[We need to help these people.]
"Fabián is right. We can't let him die," you say finally, looking at Krisalyn as you do. She smiles at yo… moreu, showing her approval, and you give her a weak smile in return. "I'll see what I can do for him."
Ouma nods at your words. "Alright, Blair. Do what you can." With that, he turns, giving the others a quick glance before leading your group (minus Melanie and Kayla) back to where the strangers are still waiting.
"We've decided," he tells them. "Blair here is going to help your friend. She's a doctor." Again, you don't bother to correct him, only grab the first aid kit from beside Kayla and move forward after Ouma has spoken. The girl, who is the only one supporting the man now, releases him and lets him take an unsteady step to meet you, though she still looks wary. You nod to the man.
"Here," you say. "You can sit down. It looks like the blood loss is really affecting you."
"Thank you," he res… [view original content]
CHAPTER 3 - No Regrets
Your name is Blair Watson and you are almost approaching your third month of survival into what you and your group… more have quickly come to know as the apocalypse.
It hasn't been easy - but right now, at the very least, you're fairly relaxed. You and another young woman from your group - Krisalyn - are currently searching the inside of a convenience store for any useful items (it's fairly far away from the nearby city, Overland Park, so you don't think there's a lot of danger of the dead getting to you.) You'd seen the signs of a recent group living here outside the convenience store, and where there was a recently departed group, there were bodies to be looted. Perhaps you'd feel bad about that if it wasn't the apocalypse - but it is, and it's just how the world works now. You guess your group sort of qualifies as bandits, although you haven't had to kill anyone who hasn't threatened or attacked you first so far (and… [view original content]
[We need to help these people.]
"Fabián is right. We can't let him die," you say finally, looking at Krisalyn as you do. She smiles at yo… moreu, showing her approval, and you give her a weak smile in return. "I'll see what I can do for him."
Ouma nods at your words. "Alright, Blair. Do what you can." With that, he turns, giving the others a quick glance before leading your group (minus Melanie and Kayla) back to where the strangers are still waiting.
"We've decided," he tells them. "Blair here is going to help your friend. She's a doctor." Again, you don't bother to correct him, only grab the first aid kit from beside Kayla and move forward after Ouma has spoken. The girl, who is the only one supporting the man now, releases him and lets him take an unsteady step to meet you, though she still looks wary. You nod to the man.
"Here," you say. "You can sit down. It looks like the blood loss is really affecting you."
"Thank you," he res… [view original content]
[We need to help these people.]
"Fabián is right. We can't let him die," you say finally, looking at Krisalyn as you do. She smiles at yo… moreu, showing her approval, and you give her a weak smile in return. "I'll see what I can do for him."
Ouma nods at your words. "Alright, Blair. Do what you can." With that, he turns, giving the others a quick glance before leading your group (minus Melanie and Kayla) back to where the strangers are still waiting.
"We've decided," he tells them. "Blair here is going to help your friend. She's a doctor." Again, you don't bother to correct him, only grab the first aid kit from beside Kayla and move forward after Ouma has spoken. The girl, who is the only one supporting the man now, releases him and lets him take an unsteady step to meet you, though she still looks wary. You nod to the man.
"Here," you say. "You can sit down. It looks like the blood loss is really affecting you."
"Thank you," he res… [view original content]
[Investigate the source of the noise]
You decide that you're better off checking what's going on than staying clueless, so you slink your… more way out of the aisle and in the direction you think the noise came from. As you get closer, it isn't hard to make out the sounds of an argument going on, so you follow them and end up in the gun section.
There's a man arguing with the woman behind the counter; the woman looks sufficiently pissed, and she's holding onto a gun of some sort that the man seems to be trying to pull from her grasp.
"Listen, sir," she says. "I already told you once, if you don't have a license, I can't give this to you. You're lucky that that bullet didn't hit anyone. Security's been called, you need to stand back."
You guess during whatever struggle happened that the gun went off. You're a little annoyed that the store would keep a loaded gun in the first place, but you guess that's their problem - being a more local … [view original content]
Where do you live? Where I live, there is a gun section in the store. Though it being loaded is a safety hazard. I live in Oklahoma though, in the US - but the story is set in a place I've been often, Kansas. They have gun sections also I think. This is the south, of course they would :P
Where do you live? Where I live, there is a gun section in the store. Though it being loaded is a safety hazard. I live in Oklahoma though, … morein the US - but the story is set in a place I've been often, Kansas. They have gun sections also I think. This is the south, of course they would :P
I don't really seem to need to participate in this vote, seeing how everyone clearly favors the second option. Normally I would rather go for the first, but the group with Pun didn't give off any hostile vibes so far, so I guess that's fine. It also wouldn't make much sense to give them supplies and then leave them to themselves as if we were some kinda charity. Now that we have "invested" in them, we might as well stick around until we get something out from it.
[We need to help these people.]
"Fabián is right. We can't let him die," you say finally, looking at Krisalyn as you do. She smiles at yo… moreu, showing her approval, and you give her a weak smile in return. "I'll see what I can do for him."
Ouma nods at your words. "Alright, Blair. Do what you can." With that, he turns, giving the others a quick glance before leading your group (minus Melanie and Kayla) back to where the strangers are still waiting.
"We've decided," he tells them. "Blair here is going to help your friend. She's a doctor." Again, you don't bother to correct him, only grab the first aid kit from beside Kayla and move forward after Ouma has spoken. The girl, who is the only one supporting the man now, releases him and lets him take an unsteady step to meet you, though she still looks wary. You nod to the man.
"Here," you say. "You can sit down. It looks like the blood loss is really affecting you."
"Thank you," he res… [view original content]
( Sorry if this part is odd in pacing or wording at all; it's late and I feel rather ill and don't feel like checking back over it before I go to bed, but it's also long overdue, so I'm posting it as is. )
[We should stay.]
"These people aren't any danger to us," you say finally. "An injured man and a bunch of kids... how much trouble could they cause for us? We should stay here. Kayla needs to rest."
Krisalyn nods. "Okay, then. You have a point."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ouma says, though he isn't looking at you; instead, he's looking off at the store, expression difficult to read. "Besides... we've already used our supplies on these people. We might as well stick around until they can repay us for that." Melanie shoots you a glare at her brother's words, obviously blaming you. Nothing new there.
"Okay," Ursula sighs, while Aaron, Kayla and Fabián look pleased. Part of you feels good about your choice - it's nice for your group to do something not entirely motivated by selfishness for a change - but another part is still uncertain, dreading the possibility of something going wrong. If it does, you aren't sure if you can forgive yourself - not when your words were what seemed to convince everyone.
"Alright, let's go inside and tell them, then," Ouma says decisively. "And we'll need two people to stay up on watch - not just one like usual. Someone should watch the inside as well as the outside; we don't know if these people could be planning to do something stupid."
"Right," Krisalyn agrees. "I trust them so far, but I get where you're coming from. I can help watch tonight, I slept quite a bit last night."
