Into the Darkness

Chapter 14

Kara's POV
Avan is dead. Eliot and Allie are really sick and despite Travis best efforts they aren't getting any better. And I am not feeling so well myself either. Travis has ordered Gwen, Elle and Vincent to go to the table and stay there and till he has fixed whatever this is. He doesn't want them to catch it. I told him he should go there to and he can just tell me what to do, after all I don't feel or look as bad as the others but he wasn't having it.
He kept saying how he had to so something. I wish I could do something but unfortunately I wasn't studying hard to be a doctor before I got here. I am limited to fetching water from the showers. Breakfast still has not arrived yet so that is what we have resorted to. We considered opening up some of our leftovers from the maze but since they could barely hold down water Travis said no. I can barely see Eliot and Allie in the dim light but I can hear them. And what I am hearing is very bad. Hacking coughs even worse then my own, groaning and moaning from all the pain and the occasional sickening pop of a blister.
It's a miracle I have managed to keep lat nights dinner down.
After a while and a lot of water my throat seems to seem a little better. Travis hasn't asked me to get water for a while now. I didn't get much sleep last night, maybe I could try to get some now. I lie down on the closest mat not really caring whose it is. Odds are that they are gone anyways.I wonder how many of them are actually going to end up coming back. What if they are all already dead? How would we ever know? The voice could have killed them the moment those doors closed and we would never know. This helplessness that Travis feels right now, it isn't just him. We all feel that way. He is probably the only one who shouldn't be feeling that way. He is the closest thing we have to a doctor here and he is really good at it. I remember making my way into the room with three broken fingers and a sprained ankle. He seemed to know just what to do. It felt so good to rely on someone else for a change. I never did realize that meant he never had anyone to lean on, except maybe Benedict. But now he is gone and Travis won't be able to do anything.

It is these dreadful thoughts that carry me into a light and troubled sleep. It is something even worse that snaps me out of it. It is Travis yelling something. Everything is fuzzy for a moment and I can't quite comprehend what he is saying. Then it becomes clear.

"Come on Allie. No! Come on! No! No!" After the last no her hacking cough comes to a sputtering stop. Everything is silent except for Eliot's heavy breathing and Travis trying to revive Allie using CPR. It doesn't work which isn't a huge surprise. It didn't work for Avan either. The ones who aren't sick watch in horror as another one of us dies. To me it doesn't even seem real. She can't just be gone. With Avan it was different I never knew him all that well but I did know Allie. We were friends. But nothing changes inside me when I hear her die. Is this supposed to be some sort of denial? Travis sits next to Allie with his face in his hands. I don't think he is crying. I ignore the pain in my own body and inch my way closer to them. When I see her everything I couldn't feel before comes flooding in. If it is possibly she is worse then before. Unrecognizable. The heaviness of it weighs on my chest and doesn't leave. I choke back tears. She really is gone. 

Travis turns to me. There are no tears in his eyes and I can tell he is struggling to keep it that way. His eyes are red and bloodshot, "I am so sorry Kara. I tried to save her. I really did."

I nod but don't take my eyes off of her puffed up and broken body, "I know."

"I can't do this. I can't save you or Eliot." He gestures to Eliot who is either unconscious or sleeping. Every tiny movement brings a series of moans, "If this thing is contagious..." 

"You'll figure it out. I am sure you will." I say half halfheartedly. He may figure it out but not in time to save Allie. Maybe it won't be in time to save any of us. I can't tell him that though. He needs to believe in himself.