Beside the Dying Fire

Hailey's POV

The elevator doors closed immediately, but through the gap that grew smaller by the second, I saw Gabe fending off walkers. I frantically pressed the button to open the doors, but just like every other elevator, nothing happened. The car began to move down one level. When the doors opened, the angry face of Joseph was pointing a golden revolver at us all. I ran at him while screaming and tried to tackle him to the ground, but he pushed me off. I landed on the ground with a thud. I attempted to get up, but he aimed his gun at me before I could take action.

Bang!

The bullet grazed my thigh. I began to slowly bleed from the wound. Joseph forced me to my feet so that I would be his human shield. Upon seeing this, my friends holstered their guns and crew their hands into the air in surrender. Joseph pushed me aside to the ground. Sarah and Savannah quickly came to my side to address my wound. While they weren't paying attention, that crazy Russian bastard grabbed Gavin be the arm and dragged him off to the lobby.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out from the stairwell, most likely from the lobby. I dearly hoped that Kai fired the shot. I carefully stood up and used Cameron as a support to get to the lobby. No one was in sight, but I did hear something. We walked to the security room where we heard a soft sniffling. I very slowly opened the door. Kai lay on the ground next to a smashed computer screen. His hands covered his face.

"K-Kai?" I asked him. "Where's Gavin?"

"Joseph got him." he spat out without removing his hands.

"A-and Gabe?"

He snatched his cane and stood up with a very agitated face as he quickly limped towards me.

"The walkers got him."

I could hear Sarah and Savannah begin to cry from behind me as I did the same.

"Why are you crying?!" he yelled at us. "What did you think would happen when you left him behind?! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS! IT HAPPENED TO PAYSON, TO AJAX, TO SAMUEL, TO ALYSON, TO MACIE, CARLY, PAIGE, KATIE! NOW, YOU LET IT HAPPEN TO GABE, JUST LIKE YOU LET IT HAPPEN TO JACOB!"

I was more enraged than after Kai returned from Simon's compound without Jacob. I smacked him across the mouth.

"WE LET JACOB DIE?! YOU! YOU LEFT HIM ALONE WITH KATE FOR HIM TO GET TAKEN!" I yelled. As he tried to get up, I grabbed his cane. I unsheathed the sword and got ready to strike him with it. Before I could do anything to harm Kai, Sarah snuck up behind me and broke a plank of wood on the back of my head.

5 days later...

Kai and I still wouldn't speak to each other, even today, at Gabe's funeral. Savannah spoke first.

"So," she sniffled, "Very early on, when the walkers first dawned upon us, Gabe told me that if he died, he wanted his eulogy to be filled with jokes, so here it goes: For the past few months, I've been trying to come up with amputee jokes, but I am stumped. What was Gabe's favorite restraunt? Ihop. We shouldn't be too sad about his death, I mean, he was already a foot in the grave."

These lightened me up. I looked around. Sarah and Cam were trying to hold in their laughter, but I didn't see Kai. I looked around and saw him leaning against a tree in the distance on this foggy day. I looked back at Savannah. A hooded figure in black was watching us from behind her. I ran past Savannah at the silhouette. The figure began to run as I chased it down. I looked back and saw Savannah very quickly catching up to me. Soon after, she past me and caught up to the one watching us. She tackled the stalker and the 2 tumbled through the snow. Once I reached them, I planted my foot on the short one's chest. A bandana was worn around a boy's face, so I tore it off.

"Gavin?!" I shrieked in astonishment.

"We can't speak long," he spoke. "Joseph is nearby and he's armed. I was watching you just to see if he was really dead. Damn."

I offered my hand to help him up and he accepted. The sadness on his face faded to fear.

"Look out!" he yelled.

I turned and saw Joseph sprinting towards me. I fumbled for my gun, but he reached me too quickly. My gun fell into the snow as Joseph lifted me above his head horizontally. Then all of a sudden, he threw me at the ground, but his knee intercepted the fall. Several cracks traveled through my spine. I was in so much pain. Gavin snatched up my pistol and flared it at Joe.

Bang!

The bullet blasted through his head. I placed my arms on the ground next to my torso and pushed up, but my legs wouldn't move. I began hyperventilating. Pretty soon Cameron, Sarah, and Kai showed up by my side.

"Oh God, Oh God!" Kai yelled. "What happened to you?"

"I-" I stuttered. "I think I'm paralyzed."

Kai kicked a tree before coming back over to talk to us.

"We're taking you back to San Diego," he said. "You will be safe there until you can heal."

"'Taking you back'? Where are you guys going?" I asked.

"We can't stop running," he said. "There was only one place where we have been happy within the past year. We will take that place back, with or without force...

...we are going back to Area 51."