What Dr Filibuster had just said hung in the air between them. Sod stood frozen while his parents leapt into action around him.
His mum hurried out the door, yelling, ‘Karma, wait!’
At the same time, his dad grabbed Dr Filibuster by the scruff of his neck and pushed him outside.
Which left Sod alone with what he’d just heard.
Uncle Rodge was the rat. He’d sabotaged Sod’s first reaping. Helped Walter Bones become a zombividual. Caused a Black Portal to take Anton Scully. All of which had led Sod and Karma to Walter Bones’s funeral where Karma had been poisoned. Now she was definitely going to die.
Yet Sod didn’t feel overwhelmed with grief. He was angry at Uncle Rodge, but deep down inside, he felt a dark luckiness. They knew how to turn Karma into a zombividual when she died. She would get a second chance.
Sod’s mum came back into the room, dragging Karma by the arm.
‘But you heard Dr Filibuster,’ said Karma listlessly. ‘I’m doomed to die. It’s hopeless.’
‘Don’t worry about what that man said,’ Sod’s mum replied firmly. ‘We’ll stay up tonight and do everything we can to try and counter this wicked poison. We can do some more tests, try a few variations of medicine. I think it’s worth attempting a blood transfusion too. There’s still hope.’
Sod thought his mum sounded weird. Her voice was higher than normal. Did she really believe she could save Karma’s life?
‘Fine.’ Karma shut her eyes and held up a shaky hand. ‘But you only get tonight. After that, I want to live the final days of my life normally. I don’t want to be a dying person. I want to be me up until the moment I’m dead.’
His mum’s eyes widened as she realised what Karma was saying. ‘You have to tell your parents what’s happening,’ Sod’s mum said, her voice a mixture of sternness and panic. ‘They’ll wonder where you are tonight and – I’m legally obliged to –’
‘No, they won’t – and no, you’re not,’ said Karma, in between deep breaths. Her breathing was getting even coarser, like her lungs were slowly filling up with gravel. ‘I haven’t formally been admitted and you’re not my doctor. I’ll call my parents now and tell them I’ve been invited to a sleepover tonight.’
She paused while a series of shuddering coughs racked her body, and then added wryly, ‘They’ll be so happy to hear that I’m making friends.’
‘I may not be your doctor,’ protested Sod’s mum, ‘but I should still let your parents know that …’
‘If you call them I won’t let you do any of your tests on me,’ Karma said firmly.
Sod’s mum sighed in defeat. ‘OK.’
‘I’ve locked Dr Filibuster in his office upstairs for the time being,’ said Sod’s dad, coming back into the room and shutting the door behind him. ‘We’ll deal with him later.’
‘We’ll need him when it comes time for Karma to become a zombividual too,’ said Sod, finding his voice.
‘If … she becomes a zombividual,’ said Sod’s mum. ‘We have to try and stop that poison first.’
‘And there are no ifs about it,’ said Sod’s dad firmly. ‘Zombividuals are an abomination. I won’t allow Karma to become such a thing.’
Sod screwed up his fists. ‘Are you saying that if her spirit stays in her corpse and she becomes a zombividual, you won’t let anyone operate to give her Eternaserum and a fake heart?’ He glared at his dad. ‘Because then her flesh would decompose around her while she’s still conscious. Is that really what you want to happen?’
Sod’s dad shut his mouth and he looked up at the ceiling. The room was silent except for Karma’s husky breathing. Sod realised his dad wasn’t going to answer the question. Which meant he wouldn’t let Karma suffer like that. He just didn’t want to admit it.
‘I have a few questions about zombividuals, actually,’ said Karma, breaking the silence. ‘Do they pretend like they’re still alive to everyone around them? Can they wear makeup? Or use moisturiser? Or paint their nails? I’ve heard that nails keep growing after death.’
Sod was glad to hear that Karma had started thinking about life as a zombividual. But his dad continued looking at the ceiling, his mouth firmly shut.
‘Aren’t you going to answer Karma’s questions?’ cried Sod.
‘No,’ said his dad. ‘I will not discuss zombividualism right now. We should be trying to save poor Karma’s life. Nothing else.’
‘Weren’t you listening to Dr Filibuster?’ screamed Sod. ‘Her life is a lost cause!’
A dreadful silence filled the room. Karma held her breath. His parents looked at Sod with furrowed brows. His words hung in the air.
Her life is a lost cause.
‘I didn’t mean to say that,’ he said softly.
Karma looked greyer than ever.
‘If Karma had never gotten mixed up with us Danforths, she would never have met the pointy end of Magic Williamsburg’s poison syringe,’ said Sod’s mum fiercely through tight teeth. ‘And on behalf of the Danforth family I am going to try my very best to save her life.’
Sod had never heard his Mum speak so passionately. But she wasn’t just a reaper – she was a doctor who brought babies into the world on a daily basis. She knew a thing or two about helping people to live.
He turned to Karma to see what she’d say. But she didn’t speak. She hiccupped. Then she bent over and a stream of yellow, mucusy vomit came out of her mouth and splashed onto the floor. Sod’s mum helped her back onto the bed and handed her a plastic hospital bag. Karma filled it up straightaway.
‘I’m going to try and save this girl right now,’ said Sod’s mum, hurriedly whisking the full vomit bag into the hazardous-waste bin. ‘It’s the least we can do for her. You two can either go home or stay and help me.’
‘I’m staying,’ said Sod, with determination.
‘Me too.’ His dad nodded. ‘What can I do?’
They spent the night fighting a losing battle to save Karma’s life and not talking about her fate as a zombividual. Sod’s mother ran medical procedures and tests on Karma, each turning up nothing.
Sod had to remind himself that she was lucky. Karma could be reborn as a zombividual. She had to die first, but her afterlife was looking bright and sunny.