[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]
Uh... so, sorry about taking so long on the next chapter, but... this is still a tie, I think? So... I may just end up flipping a coin. Yeah. Sorry about that. I never expected a tie! So... expect the next chapter "soon."
Uh... so, sorry about taking so long on the next chapter, but... this is still a tie, I think? So... I may just end up flipping a coin. Yeah. Sorry about that. I never expected a tie! So... expect the next chapter "soon."
I'm sorry He was a brave soul. You can submit another character, if you'd like! ( If you mention in one of the boxes that you're the one wh… moreo submitted Miguel, I might even introduce your character earlier than otherwise, because it was kind of unfair that he had to die so soon )
Sorry for all the delays, the next chapter is done - but I'm not sure if I should post it or not right now, because of the hype surrounding No Going Back. I would assume that most people are either a) caught up in the episode / discussion or b) not on the forums to avoid spoilers. What do you think? Should I post it, or wait a day or two?
Lol, it's like a choice.
[Post the new part today] or [Wait til the No Going Back hype dies down]?
Uh... so, sorry about taking so long on the next chapter, but... this is still a tie, I think? So... I may just end up flipping a coin. Yeah. Sorry about that. I never expected a tie! So... expect the next chapter "soon."
Sorry for all the delays, the next chapter is done - but I'm not sure if I should post it or not right now, because of the hype surrounding … moreNo Going Back. I would assume that most people are either a) caught up in the episode / discussion or b) not on the forums to avoid spoilers. What do you think? Should I post it, or wait a day or two?
Lol, it's like a choice.
[Post the new part today] or [Wait til the No Going Back hype dies down]?
Sorry for all the delays, the next chapter is done - but I'm not sure if I should post it or not right now, because of the hype surrounding … moreNo Going Back. I would assume that most people are either a) caught up in the episode / discussion or b) not on the forums to avoid spoilers. What do you think? Should I post it, or wait a day or two?
Lol, it's like a choice.
[Post the new part today] or [Wait til the No Going Back hype dies down]?
Worst thing that could happen is people not voting until the hype dies down.
I for example won't be able to play it until saturday (have to avoid everything on the forum except the forum games section) and would like to have something to read in the meantime.
Sorry for all the delays, the next chapter is done - but I'm not sure if I should post it or not right now, because of the hype surrounding … moreNo Going Back. I would assume that most people are either a) caught up in the episode / discussion or b) not on the forums to avoid spoilers. What do you think? Should I post it, or wait a day or two?
Lol, it's like a choice.
[Post the new part today] or [Wait til the No Going Back hype dies down]?
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of your status as the only real 'medical expert' in the group - they both look somewhat sheepish for a moment, before nodding at Krisalyn.
"Thank you," Jen tells her. "We really appreciate your help."
"I can go also," Fabián volunteers, looking determined. "I'd like to help too."
"And me," Aaron says softly, though he's looking somewhat subdued. Probably because of what's happened to Kayla, still unconscious in his arms. You... don't want to think about it, really. You don't know if you can live with yourself if she dies... especially because you know it will be your fault. Twice over, even - first for letting her get bitten, and second for failing to save her with the amputation.
Ouma looks unhappy with the idea of three of the group going to help, but he doesn't say anything about it, likely because he's made it a point so far to not act as a dictator with you all. Instead, he steps forward to Aaron, nodding to him. "Here," he says. "Hand her to me. I'll get her into the stables where she can lie down." Aaron passes her over to him without a word.
"Stephany," Jen says then, turning to the girl, who's staring at her with wide, frightened eyes. It strikes you then that they're close to being the same height; despite Jen having to act as the adult, you doubt she's much older than the other girl, maybe 2 or 3 years at the most. "Stephany, can you stay here and ... watch Pun? You can help Blair take care of him, okay?" Pun, meanwhile, is sitting on the ground where he's been set by the others; he still seems to be awake and conscious, though he still appears somewhat out of it, likely still from the sheer amount of blood he's lost - or maybe just delirium from the pain of the wound in general. You make a note to give him some oxy, if there's any to spare.
You nod your approval at Stephany, though it's shaky. "Yes, you can help me," you tell her. "I do have two patients to take care of."
"Okay," she says, sounding uncertain.
"Here," Devin says, handing her a pistol from his back pocket. "Hold onto this." Jen glances at him, like she wants to say something about it, but doesn't. Stephany looks shocked but appreciative at being given a weapon.
"Thanks," she replies, though she still doesn't smile, instead nodding at him with a sober expression.
"Alright," Devin says. "We'll be off, then - the sooner the better." He turns to start to leave. "Come on," he says to the others, "We can take the long way around, so we can avoid the herd..." He continues to talk to them as they walk off, but you've tuned him out now. Instead, you turn to face Ouma, who is already starting to walk towards the stables, carrying Kayla. You stoop to help up Pun, who, with your help, is able to be moved into the stables as well to rest some more. Melanie and Ursula follow you all inside, probably out of concern for Kayla, though you know someone will have to go back out to stand watch later.
Pun sits down near the first 'stall,' while Ouma carries Kayla towards the back of the stables - you suppose it's in case she... no, again, you can't let yourself think about that. Right now, the priority is to make sure it doesn't happen. "Keep an eye on her, okay?" you call to Ouma as Melanie and Ursula move to follow him. "I'm going to change his bandages."
Pun gives you a grateful look as you raise his shirt slightly to inspect the bandages, meanwhile removing your first aid kit from your pack yet again. You're starting to run a little low on the supplies in here, but your group does have three other first aid kits to spare once you do use this one - Krisalyn, Ouma, and Melanie all carry one as well. As you look at the bandages around the wound, you can see that it's bled through and soaked the bandages in the front, at least, though not majorly - and in the back, where you sutured the exit wound, there's no blood to be seen. That's good, at least. You waste no time in unwrapping the bandages and grabbing some new ones off of the roll.
"Thank you for this," Pun says suddenly, surprising you a little. His voice sounds raspy from disuse. "You're a good person. I know we didn't give you a lot of reason to want to help us." You glance at him as you start to apply the fresh bandages to the wound, a little impressed that he doesn't wince at the contact. "Or to waste any supplies on us. We owe you."
After a while of silence, you realize he likely expects you to speak. You frown, considering your words carefully as you finish bandaging him up and lower his shirt yet again. "We helped you because we wanted to," you tell him at last, thinking back on what Devin said earlier. "Nothing else. I don't expect you to 'repay' me for this. That's unrealistic." You doubt Ouma would be happy with your words, but he's not around to overhear them. All the better. Without waiting for Pun's response, you rise from your kneeling position, dipping your head briefly at him.
"Get some rest," you say, turning and making your way to where Kayla and the others are. You feel his eyes on you as you go, but you don't turn back to look.
When you reach where Ouma, Melanie, and Ursula are stooped, you stay standing for a while, staring as you take in the situation. It finally starts to hit you, the severity of it all - you've been trying to forget about it, to not think, but... Kayla could still die. She... probably will die. Tears prick your eyes at the realization, but you say nothing, only look at her form, looking smaller than usual (a difficult feat, considering she's so small in the first place) curled up on the ground where she's been laid. Ouma is sitting beside her, and you take careful note of the gun he's got in his hands. Probably because ... he's worried that she'll turn. You feel sick thinking about it.
"Do you think she'll wake up soon?" Ursula asks you softly, from where she and Melanie are sitting on the other side of Kayla. Even Melanie appears subdued; she's not giving you her usual glare, just staring down at Kayla with sad eyes.
"I don't know," you admit. "She... passed out, but... we might have been too late. Or it might not have worked at all... She probably won't ma--"
"Don't say that," Melanie says abruptly, jerking her head to look at you now. Her glare isn't present, but she does have a very steely expression. "You can't give up hope. Once the doctor's given up hope, the patient's fucked, yeah?"
You blink at her. "Ah... you're right. Sorry." Moving closer, you sink to the ground near Kayla's feet, sighing as you look at her. You'd like to spend some time alone now, if you can... with Kayla, you guess, though she isn't really conscious. "I'll watch over her for as long as it takes. You guys can go outside, if you want... I'll call you in if anything changes."
Ursula nods, catching your drift. "Yeah. We'll... give you some space." She rises, as does Melanie, and the two start off towards the exit; Ouma has stood up, too, but he pauses, moving to you and stopping.
"Blair," he says to you, quietly but firmly. "Take this." He's handing you the pistol, meeting your eyes with an unreadable expression. "It'll be a lot ... quicker than your shotgun. If... something does change." You know what he's implying. You'd definitely rather it happen fast, if it means Kayla doesn't have to experience any unnecessary pain.
"Right," you reply, taking it from him. "You can take this, then. I don't want you to be without a gun." You remove the shotgun from your back, holding it out for him to take in exchange. He nods once, grabs it, and then turns and exits the stables.
