Eyes of the infected ✔ [COMPLETED]

Chapter twenty-one

IMPORTANT STUFF:
I'm off on my travels all week after the 24th so I won't be updating that week and it'll take a little while to do the chapter anyway because it's getting difficult now haha, it's hard to portray this exactly as I want it, sorry. D;
This still needs some major editing but I hope you like it.
Thanks again for all the support, merry day. :) x


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Déjà vu hit me at full force as the gunshot stung my ears horribly and Keith dropped to his knees, letting out a groan which stopped my heart dead in my chest and made my body flush cold.
'Keith!' Percy let out a yell and pulled from the grasp of the men behind him, dropping to the floor where Keith was kneeling, feet away from my frozen body.
'Whoops' Bruce smirked, clicking his gun again, 'Accident'.
'No...' it came out in a whisper as everything stopped and I threw myself to the floor next to this boy, studying every inch of him for that bullet which I'd wrench from his skin if I had to.
'Where does it hurt, clumsy?' I asked him shakily, heart stopping again when he tilted his head and smiled at me.
'It's my leg sunshine, it's okay' he gritted his teeth and whispered to us, 'Run, you need to run. They aren't going to let us go, not now, not now there's some cure'.
'Shush' I told him, eyes locking in on a spot on his calf where blood was spilling out alarmingly quickly. Resisting the urge to scream and cry, I held my stomach and took a quick  breath, 'Push on it, really hard'. He didn't hesitate, just applied pressure to the wound which I was sure would buy us some time.

'We need help, please' I begged Bruce, sickened to be even looking at him. I'd never wanted anyone to suffer quite like I wanted him to but he could help me right now and for that, he would live longer than he deserved. Quickly, I pushed my hands to the wound, applying my own pressure so Keith didn't wear himself out.
'Don't know first aid' he waved my pleas away, walking over to the scientists or doctors or whatever it was exactly they were, 'Tell me about this cure'.
'Help him!' I yelled suddenly at all the frozen people in the room, some looking smug but most looking less than comfortable, 'Percy, we need to get the bullet out, you must know this stuff, please'.
'Okay but we need to hurry' I could see him trying to stay calm, 'We need to know if the bullet is in shards then find something sterile, keep your hands on his leg'.
'Please' I looked up at anyone and everyone from the floor, 'Please, I'm begging you'.
There was a short silence before a woman unsteadily stepped out, one I recognised as the woman who was trying to be nice when we first met these people.
'I have vodka, try this' She whispered, handing me a small bottle which I almost dropped as it was thrust to me.
'Vodka?' I scrunched my nose up, confused before realising people used this in the old action movies to help disinfect wounds. I quickly passed it to Percy, praying he'd know exactly what to do with it because panic was shaking me up too much to put on any rational performance.

'Alright, shows over' Bruce boomed, suddenly angry again, addressing the woman who'd just helped us, 'You, silly bitch, are gonna regret that'. There was a scuffle as several people gripped onto her, restraining her and pulling her from the room.
'Stop it!' I shouted after them, so conflicted, 'Bruce, please, Keith has done nothing wrong, just help us get the bullet out and stop the bleeding, please!'
'I've had enough of this, kid' he spat, 'chain up the guys and I'll take the girl'.
'Stop it!' I kicked out as I was pulled from Keith's side and my hand was removed from his leg to which his own eyes widened and he attempted to stand, only falling backwards onto the floor again. Trickles of dark red liquid dropped from my hands and my breathing became laboured along with Keith's - what if he went into shock, what if he didn't stop bleeding? This was it, my worst nightmare coming true, I couldn't lose him. No, it was a leg wound, people didn't die from that, did they? If they'd just let me help him!
'You can watch lover boy bleed to death' Bruce narrowed his eyes and sent me that disgusting smirk again.
'No you won't' Percy was also being restrained but he seemed calmer than the rest of us, 'Keith, make sure your leg is elevated it'll slow the bleeding'.

