Poppy was still crying, no longer daring to look Yumiel in the eyes.
« I'll be taking Marie to an acquaintance soon; you'll just have to ask to stay. If he refuses, I'll wish you good luck. »
She slowly wiped away her tears.
« I misjudged you, forgive me. »
« Pocahontas, you see the world in a way that's far too simple and cheerful—change that if you don't want to die. »
Poppy went back into the bedroom with Jack. Yumiel now thought about her new outfit. She would soon be seeing Andrew—might as well kill two birds with one stone.
She took a notepad. And wrote things down—she didn't know much about clothing or anything like that, so she simply noted characteristics: flexible, able to let liquids like my blood pass through, a system allowing me to store blood efficiently.
Thus she kept writing things down, telling herself that Andrew would manage just fine. Night wouldn't be long in coming. In the time left, Yumiel went to help Jack dig.
With Yumiel's help, things moved really fast, but there was still a lot to do—he had barely dug half of it, spreading dirt all over his bedroom. Jack sent Poppy to clean, removing the excess dirt and throwing it outside.
Yumiel created a micro-shovel with her blood, making it move and dig. Poppy struggled to clear all the dirt; Marie had woken up in the meantime and was helping Poppy.
The day passed quickly and evening approached. Yumiel got ready, putting back on the suit Andrew had given her, even though it was rather badly damaged. Once changed, she changed Marie; Poppy grabbed her outfit and got changed too.
Coming out of the bathroom, Jack was there, digging. Yumiel approached him to tell him to get ready, before catching his smell.
« Woahhh, you really need a shower. »
Jack regularly changed bodies, and clothes along with them, but he'd had the same torso for two days now—he'd only changed his limbs.
« Yeah, I'll go—set aside a T-shirt and some sweatpants or whatever. »
Yumiel left the bedroom, went into her parents' room, opened her father's wardrobe and took a few clothes. Then she came back and handed them to Jack, who went to take a shower.
Seated around the table, Marie was eating the leftovers from Poppy's dish. Jack joined them, eating a bit before going upstairs to get ready. This time he only took a Glock—the last one on the rack—with a few magazines, then came back down.
« I'm ready. You're not taking anything? »
Yumiel had nothing, simply filling her flask with blood and creating a large pool of about 1 L of blood in the middle of the living room just in case.
« Nah, last time I didn't even use my pistol. I'll have to think about stocking up on more blood, though. »
She had just dipped into the bucket of blood she'd been keeping for a while to fill her flask. Marie was on the couch, taking care of her Colt .45. Yumiel sat down beside her.
« Tonight we're going out, Marie. »
Marie looked at Yumiel before jumping for joy, running to her and giving her a hug. Yumiel didn't return it. Marie went back to the couch, tending to her weapon with a smile.
Poppy watched the scene, then approached Jack, who was waiting calmly near the entrance hall.
« Can you explain their relationship to me, those two? It really seems strange. »
Jack turned his head to face her.
« It's complicated. For your own good, avoid that subject—and stop asking so many questions. It's going to get you killed. »
Poppy felt uncomfortable; she really struggled with the two of them. Jack didn't hesitate to ask a question.
« Why didn't you kill them? I mean the ones who tried to rape you—you could've killed them. »
« Oh that… I'm not very fond of violence. I still have trouble being able to inflict harm on others. Maybe if at that moment— » Jack cut her off instantly.
« I'm warning you, I don't give a shit about your life. When I was fighting the skinny guy, you had plenty of chances to shoot him but you did nothing. If you keep enduring things like this, you're going to end up dead. »
Poppy started to feel unwell, bursting into laughter—probably from the pressure she felt and the fatigue.
« Hahahahah, that's funny—your teammate told me the same thing. »
Jack had expected it.
« The difference is that I'm much less nice. »
Yumiel and Marie were ready, waiting for several minutes in front of the entrance door with Jack and Poppy. The silence was long and heavy.
Once the sun had set, they all went out. Yumiel was the last, closing the door behind her and creating a key. They then headed toward Andrew's shop.
On the way, Marie kept running around Yumiel, then over to Jack.
« Looks like she's starting to like you. »
« You're kidding—kids are really not my thing. »
Yumiel snickered.
« Haha, same here. »
Poppy tried to join the conversation, being careful with her words.
« I love them, I find them really cute. It reminds me of my little brother—he must have been… »
Yumiel sighed. « And then he left. »
During the walk, Poppy talked about her past and her brothers and sisters. Yumiel endured it, telling herself it was the last time she'd see her.
After Poppy's long monologue, they were in front of the shop. In front of them lay lifeless bodies, apparently high school students—but the most shocking thing was that they were piled up and missing their brains.
Yumiel glanced at Jack, then fixed him with a stare, as if to say: "You didn't tell me about this."
In response, Jack shrugged. Yumiel turned her head, moving on.
Going upstairs, they came upon more high school students—but these ones were very much alive, waiting calmly.
One of the students shouted,
« THAT'S HIM, THERE—HE'S THE ONE WHO KILLED THEM », pointing at Jack.
They came out from all sides, from behind machines and curtains, surrounding them.
A student stepped forward as he was about to speak; Yumiel spoke first.
« I'm not in the mood, shitbag, so watch what you're about to say. »
« Ahaha, you hear that, guys? The chick's threatening us. Just so you know, we wiped out the Butcher clan. »
« Don't know them. »
The student paced around, then grabbed a pistol from one of his companions.
« You don't know them? The Butcher clan in the shopping mall next to the center. »