tomorrow will only get worse

[Pippi]

Sometimes it was best just to keep your mouth shut.

It was a lesson that Kay had been taught time and time again, though never one that she’d ever managed to commit herself to. Sometimes you ran your mouth a little bit too much and revealed things you hadn’t realised were meant to be secret. Sometimes you talked when, apparently, it wasn’t your turn to do so, and pissed everybody off around you. Be quiet, Kay, and go to your room. Stop talking about Zero Escape so much, Kay, everyone here is tired of it and thinks you’re weird. Don’t be so loud, Kay, and don’t get mad that we’re telling you this, be quiet and compliant and easy to mould if you want to actually be considered one of us.

And so on, and so on, ad nauseum.

But it wasn’t her, this go around, that needed to learn when and where to keep mum, oh no. Turns out, “Don’t show your hand and reveal that you’d killed someone to folks you’d known for less than a minute” was just as important a rule to follow as the ones that had washed right over Kay’s head. Cause just like Heath, the name ‘Elizabeth’ hadn’t rung a single bell in her head, and certainly hadn’t been enough to trigger the fight-or-flight state she was currently in. She barely knew anyone who had come along on this ill-fated trip with her - part-and-parcel of spending most of the journey either cooped up in her room or right in the splash zone at the bow of the ship - so for all she knew, there could’ve been, like, five people named Elizabeth yearning for extra credit. This could have been any of ‘em. And if any of the hypothetical Lizzies had done some nasty work on the first couple of days, well. Y’know. Kay had been otherwise preoccupied.

So who knows? Maybe if Liz hadn’t said anything else, they’d have continued on with the usual greetings and introductions, and they’d all be sitting, happy as Larry, around a campfire - at least, until the chimera strutted up and ripped them all to shreds. But instead, she’d stumbled over her own words, desperately trying to defend herself against accusations that had never been forthcoming, protesting her innocence before the crime had even been discovered. Then she’d actually stumbled, spooked badly enough by the flamethrower that she’d put herself off-kilter.

And now she was lying at the foot of the stairs in front of them, one arm twisted at a horrible angle.

Kay had yelped as Liz had took her tumble, flinching away at every heavy thud against each step, the flamethrower nozzle now firmly pointed towards the ground as her senses slowly returned and she felt her heart beating again. Didn’t matter what this woman had done. Didn’t matter that she’d apparently killed someone over an argument. It was still difficult to look at, seeing another human being crumpled in a heap, like a pile of old clothing.

With the feeling and clarity returning to her body, however, came another sensation, equally as unwelcome as the sight in front of her. The realisation of how Two-Fields had reacted to what she’d been doing. The things that he’d said. She could feel, on her wrist, the pressure where he’d placed his hand. Not heavy, not vicious, not tight. But certainly without her permission. She blinked, once then twice more. Then a scowl formed on her face.

“Fuck off!” Kay spat. “Course I’m gonna help her, not like she’s, um, gonna do anything. Crumpled up like that. She ain’t a threat. Now.”

She muttered as she trudged over towards him, words that were better suited to remain under her breath but which came out loud and clear, despite her intentions.

“Don’t fucking… don’t treat me like the bad guy cause i’m trying to protect my a- OUR arses, yeah? I thought we’d agreed there was. Is. More danger than just the, um. Things that’ve been let loose out here.”

She was still convinced, y’know. That there was a difference between an intentional act, and total inaction. Even if she didn’t know what that difference was, she knew that there was one. And that was enough to keep her steady for now.

“And don’t… don’t talk down to me. I know what… I know what I’m doing. I’m aware. Of what coulda. Um. Happened. Don’t think I’m not.”

She hoped that she could find the answer soon, though. She was beginning to hear the telltale squeaking, crunching noise, of cracks forming in the ice.

“Anyway. Whaddya want me to, uh. To do here, anyway?”