Apocalypse [Pentatonix AU | Kavi / Scomiche]

Chapter 47 - Culpability

Things were better, better than they had been in a long time.

Avi and Kevin had returned from the run safely, their bags filled with new supplies. But the group couldn't care less about that. All Mitch and Scott could focus on was the glimmer of recovery that had appeared in Avi's eyes.

He was talking again. For the first time in over a month, Avi was actually speaking. That was monumental, and Scott knew it. Avi's overwhelming grief was finally subsiding.

Scott's guilt, however, was as strong as ever.

Having sex with Mitch last nigh took his mind off it, however momentarily. But now the chronic weight had returned to his chest, smothering him once again. All he could think about, both day and night, was the vaccine. The cure to all their suffering, the cure that he could've used and didn't.

Guilt didn't even begin to describe that feeling.

The group was now sitting on the filthy floor of the gloomy living room, playing cards with the deck that Kevin and Avi had found during their run. Scott couldn't remember the last time he'd played poker, it had to have been years.

Instead of betting money, the men were using whatever they had in their bags, throwing the objects into the center of the pile. Scott's backpack was placed between him and Mitch, and Scott was mindlessly throwing whatever his hand landed on into the game. Still, he was careful not to grab the 6oz bottle.

Mitch obviously wasn't.

Scott hadn't noticed that Mitch had confused his and Scott's bags. Hadn't noticed Mitch reach into his bag, hadn't realized he'd grabbed the bottle. And before Scott had a chance to react, Mitch tossed the small glass contained into the center of the group.

By some miracle it didn't shatter. But the damage was already done.

Scott didn't even make the effort to snatch it back, didn't make the effort to stuff it away. Instead he watched with a sinking stomach as both Mitch and Avi's brows furrowed, while Kevin inhaled a sharp breath; he was the only one who had seen that bottle before.

Only now did Mitch realize he'd reached into the wrong bag.

"What the hell is that?" he asked, turning to Scott.

Scott looked around at the men he considered family, knowing that he couldn't continue the lie. If he did, the guilt might just kill him. Right now, he needed to finally tell them the long overdue truth. Even if it meant he lost all of them. He needed to tell them.

"It's an antidote," Scott said numbly, eyes fixated on the bottle. The others remained confused. "It's six ounces of a solution that can stop the spread of the virus."

A stunned silence enveloped the group. Finally Kevin spoke. "I don't understand."

"I lied," Scott continued. "I told you that we identified it, that is true. I also told you that there could be a cure, which is also true. But then I said that there was no way to find it, no way to find a cure." Scott took a long breath. "That was a lie."

"What?" Mitch said, barely audibly. The realization was beginning to dawn on them.

"Three days before the quarantine was scheduled to implode, I thought I might've found something. But there was barely any time left, I didn't expect to be able to create a solution in only three days, so I didn't tell the others. I worked alone, while they slept. And on the third day, two hours before the implosion, I created it. Six ounces." Scott finally wrapped his fingers around the cool bottle, picking up the water-like solution. "Every test I ran, it worked. But there was no time to replicate it. So I put it into this bottle, grabbed a syringe, and left."

Yet another silence filled the room as the group processed the unimaginable. Finally a voice that was barely above a whisper cut through the white noise.

"You could've saved her." It was Avi. His glassy eyes met Scott's.

This was it. "I had to make a choice," Scott said levelly. "That morning, the morning I found out that Kirstie had been bit, I had to make a choice. Ya'll don't understand." He shook the bottle, his guilt beginning to betray him as he felt a knot form in his throat. "If I can get this to the Center for Disease Control, they can replicate it. They can finish what I started. They can save not only us, they can save everyone. I had to choose between Kirstie and humanity. And the choice I made, the guilt of knowing what my choice meant-" Scott's voice cut as he stood, and he looked away from his appalled group. Hot tears fell from his eyes.

"You could've saved her," the voice sounded again, louder now. Avi had stood as well, the pure shock on his face morphing into anger. "She was suffering, she was dying, and you did absolutely nothing. You forced me, forced all of us, to watch helplessly as she died a horrible, agonizing death." He was shouting now, his voice shaking from rage. "YOU COULD'VE SAVED HER, YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU COULD'VE SAVED HER!"

"I'm sorry," Scott whispered, tears blinding him. Blinding him so he couldn't see Avi run toward him, and instead only felt the impact of a fist on his jaw.

The blow had knocked the tears from his eyes, caused blood to spurt from his now split lip. Avi would've hit him a second time if it weren't for Kevin, who had rushed over and held him back. Mitch was rooted to the spot, watching without seeing. Avi continued to scream as Kevin began pulling him away.

"SHE COULD BE HERE RIGHT NOW! SHE COULD BE ALIVE, WE COULD BE TOGETHER! YOU TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" And then, right before he turned the corner out of the room, Avi uttered the words that Scott would never forget. "YOU KILLED HER, SCOTT HOYING. YOU KILLED HER."

You killed her.

Avi and Kevin were gone down the hallway, and Scott could hear Avi sobbing even through the thick walls of the broken house. Scott thought he might be sick. His heart ached worse than it had ever ached before.

You killed her.

Scott and Mitch were left alone. Slowly Scott turned to face the man he loved more than anyone in the world. Mitch was looking directly at him, silent tears falling from his wide eyes. And he didn't look confused, didn't look upset, didn't look angry. He looked broken.

"How could you?"

The three whispered words that passed Mitch's quivering lips were the final blow to Scott's heart, which was now destroyed into endless pieces. The aching in his chest was completely unbearable.

So as Mitch walked away from him, Scott understood that he was now completely alone. That he now had absolutely nothing. That he had broken the hearts of the people he loved most.

I killed her.