Lizzie didn't know what more to say to JJ. There were only so many times you could utter the words 'I'm sorry', and 'It's going to be okay' before they sounded fake and insincere. What he needed was time, and she was prepared to give him all the time in the world, but with each second that passed with him in this fragile, depressed state, it killed her a little more inside. There was something to torturous about seeing the ones you loved in extended agonising pain and being unable to do anything about it.

She would much rather be out there on the streets with him, fighting the clickers than sat inside this room all day. At least out there she could actively protect him, get a swipe in here, and a stab in there, keep him safe. Physical danger was avoidable, she stood a chance at besting it. Psychological pain could not be healed with the end on a sword, but with the gentle turn of an hourglass.

It had been a day or so since JJ had returned to her, and his head had almost imprinted a permanent dent into her chest, just as he had imprinted himself permanently in her life. Her arms were numb, and her body ached, but she couldn't bring herself to move even the tiniest muscle for the shortest of seconds. He needed his rest. No one had ever needed it more.

She didn't need to imagine what it had been like out there for him. She didn't need to picture the sleepless nights alone in a dark room, with no one but your own thoughts there for company. After a while, this time alone with your inner self can be scary. It can get dark. Feel hopeless. Humans were never designed to live alone, and there was a very apparent reason why. They couldn't cope with it, they couldn't cope with the little voices inside their heads.

All that time she had spent locked in the cell with only Joey's sadistic torture to keep her company, she knew only too well what JJ had gone through. He would have been alone, he almost certainly wouldn't have slept, and he would have sunk to a darker place within his soul than her ever thought possible. It was funny, the one thing that always hit her most was the bitter chills. Without the body heat of other people around you, and lacking the luxury of a regular steady meal, your body quickly shuts down into a shivering state of protest.

Lizzie squeezed him tighter at this thought, as if an extra hug or two would transfer over the last remaining degree of body heat she had to give him. He was safe now, she wanted him to know that. The one thing she couldn't protect him from was the memories though. They were deep-rooted within his brain, tattooed onto the inside of his eyelids, they would likely never go away.

That feeling Lizzie had when she saw JJ... Karl disappear into the cluster of clickers outside the cinema, that empty feeling in her heart and in her stomach, he had been living that for weeks on end. He had been replaying the close up, detailed images of his own twin being torn to pieces before his very eyes.

What could that do to a person? What had that done to JJ?

"They're coming," JJ mumbled.

Lizzie stroked the top of his head before shushing him back to sleep. He's been repeating the phrase since his arrival at Novus, and she could tell by the tone of his voice that it was haunting his every sleep-filled second.

"They're coming, they're coming, they're coming," JJ continued to whisper.

Lizzie squeezed him tighter still, deliberating whether to wake him up or not. This was far worse than his usual irregular muttering. He was clearly reliving some kind of nightmare within his dream state. But before she was able to make up her mind, JJ jerked awake, snapping up to an upright position.

"THEY'RE COMING!" he screamed, his forehead drenched in sweat, his breathing heavy, and his face a mixture of fear and confusion.

"It's okay, it's okay," Lizzie assured, rubbing his back. "You're safe. You're here with me, at Novus remember? It's all going to be okay."

JJ's breathing slowed at the sound of her voice, as he turned to face her, his eyes crying out helplessly.

Lizzie finally plucked up the courage to ask, "What do you see? When you shut your eyes, what do you see every time?"

JJ sighed and shook his head. It was all he could muster.

"They're coming," Lizzie repeated.

Those eyes again.

"What does it mean, JJ?"

"Dawson," he croaked.

Lizzie nodded, one word was better than nothing. In times of trauma such as this, she would need to coax every detail out of him as gently as possible if she wanted to help. She had to act delicately, like a surgeon performing a tricky operation, once false move could shut him down forever. He needed to talk, she knew that. It was the only way he would ever get over the events of the past month. To unlock the door he'd kept shut for so long and to share the pain within. She understood how impossible it felt to share, but she also knew the importance of spreading the burden.

"She said it. She... kept saying it. Over and over and over again. Squirming in the middle of the roach like a poisoned cockroach, as if there were something digging and clawing at the very centre of her brain. Her hands were slamming against her head, and I mean slamming, as if she was being tortured by her own mind. 'They're coming. They're coming. They're coming.' Over and over and over again. I could hear her voice in there amongst it, but it was hidden inside these shrill squeals. 'They're coming.'"

Lizzie had finally opened a floodgate, she'd finally convinced him to share the first details of his time out there since he first arrived. It was a healthy step, but what she needed to ask of him next was killing her inside.

It was too much, too soon, she was convinced of that, but she was even more sure of its necessity.

***

Lizzie gripped her hand around JJ's lower arm. Tight enough to tell him that she was there with him, but loose enough to ensure that he didn't feel trapped.

The two of them stood before the entire Novus council, at a meeting that had been called urgently by Lizzie herself. As much as it tore her apart to make JJ do this, it needed to come from him, and the council needed to hear it now.

"She just kept repeating those words," JJ continued. "'They're coming', over and over again like the words were stained onto her tongue."

One council member raised a half hand to halt JJ's story, "And, are we sure these words can't merely be put down to the ramblings of the insane?"

Lizzies hand was now gripped tightly around JJ's wrist.

JJ glared at the man, a stranger to him, "They weren't insane ramblings," he spat. "She was...fighting. Fighting herself I think. Half of her wanted to tear me limb from limb, half of her wanted to save me. The half that was winning was my friend. Not some lunatic."

"And any more comments like that and you can use the fucking door," Lizzie snarled.

The council could see how difficult this was for JJ to recount, and the vast majority were sat back with ears open and mouths closed, respectfully. There would always be a few who wanted to dispel an upcoming threat as nothing more than insanity though, that was the way of the world. Unfortunately, if those people were in charge, humanity would never be ready for anything.

"So, we're treating this as some kind of warning...?" Val asked, attempting to move JJ along before his emotions took over.

JJ nodded, "I think so, yes. What else could it be?"

The same man went to open his mouth again, but JJ raised his voice to drown out his objections.

"The entire time I was out there... People are wondering how I made it back here alive, I'm sure. Spending a month alone in the city, it seems an impossibility. After a week or so, I started to notice something. Making my way through the streets, I was always going to bump into...them. I just hoped and prayed that I could avoid any confrontation for as long as possible. There were only so many fights I could win. But every single clicker I came across had their back to me..."

The man sighed, "So now we're using this kid's dumb luck as evidence for what, the dead are now magically pretending they can't see us, only to turn at the last minute to attack...?" he mocked.

"Grayson!" Val barked.

"No," JJ waved to Val. "It's okay. Some of the smaller and slower minds might need things explaining. That's fine. Let me ask you this Grayson, if every single clicker I came across was facing away from me, what does that mean?"

Grayson rolled his eyes at the questioning, "That they were god damn facing away from you! That's all!"

"You're half right," JJ congratulated. "But if they were facing away from me, they were also all facing the same way as me."

"What has that got to do with anything?" Grayson sniped.

"Where was I heading?" JJ asked simply.

Grayson was silenced.

"Hundreds of clickers out on the streets. I saw hundreds, and every one was facing the exact same direction I was heading in," JJ continued. "And Grayson, where the fuck was I heading?"

"Novus," Grayson whispered, eyes wide.

Lizzie rubbed JJ's wrist with the side of her thumb. She was wrong, this hadn't been the last thing he needed. In fact, Grayson had helped drive him further out of his shell than Lizzie would have ever been able to. He lit a fire in JJ's belly.

JJ nodded firmly, "I think they're coming for us."