Once he's gone, you turn back to look at Kayla, scooting to her side so you can grab one of her hands briefly. It's warm. You feel... you aren't really sure what you feel, anymore, now. After a moment, you release her hand, realizing that she isn't going to wake up anytime soon.
You can't believe you allowed this to happen... after you promised to keep her safe. At the same time, you aren't even certain you have the right to feel this grief-stricken; Kayla isn't your daughter, though you were supposed to be keeping her safe for her. You just... you guess it's a culmination of a lot of things, this grief. Losing your family before this, then possibly losing her... she's all you have left, now.
You pause. No, you remind yourself. You have the group, too. You know that if something does happen... they'll support you. You can't forget that. You have to be strong.
You look back at Kayla's face, looking pained even in sleep, and sigh.
You aren't a good judge of time, but at least a few hours pass while you sit by Kayla's side - maybe three or four, at least. You aren't even really sure what you've been doing the whole time - just sort of sitting there, lost in thought and memories, all while waiting to see if anything changes. You can't say it's a bad thing, getting to sit and just reflect on everything - all that's happened so far, and other things, too. 'Reflection time' can be hard to come by nowadays, anyway.
You're still aware of Pun's presence in the stables as well, but he hasn't spoken to you the whole time, though you've glanced back to check on him a few times; he's probably doing the same as you to pass the time. You remember suddenly that you never did give him that oxy, though you aren't sure you should now. If he needed it at any time, it was before now. He can likely make do without it, and using it when others might need it more could be a mistake.
You look at Kayla, still unconscious despite so many hours passing. You guess the blood loss and the amputation affected her very badly - that, or her body is fighting whatever amount of infection got into it before you managed to chop off her leg. The pained expression has dropped from her face, likely as she'd gone into a deeper sleep - you keep having to check to make sure she's breathing, just in case. But so far, she hasn't stopped - and laying still like this has kept her... wound from opening back up, for now at least. You're grateful for that, and grateful that your makeshift stitching job has held.
On a whim, you lean forward, stretching out one hand to lay it gently against her cheek - then freeze.
It's subtle, but you can still feel it - her skin is warm, warmer than usual, and quickly you move your hand up to her forehead to check again. Yes... she has a fever. And she does look very pale - though you'd previously attributed that to the blood loss. Your stomach drops.
Could she be turning after all?
You don't want to consider it, but you know you have to. On the one hand... there are plenty of reasons for a fever, such as an infection other than the 'deadhead' one caused simply by the amputation itself (it definitely wasn't in the most sterile conditions), or even that her body is really fighting a small amount of the infection that 'got through' before you amputated... But deep down, part of you wonders if it's even right of you to hope. It was at least a full minute before you chopped off the leg... who knows if it was fast enough?
And you remember this. You know these symptoms. She's pale, and she's feverish... judging by what happened to your mother, you're pretty sure that if she really is turning, it could happen any moment, if you're unlucky - in an hour, maybe, if you are.
You wonder if you should tell the group. Something has, after all, changed... but you know that if you do, you likely won't get a choice in the matter. Kayla will probably be... put down. Your group doesn't normally like to take chances, and the only people who typically object to this, Fabián and Aaron, are gone. If you tell ... there's a good chance that you'll have to ... shoot her. Now, maybe... or soon, at least. Before she wakes back up.
But if you don't tell... if she does end up turning, the group might be unhappy with you for not telling them. And you'd definitely be taking a risk by keeping the information to yourself. It's possible you might lose their trust for hiding something like this... they might assume that you're broken, if you fail to tell them the truth in a situation that's this close to you.
But is taking that risk worth the possibility of Kayla ... getting better?
You ... don't know. You aren't sure what to do, if you should tell them or stay silent...
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[Stay silent, for now. You can wait it out on your own, in case she isn't turning after all.]
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for… more doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of … [view original content]
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for… more doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of … [view original content]
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for… more doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of … [view original content]
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for… more doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of … [view original content]
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for… more doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of … [view original content]
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for… more doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of … [view original content]
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for… more doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of … [view original content]
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for… more doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of … [view original content]
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for… more doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of … [view original content]
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a paragraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to him - he's still awake also. "Do you have a gun?" you ask him quietly, and when he nods, retrieving it, you turn back to face the door again. "Good," you murmur. "Keep that with you. Kayla might..." You trail off, unable to voice the worry, but when he is silent, you know that he has understood. Without another word exchanged between the two of you, you exit the stables, sliding the door shut behind you, and make your way to where you can see Ouma and Melanie 'stationed' out front. You guess Ursula is out back, keeping watch in that direction - and Stephany is likely with her as well, as you told her earlier you'd call her if you needed her help and that she didn't have to linger.
"Ouma," you call out softly as you approach, and he and his sister both turn to look at you. You don't say anything else until you reach their side, and you find you can't meet their eyes.
"What is it?" Ouma prompts you before you can summon up the courage to speak. "Did something happen?"
"It's Kayla," you tell him sadly. "She... something's changed."
Melanie looks at you apprehensively, and after a moment of hesitation, she's the one to break the brief silence. "What do you mean by that? She's not... she hasn't turned, has she?"
"No," you say, shaking your head. "She's... not yet. But she ... she has a fever. The same symptom that..."
You falter then, still unable, even after your recent reflection, to broach the subject of your lost love ones aloud. Thankfully, Ouma seems to understand you, and he puts a hand on your shoulder as if to shake you from your stupor. You'd think the gesture was meant to be comforting, but his grip is too firm for it to really be - more like he's trying to ground you, keep you tethered to the world despite everything you've lost - and might be losing. "Blair," he says. "You know what this means."
You swallow thickly, then nod, vision blurring a little as tears well up in your eyes again. "I do."
"Now hold on," Melanie says as Ouma removes his hand from your shoulder. "We don't know if --"
"We can't take any chances," Ouma tells her. "Not after what happened before. You know that."
Melanie looks troubled at his words. "Ouma...," she starts, but before she can continue to protest, a shout makes all of you whip around.
"Blair!"
It's Krisalyn, and the others are with her - Fabián, Jen, Aaron and Devin - plus two other people you've never seen before, who stop a ways away, lingering on the hill as the others move towards you. They're too far to make out very clearly, but you can see that it's a man and a woman, both fairly tall and resembling each other somewhat in build - they could be related.
As Krisalyn and the others reach you, you see the defeated looks on many of their faces - though Fabián and Krisalyn, at least, look somewhat happier.
"What happened?" Ouma asked. "Are those members of your group?"
"No," Jen says sadly. "We didn't find them."
"What happened?" you ask them, repeating Ouma's words. "And who are those people?"
"We got back to the farm," Devin replies. "And it looked like... whatever happened to our group, they're gone. The bandits probably..." He looks behind you, seeing Ursula approaching with Stephany - they'd heard the commotion and were coming around to join you all, then - and trails off. "Well, they're gone," he finishes, quieter. "There was a man there... we thought he was a bandit, so we ran, but he chased us, kept yelling something..."
"The farm won't be safe for much longer, at any rate," Devin continues. "The herd was getting close, last we saw... Our group ... wherever they went, it's probably too late to find them... at least immediately." He looks down, gaze unreadable. You think you understand what he means - he hasn't given up hope, then, not completely, on finding... who was it that he was worried about in particular? His sister? You aren't sure, but you doubt he would give up on her, or his group, that easily. And though you don't really know either of them, you doubt that Jen would either.
"Then who are they?" Melanie asks, staring skeptically out at the two waiting on the hill.
"That's another story entirely," Krisalyn tells her, as Ursula and Stephany reach you all. "We met them on our way back. Say their names are Miki and Dick. They're from a community up north, apparently."
"A community?" Ursula murmurs, eyes widening.
"Yeah," Fabián says. "They say it's safe there. That deadheads don't get in. And they asked..." He pauses, looking around at all of you. "They asked us if we would consider joining them. All of us."
"What?" Melanie asks sharply.
"We can let them 'pitch' it to you," Aaron says. "I'll go tell them to come over." He starts off back towards the two strangers, while Jen turns to you.
"Is Pun up?" she asks. "He needs to hear this too." You nod, and silently she moves off to the stables to go fetch him, hurrying. You don't feel completely right leaving Kayla in the stables alone, but... if it's only for a moment, you suppose it's fine.
By the time the strangers have been spoken to and sheperded over to your little 'gathering,' the door is sliding shut again as Pun and Jen move to rejoin you as well. You take a moment while they do so to look over the two strangers; the female is slim and slender with short curly brown hair, and she's covered in the various dirt and grime that seems to accumulate on anyone nowadays - but beneath it, you can see her face is kind, and her blue eyes meet yours for a brief moment. The man beside her does resemble her, even up close, though he's taller and much more muscular, with black, greying hair and a mustache on his face.
As soon as Pun and Jen have rejoined you, the two strangers glance at each other briefly - then the woman speaks.