"And I'll watch too," Aaron volunteers. "I haven't done a watch in a while. It's my turn."
Ouma nods, and without another word, he starts to lead your group in to the convenience store. You move to pick up Kayla, but before you can, Aaron is there, scooping her up into his arms. You guess he still feels guilty about the whole thing kind of being his fault, so you let him carry her instead. Jen and Devin look up at you as you enter the store; they're still standing by the counter that Pun's behind, and Stephany is nowhere to be seen, so you'd guess she's behind the counter next to him, possibly resting or else just looking after him.
"Is there a problem?" Jen asks you hesitantly, and it takes you a moment to realize that she's looking at you and not Ouma, like she thinks you're the leader of the group. You feel a little embarrassed, but thankfully Ouma answers before you can feel obligated to say anything.
"It's getting dark, and since Kayla's hurt, we decided to stay here for the night," he tells her. "I hope you don't mind company." While is tone of voice sounds friendly enough, you can tell it's feigned, and by his expression, you know that he's trying to make it clear that whether or not they 'mind,' they don't exactly have a say in the matter, considering you're the ones who helped them out in the first place.
Jen and Devin don't protest this, though you do see them glancing at Kayla at Ouma's words. You can't remember if she introduced herself to them or not, but either way, you suppose it's easy enough to guess which one is her, seeing as she's the only one being carried.
"She's... hurt?" Devin asks. "It's not a bite, is it?"
"Do you see any blood on the bandage?" Melanie says harshly. "It's only a sprained ankle. Why don't you worry about your own group?"
Devin looks affronted at her words, but says nothing, just narrows his eyes in a clear show of his displeasure at being snapped at.
"Anyway," Ouma says, clearing his throat. "We'll leave this section of the store to you. Our group can sleep over there." He gestures to the other side of the store.
Jen nods at him. "Okay," she says. As she does so, the rest of your group start to move to where Ouma has indicated, preparing to sleep for the night, while Aaron moves outside to start his watch after he's set Kayla down with the others.
"Wake me if anything changes with him," you tell Jen, referring to Pun. "But as long as you don't move him, his wound shouldn't bleed anymore. Just... have someone stay up to keep an eye on him, just in case. You... do know what happens when someone dies now, don't you?" You don't want to have to say aloud what might happen, but it's a danger nonetheless - if Pun does die overnight somehow, you know he will come back, and having a deadhead inside with you wouldn't be good.
Jen looks somber at your words. "Yes," she replies. "Devin told us about it a few days ago when he joined us. Don't... don't worry. Someone will be up to ... to watch him." It looks like she's making a lot of effort to keep her tone void of the sadness you're sure she's feeling. You know it must be hard to consider that her uncle could very well die.
"Okay then," you nod. "Good." Without another word, you move to join your group, though you do glance back at Devin and Jen before you finally settle down on the ground beside Kayla. You have one more blanket in your pack left now that you've given one to Pun, so you pull it out and hand it to her. "Here," you say. "You need this more than me." Usually the second one has been for her, but now you've only got one to spare.
"Thanks, Blair," she says. "And thanks for speaking up about staying here earlier. I know the others probably wouldn't have decided to do it if you hadn't said anything."
"Of course," you tell her. "You need to rest. I wouldn't want to make you have to move elsewhere, what with your leg." The expression on her face tells you this isn't the reason she's thanking you - probably she's happy at the idea that the group might help these people - but she smiles and doesn't correct you anyway.
You all lay down to go to sleep then, besides Krisalyn, who stays standing by the shelves in the corner, on watch. It isn't completely night time yet, but you've never been on a specific schedule anyway, and there isn't much to do now except sleep, since you're staying here. Ouma volunteers to sleep without a blanket as well - you've always been two short, though it's only one tonight, besides the one you've lent to Pun, since there are two people on watch instead of one. While Ouma may be ruthless, he truly does care for your group, even if he sometimes might not show it very well. You're grateful to have him as your leader - even if his sister might be a little annoying at times.
"Hey, Blair? You awake?" Kayla whispers from beside you after a while has passed. You look at her, raising an eyebrow though she can't see it.
"Yes," you whisper back. "What's up?"
"Do you think... we can help these people out?" she asks tentatively. "I... miss it. Being nice, I guess. I know it's hard now that the world's so... scary... but..."
After a moment of silence, you speak up when she doesn't seem to mean to finish her thought. "I don't know, Kayla," you say softly. "These people... we don't know them. But maybe. It... depends, I guess."
"Okay," she sighs, and then you hear her yawn. "I think I'd like to be friends with that girl... Stephany. She seems nice..." When she trails off this time, you're willing to bet it's because she's falling asleep.
Left to your own thoughts, you stare up at the ceiling of the store, frowning to yourself. As much as you're hesitant to trust these people... it has been a while since Kayla's been able to be around anyone her age. Maybe... for her... it'd be worth it to try and help them out.
Eventually, you let yourself drift off into a dreamless sleep.
You're woken by the slam of the front door sometime the next morning. Immediately, startled by the noise, you scramble up to your feet, grabbing the shotgun off of your back on instinct.
As you turn to look, you can see that it's Aaron at the door - and he looks terrified.
"What is it?" Krisalyn asks; she's obviously still up from her own watch, though the others are stirring all around you. You can see Devin already awake by the counter; you guess he was the one who volunteered to keep an eye on Pun.
"I'm sorry," Aaron gasps. "I didn't -- I didn't mean to, but I fell asleep. There's..." It's then, as he trails off for a moment, trying to catch his breath, that you realize there's a sound outside; the loud sound of what sounds like a lot of feet, and a low rumbling noise too, like a growl, almost. "There's hundreds of them out there," Aaron finishes, eyes wide. "Deadheads. It's... there's a lot of them. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep! But we have to leave, now!"
"Hundreds?!" Ursula gasps as she stands up from somewhere besides you, at the same time that Ouma speaks, obviously up now as well.
"How far away are they?" he asks Aaron firmly. Aaron shakes his head in response.
"Close," he tells him. "Really close. We have to get out of here now, they're not even a hundred feet away--"
"How did you not wake up?!" Melanie snaps, as you stoop down next to Kayla quickly, shaking her awake.
"Come on, Kayla, wake up," you speak softly to her, trying to make sure she doesn't panic when she does awaken and find out what's going on. "We have to move, now." Her eyelids flutter as she stirs, and then looks at you, looking sleepy.
"What's happening...?" she asks groggily.
"We don't have time," you say. "We have to leave."
"Deadheads?" she murmurs as she sits up, seeming a lot less sleepy now. You nod.
Fabián has moved to the counter to help the strangers; you guess he wants to make sure they're okay, and someone is definitely going to have to help carry Pun, since walking isn't an option anymore in case he reopens his wound. You doubt Ouma will be happy that Fabián has decided to help without consulting the rest of the group - but its his decision, and after what Kayla said to you last night, you can't help but agree with him on it. If you weren't looking after Kayla, you'd probably move to help them too. As it is, Krisalyn does instead, as Jen and Stephany both stand.