'Oh, whatever' Bruce looked pissed off, raising his gun again, 'A headshot will do it' he said as he pointed his gun accurately straight towards Keith's face.
'Stop it!' I fought against the arms holding me, 'Stop, I'll do anything you want!' my voice was frantic and the words spilled out in a rush.  What they might want was vile to me but I didn't care, I didn't, 'Bruce, I swear! Anything you want!'
His gun lowered as he contemplated my idea and I winced at the groan Keith let out as he tried to talk to me.
'Sunshine, it's not that bad, seriously' He tried to stand but fell again, looking furious at this, 'Just get out of here'.
'No, I can have fun with this' Bruce mused, 'Okay sweetcheeks, I have a little decision for you to make. The boy can live'.
'I'll do it' I said instantly.
'Let me finish' he growled impatiently, 'The boy can live a long and merry life if you let me infect your brother and test out our little concoction'. He smirked at my mortified expression as the word 'no' formed on my lips. Until I remembered exactly what that no would mean.
'Don't be so cruel...' I whispered, my voice rising, 'You already killed my Lucas and somehow, I've managed to restrain from killing you because I thought you might give him a send-off.  Now you've shot the boy I l-' I froze, 'The boy who's been there for me this whole way and you're hurting the boy next to him who's done that too, a boy who lost his whole family. Just let me have my brother, help Keith and let us go, haven't you wrecked our lives enough?'

I wasn't sure why I thought my monologue would get to him, because after a short silence, he simply said 'no'.
'I'm not answering then'.
'Then I'll kill both the boys. Sweetheart, I can test on whatever dead body I want. Whose' body am turning into a freak, your brothers or your boyfriend's?'
'He's not my boyfriend' The point was irrelevant, I was trying to waste time. Again, he wasn't deterred though because he simply snorted and slapped his hip, enjoying all of this. To think, what one holiday away from this country a couple of weeks ago would have done. We'd all be alive and kicking. Joel would be where he belonged and Skylar would probably have come. Together we'd worry about the rest of our friends and Donnie, the guy who had a thing for Skylar. I'd never have met Percy or Keith and I'd probably be laughing. Instead I was in a dark room with two scientists, the boy I loved who could bleed to death and a brute army officer or something who thrived on our pain.
It was hard to stay grounded, was all.

'Come on babe, I don't have all day. Plus, lover boy is losing a lot of blood... we have medics who can help him. Or a gun here who can finish him off. Then lovely Tucan can have his burial and this time, I swear on my father's grave'.
'It's Lucas' I growled in frustration before turning quickly to Keith who in fact was losing blood and looked to be in a lot of pain. I didn't know exactly where the bullet had hit his lower leg but even I could see it wasn't in a good place, he was completely the type to bite his tongue and carry on but he seemed to be struggling to stay composed.
'Keith' I begged him, furiously battling Bruce's impossibly strong arms to move closer to him, 'You'll be alright, just stay awake'.
'I'm okay sunshine' he gave me a woozy smile, 'Just a shot in the leg. In the action movies they just get up and keep on running, I'll be fine in a few minutes' he laughed and he had that effect on me that made me smile too, even Percy and a few of the army officers who stifling laughs but Bruce was ever stony faced. His hatred towards Keith petrified me, I didn't know what was stopping him just killing him and with that gun and power in his hands, I couldn't relax and was shaking like a leaf in a tornado.

'Decide. Now'.
'Bruce, sir, Miss Sawyer is clearly distressed' William stuck up for me but as Bruce and sever other officers lifted a gun to his body, he shut up and sent me an apologetic look, as did Santos.
'Help Keith and I'll decide' I demanded, stomach knotting at the amount of pain he was in; every inch of blood which left his body was an inch where he was getting more and more ill.
'We have medics in this room, decide to save lover boy and we'll help, but I wouldn't recommend it sweetheart, you can do better. I just need a body and I'm getting pretty fucking impatient here, makes no difference to me so just hurry up, eh?'
'Harley, you know what you need to do' Percy whispered from where he'd suddenly appeared, restrained next to me by a large dark skinned man, 'I know it's awful, believe me, I know. But you love him. You know you love him'.
I discarded the fact he could have been talking about either of the two boys and took a deep breath, knowing in my heart of hearts what I had to do. Things had changed now.