"Hello," she says softly. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm Miki Jane Cartwright." She extends a hand towards Ouma, who has taken the spot at the 'front' of the line, as if to shake. He shakes it after a moment, but still looks cautious.
"Dick Fraser Cartwright," the other stranger supplies, and you suppose he is probably her dad. "We're from a community up north, though I suppose your friends already told you that. And we're looking for good people to come join us."
"You said this place is safe?" Melanie asks him suspiciously.
"Yes," Miki tells her with a nod. "It is. We've got many good people already, and plenty of food - and we have a doctor, too. It looks like you guys could use one..." She's looking at Pun as she says it, probably noticing the profuse amount of blood on his clothes.
"We have a doctor, too," Ursula says defensively, as she gives you a glance. When a few others of your group turn to look at you, also, Miki and Dick do too, obviously catching on that you're the 'doctor' they're speaking of. (Nurse, you'd usually correct them, but...)
"Oh," Miki says. "Well, that's good. I'm sure Dylan and Katherine would appeciate the help... I mean, if you're willing to come with us. I help them out as it is, though only with the herbal remedies - I like plants, so..." As she trails off, she looks around at everyone - and everyone's attention is on her. From the way she's talking, somewhat awkwardly, you get the feeling that this woman isn't normally so talkative - probably she's been assigned to go convince new people to join the group without much choice in the matter. But she does seem genuine, from what you can tell - as does her father. Still...
"We can keep you safe there," Dick says. "I know you have children in your group--" he glances at Stephany, Jen and Aaron in turn - "-- and we have some in our community, too. I'm sure you all could find friends there."
"Maybe," Jen replies, nodding. Stephany looks at her with sad eyes.
"What about Jack?" the younger girl asks quietly.
"We couldn't find him," Jen tells her at the same volume. "But maybe if we go with them..."
"Do you send a lot of these 'search parties' out?" Pun asks. Clearly he's considering the possibility, as Jen implied, that their friends might end up in the same place as them if they go.
"Well, not a whole lot, yet," Dick admits. "But there are three out right now - me and Miki, some others looking farther south, and a group of three heading west. We don't have quite enough people to spare yet, but we did come pretty far to find you guys - our leader said some of his old friends lived in Overland Park, so he wanted to see if we could find any of them."
"What's his name?" Krisalyn asks; you guess this is new information for them, even if they'd already heard this spiel earlier.
"Xander," Miki says. No one seems to recognize the name, and you don't either - you've never met anyone with that name, in fact.
"I guess none of you know him, then," Dick sighs. "That's too bad. Was hoping we'd find someone... But that doesn't matter." He puts on a steely expression as he looks to each of you in turn, meeting your eyes. "Listen. We've got to head back tonight - we have a rendezvous with the other group, the one in the south, since they should be heading back already. So if you want to come with us... you have to decide now."
"We won't force you," Miki says. "It's your choice. But maybe ... maybe if you come with us, you can find your friends?"
"Yeah, maybe you're right," Devin replies after a pause, looking like he's made up his mind.
"As good a chance as any, I guess," Pun says - though he looks a little more unsure than Devin does.
One by one, a few others voice their opinions - Fabián and Aaron for going, Ouma and Melanie for staying, then...
"I want to go," Krisalyn says. "This could be our chance. Why should we keep living out here like this when there's a better way? Someplace safe?"
You look at her with wide eyes. You're still undecided - but Krisalyn... she's going?
You look around at the others as a silence falls over the group, and you realize you should probably make a decision too. But so far... Ouma and Melanie want to stay, and Ursula also looks skeptical; Fabián, Krisalyn, Devin and Aaron all seem to want to go... and there are still others who, like you, still seem uncertain. It looks like this might split the group up for good - no matter what you choose.
You turn back to look at the stables, where all is still silent. Kayla... she could be safe there. If she survives this, then... how safe will she be, out here, with one leg?
But... she might also turn. You still don't know. And you don't even know if you can trust these people. Would it be worth it to split up the group to follow them?
"I think we should all go. We can always leave later if we want to." [Try to convince the others]
"I want to go, too. If you guys don't want to go, you don't have to." [Agree yourself]
"I don't think this a good idea. I'm staying." [Decline]
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a parag… moreraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to hi… [view original content]
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a parag… moreraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to hi… [view original content]
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a parag… moreraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to hi… [view original content]
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a parag… moreraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to hi… [view original content]
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a parag… moreraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to hi… [view original content]
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a parag… moreraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to hi… [view original content]
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a parag… moreraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to hi… [view original content]
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a parag… moreraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to hi… [view original content]
Lol... soon! :PP Well, I'm trying to incorporate new characters as fast as possible... but I also want it to make sense within the story, you know? That said... there will be more new characters, soon
"Krisalyn's right," you say finally, looking down at your feet. "What kind of life is this? I want to go... and I think we all should." When a few of the others look at you with apprehension, you go on; "This could be our only chance to go back to a normal life. Aren't you tired of having to live like this?" you try. You'd like to convince them to go, too... Splitting up the group is the last thing you want to do. "Besides - we can always leave later, if we really want to. Right?" You look to Miki for affirmation as you speak the last word, and she nods, as if agreeing with you. At least you all will have the option of leaving later, then, if you want to.
"Maybe you're right," Ursula sighs, crossing her arms. "Lord knows we're all tired of all this..."
"I promise you won't have to deal with the kind of things I'm sure you've had to see so far if you join us," Dick says, dipping his head as he does. "Brookhaven - our community - is safe. The building is pretty well fortified, and we have a lot of food. Your children can have easier lives there."
"Is there really worth splitting the group up over?" Fabián murmurs. "This place sounds like a dream. I think Blair has a point. We all should go."
Ouma and Melanie still look skeptical of the idea of joining, but judging by their expressions, Jen, Pun, Ursula and Stephany have all decided that they want to go, too. Finally, Ouma sighs, raising his head to meet the strangers' eyes.
"Do I have your word that my group will be safe there?" he asks firmly, and you notice that he hasn't isolated Jen, Devin, Pun and Stephany from 'your group' in his words - but it's also possible that he doesn't want to seem separated in front of the strangers. You might not know Pun and the others yet, but without knowing if you can trust these Brookhaven people yet, he's probably right - it'd be best to appear as unified as possible, even if you aren't exactly 'one unit' just yet.
"Of course," Miki says. "We promise. You can trust us."
Ouma stares at her for a long while, as if trying to evaluate if she's lying, before he nods, though he still looks reluctant. "Alright," he agrees. "Then... I'll go, too. The group should stay together." He glances at Melanie as he says this, as if silently telling her that yes, he expects her to come with him, too. (Though you're sure she would anyway - she is his sister, after all.) She doesn't say anything, just frowns back at him.
"But if you're lying...," Ouma continues to the strangers quietly, but Dick cuts him off.
"We aren't," he says. "You don't have to worry."
Ouma only nods, though he still doesn't look totally convinced. You don't blame him - while you're hoping this will all turn out okay, it still does seem a little too good to be true. You have to be careful.
"But--" Melanie starts, then stops herself. You can see where her eyes have gone, though - she's looking at the stables, where Kayla is presumably still sleeping... if she hasn't turned.
Pun seems to notice her gaze. "Last I saw, she was fine. Still sleeping."
"You have someone else with you?" Dick asks, raising an eyebrow.
"A little girl," Pun tells him.
"Her name is Kayla," Aaron says. "She... she was bitten." As the strangers both look shocked, you feel a surge of annoyance at Aaron for telling them - but you force it down, knowing that someone would have had to, one way or another.
"What?" Miki asks softly, eyes wide. "How... how long --"
"It's fine," Melanie snaps. "We cut it off. Her leg, I mean... where she was bit. She'll be okay... so long as we can get her somewhere safe." You don't say anything; you'd like to believe that Melanie is right and Kayla will be fine, although you don't miss the sharp look Ouma gives her.
"Brookhaven will take care of her," Dick says, though it sounds a little more hesitant now. "If you're sure she isn't going to turn..."
"She won't!" Ursula interjects, looking troubled.
"And if she does," Ouma sighs, "We'll take care of it."
"Okay," Miki says, nodding. "I guess if we're asking you to trust us, we should trust you on this, too."
"Yeah," Dick agrees. "Okay. We should get going, so someone should go get the girl."
Ouma doesn't look entirely happy with being ordered around, but he makes a noise of agreement, and you start to move towards the stables. As you do, however, Ouma stops you, shaking his head.
"No, Blair," he says. "I'll carry her. I can ... take care of it, if she ends up turning. I'll be careful." You can tell by his tone of voice that he's worrying about you, although you don't know for what reason - if he's worried that you won't react quickly enough to save yourself if Kayla turns, or worried that you won't be able to put her down at all if she does turn. Without waiting for your response, however, he moves off towards the stables, and you stare after him, frowning.
"I'm glad you all decided to come with us," Dick says with a friendly expression.
