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I managed to avoid showing Cynthia and the others the darker blood that I coughed up. It didn't seem too serious, but it would definitely be something I needed to watch out for. For the next few days after that incident, things went about as normally as it could ever go, killing hordes that stray near our base house as well as patrolling around for any spots we haven't raided yet. Eventually, we managed to live off of this city for about two weeks until we had just enough supplies to sustain another travelling journey to another place. As each day had gone by I noticed that the blood I coughed up became slightly darker than the previous day and the coughing fits became more frequent. Cynthia was the first to notice that something was up.

It was evening when she walked over to me during my first shift. She had changed ever since we killed those guys who made her so scared. She turned out to be an excellent shot, and started to carry around one of the snipers we found in the city, allowing her to pick off stray reams from a safe distance with the protection of either myself or Marge. Jack and Damien no longer scared her so she was finally comfortable with the entire group. They still kept me as their leader, but I didn't mind this time. I had gotten used to working as the one to make sure everyone was safe so it no longer bothered me.
"Zee? Can we talk?" she asked as she walked over to me. I was sitting in a chair facing the front of the house when I heard her call my name. I stood up and walked over to her, a smile on my face.
"Something up?" I asked casually, sheathing my two knives. Cynthia's face remained pensive. I looked at her with intrigue. She looked as if she was considering something; what it could be was what concerned me the most.
"That's what I wanted to ask...," Cynthia trailed off as I began coughing again, covering my mouth with my right hand. She moved close to me to try and help and I raised my free hand to show her I was alright. After my coughing fit, I looked down to see blood and the same black substance fusing with my blood. Cynthia immediately took my hand with eyes wide and dragged me up the stairs into the bedroom.
"Zee, what the hell is this," Cynthia asked sternly, holding up my right hand.
"It's nothing to be concerned about," I replied dryly, "It's just a cough, Cynthia. It's nothing to be worried about."
"Nothing to be worried about? You just coughed up blood, and you tell me that it's nothing to be worried about?!" Cynthia raised her voice, clearly angry at my nonchalant response, "Zee, you are going to answer each and every one of my questions and you will not hide anything from me. Do I make myself clear?"
"And why should I?" I remained calm, knowing full well that I was provoking Cynthia. To be honest, I don't understand why, but I just didn't want to make a big deal about it. This was not going to be permanent, and it was certainly not killing me. But Cynthia wasn't going to let it slide.

She came really close to me, her breath tickling my lips. Her eyes were the only things that I could see, and they burned into mine. Looks like she's really trying to get me to talk. Nonetheless, I wasn't just about to give up.
"Look, Cynthia," I started, "I know you're concerned, but I'm really fine. It will pass." Cynthia didn't seem to like my answer. She did move away from my face, but ended up trapping me in a very tender hug.
"Why can't you tell me? Don't you know how much I care?" she softly asked. I gulped. From all the time that I knew this girl, I had come to find out that she can guilt-trip me into things fairly easily. She doesn't do this often unless she deems it necessary, which is very scary.
"I know, Cynthia. But really, I'll be fine," I tried to remain composed. Whenever she acts like this, I have a tendency to give in. She is a very dangerous person when she wants to be, especially for me. She doesn't do this treatment with the others, either; it's designed specifically for me. Her hold on me tightened, and I began to hear muffled sobs from my shoulder where she had buried her face into my vest. Oh god she started crying, I thought frantically. Another thing that I learned: once she starts crying, the whole group can sense it and will pinpoint to her exact spot. Jack, Damien and Marge all barged into the room and noticed Cynthia's state.
"Zee," growled Damien, "You better have a good explanation about this."
"It's fine, I was about to apologize," I replied quickly. Jack and Marge just glared at me. I sighed. This wasn't going to end well unless she knows, isn't it?
"Can the three of you head out? I have to talk to Cynthia about something," I asked them calmly. Taken aback by my sudden change in attitude, the three of them immediately left the room. Damien closed the door, and I returned my attention to Cynthia. She let go, wiping away her tears.

"I'll tell you, Cynthia, but this stays between us okay?" I conceded to her whims. She smiled sweetly and nodded. I began talking about all that I knew about what was going on and how long this had lasted.
"It doesn't do anything to me as far as I'm concerned, but I have been keeping a close watch on it just in case," I concluded, "In the meantime, I don't want this to leave this room until I know for certain that it isn't anything serious."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Cynthia replied almost immediately to my statement. I looked to her in confusion. "What do you mean?" I asked, slightly nervous. Cynthia took a step away from me and turned to the door.
"I have to tell the others. What you think isn't too serious sounds dangerous to me," Cynthia explained herself, "I feel like the group deserves to know. I'm sorry Zee." And with that she began walking to the door. I really did want to keep this between Cynthia and myself. My mind blanked out of sheer panic, and when I came to I had Cynthia pressed against the wall with one hand blocking her from the door. Her eyes were wide either in fear or something else that I couldn't recognize. She remained frozen and seemed to have shrunk under my gaze. I felt like I was being very controlling at this moment, and immediately pushed myself away from her.
"I-I'm so sorry! I blanked out and panicked because you were about to-," My apology was cut off when Cynthia placed a finger to my lips. Her eyes were partially lidded and looked glazed over. Oh this reeks of trouble, I mentally mumbled. I took a few steps back as she stepped closer. What was worse was that I felt something in my gut telling me to go towards her. I was really confused at this point. In the midst of my confusion, I found Cynthia walking towards my back and hugging me from behind, resting her head on my left shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Zee," Cynthia mumbled softly into my ear. Sorry? I questioned mentally, what do you mean by that? The two of us just stayed like this without moving much at all. I was still very much confused with my emotions at this point. It was like... I wanted Cynthia for myself. On one hand, my mind saw her as a friend and a comrade that I wanted to protect. On the other hand, my heart wanted something more, something that I didn't know I needed. The desire was so strong, but I didn't understand what it was. What's wrong with me? I wondered. With her pressed against me from behind, it wasn't making things easier for me. I felt as if my breath was leaving me too quickly and suddenly became labored. My face felt hot and my body began to burn up for some reason. I never felt this way with Damien, Jack and Marge. Yet, Cynthia managed to be the one I felt like this too. Come to think of it, recently I saw Jack reacting the way I am now whenever he and Marge went off somewhere. I wonder if this is what he was feeling whenever he was alone with her. After all, they always found someway to be together alone during our morning supply runs.

