Last Dawn of a Horde

Chapter Eleven: The Final Assault ~1 Jules

~Jules~

            When I woke up, it didn’t took me long to notice that James hadn’t made up to his words.

            The huge grandfather clock on the common room said it was already ten o’clock in the morning. I stood from my slumber on the couch, and quickly headed for the kitchen. But unfortunately, it seems like James and John were waiting for me to wake up.

            “What time is it now?” I frowned at James.

            He brings his mug on the table. “I’m sorry, Jules. But you need your rest, and now you look chipper.”

            John just smiled at me.

            I made the gesture of getting past them, yet they won’t let me past the kitchen.

            “I just want to check Sam,” I tell the both of them pleadingly. Naturally I just don’t have the energy to argue or yell at my classmates or something. I look around, and everyone was having breakfast.

            Next to the table sat Geno, Prince, and Bridge, who all greeted me once they noticed me. They were studying some papers, and from the looks of it, they looked like diagrams of some sort.

            “They are trying to study the papers Bridge got from his uncle’s study,” John informs me. “Geno and Prince are the ones likely to understand them.”

            I look over my shoulder again, and it seems like John was right—Geno was confidently speaking about how he thinks that the virus is likely to die at some point. I take no further interest on them when I remembered why I was standing here in the first place.

            “Get me Jimmy,” James tells John. John sets off, and it took me a second to remember what happened a few hours ago. I barely realized I was inebriated enough to talk about things...

            I took my chance when James was sipping his coffee. I skirted past him, and eventually I grabbed the door knob of Sam’s recovery room. James yelled in surprise, but I was already in the room when he realized I got behind him.

            Then there was Sam on her bed, breathing so still it crushes my little heart. Yet, it’s like what James and I had talked about gave me the hint that I was far too agonizing myself. Sam wasn’t going crazy, or like having seizures or anything; in fact, I noticed that while her eyes are tightly shut, her lips were slightly curved to a smile.

            I took my usual seat next to her, and that’s when the door started banging. No matter how much the sound irritates my ears, I resisted the urge to stand and just open the door for it to be over. I know I must have said things—terrible things that I don’t want to ever say again—but I still don’t know what to say. That’s why I was evading James’ and John’s effort to give me and Jimmy a talk.

            I run my fingers from Sam’s forehead down to her cheeks. She felt unbelievably warm—a positive tingle I am having now. She previously felt like cold and dying, but now I was excited at the fact that she’s getting better.

            But wait.

            They haven’t removed the bullet from her yet, have they?

            My mind started to race again. I look over her bandaged wound, and it seems like she hasn’t stopped bleeding yet.

            And after a minute, I can’t stand it anymore.

            “Hi, Jules,” says Jimmy as I opened the door. I suddenly took a step back, expecting him the less to step before the door. He looked to his left, and whispered indistinctively. “Hey! What am I going to say?”

            I heard James answer, “Just talk to him! You can do it!”

            Jimmy didn’t look like he gained enough confidence. It was, until John came into sight and pushed him towards me. He crashed onto me, and the next thing I heard was the door closing.

            We stood up, Jimmy offering me a hand. I took it silently, and then we went on to sit opposite of each other, with Sam on our middle.

            “Sam looks good, isn’t she?” Jimmy said. I swore I could sense he was sweating.

            I grunted. “Why are you here?”

            He tried to look me in the eye. “Look, Jules, we’ve been a jerk these times, and—“

            I gave him a serious stare.

            “Oh, sorry. I had been a jerk,” he said. “But look, don’t you think I’ve got a good point? We aren’t any safer here, and none of the adults we were together with can see it.”

            “But I don’t even see your argument there,” I answered.

            He scoffs. “Apply cold water to burned area,” he grumbled. “They said they can’t treat Sam.”

            Finally, he made sense that I actually sighed. “That sucks. They can’t just let her die here.”

            Jimmy bowed his head, and when he looked up again, he wore his saddest, sincerest face. “That’s what they were thinking, Jules.”

            I pursed my lips while managing to keep my voice level, although I feel my blood slightly boiling.

            “We don’t even know who shot her,” Jimmy adds.

            Trying not to overlook things, I just said, “When did they say that? Mr. Riggins said that?”

            “Well, to think of it, it’s like either we risk our lives trying to get her a doctor to attend to her, or just simply give up.”

            “Give up?” I said, my voice getting gurgled.

            “Don’t get mad at me, Jules,” Jimmy pleaded. “But now I think I should probably shut up about my thoughts of getting our asses on the roads again.”

            “What? You want to shut up because you psyched me down again? That’s your stand?”

            “No. But because I care, I am opening myself to other options and possibilities,” he beamed. He looks around the room, and he looked freaked out too, like he was thinking, ‘A room like this exists in this house?’

            “Okay, we’re quits,” I said dismissively. “You’ve just got to let me and Sam alone.”