Requiem

Chapter Thirteen:

“Scar, wake up!” An urgent shout jostles me awake. 

I jerk up, blinking rapidly until my vision focuses. Sebastian is in front of me, hands reaching towards me, and I allow him to help me up. Blasts ricochet off the trees, making them quiver and tremble around us. 

“What…” 

“They found us.” He cuts me off, releasing his grip on one of my arms. He pulls me forward, away from the campsite, and I have to sprint to keep up with my soon-to-be-detached arm. I look around dazedly, frowning when I realize something is missing. Then it hits me. 

“Wait!” I gasp, head twisting around –eyes searching frantically for the electric-eyed boy, “Where’s Jasper?!” 

Sebastian glances around in confusion and then curses loudly under his breath. I wrench my arm free of his grip and rip Jasper’s shirt off as I run, putting it on correctly as I propel myself through the trees so I can fight properly. I reach the mass of corpses as my fingers curl around the hilt of my sword. 

“Jasper!” 

I shriek his name desperately, unable to spot him through the zombies. My sword sings through the air, hacking through zombie after zombie. As I slice wildly, fear and desperation slowly start to sink in. I don’t hear anymore gunshots bursting through the air. I don’t hear his voice, shouting my name back.

I don’t hear anything except the sickening sound of zombies gurgling and spitting drool. An icy shard of something sharp blossoms in my gut and I feel sick to my stomach. 

Please. 

Sebastian kicks a zombie to the side and then jerks back startled. His eyes are wide with horror. 

Please…no. 

I stumble. 

My sword drops to the ground, thumping loudly against the earth like a massive pile of boxes falling. I stare down at him, stomach clenching tightly, chest swelling up like a balloon being filled with water. My knees cave and hit the ground –hard. Pain resounds up through my thighs, vibrating through the bones, but I don’t feel it. 

“Jasper,” I croak. 

Something wet trails down my cheek. Sebastian swings out with his own weapon, still fighting off the pack of zombies somewhere around us. 

Jasper lets out a shuddering breath. His heart beats wildly in his chest, which has been completely torn open, surrounded by glistening red muscles and protruding pieces of yellowish bone. One eye is squeezed tightly shut from the pain, but he forces the other baby blue orb to stay open and it’s focused on me. 

“Oh my…Jasper,” I whimper brokenly. 

“Have I ever told you…” Jasper mumbles hoarsely, breaking off to suck in a sharp intake of breath, “how pretty your eyes are?”