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Jason stood at the mirror in his small room, hoping that staring at the bruises and cuts along his face would help this all feel more real. He was pretty sure he was going crazy. After everything they'd seen yesterday, that wouldn't exactly be a stretch either. Those creatures – Vampires, they'd been calling them even though whoever took over kept using some fancy scientific name that Jason couldn't bother to even try and pronounce – had taken everything that Jason cared about.
Nick, taken by his own damn pride and that weird humanoid vampire. All that had been left was some static on the radio. A ghost signal, Eric had called it.
Merwin, dragged off into hell. No. Hell would've been more peaceful than the screams Jason had heard echoing through the cave.
Joey condemned to a fate worse than death, transformed into an abomination just like the one that had killed Nick. Jason hoped that he'd died for good when he'd fallen off that cliff but he'd seen what those creatures could survive.
Rachel was still down there, preserved in the worst kind of Jell-O that Jason could imagine. Maybe they'd get her out. Maybe it was better if they didn't.
Eric had made it to the surface with Jason and the others, but he'd died during the Eclipse. One of those damn things bashing his head against the ground like it was a basketball.
Salim and Clarice were the only other ones who'd made it. Two people Jason hadn't known twenty-four hours ago but now couldn't imagine living without.
Salim had come close to death, flirted with the line harder than Jason had seen anyone survive. That spear had narrowly missed him, had lodged itself in Jason's arm instead. They'd made it though.
Clarice shouldn't have been caught up in all of this in the first place and she'd almost turned into one of those things too. She was lucky that Eric's stupid UV wand had turned on and burned that parasite out of her body. In the span of just one night she'd become more of an anchor for Jason that he'd care to admit – something to help him remember what he was fighting for when he joined the military and what they had to save by getting out of here alive and sealing those demons back to hell.
It all felt so wrong. They all deserved better – even with their flaws, no one deserved to die like that.
Jason splashed some water on his face, but it didn't help. This room wasn't doing anything to cause some peace either. A small area that was barely two yards square, length, width, and height. He wasn't even sure what a room like this would be used for but whoever these bastards were that had taken over when he, Salim, and Clarice had returned from the caves had placed each of them in similar rooms after their interrogations – of course with the great promise of more to come in the morning.
A knock on the door made Jason's shoulders tense. He stood up a little straighter and turned to face the door. It didn't open but another knock sounded a few moments later. That was weird, those hazmat fuckers had just been coming and going as they pleased.
"Kolchek, open up," a small voice said from the other side, her tone hushed yet insistent.
Clarice.
Jason walked over and opened the door. She was dressed in the same basic black clothes they'd been given and without her hat on Jason could see purple highlights in her hair. He thought she was attractive before but damn.
"Hey," he said softly. He was exhausted, they all were. "Couldn't sleep either?"
Clarice shook her head. "Figured some company might do me some good. Mind if I come in?"
Jason moved aside and motioned for her to enter. "Not at all."
Clarice walked in and Jason quickly realized that there was really only one place to sit in here: the small cot that he could barely fit on laying down. They both could sit there but it wouldn't exactly be with loads of personal space between them.
"You're free to sit down, if you want." Jason gestured to the cot.
"You look more dead on your feet than me, hotshot." Clarice's attempt to break the tension didn't do much – they'd been through too much for that. "I wasn't the one shooting those things over and over."
"You weren't half-bad," Jason argued. "Where'd you learn to shoot like that, anyway?"
"Never have." Clarice shrugged, relenting and taking a seat.
"Well aim like that doesn't come naturally." Jason laughed, a small sound that felt unnatural after everything they'd gone through. Too many people had died for him to be able to laugh right now.
"I was good at darts in college?" Clarice suggested. "The guys talked a lot of shit, moreso when I kicked their asses. I never let them live it down."
Jason chuckled, sitting down next to her. "Darts, huh? Maybe we should play sometime."
"If we ever get out of this hellhole, sure." Clarice sighed.
"It's just a standard quarantine," Jason said, even though they were both fully aware that there was nothing standard about it.
"Next you'll be saying that we'll be out of here in a jiffy." Clarice smirked.
"I have never used that word in my life."
"Could've fooled me." She bumped his shoulder gently, the physical contact sending a jolt of electricity through Jason – he didn't know whether to feel comforted or on edge, his mind and body were fighting him here.
They sat in silence for a while but it was comfortable. No echoes of monsters coming to get them or friends dying to said monsters, just silence. There was also just something about Clarice that made Jason feel warmer. He knew he could trust her, this last day had proven that in spades, but it was more than that.
"He never would've wanted this to happen..." Clarice muttered.
Ah, Eric. Of course that would be where her mind was tonight. Her best friend, the man who arguably was responsible for all of this – although Jason knew that was unfair. It felt better to have a target to direct his anger at but he couldn't truly blame Eric. He'd been trying his best to help with the war, even if he had used it as an excuse to avoid his feelings.
