Over the Wall

There was a noise ahead. Hold on. What was that? Graduates don't make noise, it might be undead.

Pincer maneuver, we can get the drop on it Jessie suggested wordlessly.

Go, I agreed.

It was indeed an undead, shambling around. It wore tattered rags, and its gait was odd, even for an undead. Jessie whistled at the zed. She stepped out into the moonlight, and the zed slowly turned its rotting head to stumble after her. It was fresh. Possibly an FCC civilians at some point in life- an FCC jacket wouldn’t be torn up this badly, this quickly. I snuck around behind it, focusing on my own stealth before coming up behind it.

I jabbed it from behind into the brain stem and it dropped to the street’s center, revealing the still form in the pale moonlight. The zombie had a bulge in its torso.

Jessie kicked the body onto its back and pointed at the bulge. "Look."

"Shit," was all I had time to say. The body swelled up and exploded in an eruption of internal guts, covering both of us. "Jessie! Fire escape!" I pointed to one in the alleyway.

I leapt for the ladder and scrambled up as five undead runners rounded the bend. There was something about these ones, I’d heard, that made even walkers turn into runners. Terrifying. Jessie wiped the crap from her eyes, and sprang after me. My heart raced and sank to my stomach, hoping I wouldn’t hold her up. I made sure to scramble up as quickly as I could. Using the bottom rung of the ladder, Jessie booted a runner that had been reaching out for her in the head and sent it sprawling. My heart soared when I saw that. I wasn’t used to this in combat. ‘Focus,’ the Voice reminded me, calming me as they began coming up the dumpster we’d jumped atop to reach the fire escape’s ladder.

I swung my gladius repeatedly, hacking madly at the runners that are jumping for the ladder. ‘Hack, hack, its arms are down- NOW,’ the Voice guided me. One was dispatched. "You know what that was, right?" I asked, coldly.

"Yeah, I do now." Jessie concurred, joining me.

"Pregnant woman. Fetus turned, the rot created gases in the amniotic sac, then it ruptured." I felt nothing as I listed off the facts. "Just because she got pregnant and expelled from Combat Roster doesn't mean she lost the need to kill she developed." I won’t say I empathized, but it felt like such a waste.

"....yeah." Jessie quietly agreed, but for once it was hard to tell if she was being sincere. "Problem is," I slashed at another reaching one, kicking it off the dumpster. "She got too pregnant to fight effectively, and didn't have a proper weapon." She didn’t say anything, but looked a little confused. One tackled me from my back as I took one out that was reaching for Jessie’s ankles.

Jessie grabbed the back of my jacket and pulled me back before booting the runner off of me, and forcing it over the edge. "I understand why they can't fight and everything, but why do you hate pregnancy so much?" Jessie asked, skewering the last of the zombies.

I surveyed the scene, and and wiped my blade clean. "I'm..." I was uncertain. Seeing the infected pregnant woman rattled me, I admit. Jessie wiped herself off with a rag while I watched. "It represents something, something awful. The breakdown of belief in our way. It's letting the body rule you instead of running yourself with an iron fist. It's weakness. Or...so I thought." I looked at Jessie, dead expression on my face.

Jessie’s expression matched mine. Like staring into a mirror. "If everyone followed that rule, unless you're planning on opening enrollment for everybody, in ten years this place will be deserted." She jumped onto the fire escape’s ladder. "Provided any of us live that long."

That hit hard. "You're right, but I changed my position. I ordered condoms because...not everyone likes people the same sex. They can either bury it, which is unnatural, or..." I gestured at the exploded body below, its remains all over the street. "Or else this happens."

"Careful Pearl, you might give someone the wrong idea saying things like that. But yeah, I think I understand. In any case, just because you don't like it doesn't mean some people might want it. And honestly, girls are going to get pregnant anyway, and then try and hide it for being 'weak.'" Shit. Alright, she got me.

"Maybe it's because I realized, it's easier for me to not get pregnant because I don't love my husband. I didn't want or need anyone. I was solitary, operated alone, and now I can't imagine life without you. Or Michael." Or...point is, I'm not alone anymore. "Maybe we should...have a rehabilitation program, maternity leave, or something. Maybe a caste system?" I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I needed a chart to plot these ideas out.

"That's a good idea, but maybe you should discuss it with Bailey or Diablo, they'd know more about that than I." She reached the roof.

"Yeah. Let's check the gutters for rainwater to wash up with, or we'll keep attracting unwanted attention." I washed myself off and then did the same with my jacket. I shivered in the cold night, breath visible in the pale moonlight.

Jessie combed a hand through her own hair. "Ugh. Disgusting." I hope she wasn’t talking about herself. Jessie looked a little disappointed that her hair had faded from the deep blue Jamie had dyed it. She really liked that color, so I should get her more. Reluctantly she took off her coat to wash, pulling her hoodie tight against herself.

"Alright. I'm good," I announced, teeth chattering. I kept watch for Jessie, but said nothing so as to not draw attention to our position. There was something I needed to ask her. Finally, slowly, I quietly asked: "When I...was high, and on Aphro, did I kiss you? It's...hard to remember what happened and what didn't."

Jessie blushed, standing out clearly in the pale moonlight and despite the cold. "... Yeah." She edged out meekly.

"Right. I asked Alvny on reddit, and Bailey in person, what love was. That's...when I knew, that I didn't love Stefan. That I was holding everyone at smith to an impossible standard. It's easy to spurn the advances of a partner you feel nothing for." ‘Change the topic, Pearl, Jessie’s staring at you.’ "Let's catch some students breaking curfew."

"I agree, I'd rather think about something else." Jessie dressed herself again, and looked to me for direction.

I turned her back on Jessie and leapt over the divider on the roof to the adjacent unit, scanning the street below from the side, not looking at Jessie. Jessie can handle herself just fine.