'Save Keith. Just make him better, please' I asked Bruce frankly, 'and do what you will to my brother' I had to choke the last words out, they felt awful in my throat. I was betraying him, infecting him, ruining him but it seemed there was no choice. I saved a life or I let them experiment on a person who had no hope. I'd feel sick forever but it was the price to pay and Bruce was nothing but disappointed.
'Shame, I wanted to plant one in pretty boy's head but deal is a deal. Moore, Collings, patch him up and hurry the fuck up before this kid dies and Miss Sawyer loses all faith in me' he smirked and I wished I had a knife in my hand so I could crouch over his body and slam it into his skin like he was an infected.
'Harley, you don't have to do this' Keith tried to stand from the floor but seemed weaker and paler than before.
'No, remember what you said? You said we'll make it out of here, all of us. You said'.
'But your brother-'
'Would want you to live' I talked over the medics who had dropped to Keith's level and were tending to him. I could do nothing but trust them, hoping that a leg injury was simply a leg injury and that once the bleeding stopped, he was safe.

'Right then babe' Bruce seemed a little bemused, 'I'm going to have to make sure you and your buddies don't interfere but I want you to have a front row seat, savvy?'.
'I won't move' I lied, still intent on stopping this from happening. To some extent I knew I was powerless but if I'd learned nothing else over these last couple of weeks, I at least knew that the impossible could happen.
'I wasn't born yesterday. There are a couple of chairs over there near Tucan's table, you and four eyes can sit over there'.
'Lucas' I growled before letting his words sink in, 'Wait, no. We'll be fine. And what about Keith?' I gestured towards the boy who was clenching his fist as he was dabbed and prodded at with no doubt strong antiseptics or more likely the bottle of vodka which was handed our way.
'Keith is okay' A woman who was tending to him spoke fondly to me, 'We're just about to remove the bullet so we're going to need complete silence'.
'Can I go over there, please?' I asked anyone in particular, my heart going out to Keith who looked more vulnerable than ever.
'Yes, please do' The woman spoke, challenging Bruce who chose to simply let out a sigh a and roughly shove me in Keith's direction but making Percy stay back.

'Y'know' Keith began in a quiet, strained voice as I crouched next to him and clumsily found his hand, 'It's really hard to come across as a cool, hip, trolley wielding hunk when you have a bullet lodged in your leg and people poking at you with tweezers'.
'Don't you worry' I burst into peals of laughter as he broke into a smile along with the man and woman holding firmly onto his leg, 'That actually makes you hunkier'.
'Really? What if I told you about the heroic time where a pregnant woman couldn't reach her cornflakes so I reached to the top of isle six and- ah, shit!' Keith groaned and squeezed my hand and when I looked, I saw the woman had cut away part of Keith's jeans and had a pair of tweezers pushed into the gash in his leg.
'Don't look' I told him, 'You know what? I went to Sainsburys once' I told him, tilting his face to mine.
'Sunshine, if you're trying to distract m-'
'The people weren't very helpful. In fact, they were just plain rude'.
'Oi, bimbo!' He jabbed me on the shoulder and through the corner of my eye, I saw the woman preparing to push the tweezers into his leg and remove the bullet, 'I'll have you know, the Sainsburys staff members are not only helpful, but cheerful too' he pointed to an imaginary name badge and sent me a desirable wink, 'Every little helps'.
'That's Tesco, tool' I snorted.
'Well they stole it from us'.

