Colin's posts

She could tell that Hal was stunned to hear this. Stunned to the point of a moment of silence.

"...so the famine's affecting supplies there." he said.

"That pretty much all but confirms there is SOMETHING more to this." he told her.

"Let alone Ty withering and starving to death on repeat." he went on, and she could hear and anger and concern in his tone. It was clear this was stressing him out, and rightfully so.

"Damn it, maybe I should return right now." he then said.

"Or get back there ASAP, anyway." he clarified.

Hal was silent on the other side for a moment, before sighing. Heavily, as well.

"Great." he said.

"I admit, I didn't expect things to be going marvelously there, given what Angela's told me, and given what I've been seeing out here with my own eyes, and hearing on the news." he said further. "However, the fact that you've stated that Ty's not doing too well, and that 'shit has gotten real' there, does NOT fill me with any more confidence." he went on.

"So. What's going on?" he asked.

"What is happening there, and what's happened to Ty?" he asked her further.

No sooner had she locked the door, she heard something.

Something that was muffled, but she could clearly make it out. It was a song. A ringtone, coming from Ty's cell phone, which in his coat pocket, draped over one of the chairs in the office.

I'm the boss, I'm the boss,
I'm very very sorry for your loss!
I'm the boss, I'm the boss,
And just in case I didn't get my point across,
I'm the boss!

It chimed out from the device, and even though Hazel couldn't see it, she had a VERY specific idea who was calling. So, she picked up the phone and answered it.

"...Hazel?" Hal asked when he heard the voice.

"Where's Ty?" he asked further.

Ty merely nodded in response.

"...yes." he said.

He then took her hand, and rose to his feet, holding onto it as securely as he could, but she could feel the shaking.

The two then made their way to the bed, and he sat down on it... before he fell back into it.

"Comfy..." he mumbled.

"Does little to ease the pain..."

"I'm willing to try." Ty responded.

"..." he was then silent, before sighing.

"But. A number of things." he told her.

"If a big decision needs to be made, don't feel you need to do it yourself. Wake me up, or kill me to reset the sleep if need be." he stressed.

"Yes, I'm withering. Yes, I'm in a bad state. Yes, I emotionally and mentally crumble if you're not around me. But damn it, I'm still in charge, and I refuse to be 100% useless." he declared.

THIS was the Ty she knew, and to see him be the way he was without her there was... heartbreaking, honestly.

Ty paused as she said that.

"I..." he stammered.

"Hm." he muttered.

"I admit, that is a... VERY tempting offer." he said. "To be able to just... sleep." he went on. "Sleep and not feel the pain of wasting away." he continued, before pausing.

"Hold on." he then said.

"When you say 'sleep through this', is that meaning that when I come back I'll be awake, or still asleep?" he asked. "I don't want to trouble you with just... re-applying sleep every time I... er... 'wake up'." he reasoned.

"Thank you." Ty responded.

"Seriously. Thank you." he repeated.

"What I was going through was... miserable." he told her.

"I literally felt like I was wasting away, and nothing would satiate me." he said.

"It was... horrifying, to understate it." he muttered.

"Thankfully, I can... well... come back from it. Again and again and again."

Ty just shook his head.

"I know." he said.

"But with these diseases running rampant, and food supplies starting to become VERY scarce, VERY rapidly..." he started to say further, before pausing. "Well, we're not in 'famine' territory yet, but... we're getting there..." he mumbled.

"Regardless, people don't need ME to worry about, on top of everything else." he reasoned.

"They need to focus on other things."

"I don't think ANYONE does." Ty responded.

"...maybe Jane, but... well, we don't even know if she knows or DOESN'T know." he said further, before pausing.

"And that was awkward to say." he muttered.

"Regardless, this... I just... damn it." he sighed.

"Try and keep up what I said. Nobody needs to see me... withering... like this."

"....son of a..." he growled.

"Meaning this is probably going to happen again." he said, as his stomach growled.

"...that was loud." he said.

"And I felt it, too." he muttered. "But... then again, I'm... ALWAYS hungry when I come back..." he then admitted.

"Regardless, this isn't good." he told her.

"We have some serious problems, to understate things."

Tyson just shook his head, and shakily got to his feet.

"Damn it all." he cursed.

"This is... just... ugh." he growled.

"I have NO idea what that was, but... I hated it." he told her.

"I don't even understand how it happened so suddenly."

She heard a few... disturbing noises... before he was silent. And she knew it had finished. Now all she had to do was wait. Which she did. Thankfully, nobody had come to see Ty while he was 'fixing himself', and she soon heard a groan from him.

"Owww..." he moaned.

"That wasn't fun. At ALL." he stated.

"Still feel kinda crappy, but... eh." he went on.

"Thanks, Hazel."

"..." Ty was silent again.

"See it, huh?" he asked.

"Damn... has to be bad, then..." he mumbled.

"As for how? Quickly." he told her.

"Make it quick. Make it instant if possible." he said further.

"I just want this to end, Hazel..."

Ty blinked a couple of times when she said that.

"Didn't even consider that." he told her.

"A reset might help." he muttered.

"Better than... THIS state I'm in..." he went on, his voice getting even quieter.

"...yeah, I'm... dying, anyway..."