After The Fall

Too Late For Redemption

"I'm immune."

Jack frowns lightly, despite his own thoughts on the subject, hearing it aloud just makes it seem like a joke. Mark seems to think the same, because he's staring at the ground between them. Jack sighs, scratching the back of his head, "So.. What are we supposed to do with this?"

"I don't know," Mark confesses, "But.. I mean.. There must be something, right?"

Jack looks back at him as Mark continues talking in a whisper, "What if we can do something with this? What if we can make a cure? Stop this entire thing, save people."

"Well, that does sound nice," Jack sighs, "But where would we even go to start making a cure? We don't even know where we are."

Mark frowns, "I don't know.. But I think we should try."

He sighs, "And.. I think we should tell the others."

"I don't think we should tell them," Jack retorts, "What if they don't believe you and make you leave anyway?"

"You mean, what if Tyler doesn't believe me and tells me to leave, right?" Mark groans softly.

Jack looks down, "Mark.."

"It's okay," Mark smiles softly, "I know you're worried, but this is different. Tyler's different."

"How do you know?" Jack asks slowly.

"Because he's my friend, Jack. And I know he hasn't always made the best decisions since this began, but I still have faith in him." Mark states.

Jack nods, looking guilty, "Sorry.."

Mark sighs, "It's Matt, right? That's what has you thinking of him so lowly, isn't it?"

Jack looks down again, "I'm sorry.. But, you're right. And.. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this way. It's not.. A simple mistake, he actually caused the death of someone we know."

"I know," Mark leans back, "Believe me, I know. But someone has to keep faith in him, he deserves at least that much. Even if he acted wrong, we have to remember that he lost someone close to him as well."

Jack sighs, looking at Mark again, "I understand that, but still. We lost people, and we didn't kill anyone else."

"You're right to think like that." Tyler suddenly speaks up.

Mark and Jack stiffen for a moment before both men turn and look at Tyler, who's staring at them tiredly, the barely lit fire illuminating his eyes from where he's sitting.

Jack, feeling guilty, looks away again. Mark keeps his eyes on Tyler though. Tyler sighs, "I heard everything.. And.. I understand why you said those things. Honestly, I agree. I know I've.. Done bad things.."

He closes his eyes, Jack glances at him shyly as he continues, "Matthew.. I never intended for that to happen.."

He opens his eyes, not looking at them now, "Yeah, I lied, and my fear is what killed him.. And I know there's not really anything I can do to make up for it, but.. I want.."

He shivers, looking back at them again. Tears slowly fill his eyes, "I want to try."

Mark smiles softly, "I know. I believe you. We can get everyone else to believe you, too. I'm not giving up on you."

Tyler chuckles softly, wiping the tears from his eyes. He takes a shaky breath, "I-I've been so terrible to you since.. Since.. Since.."

Tyler looks like he's going to start crying and Mark's eyes soften. He crawls over to where Tyler's sitting on his sleeping bag, resting a hand on Tyler's shoulder. He speaks softly, staring into his old friend's eyes, "I know. I know letting him go was really hard, trust me, I think about him, and everyone that we've lost. A lot. A whole lot, it still hurts and it sucks."

Tyler stares back at Mark with a shocked expression, and then he starts crying anyway. Mark hugs Tyler, "It's okay.. We can get past this. You can get past this. Everything will be okay."

He pulls back once Tyler calms down and he smiles. Tyler smiles lightly back. He knows he has, in no way, made up for what he's done, but he now feels hope that now he can. Jack smiles softly, "Sorry about what I said."

Tyler shakes his head, "Don't mention it."

Tyler sighs and lies back on his sleeping bag. Mark and Jack fall into silence as Mark crawls back over to his own sleeping bag and finally lies down. Jack stays sitting up, knife lying next to him, as watching the camp for the next few hours is his job. All is quiet in the camp for awhile, or so Jack thinks as he's slowly falling asleep as the fire dies out.

He doesn't hear the soft thud of the footsteps as they approach. He doesn't hear the slow groans as they approach, seeing their new meal all lied out for them as he finally falls asleep. But, having trouble falling back asleep, Tyler does. He sits up, looking around quickly as his eyes widen. A group of five infected are shambling their way to the group, almost to them already.

Tyler stands quickly, grabbing his knife, looking around wildly. There's no way he can take out them all, even one would be a challenge with his arm in the condition that it's in. He has no choice, he has to wake everyone up. He takes a breath, and then shouts, "Infected! Everyone up!"

Ken is the first to react, the first up and ready to fight. Jack is up next, but instead of preparing to fight, he wakes Mark and helps him stand then they move and get Stephanie, Felix, and Mary-Jane up. Jack quickly picks up Nate and looks to the others for direction. Mark and Stephanie quickly try and pack everyone's supplies while Felix and Ken prepare to defend the camp until they can escape or move on.

Tyler tries to decide between helping Ken and Felix, or Mark and Stephanie. The group of infected quickly turns from five to seven as two more stragglers head towards them. Ken grits his teeth, "This is bad.."

Tyler swallows and steps up beside Ken and Felix, gripping his knife tightly, "I'll try and hold them off, you guys help get the others out of here."

Ken's eyes widen, "You can't handle all of them."

Tyler sighs, "I can distract them. Just go, we'll all die if we do nothing."

Felix frowns, but obeys when Ken orders him to help the others. They finish packing up rather quickly, but the infected are closing in. Tyler looks at Ken, a look of seriousness on his face and Ken nods with grief in his eyes. He takes Nate from Jack and Jack and Felix help Stephanie and Mark as they all take off running ahead.

Tyler looks back at them, and then looks at the infected coming towards him. He grip on his knife tightens more, his knuckles turning white. He takes a deep breath, coming to terms with his decision. I'm not going to make it out of here. He fights hard, managing to kill two before he gets bitten. He screams, and his friends wince as they keep running.

Tyler keeps fighting as he becomes surrounded, gaining another few bites as they grab his arms and restrict his movements. He struggles because he can't keep fighting. His arms are bleeding as they start to feast on him. Blood soaks his shirt and his screams are stopped once his throat is bitten into.

It doesn't take long after that for Tyler to die, and his friends reach safety ahead after running for a good long while, the infected distracted by devouring their fallen friend. The group hides in a tool shed to wait out the rest of the night, all upset over the loss of Tyler, despite how they thought of him before that moment. So much for their good luck. Their group is now down to the same number of infected that killed him.