Everyone in the room seemed to disappear as I talked constantly to distract Keith from his pain and when he let out a hiss, I knew she was pulling the metal out from his wound and just talked even faster. When she started attacking him with the antiseptic, I clutched onto his tense hand and talked even more crap, amusing him further and further by the second.
'You're cute, sunshine' his smile was strained but real and I just laughed, relieved the worst part was over.
'Unfortunately this isn't a movie, I've got stitches here in the medical bag so you're gonna have to grit your teeth again, alright?'
I held Keith's hand again as she wove the needle in and out of his leg but he barely even flinched for this part, just sending me a squeeze every now and then. I was reminded of the scar on his body I saw in the shop and quietly asked how he got it.
'Guy tried to hurt my sister, apparently he was handy with a knife' he replied, looking saddened all of a sudden.
'Oh...'
'It's alright, he came off worse' he winked again and I held tightly onto his hand, unable to let him go as the woman proceeded to wrap him in fresh bandages.
'Well, you're a regular war hero now' I jested, 'Bullet wound and everything. We both have our very own leg injuries too, now. Mine's worse' I smirked at him to which he laughed loudly, overpowering the sound of clinking glasses as chemicals and god only knows what was gathered together behind us.
'Actually, she's just reminded me. Liam, do you have any of the Ecetamypt ready in a syringe?'

I was instantly reminded of what I was given.
'Is that the pain liquid?'
'Yes, it's a miracle, isn't it?' she smiled, 'We'd give it to him right away but it's best to make sure the bullet is out and free of infection first'. She took a syringe and stuck it straight into his leg without warning, removing it quickly. We both thanked her profusely and simultaneously turned to Bruce who was talking with the scientists at the other side of the room.
'I should shoot him myself' Keith said vehemently, stroking my hand.
'No, look what happened last time you tried to rugby tackle him' I responded, stroking the back of my hand lightly across his face, 'You got a bullet in the leg'.
'I hate the guy, Harley, for hurting you, for hurting Percy, Lucas, for hurting everyone'.
'So you're cool about the fact he shot you?'
'Shush, you' he clutched onto my hand and to my surprise, discreetly kissed it, 'And don't get yourself in trouble. I promised you we'd leave and I meant it. We'll lay low and then get straight out of here, we've survived this far'.
'Okay' I entrusted in him. I did.

With all the guns pointed in our direction, we could do nothing but obey. Even with the Ecetamypt, Keith still limped towards one of the chairs near my brothers' body and we were forced to sit, held down each by a man stood behind our chair. Many people in uniform filed out till within the room there was only myself, Keith, Percy, Bruce, Santos and William and about eight army officers, no females and of course, my brother who lay pale and lifeless. I tried so hard not to look, each times I did it was like a stab in the chest.
'Miss Sawyer, I am so sorry' William apologised, both he and Santos looking extremely apologetic. A tear slipped down into my mouth and I nodded towards him, ignoring the intense glare of Bruce towards all three of us. Percy sat on my left side seemed to be holding back tears and so I found his hand and clasped it in my own. When he sent me a thankful smile, I tried to return it and faced Keith who looked to be in a trance as he stared at Lucas' body, his mouth hanging open in the slightest and blatant pain in his eyes. When he turned to me, the pain flashed into guilt and he shook his head, grabbing so quickly onto my hand, using both of his hands to hold onto mine.

'You're allowed to be sad' I whispered just before he could speak, watching his mouth as it closed and his eyes glazed over with sadness again.
'And so are you' he gazed at me for a moment and once again, we seemed to forget everybody else and stayed in this beautiful chokehold where nothing else mattered but this moment. Bruce ruined it though, with his deep voice dripping with what I could only describe as evil.
'So where do we shove this needle then, doc?'
Keith and I both tried to yank free of our hold but I was no match for the muscled man pinning me to my chair and Keith only managed to disgruntle the two very large men keeping a grip on him. We were stuck, forced to watch.
'Okay' William was avoiding my gaze, 'First we must inject the subje- Lucas, with the unnamed still infection'.
'Freak juice, we get it, go' Bruce prodded him impatiently and I struggled to breathe as they held the needle next to Lucas' neck, nearly piercing his skin.
'Breathe, sunshine, it's okay. You remember what I said? About using the money, getting you and Joel settled? We're doing that, alright?'
'Right, right' I said breathlessly, watching as Keith lifted his hands, still restrained by his shoulders, and cupped my face, gently forcing me to look away from the scene unfolding next to us.

