Just a Really Bad Night

It Hurts

Clark was out of the room in seconds, looking out for his best friend. Katie hadn't gone far, as Clark quickly found her just one room over, where the group kept their supplies.

"Katie? What are you doing?" 

Clark questioned, walking up to her slowly. Katie was on her knees on the floor, digging through the supplies without even the slightest acknowledgment of Clark's presence.

"Come on Katie, come back to bed, okay? You're clearly not feeling well, you need more rest- Hey!" 

Clark jumped back as a can of soup nearly hit him on the foot, tossed over Katie's shoulder carelessly. She had found the bag where the group had been keeping their food rations and was now digging through it ravenously.

"Can't you wait until morning to eat!? It's like, midnight!" 

Clark said, exasperated. Still, Katie gave no sign of hearing him, letting out grunts of frustration when all she could find was cans of food, all of which would need a tool to open. She lifted one of the cans to her face, and to Clark's surprise, took the can into her mouth and began to gnaw at the lid like a wild animal. Clark snatched the can away from her, holding it out of reach.

"What the fuck has gotten into you!? You'll break a tooth doing that, just get the fucking can opener!"

"Clark, please..." 

Katie seemed to finally notice he was there, standing up shakily and reaching out for him. 

"Clark, Clark..." 

She muttered her friend's name under her breath, stumbling closer unsteadily. Clark dropped the can on the floor and wrapped Katie in a tight hug, shushing her gently.

"It's okay, I'm here... Can you please come back to bed now? It's late and I'm seriously worried, you look awful..." 

Clark frowned, rubbing Katie's back comfortingly.

"I feel awful, too... I'm hungry... Clark..." 

She muttered his name again, clenching her hands into fists, holding onto Clark's shirt like a lifeline. 

"It hurts..."

"What hurts?" 

Clark tried to pull away from the hug to look Katie in the face, but the girl's grip was too tight. Clark began to stand, helping Katie up with him, when she began to struggle.

"It hurts, Clark it hurts...!" 

She gasped, shaking in Clark's arms. She felt her legs give out under her, only being held up by Clark's hold on her.

"Okay, okay Katie, you're okay..." 

He tried to convince both himself and Katie of this, sinking to the floor slowly so Katie wouldn't fall and hurt herself. Katie started to cry again, burying her face in Clark's shoulder.

"It hurts, oh my god it hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."

She repeated, her breathing heavy and labored. Clark could feel how sweaty Katie was through his shirt, trying to get her to let go for a moment.

"Katie, buddy, can you let go for just a second? Let me help you out of your shirt or something, you're sweating like crazy, it might make you feel better..."

Clark grabbed the bottom of Katie's shirt, making Katie cry harder. Despite this, she put up no resistance, so Clark continued. He got Katie to let go of his shirt enough for him to pull the article of clothing up and over her head, tossing it to the side. With wounds needing to be patched and cloths shreded often girl no longer care if guys saw them shirtless, and most no longer wore bras as it was unessasary. Katie in particuler with Clark since they had been friends for so long. 

"There, now you can try and cool off..." 

Clark felt his voice die in his throat as he took in Katie's naked upper half. She sat there, still shaking and crying, arms crossed over her chest. It did nothing to hide the disgusting looking bite mark on her side, however. It was a bit below her breast the flesh around the wound was purple and bruised, the bite itself was a sickly yellow and was covered in dried blood. Katie continued to sob, while Clark was stunned into silence. He stared in shock at the bite, then looked up at Katie's pale face and dazed eyes that wouldn't meet his own.