((GUESS WHO'S BACK???  Probably not me tbh, but I've updated so I guess I'm temporarily back to this book.  It's been so long that I won't be surprised if no one reads this XD This book and probably all of its readers are probably all dead but you know whatever.

To those of you who are reading this: I applaud you for your determination.  Welcome back to this book.  You have more persistence that I ever will.))

((381))

I leaned back against the wall, my thoughts wandering back to 459. I anxiously waited for Timberland to come back and give me and 256 the news of what happened. Grace, 256, and I stood outside the room they called the hospital, where 459 rested inside. 256, for once, was quiet. She stared at the floor, keeping her thoughts to herself.

Which meant it was dead silent since Grace and I weren't the most social of people. Which was fine. It allowed me to think and be alone with my thoughts, something years of isolation prepped me for.

459 was one of the Viruses who liked to keep to himself, yet everyone had at least one moment when he had helped them out.

For me, it was when the caged sensation kicked in once more and I felt trapped. 459 tried to help and made sure I was okay. He sat next to me on the floor and said something about how there were fifteen exits out of the building, that, even though we were not allowed to leave, there were still ways to leave. The Lab was not one solid box with no windows or doors, it was a building with exits that one day I would walk out of.

I might not have known him well, but I knew he was a good person, and really hoped that he would come out alright.  But I also knew to think realistically.  It was a lot of blood that he had lost.

"Do you know him well?" Grace asked me.

I looked at her, a little surprised that she spoke. I shrugged.

"A little. All the Viruses know each other. But I don't know 459 incredibly well. 256 knows him better than I do," I gestured towards 256, who, even at the mention of her name, didn't bother to look up.

Grace nodded and turned her gaze away from me. With that, we all went back to being silent and apart. I guess that was all the words we had to say.

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After a while, Timberland and the doctor who treated me when I first arrived in the Old World, Chris Dorintine, came out, bearing the news.  They dragged their feet across the floor as they walked down the hall.

256 pushed herself off the wall and ran over to them, showing the most amount of energy she had in a while.

"And? Is he okay?"

Timberland's expression said it all. His shoulders were drooped and his mouth was in a frown, and he refused to make eye contact with anyone. There was a certain darkness in his eyes.  I knew from that look in his eyes that 459 was not okay.

"He passed away,"

The heaviness that laid in the air only became heavier. I could feel it pushing down on my shoulders.  256 stepped back and withered up, her mouth beginning to tremble.

"Wh-what?" she asked, her voice was small and fragile.

"We tried everything we could to fix him, but he had lost too much blood to be saved." Chris took his glasses off and sighed.

256 glared at him through watery eyes and turned away from him. She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve in an attempt to stop the tears forming. I knew she was torn between her feelings, angry at everything yet saddened by it all just as much.  I, on the other hand, shoved mine down.

Timberland placed a ginger hand on her shoulder and knelt down to her level to look her in the eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Timberland said in a small tone, his voice was smooth like a song and gentle like a small gust of air.

256 yanked away from him and stepped away sharply. "He wouldn't be dead if we were still in the Lab. He wouldn't be dead if we weren't here if you had left us alone.  You killed him." 256 hissed. "You brought him here and he died because of it."

After the words fell from her mouth, she broke. The tears she was holding back broke free and she ran down the hall and out of our sights.  I watched her run, and I sighed.  I wanted to chase after her to make sure she was okay, but I knew how she was.  She needed time to herself before she let anyone try to help her.

Timberland looked down to the floor, putting his face into his hands, his body slumping in defeat.  For the first time since I had arrived, I wasn't annoyed with him or by him.  For the first time, I saw him as a decent person.  His cheery disposition was not the only disposition he had.  He looked real, not like the fake ball of sunshine I thought he was.

"I'm sorry, 381, we tried so hard but-"

"It's fine," I turned away from him.

I didn't want to see him slouched on the floor and broken. I didn't want to hear the story or the apologies or the excuses. I didn't want to talk about 459 and his passing.

"It happens. Back in the Lab, death was a thing that was more frequent than normal. One moment it was a normal day, and then suddenly, it became a day of mourning. A lot of us Viruses die, usually from whatever they give us and whatever they do to us. We know it happens. This isn't new." I stared at the wall as I spoke, holding my head low and my heart away.

Timberland looked at me with pain and pity in his eyes. Any trace of his normal giddy self was gone. He opened my mouth to speak and I looked up at him and shook my head.

"Don't. It's not your fault, you tried everything you could, okay? It's not like you wanted this, it's not like you caused this. This was out of your control, so don't apologize to me. I find it's best to not wallow over it and respectfully move on."

"But-"

"Timberland," Grace spoke from behind me, "let it be. Respect his wishes. Everyone mourns in a different way, you know this."

I turned around to find her slouched against the wall wearing the most expression I had seen on her since I had arrived. She tilted her head up and made eye contact with me. Her usual icy eyes were now droplets of rain on a window.

I was never the best when it came to coping. I didn't like dealing with all the glossy eyes and drooped positions, and I especially didn't like dealing with the heaviness inside of me. When someone passed, I became numb, numb to the world and numb to whatever was inside of me. I pushed away my thoughts and feelings and the others around me. If I didn't feel anything, I didn't have to deal with the situation.

But looking at Grace, who I always pegged as someone stone cold and stoic, with a flood of such strong waves of emotion thawed the numb feeling inside of me just a little, and I could feel just how grievous the air was.

Timberland stood up off the ground and dusted himself off. I didn't know if it was the lighting or something else, but he looked taller, more dutiful.

"We should inform the others and start preparing the funeral,"

"I'll begin the arrangements and the casket," Grace said, her voice monotone as it was before.

I glanced at her and noticed that all signs of emotion had drained out of her, and she had become stone cold again.  With this, the numbness I had felt before had returned.

In her eyes, I saw the numbness that resided in me, and when she nodded her head solemnly at me, I knew she saw whatever was inside her, inside me too.

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((Question #30: What do you guys think about these different, darker sides to our characters?  Why do you think they're like that/what caused them to react to situations like these this way?))