'You know what else?' Percy spoke, 'We can all be neighbours, it'll be great!' I knew from the tone of his voice that Percy was just trying to distract himself and us as well, I don't think we even knew what words were coming out of our mouths, we just talked to try and avoid what was happening, the sound of a needle piercing skin, the scientists talking to each other, Bruce bellowing. It was just words.
'Holiday' Keith's voice was shaken, 'we'll go somewhere, all of us. Forget this, be normal, just for a week'.
'Right, right' Percy spoke quickly, 'Maybe we can meet your family, Keith' nobody missed the drop in Percy's voice as he reached the word 'family' and anybody could tell he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Still staring at Keith, I noticed the way his eyes dropped to avoid my gaze, his shoulders slumped and his breaths became slower.
'They're dead' he whispered and I froze, unsure I'd heard him right.
'Wh- what? Keith?' Percy's voice was that of disbelief and I wondered if I'd heard right after all.

His hands were still cupping my face and when I reached to touch them, he jumped slightly in his chair, still avoiding my confused gaze.
'Keith, you said your family are away, in another country - remember?' I prodded him, scared the bullet wound had sent him into a kind of shock which had confused him. He didn't seem confused though, he only seemed to have just had the wind knocked out of him.
'I'm sorry, Sunshine, I didn't want to tell you after what happened to your parents'.
'Tell me about the phone call' I whispered while I heard the person restraining Percy loosen his grip so the boy could lean in and listen. The army officers could all hear but none of us seemed to care, they were in a different world to us, we would never understand one another.
'Now isn't the time, th-'
'There's never been a better time' Percy interrupted, keep talking Keith. We all need this'. The statement itself wasn't meant in a harmful way but he must have suddenly realised how it came across because he began to clumsily apologise, cut off my Keith who wasn't offended.

'Don't apologise, you're right'. As if on cue, Bruce cursed loudly and continued to graphically relay what they were doing to my brother and when I forced myself to look, I saw them injecting a liquid deep into his neck.
'Tell us. Not to distract us, to tell us' I told him, placing a hand comfortingly on his leg. To some extent I had expected it, but to hear it right now had thrown me and my heart broke for him.
'You guys... you lost your families, Harley, you still had some hope and that phone call' he removed his hands from me and gripped his throat, clearly struggling, 'They told me they were away, on holiday, that they were worried. I was scared because they'd been due back here that day but they told me their flight had been delayed, that they were safe, out of the country'.
'They weren't?'
'No - I should've realised, they sounded so scared but I thought they were just worried. My sister, my mum - they just kept saying they loved me and idiot me, I thought they thought I was going to die. It was actually the other way round. When I told you they were away, I thought they were. When they rung, I realised they were at Heathrow - apparently it was swarming with them. Then they said goodbye and I heard them screaming, crying, trying to lock themselves inside one of the rooms, running to the planes but... I heard them die, every second. I just hung up and carried on. I tried to pretend I'd imagined it'.

None of us spoke for a moment and as the tears fell freely from my eyes, guilt overwhelmed me to the point I couldn't even look at Keith anymore.
'I'm so sorry' I breathed, 'I'm so sorry, you needed me, you needed...'
'No' he cut me off with a genuine smile, 'I shut you out, I should've told you both but I wasn't ready. I saw how strong you were both being and well... I knew how much of a coward I was being. So in true coward form, I'm telling you now'.
'If there's one thing you're not' Percy said, voice dripping with admiration, 'It's a coward. We've all had just about the worst thing happen to us and we're all sat here, together. We can help each other. We can do this'.
'We can' I looked from Percy to Keith and held onto the boy whose eyes were warm again, not able to look away, wanting so badly to heal him, to kiss him, tell him I loved him.
'Of course we can. Thank you'.
'It's the worst feeling in the world' I clutched onto him, suddenly feeling even closer than I had to him before, 'But time heals everything'.
'I know, sunshine. You can't plan for these things, but we have each other'.
'I-I'm sorry for being such a fool when we first met' Percy stammered out, 'I suppose you aren't too bad'.
For a moment, we all just glanced to one another with the smallest smiles on our faces. Percy lost everybody he loved, Keith had just admitted to us that he had also and I was sat here witnessing somebody stabbing at almost my last living family but just then, just in that fraction of time, we had a bond which was completely unbreakable and just for that second, I was okay, we were all okay.
Then of course, reality smashed into us.