"Yes, thank you," Miki tells you all. "We could definitely use some new people."
At some of your skeptical expressions, Dick only smiles encouragingly. "You made the right choice."
Looking at each member of your makeshift group, you still can't help but feel unease.
I hope you're right.
SOME TIME LATER.
Eli.
Your name is Elias Aleman, and everyone you care about is dead.
... Well. You guess that isn't entirely true. Zoey and Sorrel are nice enough, and they haven't given you any reason to distrust them so far, not in the couple of weeks you've been with them. And you'd certainly be sad, if they died.
You do care about them - but it isn't the same, not anymore. You don't want to let yourself get too close; after all, it's only a matter of time before they die, too. You know this. Everyone you've met in all of this, and everyone you knew before - they're all dead. Jen, Pun, your parents, Jack, Alice, Rema... You move your fingers out before you, one by one, as if to count, but eventually give up, even as you continue listing off the names of everyone you've lost. Thalia, Markus, E.J., Devin, Dixie, Gabrielle, Aj, Miguel, Dev, Stephany. You don't want to forget them - but at the same time, a part of you does, wants to be numb. You guess you are numb, now, anyway. But still - you can't allow yourself to forget their names, their faces. It's all you have left, now.
You raise your head as you stare out into the forest from your spot perched in the branches of a tree; it's not the same forest, of course, that you'd hunted in before by the farm - you've had two weeks worth of distance put between you and that place by now. You're waiting to see if any animals come by - so you can take them down. After all, you have to eat.
Zoey's lent you her crossbow for the occasion - she'd taught you how to use it, and now when it's your turn to hunt for the day's meal, you're actually fairly good at it. Your aim had never been the best, but with a crossbow, somehow you find it a little easier. You wish you had one of your own - maybe you'll find one somewhere along the way to where you're going. Or, you guess if Zoey dies, you can probably have hers. Who knows.
Maybe thinking so carelessly about Zoey's death is callous, but you don't really care, anymore. When you think about it a little deeper, you guess it's unlikely you'd get her crossbow anyway; that'd probably go to Sorrel, seeing as she's her girlfriend. But maybe Sorrel would want to keep her knives as her weapon of choice. Hmm. That's assuming Sorrel wouldn't leave you at that point - she does seem to tolerate you only because Zoey likes you. Or maybe Sorrel would be dead, too.
Amidst your absent thoughts, you notice suddenly that a fox has strayed out into the clearing beneath you. Without even thinking about it, you draw your crossbow, and within the minute, an arrow has been shot right through the fox's head. It falls, like a puppet with its strings cut, dead. You can't really bring yourself to feel sad about it - you have to eat it to survive.
You jump down from your spot in the tree and move to the fox's body. It's definitely not your meat of choice - you'd had it before, just a day or two after you'd joined Zoey and Sorrel in their trek north, and it was rather dry and not at all tender - but a meal is a meal. And besides, this will feed all three of you fairly well for once. It's a change from only being able to split something small like a hare or a bird every day.
Pulling the arrow out the fox's head and wiping the blood off on your pants, you return it to its proper place in your pack and lift the fox's body over your shoulder, heading off to where your camp is.
When you arrive, you can see that Zoey has already started the fire for your dinner. She looks up as you approach, making a face when she sees what you have.
"Ew," she says. "Fox meat." She shrugs. "Nice catch, though. Good job, Eli."
Nodding, you hand her her bow and her arrows, looking around for Sorrel. Zoey seems to notice your wandering gaze.
"She went out to scout ahead," she explains. "Said we had to get moving sooner than usual tonight. She thought she heard dead behind us, earlier."
"She said that?" you ask skeptically, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, come off it," Zoey replies, waving dismissively at you with one hand. "Sorrel doesn't have as much problem talking to me." She grins a little, looking somewhat smug.
"Yeah, I guess," you say, looking away from her and back off into the forest, in the direction you'd assume Sorrel would have gone if she was trying to scout ahead. In all your time traveling with the two of them, you'd only ever heard Sorrel talk once - and that was when Zoey had been in danger, and she'd had to yell to warn her of the biters coming up behind her. Zoey hadn't been lying when she first met you - Sorrel really didn't talk much.
"Give me that," Zoey says, and you look back at her then, moving forward to hand her the fox off your shoulder. Then you freeze, looking from her to the fire and the pot she's got water boiling in.
"You're cooking?" you ask her, narrowing your eyes.
"Yes, I am," she says with a nod. "What of it?"
"No," is all you say. You cross your arms as you glare at her.
"What? What's the problem, Eli?" she complains, sounding offended.
"No," you repeat. You remember what happened the last time Zoey tried to cook something, and you are not having any of it. "I'll cook it, since Sorrel isn't back yet."
"Come on, I'm not that bad," Zoey huffs. "You know, I had a friend who was a cook. And I don't see you doing any better! Besides, do you even know how to cook fox?"
"No," you admit. "But I'm sure I can manage. Better than you can, anyway." You heft the fox back onto your shoulder, as if making your decision final. Then you move to sit down and begin work on skinning and preparing the thing. Glancing at Zoey as you do, you mutter, "And for the record, I'm a great cook compared to you."
Zoey glares at you, looking like she's about to protest, but then suddenly jerks her head upwards to stare behind you - you turn, seeing that Sorrel has returned. Without so much as a glance at you, she makes some sort of hand gesture to Zoey, as if to say she should follow her. Zoey, looking serious now, looks at you - "I'll be back. Don't get killed," she says, then follows Sorrel off into the woods.
You stare after them for a long moment, a little baffled. "Ooookay," you mumble to yourself as you look back down at the fox. You guess Sorrel needed to show Zoey something she'd seen while scouting ahead. Or something. That is, if they aren't just making out or something. You honestly have no idea.
Shaking your head, you get to work on the meal for all of you, deciding it's better not to worry about it.
By the time Zoey and Sorrel return, you've already finished skinning the fox and cubing some of the meat to put in the pot of water as a makeshift stew; you can't fit all the meat into the pot, so you're also planning to cook some of the other meat, including the legs, over the fire later. It won't keep for long, after all.
Looking up from your work as the two approach, you note that Zoey's lipstick doesn't appear to be smeared (you still don't know why she insists on wearing it in the middle of the apocalypse) - so you guess they weren't just ditching you to make out after all. She looks serious.
"The woods end up ahead," she tells you, and you blink.
"Really?" you reply, not bothering to hide the traces of disbelief in your tone. After all, it seemed like this forest had gone on forever - you're pretty sure almost one whole week, or at least four or five days, out of the two weeks you've spent with Zoey and Sorrel has just been spent in this forest.
"Yep," Zoey says. "Finally. But the thing is -- there's a town up ahead. So maybe we should think about scouting it out for supplies."
"We're not exactly low on them just yet," you say. "What's the alternative?"
"We could go around, and keep going," she tells you. "And it might be better that way - I mean, cities aren't exactly safe anymore, what with all the dead things." She frowns then, looking at Sorrel, who is looking at you with her characteristic glare. "But... it is going to be harder to find food from here on out. Without the woods, it'll probably be harder to hunt for stuff. And you know we don't have a lot of canned stuff left."
"So... you're saying we should search the town?" you reply.
"No," she shakes her head. "I'm just saying we should think about it. There are pros and cons to both options - it might be safer to avoid the dead and keep moving, but we might also be able to find more supplies in the city." She shrugs. "Whatever it is, we do need to make a decision."
You realize that she's asking you to decide - Zoey is pretty indecisive. You sigh, considering both of your options carefully...
[We should search the city. The risk is worth it if it means we might find supplies.]
[We should keep moving. We have enough supplies as it is, and it's going to be dangerous in there.]
[Try to convince the others.]
"Krisalyn's right," you say finally, looking down at your feet. "What kind of life is this? I want to go..… more. and I think we all should." When a few of the others look at you with apprehension, you go on; "This could be our only chance to go back to a normal life. Aren't you tired of having to live like this?" you try. You'd like to convince them to go, too... Splitting up the group is the last thing you want to do. "Besides - we can always leave later, if we really want to. Right?" You look to Miki for affirmation as you speak the last word, and she nods, as if agreeing with you. At least you all will have the option of leaving later, then, if you want to.
"Maybe you're right," Ursula sighs, crossing her arms. "Lord knows we're all tired of all this..."
"I promise you won't have to deal with the kind of things I'm sure you've had to see so far if you join us," Dick says, dipping his head as he does. "Bro… [view original content]
[Try to convince the others.]
"Krisalyn's right," you say finally, looking down at your feet. "What kind of life is this? I want to go..… more. and I think we all should." When a few of the others look at you with apprehension, you go on; "This could be our only chance to go back to a normal life. Aren't you tired of having to live like this?" you try. You'd like to convince them to go, too... Splitting up the group is the last thing you want to do. "Besides - we can always leave later, if we really want to. Right?" You look to Miki for affirmation as you speak the last word, and she nods, as if agreeing with you. At least you all will have the option of leaving later, then, if you want to.
