Rose tiptoed to the door and gently closed it, then came back and sat on the edge of the bed. Derrick’s wound was still oozing, and his fever was high, but at least he wasn’t alternating between screaming and comatose anymore. Mostly he slept. When he was awake, Rose fed him soup and made him drink ungodly amounts of water, and then, maybe because of all the water, she had to help him hobble to the bathroom, which was really just a series of buckets in the closet since he couldn’t make it to the outhouse yet.

“Where exactly are we?”

“Dunno.”

“And who are these freaks?”

“They’re freaks for sure. Not sure of much beyond that.”

He listened while she rattled off potential plans and went through the pros and cons of leaving at various times. They had to get back on the road as soon as Derrick was well enough to walk. He had started taking little jaunts around the room, but the infection made him tired and weak.

“Good thing I’m the real hunter in this duo,” she teased. “When we get back to the bush, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“Great. Hope you like rock stew,” he countered.

At least he was joking.

Rose leaned in close. “Listen, Derrick. Nothing…weird happens when they come to give you antibiotics, does it?”

“Define weird. Like, an old Indian with a serious beer gut mumbling nonsense while random white girls do interpretive dance? Is that weird? Because if so, then yes, weird stuff definitely happens.”

She wasn’t surprised. “No, that’s not what I mean, exactly. They don’t do anything…invasive, do they?” It had occurred to her just that morning that maybe they were amateur marrow extractors like the ones Tree and Zheegwon had run into before they’d found the family.

“No. I mean, I don’t think so. I kind of, like, fall asleep while they’re in here.”

“Every time?”

He sat up a bit more. “Yeah, it’s weird. I cannot keep my eyes open. And I try because, like I said, it gets strange in here.”

Rose sighed, thinking. “Well, try to stay awake tonight, and let me know what happens. They don’t let me in here, so my hackles are up.”

He agreed. They shook on it like kids over a bet, and she went to help with the kitchen cleanup now that there was water to be had.

✦✦✦ ✦✦✦ ✦✦✦

Someone was standing at the foot of the bed. Rose woke up and knew it before she even opened her eyes. And sure enough, though blurry from sleep, Rose was able to make out the form of a woman standing in the shadows, naked except her underwear and staring straight ahead.

“Grouse?” she mumbled. “Is that you?”

“There is much to be found. Almost as much as there is to be lost.” Her voice was low and monotone.

Rose mulled this over, rubbing the sleep out of her eye. She knew Grouse by now, knew it was better to just go with the gibberish than question it. “But isn’t there the exact same amount? To be lost and found, I mean?”