Making a split second decision, you slide your shotgun back into the strap on your back and move to pick up Kayla. She starts to say something, maybe to protest, but falls silent immediately afterwards, and you stand, holding her close to your chest. You're lucky that she's so small - otherwise this might be difficult. Though it's been a while since the sprain, you don't think it's safe to have her up and running just yet, especially when you're trying to escape the dead.
Your backpack on your back and Kayla in your arms, you start to move to the door, hanging back a little to let Ouma, Melanie and Ursula go before you. You want to stay at least long enough to see that Krisalyn is okay before leaving - she's your closest friend here in the group, and to just abandon her is not a possibility. Plus, as the 'doctor' of the group, you need to see if the man you've treated is alright after the night. Luckily, you're a fast runner, so you don't doubt you'll be able to outrun the dead when it comes to it.
As you turn to look at the strangers, Fabián and Krisalyn, you hear the door open behind you. "Come on!" Ouma shouts, and you hear the others leave in a hurry. Krisalyn and Fabián are getting Pun up, but he seems to still be unconscious, probably recovering from yesterday. Fabián, Devin and Jen all pick him up to carry him out, whereas Krisalyn bends down to speak to Stephany softly, probably to reassure her.
As you watch, the three carrying Pun run as quickly as they can to the door where you stand with Kayla; Krisalyn moves to open it for them, but you can see that they aren't going to fit. Stephany rushes to open the second door to give them more room, and they file out then, Stephany close behind. There's a lot of dust outside, clouding what you can see, so they vanish into it almost immediately - you have no way of knowing which direction they went. Krisalyn continues to hold the door open for you, and you don't waste any time in running after the others, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible to get Kayla to safety.
You emerge outside, eyes on Krisalyn as she exits after you - she's going to have to stay close to you, since you aren't able to use any weapons now that you're carrying Kayla, and you're sure she knows this.
"Watch out!" Kayla shouts suddenly, and you blink, startled, as you turn your gaze away from Krisalyn and forward to see that deadheads are already upon you, swarming around the store and snapping at you with their horrible, rotted jaws. Shit. You guess they were closer than you thought they were. Before you can even react, one has grabbed you by the shoulder, trying to pull you closer, and you cry out as you struggle, trying to angle your body so that you can at least protect Kayla, though you're thrashing hard enough that at least for now, you haven't been bitten. Behind you, you can hear Krisalyn gasp and the sounds of a struggle; she's probably been grabbed, too, since the two of you were so busy trying to make sure the others were okay.
"Help!" Kayla calls, and at first you don't know who she's talking to before a moment later a bat comes down hard upon the head of the deadhead you're desperately struggling against. It falls, grip going loose, but more are quick to replace it. You glance to see who's saved you and see that it's Aaron. Thankfully, it looks like he'd stayed behind to make sure that you got out okay.
"Run!" he tells you. Normally, you'd probably protest and try to help him, but you've got Kayla to worry about, so you no and start moving into the crowd of dead. Through the dust, you can see Pun and the others to your right, trying to get through, with Ouma and Ursula helping clear out the area so they can get out. So they didn't abandon you. You guess Ouma wouldn't, what with you, Fabián and Krisalyn having stayed behind.
You move to follow them, hoping to eventually get to the edge of the herd and out - but there's a surprising amount of dust being kicked up around you, and you're already starting to have trouble breathing. You curse yourself for not realizing this could happen - there's a lot of deadheads about, so of course there'd be dust - and for your asthma, which until now hadn't been a problem in the apocalypse. You'd never had attacks from running or physical exertion, and it hadn't usually bothered you even before all of this started - but you guess the dust is too much for your body to handle, and as it is you can feel your airways closing up as you cough and wheeze, still struggling to push past the dead.
"Blair? Are you okay?" Kayla asks you worriedly, but you simply nod your head in an attempt to reassure her, knowing that speaking isn't a good idea. For now, you're able to keep running, following Ouma and the others; but you can feel your chest start to tighten, and the muscles in your neck are tightening too. You've got to get out fast before Kayla gets hurt.
Even as you think that, one of the dead hits you from the side, moaning horribly in its hunger, and you gasp, falling and letting go of Kayla in the process. There's simply too many of them and too much dust for you to get out without a hitch - if you could speak, you'd curse at the realization. Gasping for breath, you try and push yourself up so you can get to Kayla where she's rolled a few feet away; she's the only thing on your mind right now, even higher than your own safety.
But before you can get up, one of the dead is on top of you, and you're barely able to keep its mouth away from your neck as you struggle. You can't even speak to call for help. It's then you realize that this is your end - you spent too much time worrying about the others, and now you're paying for it. You only hope that Kayla is able to get up and out of the herd in time.
Then a bat hits the deadhead in the head, and it rolls off of you. Aaron pulls you up right afterwards, and you look immediately to Kayla, who screams as two of the dead are on top of her, one grabbing for her leg and the other snapping its jaws near her neck as she tries to push it away.
An expert arrow lodges itself in that one's head then, and Kayla is able to push it off. Aaron reaches her right afterwards, killing the deadhead at her feet with his bat and helping her up to start running. Though she is limping, Aaron helps her, and the two are able to move quickly towards the edge of the herd, not even that far now. Meanwhile, Krisalyn reaches your side, bow still aimed in front of her as she ushers you forward, though she stays close to you.
Together, the two of you make it out of the herd just after Aaron and Kayla, though your chest is still tight from your asthma attack, and follow them and the others as they move off of the road and to the left, towards an open hilly area. On the other side of the road, you can see a forest - but you know you aren't out of danger yet, and the herd is likely still following you, so trying to run among the trees could probably end badly.
You only run for about a minute before you see that the others have stopped just ahead of you. Even just that minute has given you a lot of distance between the dead and yourselves, so you're sure that Ouma just wants to stop and do a bite check like he usually does after a run in with the dead before you all move on. Krisalyn and you are side by side with Aaron and Kayla now, on account of her limping, so you reach the others at the same time.
"Is everyone alright?" Fabián asks as soon as you're all there, and you nod, though you're still gasping a little. You're starting to breathe easier, though, now that the dust is behind you, though you doubt running so much is helping.
"Did anyone get bitten?" Ouma asks, as per usual, and you hold your breath for a second, worried. So far, no one has ever had to answer yes - but after what happened during the second week of all this, you're wary anyway.
At first, a chorus of "no"s and silence greets you, and you start to relax. Then, amidst the silence, a small voice speaks up and breaks it.
"I was."
It's Kayla. Horrified, you turn to look at her with wide eyes, as she raises the pant leg of her sprained ankle to show a nasty-looking bite just below the bandage. There are tears visible in her eyes, and as you meet her gaze, disbelieving, they spill over and she starts to cry, though she does so quietly.
"No," Krisalyn murmurs from beside you, as you feel tears start to spill onto your own cheeks.