"Maybe you're right," Ursula sighs, crossing her arms. "Lord knows we're all tired of all this..."
"I promise you won't have to deal with the kind of things I'm sure you've had to see so far if you join us," Dick says, dipping his head as he does. "Bro… [view original content]
Comments
[Remain silent]
Uh... so, sorry about taking so long on the next chapter, but... this is still a tie, I think? So... I may just end up flipping a coin. Yeah. Sorry about that. I never expected a tie! So... expect the next chapter "soon."
Mine is worth of two votes though... cos i'm legendary.
sardines it's amazing how kind you can be to people
Oh! Um... thank you! That's a very nice thing you for you to say! ;v;
Sorry for all the delays, the next chapter is done - but I'm not sure if I should post it or not right now, because of the hype surrounding No Going Back. I would assume that most people are either a) caught up in the episode / discussion or b) not on the forums to avoid spoilers. What do you think? Should I post it, or wait a day or two?
Lol, it's like a choice.
[Post the new part today] or [Wait til the No Going Back hype dies down]?
thanks (sorry if i said it at a bizzare time but your soo nice i just had to)
he will
RIP Uncle Pun
[Post the new part today]
[Post the new part today]
U dummy.
[Post the new part today]
Worst thing that could happen is people not voting until the hype dies down.
I for example won't be able to play it until saturday (have to avoid everything on the forum except the forum games section) and would like to have something to read in the meantime.
(A tie, so... here's a random choice! Anyway, yeah, guess I'm posting this now :P)
[Remain silent]
Though you feel somewhat guilty for doing it, you refuse to volunteer your help; after all, as much as they want you to help them, you've got two injured to worry about taking care of. It wouldn't be good for you to leave them alone.
"I'll go," Krisalyn speaks up when you don't, glancing at you. You're sure she's noticed how Jen and Devin seemed to be implying that you should come with them; you wonder if she blames you for not helping. "Blair," she goes on, turning to you fully. "Keep an eye on Kayla, alright? Make sure she... that she's ... okay when I get back. She's a good kid; I don't want to lose her, yeah?" You know what she's insinuating - that she wants to have a chance to talk to Kayla, at the least, if the girl is ... sick still despite the impromptu amputation. And in saying so, it seems that she's reminded Jen and Devin of your status as the only real 'medical expert' in the group - they both look somewhat sheepish for a moment, before nodding at Krisalyn.
"Thank you," Jen tells her. "We really appreciate your help."
"I can go also," Fabián volunteers, looking determined. "I'd like to help too."
"And me," Aaron says softly, though he's looking somewhat subdued. Probably because of what's happened to Kayla, still unconscious in his arms. You... don't want to think about it, really. You don't know if you can live with yourself if she dies... especially because you know it will be your fault. Twice over, even - first for letting her get bitten, and second for failing to save her with the amputation.
Ouma looks unhappy with the idea of three of the group going to help, but he doesn't say anything about it, likely because he's made it a point so far to not act as a dictator with you all. Instead, he steps forward to Aaron, nodding to him. "Here," he says. "Hand her to me. I'll get her into the stables where she can lie down." Aaron passes her over to him without a word.
"Stephany," Jen says then, turning to the girl, who's staring at her with wide, frightened eyes. It strikes you then that they're close to being the same height; despite Jen having to act as the adult, you doubt she's much older than the other girl, maybe 2 or 3 years at the most. "Stephany, can you stay here and ... watch Pun? You can help Blair take care of him, okay?" Pun, meanwhile, is sitting on the ground where he's been set by the others; he still seems to be awake and conscious, though he still appears somewhat out of it, likely still from the sheer amount of blood he's lost - or maybe just delirium from the pain of the wound in general. You make a note to give him some oxy, if there's any to spare.
You nod your approval at Stephany, though it's shaky. "Yes, you can help me," you tell her. "I do have two patients to take care of."
"Okay," she says, sounding uncertain.
"Here," Devin says, handing her a pistol from his back pocket. "Hold onto this." Jen glances at him, like she wants to say something about it, but doesn't. Stephany looks shocked but appreciative at being given a weapon.
"Thanks," she replies, though she still doesn't smile, instead nodding at him with a sober expression.
"Alright," Devin says. "We'll be off, then - the sooner the better." He turns to start to leave. "Come on," he says to the others, "We can take the long way around, so we can avoid the herd..." He continues to talk to them as they walk off, but you've tuned him out now. Instead, you turn to face Ouma, who is already starting to walk towards the stables, carrying Kayla. You stoop to help up Pun, who, with your help, is able to be moved into the stables as well to rest some more. Melanie and Ursula follow you all inside, probably out of concern for Kayla, though you know someone will have to go back out to stand watch later.
Pun sits down near the first 'stall,' while Ouma carries Kayla towards the back of the stables - you suppose it's in case she... no, again, you can't let yourself think about that. Right now, the priority is to make sure it doesn't happen. "Keep an eye on her, okay?" you call to Ouma as Melanie and Ursula move to follow him. "I'm going to change his bandages."
Pun gives you a grateful look as you raise his shirt slightly to inspect the bandages, meanwhile removing your first aid kit from your pack yet again. You're starting to run a little low on the supplies in here, but your group does have three other first aid kits to spare once you do use this one - Krisalyn, Ouma, and Melanie all carry one as well. As you look at the bandages around the wound, you can see that it's bled through and soaked the bandages in the front, at least, though not majorly - and in the back, where you sutured the exit wound, there's no blood to be seen. That's good, at least. You waste no time in unwrapping the bandages and grabbing some new ones off of the roll.
"Thank you for this," Pun says suddenly, surprising you a little. His voice sounds raspy from disuse. "You're a good person. I know we didn't give you a lot of reason to want to help us." You glance at him as you start to apply the fresh bandages to the wound, a little impressed that he doesn't wince at the contact. "Or to waste any supplies on us. We owe you."
After a while of silence, you realize he likely expects you to speak. You frown, considering your words carefully as you finish bandaging him up and lower his shirt yet again. "We helped you because we wanted to," you tell him at last, thinking back on what Devin said earlier. "Nothing else. I don't expect you to 'repay' me for this. That's unrealistic." You doubt Ouma would be happy with your words, but he's not around to overhear them. All the better. Without waiting for Pun's response, you rise from your kneeling position, dipping your head briefly at him.
"Get some rest," you say, turning and making your way to where Kayla and the others are. You feel his eyes on you as you go, but you don't turn back to look.
When you reach where Ouma, Melanie, and Ursula are stooped, you stay standing for a while, staring as you take in the situation. It finally starts to hit you, the severity of it all - you've been trying to forget about it, to not think, but... Kayla could still die. She... probably will die. Tears prick your eyes at the realization, but you say nothing, only look at her form, looking smaller than usual (a difficult feat, considering she's so small in the first place) curled up on the ground where she's been laid. Ouma is sitting beside her, and you take careful note of the gun he's got in his hands. Probably because ... he's worried that she'll turn. You feel sick thinking about it.
"Do you think she'll wake up soon?" Ursula asks you softly, from where she and Melanie are sitting on the other side of Kayla. Even Melanie appears subdued; she's not giving you her usual glare, just staring down at Kayla with sad eyes.
"I don't know," you admit. "She... passed out, but... we might have been too late. Or it might not have worked at all... She probably won't ma--"
"Don't say that," Melanie says abruptly, jerking her head to look at you now. Her glare isn't present, but she does have a very steely expression. "You can't give up hope. Once the doctor's given up hope, the patient's fucked, yeah?"
You blink at her. "Ah... you're right. Sorry." Moving closer, you sink to the ground near Kayla's feet, sighing as you look at her. You'd like to spend some time alone now, if you can... with Kayla, you guess, though she isn't really conscious. "I'll watch over her for as long as it takes. You guys can go outside, if you want... I'll call you in if anything changes."
Ursula nods, catching your drift. "Yeah. We'll... give you some space." She rises, as does Melanie, and the two start off towards the exit; Ouma has stood up, too, but he pauses, moving to you and stopping.
"Blair," he says to you, quietly but firmly. "Take this." He's handing you the pistol, meeting your eyes with an unreadable expression. "It'll be a lot ... quicker than your shotgun. If... something does change." You know what he's implying. You'd definitely rather it happen fast, if it means Kayla doesn't have to experience any unnecessary pain.
"Right," you reply, taking it from him. "You can take this, then. I don't want you to be without a gun." You remove the shotgun from your back, holding it out for him to take in exchange. He nods once, grabs it, and then turns and exits the stables.
Once he's gone, you turn back to look at Kayla, scooting to her side so you can grab one of her hands briefly. It's warm. You feel... you aren't really sure what you feel, anymore, now. After a moment, you release her hand, realizing that she isn't going to wake up anytime soon.
