These Days are Dangerous [COMPLETED]

Fire at Will

"Poison here.

So far, it's been four days since Frank has gotten bitten and I think he's getting sick. I know Frank tries to play it off as if he has a cold, but I'm not buying it. He eats more than all three of us combined and he's become more.. odd.

Don't get me wrong, I love Frank's humour and his personality but sometimes he says things that just.. aren't right. For example, if we were having a conversation about guns, Frank would space out for a few seconds then say something stupid like "It would take me a solid three seconds to kill all of you, given the right gun."

Mikey would shoot me a look that reads "Dude what the fuck?" And I'd shrug it off as usual.

I don't want to lose Frank.

Or Ray.

Or anyone in that matter. I want to keep us together, but everything's slipping through my fingers like sand falling through the prongs of a fork.

I'm tired of sand, I'm tired of the heat, and I'm tired of the sun. It burns my back like I'm a hunk of ham in an oven. Ray has let me borrow one of his emergency shirts, but that was not enough the keep the cancer filled light from slipping through the fabrics. I don't regret ruining my old shirt though. It was worth it to keep Frank from bleeding out.

Mikey still keeps his distance from Frank.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that Mikey knows everything. He knows what I've done to our mom..

How could he blame me though? It's not like I had a choice but the way he looks at me now... god. I miss what we had.

I decided, eventually, that the tension between the group was too much to handle.

"Guys." I said, breaking the silence. Everyone turned towards me. "I- uh.. think we should split up."

Mikey glared at me. "What?"

"Well- I- this is too much. Everyone is giving each other the evil eye and- and- we just need a break."

Mikey chuckled and shook his head. "You're an idiot, Gerard." He kept walking, keeping his eyes on the landscape in front of him.

I stopped and let everyone pass me. "At least let two of us go out and explore the zone!" I yelled ahead of me. "We could meet in the town ahead before dark hits!"

Frank stopped and turned to face me. "Mikey, Ray, wait. Maybe he's right."

"Fine if you two want to get yourselves killed then it's not my problem." Mikey yelled back.

Ray turned but kept walking backwards in order to keep up with Mikey. "Well scope out the town! You two check out the zone okay? I'll keep Mikey safe! You two be careful!" And with that, Frank and I began to tread in the other direction.

"So what's your plan?" Frank asked, struggling to keep up with me due to his short stature. I slowed to a steady pace. "I dunno." I told him truthfully. "I just needed to get away for a bit."

"Oh.." Frank answered. Silence followed. "Hey how come I'm not dead yet?" He asked me.

I sighed loudly and shook my head. "Again, I dunno Frank. Maybe... you turn slower than other people."

"So you're not denying the fact that I'm going to die?"

"I never said that."

"You hinted at it." Frank said sadly.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Frank- I'm sorry. Okay? What do you want me to do? Feel sorry for you? Maybe- maybe the person who bit you wasn't infected or-"

"Shut up." Frank interrupted.

I was offended.

"No! I'm not going to shut up! I can speak however I want. So, like I was saying, maybe she wasn't infected or maybe you're immu-"

Frank clasped his hand over my mouth. "Shut up" he said again, this time, in a whisper.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I attempted to say under his hand.

"Shhh.." Frank said softly. "I hear something."

The short boy crept over the nearest sand dune and peered over the top. "Holy shit.." he whispered under his breath as he gestured me over. I crept behind him and saw something that I didn't think was possible.

It was a little girl.

She was about nine years old. She had light brown curly hair, green eyes, and a golden olive complexion. She sat beside a small Asian woman who had short black hair and wore a suit.

"This has to be a trap.." I whispered over to Frank. He nodded.

That's when I noticed the Better Living Industries logo sewed onto the coat of the Asian woman's jacket. I silently cured to myself. "This has really got to be a trap."

My thoughts were interrupted by the woman's voice coming from below us.

"Come on dear, we've got to get to the lab." She said, her voice sounding a lot kinder than I had expected.

The little girl shook her head. "I don't wanna. We need to stay here and wait for Tyler. I already told you, I talked to him on the radio a week ago! He told me he would meet me here!"

My eyes widened. Tyler hadn't lied.

There were actually immunes.

I slowly turned to look at Frank. Is this why he's still alive?

"Grace. Come on. You know how Korse gets when you're late to your evening tests." The woman added.

"No! I'm not leaving without my brother!" The girl yelled.

The Asian woman sighed and took out a small pen looking device. "Grace Jeanette. I will not ask you again. Listen to me unless you want to get wiped."

Grace stood up, but instead of going with the woman, she beckoned her over and punched her in the nose. Blood spurted from the spot as the woman desperately tried to grab at her face. She let out an inhuman growl and stabbed the pen like weapon into graces arm.

She screamed and fell to the floor, spasming out of control.

I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up and pointed my gun at the woman.

Frank gasped. "Gee what are you-"

"HEY!" I yelled, keeping my gun pointed towards the  short haired bitch. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

The woman snapped her head up and bore her emotionless eyes into mine. She cursed under her breath and fumbled with the high tech wristwatch that clung on her wrist.

I short three bullets in her direction but she was too quick. She pressed the red button on her watch which, I assumed was the 'get me the hell out of here' button, and she teleported before I had the opportunity to kill her. She had left the nine year old girl behind.

I stuffed my gun into my belt loop then ran down the dune to pick her up. She was unconscious.

Frank inched up to me as I cradled the limp girl in my arms. "Gerard look.." he said as he pointed at a bite mark on her arm. It was the exact place Tyler had his.

I don't know if BLI thinks this is some kind of joke, but this is not okay. Kids are not lab rats. They shouldn't have been treated like so.

I may have failed Tyler, but I will not fail this girl.

Better Living Industries, if you're listening to this, I hope you know that you are never getting Grace back.

Poison, out."