Just a Really Bad Night

Numb

"Don't worry, Katie," 

Clark said softly, going over to the bags Katie had been digging through prior. 

"I'll try to fix this. I can't lose you, I can't..." 

He muttered, finding a bottle of water and grabbing it, sitting next to Katie with it. He noticed how badly Katie was shaking, getting more concerned the longer he stared at her. With a deep breath, Clark opened the water bottle and carefully poured some of it out onto Katie's wound. He knew it was probably far too late to stop it from infecting Katie, but he was desperate. 

Katie didn't react at all, so Clark continued, using Katie's shirt to clean the dried blood from around the wound. He was focused on the task at hand, almost finished cleaning up his friend when a hand grabbed his wrist firmly, stopping him in his tracks. He looked up, meeting Katie's eyes. Clark felt sick as he stared into those eyes. Eyes that were once so bright, and brown, and filled with life, now dull and glassy, unfocused on Clark even though she was clearly staring him in the face. 

"C-Clark..." 

Katie mumbled, her voice pained. 

"Help, help me... It hurts, please make it stop, it hurts..."

Clark felt his heart break at the way Katie begged him, trying to stay strong for his friend.

"Its okay, I'm trying to help, look- You're all cleaned up now at least, see?" 

Clark gestured to the bite mark, which was still ugly and bruised, but at least wasn't bloody anymore. Katie shook her head, holding Clark's wrist tighter.

"N-No, Clark, it's too late!" 

Her eyes suddenly went wide and frantic, letting go of Clark's wrist and backing up away from him. 

"It's too late, I... Please don't let them kill me..." 

She began to cry again, her sobs making her whole body shake.

Clark was at a loss for what to do, trying to get closer to his friend to pull her into a hug. Katie held out a hand to stop him, her other hand flying up to cover her mouth. Clark backed off, only able to watch as Katie leaned to the side and braced her hands on the floor, vomiting up all the contents of her stomach onto the hardwood beneath her. Clark again reached out, rubbing her back softly to soothe her and held her hair back as Katie continued to violently puke out everything in her until she was dry heaving and shaking, drool dripping from her lips.

"Clark... It hurts ..." 

Katie said again, her voice soft and raspy. Clark took a shaky breath, hugging his friend.

"I know buddy, I know... You're gonna be okay, we'll find a cure or something, okay? You'll be fine!" 

He hugged her a little tighter, hearing Katie let out a shaky sigh.

"I wanna go home..." 

Katie said suddenly, taking Clark by surprise a bit.

"Home...?"

"I wanna go home and play games with you. I just want to go back to how it was. I want to go back Clark, I hate this, it hurts so bad, I want to go home!" 

Katie finished her speech with a wail, crying like a child. Clark felt like crying too, burying his face between Katie's shoulder blades.

"I want nothing more than to do that, Katie. I'd love to go back, and play some games with you... We could shoot up some zombies, digital ones, and stay up all night until we pass out..."

"And you'll let me share the bed with you?"

"Of course. I'd be an asshole if I made my favorite person sleep on the floor..." 

Clark smiled as he playfully mocks his friend, feeling his heart soar for a moment when he got a light chuckle out of her. The mood turned grim again when Katie's body convulsed again, trying to vomit but there was nothing left in her. She was left wheezing, hunched over a pile of her own puke, the smile that had appeared on her face gone again just that quickly. Clark hated watching her suffer, but didn't know how to help at all.

"Katie, is there anything I can get you...? Anything I can do to help?" 

He asked gently, Katie shaking her head in response.

"N-No, I... Gghh... It just hurts..." 

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted with a groan of pain, her head lolling forward like she no longer had the energy to keep it up by herself. 

"Clark, I c-can't feel my fingers..." 

She mumbled suddenly, making Clark's blood run cold. Another symptom of turning into a zombie, that much Clark knew.

"Okay, um, just try not to focus on it, just come here Katie, try and distract yourself!" 

He brought her into another hug, gently scooting them both away from the mess Katie had made on the floor. 

"You're gonna be okay, everything is going to be fine, you trust me, right?"

"Of course!" 

Katie answered instantly, burying her face in Clark's chest with her eyes squeezed shut. 

"But I'm still scared, I... I feel so c-cold. I can't feel my fingers and my side feels tingly."

Clark looked down at Katie's bite wound at that, feeling a little sick himself when he saw how inflamed and painful it looked. It looked a lot worse than when he first saw it, despite taking the time to try cleaning it. While the wound was bruised and purple before, almost all of Katie's midsection was now a deep maroon, the skin around the bite a mix of reddish purples and sickly yellows. Katie grabbing onto the front of his shirt like her life depended on it shook Clark out of his head, making him look at the girls face. She was pale like a ghost, her eyes wide and full of pain and fear.

"Clark it hurts, it hurts so bad, make it stop, please..." 

She begged, tears running down her cheeks, which were as white as sheets. Clark almost couldn't stand to look her in the eyes, hating seeing his best friend in so much pain yet being unable to do anything to help.

"Shh, I know... I'm sorry, I don't know how to help you..." 

He said honestly, nuzzling Katie's soft hair that was tickling his face, anything that could help comfort the sobbing girl. Katie only cried harder, her whole body shaking like a leaf.

"Clark, oh god Clark, I can't feel my legs, I..."

Katie broke off with a frightened sob, staring up at Clark with pure, unadulterated fear in her eyes. Clark shushed her again, the only comforting thing he could think to do, and raised one hand to wipe the sweat from Katie's forehead for her. He yanked his hand back like he had been burned when it made contact with Katie's skin, shocked to find her burning up. 

While Katie's torso and chest felt strangely cold, her forehead was hotter than any fever Clark had ever felt before, and it scared him to his core. Katie panicked more at Clark's reaction, shutting her eyes tight and hugging herself, her shoulders shaking and twitching with her sobs.