You can't believe you allowed this to happen... after you promised to keep her safe. At the same time, you aren't even certain you have the right to feel this grief-stricken; Kayla isn't your daughter, though you were supposed to be keeping her safe for her. You just... you guess it's a culmination of a lot of things, this grief. Losing your family before this, then possibly losing her... she's all you have left, now.
You pause. No, you remind yourself. You have the group, too. You know that if something does happen... they'll support you. You can't forget that. You have to be strong.
You look back at Kayla's face, looking pained even in sleep, and sigh.
You aren't a good judge of time, but at least a few hours pass while you sit by Kayla's side - maybe three or four, at least. You aren't even really sure what you've been doing the whole time - just sort of sitting there, lost in thought and memories, all while waiting to see if anything changes. You can't say it's a bad thing, getting to sit and just reflect on everything - all that's happened so far, and other things, too. 'Reflection time' can be hard to come by nowadays, anyway.
You're still aware of Pun's presence in the stables as well, but he hasn't spoken to you the whole time, though you've glanced back to check on him a few times; he's probably doing the same as you to pass the time. You remember suddenly that you never did give him that oxy, though you aren't sure you should now. If he needed it at any time, it was before now. He can likely make do without it, and using it when others might need it more could be a mistake.
You look at Kayla, still unconscious despite so many hours passing. You guess the blood loss and the amputation affected her very badly - that, or her body is fighting whatever amount of infection got into it before you managed to chop off her leg. The pained expression has dropped from her face, likely as she'd gone into a deeper sleep - you keep having to check to make sure she's breathing, just in case. But so far, she hasn't stopped - and laying still like this has kept her... wound from opening back up, for now at least. You're grateful for that, and grateful that your makeshift stitching job has held.
On a whim, you lean forward, stretching out one hand to lay it gently against her cheek - then freeze.
It's subtle, but you can still feel it - her skin is warm, warmer than usual, and quickly you move your hand up to her forehead to check again. Yes... she has a fever. And she does look very pale - though you'd previously attributed that to the blood loss. Your stomach drops.
Could she be turning after all?
You don't want to consider it, but you know you have to. On the one hand... there are plenty of reasons for a fever, such as an infection other than the 'deadhead' one caused simply by the amputation itself (it definitely wasn't in the most sterile conditions), or even that her body is really fighting a small amount of the infection that 'got through' before you amputated... But deep down, part of you wonders if it's even right of you to hope. It was at least a full minute before you chopped off the leg... who knows if it was fast enough?
And you remember this. You know these symptoms. She's pale, and she's feverish... judging by what happened to your mother, you're pretty sure that if she really is turning, it could happen any moment, if you're unlucky - in an hour, maybe, if you are.
You wonder if you should tell the group. Something has, after all, changed... but you know that if you do, you likely won't get a choice in the matter. Kayla will probably be... put down. Your group doesn't normally like to take chances, and the only people who typically object to this, Fabián and Aaron, are gone. If you tell ... there's a good chance that you'll have to ... shoot her. Now, maybe... or soon, at least. Before she wakes back up.
But if you don't tell... if she does end up turning, the group might be unhappy with you for not telling them. And you'd definitely be taking a risk by keeping the information to yourself. It's possible you might lose their trust for hiding something like this... they might assume that you're broken, if you fail to tell them the truth in a situation that's this close to you.
But is taking that risk worth the possibility of Kayla ... getting better?
You ... don't know. You aren't sure what to do, if you should tell them or stay silent...
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[Stay silent, for now. You can wait it out on your own, in case she isn't turning after all.]
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[Stay silent, for now. You can wait it out on your own, in case she isn't turning after all.]
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
[removed]
[Tell the others about Kayla's symptoms. You all can decide what to do with her.]
I'm just waiting here... for the new part...
( Just a note. Uh, so it took me this long to realize that when I posted the last part and went to format it, I accidentally removed a paragraph, so there is a missing chunk and Stephany also just kind of disappears. Whoops. [See if you can spot where it is, lol.] It's too late to edit it now - no going back... So I'm just going to do what I can to fix it this time. :PP Sorry.
Also, apologies for any errors in this. I'm kind of, well, really sick right now, so I might well be a little delusional. Didn't want to delay this any longer though. )
[Tell the others.]
As much as it pains you to do so, you know that you have to tell the others - you can't hide this from them, even if it could mean Kayla's death. They deserve to know what's happening.
You sigh as you rise to your feet, feeling a little unsteady, and then, slowly, carefully, back away from Kayla and turn towards the door, moving closer to it. As you pass Pun, you turn to him - he's still awake also. "Do you have a gun?" you ask him quietly, and when he nods, retrieving it, you turn back to face the door again. "Good," you murmur. "Keep that with you. Kayla might..." You trail off, unable to voice the worry, but when he is silent, you know that he has understood. Without another word exchanged between the two of you, you exit the stables, sliding the door shut behind you, and make your way to where you can see Ouma and Melanie 'stationed' out front. You guess Ursula is out back, keeping watch in that direction - and Stephany is likely with her as well, as you told her earlier you'd call her if you needed her help and that she didn't have to linger.
"Ouma," you call out softly as you approach, and he and his sister both turn to look at you. You don't say anything else until you reach their side, and you find you can't meet their eyes.
"What is it?" Ouma prompts you before you can summon up the courage to speak. "Did something happen?"
"It's Kayla," you tell him sadly. "She... something's changed."
Melanie looks at you apprehensively, and after a moment of hesitation, she's the one to break the brief silence. "What do you mean by that? She's not... she hasn't turned, has she?"
"No," you say, shaking your head. "She's... not yet. But she ... she has a fever. The same symptom that..."
You falter then, still unable, even after your recent reflection, to broach the subject of your lost love ones aloud. Thankfully, Ouma seems to understand you, and he puts a hand on your shoulder as if to shake you from your stupor. You'd think the gesture was meant to be comforting, but his grip is too firm for it to really be - more like he's trying to ground you, keep you tethered to the world despite everything you've lost - and might be losing. "Blair," he says. "You know what this means."
You swallow thickly, then nod, vision blurring a little as tears well up in your eyes again. "I do."
"Now hold on," Melanie says as Ouma removes his hand from your shoulder. "We don't know if --"
"We can't take any chances," Ouma tells her. "Not after what happened before. You know that."
Melanie looks troubled at his words. "Ouma...," she starts, but before she can continue to protest, a shout makes all of you whip around.
"Blair!"
It's Krisalyn, and the others are with her - Fabián, Jen, Aaron and Devin - plus two other people you've never seen before, who stop a ways away, lingering on the hill as the others move towards you. They're too far to make out very clearly, but you can see that it's a man and a woman, both fairly tall and resembling each other somewhat in build - they could be related.
As Krisalyn and the others reach you, you see the defeated looks on many of their faces - though Fabián and Krisalyn, at least, look somewhat happier.
"What happened?" Ouma asked. "Are those members of your group?"
"No," Jen says sadly. "We didn't find them."
"What happened?" you ask them, repeating Ouma's words. "And who are those people?"
"We got back to the farm," Devin replies. "And it looked like... whatever happened to our group, they're gone. The bandits probably..." He looks behind you, seeing Ursula approaching with Stephany - they'd heard the commotion and were coming around to join you all, then - and trails off. "Well, they're gone," he finishes, quieter. "There was a man there... we thought he was a bandit, so we ran, but he chased us, kept yelling something..."
"Then biters showed up," Aaron says. "He... got bit."
"The farm won't be safe for much longer, at any rate," Devin continues. "The herd was getting close, last we saw... Our group ... wherever they went, it's probably too late to find them... at least immediately." He looks down, gaze unreadable. You think you understand what he means - he hasn't given up hope, then, not completely, on finding... who was it that he was worried about in particular? His sister? You aren't sure, but you doubt he would give up on her, or his group, that easily. And though you don't really know either of them, you doubt that Jen would either.
"Then who are they?" Melanie asks, staring skeptically out at the two waiting on the hill.
"That's another story entirely," Krisalyn tells her, as Ursula and Stephany reach you all. "We met them on our way back. Say their names are Miki and Dick. They're from a community up north, apparently."
"A community?" Ursula murmurs, eyes widening.
"Yeah," Fabián says. "They say it's safe there. That deadheads don't get in. And they asked..." He pauses, looking around at all of you. "They asked us if we would consider joining them. All of us."
"What?" Melanie asks sharply.
"We can let them 'pitch' it to you," Aaron says. "I'll go tell them to come over." He starts off back towards the two strangers, while Jen turns to you.
"Is Pun up?" she asks. "He needs to hear this too." You nod, and silently she moves off to the stables to go fetch him, hurrying. You don't feel completely right leaving Kayla in the stables alone, but... if it's only for a moment, you suppose it's fine.
