Tess opened her mouth to reply but was cut short by a cringe –– Christ, did it hurt. She was sure that she'd rather be in a million fistfights and be shot a couple dozen times before being infected, even if it killed her.

Infection was going to kill her anyway.

She grit her teeth hard and tried again.

"What does it matter if I'm new or not? If it doesn't get taken care of within... thirty-six hours, maybe, it's going to kill me. It's a fast-growing fungus. Cordyceps. Do you know what that is? It's fucking dangerous. And it'll spread."

She turned her grey eyes to Jennifer again. She felt like she'd backed herself into a corner on this one; what did she expect? To walk in, get the worst of it scraped off and get some magical injection? Stroll back into Joel's room later, climb back into his arms and pretend she'd never left?

Desperate times.

But Tess didn't write cheques she couldn't cash.

"People where I'm from get executed just for reading positive, and I will kill you if you so much as try to execute me. Or tell anyone who might try. That's how dangerous it is. I don't know how to stop it. I don't have a fucking clue."