Guilt (A Zero Spin-Off)

Thirty - Kyle

Three minutes, maybe four, I hadn't been counting but I knew we hadn't been out of the room long before all hell broke loose. She was just fine. Not fine. Sick. Horrible fever. Totally unconscious. Yeah, that wasn't fine at all, but it wasn't seizing on the bed - foaming from her mouth.

I'd seen so many awful things. People I called brothers die. Horrible things happen to good people. Innocent people - some children - in the wrong place at the wrong time. So many from this sickness and then the zombies that came with it. Seeing Hunter and Ella strung up and left to die - that easily topped the list. But this, this was up there. Seeing someone who is closer than family break and being powerless to change any of it is one of the worst feelings.

I stood in the doorway, not knowing what to do. There wasn't much I could do. Miles and Joel looked equally clueless and Hunter... shit, he was out of his mind. He was lost. The sounds that were coming from him weren't completely human and none of them were coherent, just panicking noises of someone terrified and hopeless.

While all of us stood helplessly to the side, observing but taking no action, Ella didn't hesitate. If she was phased at all by seeing Zero seizing or Hunter breaking, she didn't show it. We'd underestimated her. Time and time again. We all thought, hell, I'd told her, that she couldn't handle the world without me. That she panics too easily and would die. But here she was. All of us standing around, incapable of helping and Ella was taking charge. We were so out of our element, but hell, so was she.

She barely even paused in the doorway, only stopping long enough to take in exactly what was happening. And then she was pushing through everyone to get to Zero. Miles and Joel jumped quickly out of the way, but Hunter hadn't even realized we'd entered the room. I don't think anyone existed in that moment. Not bothering to deal with him, she went to the other side of the bed and grabbed Zero, pulling her body to one side. Ella grabbed some pillows from the bed and positioned them behind Zero to keep her up on one side.

"What are you doing?" Hunter demanded, his voice cracking. He reached forward like he wanted to touch her, but he was too scared and pulled back. Biting his fist, Hunter tried to compose himself. "Wh-what's happening?"

Ella looked up, her mouth in a firm hard line, her eyes filled with compassion.

"She's having a seizure. I'm just making sure she doesn't choke on anything," she told him, remaining remarkably calm.

"Ah, no," he said, shaking his head as he sank to his knees, leaning over the bed. Though Ella had been calm when she said it, we were all thinking the same thing. It was only minutes ago that she explained seizures happened toward the end. "Come on, Sweetheart," Hunter begged, stroking her hair. "Come on, Sweetheart," he repeated, his voice choked and thick as his shoulder's shook uncontrollably. Hunter's head dropped while sobs wracked through his body.

Ella's eyes filled with tears as she watched the man who had gotten her through the worst moments of her life fall to pieces in front of her. I was sure she wanted to help him someway, like he'd done for her, but words seemed to run short. Like the rest of us, there was little she could do for him.

"Hunter," Ella said quietly, her own voice was thick but she didn't cry. She forced a smile for his benefit. "Hunter,"

she repeated, a little more firmly until he finally looked at her. "I need you to go get the ice packs. Okay? And the Tylenol."

"I'm not leaving her."

Patiently, Ella nodded. The breath she released when Zero's body relaxed was the only sign that she'd been anything but calm. She grabbed the washcloth that had been tossed aside when Zero began seizing and carefully wiped the girls mouth. After repositioning the pillow under Zero's head and allowing her to lay back flat, she again, persisted with Hunter in a gentle way.