if we survive

t w e n t y n i n e

r o r y

"Tell me where Ashton is and I won't kill you." Adam held a shotgun barrel against my forehead. I hadn't even made it back to camp before Adam burst through the trees and attacked me. Behind him, Ethan, Colman, and Adrian stood holding their own weapons at hand. Ethan had betrayed my people and I promised myself I'd kill him if I got the chance but right now I was possibly facing my own killer.

"He's sick. You can't see him, it's not safe." I stated. I held my hands up in surrender waiting to be shot. I felt like I deserved it, I did deserve it.

"Sick how? What did you do to him?" Adam pushed me back with the barrel of his gun and glanced behind him at his backup.

"He let himself get bit, I tried to stop him but he wouldn't back down." As soon as the words left my mouth I could almost see Adam's soul leave his body. He looked like someone had just knocked all of the air from his lungs but he cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"He's at medical?" Adam's voice cracked but I pretended I didn't notice. I almost felt bad for the kid except the fact that he was holding a gun at my face kind of overruled that emotion. Adam got his answer when I didn't reply. He lowered the shotgun and took off towards the medical cabin with his friends following behind. Adam knew his way around this camp better than most of the survivors so he had no problem finding the medical cabin and slamming the door open. I ran up behind him as soon as he ran into the room and slid down beside Ash. His mouth had red blood dripping from it and his face was pale, his bloodshot eyes were surrounded with dark bags. He looked worse than I'd ever seen him.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Adam yelled at Benji who stood back holding a wet cloth fearfully looking at me. Adam turned his attention back on Ash and cupped his face. "No. No no no no,"

Ash whispered something to Adam then screamed, "Go!" His voice was filled with rage but Adam didn't move. Ash's head dropped and was only help up by Adam's hands.

"No, no Ash I need you to hang on. Please we'll figure this out." Adam mumbled. I heard Colman's sobs echoing behind me as she clung to Ethan's neck not allowing herself to look at Ash. I was holding back my own tears now, I ran to Benji's side.

"Have you applied to cure yet?" I asked him. He shook his head and cleared his throat.

"His heart has to stop before I can, once he stops breathing I will apply it again." Benji said and moved to Adam's side. Adam turned and refused to let Benji get close.

"Screw off." He glared. Benji held up his hands in surrender.

"I just want to help. I can help him." Benji said quietly. After a few glances at his friends, Adam stood and backed away. Benji sat on the floor beside Ash's cot and hovered his hand over Ash's nose to feel if he was still breathing. Suddenly, Ash's eyes shot open and he jerked forward catching Benji's shirt.

"Get the cure! Holden get the damn cure!" Benji screamed at me, pushing himself away from Ash. I ran into the back where Benji worked on the cure in his spare time and picked up the first vial of red liquid I saw and ran back into the front and shoving the vial into Benji's hands. "Hold him down but stay away from his mouth!" Benji yelled. I grabbed my brother's arms and pinned them by his side while Benji opened the vial and poured half of it onto Ash's bite then the remaining half into to his mouth. Ash screamed like a demon being drowned in holy water. I stepped back and pulled Benji away too as Ash fell to the ground. The room went quiet and the only sounds that were heard was Colman's quiet sobs. Ash's body went limp. Adam pushed Benji out of the way and moved back to Ash's side.

"Adam, you shouldn't get close." Adrian said and pulled his brother back. Adam didn't fight but he turned and wrapped his arms around Adrian's neck and broke down. At first, Adrian didn't react, he looked shocked at the sudden emotional gesture but he soon returned the hug. I looked towards Ashton and his eyes opened. He looked lost but the way he looked around made me believe he wasn't entirely back to normal. He looked at me specifically in a language that I couldn't understand. Everyone was looking at him when suddenly he jumped up and tried to run towards me but the handcuffs around his wrist held him back. I stumbled backwards as he snapped at me and reached out towards me. Benji dropped his head into his hands and slapped his hand down on the floor in pure anger.

"It didn't work." He mumbled and walked past me opening a drawer in the medicine cupboard. He pulled out a pistol and without thinking twice he held it up towards Ash and pulled the trigger. I felt the wind of someone running past me and in that moment the world around me fell into slow motion. Adrian slid in front of Ashton, the bullet piercing his skull instead of Ash's. Colman screamed and I saw Adam yell out Adrian's name as he fell to his knees crying even more than he had been before. Adam was hysterically sobbing and Colman had dug her face into Ethan's chest hiding her face and covering her ears from the shot. Benji dropped the pistol and his mouth gaped in pure fear and regret of what he'd just done. Ash dropped to the floor beside Adrian's body ready to feast but I grabbed him and wrapped my arms around him to where he couldn't bite me or get to Adrian. Adam's mouth moved silently while he searched for words but all that came out were weak squeaks as he wept over his brother's lifeless body. I couldn't even fathom the pain he's experiencing. His best friend is a monster and now his brother is dead for trying to save his best friend that probably couldn't be saved. That's got to sting.

"Give Ashton another dose, maybe you just didn't give him enough." I mumbled loud enough for Benji to hear. Benji stumbled backwards not taking his eyes from Adrian as he walked backwards into the backroom. He returned with another vial and poured the entirety of the red liquid onto the bite on Ash's arm. Ash threw his head back and screamed in pain again but I held him so he couldn't move. Nothing was going right. Everything was wrong and I couldn't help but believe it was all my fault.