A Zombie's Heart

Chapter 34

We run through the thick trees, dodging branches and rocks on the ground. We come to an old abandoned cabin that looks as if it could fall apart with the gentlest touch. 

"Celeste! Over here! Come quick!" 

I run to the side of the cabin where Taehyung sits, cradling a young girl. I run over and sit by him. The young girl stares at the sky, emotionless. Her shoulder is bleeding out and her breaths get shorter. 

"M-my name is Katie and I'm seven years old. I miss my mommy. There's a bad man." She coughs up blood and her eyes roll to the back of her head. She starts twitching violently and Taehyung stands up hurriedly. I pull out my gun, but my vision is blurry from tears. I try to blink them away, but it doesn't help. I hold the gun up to shoot, but I hold back. Her twitching gets worse. 

"Celeste! Shoot her now!" 

My hand shakes hard and I wipe my tears away. Taehyung snatches the gun and holds it up to the girls head and pulls the trigger. The loud bang makes me scream and I cry hard. Taehyung wipes away some of his own tears then helps me onto his back. He runs toward the camp and doesn't stop until we reach the opening of the woods. He sets me down and hugs me tighter than ever as I cry into his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry Taehyung! I couldn't do it! She was just a child and I... I just couldn't." 

Jungkook walks over to us. "Are you alright?" 

Taehyung looks up at him. "We need to have a few people stay up to keep watch. There's zombies near." 

Jungkook nods and places his hand on my shoulder to help comfort me. "It'll be okay. What happened?" 

Taehyung looks up at him. "I'll tell you later." 

"I'll go tell the others to be cautious." 

Jungkook walks away and Taehyung grabs my shoulders so I look into his eyes. "Celeste, I really didn't want to do it..." 

"It's okay Taehyung. I know you had to. It's just that she was so young and on her own. She didn't get to enjoy life. And now addi is going to have a baby, and what if the same thing happens?" 

"It won't. No one here will let that happen." I nod and he kisses my cheek. "Let's go. We need to get to camp before it gets any darker." 

When we get back, jungkook had started a fire using the extra firewood left from our last camp spot. I sit on Taehyung lap and wrap my arms around him, staring at the flames. 

"You didn't get any firewood?" asks Abbi as she and yoongi step out of the tent. I slowly shake my head. "Then what we're you doing in the woods if not getting wood?"

 Kayla smirks and raises an eyebrow. 

"We can't talk about it right now..." Says Taehyung as he strokes my hair. 

"Oooo! I know what you were doing!" Karissa smiles widely.

 I look up at her without saying anything and her smiles fades knowing that something was wrong. Namjoon grabs her hands and pulls her onto his lap. 

"They'll tell us if they need to karissa."

 I stand up from Taehyungs lap. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight." 

"But dinner is almost done." Says jimin as he prepares hot dogs over the fire. 

"I'm sorry, I'm just too tired. Goodnight." I walk to the tent and lay on one of the beds, immediately falling asleep.

***

It gets cold and I feel around for a blanket. My head pops up off of a hard surface. 

"Taehyung?" I look around, but it's too dark to see a thing. I'm on cement and the area smells like decaying flesh. "Tae? Abbi? Anyone?" My voice echos softly. 

"Shut up I'm trying to sleep." I hear someone in the cell next to me say. 

My eyes start to focus and I don't recognise the room. I immediately realise I'm locked up in a jail cell. I get up and grab the bars. "Let me out!" I yell. 

"Oh my gosh! Do you understand what shut up means!?" 

"Kayla!?" 

It goes silent for a few moments. "Where the heck am I!?" She suddenly yells. "Are we in jai-" I hear a loud thud. "Ouch, you idiot! Watch where you step!" Someone is with her. "Hey, Celeste! Karissa is here too!" Oh great. "Oh, and Addi! And Nate! Is anyone else in your cage?" 

I look behind me and scan the cell. "Cage? And no. No one else is here. I'm alone." 

"That sucks for you." I hear Karissa say. 

"There's no way we all could've slept through someone bringing us here. We must've been put to sleep." says Nate quietly. 

"Wow, really?" comes Kayla's sarcastic voice. 

I sit against the cold concrete wall and exhale deeply. It gets quiet in the other cell and I call out, "Kayla? Karissa?" No answer. 

The strange scent of some sort of gas fills the air around me, clouding my vision and getting thicker and thicker, hard to breathe. I lay on the ground coughing, gasping for air until I lose consciousness.