Wither With Me

CHAPTER 28 - DECISION

The basement had suddenly become colder than usual. The air felt heavy, stagnant. All sounds seemed muffled. It was like time itself had come to a full stop for a brief moment. Out of simple rationality, Claire was convinced it was nothing but an illusion within her mind, yet it didn't stop her from getting chills.

Nora stared at the floor, with her eyes lost in the void. They were dry. She didn't seem to have any more tears to let out, no matter how much she might have wanted to keep drowning in them.

Claire wanted to continue comforting Nora, but she abstained from doing it. She understood what William had meant. He had a point. She didn't want accept it, she wished things could take a different direction with all her might, but the reality was undeniable.

If they kept running away and hiding from the truth, Lilian would be doomed. And if Lilian was gone, Nora would follow.

She said nothing, she did nothing. It was a conclusion that Nora had to reach on her own. She wouldn't be able to move on otherwise. She just held back her own tears, and watched.

"I won't force your hand." said William. "Even if my own sanity is teetering on your final decision, that decision is yours to make. But, for your sake, and for Lilian's sake... think carefully about this. Don't do something you'll end up regretting your entire life."

Nora didn't answer.

William moved his chair aside, and approached Amanda's room.

"I have things to do, honey... I need to leave. But I'll be back, I promise. Wait for me." he said, before closing the door.

After a moment of hesitation and thought, he locked it and walked away, towards the entrance of the basement, passing right beside Nora.

"Let's get going. No matter what your decision is, we'll have to find Lilian. Regardless of how severe her condition is, she'll be safer with us than with those lowlifes."

"William... Do you think... Do you think Lilian can be saved...?" asked Nora.

"...the military are humans. Can you reason with a disease? You can't. But you can try to reason with humans. I'd like to believe there's still some faith to be had in mankind. Even if the opposite has been proven to us over and over." he let out a deep breath. "So, to answer your question... Yes."

William abandoned the room, leaving Nora weeping bitterly. Claire rushed to her side and hugged her again, in an attempt to help her bear the sorrow.

******

William had finally let most of the survivors out of their confinement. He kept his eyes on Marcus as often as he possibly could, making sure he was never left alone for too long. The only person he left in isolation was Desmond. His mind filled up with turbulent emotions whenever he confronted him, he didn't even know what to do with him. He'd rather not deal with him for the moment.

Since many of the survivors would probably have to stay in the building, he spent some time giving some tips about the layout of the structure, as well as the current state of the surrounding areas, including the very few places where resources could still be found. Those people were going to have a rough time surviving in that place for a long period of time, but if they were planning to rescue Lilian, they couldn't bring everyone. Whoever came along had to be ready to get into a fight, and most of them weren't.

'Speaking of which... Rescuing Lilian, huh...? Easier said than done. How?'

...

William approached Marcus, who observed the streets from the edge of the rooftop. He noticed him getting closer, but didn't shift his attention from the surroundings. As William's eyes peeked over the railing, he noticed many shamblers standing around down below.