FULL OBLITERATION (Book #3)

𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓

"Gie in, gie in!" Uncle Emmett holds one side of the door open.

"C'mon, guys, fast, fast!" Sterlin goes and grabs the other side of the door, ushering people inside.

"Shit, Jace!" I sprint over to him and grab the girl's other arm over my shoulder. "Jace, the fuck happened in there?!"

"Was hangin' with Sterlin then some dude had a heart attack or somethin' and he full jumped another! Happened so fast, mate!" sweat drips from his temples. "This is Tamara, by the way. She tripped and hurt her leg."

"I think it's fucking broken!" she winces, limping.

"You're kinda walking on it," I take a glance at her ankle. "So I don't think it's broken. Sprained, more like it."

"Thanks, Doc?" she looks at me like a diagnosis is the least of her worries right now.

"Keep it going!!" Dad hollers as he lets us go past him.

"Jace!" Sterlin shouts. "I lost you in the havoc!"

"Got too crazy too fast," Jace shakes his head.

I hand Tamara over to Sterlin, and I fall back, about to take a left.

"Dean!" Dad bumps into my back. "What you still doin' out here?! Get inside!"

"Carmen's alone in there with Bray! I gotta go get 'em."

"Son, so long as she keeps those doors shut, they will be safe. Now get inside!"

"Then I'll be safe too."

"Christ, Dean!" Dad shouts. "This isn't the time to be stubborn!" he grabs me by the arm, pushing me inside and locking the doors after himself.

I can't believe he just did that!

"Zinedine!" he shouts my name while it's dead silent. "When I say to get the fuck inside, you get the fuck inside! You being reckless will only get you killed!" he points his fingerless leather gloved finger at me, speaking sternly like somehow being 'stern' right now will solidify that supposed fact in my head.

I spin around and smash my fist into the metal doors. I watch the blood drip down my knuckles, letting it fuel my rage. These lurkers, they took my classmates, my mum, Ella, and now Bray! They took everyone from me! I want them obliterated! I hide my bruised hand underneath my shirt, forgetting that it's a plain white tee. Maybe I'm reckless and maybe Dad's right but I don't wanna be weak. I can't let Bray and Carmen get hurt. I need to save them and I don't mind dying while doing so.

"You can't save them if you're dead," Dad words as if he read my thoughts or something. "And you can't save everyone."

"What if it was Mum?" I murmur, my back to all of them.

He doesn't say anything.

"It's okay," Nika places her hand on my shoulder. "There's another way inside the room your friends are in."

I almost don't hear what she says. Something's grabbed my attention, fixated my attention. Through the small window on the metal doors, I see a little basket. A little Moses basket.

"Is that..." I squint. No... It can't be. I look over my shoulder at, "Jace," head-nodding him over to me. I need him to confirm because I don't know what to believe anymore.

"What, mate?" he peers into the window.

"Are you seeing that?" I ask.

"Holy shit..." he whispers. "Is that someone's baby?"

The baby's lil arms reach out, playing with the air above it. My eyes drift to the auditorium doors. The lurkers have found their way out, twitching their heads and gritting their teeth. Only this time they don't have to fight for a meal. Their meal is right in the middle of this lobby. The most innocent meal. My heart stops. My heart drops.

"Dean," Dad warns, "c'mon now, think about this."

"It's a baby, Dad, an innocent life."

"Think, Dean, it's too late to get to that baby."

"Why don't you do something, Dad?!" I look at him. "You've got the ammo! Shoot 'em!"

"We need to save the ammo and we need to block this sector out," he elucidates. "Now think smart, Dean."

I am thinking smart.

"Dean..." Jace whispers next to me.

I glance at him and he's staring out through the window again. But he's so shocked, it's like he's looking at a ghost. I follow his line of sight to see something blocking my view. Something becomes my view. Not something but someone. Carmen. She stands with her back to us.

"What in the actual fuck is she doing?" Jace breathes out.

Getting inside isn't on her mind, getting to the newborn unquestionably is. This girl will literally be the death of me. With each steady step that she takes, she gets closer and closer to the baby. Closer and closer to the lurkers too. It's like who will get to that infant first, them or her. The baby coos and the lurkers stop dead in their tracks, discerning the location of the coos. Carmen makes a break for the newborn. She grabs it from the Moses basket, tightly clutching it in her chest as if it were her own.

She spins around and faces us. Her eyeliner is stained in the trail of her tears. Why does she do this to me every single time? It's like she knows my weakness is seeing her cry. The baby giggles and lays its tiny palm on Carmen's stained cheeks. And now the lurkers have caught on. Carmen's in fight or flight; she's totally frozen. I look at Jace and he shakes his head at me warningly. He, too, knows it's too dangerous to get them but it's not like us to just sit back and watch.

"Just like 3rd to home plate, remember?" I smile at him.

He tilts his head to the side, muddled. "...You always made it," he deciphers my coded words and gives me a nod, unlocking the door for me.

"Step away from the door, both of yous," Dad instructs. "Don't be insane, Dean."

There's, that, word, again.

I clench my jaw and push the door right open.