Still breathing | Original story

Chapter Thirty Five: The beginning of the end

Word count: 1798

The corridors were darker than I had remembered them to be, my feet sounded louder as I made my way down them. My mind buzzed with a dull pain as the days events washed over me. As the weeks events took its toll. Everything wrong that could have happened had.
I've lost my sister, my best friend, killed my crush and now my ex. What have I become?
But the scariest question was 'what could I become?' Would I become like Archie? No, I don't like death, I hate the very aspect of it and killing others doesn't mean I like to do it. It means I had to do it. One way or another, circumstances had made me do it and I couldn't prevent it. Well, at least that's what I told myself.
I felt filthy all over and not just because of the blood that smothered me but because of my actions. I just had to find Lily, and then Caleb. If either one, or preferably both, were okay then everything that had happened would be worth it. I just had to have a little bit of hope, although that never helped me before.

I stopped suddenly when I heard banging on a nearby door. At first, I thought it was another infected but before I could ignore it and push on I heard a sob. A cry that sounded human. I stopped altogether but the noise had stopped. I waited for a second. My body trying to force me to fall down but I stayed on my feet.
"Help!" I heard it properly. It was Lily! I knew that voice. She sounded pained and her voice was hoarse.
"Lily!?" I yelled out and heard a surprised yelp coming from a room, I just couldn't figure out which.
"Remi? Remi! I'm here," she yelled and began to pound on a door. I began to search around and just when I thought I wouldn't find her I made it to a door and she sounded close.
"Lily?" I attempted.
"Yes Remi, I'm here," she sobbed and I could clearly hear her voice. I tried to push the door but it wouldn't budge. I looked down and saw the key shaped lock on the door.
"Lily do you know where the keys are?" I questioned into the gap where the door closed, little light and air came through. I heard Lily sigh and bang something against the door, probably her head.
"That-that guy," she mumbled, "not the big guy, the one with one hand."
Kyle.
"Okay. Okay, Lily, everything is fine. I'm going to go and find him but I'll be right back," I said.
"No! No, please don't go," she sobbed, I sighed and leaned in closer.
"I have to. But I'll be right back," I told her calmly, I heard her sniff. I wanted to be there to calm her down but knew I couldn't, not until I left and found the key.
"What if something happens to you?"
"I can handle myself," I said as I gripped my gun a little tighter. Lily said good luck and I left shortly after to find the man who was nothing like the stories I had heard.

Further down the corridor, the lights had begun to flicker and the light bulb swung back and forth from a string. All that was going through my head was that it seemed like a scene from a horror film, I could almost hear an audience yelling at me to not go through the door at the other end. But, of course, I did.
I winced as white light escaped into the black hallway. My eyes slowly adjusted to the light and I was just left with a few dark spots scattering my vision as I stepped into the room. I couldn't see anyone inside, even when my eyes adjusted to the light, so I continued to investigate further. A part of me hoped I would find the key just lying around but, of course, there was no such luck.
I heard a shoe scuff against the floor behind me, instinctively I reached for the gun at my side.
"Don't!" A voice spoke gruffly, I heard him moving his own gun but still didn't turn around to face him.
"Kyle," the name echoed in the room and I heard a release of air escape the owner of the name.
"How do you know my name?" Kyle asked and I slowly began to turn around to face him, my hands away from my gun to show I was no threat.
"Archie is gone, you don't have to do this anymore."
"I'm not doing this for Archie," Kyle spoke bitterly.
"I know what happened at the school," I spoke evenly, "I knew your brother, he wouldn't want this."
"You know nothing!" He outburst and glared at me, his eyes hard as stone.
"Connor died trying to help someone," I said, Kyle's eyes softened and his grasp slipped on the gun he held. "When I look at you I see that same kindness I saw in him. I know you want to help me... please?"
I wasn't lying. Kyle held that glint in his eyes that spoke humanity but tried to hide it behind his hard guy act. Kyle flexed his jaw and then flicked his gun sideways at the door. He led me out, the gun never once dropped as he took me back to the door Lily was behind. He grabbed as his key and unlocked, Lily stared up in fear and for a moment I thought Kyle would throw me in with her. He didn't. Instead, he stepped aside.
"Looks like your hero has come to save you," he told her with a sad smile. Her eyes widened when she noticed the guns we both held; mine lazily at my side, his slightly raised.
"Don't worry," I whispered as I pulled her out of the room and into the hallway. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"I can't leave," Kyle said grimly.
"You can!" I urged, but his feet stayed solid on the ground.
"You don't get it," he growled and turned way from the both of us. He walked down the hall and left Lily and me in a state of confusion. We exchanged glances as he disappeared into the distance.
Lily began to tug me in the opposite direction towards the exit but I couldn't dismiss the heavy feeling weighing me down.
"I want to go back." I stopped suddenly.
"Why the hell would you want to do that!?" She outburst and hit my arm. I recoiled from her touch, still staring ahead into the dark corridor. After a moment, my eyes focused onto Lily and I could clearly see her face; it was red and blotchy from endless crying I guessed, her hair was out every which way and there were bags fixed heavily onto her usually flawless face. I gripped her arm to stop her from exhausting herself out.
"I can't explain it I just need to talk to him," I got out and glanced at the door again one last time, expecting it to open. Kyle was Connor's brother and even though he had gone over to the dark side, there was still a chance he could step back to our side. "I'll go by myself if yo-"
"-No! I'll go," she interpreted and began to shiver.

