Chapter 20: Isolation.

Johan sighed and put his weapons down. Then he turned to Theo and the other survivors. "Get your wounds checked and then isolate yourselves. I have a few things to discuss with her."

Lourens stared at him with annoyance written all over his face. "Sir with all due respect. You should follow the same policy as everyone else. We can't risk an outbreak simply because you so desperately needed to talk to this stranger. And she is completely determined to neglect our rules. Therefore, she should immediately be exiled. We can't put our lives at risk for just one individual."

Johan spit on the ground and pushed Lourens aside. "Yea sure. May I remind you who owns the place? I will isolate after I'm done with her."

Lourens furrowed his brow as he guided the survivors to where they would be staying for the next twenty-four hours. "As you say. I trust your ability to make rational decisions for yourself."

After Theo and the two survivors were locked in one of the cabins one of them broke the silence.

"Our most valuable asset, right?" The man that wielded the bow scoffed. "To me you are just a ticking time bomb. I don't know what the hell you are, but nothing good comes from the ruins. It is probably also where this whole zombie thing came from. For all I know you might be the very cause of it."

Theo who sat in the corner of the room glanced at the man for a moment, only to further ignore him.

"So, you're not talking huh. Fine by me. If you are going on a killing spree again, I don't want your voice to be the last thing I hear."

The other man punched him between his ribs, and after waiting to see Theo's response he leaned over to whisper in the man's ear. "Shut your mouth. We are locked in here with him for an entire day. We don't have weapons and even if we did, he managed to overpower all of us back then. He could kill us at any moment. Let's just forget what happened out there and leave this place alive."

"Yea who is to say that I won't strangle him first. It's the fault of those in charge anyways. They were the ones who locked us in here with this… thing. And even if they didn't. What if one of us is indeed infected? Then we all die, and it won't matter what I do to that blue bastard before that. By the gods, the bitch killed my brother."

Theo pressed his ears down and clenched his fists. "I'm sorry alright! Do you think I wanted this?" He yelled as he pushed himself off the hardwood floor.

"I didn't even want to go out there! I…"

He stumbled over his words. Not knowing what to say anymore, he fell silent.

He took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. The wound on his wing burned like fire when it came in contact with the hard surface, but he didn't care.

The man who had threatened to strangle Theo already had a butterknife by hand the moment Theo suddenly jumped up. Not that it would do much against Theo's fangs and claws, but it made the man feel a little safer.

The rest of the time that they had to spend in the cabin passed slowly. The three of them barely spoke a word as they waited for the time they could be released.

Theo's ears twitched the moment he could hear the key rattle in the lock and the door creak open.

"Hello Lourens." He said with a faint smile. "It is almost like you are the only one in charge of handling these kinds of things."

"Nah, my son does so as well. But the both of us get a few people assigned to us to keep order. So, I will probably be the only one that lets you in and out." Lourens spoke while gesturing for them to leave the cabin.

The two men happily left as soon as possible, exited to be reunited with their families. Theo was the last to leave and flapped his wings a few times the moment he got out. The cabin was too small to do this, and he wanted to make sure that the wound was healing well.

Suddenly he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Confused he looked to his side.

There he saw Lourens looking at him with concern.

"Are you okay?"

Theo bit his lip while he thought of a good answer. In the end he decided to just tell the truth.

"No, not really. Things... happened out there. I don't want to talk about it."

"Then don't." Lourens responded. "Just know that I am here whenever you need me."

Theo nodded and simply walked away.

The first thing he did was going to his parents. To let them know that he was still alive and to tell them what happened.

He was not planning on staying here forever. Not only did he utterly despise Johan, after what happened rumours would soon spread about what happened on the hunt, making life even more difficult for him. And if he was going to leave with his parents, then it was important that they knew what happened to prevent it the next time.

After that he just wandered over the terrain. This led to numerous people gazing at him in disbelief and awe. A lot of them had not seen him before due to the fact that he was forced to sleep in the mansion. So, it was only natural that the people were surprised.

After a while he eventually bumped into Gwen.

"Where is the oh so important dickhead?" Gwen asked with one eyebrow raised. "Ever since we got here you two have been glued together."

Theo just shrugged. "He went to talk with that lady and was isolated later. So, I guess that he has to stay there a little longer."

Gwen grinned widely when she heard Theo's response. "Good." She said in a mischievous tone. "Without him bothering us we can make sure that you learn how to fly. I'm sick of this place and you are getting me out of here."

Then she grabbed his arm and dragged him along with her.