Amnesia

Fever

No one says anything.

The image of Dawn replays in my head over and over again.

I shake, both from the cold and from the pain. I can't control myself from shaking.

I watch as Jose stands up, away from little lifeless Dawn and towards Johnny, the only human making noises now. He grunts and groans as he slithers around on the ground. Jose aims at his head.

"No!" I scream at him, breaking the silence. Everyone turns and looks at me in shock. "Don't kill him. Please."

"Why not?" Jose asks. "Why the hell is he so goddamn special?"

"He tried to help me," I say.

"I shot Captain!" Johnny yells through his clenched teeth.

Jose snaps his head towards him in surprise. He watches him writher, thinking about it.

"He's right," Anne says. "None of us shot first."

"How do we know if he shot him on accident or on purpose? What if he meant to shoot one of us and missed?"

"Why would I shoot without order?" Johnny asks, holding his arm tightly. I crawl over to him and help apply pressure, ignoring the groups looks of disgust.

"He helped me," I say. "He shot Captain but he also tried to help me when I was locked up."

When I look back at them, I notice someone's missing.

"Where's Chris?" I ask, attempting to stand up. I end up falling back down, almost right on top of Johnny. No one answers me. "Where is Chris?" I repeat.

"He's alive," Jose says. "Don't worry your boyfriend isn't dead yet."

I ignore his snarky comment. "Where is he?"

"He's where we hid in the bushes and trees," Anne says. "He hid in a tree and shot the men on the roof from a distance. He's got more training with a gun then most of us. But Brenda, since she's so emotional right now, is going back to look after him."

"Look after him?"

"He's running a fever."

"A fever?" I slowly get to my feet, worry rushing through me. "Was he bit?"

"No bites nor scratches. That's what makes us even more worried," Anne says.

"We need to go to him," I say, taking a few staggered steps forward. "We need to make sure he's okay.

I feel someone grab me to support my weight so I don't fall. So much pain runs through me that I'm dizzy from agony. When they talk, I know it's Anne. "He will be okay."

"But he has a fever! Please let me go see him," I beg.

She sighs. "Jose, carry her out please."

There's another sigh, this time from Jose. "What about him?" he asks. I gather he's talking about Johnny who's been silent for the past few minutes.

"We will take him with us and then we are going to keep an eye on him," Anne says.

"He's one of their men!" Jose argues. "Why would we risk it?"

"They're all dead," I hear Johnny say.

"How can we trust you?" Jose spits. "We killed their men, if there are any more we are dead."

"I don't want to hear you talk about this," Anne says, her voice rising. "This isn't who we are. Carry her to Chris and Brenda and keep an eye on this kid at all times."