Apocalypse [Pentatonix AU | Kavi / Scomiche]

Chapter 37 - Liberation

Avi and Kirstie sat in the corner of the room on the cold concrete, her head leaning against his bare shoulder as he traced small circles across the back of her hand. As soon as the men had left he'd pulled the shirt off from his back, putting it on her instead. He couldn't even process what they'd done to her. Clearly they'd raped her, and just the thought of the man with dark hair touching her caused a feeling to bubble up inside Avi that made rage seem tame. Avi envisioned him dying slowly, being ripped apart by a herd of walkers, suffering endlessly. That man needed to die, and Avi needed to be the one to kill him.

"All this time running from biters, you forget what people can do," Kirstie finally said. She'd stopped crying, and was now staring blankly across the room. Her voice was raspy, broken. Lifting her head to look at Avi, she ran a gentle finger across the bruises on his cheek. "Look at what they did to you."

Avi shook his head, taking her hand away from his face and kissing it softly. "Doesn't matter," he muttered. Then he took a deep breath, preparing to ask the question he already knew the answer to. "Did he... ? " He couldn't finish.

"No," she replied quickly. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, not fully believing her. With a small sigh she placed her hands on either side of his face, looking deep into his eyes. "I promise," she whispered.

Once again Avi pulled her into his chest, holding her like it would be the last time. Maybe it would be. The men had gotten the information they needed, which made Kirstie and Avi completely useless. He knew they had hours to live, maybe even minutes.

But he couldn't accept that. He couldn't let her die.

After holding her for a sufficient amount of time Avi pulled away, standing with a grunt. One of his ribs throbbed painfully, and he wondered if it was broken. Ignoring the discomfort he crossed the room, picking up the chair leg he'd dropped then making his way to the chair and breaking off another leg, handing it to Kirstie.

"They're splintered at the ends, see?" he said as she stood. "Drive it upward, into their necks. You'll kill them fast."

"Avi there's at least five of them," Kirstie replied skeptically. "Probably more."

"We can't go out without a fight. When they come back, I'll take the first one who comes in, you take the second. If there's more than two, we'll just have to hold them off as long as we can. Think of them as walkers. We've held off more than two before, we can do it now."

"Walkers don't have guns."

"Kirstie," Avi sighed, cupping her cheek. "Please."

She wrapped her arms around the nape of his neck. "Don't die, okay?"

"You too."

"I'm serious, Avi. I love you so much."

"I love you."

Avi leaned down, pressing his lips against hers. The kiss was short, seemingly insufficient, yet they both knew it was the most meaningful one they'd ever shared. This could be their last kiss.

The two then crossed to the other end room, standing on either side of the locked door, backs against the wall. They stayed just staring at each other, memorizing each other's faces. As much as he didn't want to accept it, Avi was completely understanding that this might be the last time he ever laid eyes on her. The chances of them both walking out with their lives was practically nonexistent. He knew that.

Finally, after an excruciatingly long time, Avi finally heard the sound of footsteps coming down the long hallway, and the two readied their weapons. Avi's heart pounded furiously, and he looked one last time toward the woman he loved.

As the door sprung open, Avi immediately thrust his chair leg into the first man's stomach. The man let out a long gasp and subconsciously pulled the trigger on his machine gun, sending ricocheting bullets toward the floor and causing an eruption of sudden sound. Through his peripheral vision Avi watched Kirstie take the second man, grabbing his hair as she forced his head backward, then plunging her splintered chair leg into his neck and hitting his artery, which spewed blood down her arm and practically across the room. Avi then pulled the chair leg out of the abdomen of his man with a grunt, but just as he did he was knocked to the floor by a third man, who had taken him from behind. This distracted Kirstie just long enough for a fourth man to grab her as well, knocking the chair leg from her palm and holding her arms behind her back.

This was it.

The remaining men forced both Avi and Kirstie to their knees in the center of the room, still holding their arms behind their back. Then in walked the man with dark hair, his infamous disgusting smile plastered on his thin lips. He barely glanced at the dead men on the floor around him. Instead he kept his eyes focused on his two prisoners.

"Bag 'em," he said, gesturing with a nod.

The two men behind Kirstie and Avi respectively then pulled scratchy twine bags over their heads. Avi didn't even get a chance to look at her one last time before he was enveloped in the darkness. He didn't get a chance to say goodbye.

Instead he searched blindly until he found her hand, grabbing it and holding it tightly as the barrel of a gun was pushed against the back of his head. He relaxed. It was over.

The gunshot rang through his ears, except he didn't feel it. His heart momentarily sunk as he thought for a moment that it was Kirstie who'd received the bullet, but instantly she let out a cry, obviously thinking he'd been the one to be executed. As he collected his thoughts he called out as well, letting her know he was still alive.

Suddenly more gunshots erupted throughout the room, and Kirstie and Avi both instinctively dropped completely to the floor, hands over their heads. Finally the gunshots ceased, and Avi felt someone pull the bag off from his head.

Kevin Olusola stood above him with relief in his eyes.

"Thank god," Kevin muttered, helping Avi to his feet and pulling him into a hug. Over Kevin's shoulder Avi saw Mitch and Scott at the other end of the room, helping Kirstie to her feet as well and embracing her. Scattered across the floor Avi saw the now dead bodies of the men who'd been holding them, but also noticed that the man with dark hair wasn't among them.

"Hold on," Avi mumbled, pulling away from a confused Kevin. He grabbed one of the guns from the floor, running into the hallway. Just as he turned the corner he saw the man with dark hair sprinting away. Immediately Avi raised the M4, firing two shots toward the man's legs. With a shout the man with dark hair dropped to the floor and Avi hurried over.

Using both hands Avi grabbed the man by his shirt, pulling him upward so their faces were inches apart. "I'll kill you quickly, only because I want to get out of this shithole as quickly as fucking possible. But don't think you don't deserve to suffer. You are a fucking disgusting coward who is a shitty excuse for a human being. You deserve to burn."

"Go to hell," the man with dark hair spat.

Avi laughed, slamming his head down and pointing the gun between his eyes. "I'll see you there." With that, he pulled the trigger.