"Oh my god," you gasp as you move to Kayla's side, though you don't touch her, don't get too close - you feel disgusting, hanging back like you are, but you're scared, so so scared after what happened before. Still, you look down at her leg with horror, taking in the wound as you feel your chest tighten again for a whole other reason. "This can't be happening," you whisper, not entirely intending for the words to be spoken aloud at all. "Not again."
"Fuck," Melanie says, and you can hear the horror in her voice, too. While she'd never liked you, she'd always been fond of Kayla.
You feel sick.
"You were bitten?" Aaron asks quietly, though it sounds more like it's just from disbelief than actually doubting it. He can see the bite as well as you can. You guess he hadn't seen it when he'd picked her up.
"W-When Blair fell," Kayla whispers through her tears. You feel a stab of guilt at her words. This was you - your fault. You did this. You've doomed her. After you promised to watch her...
(( EDIT - wont let me post the full part. hold on a second ))
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take this. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes wide. You know that amputation is, at least, an option in the case of severe infection normally in order to save a person... Who's to say that it can't work here?
"She's only a child!" Krisalyn says, and you can hear the grief in her voice, too. "We can't do that to her! Not when we don't know if it'll even work!"
"Shouldn't we try?" Fabián asks quietly.
"... Blair?" Kayla speaks in a small, trembling voice, looking at you. You blink at her, wiping at your face with one hand. You have to be strong for her. "I... If you think I should... then do it," she continues, though she looks scared even at her own words. "If it will save me, do it."
Your breath catches for a moment as you stare at her, stricken. You don't... you don't know what to do, not now. Amputating the limb could save her, and the dead aren't upon you yet; it'd only be a matter of carrying her away afterwards, and someone else could likely do that.
But... you have no way of knowing if it works, and if it doesn't, you've subjected her to an agony she didn't need to live with. And if you can't stop the bleeding enough, she might even die from blood loss, though you're hopefully skilled enough to stop it in time. Even if she lives, and it works... she'll be without a limb forever, having to be carried or find another way to get around.
You bite your lip in your uncertainty as she continues to look into your eyes, her own teary and sad. She's trusting your decision here... but you aren't even sure if you can make the right one.
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take th… moreis. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes w… [view original content]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've blocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high, seeing as it's already been over a minute... just to be safe. You have to do what you can to try and save her. You place the tourniquet around her thigh to prepare her leg for amputation, then pause to grab for the bottle of oxy.
"Take these," you tell Kayla, handing her a few. You know they won't start working fast enough, but eventually they will hopefully help her. You can only hope she'll make it that far. She swallows the pills as you move your attention back to her leg.
"I'm sorry, Kayla," you say one last time, in preparation, before you place the sharp edge of the blade about mid-thigh, below the tourniquet. Then, without another word, you begin to cut.
She screams immediately and thrashes, only making the blade sink in farther, and Ouma and Aaron quickly stoop to hold her down. She's crying now as you cut deeper and deeper, not stopping for anything, until finally, you can see the bone exposed. Then you flip her so you can make the same cut on the other side. You block out her frantic sobbing and screaming as you do so, trying to ignore the fact that you are causing her perhaps the worst pain she will ever feel. No - not perhaps. Certainly.
It isn't easy work, not by any means, and it takes you upwards of half a minute to get both sides cut down enough so that the bone is the only thing in your way. Your hands are wet with her blood, which is spilling faster and faster onto the grass below. You begin to saw at the bone now, hoping to cut through it as quickly as possible so that you can sew the wound up and get it bandaged.
Her screams are the worst thing you think you've ever heard, shrill and agonized - if the dead weren't after you before, they certainly are now.
Finally, the limb is severed, and it falls to the ground only a few inches below without hardly a sound - or maybe you just can't hear it because of all the screaming in your ears.
"Blair!" comes Krisalyn's frantic voice. "Hurry up!" You can only guess that the dead must be coming.
You're sewing the wound closed as fast as you can, trying to keep your trembling, blood-slicked hands steady enough to do so quickly and neatly. It's hard to get it to close, but eventually you manage it using the Glover's stitch you remember being shown in nursing school. Ha. Nursing school. Your chest feels cold at the thought; you're a nurse, not a surgeon. What are you doing?
"BLAIR!" Ursula shouts, and you hear a gun go off at the same time that the moans of the dead reach your ears, audible to you now probably because Kayla's screaming has died down into silence instead. She's passed out. You bandage up her leg, hands shaking out of control now, and then as soon as you've tied the bandage you're yanked upwards by Krisalyn, who shoves you forwards harshly and yells at you to run. You glance behind you, desperate to see if Kayla is alright, and see that Aaron has already picked her up and is breaking into a run - and that there is a deadhead standing right where you were stooped just seconds earlier. Briefly, the thought of the ACE bandage still wrapped around Kayla's severed leg crosses your mind, but you push it away as you realize the silliness of worrying about that of all things. There are numerous dead ones after you, though it doesn't look anywhere close to all of the herd; you guess only a few of them veered off to follow you.
You run then - all of you, sprinting as fast as you can manage, as tired as you are and with two injured people among you. You notice that Pun seems to have woken up by this time - probably from all the screaming Kayla has done - but that Fabián, Jen and Devin are still carrying him, probably because they don't want to risk reopening his gut wound.
It's a long time before you all finally stop running, and you pass a few roads and fences before you do, telling you you've run quite a ways. Eventually, you spot a building you can possibly take shelter in - you seem to have left the dead long behind you - and Ouma appears to have spotted it, too, as he gestures for you all to stop as you reach it.
As you come to a stop, you all pause a moment to catch your breath, and you glance at Kayla as you do; she's still unconscious in Aaron's arms, but she hasn't reanimated, and you don't see any blood leaking out of the stump you've left behind. Hopefully your suturing skills are good enough to hold.
Stephany breaks the silence, looking up at the building you've all stopped in front of with wide eyes. "It looks like the farm," she says.
"It's just a stables," Jen tells her quietly, "Where a lot of the horses around here might have been kept, other than all of these fields." You look around, as do the others, at the mention of horses - but there are none to be seen. You hate to think about it, but... they've probably been eaten by now. By the living or by the dead, you don't know.
"Then we can rest here for a while," Devin suggests. "All of us. You've helped us a lot, so we'd like to stick with you folks. Return the favor, if we can." You can't read his expression, but you can't help but wonder how much he means what he says. After all, didn't he mention a sister he'd been separated from back at the farm? Shouldn't he want to go find her? Or, you think, maybe he's worried about Pun, considering he's still recovering from his gunshot wound. You don't know.
Ouma looks skeptical for a brief moment, but then wipes his expression clean of his suspicion almost immediately afterward. "Maybe," is all he says.
"What about Jack and the others?" Stephany asks Devin softly. "We still need to find them."
