Necrocide

PART 4: Chapter 78

PART 4: THE FALL OF MATHESON

Kat woke up in her flat, rather disappointed at how last night turned out.

Shaw was insistent on her returning to Matheson and ignored her requests to wait for Jonah. But sadly she couldn't argue with her superior, so she took the next APC home at midnight, unaware of the horrors that befell her two friends. She assumed Jonah took the next one.

There was a knock at her door.

"Damn it," she groaned as she rose from her bed.

When she arrived at her flat a few hours ago, she didn't even bother changing into more comfortable clothes. She just took off her DZI jacket and boots but kept on everything else, which was just a buttoned, long-sleeved cotton t-shirt and cargo pants like all the other soldiers wore. But she was too tired to care about putting on the rest.

She trudged over to the door and leaned against it. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's Shaw, Mathis. May I come in?"

She opened the door, and sure enough there stood Commander Shaw. He didn't have his guns with him, so that meant he had a slightly lower chance of killing her if she made a mistake.

"It's four in the morning, sir," she whined. "I thought you and Schaefer said we'd get some time off."

Shaw couldn't help but chuckle at her casual behavior. Usually she was more composed and mature around him. "Sorry if I interrupted your beauty sleep," he said.

"I don't feel like it's working anyway. Come on in."

Shaw entered the room and Kat closed the door. He took a seat at the settee in the corner of the flat. "This chair is incredibly uncomfortable," he commented.

"Can't be more uncomfortable than how I feel right now," Kat muttered, hoping Shaw didn't hear that. She cleared her throat and leaned against the wall. "So what's the problem, sir?"

"This might be a little difficult to take in." He cleared his throat. "Would you agree you were close with O'Connor and Franklin?"

"Without a doubt, sir. Aaron saved me during the Outbreak by welcoming me into his home and Jonah is just too lively to ignore. I spent the first few years here in Matheson with them."

"So you agree the three of you were close mates. But would you still dish out necessary consequences if they ever broke the rules of the DZI?"

"What direction is this conversation heading in? I know you're always an arsehole when it comes to Aaron—nothing personal, sir—but you make it sound like he's done something horrible."

"Are you aware that he is infected?"

Kat gulped. "Yes, sir. In fact, he told me himself."

Shaw raised an eyebrow. "When?"

"He approached me and Jonah out of the forest yesterday a few minutes before you sent me back here. He said he discovered the origins of the Deadmen and that Schaefer is responsible for it."

"Don't you think he's just trying to pin the blame on someone else?"

"But that's the thing, sir. He knew he was infected and that he couldn't do anything about it. He just wanted to do something right for a change, so he wanted to help out by studying the Deadmen a little closer." Kat scurried to her bed. "I can show you the evidence he brought—"