One Survivor

46 'Goodbye Ava Wills'

Ava felt weak. Well, to say she could feel anything would be a lie, she felt nothing. Like her entire body had shut down, she was cold, freezing. The only noise being her own slow breathing and the scraping and yelling from the windows and the creatures on the other side.

She used to imagine how she'd die every day when she was younger, she fantasized about being the last person alive, dying in her mom's arms, dying in Ed's arms, then dying in Justin's arms. The thought of dying alone used to terrify her but now that it was happening it was different. Peaceful even.

She remembered, barely, seeing Edward, seeing his stupid face again. The feeling of his lips on hers still made her heart flutter. She smiled at the memory but was interrupted by a cough, she turned to the side and spat the blood out of the ground, the metallic taste lingered in her mouth when she laid back into her original position.

Ava licked her dry lips and tried to think of a way she could get out of the situation, the results were inconclusive. She couldn't think of any way she could possibly solve this, she just needed to accept that this is how it's going to be.

Live for me Small

The words rang through her ears again and a tear rolled down her cheek the moment she heard them.

She looked own at the pool of blood beside her and then at her hand that still lay on the wound, "So this is death" she tried to make herself laugh.

"Humor to hide pain, retreating back to that again, are we Small?" Justin asked, sitting next to her with his legs tucked into his chest.

"Never know when your last laugh will be" she smiled toothily yet weakly.

Justin placed a hand on her cheek soothingly, "Hold on a little longer, please?" he begged.

Ava coughed again and winced at the sharp pain, "I'm trying" she snapped harshly but took it back when she stared into his grey eyes, "It's too much, it hurts Justin, it really hurts" she felt herself starting to cry again.

"Look at me. Look at me, Ava" he placed both hands on her cheeks, "You're so strong. So strong. Just hold on" he begged and kissed her forehead.

She nodded and licked her lips once more, "You need to drink something" he told her and looked around.

"Mm... whiskey please" she mumbled and closed her eyes.

Justin shook her, "There" he pointed to a bottle of water that was laying on the ground.

"And you can't grab it, because?" she raised her brow.

"I'm dead" he sighed, and she just groaned, shifting to the water, and reaching out for the bottle, grabbing it, and grunting when she sat up again.

She took of the cap and began to drink, immediately feeling slightly better. She stopped when she reached hallway and shoved the cap back on. "Gotta save some for—..." she stopped when she turned back to see nothing there.

"Later" she grunted and sat back against the counter, she looked down at her wound, it had stopped bleeding but the bruising around it had started to form and from the looked she managed to sneak in the window, she did not look okay. Her dad had taught her basic survival and how to recognize extreme wounds before he... passed. Over protective fathers are like that, teaching kids all they need to know before they head off into the big world.

Ava was barely holding on; her body was weak. She had run out of water and the screaming and yelling of DR's wasn't helping her worrisome state. The glass was cracking slightly, and she could hear their growl slowly quieten down, this was bad. She was falling asleep, or dying, or both.

She couldn't feel the pain in her side anymore, she just felt nothing at all. She couldn't move her fingers or her legs. She was breathing heavily, and her eyes felt like they were carrying the weight of a thousand elephants.

"Hey Small" she heard faint voice say and turned her head slightly, Justin sat down next to her and smiled.

Ava felt tears falling form her eyes again, "I'm scared Justin... I thought I could do this but I—" she cut herself off with a heavy cough.

Justin moved closer and cupped her face in his hands, "It's okay, don't say anything else" he smiled and wiped her tear with his thumb, "You did so good. I'm so fucking proud of you" he grinned and placed a kiss on her head.

"I let you down. You told me to live and now I—... I don't wanna die" she sobbed and held her side when she shook, trying to hold in her tears.

"I know, I know" he had that same smile on his face and he just kept his grip on her cheeks.

Ava felt sick to her stomach, she never wanted to die. She thought she did but now that this was really happening, that she was hanging onto her life, she didn't want to. She wanted to live.

"I wish you were alive" she muttered.

Justin took a deep breath, "Everything happens for a reason" he smiled again and move his hands to her hand and held it in his, "You're so strong, you've done so good. You survived" he squeezed her hand tighter.

"Survived?" she raised one of her brows and motioned to herself using her eyes.

Justin chuckled, "You've done better than the rest of us. You were the strongest of us all" he rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb and she smiled weakly.

"He's right" Ed sat down on the other side of her and placed a hand on her thigh and another on her shoulder. "You did it everything we could only hope to do" he kissed her cheek lightly.

"I'm gonna die. Aren't I?" she asked them weakly.

Justin and Ed stared at her for a minute, "Don't think about that" Ed gave her shirt smile and tucked a strand of hair from her now pale face.

Ava closed her eyes when she opened them Ed was gone. She felt a slight pain in her knowing that he wasn't there. She turned to Justin and he was still holding her motionless hand.

"You can go to sleep now, Ava" he smiled, and she just squeezed his hand.

"I'm afraid" she whispered, "What happens after?" she felt her own voice break at her words and Justin squeezed her hand tighter and pulled her onto his lap. She rest her head against his chest and looked at the DR's who were inches away from breaking in.

"Peaceful" he whispered.

"Happy" he whispered again.

"Calm..." his voice echoed through her ears until she felt her eyes slowly close. Her limbs suddenly feeling weak, her head and chest no longer feeling heavy with everything she had done, it suddenly lifted off of her. Ava used to imagine how she'd die, but like this, it wasn't how she thought it would.

But no one expected people to turn into raging cannibals.