Jen looks away. "We ... do. But Pun's hurt, also. If..." She turns her gaze to you now, an almost pleading expression in her eyes although her tone is ambivalent. "If someone were to help us, maybe we could check the farm for them. Before it's too late." When you stare at her, not speaking up, she goes on, "That ... herd looked like it was headed to the farm, though I'm sure it will take a while before it gets there. I'm sure we have quite a bit of time, but..."
"But maybe we should go back to check there as soon as possible," Devin finishes for her when she trails off. "You're right. And if anyone's still there, we need to warn them." He sighs then, also shooting you a glance as he does. You're starting to feel like they're expecting you to help them - maybe after all the kindness you've shown them already. But you, nor anyone else in your group, speaks up. "But we can't both go and leave Pun alone... if there's no one else who can help us, we'll have to wait til tomorrow."
You sigh.
"Fine. I'll go with you to help look." [Volunteer]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've … moreblocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high,… [view original content]
Comments
Sardines has her own fanfic? :O
[We should stay. We aren't in any danger from these people, and Kayla needs rest anyway. Maybe it's time we helped someone out.]
No it's mine.
Haha, yeah, I have for a while. I'm not the best writer, so don't expect a lot from it, but if you do want to read it without having to sift through votes you can give it a go here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wHr4xdQQVjY7QVZgxZI1DUWCGDK6t8QOyQmVLgn-4bs/edit?usp=sharing That's not updated to the most recent parts though. :P
:O
We all have our own fanfics, I have two, TOE and TBG.
[We should stay. We aren't in any danger from these people, and Kayla needs rest anyway. Maybe it's time we helped someone out.]
I will kill the first person who kills me PUNCAEK
[We should stay. We aren't in any danger from these people, and Kayla needs rest anyway. Maybe it's time we helped someone out.]
sry i know this is old-ish but i have to ask
WHY I THERE A GUN SECTION IN A GROCERY STORE?
Where do you live? Where I live, there is a gun section in the store. Though it being loaded is a safety hazard. I live in Oklahoma though, in the US - but the story is set in a place I've been often, Kansas. They have gun sections also I think. This is the south, of course they would :P
o sorry i live in the carribean..............
o by the way did you get the character i made ( George B. Hollowes) ?
I don't really seem to need to participate in this vote, seeing how everyone clearly favors the second option. Normally I would rather go for the first, but the group with Pun didn't give off any hostile vibes so far, so I guess that's fine. It also wouldn't make much sense to give them supplies and then leave them to themselves as if we were some kinda charity. Now that we have "invested" in them, we might as well stick around until we get something out from it.
( Sorry if this part is odd in pacing or wording at all; it's late and I feel rather ill and don't feel like checking back over it before I go to bed, but it's also long overdue, so I'm posting it as is. )
[We should stay.]
"These people aren't any danger to us," you say finally. "An injured man and a bunch of kids... how much trouble could they cause for us? We should stay here. Kayla needs to rest."
Krisalyn nods. "Okay, then. You have a point."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ouma says, though he isn't looking at you; instead, he's looking off at the store, expression difficult to read. "Besides... we've already used our supplies on these people. We might as well stick around until they can repay us for that." Melanie shoots you a glare at her brother's words, obviously blaming you. Nothing new there.
"Okay," Ursula sighs, while Aaron, Kayla and Fabián look pleased. Part of you feels good about your choice - it's nice for your group to do something not entirely motivated by selfishness for a change - but another part is still uncertain, dreading the possibility of something going wrong. If it does, you aren't sure if you can forgive yourself - not when your words were what seemed to convince everyone.
"Alright, let's go inside and tell them, then," Ouma says decisively. "And we'll need two people to stay up on watch - not just one like usual. Someone should watch the inside as well as the outside; we don't know if these people could be planning to do something stupid."
"Right," Krisalyn agrees. "I trust them so far, but I get where you're coming from. I can help watch tonight, I slept quite a bit last night."
"And I'll watch too," Aaron volunteers. "I haven't done a watch in a while. It's my turn."
Ouma nods, and without another word, he starts to lead your group in to the convenience store. You move to pick up Kayla, but before you can, Aaron is there, scooping her up into his arms. You guess he still feels guilty about the whole thing kind of being his fault, so you let him carry her instead. Jen and Devin look up at you as you enter the store; they're still standing by the counter that Pun's behind, and Stephany is nowhere to be seen, so you'd guess she's behind the counter next to him, possibly resting or else just looking after him.
"Is there a problem?" Jen asks you hesitantly, and it takes you a moment to realize that she's looking at you and not Ouma, like she thinks you're the leader of the group. You feel a little embarrassed, but thankfully Ouma answers before you can feel obligated to say anything.
"It's getting dark, and since Kayla's hurt, we decided to stay here for the night," he tells her. "I hope you don't mind company." While is tone of voice sounds friendly enough, you can tell it's feigned, and by his expression, you know that he's trying to make it clear that whether or not they 'mind,' they don't exactly have a say in the matter, considering you're the ones who helped them out in the first place.
Jen and Devin don't protest this, though you do see them glancing at Kayla at Ouma's words. You can't remember if she introduced herself to them or not, but either way, you suppose it's easy enough to guess which one is her, seeing as she's the only one being carried.
"She's... hurt?" Devin asks. "It's not a bite, is it?"
"Do you see any blood on the bandage?" Melanie says harshly. "It's only a sprained ankle. Why don't you worry about your own group?"
Devin looks affronted at her words, but says nothing, just narrows his eyes in a clear show of his displeasure at being snapped at.
"Anyway," Ouma says, clearing his throat. "We'll leave this section of the store to you. Our group can sleep over there." He gestures to the other side of the store.
Jen nods at him. "Okay," she says. As she does so, the rest of your group start to move to where Ouma has indicated, preparing to sleep for the night, while Aaron moves outside to start his watch after he's set Kayla down with the others.
"Wake me if anything changes with him," you tell Jen, referring to Pun. "But as long as you don't move him, his wound shouldn't bleed anymore. Just... have someone stay up to keep an eye on him, just in case. You... do know what happens when someone dies now, don't you?" You don't want to have to say aloud what might happen, but it's a danger nonetheless - if Pun does die overnight somehow, you know he will come back, and having a deadhead inside with you wouldn't be good.
Jen looks somber at your words. "Yes," she replies. "Devin told us about it a few days ago when he joined us. Don't... don't worry. Someone will be up to ... to watch him." It looks like she's making a lot of effort to keep her tone void of the sadness you're sure she's feeling. You know it must be hard to consider that her uncle could very well die.
"Okay then," you nod. "Good." Without another word, you move to join your group, though you do glance back at Devin and Jen before you finally settle down on the ground beside Kayla. You have one more blanket in your pack left now that you've given one to Pun, so you pull it out and hand it to her. "Here," you say. "You need this more than me." Usually the second one has been for her, but now you've only got one to spare.
"Thanks, Blair," she says. "And thanks for speaking up about staying here earlier. I know the others probably wouldn't have decided to do it if you hadn't said anything."
