Page 46 of Any More Questions for the Corpse?

“The place eats people?” Yu said, with more than a hint of disgust, and only a modicum of intrigue.

“No, it doesn’t eat people,” Walters said. “It has something like a soul. The place is magic, we think. They are a part of the fabric of the place now. Where do you think all of the bodies that attacked us came from in the first place? There’s miles of catacombs down there. The building just put them to rest for us.”

“Oh,” Hala said, still in shock. “That’s kind of nice, I guess?”

“It is?!” Des said.

“Like a magical caretaker,” Hala replied.

“More like an undertaker,” Mal said under his breath.

“So no police?” Des said, looking to Walters. He shook his head. A silence took hold of the group once more; a ponderous silence, where the gears and plumbing of everyone’s minds filled the space of conversation.

“So us then?” Mal said.

“It’s looking like it,” Des said, looking to the others.

“I guess,” Hala said, looking around.

“How?” Yu said.

“Can you get us some tac-gear?” Des said, looking to Walters.

“Yes, some anti-jump cuffs should do the trick,” Walters said. “I also think I know where Kosh might have run off to.”

“Perfect,” Mal said. “Let’s go then.”

“Wait,” Yu said, “that’s the plan? Tac-gear and a vague location?”

“We can come up with something more solid on the way,” Mal said. “Plans haven’t exactly been our strong suit so far, and the longer we leave it, the more likely Kosh is to disappear.”

“Fine,” Yu said. “Let me compose myself.”

“I’ll get the car,” Walters said, pulling open a kitchen drawer full of keys and toy cars. “This should fit us all in.” He pulled out a black people-carrier the size of his index finger and a set of keys. “I’ll be out front when people are ready.”

The group nodded in agreement. Within seconds they’d dispersed themselves among the various rooms of the safe house. Mal collected the things that he’d left near his sofa bed and waited for everyone to get ready in the kitchen. Des prodded him into action a few minutes later after she’d found Hala sat motionless in the living room, staring off into the middle distance.

“I’ll see what’s up,” Mal whispered. Des gave him a simple nod, and where Mal had expected to see a look, instead he found trust. Mal smiled to her as she left, then went to sit down on the sofa next to Hala.

“You okay?” Mal said.

“I just thought,” Hala said, “that if we did the right thing, it would all be okay. But look what’s happened. Murder after murder, and then this. We didn’t see this coming, we didn’t get there in time to save anyone. What have we actually done?”

Mal couldn’t disagree. They’d gone from corpse to corpse like the world’s worst scavenger hunt, and their reward had been a massacre. It hadn’t been a success by any measure, and now their non-plan felt more like cleaning up than solving anything. Mal felt the pit in his stomach turn.

“What’s the point?” Hala said, with a long, exhausted breath.

Mal was expecting her to burst into tears, but her silence, her blankness, was somehow worse.

“There is no point,” Mal found himself saying, as if giving in to the universe. “We all just muddle through.”

“Then why keep going?” Hala said, tears now starting to well up at the edges of her eyes.

“I guess because giving up would feel worse.” Mal searched his feelings. He wasn’t looking for his powers; he just wanted to know why he felt so horrible. Why he couldn’t let this go. Why the pit in his stomach felt so betrayed. “Walking away now, letting him get away with this. I’d rather try and fail over and over than do nothing and know this was all for naught.”

“But that sounds awful,” Hala said, laughing with the words.

“Yeah, it does,” Mal said, laughing too so as not to start crying. “But what else is there? If you give up, nothing will change. Everything would still have happened, there just wouldn’t be anyone trying to fix it.”