The End is Near

Chapter Thirty-Five

~Cassie's POV~

     I don't know what's going to happen when we get to the headquarters. I don't know if they'll immediately take me into some hospital room and hook a tube to me, extracting my blood. I don't even know how long it will take for me to die. Those thoughts are what fuels the dread entering my stomach as Blake says we're ten minutes away. My hands start shaking, my breaths get deeper, my free foot starts tapping, and I can't stop it. I don't want to die, but I know I have to. I don't want Keith to die, but there's no stopping him. Keith's in the same boat I am. I can see his hands shaking, he takes deeper breaths, and his feet start tapping the floor. I want to calm him down somehow, but I can't even calm myself down.

     "Cassie, stop the car." Keith's deep voice jolts me out of my thoughts. I look over at him and nod, pulling over to the side of the road. "We'll be right back, keep everyone here, we'll only be a few minutes." He gets out and walks over to my side, pulling me out, as well. He leads me to the side of the road, out of view of everyone and puts his hands on my shoulders. "You were having a panic attack, I had to get you out of there for a while." I nod, still taking deep breaths.

     "I'm scared, Keith, I'm so scared. I don't want to die, but I know I have to, and I don't want you to die, but I know I can't change your mind." I sob, throwing my arms around him. He strokes my hair, holding me tightly.

     "I know, I wish there was something I could do to change this. I'm so scared of losing you, I can't live without you, that's why I'm going with you. You die, I die, that way we can be together forever. I know you're scared, I am, too." He says, pulling my face of and pushing his lips to mine. When we pull apart, we are both breathless, and some tears had trailed down both our faces. But we were together, and that somehow made everything better.

     Keith drove when we got back to the car. We entered in silence, always holding on to the others' hand. I was more calm than when Keith had stopped us, and he was the whole reason why. But I can't help the way my hand tightens around Keith's when a very large building comes into view. He just squeezes my hand back as we pull into a parking lot and stop by a door. Blake gets out as several people leave, looking at the parade of cars curiously.

     "You ready for this?" Wyatt asks, his voice shaking.

     "Not at all." I say, my voice shaking even more than his. "Let's go." I exit the car, motioning for everyone to come out. They all crowd around me, almost as if they're trying to protect me. The thought makes a smile tug at my lips. Keith walks around the side of the car and to my side, wrapping his arm around me protectively.

     "Welcome, Cassandra, we've been awaiting your arrival for a long time now." A man steps forward, smiling. I narrow my eyes, assessing him. He looks to be in his mid-fifties, with white hair, even whiter teeth, and is wearing a lab coat. I don't know what it is about him, but I immediately dislike him, it seems my group does as well by the way they shift closer to me, raising their weapons a bit more. "Come in, come in, we have rooms set up for you, with food and water, come in and relax."

     "We will all be in the same room, I won't have them separated." I say as he starts to turn to walk inside. He turns back to me, still wearing the smile I already hate.

     "Of course, we will have something set up immediately." Before he even finishes his sentence there are people running back inside, claiming that they will set it up. "Come in, get out of the sun, you all look exhausted. I'm Henry, I'm here to answer any questions you may have." He says, leading us inside. We cautiously follow. Inside, people run around, calling out names, formulas, random things that I'm sure mean something important. But they all stop what they're doing when we enter, and all eyes train on me. As I look around, I realize one thing, one thing that makes me sick to my stomach; I'm the only girl here. I look away, training my eyes ahead of me, pushing myself further into Keith's side. His arm tightens around me when I do, his hand rubbing circles on my arm.

     We're led through a series of hallways until we reach a large, open room filled with food, water, blankets, everything you could think of. This only makes me hate everyone here more. There are people out there, trying to find a single mouthful of water, a bite of food, anything that they could use to survive, and they have everything they need and more. I look around, hiding my distaste of them and everything around them.

     "Here we go, you are free to relax, sleep, eat, anything you desire." He turns, smiling at us, then turns to me. "Cassandra, you can have today to relax with your group. We can't express how grateful we are that you have let us make the cure. You are saving the world with your sacrifice. We will come tomorrow to collect you, and if Blake has informed me correctly, we will also be here for Keith?" He nods beside me, clenching his jaw. "Ok, we will see you tomorrow." With that, he turns and leaves, closing the door behind him. When he leaves, I release a pent-up breath and close my eyes. Tomorrow. I'm going to die tomorrow. I inhale deeply, shaking my head. I'm doing the right thing, I'm saving the world.

     "Together." Keith whispers, turning me to face him. I smile up at him.

     "Forever." I say, leaning my head into his chest, trying to relax for one more day. "Let's go sit down." I say, taking his hand. I lead him to one of the couches in the room and sit down, leaning into Keith.

     "Did you ever tell Blake that you have his journal?" Keith asks from beside me, tracing patterns on my arm with his thumb. I laugh lightly, shaking my head.

     "No, I still have it." I say, opening my bag and taking the book out. "I never read any more than the first two." I open it, flipping through to a random page. I read a couple entries, turn a couple more pages, and read some more. I stop at one written during the two weeks I was trying to find the group.

     She left, she led the horde of walkers away from her group. She might've just killed herself. I respect and despise that. I respect it because she just saved her group. I despise it because now I have to find her. Again. But this time, I'll have help. Keith and Karson are fighting, no doubt over Cassie. I don't know why Karson tries, it's so obvious that Keith and Cassie are in love. I envy that, the feeling of always having someone to turn to. I'll never get that, all the girls are dead, besides Cassie anyway. I'm going to get Karson to help me. I'll just tell him that I'm here because Cassie's the cure, that they only need about a pint of her blood. I don't know if they'll ever find out that it's a lie. I got a message from the HQ about three days ago, they finally told me the truth. I always knew they weren't telling me something, I just couldn't figure out which part was a lie. We aren't looking for the cure. There is no such thing as a cure. We want to make them stronger, and Cassie's blood will accomplish that. I think I like this better than curing it, honestly. I don't want Keith to be happy, I want him to be as miserable as the rest of the world, and this will accomplish that perfectly. Cassie's going to die, but not for a good cause, it'll kill him, and that is exactly what I want.

     My eyes widen, fear and anger surging through me. They aren't looking for a cure. They want to make them stronger. I turn to Keith, who's talking with Cody and Wyatt.

     "Guys." They all turn to me. "I'm not a cure. My blood will only make them stronger."