ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛᴏʀ || Zig-Zag

Chapter 22| If Only, If Only

Tara's P.O.V

         The more we continued the more that funny feelings started to turn into a sick feeling. Nestling in the root of my being and slowly branching out and infecting the rest of my body. Caveman and Zero started going over words, figuring now was as good a time as any to do so. Caveman would spell out the word and Zero would say what the word is. So far he's been keeping it simple, but he's been doing good so far.

"Give me another word." I trail behind the other two, glad of the progress he has been making.

"R-o-c-k." Stanley spells it out for him to solve next.

"R-rock?" He answers unsure. I smile, biting but the feeling of discomfort that continues to build inside.
"Not half bad." I praise, ruffling his hair. I huff quietly as we continue, the exhaustion and sick feeling weighing me down more than the heat.

"Yep, that's right, man. You're doing good. Keep practicing." My head begins to sway as we come around a corner of rocks, beginning the journey up another steep part. Zero coughs, still never having let go of his shovel.

"We're almost there. Come on." Stanley says as he starts climbing. I exhale as I shake my head trying to dismiss the feeling. My eyes move up as Zero slows in front of me, coughing more.

"Zero? Zero." He keeled over while coughing some more while dropping his shovel to the ground beside him. I take a few steps forward as I watch the boy worriedly, tripping on a rock. I jerked forward some but remained balanced as Zero pukes, suddenly the boy loses consciousness, collapsing to the side.

           I rushed forward instantly, throwing myself over the ledge to stop the boy from tumbling to his possible death, very least a wound that we couldn't possibly treat out here, especially if it got infected or anything. I quickly reached out stopping him from going any further, Stanley further after us worriedly.

"Stanley! Stanley. His hair, it's stuck-" I choke out, the sudden rushing around and panic state not only threw me off but made me feel incredibly more sick. The feeling was only continuing to swell, rising in my throat as I held the younger of the two from falling any further down the mountain. Stanley rushed beside me, grabbing one his arms as double assurance while untangling his hair from the twigged infested shrub.

"I got him, he's- Hey, are-" I lurched forward this time, once I knew Hector was placed safely on the ground, the Sploosh from before making its way up and silencing Caveman for all of two seconds.

"Oh, not you too!" He cried, as I finished puking, shaking as I stood there, my hand on the rock for support as he wasn't sure who to check on. I panted as I tried to regain my breath, looking at Hector through my brows, slowly turning to look at Stanley.