Corrupted: The Pain We Feel (Book 1)

Chapter 8: Hidden Sensitivity

~Tristen's POV~ (didn't see that one coming did ya?!)

"I'M SLIPPING!!!" Ella shouts, tears starting to form in her eyes.

I don't reply, I just try to keep her up but I can feel her hands slipping out of my grasp. I've never been the strongest person, there's a reason why my nickname is Totem Pole.

I've known Ella for as long as I can remember, I've seen her during her breakdowns when she has nightmares about her parents. Her biggest fear is losing another person she cares about to the Corrupted. She's one of my best friends and just the thought of her falling scares me senseless. Not again....never again.

Then it happens...

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"TRISTEN!!!!" she yells, reaching out to me.

My eyes shoot open as I reach down, my fingers gracing hers, but I'm too late...she falls...

"ELLA!!!!!" I scream, watching her go limp as she falls onto the unstable glass windows. The 2 Corrupted with unnaturally long blade-like green nails start to crawl down to her, jabbing their nails into the floor, slowly crawling down to her like a predator ready to pounce on it's prey.

I take off my backpack, get out my grapple gun, and attach it to the edge of the doorway. I get out my pistol and put it in my back pocket, knowing that if I use my double barrel shotgun I take the chance of shooting and breaking the glass window before I can get to her.

I lower myself down next to Ella, my feet not touching the glass as I hold onto the gun tightly and take the pistol out of my back pocket and shoot them both in the head, causing them to land on the glass.

The window starts to crack, shit. I quickly put the pistol in my back pocket and put my free arm under her shoulders and manage to lift her up just as the window shatters, the sharp pieces falling along with the dead Corrupted.

I bring her closer to me so I can get a better grip on her so she doesn't fall. I really need to start working out. I press the trigger of the gun, causing us to raise higher up to the door. When we get as close to the opening as we'll get, I make sure to push her up first, then pull myself up once I know she's safe.

I sit on the wall, my head leaning against the floor as I sigh and close my eyes for a minute to catch my breath. When I open my eyes a few moments later, I see something. So I lean down and turn her head, and see that she busted her head when she hit the glass.

I immediately get out the First Aid from my backpack and pull out an alcohol wipe. I start cleaning the wound and when I get a good look at it, I realize that it's gonna need stitches. She hit it pretty hard.

After I finish cleaning the small laceration, I get out the needle and stitches, then carefully start sewing it shut, focusing on every movement so I don't make a wrong move. Once I'm done, I take out another alcohol wipe, dabbing it on her head to get rid of whatever blood and dirt was left and put everything away. Mr. B taught all of us how to use everything in a First Aid kit just in case anything happened back at the old church building.

I sit back down and look down at her unconscious form for a moment. I start to feel tears form in my eyes, and before I know it, I'm full out sobbing, pinching the bridge of my nose as the tears continue to flow down my face. What if the glass had broken when she landed? What if the Corrupted got to her before I did? We've all been friends for years, we've always stood side by side, ready to handle anything as long as we all had each other. I can't stand the thought of something happening to either of them. This world is so messed up, anything could happen, and that's what scares me the most. Not knowing if something will happen to one of them or how to stop it.

Then I hear a soft, concerned voice. "Tristen, what's wrong?"

~Aella's POV~

I wake up to a migraine and the sound of someone crying, then look over and realize that it's Tristen. "Tristen, what's wrong?" I ask, concern filling my voice.

His head shoots up at the sound of my voice, clearly not realizing that I had woken up. "I'm sorry, I-" he pauses for a moment, trying to compose himself but failing. "Ella you can't keep doing this." he says.

"What do you mean?" I ask, now confused by what he's referring to.

"Putting yourself in danger! What if the glass broke when you fell? What if the Corrupted got to you before I did? You keep making the crazy, rash, decisions and what if one day that gets you killed? I can't lose another friend!" he replies through his sobs, his voice breaking when he speaks of my getting killed.

I know he doesn't show it very often, but Tristen is actually a very sensitive person. He doesn't like being yelled at, when someone yells at him he either gets teary, or cries a little. He may not seem like it but he's very sensitive, he just covers it up with jokes and memes. It's only times like this when you really get to see his sensitive side.

"Is that what this is about?" I ask, not really expecting an answer as I put a hand on his shoulder, him just looking at the floor as the tears continue to fall. "Tristen, you can't burden yourself with the past, or with what could have happened, and you certainly can't burden yourself with the future. I know it's scary not knowing what's going to happen. I'm scared too, we're all scared. We're teenagers trying to stop a worldwide virus that has delved all of planet Earth into chaos and Anarchy, of course, I'm scared." he looks up at me as a few silent tears escape his eyes.

"Every story has a happy ending, but it's the choices we make that decide on whether or not we get to it." I conclude with a smile and I give him a hug, letting him cry on my shoulder.

We both just sit there for a while, comforting each other during this time of nightmares come true.