The Divine Infection

Chapter Eight: Everything Changes, Everything Ends

"I'm surprised this place still has hot water." Crilly exclaims, sitting down on the sofa in the dark front room next to Barrone and I. He hands me a mug of tea, which I take gratefully as I shoot him a shaky smile, and then places a mug for Barrone on the scratched table before us. Drew, still awake, is mumbling quietly to himself, grasping his leg.

"Feeling any better now, Leigh?" Crilly asks me.

"Yeah, I...I guess. Just it creeped me out. A baby. Who lets their own baby just lie there, to die and decompose?"

"You don't know what-" Barrone starts,

"The sheet was pulled up over it, as if it was tucked in before it died. Did someone kill it? Or was ut already dead, and just left there to rot? Either way, it's fucking sick - a baby..." I close my eyes and take a drink of my of my tea, before coughing and grimacing. "How much sugar did you put in that?!"

"Six." Crilly replies with a sweet smile.

"Six?!" I put my mug down on the table, still grimacing.

"Poor kid, though." Barrone mumbles after a short moment. "Who knows how it died."

"Yeah..." All this death, though; it's affecting me too much. First Caleb, then Kier, Drew's on his way out, and there's a baby's rotted corpse upstairs. "I don't know how much longer I can deal with all this death."

I feel arms wrap tightly around me, and I thump against's someone's chest; it takes me a moment to realise that it's Barrone holding me in a tight embrace, and I'm confused for a moment. He's showing emotion...?

"I'm unemotional for a reason. You realise why, now?" He mutters in my ear. I nod feebly, and then he lets go of me, clearing his throat and taking a drink of his tea. I notice how his eyes never leave Drew, how he doesn't dare leave the man unsupervised for even a fraction of a second.

"Barrone," Drew mumbles, "I'm sleepy."

No, he's not sleepy. The blood loss has made him light-headed, which in turn is making him feel sleepy. He hasn't got very long to go from this point onwards.

"Try to stay awake." I hear Laurence say firmly, and the black-haired man crouches next to Drew, frowning deeply. "Don't go to sleep just yet."

"I...I can't...t-tired..." Drew mumbles. "My leg doesn't...doesn't feel sore anymore..."

"Try to stay awake, Drew." Barrone all-but-pounces forward, sitting beside his injured friend. "Stay awake, for me. You can't go to sleep just yet."

"Why not...?"

"Because, we..." Barrone looks over his shoulder at me, and I can see how helpless he looks as he silently pleads for me to give him a reason for Drew to stay awake.

"I need to change your bandages." I state simply. "And I don't want to end up waking you up whilst I'm doing it. So you'll need to stay awake, at least until after I'm finished."

Barrone nods his gratitude, and Crilly and Laurence smile at me gratefully. Laurence decides to go find the bandages, wherever they were put, and I stand up, moving to sit next to Drew, opposite Barrone.

"Feeling any better?" I ask the small, injured man lying on the floor. He just nods weakly. "Can you feel any pain in your leg?"

"No, I...I can't even feel my leg anymore." He grins sleepily. "I'm glad it doesn't hurt anymore, it means I can go to sleep now..."

"But you said you wouldn't." I remind him pointedly. "Not yet." He just groans, rolling his eyes. Laurence returns with the bandages moments later, passing them to me without a word and standing by the doorway. Beside him is Pilnahn, looking almost terrified for Drew.