Hell Above

Chapter 5

I don't know how long I had been sitting there, crying next to Tyler's lifeless body. It felt like forever. I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I looked up to see the boy, still standing there, patiently waiting for me to pick myself up off the floor. I was about to get up when I heard shallow, raspy breathing coming from Tyler's mouth. I looked at him hopefully.

The boy immediately sprang into action. I looked behind me.

"Please wait." I said sadly. "I need to say my goodbyes and see what happens for myself."

The boy looked at Tyler's corpse wearily. After a second or two, he reluctantly agreed. He kept his throwing knife in his hand just in case.

I stared at Tyler's body. It was starting to twitch ever so slightly. I studied his face. His lips were a mixture of white and blue. His eyes suddenly shot open. They were cloudy and bloodshot, and they weren't his eyes anymore. I softly placed my hand on his chest. There was no heart beat. Suddenly his eyes met mine and we just sat there looking at each other for what seemed like forever. I looked back at the boy.

"Hand me the knife."

He quickly pulled a container out of his back pocket, pulled out another knife, and handed it to me.

I turned back to Tyler. Or whatever he was now.

"Tyler.." I started, searching for words. Suddenly I burst out in tears. "It's all my fault!" I sobbed. "It should have been me that was bitten, not you." I paused to catch my breath. "You mean the world to me Tyler..." I heard a snarl come from his mouth and he lunged up at me. "...and I love you." I quickly drew the knife up and went down with all my strength. He stopped attacking me and fell to the floor.

He was dead.

And this time for sure.

I looked up at Anna and the boy. They were both staring at me in shock.

"What?" I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. I handed the knife back to the boy and he quickly put it back where it came from.

"Nothing." He replied. He looked away and scratched his head. "Well hey, I have a little camp set up with my big brother, it's just me and him." He looked at me awkwardly. "So, uh.. We could use some help..." He trailed off.

"Sure, we'll come with you." I mean, what other choice is there when the world goes to shit, I thought to myself.

Anna looked up at me. "We don't even know them!" She said in disbelief.

I sighed. "It's the best thing we've got."

"I don't want to go!" She yelled.

"We have to!" I yelled back. "Do you wanna end up like Tyler?"

She fell silent. After a few minutes of awkward silence she finally spoke.

"Okay..."

I sighed. "I'm sorry I snapped Anna. I crossed the line. It's just that I'm very stressed right now and I don't know what to do."

"It's okay."

"Okay." I smiled weakly, which took everything I had in me to do. I took a step closer and gave her a hug.

"So, I know y'all are probably hungry, and this is a 7/11." The boy said awkwardly. "So pick anything you want, and then bring
as much as you can carry, were going back to my camp in 10 minutes."

"Even sour gummy worms?" Anna asked both me and the boy.

I nodded my head, and so did the boy, so we started packing.