Seven Un-Dead

Chapter 14

Chaos. Chaos was the only word to describe what was happening. Eugenio had to hold back Holly, who was now sobbing and trying to get to Alex. He weakly rose his head, giving Holly a sincerely happy smile. Alex was put under immense amounts of pain. He was in agony, but just seeing the face of Holly made him feel better. It may not have cured his cut off hand, nor his foot, nor his bleeding, but it made his heart feel so much better and Holly motivated him to stay alive just for a little bit longer.

A nice bedding made out of jumpers, and anything that would provide a safe operation area, was set up. Aiden and Ziggy gently laid Alex down and Suzzette was there in no time with her medical equipment. She pulled out a white bottle with a label sticker, some scribbled writing on it. Alex could just faintly make out what it said. Disinfectant. He got ready for the stinging. The pain from his hand had gone away now, and it seemed like hours had passed since he lost his arm. But the wound was still bleeding, dyeing the clothes underneath a deep crimson. Suzzette took out a gauze and soaked it in the liquid, then pressed it against Alex's wound. The pain was almost equally as bad as when he lost his arm. Alex screamed and groaned in pain, and Holly cried even more.

Eugenio was acting as a helping nurse, kneeling beside Alex and always checking if his purse was still okay. The others stood and watched, unable to do anything. They well knew that they had no experience, and too many cooks spoil the broth. Alex's life was hanging on a thin hair and it was vital for him to survive. Holly would fall into deep depression, even kill herself if he died, and nobody wanted that. Nobody wanted Alex to die either, but the state he was in said he clearly would last much longer. Even Suzzette wasn't sure if he could make it through the next five minutes.

"Everyone stand back, I don't want you here." Suzzette declared sternly. She disinfected the wound, but it was still spilling blood. If Alex lost too much, there would be no chance for him. They had to stop the blood immediately. Nicole immediately went into action she took off her jumper and rolled it up into a ball. She quickly took hold of what was left of Alex's arm and put the limb on top of the jumper ball.

"Knife." Nicole ordered, sticking out her hand. Nat and Olivia were unavailable to help, for they were holding back Holly. She kicked and screamed, digging her sharp nails into the girls' arms. Holly kept repeating that if they won't do something he will die, but nobody argued back with her. They stood in silence, watching, their eyes either full of tears or shock. Ziggy's were filled with hatred.

He stood against a tree, the shadow covering his face. Alex and Ziggy were both fighting and, whilst Alex had already won, Ziggy wouldn't give up. It gave a feeling of satisfaction to Ziggy that Alex was near his death. They were both competing for a prize, Alex already hold of it. But the prize wasn't something, it was someone. Someone they both loved uncontrollably: Holly. But right now she didn't notice. She wanted to break free, to go up to Alex and comfort him, to hold him and tell him it would all be okay. But the negative thoughts flooded her mind, telling her all the ways and possibilities of Alex dying. How she'd be left alone for the rest of her life.

Louis instinctively pulled out his dagger and passed it to Nicole. She looked down at her shirt, pulling the bottom hem out, and cut through the fabric. The bottom of her shirt was now cut off and in her hand. Suzzette snatched it from her, tieing it tightly around the top of Alex's accidentally amputated arm. Nicole was preparing a gauze, taking out multiple things from her box.

Meanwhile, everyone walked around in a stressful manner. It was only Nat and Olivia who weren't walking all over the place and shouting commands at both Suzzette and Nicole. The worst was Peter. He would circle around the scene, kneeling down to inspect Alex's arm but later getting angrily smacked in the face with Suzzette's red bloody arm. He would add comments about everything, judge everything and even correct the two girls, which always followed with a supporting medical fact.

Maya's face was pale and it looked like the life had been sucked out of her. Louis was hugging her. Whenever she turned to look at the blood filled scene, he turned her head back around and pressed her against him, so she would not turn again. But every time he let go she always turned her head. Louis himself could not stand watching his own best friend in a state like this. He couldn't do anything to help, which most bothered him. Alex was laying there, possibly bleeding to his death, and Louis was standing beside watching, unable to help. Instead he was taking care of Maya, which to his heart seemed the right thing to do.

Aiden, Ziggy, Jan, Borys and Eugenio stood and watched the whole thing. Occasionally they would help to hold back Holly when the girls nearly let her go. There was a clear trace of tears forming in Ziggy's eyes, but every time someone asked if he was crying he would deny and move to a different place.

Apart from Peter's comments, crunching of the leaf under their feet, and Holly's screaming, the others were dead silent. This was a serious injury and nobody wanted to interrupt Suzzette and Nicole. Their job was important and it had to be done well in order to save Alex's life.

After a minute, the bleeding from the arm stopped. It felt like almost an hour had passed since Alex's arrival, but it was just a few minutes. The sky wasn't as beautiful as earlier, and even the birds stopped singing. The stale smell of blood hung in the air. Blood soaked the clothing through and had gone onto the ground, dyeing the green grass a shade of crimson red. Holly was at Alex's side, tears still streaming down her face. His arm had been taken care of and Suzzette promised everyone that Alex would be fine, which they all forced themselves to believe.

Everyone was rushing around to pack up again. It was pointless to stay in this place with a heavily wounded Alex. He would need intensive care and a safe place to be taken care of. This was where their base stepped in. A safe place for Sophie and Alex.

"Why don't we just go and get the cure?" Ziggy asked, giving everyone an annoyed look.

"We can't. They need to go." Borys replied in a cold tone, looking over at the seven. They all stood in confusion. It sounded like a trap.

"It must be them that go." He added. His expression was equally as cold as the tone of his voice, and it made the whole situation tense.

That topic was long forgotten when they all said their goodbyes. It was good to reunite with old friends, especially in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. The warm, reassuring feeling that they were all still alive and kicking. Eugenio had to pry Holly off Alex and tell her that he would be fine alone, but she protested and argued and kicked everyone who came in her way. She gave up after ten minutes, when all her energy was lost.

Last goodbyes, last hugs, maybe the last time they saw each other. They had only had a short time to talk and laugh again and it was over. The feeling of happiness replaced once again with sadness and sorrow. The seven walked off into the woods, not letting emotions stop their journey to find the cure. Everyone wondered why it was them that had to go and retrieve the cure. But that did not matter for now, the only thing that mattered was that everyone was alright, even Alex. The crunching of the leaf, the cold air, the bright morning sun. Those things reminded the seven of one important fact; it was great to be alive.