Judgement

Quiet sounds of sobbing were akin to a roar of a waterfall in Eve's ears. Celina brought Xia closer, in a hug that didn't look like that of a friend or a lover, but was most reminiscent of a mother's embrace. Xia's head leaned on her chest as Celina soothed her with the caress of her palm on Xia's hair and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.

Eve turned away, her eyes locked on one of the candlelights that stood on the table. In a corner of her eye she could still see Xia's and Celina's huddled frames, and did her best to not think about it. The sight brought too much chaos into her emotions, and the thread that connected her to the cold logic that had always been Eve's saviour was strung tight enough to tremble.

It was hard to see Xia—or anyone—in that state. It was even harder to think about what had brought her into it. Before that, Eve had an impression that Xia was a person with a spine of bamboo—one that would bend but not break. Maybe she was still right, but Eve knew now that there had been cracks. The worst part of all that was that Eve was helpless to do anything. She didn't know Xia well enough, and there was Celina already…

A rustle of clothing at her side made Eve turn towards Victor. He had straightened up more than he was before—it was as if he swallowed a stick. He looked uncomfortable in his skin, and one look at him was enough for Eve to understand that something had triggered Victor again, and he was doing his best to not do something harsh and add even more chaos into the situation they were in.

A spark of an idea appeared in Eve's head and she stood up before completely processing it. Without words, she walked up to a shelf and picked up a cardboard box with a jigsaw puzzle. Both of the other women ignored Eve as she did so, but Victor's eyes were locked on her. When Eve was going to put a box on the table, his hand snatched it up before she could let go. She could swear she saw a flicker of gratitude in his eyes in that moment.

He threw the puzzle on the table and began to put the pieces together in a practiced, quick manner. Eve could see that it won't keep Victor's attention for long, but for now it was something. His shoulders were still tense, but the piercing needle of his focus was on the table now, and not on the people around. 'Now, how to deal with it quickly…'

Xia's sobs quieted, and she drew away from Celina, though they still held each other arms. Her puffed from tears eyes met Eve's. Despite the wetness on her cheeks and the way Xia sniffed to keep the snot inside of her nose, the steel had returned in her gaze. Eve decided it was a good sign. At the very least, it made it easier for her to deal with the woman.

"What you need, Xia, is therapy," Eve said after a couple of seconds of silent staring. The words left her mouth in a tired rush of air. She closed her eyes, only for a second, more of a long blink. "Since we don't have that, I'm going to assign you a guardian."

Xia reacted to that with a confused frown, but at least she didn't protest Eve's words. "A guardian?"

"Someone who will listen to your plans and tell you if it's a bad idea. I trust Celina to be adequate enough to do it."

Celina looked at Xia with sadness. "She didn't tell me she was going to try to kill Mister Kraust…"

"Well, next time he will tell you if he learns something like that," Eve said in an irked tone and threw a look at Victor without thinking. When their eyes met, the spark of anger in the depths of Victor's pupils reminded Eve of her previous mistakes. She was quick to change her words, though the tone stayed the same. "What I meant is that could you, please, warn us next time, Victor?"

"I will," he said with a nod and returned his eyes to the jigsaw puzzle. It had maybe a hundred or two hundred pieces or so, and Victor had already put a third of it together.

"Thank you. Is everyone agreed with the decision?" Eve stared at Xia and Celina, waiting for their objections.

Xia looked back with lost eyes. The rationality returned to her enough that she knew her wrongdoings. A part of her still wanted to cut Victor apart, but it was small now, and Celina's touch kept it away. She huddled closer to her, and Celina's arms tightened around her shoulders again.

There was no physical safety in these arms, Celina had never been as strong as Xia, but there was emotional safety, and it was just what Xia needed. Maybe if she had more of that, she didn't need to use violence to shield herself against even imaginary threats. Finally, Xia nodded.

"I agree. Don't worry, Xia, I will be a stable and a normal person for the both of us," Celina said with a chuckle that made Eve feel a bit relieved. If Celina could joke again, then not everything was lost.

"Great. Then I'm going back to sleep. Victor…" Eve looked at the two-thirds finished puzzle in front of him. The next question she asked in her mind, 'Are you going to be alright? The last thing we need now is a repeat of your last performance.'

Victor's hands paused in their task, but he was quick to get over his surprise and return to the puzzle. Eve was becoming more and more used to his power with each day—she didn't see it like a threat or a curse, only as a tool, a part of Victor's assets. It was more acceptance from anyone else than Victor even got. He replied to her like Eve expected to, his voice sounded loud and clear amongst Eve's thoughts. 'You don't need to worry, Doctor Ziffer.' Feeling her doubts, he added, 'I will finish the puzzle and take a walk.'

Eve nodded before catching herself on that, but Xia and Celina were too busy with each other to notice Eve and Victor's silent conversation. Celina now sat on the floor next to Xia, and they looked like they would fall asleep this way too. They held a conversation in hushed voices.

"Don't go, please, Lin-Lin," Xia whispered.

"I know the floors are clean enough to eat, with how Mister Kraust scrubs them, but let's get to our sleeping bags, alright? Don't worry, I'm there," Celina whispered back, urging Xia to move with her hands over her shoulders.

Eve turned away and yawned in her fist. Her forced calm was going to give up on her, together with any energy she had. "Good… rest of the night. Don't wake me up again tonight unless someone really dies."

⠀⠀⠀

The next and the last day of tests went smoothly. Xia didn't leave Celina's side—or Celina didn't leave Xia's—but no one tried to attack anyone, and no one tried to interfere with Eve's work. Xia didn't apologise, though. Eve considered doing it, but felt too awkward after everything to come up to Xia. It was easier to pretend that the problem disappeared and concentrate on more important on the big scale things, like analysing the tests results.

Eve spent two more days checking and re-checking everything before she became reasonably sure that she won't accidentally turn off the part of Victor's brain that wills his heart to beat. But when she came to announce to him she was finally ready to try to—not heal, but help—him, Victor stopped her before she could begin.

"Just in case something happens during the treatment, I am going to travel to the nearest city and restock on necessities beforehand. We have a shortage of food, soap and some other supplies," he said.

Eve noticed how he was telling 'we' about supplies, but 'I' about going to the city. That didn't sound very team spirit-y to her. "It will be faster to scavenge together."

"Indeed. Come with me if you wish, then. I can't promise you absolute safety, though."

Eve nodded. Victor's powers didn't work on zombies—they had no mind to manipulate. Still, a level seven person was powerful enough to deal with most zombies without using their special abilities. "Alright, then let's see if Xia and Celina are up to it too."