"Cynthia," I said her name in a hushed voice, trying to move my body to separate from her. I was very confused and I didn't know what to do. I needed to calm down. I needed time to catch my breath. Cynthia didn't budge, and kept her face buried in the back of my vest. Once again, I blanked out and let my emotions take over. Without knowing it, I twisted myself around and grabbed a hold of Cynthia, whose eyes widened once more. The next thing I realized I just threw her onto the bed and kept her trapped beneath me, earning me a yelp from a surprised Cynthia, who looked up at me in amazement. My heart was racing and my mind was foggy. All I could do was keep Cynthia under me as I gasped and panted for breath. She remained silent under me, searching my eyes to find out why I was doing this. What am I doing?! I mentally berated myself. I tried to get up but Cynthia suddenly pulled me down, hugging me close to her chest.
"Shhh, relax. It's okay," I heard Cynthia say. I decided it was best not to move anymore; I didn't know if I was going to act up again, and this was already bad enough. Cynthia was so forgiving, too, going so far as to soothe me in the state we were in. She didn't stop until I returned to my normal self. After a while I finally returned to my senses and clamored off of Cynthia. I stood up and bowed my head deeply.
"Cynthia," I began, but Cynthia shushed me again.
"It's okay. You must be stressed," Cynthia replied, standing up, "Just... understand that I'm here for you if you need me, okay?"
"Y-yeah," I answered her, still flustered from my actions earlier. Even now I was still unsure about what was going on with me. There must have been a reason why I acted like this only around Cynthia. I couldn't ask any of the others or they would feel concerned about me.
"I promise I won't say anything. About the blood, I mean," Cynthia spoke up, returning my attention to her. I nodded, grateful that she finally understood that I wanted to keep this under wraps. "And I am really sorry for everything that happened. Really, I am," I replied, "I wasn't in my right mind and I didn't know what I was doing. I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I know," Cynthia said, giving me a quick hug, "Just promise me that you'll talk to me about this next time?" I smiled, nodding my head. But as she turned to leave, I ended up having another coughing fit. This one was much stronger than the others, and I had to sit on the bed from the force of each cough. Cynthia immediately rushed to my side, kneeling in front of me and trying to ask if I was okay. When the coughing finally subsided, I looked down at my hands that covered my mouth to find that blood wasn't just coming out in little spatters anymore. It had begun trickling out of my mouth, and Cynthia definitely took notice.

"This is bad, Zee," Cynthia observed as she wiped away the blood with her hand. I didn't know what else to say; there was really nothing I could do to cover this up in front of her.
"The least we can do is keep this from the rest of them," I decided, "They already have enough troubles as it is. I can't give them anymore things to stress about."
"Fine," Cynthia replied in a conceding tone. Seems like she was just about to tell them, I mentally noted. I was about to stand up but suddenly fell weak, collapsing onto the bed.
"Zee?! ZEE?!" I could hear Cynthia calling my name, but I couldn't respond. My mind slowly faded out of consciousness until all I could see was black.
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Cynthia couldn't understand what was happening. Zee had just passed out onto the bed and she looked as if she was having a hard time breathing. Cynthia began to check Zee's vitals, from her pulse to her body temperature. Feels normal enough, Cynthia concluded, but then why did she pass out? Was it because of the black stuff I saw fusing with her blood? What was that anyway? So many questions swarmed her mind as she raced downstairs. She wasn't going to break her promise that Zee really wanted her to keep, so the best thing she could do was care for Zee while she was out. Jack noticed Cynthia rushing down the stairs.
"Cynthia, is something wrong?" Jack asked in concern. Cynthia didn't answer right away, scanning the room. Jack seemed to be the only one in the room, so she immediately ran towards Zee's pack for her canteen.
"Oh, it's not too much," Cynthia replied as calmly as she could. Jack eyed her suspiciously but shrugged it off.
"If you say so," he told her, "Damien and Marge went out to find a place where we could get water. Supply for that is running rather low and there isn't really a well for miles."
"Okay, I'll be sure to let Zee know," Cynthia thanked Jack and rushed back upstairs. She re-entered the room to find that Zee had turned onto her left side and was hacking blood onto the floor, face contorted in pain.
"Here, Zee. Drink up," Cynthia helped Zee sit up and rest onto her shoulder as she slowly gave Zee water. Zee still looked rather out of it but still managed to consume some of the refreshing liquid. After a few moments, Zee stopped drinking and began to steady her breathing. Cynthia breathed a sigh of relief, setting down the canteen on the desk nearby before laying Zee back down onto the bed. How am I going to explain this to everyone? Cynthia wondered.