"Of course," you tell her. "You need to rest. I wouldn't want to make you have to move elsewhere, what with your leg." The expression on her face tells you this isn't the reason she's thanking you - probably she's happy at the idea that the group might help these people - but she smiles and doesn't correct you anyway.
You all lay down to go to sleep then, besides Krisalyn, who stays standing by the shelves in the corner, on watch. It isn't completely night time yet, but you've never been on a specific schedule anyway, and there isn't much to do now except sleep, since you're staying here. Ouma volunteers to sleep without a blanket as well - you've always been two short, though it's only one tonight, besides the one you've lent to Pun, since there are two people on watch instead of one. While Ouma may be ruthless, he truly does care for your group, even if he sometimes might not show it very well. You're grateful to have him as your leader - even if his sister might be a little annoying at times.
"Hey, Blair? You awake?" Kayla whispers from beside you after a while has passed. You look at her, raising an eyebrow though she can't see it.
"Yes," you whisper back. "What's up?"
"Do you think... we can help these people out?" she asks tentatively. "I... miss it. Being nice, I guess. I know it's hard now that the world's so... scary... but..."
After a moment of silence, you speak up when she doesn't seem to mean to finish her thought. "I don't know, Kayla," you say softly. "These people... we don't know them. But maybe. It... depends, I guess."
"Okay," she sighs, and then you hear her yawn. "I think I'd like to be friends with that girl... Stephany. She seems nice..." When she trails off this time, you're willing to bet it's because she's falling asleep.
Left to your own thoughts, you stare up at the ceiling of the store, frowning to yourself. As much as you're hesitant to trust these people... it has been a while since Kayla's been able to be around anyone her age. Maybe... for her... it'd be worth it to try and help them out.
Eventually, you let yourself drift off into a dreamless sleep.
You're woken by the slam of the front door sometime the next morning. Immediately, startled by the noise, you scramble up to your feet, grabbing the shotgun off of your back on instinct.
As you turn to look, you can see that it's Aaron at the door - and he looks terrified.
"What is it?" Krisalyn asks; she's obviously still up from her own watch, though the others are stirring all around you. You can see Devin already awake by the counter; you guess he was the one who volunteered to keep an eye on Pun.
"I'm sorry," Aaron gasps. "I didn't -- I didn't mean to, but I fell asleep. There's..." It's then, as he trails off for a moment, trying to catch his breath, that you realize there's a sound outside; the loud sound of what sounds like a lot of feet, and a low rumbling noise too, like a growl, almost. "There's hundreds of them out there," Aaron finishes, eyes wide. "Deadheads. It's... there's a lot of them. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep! But we have to leave, now!"
"Hundreds?!" Ursula gasps as she stands up from somewhere besides you, at the same time that Ouma speaks, obviously up now as well.
"How far away are they?" he asks Aaron firmly. Aaron shakes his head in response.
"Close," he tells him. "Really close. We have to get out of here now, they're not even a hundred feet away--"
"How did you not wake up?!" Melanie snaps, as you stoop down next to Kayla quickly, shaking her awake.
"Come on, Kayla, wake up," you speak softly to her, trying to make sure she doesn't panic when she does awaken and find out what's going on. "We have to move, now." Her eyelids flutter as she stirs, and then looks at you, looking sleepy.
"What's happening...?" she asks groggily.
"We don't have time," you say. "We have to leave."
"Deadheads?" she murmurs as she sits up, seeming a lot less sleepy now. You nod.
Fabián has moved to the counter to help the strangers; you guess he wants to make sure they're okay, and someone is definitely going to have to help carry Pun, since walking isn't an option anymore in case he reopens his wound. You doubt Ouma will be happy that Fabián has decided to help without consulting the rest of the group - but its his decision, and after what Kayla said to you last night, you can't help but agree with him on it. If you weren't looking after Kayla, you'd probably move to help them too. As it is, Krisalyn does instead, as Jen and Stephany both stand.
Making a split second decision, you slide your shotgun back into the strap on your back and move to pick up Kayla. She starts to say something, maybe to protest, but falls silent immediately afterwards, and you stand, holding her close to your chest. You're lucky that she's so small - otherwise this might be difficult. Though it's been a while since the sprain, you don't think it's safe to have her up and running just yet, especially when you're trying to escape the dead.
Your backpack on your back and Kayla in your arms, you start to move to the door, hanging back a little to let Ouma, Melanie and Ursula go before you. You want to stay at least long enough to see that Krisalyn is okay before leaving - she's your closest friend here in the group, and to just abandon her is not a possibility. Plus, as the 'doctor' of the group, you need to see if the man you've treated is alright after the night. Luckily, you're a fast runner, so you don't doubt you'll be able to outrun the dead when it comes to it.
As you turn to look at the strangers, Fabián and Krisalyn, you hear the door open behind you. "Come on!" Ouma shouts, and you hear the others leave in a hurry. Krisalyn and Fabián are getting Pun up, but he seems to still be unconscious, probably recovering from yesterday. Fabián, Devin and Jen all pick him up to carry him out, whereas Krisalyn bends down to speak to Stephany softly, probably to reassure her.
As you watch, the three carrying Pun run as quickly as they can to the door where you stand with Kayla; Krisalyn moves to open it for them, but you can see that they aren't going to fit. Stephany rushes to open the second door to give them more room, and they file out then, Stephany close behind. There's a lot of dust outside, clouding what you can see, so they vanish into it almost immediately - you have no way of knowing which direction they went. Krisalyn continues to hold the door open for you, and you don't waste any time in running after the others, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible to get Kayla to safety.
You emerge outside, eyes on Krisalyn as she exits after you - she's going to have to stay close to you, since you aren't able to use any weapons now that you're carrying Kayla, and you're sure she knows this.
"Watch out!" Kayla shouts suddenly, and you blink, startled, as you turn your gaze away from Krisalyn and forward to see that deadheads are already upon you, swarming around the store and snapping at you with their horrible, rotted jaws. Shit. You guess they were closer than you thought they were. Before you can even react, one has grabbed you by the shoulder, trying to pull you closer, and you cry out as you struggle, trying to angle your body so that you can at least protect Kayla, though you're thrashing hard enough that at least for now, you haven't been bitten. Behind you, you can hear Krisalyn gasp and the sounds of a struggle; she's probably been grabbed, too, since the two of you were so busy trying to make sure the others were okay.
"Help!" Kayla calls, and at first you don't know who she's talking to before a moment later a bat comes down hard upon the head of the deadhead you're desperately struggling against. It falls, grip going loose, but more are quick to replace it. You glance to see who's saved you and see that it's Aaron. Thankfully, it looks like he'd stayed behind to make sure that you got out okay.
"Run!" he tells you. Normally, you'd probably protest and try to help him, but you've got Kayla to worry about, so you no and start moving into the crowd of dead. Through the dust, you can see Pun and the others to your right, trying to get through, with Ouma and Ursula helping clear out the area so they can get out. So they didn't abandon you. You guess Ouma wouldn't, what with you, Fabián and Krisalyn having stayed behind.