By the time the strangers have been spoken to and sheperded over to your little 'gathering,' the door is sliding shut again as Pun and Jen move to rejoin you as well. You take a moment while they do so to look over the two strangers; the female is slim and slender with short curly brown hair, and she's covered in the various dirt and grime that seems to accumulate on anyone nowadays - but beneath it, you can see her face is kind, and her blue eyes meet yours for a brief moment. The man beside her does resemble her, even up close, though he's taller and much more muscular, with black, greying hair and a mustache on his face.
As soon as Pun and Jen have rejoined you, the two strangers glance at each other briefly - then the woman speaks.
"Hello," she says softly. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm Miki Jane Cartwright." She extends a hand towards Ouma, who has taken the spot at the 'front' of the line, as if to shake. He shakes it after a moment, but still looks cautious.
"Dick Fraser Cartwright," the other stranger supplies, and you suppose he is probably her dad. "We're from a community up north, though I suppose your friends already told you that. And we're looking for good people to come join us."
"You said this place is safe?" Melanie asks him suspiciously.
"Yes," Miki tells her with a nod. "It is. We've got many good people already, and plenty of food - and we have a doctor, too. It looks like you guys could use one..." She's looking at Pun as she says it, probably noticing the profuse amount of blood on his clothes.
"We have a doctor, too," Ursula says defensively, as she gives you a glance. When a few others of your group turn to look at you, also, Miki and Dick do too, obviously catching on that you're the 'doctor' they're speaking of. (Nurse, you'd usually correct them, but...)
"Oh," Miki says. "Well, that's good. I'm sure Dylan and Katherine would appeciate the help... I mean, if you're willing to come with us. I help them out as it is, though only with the herbal remedies - I like plants, so..." As she trails off, she looks around at everyone - and everyone's attention is on her. From the way she's talking, somewhat awkwardly, you get the feeling that this woman isn't normally so talkative - probably she's been assigned to go convince new people to join the group without much choice in the matter. But she does seem genuine, from what you can tell - as does her father. Still...
"We can keep you safe there," Dick says. "I know you have children in your group--" he glances at Stephany, Jen and Aaron in turn - "-- and we have some in our community, too. I'm sure you all could find friends there."
"Maybe," Jen replies, nodding. Stephany looks at her with sad eyes.
"What about Jack?" the younger girl asks quietly.
"We couldn't find him," Jen tells her at the same volume. "But maybe if we go with them..."
"Do you send a lot of these 'search parties' out?" Pun asks. Clearly he's considering the possibility, as Jen implied, that their friends might end up in the same place as them if they go.
"Well, not a whole lot, yet," Dick admits. "But there are three out right now - me and Miki, some others looking farther south, and a group of three heading west. We don't have quite enough people to spare yet, but we did come pretty far to find you guys - our leader said some of his old friends lived in Overland Park, so he wanted to see if we could find any of them."
"What's his name?" Krisalyn asks; you guess this is new information for them, even if they'd already heard this spiel earlier.
"Xander," Miki says. No one seems to recognize the name, and you don't either - you've never met anyone with that name, in fact.
"I guess none of you know him, then," Dick sighs. "That's too bad. Was hoping we'd find someone... But that doesn't matter." He puts on a steely expression as he looks to each of you in turn, meeting your eyes. "Listen. We've got to head back tonight - we have a rendezvous with the other group, the one in the south, since they should be heading back already. So if you want to come with us... you have to decide now."
"We won't force you," Miki says. "It's your choice. But maybe ... maybe if you come with us, you can find your friends?"
"Yeah, maybe you're right," Devin replies after a pause, looking like he's made up his mind.
"As good a chance as any, I guess," Pun says - though he looks a little more unsure than Devin does.
One by one, a few others voice their opinions - Fabián and Aaron for going, Ouma and Melanie for staying, then...
"I want to go," Krisalyn says. "This could be our chance. Why should we keep living out here like this when there's a better way? Someplace safe?"
You look at her with wide eyes. You're still undecided - but Krisalyn... she's going?
You look around at the others as a silence falls over the group, and you realize you should probably make a decision too. But so far... Ouma and Melanie want to stay, and Ursula also looks skeptical; Fabián, Krisalyn, Devin and Aaron all seem to want to go... and there are still others who, like you, still seem uncertain. It looks like this might split the group up for good - no matter what you choose.
You turn back to look at the stables, where all is still silent. Kayla... she could be safe there. If she survives this, then... how safe will she be, out here, with one leg?
But... she might also turn. You still don't know. And you don't even know if you can trust these people. Would it be worth it to split up the group to follow them?
"I think we should all go. We can always leave later if we want to." [Try to convince the others]
"I want to go, too. If you guys don't want to go, you don't have to." [Agree yourself]
"I don't think this a good idea. I'm staying." [Decline]
"I think we should all go. We can always leave later if we want to." [Try to convince the others]
"I think we should all go. We can always leave later if we want to." [Try to convince the others]
hahahaha xD
"I think we should all go. We can always leave later if we want to." [Try to convince the others]
"I think we should all go. We can always leave later if we want to." [Try to convince the others]
"I want to go, too. If you guys don't want to go, you don't have to." [Agree yourself]
"I don't think this a good idea. I'm staying." [Decline]
"I think we should all go. We can always leave later if we want to." [Try to convince the others]
[Try to convince the others.]
"I think we should all go. We can always leave later if we want to." [Try to convince the others]
"I want to go, too. If you guys don't want to go, you don't have to." [Agree yourself]
Waiting for your character to appear in the story...
Lol... soon! :PP Well, I'm trying to incorporate new characters as fast as possible... but I also want it to make sense within the story, you know? That said... there will be more new characters, soon
[Try to convince the others.]
"Krisalyn's right," you say finally, looking down at your feet. "What kind of life is this? I want to go... and I think we all should." When a few of the others look at you with apprehension, you go on; "This could be our only chance to go back to a normal life. Aren't you tired of having to live like this?" you try. You'd like to convince them to go, too... Splitting up the group is the last thing you want to do. "Besides - we can always leave later, if we really want to. Right?" You look to Miki for affirmation as you speak the last word, and she nods, as if agreeing with you. At least you all will have the option of leaving later, then, if you want to.
"Maybe you're right," Ursula sighs, crossing her arms. "Lord knows we're all tired of all this..."
"I promise you won't have to deal with the kind of things I'm sure you've had to see so far if you join us," Dick says, dipping his head as he does. "Brookhaven - our community - is safe. The building is pretty well fortified, and we have a lot of food. Your children can have easier lives there."
"Is there really worth splitting the group up over?" Fabián murmurs. "This place sounds like a dream. I think Blair has a point. We all should go."
Ouma and Melanie still look skeptical of the idea of joining, but judging by their expressions, Jen, Pun, Ursula and Stephany have all decided that they want to go, too. Finally, Ouma sighs, raising his head to meet the strangers' eyes.
"Do I have your word that my group will be safe there?" he asks firmly, and you notice that he hasn't isolated Jen, Devin, Pun and Stephany from 'your group' in his words - but it's also possible that he doesn't want to seem separated in front of the strangers. You might not know Pun and the others yet, but without knowing if you can trust these Brookhaven people yet, he's probably right - it'd be best to appear as unified as possible, even if you aren't exactly 'one unit' just yet.
"Of course," Miki says. "We promise. You can trust us."
Ouma stares at her for a long while, as if trying to evaluate if she's lying, before he nods, though he still looks reluctant. "Alright," he agrees. "Then... I'll go, too. The group should stay together." He glances at Melanie as he says this, as if silently telling her that yes, he expects her to come with him, too. (Though you're sure she would anyway - she is his sister, after all.) She doesn't say anything, just frowns back at him.
"But if you're lying...," Ouma continues to the strangers quietly, but Dick cuts him off.
"We aren't," he says. "You don't have to worry."
Ouma only nods, though he still doesn't look totally convinced. You don't blame him - while you're hoping this will all turn out okay, it still does seem a little too good to be true. You have to be careful.
"But--" Melanie starts, then stops herself. You can see where her eyes have gone, though - she's looking at the stables, where Kayla is presumably still sleeping... if she hasn't turned.
Pun seems to notice her gaze. "Last I saw, she was fine. Still sleeping."
"You have someone else with you?" Dick asks, raising an eyebrow.
"A little girl," Pun tells him.
"Her name is Kayla," Aaron says. "She... she was bitten." As the strangers both look shocked, you feel a surge of annoyance at Aaron for telling them - but you force it down, knowing that someone would have had to, one way or another.
"What?" Miki asks softly, eyes wide. "How... how long --"
"It's fine," Melanie snaps. "We cut it off. Her leg, I mean... where she was bit. She'll be okay... so long as we can get her somewhere safe." You don't say anything; you'd like to believe that Melanie is right and Kayla will be fine, although you don't miss the sharp look Ouma gives her.
