Turned » 5sos

0.8

c a l u m

I was woken up by the noises of Kit struggling against her chains and groaning softly. I opened my eyes and saw Michael had walked in, already with his backpack on his shoulders.

"Hey man." he greeted me, trying to look happy but I knew he wasn't. He knew I knew what would happen to her when we brought her back to the city. "Ashton wants to leave in ten minutes."

I sat up and ran a hand through my hair, "I don't know what to do." I sighed.

He looked down at Kit who was staring at him with wild eyes. She only paid attention to me when no one else was in the room. It was like she was getting used to seeing me and realizing there wasn't any way she'd ever get to me.

"I know," Michael said softly, "but this is the only way. We either bring her back to the city or we just kill her here."

"They'll kill her there, too." I stated. "None of the infected that have been brought back have ever actually survived."

"Maybe it'll be different this time." he shrugged.

I scoffed, "Doubt it."

Michael left the room and I looked down at Kit. She looked back up at me and kept pulling against her chains. I didn't know if she could understand what we were talking about but I hoped she wasn't scared. Kit was hardly ever scared anymore but when she was, she stressed out a lot, usually to the point of vomiting.

I ran my fingers through her dark hair, something that used to soothe her. I stared at the wall opposite us as I tried to figure out what to do. I didn't know how I'd ever be able to keep her around if she was infected now but I couldn't just give up and hand her over like that. I owed her so much more than that; Kit was the only thing I had that I truly cared about.

I'd stopped spacing out and realized something: there were no sounds of chains. I looked down and saw Kit was just staring at the ceiling as she let me comb my fingers through her hair. She didn't make any noises except for her breathing which came out a little wheezy.

"You still like when I do that?" I asked softly.

He eyes darted toward my face but she still didn't do anything. Was it possible Kit was actually still somewhat herself in there? Did she realize I wouldn't harm her now because I was showing her kindness for the passed 20-ish hours?

"I can't just let them take you," I decided, "that's not right. They'll torture you until you're really dead. I'm not going to let anyone do that to you, Kit."

I walked away from her and I thought I heard something that sounding like a whining noise come from her mouth. I didn't stop, though, as I opened the door and went into the room where the other three boys were.

"Pack up your things, Hood," Ashton ordered, "we're just about to-"

"I'm staying here." I announced. The three of them froze and looked at me. "With Kit."

"Calum, she's infected," Luke laughed awkwardly, "You can't save her."

"Yes I can." I insisted. "I think I can teach her. She's starting to trust me now, I know she is. Maybe she can be taught how to function normally like she used to."

"That's crazy talk." Ashton said. "The infected physically can't do that. Their brains are rotting away in there, they can't be taught anything."

"But maybe her's isn't since we've been taking care of her bite wound."

"You mean you have." Ashton corrected. "You're the only person who cares, Calum. We just want to go home; I have a family I need to take care of."

"I do too and I plan on staying here to take care of her." I stated harshly. "You can't make me leave."

Ashton smirked, "Oh yes I can."

He pushed passed me and walked into the room we were holding Kit. As soon as he entered, she did exactly what she did when Michael had a few minutes earlier. She just wanted to break free of the chains and sink her teeth into him.

Ashton swiftly pulled out his gun and aimed it at her.

"No!" I cried, running over and shoving his arm away as he pulled the trigger.

Kit let out a loud screech and thrashed on her steel bed. I looked at her and saw her shoulder was bleeding. The bullet had ended up grazing her skin and got lodged in the cement wall. Ashton's gun was on the floor across the room. I ran over to grab it before going over to Kit and running my fingers through her hair again.

"Shh, it's okay," I told her soothingly, "I'll fix it. I know it hurts, I know."

She started to make weird noises. It was as if someone was crying who couldn't breathe properly. Even if she was infected, she still knew what pain was and could still feel it.

"Calum, get away from her." Luke advised.

I looked at the three of them, "She's not even pulling against her chains to get at me. She hasn't opened her mouth to try to bite me or anything. The only reason she's thrashing like that is because Ashton hurt her. Kit isn't going to hurt me because I won't hurt her."

"Or maybe she's just stupid." Ashton said.

I glared at him, "She's learning and adapting. Kit's a fighter and she's still in there. I'm not giving up on her. If you want to kill her, Ashton, then you can kill me too and lose your second greatest survivalist. Just see how the city does without me."

He clenched his fists over and over and set his jaw, "You expect the four of us to risk our asses out here just because you can't get over your girlfriend-"

"She's my sister."

"She's your neighbor!"

"But what if he's right?" Luke spoke up. "Maybe it's possible to train the infected. No one's every tried it before because we all show them hostility and violence. Calum is probably the first person to ever show one compassion and safety."

"What would you know about this?" Ashton asked him.

Luke looked at him and held his head up high, "I'm actually very smart, thank you. That's why I'm in the top five."

Michael held back a laugh, "He told you."

"I say we give it at least a day or two." Luke decided. "If she continues to show signs of progress, we figure out what to do. If not, Calum, you really need to let us bring her to the scientists."

I nodded, "It's a deal. I just need a chance."

Michael shrugged, "I'm in."

Ashton groaned and rolled his eyes, "You dumb fucks are going to get us killed. We're leaving."

"You're outnumbered." I told him. "If you go back without us, that makes you look bad; like you can't control your team."

"Not to mention you'd look like an asshole because you left us behind." Michael added.

"A team has to stick together." Luke said. "Plus, this could be the biggest scientific breakthrough since the outbreak and you'd be a part of it. That would look good for you since you're the leader."

He rubbed his hands over his face and groaned, "Fine, whatever! You have two days, Hood."