You move to follow them, hoping to eventually get to the edge of the herd and out - but there's a surprising amount of dust being kicked up around you, and you're already starting to have trouble breathing. You curse yourself for not realizing this could happen - there's a lot of deadheads about, so of course there'd be dust - and for your asthma, which until now hadn't been a problem in the apocalypse. You'd never had attacks from running or physical exertion, and it hadn't usually bothered you even before all of this started - but you guess the dust is too much for your body to handle, and as it is you can feel your airways closing up as you cough and wheeze, still struggling to push past the dead.
"Blair? Are you okay?" Kayla asks you worriedly, but you simply nod your head in an attempt to reassure her, knowing that speaking isn't a good idea. For now, you're able to keep running, following Ouma and the others; but you can feel your chest start to tighten, and the muscles in your neck are tightening too. You've got to get out fast before Kayla gets hurt.
Even as you think that, one of the dead hits you from the side, moaning horribly in its hunger, and you gasp, falling and letting go of Kayla in the process. There's simply too many of them and too much dust for you to get out without a hitch - if you could speak, you'd curse at the realization. Gasping for breath, you try and push yourself up so you can get to Kayla where she's rolled a few feet away; she's the only thing on your mind right now, even higher than your own safety.
But before you can get up, one of the dead is on top of you, and you're barely able to keep its mouth away from your neck as you struggle. You can't even speak to call for help. It's then you realize that this is your end - you spent too much time worrying about the others, and now you're paying for it. You only hope that Kayla is able to get up and out of the herd in time.
Then a bat hits the deadhead in the head, and it rolls off of you. Aaron pulls you up right afterwards, and you look immediately to Kayla, who screams as two of the dead are on top of her, one grabbing for her leg and the other snapping its jaws near her neck as she tries to push it away.
An expert arrow lodges itself in that one's head then, and Kayla is able to push it off. Aaron reaches her right afterwards, killing the deadhead at her feet with his bat and helping her up to start running. Though she is limping, Aaron helps her, and the two are able to move quickly towards the edge of the herd, not even that far now. Meanwhile, Krisalyn reaches your side, bow still aimed in front of her as she ushers you forward, though she stays close to you.
Together, the two of you make it out of the herd just after Aaron and Kayla, though your chest is still tight from your asthma attack, and follow them and the others as they move off of the road and to the left, towards an open hilly area. On the other side of the road, you can see a forest - but you know you aren't out of danger yet, and the herd is likely still following you, so trying to run among the trees could probably end badly.
You only run for about a minute before you see that the others have stopped just ahead of you. Even just that minute has given you a lot of distance between the dead and yourselves, so you're sure that Ouma just wants to stop and do a bite check like he usually does after a run in with the dead before you all move on. Krisalyn and you are side by side with Aaron and Kayla now, on account of her limping, so you reach the others at the same time.
"Is everyone alright?" Fabián asks as soon as you're all there, and you nod, though you're still gasping a little. You're starting to breathe easier, though, now that the dust is behind you, though you doubt running so much is helping.
"Did anyone get bitten?" Ouma asks, as per usual, and you hold your breath for a second, worried. So far, no one has ever had to answer yes - but after what happened during the second week of all this, you're wary anyway.
At first, a chorus of "no"s and silence greets you, and you start to relax. Then, amidst the silence, a small voice speaks up and breaks it.
"I was."
It's Kayla. Horrified, you turn to look at her with wide eyes, as she raises the pant leg of her sprained ankle to show a nasty-looking bite just below the bandage. There are tears visible in her eyes, and as you meet her gaze, disbelieving, they spill over and she starts to cry, though she does so quietly.
"No," Krisalyn murmurs from beside you, as you feel tears start to spill onto your own cheeks.
"Oh my god," you gasp as you move to Kayla's side, though you don't touch her, don't get too close - you feel disgusting, hanging back like you are, but you're scared, so so scared after what happened before. Still, you look down at her leg with horror, taking in the wound as you feel your chest tighten again for a whole other reason. "This can't be happening," you whisper, not entirely intending for the words to be spoken aloud at all. "Not again."
"Fuck," Melanie says, and you can hear the horror in her voice, too. While she'd never liked you, she'd always been fond of Kayla.
You feel sick.
"You were bitten?" Aaron asks quietly, though it sounds more like it's just from disbelief than actually doubting it. He can see the bite as well as you can. You guess he hadn't seen it when he'd picked her up.
"W-When Blair fell," Kayla whispers through her tears. You feel a stab of guilt at her words. This was you - your fault. You did this. You've doomed her. After you promised to watch her...
(( EDIT - wont let me post the full part. hold on a second ))
( Sorry about that, it wouldn't let me post the full thing! So here's the end of the part.)
part 2/2
You don't know if you can take this. You can't... you can't deal with it... you put your head in your hands, crying into them as silently as you can, while you hear the others chatter around you. You know that soon you will have to move - the herd is going to reach you - but for now, all you can think about is Kayla ... and what happened before, all those weeks ago, in the first weeks, though you've been trying to forget it. You can't now, not after this. First your mother and your little sister... now Kayla. You don't know if you're going to be able to handle it anymore.
"What if we... cut it off?" You move your hands away from your face, shocked. It's Devin who's spoke. "It's on her leg. It could save her."
"We don't know that," Ursula says softly, but her voice is doubtful, and already you're looking at Kayla's leg again, eyes wide. You know that amputation is, at least, an option in the case of severe infection normally in order to save a person... Who's to say that it can't work here?
"She's only a child!" Krisalyn says, and you can hear the grief in her voice, too. "We can't do that to her! Not when we don't know if it'll even work!"
"Shouldn't we try?" Fabián asks quietly.
"... Blair?" Kayla speaks in a small, trembling voice, looking at you. You blink at her, wiping at your face with one hand. You have to be strong for her. "I... If you think I should... then do it," she continues, though she looks scared even at her own words. "If it will save me, do it."
Your breath catches for a moment as you stare at her, stricken. You don't... you don't know what to do, not now. Amputating the limb could save her, and the dead aren't upon you yet; it'd only be a matter of carrying her away afterwards, and someone else could likely do that.
But... you have no way of knowing if it works, and if it doesn't, you've subjected her to an agony she didn't need to live with. And if you can't stop the bleeding enough, she might even die from blood loss, though you're hopefully skilled enough to stop it in time. Even if she lives, and it works... she'll be without a limb forever, having to be carried or find another way to get around.
You bite your lip in your uncertainty as she continues to look into your eyes, her own teary and sad. She's trusting your decision here... but you aren't even sure if you can make the right one.
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.]
[It's too risky. We leave it.]
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.] YOLO!
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.]
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.] risky business man
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.]
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.]
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.]
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.] We have to try
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.]
Oh darn!
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.]
[It's too risky. We leave it.]
Join me fellas! We will do it!
