All I Have Left

Chapter 6: She's gone

The next morning was just as terrifying as any other, honestly. This is becoming normal for us. We sleep in the hallway now because nothing would be able to directly hit us, but all of the noise is somewhat louder. I'm tired of this entire thing, honestly. It's horrible. I hate it. My mood lately has been a bit more depressing as this chaotic situation progresses. I sat up, stretched, and sat up against the wall. I let the gunshots and screams drone on, as if I could stop it. I looked around and didn't see Bria anywhere. I just got up and walked around looking for her. I didn't try to dodge the bullets or anything else. I didn't care anymore. I just cared about her. 

"Bria?" I called. Where could she be? The house isn't that big. I looked around the back rooms and the living room. Then I checked the bathroom in my room and she was asleep in the bathtub. I sighed and tapped her shoulder. 

"Bria wake up." I yawned. She groaned and looked up at me and then down at herself in the tub. I laughed a little. 

"So, uh, how did you end up in the bathroom?" I smiled. She laughed at me. 

"You know, I don't remember. Probably had to pee and got lazy." She said. We both laughed at the thought. I quickly realized that I haven't laughed at all during this entire crisis. Of course my best friend would be the reason I do. I help her out of the tub and we carefully make our way to the kitchen. She sits on the floor next to the counter, where she can't be hit by bullets or anything else. We can't even cook anymore because the stove is right in front of the hole in my house. Everything becomes so much more dangerous every day. 

"Adrienne? You alright?" Bria asked. It caught me off guard but I couldn't lie to her. 

"No...but I'm just tired. And scared." I said softly. Bria quietly stood up and hugged me. I hugged back as tight as I could. I couldn't do this without her. I couldn't take it. It terrifies me. Just then someone walked into my house, right up to us. 

"Scream and I'll kill you right here." A deep, raspy voice said. I pushed Bria behind me. 

"Who are you?" I said. Honestly, I don't have the energy for this. I really don't. 

"Does it matter? I've killed people just for the hell of it. I don't care who you are and I don't care who knows me." He said. I rolled my eyes. 

"Oh, how touching." I said sarcastically. Did I mention that I become an asshole when I'm tired? He just glared at me.

"I suggest you shut your face...right now little girl." That did it. 

"First off, I'm not a child. Second, you don't scare me." I said. I couldn't even see his face. He was wearing a mask that covered everything except his eyes, which were the creepiest pale blue. He just nodded. Then he walked up to me and grabbed Bria. She tried to scream so he covered her mouth with one of his hands and dragged her to the other side of the room with the other. 

"Let her go!" I demanded.

"I don't scare you?! Well what does, hmm?! I know you two are the only people here!" He said. Suddenly, he pulled out a gun. Bria and I gasped at the same time. "Everyone else around you is dead or dying, aren't they? There are dead bodies all over your front yawn and all over the neighborhood! She dies, and you're alone! Does THAT scare you??" 

This man is insane. He put the gun to Bria's head. I started bawling my eyes out, clearly he didn't care. Tears streamed down Bria's face and she kept screaming my name. I didn't know what to do. I know how this works. I move, he pulls the trigger. 

"Look, you're right okay?! She's all I have! Just please take what you want, anything at all. Just let her go! Or take me!" I sobbed. He just violently shook his head. What is wrong with this guy. 

"No no see, I don't want you! You seem like the stronger one of the bunch.  Or so you seem. You seem pretty fucking weak to me! Do you REALLY have no one else left in the world other than her?" He asked. I just kept crying, ignoring his question. "ANSWER ME!" 

"Not near me, no! On this side of town, she's the only person I have. She's the only one that's been here the whole time. She's the only one that could be there at night when the only thing I had to lure me to sleep was terrified screams and gunshots. She's my best friend. I need her!" I said through desperate sobs. I looked at Bria who tried to force a smile through the obvious fear that came from having a gun pointed at her. 

"Good luck getting to the other side of town." He said. 

"NO DON'T!!!!!" I closed my eyes tightly and turned away. 

The last thing I heard was a gunshot...and Bria's body fell to the floor. 

He killed her.

I look up and he ran out of the house. I instantly ran to Bria's lifeless body. 

"No no no no no no no!!! Get up!!! Y-you can't leave me like this Bria wake up!!! I need you here with me! I can't do this alone! No!!!!" I laid on her body with the false hope that she somehow survived and would answer me. But she never did. My throat burned and so did my chest. My stomach was in knots and my head throbbed. She's gone...my best friend in the world is...is gone! I just laid there and cried. Nothing mattered anymore. Not the noises in the background or the random killings. At that moment, I didn't care. I didn't even care that I was laying right in front of my window. I could be killed easily but I didn't care. I actually hoped something would hit me. 

"Bria I can't do this without you. Any of it. I can't...I need you here. I'm so scared..." I sobbed. 

I stayed there crying over my best friend's body all day. Suddenly it was dark, the time I feared most. How would I survive? I sat on the floor against the couch all night, deep in thought. Why her and not me? Who would choose to kill Bria over me? I would give up my life to save hers in a split second. I felt another tear roll down my face as I stared at her. The brightness that naturally came with her presence was gone. She was so pale. So detached. She was really gone. By the hands of some random idiot. 

Losing her killed me. She was my best friend. At first I was weak, she was all I had. She kept me safe. She made all of this seem like it was nothing. But from her death, I gained strength. I made the choice to keep going, make her proud. I smiled when I was dying inside. I couldn't afford to show weakness. This war hasn't stopped. My only way to convince myself that she didn't lose her life for nothing is to find the bastard that killed her. Even if it takes my dying breath. At least then...I'll be with her. I'll be a fraction of the woman she was. I'll make her proud. So watch out you soulless killer, you stole a part of me. And now I will end you.