Just like Jason had been doing with Nick. Focusing on the fight allowed him to put off talking about the checkpoint – which had ended up with Nick going to Rachel instead and driving an even deeper wedge in her marriage.
They were all responsible in a way.
"It's not on him," Jason told her. "He thought he'd found a weapons silo. Hell, we all believed him. There was no way he could've known that there was a fucking spaceship down there."
Jason would be carrying his own guilt for a long time. If he'd just talked to Nick when all that shit had gone down in the first place than maybe some of the tension they'd experienced down there could've been avoided. Maybe Nick would still be with them now.
"I saw an anomaly," Clarice admitted quietly.
"What?"
"When I was reviewing the scans with Eric, there was a blip. A tiny blip, barely noticeable, I assumed it was just some little quirk in the software or something."
"It had to have been."
Clarice shook her head. "It was right over that weird instrument thing we found. It was evidence that we were too blind to see. If I'd just trusted my gut–"
"Hey," Jason interrupted her, grabbing her hand gently. "Listen to me. None of us could've known. You aren't a bad scientist, hell, any scientist who could survive in those caves is a damn good one. Clarice, you are something special and I will not let you blame yourself for this."
Clarice squeezed his hand. "Only if you stop blaming yourself for Nick."
Jason's eyes shot up to meet hers. "How'd you–"
"I have eyes, Kolchek. It's been written all over your face since..."
Since Nick had gone down there. She didn't need to finish.
"I'll do my best." Jason sighed.
"That's the best any of us can do." She rubbed small circles on the back of his hand with her thumb. It was more comforting than Jason wanted to admit.
Morning came quickly. Jason hadn't even remembered falling asleep, much less on the floor, but when he realized Clarice was on the cot he got over it – even if the crick in his neck would likely persist for a while. They'd both woken several times in the night – nightmares would plague them for a long time, Jason had little doubt about that – but had somehow made it through.
"Hey, hotshot," Clarice muttered sleepily as she sat up.
"Sleep well?" Jason stood up and stretched.
"Not at all. You?"
"Terribly." Jason glanced in the mirror. The bags under his eyes could've carried anvils with how deep they were and his hair was an absolute wreck – another reason he would've liked to have his hat back.
By contrast, Clarice's hair somehow looked perfect even after sleeping all night and having the blanket entirely tangled around her body. Jason didn't even have the energy to be jealous.
Clarice stood up to stretch and Jason took the opportunity to sit down on the cot and attempt to stretch his back out. It didn't work.
"Do you think they found her yet?" Clarice asked.
"Rachel? Maybe, we told them exactly where to go and its been longer than we were down there, but those fuckers are probably a lot more careful than we were."
"Plus she probably has some ancient bacteria all up and down her and the infection in general adds more risks." Clarice sighed. "Not likely."
"Not likely..." Jason repeated quietly. That seemed to sum up their chances of getting out of here anytime soon too. They fell back into silence after that
After what seemed like an eternity, one of the hazmat dudes came in and did a double-take upon seeing Clarice. He grabbed his radio off his belt.
"I found Doctor Stokes, repeat Doctor Stokes has been located," he spoke crisply and clearly into the radio before putting it back on his belt. "What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Maybe locking the remaining survivors in separate rooms was a dumb move." Jason crossed his arms. He really wasn't in the mood for any bullshit right now.
The guard sighed. "Lieutenant Kolchek, I understand but–"
"You don't understand shit!" Jason snapped. "We watched everyone we cared about die down there so yeah, maybe being together helps us cope with that a little bit better. This quarantine business ain't got anything to do with us, so how about you just let us do what we like, okay?"
The guard cleared his throat. "I will take it up the chain of command, Lieutenant."
"First Lieutenant," Jason corrected him as he turned to leave. He didn't usually care, but he was fired up right now.
After a moment Clarice asked him, "Think you'll get in trouble for that?"
"We'll see." Jason sighed, leaning against the wall. "These types tend to like their power trips, so maybe. But I didn't say anything that wasn't true."
It took a few hours, but they were brought three plates of breakfast – or at least what Jason assumed was their breakfast if the rock-hard pancakes, protein bars, and bottled water were what he had to go on. Clarice exchanged a glance with him. Three?
"Hello, friends." Salim's eyes had the smile his face didn't have as he entered. He was bruised, badly. Clearly his interrogation hadn't been as pleasant as theirs.
"Oh my god, Salim." Clarice was at his side immediately, checking him up and down.
"I'm fine, I promise," Salim said gently.
"Why are you here?" Jason asked, sitting down on the floor to make space for the two of them on the cot.
Salim shrugged. "It seems someone decided that I shouldn't be alone in this trying time."
And for that, Jason smiled. This was going to suck but at least he didn't have to go through it alone. Twenty-four hours ago he hadn't known either Clarice or Salim, but now he couldn't imagine his life without them.