Insanity

Seven

The man sighs pulls up his gun and shoots. I get the feeling of lightheadedness and my vision fades to black.

I see Christian. Standing next to me and holding my hand. I blink a few times. This seems so... Real. "Where am I?" I ask. "Ash," he says in a soft voice. "You need to wake up," He says. "What do you mean?"I ask. "You're on the verge of death right now. You need to power through and wake up," He says. "I-I'm dead?" I ask. "Nearly," he says. "Wake up. You've got more things ahead of you," he says. "But I want to stay here, with you," I say. "No. You need to wake up you'll see.me again someday," he says. "Goodbye for now, Ash," he says. "And remember, it's not your fault I died. I sacrificed myself for you," I start to float away from him. "No Christian!" I shout as I float into the clouds.

My eyes shoot open and I try to sit up. Will shoots out of his chair and pushes me softly back onto the bed then sits down on a chair next to the bed. "Don't sit up," He orders. I nod. "What happened?" I ask. "You were shot in the stomach. We killed those people, we had to, they almost killed you,"he says. Megan and Ivan walk in, Megan is carrying a tray. "Here's a peanut butter sandwich and some water. Eat up," she says nicely. I eat the sandwich and everyone stares at me. "What?" I ask. "Nothing," they all say at the same time. The realization comes to me. "Who patched me up?" I ask. "That would be really difficult without medical experience," I say. "I did," says the girl I saved. "You saved me, so it was my turn to save you," she says. "I smile. "Thank you," I say. She nods at me. "It was nothing. I was in my final year of medical school when all of this started," she says. "I was delivering pizzas," Ivan said with a laugh. "I was shopping at the mall," Megan said. "I was with my sister and her son," Will said. "I was with my brother playing video games," I laugh. They all join me in laughing. We all grow silent. "What's your name?" I ask the girl. "My name's Jade," she says. "I'm assuming you know everyone's name now," I say gesturing to our group. She nods. "So, what's the game plan?"I ask. "We talked about it and we think you should get better before we move on," Will says. I nod. "When can I get up?" I ask. "Not for another few days atleast," Jade says. I groan. "You'll be fine," Megan says. Jade and Megan leave. Ivan and Will look at each other. "What?"I ask. "We're wondering how you survived," Will says. "What do you mean?" I ask. "You were dead, you had no pulse," Ivan says. "What?!" I shout. "Hey, calm down," Will says. "We're just saying you were dead, but you are alive now," I sigh and look at the ceiling. Will gets up from the chair and looks at Ivan. "Ash, we're going to do some hunting. Do you need anything before we leave?" Will asks. "A book?" I ask. "Are there even any books around here?" Ivan asks. "Yeah there is a bookshelf downstairs," Will says. "I'll ask Megan to bring you one," Ivan says leaving the room. Will stands there awkwardly. "Com'on Will," Ivan says from downstairs. Will walks out without another word.

Megan comes up a while later with a stack of books. "Here," she says. "These are the ones that sounded interesting," I smile. "Thanks," I say. "I can't believe you got shot and survived," she says. I nod. "It's pretty unbelievable," I say to her with a laugh. "You were dead for a short period of time, you know," she says. "I know," I say with a sigh. "For that period of time I was reunited with my brother, Christian," She looks at me like I'm insane, but the whispers "What was it like?" It's my turn to look at her like she's the weird one. "What?"I ask. "What was death like?" she restates her question. "It was like flying without a plane or wings. I felt free for the first time since Christian died. I'm stuck here because I made a promise to him that I'd survive for him," I say. She nods in understanding. I hear a knock on the door. "Yeah?"I ask. Will walks in. "We got a buck, we're eating good tonight," he beams. I smile.

Will brings up some food for me since I can't get out of bed without hurting myself. He sets the tray on my lap and pulls a chair up next to my bed. "We're gonna have to have someone watch you.over the course of the night to make sure your okay," he says. I nod.

Once I'm finished with my food, Will takes my tray downstairs. I grab the book I was reading its called 'Shadow Falls' I don't particularly enjoy it, but it's better than the other ones Megan picked out for me. Jade walks in. "Hey. How are you feeling?" she asks. "I've been better, obviously," I say and let out a small laugh. She laughs too. I look outside. "Its getting dark," I say. "Yeah," Jade agrees. "Will offered to keep an eye on you tonight," I nod.

Wil walks in and sits in the chair again. I continue reading a book with the flashlight I was given. Will stays silent, sitting in his chair. I decide to try to sleep. I put the book on the bedside table and shut the flashlight off.

I stand at the end of the driveway of my childhood home. Younger Christian and younger me are playing in the front yard with a football. Younger me gets hit in the face with the ball and fall to the ground. I let out a gasp. Christian runs over to younger me and helps her up. I smile at both of us. They both look at me and running towards me their feet making a rumbling noise.
I wake up and a mutant has broken through the window, and it's running at me. Will wakes up immediately and jumps at the mutant, knife in hand. The mutant bites him on the arm. "Will!" I shout.