'Two minutes since infection, no response' William said bluntly, almost seeming pleased.
'Why? Has the kid been dead too long?'
'Possibly, the infection kills a person in whatever amount of time, it ranges, then brings them back. Infecting a person who has been dead for days might just not work'.
I hoped it wouldn't. I hadn't really thought this far, just the idea of them sticking a needle into Lucas had infuriated me - the idea that the infection could be swimming round his body now was shocking. Did they want him to come back as one of... them? Would he get up? Would he breathe again, would he look at me? Did I want that, if he wasn't Lucas anymore? Sickeningly, yes, maybe I did. Seeing him on his feet again might trick my mind into thinking he was alive. I'd forgotten what that felt like.
God, I needed Joel. I needed that boy in my arms so much, so, so much.
'Now?'
'Nothing. Give it time, the dosage was small'.
'I don't have time, in case you didn't know, we have deadlines here, I actually want to get out of this shithole!'
'I would like to get back to my family also sir, but we can't take the infection out of this country and frankly, the second we leave any hope of a cure is lost. We are hope at the moment. Us'.
'Oh, go join a soap opera or something'.

'You can't forget, the boy was killed with a gunshot to the chest. Missed his heart but caused enough damage and shock to his body to kill him. He wasn't kill by the disease, but by blood loss and trauma'.
'Okay' Bruce thundered sarcastically, 'We fixed that, removed the bullet, stitched him back up'.
'He was still already dead'.

I'd heard enough and was ready to just squeeze my eyes closed when something caught my eye and I realised my neck was very much frozen in place.
'Quick, quick, grab the other bed sheet, tie it round his midriff' William called while I just stared, in disbelief that he had witnessed what I had too.
'He moved' I whispered.
'I'm here' Keith replied quietly and both he and Percy held onto each of my hands.
'He's back' I said my thoughts out loud.
'That's not him' I could see Percy vigorously shaking his head to my left, 'Don't look, you don't have to be a part of this'.
'I have to' what I was saying was barely audible but as long as I could see Lucas moving, it wasn't too awful, I could pretend.
'Alright, injecting the su- Lucas, with the 24th experimental cure or effect reversal  to unnamed disease' William said steadily.
'It's too fast' Bruce halted him, 'The kid has only moved his fingers and his shoulder, how the fuck to we even know if he's a freak yet?'
'He is, sir, I-' he never got to finish his sentence because Lucas' head snapped to the side and before I even had time to scream, his eyes were open and those blue iris' which girls loved were replaced with dead, empty white space what seemed to look at everyone.

