin. "You have to go."
She gazed across the windowed wall behind her and jostled up to sitting before him. Outside of a whisper, she asked, "what are you talking about? It's still light outside. We can't go anywhere."
Resisting the urge to grip his chest and pull the panels of his wound together to shut the incision, he shook his head side to side, and said, "Emi, listen-" he cleared his throat "-I'm not going to make it. I can't. I'm done. I'm done. Just… done. Please, find Baine. Find out if he's still alive and save him, instead."
Emi wasn't taking him seriously. She rubbed her eyes and sank back into the armrest. "Stop it. You'll make it, just fine. Besides, we can't do anything right now. It's light outside. And, we have to rest for energy. Come on, you act like you're not tired."
Iggy dug his knuckles into his forehead and lowered his chin to look away from her. The irritation reddened his skin. "We are preparing now, then. Raid the house for weapons."
Her eyes drew back and she pulled her chin forward. "We can't raid the house? What if that woman comes back?"
Iggy looked at her. "What woman?"
"The woman who lives here, the one…-" she nodded her head toward the glassed wall "-you know."
For a moment, Iggy found relief from the chest pains, but only because he stopped breathing. He peered through the glass out into the garden, where he expected to see some sign of smoke. Some sign of tragedy. Some sign of murder. But there was nothing other than the burning embers in the fire pit.
"Where is she?" he gasped. "Where's Aster?! Did you let her go?"
If anger had been a color, she saw it saturate his face. Her shoulders pulled together in front and she drew her chin back. Her large eyes became those mystic black spheres that were easy to adore. One full second lapsed until she broke her balled up posture and erected herself up to standing. Her left hand planted on her hip and she drew her shoulder back. "This has all gotten way out of hand," she defended herself. "Murdering our people? What's wrong with you, Iggy?"
Hurt morphed the arches of Iggy's eyes into hard angles. "You watched her go, and you didn't do anything?"
"Of course I-" Iggy stood and clamped the balls of her shoulders with his gripping fingers. He squeezed, wanting to hurt her so badly. She grimaced and peeled his fingers away. "What the hell are you doing?"
"You let her go." He held onto her shoulders again. "You let her go! You let her go! You let her go! You have no idea who she is, or what she's done! You've betrayed me!" Iggy turned his burning glare onto Takeshi.
Once Takeshi felt the heat, he looked up and flashed an open palm. "I don't know," he said. "That lady got out just before sunrise. She ran away. She went to the west, I believe." He pulled his suitcase up and fidgeted the lock open. He peeked inside to see the little green light flashing on the detonated tracker. He nodded, reassuring himself that there was still hope to get out of this. A touch of relief.
Iggy crossed the room and landed on the stair next to him. Takeshi peered up into his face, feeling his heart pounding in his neck from the surfacing adrenaline. While staring viciously into Takeshi's eyes, Iggy snagged the suitcase right out of his hands and chucked it across the room.
"Sir, you… you couldn't expect me to help murder someone-" Takeshi widened his eyes and lifted his hands "-That's not the kind of person I am… If you desire to find her, I can help. That's what I do. I find people."
Iggy shook his head. "It's too late for that. We're already in trouble." He pointed up the stairs behind him. "You need to find weapons. Anything that will cause harm. Knives, bats, guns. Anything. Aster and Lot were terrible people. They have weapons here."
Takeshi stood to his feet obediently and walked up the stairs. "But, Iggy…" Emi started, again. "I won't stand by and watch someone burn in the sun, ever! That's savage!"
Iggy clenched his fists and came before her. "You must go," he demanded, "without me. You must go with Takeshi and Becca, now. The woman you let go, Aster, she's military personnel. She's going to lead the military straight back here. She already told me she would, and that was without a reason."
"I can't go without you. You know the way-"
"Baine was there, in the Labs. You can find him." He swallowed dryly. He turned his chin upward and drew his shaky finger across his forehead to move the hair away from his eyes, knowing that it was probably the last time she'd see him alive. "Everything was white inside of the labs. A lot of light, too. After sending a team out, there'll be less soldiers that you'll have to avoid. So, it'll be easy for you… just stay white. Find him. And if you come across Dr. Jim Branching, kill him for me."