"You can go in if you want." Hayley placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and nodded, rising unsteadily. Hayley took a step back and gestured toward the door. "Go ahead."
I braced myself for the worst and walked in. James lay on the table, still bound, his eyes were closed but breathing ever so slightly. His skin was white and cool to the touch, but he was alive.
"Hayley" I said, my voice cracking and weak. Hayley came in looking worried and asked me gently "Are you ok?" I nodded but I had tears in my eyes as I hugged her and whispered "Thank you."
I eventually sat on the floor, next to the table James was on, and asked Hayley to bring me the receipt paper and my colored pencils. I fell asleep sketching and, thank god, no dreams came. No flashbacks, nothing.
I woke up late at night, confused as to what had suddenly woken me up. I had a blanket on me and turned to see Cammie slumped on the wall beside me, asleep.
Then, I heard James groan. I launched to my feet and ran to the table. "James?" James opened his electric blue eyes and groaned again, wincing. "It hurts, Vivy" he mumbled, struggling against the ropes that held him fast. "Stop struggling, James, I'll get Hayley to help you" I told him.
I ran to Cammie and shook her awake. She mumbled something and rolled over but I hissed back "Cammie, get Hayley, it's James." Cammie opened her eyes, processing what I said then got to her feet and rushes out the door and through the compound.
I rushed back to James and he asked me "Vivy, did she get the bullet out?" I nodded. "Yes, Hayley did and she's coming right now so it won't hurt as much." James nodded and closed his eyes again, taking a deep breath.
Hayley bolted in and was at my side in an instant. "What's wrong, James?" James opened his eyes and repeated "It hurts." Hayley nodded. "Where?" "My shoulder, it's being pulled down" he responded. Hayley nodded again and gestured toward me. "Untie the ropes and sit him up, I'm gonna make him a new sling." I nodded and set to untying the knots.
Unfortunately for me, the knots were tight and I resorted to using a knife to slice through the rope, even though that meant the rope was shorter now. "James, you need to sit up" I said softly, putting a hand under his shoulder and slowly pushing him into a sitting position.
James rubbed his injured arm instinctively, not over the bullet wound but below it. Hayley came back in with a large cloth and quickly fixed a sling for James. "There, don't try and use that arm." James nodded and stood up. "Thanks Hayley." Hayley nodded. "I'm gonna try and get some sleep now."
I barely slept the rest of that night. James, however, stretched out on the concrete floor and slept soundly.
I drew for a while, pulling a picture together from my fragmented thoughts. Then, as light began to seep through the boarded up windows, I gathered my supplies and packed them back in the rucksack.
As the purple light flowed into the room, I packed everything. Everyone's belongings ended up in some rucksacks I found, separated by person.
Some rustling told me someone else had woken up, and I turned to see Cammie sitting up and yawning.
"What are you doing, Vivy?" I turned quickly and muttered "Don't call me Vivy." And I added in my head Only James can. "Sorry, Vivienne. But, what're you doing?" "Packing, we need to keep going, we've stayed here long enough." "Who made you leader?" Nick asked. He was leaned against the doorframe, smirking. "It's true though, now help me pack."
Everything was packed by midday. We had a small meal and discussed where we were gonna go.
"We're gonna have to walk until we find somewhere else to stay and it can't have people" Alex stated, leaning forward on his shoulders. I nodded in agreement. "Alex, do you have an extra jacket?" Hayley asked. Alex nodded. "Why?" "For James, we can't let him get sick or get an infection." James groaned and rolled his eyes. "I'm not a kid, I'll be ok. Alex, keep your jacket, you'll need it." Alex shrugged and kept eating.
We gathered our things and food and began to head out. The wind was bitterly cold and snowflakes drifted to the ground. I wrapped my jacket around tighter around me and put my head down to the wind. Everyone was cold and hungry but we were alive and that was all that mattered
Chapter 6.
The snow fell quickly. Big flakes of snow fell and stuck to my eyelashes. It packed under my feet making the ground hard and cold. The wind was blowing and causing a cold shiver to go down my spine and blew the snow toward my face.
James cradled his injured arm, guarding it from the frigid weather. He was still pale and his hands shook violently from the cold. He had his eyes trained ahead of him and his nose and cheeks were pink.
I looked ahead and saw only a white expanse. Nothing could be seen. No shelter, no warm places, just snow and ice.
I pulled my hat down tightly around my ears and adjusted my scarf around my neck. Cammie had given it to me, claiming she had another one.
Alex walked ahead, hand gun pointed at whatever might jump out. His black hair was speckled with snow and his face was flushed red from cold. Hayley was next to him, carrying the medical kit and glancing back every few minutes at James.
"Let's stop for a second" Alex called. Nick nodded, his freckled face pink, and crouched down against the wind. Cammie, on the other hand took out some blankets and wrapped them around Nick and Alex's shoulders. "Everyone take a blanket" she called, opening Nick's backpack for another blanket.
James sat on the snow, shivering from cold, and picked at the gauze around his arm. "Here James" I said, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders. He nodded a thank you but his eyes were glazed over as he stared at the gauze. "It's bleeding again" he mumbled. I didn't answer but instead began to think.
It was too cold for us to stay outside to long and yet there was no shelter in view. James was still weak-ish so we couldn't stay outside overnight.
"Hey Alex" I called. Alex came and crouched down next to me. "What's up?" I looked up at him and asked "Are there any woods around here?" Alex blinked surprisedly and answered "Uh, I don't know, maybe?" I sighed and said to him "Alright, we gotta scout for woods around here. James is too weak to keep walking long distance, I can tell. Tell everyone to gather supplies, we're moving out." Alex opened his mouth to protest but then nodded and yelled "Gather the stuff and get up we're moving. If you see woods, say something."
No one was very happy about the decision. Nick grumbled and Hayley complained loudly. James just shrugged and trudged forward. Ale
Chapter 5
Start from the beginning
