The Hanging Tree (Zianourry)

Chapter Nineteen

**A/N: Well then, cry now... This is the final chapter. The next chapter is the epilogue! BTW @Alana-Ray inspired this chapter!**

Liam's gone. I wasn't sure how. Niall wasn't taking it well and neither was Zayn, since he practically lost his best friend. I looked at them, afraid of giving them more false hope about someone else being alive.

"Guess I'll protect you two now." Zayn said, a sad look on his face. He didn't look like he could protect himself at the moment so I doubted he could protect us. "

Zayn walked over to me, pulling me up off the ground. "C'mon." He whispered.

I walked in silence beside Niall, the little Irish fireball seeming nothing more than a dying ember. I reached out and held his hand, squeezing it gently as his deep blue eyes looked at me. He wiped away the tears as I asked, "Do you want me to sing you a song?"

"Sure." He said, biting his bottom lip in an effort to stop crying.

"What if daddy was right?; And I knew all the answers?; they could give me the world; But that wouldn't matter; if the gates open wide, and made you an angel; Through tears in my eyes, I'd save your seat at the table."

Niall and Zayn both joined in, surprising me by knowing the lyrics. "Stay with me, don't disappear; To tell the truth, I need you here; I'm afraid, can barely breathe; I need your words to comfort me; Say goodnight, would you say; goodnight?"

We all joined hands as we sung those lyrics to each other. Tears were streaming down our eyes as we thought about how we were going to die. How by this time tomorrow we would be gone.

"It's been a fun ride boys." Zayn whispered.

"Hey, we're not dead yet so you're protection duty isn't over yet." I told him, making Niall smile a bit. He looked at me and leaned over, kissing my forehead before kissing Niall's as well.

I mainly looked forward as Niall watched our left and Zayn our right. The sunlight was breaking through the trees easily as the trees got further and further apart. It was an advantage and disadvantage. We could see everything around us but we were left with no cover.

A sound reached my ears, the sound of running water. I looked at the other two and realized they heard the same thing. We ran towards the sound, going as fast as we can once we saw a stream.

I dropped down before it, scooping up some water in my hands and running it across my face. The other two dropped right beside me, copying my actions as we drunk the stream water.

"Think this lead to civilization?" Niall asked.

"Doesn't matter because they'd want to kill us as well." Zayn said scratching the back of his head. He was scratching like a mad man, close to digging a hole in his scalp.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, pulling Niall's attention to Zayn as well.

He stopped scratching and shrugged his shoulders, a fake smile on his face. "It's nothing, just a bug bite that really itches." He said, bringing his hand back down. His fingertips were a dry crusty red and I could tell that he'd been scratching at this bug bite for a while.

"Stop scratching or it won't heal." I told him.

"It's just really annoying." Zayn dragged on.

I groaned, grabbing a hold of his shirt and pulling him towards me. Niall peered over my shoulder as I searched through Zayn's black unnamed canvas. I let my fingers search through the oily surface for what my eyes couldn't see. That's when I felt it, right underneath the back of his skull connected with his spine. I looked at Niall with confused eyes.