The Apocalypse

Chapter 7

Reilly woke suddenly in the middle of the night, having a coat of sweat over him. He gripped his arm firmly at the pain of the bite. It was clear that he was feeling the effects of the venom, his breath was heavy and short. His bite had been wrapped up and treated with what they could manage, but not the antidote they needed. His body was tense and he found it extremely difficult to move. Jayda, who was in the bed next to his, got up and sat next to him. She hugged him and attempted to calm him,"It's alright, it's alright" her voice was calm and soothing, "You're ok, Maggie he needs some water," she shook Maggie awake.

"Gimme a sec," she got up and grabbed a bottle of water, then walked to Reilly, "take a drink," she held it to his lips as he sipped at the water. Although his breath was still a little heavy, he had calmed enough to talk in short bursts.

"I'm hot, I need this jacket off," Reilly took off his big coat, still breathing heavy. Jayda put it at the end of his bed, then once more tried to comfort Reilly. "You're ok, everyone is right here," by now, the other two were sitting next to him as well. "You're going to be fine,"

"Stick with us Reilly," Madisyn was right next to him, holding his left hand, "you are going to be ok," Chris got up and went to his bag. He came back with a small piece of bread.

"Take a bite," while Reilly ate, Madisyn held his arm steady so Maggie could give him one of the shots they got at the fort.

"There," Maggie said as she pulled the needle out of his arm. He was taking normal breaths when this was over. Although he was still in great pain, he was calm. "Thanks," he grunted, cringing at the pain in his arm.

Chris got eye level with him, "How many fingers?" He held up his hand.

"Come on now Chris, I ain't goin blind, three," Reilly gave Chris a humorous look.

"Just seeing if you're still your smart ass self," Chris smirked, "good to see you still have your humor,"

"Yeah, I-" He gripped his arm tighter, "-I can still... control myself," he gritted his teeth from the pain.

"You're alright," Jayda spoke into his ear softly, "you are going to be fine, just hang in there," with these words, Reilly grew drowsy, his focus not on the pain in his arm, but his friends around him. He thought of how calm Jayda's voice was, how soft Madisyn's hand was in his, how happy Chris looked to hear him talking back, and how concerned Maggie looked as she changed his bandage on his arm. He thought to himself how lucky he was to have friends like these.

"There ya go," Maggie backed away, "all better," Reilly's eyes fluttered, but before he fell back into his deep sleep. He slowly whispered,

"Thank you guys, for being here," and with that, he was asleep, as if nothing had happened. He had a slight smirk as he lied there, peacefully breathing with little effort.

"Well, was out like a light," Chris said as he sat back down in his bed.

"It was the shot," Maggie explained, "I put some stuff in it to make him sleep easier." She yawned and went back to her bed. Madisyn then looked up at Jayda,"You got a way with this boy, you know that?" Jayda slowly laid him back down in his bed.

"Yeah well," She sighed, "I dunno how I do it," Jayda smiled back at Madisyn,"Go get some sleep, I'm gonna check on the pilot. " Madisyn nodded then got back into her blankets. Jayda walked up and sat down next to the pilot and sighed," so how are things up here?"

"Mighty fine," the pilot took a sip of his coffee. "If you want any, there should be more in the back," he had started to warm up to the group he saved. "I never did ask your names, can I get them.,"