when everything falls to hell

Chapter 9 Early Preparations

In the morning we all woke up refreshed and ready to start again, well except for me, because my leg had hurt like hell all night so I didn't get much sleep. I didn't want to bother anyone by waking them up to help me find the pain killers, and my leg hurt too much for me to go get them myself. So I was pretty miserable and tired by the time everyone started getting up. I guess I must have looked miserable too, because Loki was immediately concerned when he saw my face. He'd leaned into my space and started firing off questions like, "Kairi, are you okay?! Your face is grey! Is your leg hurting? Are you sick?" Which immediately drew the attention of everyone else in the room.

Ryan rushed over equaly concerned, "it's not getting infected, is it?" He asked with a guilty frown on his face as he knelt beside me.

Dickhead Daniel chose that moment to jerk to his feet and yell "I thought you said the bitch wasn't bit!" As he shuffles a few feet towards the door, his handcuffed hands pointing accusingly at me.

Surprisingly it was Risa who defended me first "Ryan said she wasn't bit, and he was clearly refering to a normal infection, the kind that's been causing fevers and death for thousands of years, idiot." Or maybe she was defending Ryan? Could be both. "Besides where were you planning on going with your hands still cuffed together? The first of those monsters that you'd run into would tear you to pieces." She said with a deadpan face.

Dickhead's face turned a really interesting shade of purple as he sputtered indignantly for a bit. Unfortunately he quickly calmed down enough to make even more of an ass of himself by exclaiming "either way we can't bring her with! She'll slow us down! She won't be able to run on that leg! Hell, she probably won't be able to walk on it either! The only thing she's good for right now is as monster bait, but even that's not worth trying to drag her along for!"

My blood ran cold at that comment, is he implying that he'd shove me into a group of Lifeless in order to distract them long enough for him to escape? But he's right, there's no way I'll be able to walk the rest of the way on my own, either Ryan or Risa would have to help me walk, which would leave only one person capable of fighting off any Lifeless that we'd run into... we wouldn't last long like that. While I'd been contemplating that, Ryan had stood from his position next to me, and taken an angry step towards Dickhead, "we are not leaving Kairi behind! Even with a bullet wound she's more useful than you'd probably ever be. At least I can trust that if I get into trouble she'd try to help me, instead of running off at the first sign of danger like you would!" He takes a deep breath in order to calm himself, then hisses with quiet vehemence "if you don't want her along than you can find your own way to the university, but you can be damn sure we won't remove those handcuffs before we see you off." I was shocked, that he was willing to drag me along even if it put him in danger, that he had such a high opinion of me, and that he would send the man into what would be a bloody death in order to protect me. I was speechless. I hadn't even known the guy for very long, but he was clearly very loyal. Although I guess you could say the same about Loki, and now that I think about it... me. I would do a lot to keep the both of them safe, when did I start to care about them so much? Not to mention I'm already feeling rather protective of Risa and Alexis despite having barely talked to them... it must be because of all the life and death situations. Of course you would come to care about the people who rely on you, who protect you, who help you survive. But I don't want to drag them down.

I'd started to open my mouth, maybe to tell them to leave me behind, maybe to beg them to take me with... I'm not entirely sure. Because before I could say anything Risa spoke, "we could take the bus." Everyone turned to stare at Risa in surprise and confusion, she shrugs and explains, "the bus is the only vehicle in the shop that currently works, it's got gas, and although it might not be the best vehicle it will do the job."

There is stunned silence for several seconds as we digest this information, broken suddenly when I throw my head back and laugh. It's now my turn to have everyone stare at me in surprise, I wipe the tears from my eyes before I straighten up and say "here we are arguing about whether I'll slow us down or not, and the answer is literaly staring us in the faces, we're in a freaking machanics shop and not a single one of us thought to ask if any of the vehicles work! So now that Risa's solved that problem for us we should get ready to leave." My tone turns serious at the end.

Ryan nods "what specifically do we need to prepare?" His tone is equally serious.

I respond quickly "well I'd really like some pain medication, we should all eat, maybe use the bathroom because it's been several hours since we last saw one, we should change the bandages on my leg and the one on my face, then we should search the shop for anything useful that we might want or that the shelter might need. Something to use as crutches might also be nice because I'll still need to walk around at the shelter... can anyone think of anything else?" There's a moment of silence after I speak while everyone tries to think of something I missed.

Risa seems to have an idea before she says "maybe we should reinforce the bus? I don't think the monsters are smart enough to know that they shouldn't walk in front of a moving vehicle, and as it is, it'll be very dangerous for us inside if we run them over, not to mention the structural damage."

I nod, already thinking of other modifications we could make. "I think that's a good idea, you will of course know the best ways to strengthen the frame, but I also think we should reinforce the windows and doors in case of emergency, we might run into other survivors in need of help and have to fight off the Lifeless in order to get back on the bus. It would be really dangerous if they manage to break the windows in order to get at us. Also I'd feel more comfortable if we could add seats belts, I know they're not really necessary, but I doubt the roads would be very safe with Lifeless all over, it would suck to get badly injured because we didn' have them."

Risa nods "sure it'd be easy enough to do both, I can take the seat belts from the other cars and attach them to the bus seats, not like the owners will be coming back for them any time soon, but I'll need a hand in order to get it done."

I look down at my legs as I say "I wish I could help, but I think I'd just get in the way due to my leg..." I felt terrible, giving her more work while knowing I won't be able to help.

Ryan places his hand on my shoulder and says, while smiling "I can help Risa, you just need to focus on resting so that your leg heals quickly, now let's change those bandages to make sure your wounds don't get infected."

I offer Ryan a grateful smile "I'll do my best, but it would be easier if my leg didn't hurt so much."

Ryan nods his understanding, then roots through his bag until he finds a bottle of advil, "I don't know if these will be strong enough but they should help." He hands me two of the pills and a water bottle.

I quickly swallow them, then smile as I say "thanks Ryan, they should work fine." He nods.
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Eventually we finish all of our tasks, loaded into the bus, and headed on our way to the university.