"Brookhaven will take care of her," Dick says, though it sounds a little more hesitant now. "If you're sure she isn't going to turn..."
"She won't!" Ursula interjects, looking troubled.
"And if she does," Ouma sighs, "We'll take care of it."
"Okay," Miki says, nodding. "I guess if we're asking you to trust us, we should trust you on this, too."
"Yeah," Dick agrees. "Okay. We should get going, so someone should go get the girl."
Ouma doesn't look entirely happy with being ordered around, but he makes a noise of agreement, and you start to move towards the stables. As you do, however, Ouma stops you, shaking his head.
"No, Blair," he says. "I'll carry her. I can ... take care of it, if she ends up turning. I'll be careful." You can tell by his tone of voice that he's worrying about you, although you don't know for what reason - if he's worried that you won't react quickly enough to save yourself if Kayla turns, or worried that you won't be able to put her down at all if she does turn. Without waiting for your response, however, he moves off towards the stables, and you stare after him, frowning.
"I'm glad you all decided to come with us," Dick says with a friendly expression.
"Yes, thank you," Miki tells you all. "We could definitely use some new people."
At some of your skeptical expressions, Dick only smiles encouragingly. "You made the right choice."
Looking at each member of your makeshift group, you still can't help but feel unease.
I hope you're right.
SOME TIME LATER.
Eli.
Your name is Elias Aleman, and everyone you care about is dead.
... Well. You guess that isn't entirely true. Zoey and Sorrel are nice enough, and they haven't given you any reason to distrust them so far, not in the couple of weeks you've been with them. And you'd certainly be sad, if they died.
You do care about them - but it isn't the same, not anymore. You don't want to let yourself get too close; after all, it's only a matter of time before they die, too. You know this. Everyone you've met in all of this, and everyone you knew before - they're all dead. Jen, Pun, your parents, Jack, Alice, Rema... You move your fingers out before you, one by one, as if to count, but eventually give up, even as you continue listing off the names of everyone you've lost. Thalia, Markus, E.J., Devin, Dixie, Gabrielle, Aj, Miguel, Dev, Stephany. You don't want to forget them - but at the same time, a part of you does, wants to be numb. You guess you are numb, now, anyway. But still - you can't allow yourself to forget their names, their faces. It's all you have left, now.
You raise your head as you stare out into the forest from your spot perched in the branches of a tree; it's not the same forest, of course, that you'd hunted in before by the farm - you've had two weeks worth of distance put between you and that place by now. You're waiting to see if any animals come by - so you can take them down. After all, you have to eat.
Zoey's lent you her crossbow for the occasion - she'd taught you how to use it, and now when it's your turn to hunt for the day's meal, you're actually fairly good at it. Your aim had never been the best, but with a crossbow, somehow you find it a little easier. You wish you had one of your own - maybe you'll find one somewhere along the way to where you're going. Or, you guess if Zoey dies, you can probably have hers. Who knows.
Maybe thinking so carelessly about Zoey's death is callous, but you don't really care, anymore. When you think about it a little deeper, you guess it's unlikely you'd get her crossbow anyway; that'd probably go to Sorrel, seeing as she's her girlfriend. But maybe Sorrel would want to keep her knives as her weapon of choice. Hmm. That's assuming Sorrel wouldn't leave you at that point - she does seem to tolerate you only because Zoey likes you. Or maybe Sorrel would be dead, too.
Amidst your absent thoughts, you notice suddenly that a fox has strayed out into the clearing beneath you. Without even thinking about it, you draw your crossbow, and within the minute, an arrow has been shot right through the fox's head. It falls, like a puppet with its strings cut, dead. You can't really bring yourself to feel sad about it - you have to eat it to survive.
You jump down from your spot in the tree and move to the fox's body. It's definitely not your meat of choice - you'd had it before, just a day or two after you'd joined Zoey and Sorrel in their trek north, and it was rather dry and not at all tender - but a meal is a meal. And besides, this will feed all three of you fairly well for once. It's a change from only being able to split something small like a hare or a bird every day.
Pulling the arrow out the fox's head and wiping the blood off on your pants, you return it to its proper place in your pack and lift the fox's body over your shoulder, heading off to where your camp is.
When you arrive, you can see that Zoey has already started the fire for your dinner. She looks up as you approach, making a face when she sees what you have.
"Ew," she says. "Fox meat." She shrugs. "Nice catch, though. Good job, Eli."
Nodding, you hand her her bow and her arrows, looking around for Sorrel. Zoey seems to notice your wandering gaze.
"She went out to scout ahead," she explains. "Said we had to get moving sooner than usual tonight. She thought she heard dead behind us, earlier."
"She said that?" you ask skeptically, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, come off it," Zoey replies, waving dismissively at you with one hand. "Sorrel doesn't have as much problem talking to me." She grins a little, looking somewhat smug.
"Yeah, I guess," you say, looking away from her and back off into the forest, in the direction you'd assume Sorrel would have gone if she was trying to scout ahead. In all your time traveling with the two of them, you'd only ever heard Sorrel talk once - and that was when Zoey had been in danger, and she'd had to yell to warn her of the biters coming up behind her. Zoey hadn't been lying when she first met you - Sorrel really didn't talk much.
"Give me that," Zoey says, and you look back at her then, moving forward to hand her the fox off your shoulder. Then you freeze, looking from her to the fire and the pot she's got water boiling in.
"You're cooking?" you ask her, narrowing your eyes.
"Yes, I am," she says with a nod. "What of it?"
"No," is all you say. You cross your arms as you glare at her.
"What? What's the problem, Eli?" she complains, sounding offended.
"No," you repeat. You remember what happened the last time Zoey tried to cook something, and you are not having any of it. "I'll cook it, since Sorrel isn't back yet."
"Come on, I'm not that bad," Zoey huffs. "You know, I had a friend who was a cook. And I don't see you doing any better! Besides, do you even know how to cook fox?"
"No," you admit. "But I'm sure I can manage. Better than you can, anyway." You heft the fox back onto your shoulder, as if making your decision final. Then you move to sit down and begin work on skinning and preparing the thing. Glancing at Zoey as you do, you mutter, "And for the record, I'm a great cook compared to you."
Zoey glares at you, looking like she's about to protest, but then suddenly jerks her head upwards to stare behind you - you turn, seeing that Sorrel has returned. Without so much as a glance at you, she makes some sort of hand gesture to Zoey, as if to say she should follow her. Zoey, looking serious now, looks at you - "I'll be back. Don't get killed," she says, then follows Sorrel off into the woods.
You stare after them for a long moment, a little baffled. "Ooookay," you mumble to yourself as you look back down at the fox. You guess Sorrel needed to show Zoey something she'd seen while scouting ahead. Or something. That is, if they aren't just making out or something. You honestly have no idea.
Shaking your head, you get to work on the meal for all of you, deciding it's better not to worry about it.
By the time Zoey and Sorrel return, you've already finished skinning the fox and cubing some of the meat to put in the pot of water as a makeshift stew; you can't fit all the meat into the pot, so you're also planning to cook some of the other meat, including the legs, over the fire later. It won't keep for long, after all.
Looking up from your work as the two approach, you note that Zoey's lipstick doesn't appear to be smeared (you still don't know why she insists on wearing it in the middle of the apocalypse) - so you guess they weren't just ditching you to make out after all. She looks serious.
"The woods end up ahead," she tells you, and you blink.
"Really?" you reply, not bothering to hide the traces of disbelief in your tone. After all, it seemed like this forest had gone on forever - you're pretty sure almost one whole week, or at least four or five days, out of the two weeks you've spent with Zoey and Sorrel has just been spent in this forest.
"Yep," Zoey says. "Finally. But the thing is -- there's a town up ahead. So maybe we should think about scouting it out for supplies."
"We're not exactly low on them just yet," you say. "What's the alternative?"
"We could go around, and keep going," she tells you. "And it might be better that way - I mean, cities aren't exactly safe anymore, what with all the dead things." She frowns then, looking at Sorrel, who is looking at you with her characteristic glare. "But... it is going to be harder to find food from here on out. Without the woods, it'll probably be harder to hunt for stuff. And you know we don't have a lot of canned stuff left."
"So... you're saying we should search the town?" you reply.
"No," she shakes her head. "I'm just saying we should think about it. There are pros and cons to both options - it might be safer to avoid the dead and keep moving, but we might also be able to find more supplies in the city." She shrugs. "Whatever it is, we do need to make a decision."
You realize that she's asking you to decide - Zoey is pretty indecisive. You sigh, considering both of your options carefully...
[We should search the city. The risk is worth it if it means we might find supplies.]
[We should keep moving. We have enough supplies as it is, and it's going to be dangerous in there.]
[We should keep moving. We have enough supplies as it is, and it's going to be dangerous in there.]
[We should search the city. The risk is worth it if it means we might find supplies.]