[Okay, Kayla. We cut it off.]
[Okay Kayla, we cut it off.]
[We cut it off.]
"Oh, god," you whisper, closing your eyes for a moment, unable to continue staring into Kayla's own. But even if you've blocked out what you're seeing, you can't block out the reality of the situation - it's this or nothing. Kayla will die if you don't attempt this. She might die even if you do, but... at least you'll be giving her a chance.
"I'm so sorry," you tell her quietly as you open your eyes again, trying to keep your voice from trembling. "This is... going to hurt."
"I-I know," she stammers, and squeezes her own shut. "Just do it, quickly. Those deadheads will be here soon."
You waste no time in retrieving what you'll need from your pack and your first aid kit - a blade, an emergency tourniquet, a bottle of oxy, plenty of bandages, and a surgical needle and thread. "I'm sorry," you say again, and then you sit Kayla down and roll her pant leg up further than it is already. You'll have to make the cut high, seeing as it's already been over a minute... just to be safe. You have to do what you can to try and save her. You place the tourniquet around her thigh to prepare her leg for amputation, then pause to grab for the bottle of oxy.
"Take these," you tell Kayla, handing her a few. You know they won't start working fast enough, but eventually they will hopefully help her. You can only hope she'll make it that far. She swallows the pills as you move your attention back to her leg.
"I'm sorry, Kayla," you say one last time, in preparation, before you place the sharp edge of the blade about mid-thigh, below the tourniquet. Then, without another word, you begin to cut.
She screams immediately and thrashes, only making the blade sink in farther, and Ouma and Aaron quickly stoop to hold her down. She's crying now as you cut deeper and deeper, not stopping for anything, until finally, you can see the bone exposed. Then you flip her so you can make the same cut on the other side. You block out her frantic sobbing and screaming as you do so, trying to ignore the fact that you are causing her perhaps the worst pain she will ever feel. No - not perhaps. Certainly.
It isn't easy work, not by any means, and it takes you upwards of half a minute to get both sides cut down enough so that the bone is the only thing in your way. Your hands are wet with her blood, which is spilling faster and faster onto the grass below. You begin to saw at the bone now, hoping to cut through it as quickly as possible so that you can sew the wound up and get it bandaged.
Her screams are the worst thing you think you've ever heard, shrill and agonized - if the dead weren't after you before, they certainly are now.
Finally, the limb is severed, and it falls to the ground only a few inches below without hardly a sound - or maybe you just can't hear it because of all the screaming in your ears.
"Blair!" comes Krisalyn's frantic voice. "Hurry up!" You can only guess that the dead must be coming.
You're sewing the wound closed as fast as you can, trying to keep your trembling, blood-slicked hands steady enough to do so quickly and neatly. It's hard to get it to close, but eventually you manage it using the Glover's stitch you remember being shown in nursing school. Ha. Nursing school. Your chest feels cold at the thought; you're a nurse, not a surgeon. What are you doing?
"BLAIR!" Ursula shouts, and you hear a gun go off at the same time that the moans of the dead reach your ears, audible to you now probably because Kayla's screaming has died down into silence instead. She's passed out. You bandage up her leg, hands shaking out of control now, and then as soon as you've tied the bandage you're yanked upwards by Krisalyn, who shoves you forwards harshly and yells at you to run. You glance behind you, desperate to see if Kayla is alright, and see that Aaron has already picked her up and is breaking into a run - and that there is a deadhead standing right where you were stooped just seconds earlier. Briefly, the thought of the ACE bandage still wrapped around Kayla's severed leg crosses your mind, but you push it away as you realize the silliness of worrying about that of all things. There are numerous dead ones after you, though it doesn't look anywhere close to all of the herd; you guess only a few of them veered off to follow you.
You run then - all of you, sprinting as fast as you can manage, as tired as you are and with two injured people among you. You notice that Pun seems to have woken up by this time - probably from all the screaming Kayla has done - but that Fabián, Jen and Devin are still carrying him, probably because they don't want to risk reopening his gut wound.
It's a long time before you all finally stop running, and you pass a few roads and fences before you do, telling you you've run quite a ways. Eventually, you spot a building you can possibly take shelter in - you seem to have left the dead long behind you - and Ouma appears to have spotted it, too, as he gestures for you all to stop as you reach it.
As you come to a stop, you all pause a moment to catch your breath, and you glance at Kayla as you do; she's still unconscious in Aaron's arms, but she hasn't reanimated, and you don't see any blood leaking out of the stump you've left behind. Hopefully your suturing skills are good enough to hold.
Stephany breaks the silence, looking up at the building you've all stopped in front of with wide eyes. "It looks like the farm," she says.
"It's just a stables," Jen tells her quietly, "Where a lot of the horses around here might have been kept, other than all of these fields." You look around, as do the others, at the mention of horses - but there are none to be seen. You hate to think about it, but... they've probably been eaten by now. By the living or by the dead, you don't know.
"Then we can rest here for a while," Devin suggests. "All of us. You've helped us a lot, so we'd like to stick with you folks. Return the favor, if we can." You can't read his expression, but you can't help but wonder how much he means what he says. After all, didn't he mention a sister he'd been separated from back at the farm? Shouldn't he want to go find her? Or, you think, maybe he's worried about Pun, considering he's still recovering from his gunshot wound. You don't know.
Ouma looks skeptical for a brief moment, but then wipes his expression clean of his suspicion almost immediately afterward. "Maybe," is all he says.
"What about Jack and the others?" Stephany asks Devin softly. "We still need to find them."
Jen looks away. "We ... do. But Pun's hurt, also. If..." She turns her gaze to you now, an almost pleading expression in her eyes although her tone is ambivalent. "If someone were to help us, maybe we could check the farm for them. Before it's too late." When you stare at her, not speaking up, she goes on, "That ... herd looked like it was headed to the farm, though I'm sure it will take a while before it gets there. I'm sure we have quite a bit of time, but..."
"But maybe we should go back to check there as soon as possible," Devin finishes for her when she trails off. "You're right. And if anyone's still there, we need to warn them." He sighs then, also shooting you a glance as he does. You're starting to feel like they're expecting you to help them - maybe after all the kindness you've shown them already. But you, nor anyone else in your group, speaks up. "But we can't both go and leave Pun alone... if there's no one else who can help us, we'll have to wait til tomorrow."
You sigh.
"Fine. I'll go with you to help look." [Volunteer]
[Remain silent]
"Fine. I'll go with you to help look." [Volunteer]
"Fine. I'll go help you to look.
(?) Silence is a valid option.
[Remain silent]
"Fine. I'll go with you to help look." [Volunteer]
A hero from one scene to another. At least I can enjoy my silence.
[Remain silent]
[Remain silent]
"Fine. I'll go with you to help look." [Volunteer]
Looks like it's a tie...
"Fine. I'll go with you to help look." [Volunteer]
damn I have some catching up to do......
[Remain silent]
"Fine. I'll go with you to help look." [Volunteer]