The Last Shot

5: A Fateful Awakening

"What if she doesn't wake up, Kristen?" Emma's voice trembled with fear as she watched Nina sleep, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"She will, Emma. She's strong." Kristen replied, her tone gentle yet firm, attempting to reassure her younger sister.

Emma wiped her eyes, sitting on the edge of the bed. She held Nina's hand gently, stroking it with her thumb. "I just want her to wake up. I need her to. You know how hard it was for me to make friends. I was always dubbed the weird kid, but she just instantly accepted me. She showed me so much kindness, she talked to me, she hung out with me. I can just be myself around her. She's.... I..." Emma sighed deeply, struggling to find the right words. "I didn't realise how much I needed someone like her in my life. I got so used to being alone... Then she came along. She's something special." Emma bit her lip, trying to hold back more tears. "I know I shouldn't get attached to her so quickly, but it's hard not to get attached to someone these days, never knowing if today is their last. Yeah, it was the same back before all this bullshit but literally... We live every day like it's our last shot."

Kristen's expression softened as she listened. "You also have to realise, she's been out in the open, surviving just like us, but without the luxury we have. Her body was already exhausted, even if she did sleep a lot, her body has a lot to recover from and then she got the beating from hell.... She just needs to rest. She will be okay."

Emma's concern deepened as Lewis walked into the room, his face set in a grim line. "Emma, I hate to be the one to bring you bad news, but what if she doesn't wake up? We must talk about what we'll do." Kristen shook her head at him, warning him not to push further. "You do what needs to be done. You do it." Lewis insisted, ignoring Kristen's glare.

"How can you expect me to do that?! To put a bullet through her head like it's nothing?" Emma yelled. "I'm not strong enough for that!" Her voice broke with anguish.

Lewis sighed deeply, pulling out a small pistol from the back of his pants. "You do what needs to be done." He repeated firmly, placing the gun on the dresser, next to Nina's weapons.

Emma glared at the gun with pure hatred. She promised herself right then and there that would never use it to kill Nina. "Please wake up." She begged, lowering her head so their foreheads were touching. "I need you." She whispered, her voice breaking.

"Get the fuck off me." Nina mumbled groggily.

Emma quickly sat up, her heart racing with hope. "Nina?"

"Emma." Nina greeted tiredly, her eyes barely open, struggling to stay awake.

The blonde smiled, leaning forward to hug her, but Nina hissed in pain, causing Emma to pull back with an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

Nina shrugged weakly before slowly sitting up, wincing in pain but pushing through it. "You need to rest." Emma reminded her, but Nina ignored her, instead gesturing for Emma's hand to help her. Emma helped Nina out of bed and onto her feet, using herself for support as Nina carefully made her way through the narrow camper van and outside.

All eyes landed on them as they emerged. Edith burst into tears, running towards Nina and wrapping her arms around the younger girl carefully. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She cried; her voice filled with guilt.

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault." Nina reassured her, hugging her back with all the strength she could muster.

Edith pulled away as Liam and Chasity ran towards her, wrapping their tiny arms around her legs. "I'm glad you're okay." Liam smiled brightly, showing off those cute dimples.

The two children moved back and ran off to play. Nina smiled as she watched them, but her smile faded when she looked forward and saw Joe standing there, arms crossed. "You're such an idiot." He said, walking over and wrapping her in a tight yet gently hug. "Don't you scare me like that again." He warned. Nina laughed slightly, hugging him back.

The hug ended, and everyone walked over to the campfire to eat and talk, enjoying the rest of the afternoon. Nina was happy to finally eat some more "mystery meat" and enjoy the company of her newfound family. In her eyes, things were looking up.

-

It wasn't long before it got dark, and everyone had settled down. Some had already gone to bed, while others stayed by the campfire, listening to Lewis as he told a story. "There was this man, and every day, he would take the same route to and from work. Every day on his way home from work he would see the same told woman sitting at the water's edge of the lake. Always doing the same thing, sitting, humming and always with a small cage next to her. Well, one day he got curious, and instead of heading straight home, he walked towards the woman and said 'I hate to bother you, but I see you sitting here every day, at the same time, doing the same thing. May I ask what you are doing?' But it was at this moment he saw cage wasn't just a cage. Inside were bags of fish."

"Fish?" Owen laughed.

Lewis laughed too as he nodded his head. "Yep, fish. Not goldfish either, but tropical looking fish. She said she was freeing the fish because fish didn't belong in tanks, they didn't belong in captivity. He pointed out these types of fish weren't exactly suitable for this kind of water, but she just laughed. She said, 'if these fish could take, they would say she made all the difference in the world'. Basically, the moral of the story is, it doesn't matter how big or small the situation is. It doesn't matter if you make a lasting impact. What matters is if you wake up and at least pretend to make a difference in the world with your actions, because it does. Whether it's just saying hello to a stranger or giving someone your kidney, you can make a difference." He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the sky. "We need to be the difference we want to see in the world. We need to pull together and make this world right again."

Emma rested her head on Nina's shoulder and the darked haired woman instinctively put her arm around her shoulders, wincing slightly. "You need me, huh?" She smirked.

Emma blushed and looked up at her. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Their eyes met, and Nina gulped hard as she looked deep into Emma's eyes. The fire's glow made the green stand out more, highlighting the colour. She slowly leaned in, and so did Emma.

"I have to pee." Emma whispered, breaking the moment.

Nina bit her lip as she felt her cheeks burn. Emma stood up and made her way to the camper van. Feeling eyes on her, Nina turned her head to see Kristen looking at her with raised eyebrows. Nina just smiled.

"I'm going to get a drink." She said to no one in particular as she slowly and carefully stood up. She walked towards the van and was about go inside when Emma appeared.

"Hey." Emma greeted. "What are you doing?"

"I need to get some water, and I believe there are some bottles in here, right?"

"Oh yeah, here." Emma leaned backward slightly and reached for one of the bottles of water that sat on the wooden countertop. As she stood up straight, she threw the bottle to the side and pushed Nina to the ground, as she began to scream in pain.

"EMMA!" Kristen cried, jumping up in horror.

Nina turned her head and watched in shock as a roamer bit into Emma's arm. The dark-haired woman quickly got to her feet, adrenaline surging through her body, masking the pain. She reached for Emma as a bullet pierced the roamer's head, splattering blood all over her face. Before Nina could pull Emma towards her, a runner screeched as it latched on to her neck, ripping out a chunk of her neck, blood spraying everywhere.

An arrow flew into the runner's head. Nina finally pulled Emma into her arms, laying her down gently as her legs buckled underneath her. The moans, screeches and terrified screams faded into the background. She no longer heard the gunshots; the only thing she could hear was Emma gasping for air.

Nina held back tears as she placed her hands over Emma's neck, attempting to stop the bleeding. Kristen ran towards them through the chaos, pushing Nina quickly out of the way, causing the younger girl to hiss in pain.

She shuffled backwards but couldn't move. Looking up, she saw Joe kneeling down. He wrapped his arm around her, holding her tightly, not wanting to fight the dead, just wanting to support Nina through this hard time. He didn't care about anyone else in this moment, just Nina.

And that's how they stayed for the rest of the night.