We walked back down the darkened hallway that I had begun to think I would spend my life in. I made it to the room that Kyle had found me in and hoped for him to be behind it.
"Be careful," I warned her as I shielded my eyes from the blinding light to come. Lily followed my lead but still cursed as I opened the door, obviously not prepared.
A few moments later our eyes adjusted once again and we began to walk further into the room. Lily was close by me as I rounded around a cabinet full of medicines.
"Careful!" She shouted and my foot stopped in midair, I glanced down and saw a black coal like substance on the floor underneath my foot. I was about to question Lily when I saw it for myself: the black stuff led up to a body. Kyle. Black leaked from his wound and smothered the ground like tarmac. Next to him lay Kevin whose arm had come off and had become blackened and dusty.
I shared a worried glance towards Lily who didn't look at me. I kicked at the blackness and it stuck to my shoes like goo.

Lily wretched and flew her hands up to her mouth, I wrinkled my nose and moved away.
"What the hell?" I questioned.
"Maybe-" she stopped mid sentence, her eyes widened. She suddenly looked around like she was expecting someone to walk into the room. "What happened to... you know..." She bit her lip like she refused for herself to say his name, I didn't blame her. Archie's name left a foul taste in my mouth.
"I..." I shook my head. "He's gone." I killed him, I added in my head but I didn't let the words leave my mouth.
"Maybe they're dead because he's dead!?" I looked over at Lily, her eyes were alight. I knew that Archie actually had no control over them, he made that clear enough.
"Probably," I replied unenthusiastically.
There was no real cause and effect involved, there was a number of factors why they could be dead - to me it looked like the vaccine had an expiry date or nasty side effects had only just shown. Maybe Archie had kept them alive only just long enough for them to be useful.
"Archie was like their leader wasn't he?" She asked and I hummed in response. I wasn't sure if Archie was a leader as much as he felt like one. "Maybe everyone will be like this, maybe all the infected will die without a leader."
I didn't want to let her down, I wanted to keep quiet but I couldn't bare to see her resort to what could only be described as false optimism.
"Maybe..." I trailed off, biting my lip. "But he knew a lot about the virus, more than we'll ever know. Without him perhaps we have a chance at stopping this thing but maybe the world will become worse. This could be the start something better... or it could be the ending all over again."

If this were one of the books I used to read, I could give you a happily ever after to close the last page with. But I can't give you that because this is my life and I don't think I'm built for happy endings.