Life and Times of a Keyboard Warrior

Endgame

26
28th of February
Markus

"How are you faring?"

I crack open an eye. Daria and Mia are staring back at me, their faces creased with worry. The scene is eerily familiar, as both of the girls appear inverted from my spot on the couch. I groan, stretching and sitting up.

"I'm not too bad I guess..." I trial off. In all honesty, it's not me I'm worried about. Mia and Daria are so sweet, worrying about little old me, I'm not even the one who went missing.

"Markus, you hurt your ankle really hard when you went down that cliff face. You can't be invincible all the time, you know." Mia warns me, but I take little notice. Daria averted her eyes at the mention of the cliff face, she looks troubled. Her face is red, and she's shaking slightly. I'm about to say something when Mia cuts in.

"Please, just promise me you'll look after yourself, ok? I'd hate it if you got any worse." She says at me with concern on her face, but doesn't meet my eye.

"I'm alright, really. I only sprained my ankle a little, I'm not gonna die." I assure them, but they don't seem convinced. It really hurts quite a bit, I'm not being honest with them, or myself for that matter. Daria opens her mouth to say something, when suddenly a loud scream cuts through the air.

We all exchange anguished glances. Ever since Yuki got home yesterday, she's been drifting in and out of consciousness with a high fever. Whenever she's awake, she mumbles to nobody and screams tortured incoherencies. The Professor is constantly by her side, barely eating, scarcely sleeping.

I'm about to say something, when suddenly the Professor shuffles down the stairs. His hair is greasy and matted, and he watches us with vacant eyes as he comes into the room. His clothes hang loosely off his disheveled body. His gaze flits unknowingly over Mia and Daria, but it focuses on me.

"Markus, Yuki would like to see you..." he moans without moving his mouth. I gulp loudly. I hop up off the couch and begin limping up the stairs behind the Professor. Soon, we stop in front of the door into his room.

"Kennedy, she might be dying, as far as we know..." The Professor says tautly, facing away from me. "Whatever she's caught out there, combined with her injuries, is probably killing her. This might be it, endgame..." I get the horrible feeling he's not only talking about Yuki when he says endgame. The Professor cracks the door open, and we slip quickly into the room.

I take in the scene. Alicia is sitting on the bed, looking equally distraught and disheveled as her husband. Yuki is laying beneath the sheets on the double bed, her gray hair splashed all over the pillows and headboard. The blankets are all bunched up around her, like she clawed it closer when she was writhing. Her eyes are clenched shut, her small jaw set hard.

"I'm sorry we had to drag you up here, Markus. Yuki asked to talk to you, but she's fallen unconscious before you got here." Alicia whispers to me, and i nod back, saying it's fine.

"Mr... Pwesident..." the smallest voice hits me, and I quickly hobble to the bedside. Yuki is staring up at me, her eyes cloudy but still bright. Her hand is outstretched towards me, and I take it in my own. its lukewarm, and clammy, but I don't let go.

"I'm here, Yuki. Don't worry."

"Papa says you found me in the fowest."

I surge back in time to the clearing, with Yuki upon that Boulder, swaying in the lightest breeze. "That's right, we spent all day and night looking for you. We were all super worried."

Her steely eyes scan my face, focusing on my new scar. "You've been hurt..."

"It's nothing, really. I think it makes me look cool, don't you think?" I grin reassuringly.

Yuki doesn't respond. I jolt, feeling her hand slacken in mine. The light in her eyes slows and shrinks, fading rapidly like the final cooling spark in a cathode ray television. I grip her wrist, feeling for her pulse. I find it, but it's horribly weak. It's slowing as I think.

"Sir, what do we do?" I cry out to the Professor, who's charging a Defibrillator the paramedics left behind just in case. The machine whirs to life, it's internal generator rising rapidly in pitch. Alicia is preparing some syringes, each filled with different coloured liquids. Both are moving jerkily, held together by the smallest stitch of hope.

No response. I turn back to Yuki. Her face has gone slack, her storm-grey eyes staring half-heartedly back at me, staring without seeing. I put my hand on her chest, feeling for any sign of life. It doesn't rise or fall, and the tiny pulse is gone. I don't feel anything, at all... I can feel tears coursing down my face, but I don't even try to stop them.

"Move away, Kennedy." I hear the Professor say, and with a horrid finality, I let her hand leave mine. He peels off Yuki's shirt, grinding the two paddles together. He mutters, "clear" and places the paddles on her chest. He clicks the button, and there's a horrible "Crack-Zzzt!" and Yuki bounces on the bed, spazzing and thrashing for a second. He repeats it, and I have to avert my eyes. I watch my tears darken the carpet, counting them as they fall.

Plink...
Crack-Zzzt!
Plink...
Crack-Zzzt!
Plink...