The End is Near

Chapter Thirty-Two

~Keith's POV~

     I've been pacing the room since Cassie went upstairs, silent tears rolling down my face, I don't care if any of them see me. I love Cassie, I don't know how I'll survive without her if this goes bad. I close my eyes and take a deep, shuddering breath, and wipe the tears from my face. I turn to face the somber group, they're all devastated. Cassie is their leader, their family, and now she's upstairs, not knowing if she'll live through the night. I don't know how long it takes for the transformation to take place, but when Julia died, they were in the woods for a while.

     "Get some rest guys, we won't do any good if we worry all night. I'm worrying enough for all of us." They all chuckle weakly and lie down, trying to sleep. I don't think anyone does, though. I know I'm not going to be getting any sleep tonight. I throw my head up to look at the ceiling and take deep breaths, trying to ignore the fear and dread pooled in my stomach.

     "Keith, sit down, try to rest, we'll find out in the morning what happens. I know you love her, she's like a sister to me. I'm as worried as you are. You won't do any good if you're pacing all night." Wyatt says, putting his hand on my shoulder. I take a deep breath and nod, sitting with him and Cody. They both look scared and worried, fidgeting and looking at the stairs every few minutes, as if Cassie is going to come down and say it was all a joke. I'm wishing that too, but I saw the bite. I can't even describe the feelings that filled me when I saw Cassie break down sobbing, looking at the bite on her arm. I rub my hand over my face, exhaling roughly. I need to stop thinking about that, but I know I won't be able to. It's going to be a long night.

     I was right, I didn't sleep once last night, I spent the whole night stressing about Cassie. It was another day, the day I find out if Cassie lived through the night or not. I squeeze my eyes shut, ignoring the exhaustion that filled me. I don't think anyone got much sleep, everyone has dark circles under their eyes and they move sluggishly.

     "Did you get any sleep last night, man?" Wyatt asks, sitting down next to me with a rugged sigh. I shaking my head, rubbing my hand over my face.

     "None. Did you?" He shakes his head.

     "I couldn't make myself sleep." I nod, looking at the stairs.

     "You know the story of Cassie and I, right?" He nods, looking at me.

     "While I was following her, she wouldn't sleep for days at a time, the only time she'd sleep was when her body forced her to. I don't know how she did it, but she still managed to do function as if she had a full twelve hours of sleep." I chuckle lightly with Wyatt.

     "I don't know how she does a lot of the things she does. She's like a superhuman." I nod, smiling a bit.

     "She's incredible."

~Blake's POV~

     We finally found them, after who knows how long. We finally caught up to them. I found them when I ran into Albertson running from a gated community. He told us about what happened and relayed Cassie's message to us. I chuckle, shaking my head.

     "She sure is a spitfire." I say, turning to the community with Karson. He laughs, nodding.

     "She sure is." We watch them for a while, as Cassie talks to her group and leads them into the house. "How long should we wait until we go in?" I think for a minute.

     "Let's go in tomorrow. We can scout the area for more supplies and find a safe place to sleep." He nods and we turn, walking away. We raid a couple houses and find one on the corner to stay in. Once we settled down, we stare out the window at the ocean.

     "How can we convince her to come with us?" Karson asks, quietly. I sigh.

     "We're going to have to guilt her into it, that's the only way she'd leave Keith." Karson let's out an aggravated sigh. "Once we have her guilty, we bring Keith into it, we could say something about how she shouldn't want him to live a life in the apocalypse. That should work."

     "What if we got them all to go? I doubt they'd let her leave. If we take them all, and they think Cassie is safe, that'd be an easier way of getting her to come with us." He says, looking over at me. I raise an eyebrow, thinking. That's not a bad plan, it could work.

     "That could actually work. We'll try that first, and if it doesn't work, we'll guilt her into it." He nods, looking back out the window. "I'll take the first watch, you get some sleep." He nods and lays his head on his bag, falling asleep quickly. I still can't believe I got him to help me so easily. I would've thought he was more faithful to Keith, being his best friend and all. He's believed everything I've told him with no questions asked. He must think that because I work for the government, everything I do is right. I shake my head, chuckling quietly.

     Standing at the gate, I go over the code Albertson gave me for the gate, I punch it in and sigh in relief when it slides open quietly. I look over at the house, hoping no one heard the small creak it gave and walk through, closing it with the same code. We sneak up the steps of the house and look in the window. Everyone looks devastated, especially Keith.

     "She's going to get through this, Keith, she's strong." I think it's Wyatt that tells him this, I never really learned the names of the group, only the most important ones; Cassie, Keith, and Karson.

     "What do you think happened?" I ask, looking over at Karson. He shrugs.

     "Hopefully nothing too bad." I raise an eyebrow at him.

     "Look at them, Karson, they look like she died." I hope that's not the case.

     "I doubt that's it." He says, looking in. He almost looks guilty when he looks at Keith, though I'm not that surprised. He did betray him that night.

     "Come on, let's go in." I say, walking over to the door. "Should I knock? Will that make things easier?" He asks, looking over at me. I shrug.

     "I don't know, man, if you knock, they may just lock it on us. Just go in." I nod and open the door, walking in with Karson behind me. They all immediately stand, pointing their guns at us. We put our hands up in surrender.

     "We just want to talk." Keith narrows his eyes and walks up to us.

     "Hand over your weapons." He orders, his voice sounding exhausted. We hand over our guns, knives, and packs, and he has two people come tie our hands and legs together tightly, putting us against the wall. "You're not getting Cassie, if that's what you came for, you can just leave." He says, glaring at us, most specifically Karson.

     "Cassie is the one chance we have at a cure, Keith! They just need some of her blood!" Karson exclaims. I almost wince, he really is stupid. Keith's expression turns murderous and if it weren't for the fact that Wyatt had his hand on his shoulder, he would have attacked Karson.

     "You actually believe that bullshit! They don't need some of her blood, they need all of her blood! They'll kill her!" He yells, throwing his hands up. Karson's eyes narrow.

     "You don't know that." He says, glaring at Keith. He raises an eyebrow, scoffing.

     "I don't know that? Are you really that stupid? I doubt they even know for sure that she's the cure to this! She's up there, fighting to stay alive right now! And you come in here, trying to take her away to be killed." I tense at his words.

     "What do you mean she's fighting to stay alive?" I ask, quietly. His face falls as he rubs a hand over his face.

     "She was bit. You're idiot of a coworker pushed her into a wall of walkers and one got her. I don't even know if she's alive up there." He spits, glaring at me. I clench my jaw, taking a deep breath, trying to stay calm. I always knew Albertson was an idiot, this just proves it. "And you don't even know if she's immune." He says, clenching his jaw as he turns and walks away. As he does, a loud noise sounds from up the stairs. We all tense, turning to look at the stairs. Keith walks to the bottom of them, looking up. We all hold our breath as another noise sounds, this time louder, closer. We don't know if a walker is going to stumble down the steps or Cassie.