It was impossible not to stare - I wasn't scared of him, to me he wasn't infected even though to everyone else in the room, he clearly was. If seeing him dead had broken my heart, seeing him like this was stamping on the pieces. Snorting, inhuman, fingers curling and grabbing, teeth clamping at thin air. It wasn't him. This wasn't how I wanted to remember him - it physically hurt, I had to keep averting my eyes and blocking out the sounds with my own monologue in my head.
'Stop it!' Keith demanded angrily, hand clenching onto mine almost painfully, 'You're killing his sister here, just let her leave if you have to do this!'
'No can do, pretty boy' he rubbed his hands together gleefully, 'Gotta stay and watch the show. Tie him down, boys!'
Sure enough, Lucas was becoming more frantic and soon he was sat bolt upright, being shoved down by several men who kept him on the table, avoiding his snapping jaws. I couldn't tear my eyes away, it was like watching a car crash in slow motion. He was moving again, there was noise coming out of his mouth.
'Alright, inject him, now, now!' Bruce kept jumping back to avoid my brothers jaws and I couldn't help but vision Lucas ripping him to shreds which brought a sadistic smile to my damp lips.
'Yes sir' there was a tremor in William's voice as he kept trying to inject Lucas with the liquid, retracting the syringe each time he jerked. I hadn't expected this cure to work for a second but now I was being forced to endure this, I had to ask myself, what were the effects of it going to be? Nothing? Would he stay infected, just fall down dead - would I have to watch him die again?

'Injected' William breathed a sigh of relief and I realised I'd missed him sticking the needle in - for that at least, I was relieved. I was unsurprised when Lucas stayed the way he was still thrashing, biting, disgusting growls vibrating from his lips. It was when I really looked that my stomach flipped and a cough made my body jump from the chair and my eyes watered as I tried desperately not to be sick, burying my head into my knees.
'Oh my god' I mumbled through the tears, 'Oh god, oh god. Please'.
'Where's your favourite place in the world?' Keith blurted out, holding onto my face again and turning it towards him. I barely focused in on him staring intently at Percy and was only jolted back into reality when from behind me, he spoke.
'Oh! Uh, w-well, mine is the university... well, it was I suppose now it isn't much good...'
'Great, awesome' Keith's eyes were darting quickly back to Lucas and me, Lucas and me and I could see the sweat forming on his upper brows, 'You know where mine is, sunshine?'
'I...'
'There's this mountain in Santorini, it's beautiful. I sat up there and painted this sunset, it was stunning and that canvas is probably somewhere trampled to death in my flat, some people probably took refuge there and used it to barricade the doors. And that's shit, but you know what? I remember it, and that's all that matters. It's in my memory, not as a trampled piece of crap but as a beautiful sunset'.

I nodded, understanding. He just kept staring at me and the sweat trickled down his face, no doubt burning those eyes. I was reminded of sitting in the car, staring out the window, that intense look. Now, here, it was the same. Fear, uncertainty, familiarity. I tried to turn my head to look when another groan sounded but Keith held firm, not letting me.
'Tell me about your favourite place' he whispered, using his thumb to trace across my temple, helping cancel out the shouts and orders behind me. I couldn't think of an answer to his question, I couldn't seem to get past the wall which was up desperately trying to ignore what was going on around me. The strain was beginning to get to me and for a moment, I just mumbled incoherently, breathing heavily.
'Uh...'
'Any place, sunshine, any place'.
'I don't know' I felt like crying, I couldn't think, could barely breathe.
'You don't h-'
'My kitchen' I blurted out, 'It's my kitchen. There was always something, Joel throwing food or Mum burning something or Lucas tipping chilli sauce onto something which wasn't meant for that. That's my place, the kitchen'.
As I said it, a painful tug pulled in my chest but it felt almost like a relief to get that out.

He didn't need to say anything, nobody did.
'It's not working, you fucking morons!' Bruce nearly screamed, making the fat fingers of an unknown pressed into my shoulder push further into the muscles, making me jerk.
'It's untested, we specified that!'
'Fuck it, shoot him in the head!'
'No!' I yelled, turning to face them again, reeling once more at the sight of my brother as one of them, tied down, restrained. My voice lingered on the last syllable as I stared but I managed to regain my composure, keeping my eyes closed, 'Don't shoot, maybe it will work, just wait!'
I knew it wouldn't work, I wasn't stupid, but I didn't want a bullet in his head, not another bullet in his body.
'Well I'm bored'.
'He had a mother' my eyes were still closed, 'And a Dad, and he has a little baby brother and a sister. Maybe you could show them some respect and not put a bullet in his head. Isn't there a drug, something?'
'No babe, but if you want respect, you can do the honours'.