The Lasted

Chapter 3

It didn't take long before the entire field was filled with smoke. Austin and Brandey first helped Katana get into the lake and Lelia was now helping her clean the wound. The boys were desperately trying to extinguish the fire, but it didn't seem to be working very well. They decided to wait a little to see if the fire would go out itself. There couldn't be that many things that caught fire quickly in that bunker.

Austin was now dragging the dead man by his feet. They had run up to the man when he fell to the ground. His skin was so burned, you could almost see his bones through it. And his face. You were barely able to make out where his mouth was. They didn't want to look at him anymore, so they decided to put him in the woods and give him some sort of funeral. Or well, at least bury him. Austin offered to do it since it didn't scare him as much as it did the others. So he dragged the body further into the woods and digged a little. He didn't bother to make it deep. Just deep enough so he could cover the man's body with dirth. That way no one would have to look at him anymore.

Lelia had found some leaves that looked remotely clean and was softly cleaning Katana's wound with the water. The blood kinda made her wanna throw up, but she held it back. She wanted to help. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry." She said as Katana groaned at the pain shooting through her leg. "Just hurry. Please." Lelia nodded and got back to cleaning it. It already looked better than before, but without alcohol or anything that could actually clean it, it could still get infected.
When Lelia was done, she told Katana to wait there and went up to Austin. He had just come back from burying the man. "Hey, you doing okay?" She asked, knowing he was probably in pain. And traumatized from burying a person. "Yeah I think so. What about you?" Lelia shrugged. She couldn't exactly say it was going well. None of them were. "It's uhh it's going." She looked up at her older brother. He had a sad expression on his face. He always used to tell her that from the moment she was born, he always wanted to protect her. While most siblings would fight, they were actually really good friends. Their mom always said it was because of the age difference. Because they didn't want everything the other had. Or something like that. Lelia just felt lucky that she still had someone that cared for her. "Did you get that wound clean?" Lelia slightly shook her head. "I can't be sure. Mom taught me to do it with alcohol and I don't think water works just as well." She sighs. "It'll have to do, though. Can I have your jacket?" Austin frowned at her, but took off his jacket to hand it to her. Lelia thanked him and walked off again.

"So I got my brother's jacket to tie it around your leg, but-" Lelia stopped when she saw the terrified look on Katana's face. "What is it?" She asked. The other girl pointed to something in the direction of the lake and Lelia looked that way. "What the- Hey, guys!" About ten meters away a little girl was swimming towards them. The water around her was red from the blood. It was seeping down from a cut on her face. Brandey and Austin eventually came running, both looking at the little girl in shock. They rushed towards her to help as Lelia carefully tied a ripped off part of the jacket around Katana's leg.

A little while later, they helped the girl out of the water. She wouldn't let them help her at first, saying they're with the bad guys. They'd asked what she meant and she told them that crazy people were chasing her a little while ago. That one of the crazies, that's what she called them, cut her head with their long nails. Brandey had explained to her that they weren't sick yet or at least not to that level. He convinced her eventually and they got her out of the water. Brandey and Lelia were now helping her get cleaned up. "What's your name?" Brandey asked as Lelia ripped another part of the jacket off. "I'm- I'm Stacy." She whispered, shivering in her soaked through clothes. "I think that's a beautiful name. I'm Brandey."
"And I'm Lelia." She smiled. "How old are you? Do you remember that?" Stacy seemed to think for a moment, then nodded with a small smile. "I'm eight years old." She said. Lelia would have guessed she was a little older than that, but she believed the girl and was determined to protect her. They couldn't let a little kid like that die. Her and Brandey shared a look. He thought the same thing. They all did.

They finished up cleaning the girl and gave her a sweater that Lelia had stuffed in her bag. They were now sitting on the damp grass, staring ahead of them. "Someone has to go in." Austin said out of nowhere. "We're almost out of food. We barely packed anything and we all know we won't survive if we don't get to eat something soon." They continued to stare at nothing for a little bit, then Austin stood up. "I'll go. I'm the only one that's sick already anyway." He started towards the open latch. There was still smoke coming out of it. "No, Austin. Just wait. You don't know if the smoke is toxic."
"Ley, we don't have a choice. Someone has to do it." He didn't stop walking as he said it, but Lelia ran after him and grabbed his arm. "Austin, please." Tears were visible in her eyes and it broke Austin's heart. He hated seeing his little sister cry. "Lelia, listen to me. I want you to live okay? Maybe our family still has a chance to make it through. And you're the only one left that can make it, so please. Let me do this. You know I always wanna save everyone, sis." He chuckled slightly, but there was no amusement in his little sister's eyes. "No. I already lost all my family. You're all I have left. Austin please don't go." She hugged him tightly and he also wrapped his arms around her. He gestured for Brandey to come behind her back and pulled back. Tears were streaming down her face. "I love you okay? I'll be back. This isn't a goodbye."
"Really? Cause you haven't said you love me since we were like eight." He smiled at her. It was true and they both knew there was a big chance that the smoke was toxic. "Fine. Goodbye then, little sis. Thanks for annoying the shit out of me for fourteen years." With that he walked away and she tried to stop him, but Brandey held her back. He was way stronger than her and eventually she just fell to her knees. They all stood there then, waiting for a sign that Austin was still alive.