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"You were my sun
You were my earth
But you didn't know all the ways I loved you, no
So you took a chance
And made other plans
But I bet you didn't think that they would come crashing down, no"-Justin Timberlake
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My eyelids feel heavy as I try to open my eyes. I feel a sharp pain in my stomach making me slightly cringe. Suddenly my last memories I have before everything went dark feel my thoughts. The fight between my group and Phills makes my eyes snap open. I quickly sit up making the pounding in my head increase. The sharp pain in my abdomen became so intense i cry out without meaning to. My cry of pain caught the attention of the ones around me.
"Bella," Miguel says approaching me. "You need to take it slow. You lost a lot of blood." Miguel slightly puts his hand on my shoulder gently pushing me back down to the ground.
I look around confused noticing the others besides Danielle are asleep. "What-what happened?"
"After the fight with The Generals group the adrenalin seeped out of the you, you passes out from the injuries you endured." Danielle interjected.
I furrow my brows. "How long have I been asleep?" My fingers dig into the dirt underneath my aching form.
Miguel takes one of my hands in his own. "A week." My eye widened.
"I've been out for that long?" I question. How could i be out for that long? So much stuff could have happened while I was unconscious. Everyone could have died when i was out recovering from my wounds. If anything happened to anyone i could never forgive myself. Before my thoughts could wander too far astray Miguel fit his lips onto mine. My eyes slide closed.
I kissed him back right away. All of my previous thoughts vanish as his lips mold with my own. His hand finds its way into my hair as mine drift up from his shoulders to the back if his neck. Before things could get to heated we break apart and lean our foreheads against each others.
"I always notice you get this look upon your face when you start blaming yourself for things that are way out of your control." I smile opening my eyes. He was already looking at me. "I couldn't let you make yourself feel worse." I close the gap once again between us and slightly peck his lips.
I move my lips from Miguels, trying to regain over the control that diminishes everytime Miguels in my thoughts. My eyes move over towards Danielle who is still busying herself with whatever she is doing. My eyebrows furrow when I remembered what she did. "Hey Danielle?" I call, she turns around with raised brows. I wave my hand signiling her to come over, she obliges.
She walks over and sits in front of me. "Yes?"
"How are you doing?" She looks taken aback by my question. "Okay, i know i'm not the sweetest of souls," She scoffs making me narrow my eyebrows. "But i do care about you guys. Now answer my question."
She shrugs, her surprised look fading away. "Im alright, why do you ask?"
"I saw what you did. When you take a life, no matter the situation, it always stays with you, eating into your soul. I know from experience." Danielle tilts her head.
"She...she gave me no choice." She glances down to the dirty floor. I grab her hand gently in my calloused ones.
"Do you want to take about it?" Miguel glances between me and Danielle before getting up from his spot on the ground and walking away.
Danielle shrugs once again. "I'm here, you know. If you want to talk." I try to be gentle but its kind of new to me.
Danielle sighs before looking back up to meet my eyes. "She attacked me first. She ran right at me, causing me to fall to the ground. I hit my shoulder pretty hard." She pulls down her shirt slightly showing her scabbed skin. I inhale through my teeth causing me to make a hiss sound.
She nods. "When i fell to the ground she put her forearm onto my throat. I try to get her arm away." She slightly waves to the bruised skin around her throat. "But i couldn't. Then part of my sleeve came up." She rolls up her sleeve showing me a pink triangle tattoo on the inside of her wrist. I tilt my head, ive never noticed she has a tattoo, but to be far she always wears long sleeves, like i do.
"She recognized the symbol right way." She pulls down her sleeve coving the triangle. "She spit in my face and called me a fag. She kept on saying how i shouldnt be on this earth. How i should have died right away for my disgusting choices." Danielles hands start to shake making me grasp then tighter in my hold. "Anger filled me. I dont know what came over me. I grabbed a nearby rock and smashed her head in until she was unrecognizable." She looks away from me. "Maybe she was right." She finishes with a mutter.
This makes me hold so tight on her hands she gasps and looks at me. Looking me right in the eyes. Blue meets brown. "She wasn't. You had to do what you had to do. Even if she didnt find out about you being gay she would have killed you. You did what you had to do to surive. Don't ever blame yourself." I look her sternly in her blue eyes. Her eyes slightly tear up.
"Her death is going to be with you for a while," I contine, "but you have to remember. When you're out there especially now in this new fucked up world. Its all about survival. You can either be selfless and do everything in your power to protect everyone even the ones that do you wrong. Or you could be selfish and protect yourself. I would prefer if you choose the latter because people like you Danielle are needed in this new world."
I hold my gaze with her own. "Just remember that Danielle." She nods before getting up and going back to whatever she was doing from before. Miguel walks back over towards me. I smile at him. "Why did you leave?" I ask.
He shugs. "I just thought it was more of a one on one conversation." I nod. I look past Miguel and notice a head of red hair laying down on the ground.
I feel behind me trying to grab one of my weapons. She started to stirr. I reach something smooth which feels like a long stick. I stumble to my feet with the stick in hand. "What is she doing here?" I say raising the stick higher. Miguel gets up and looks behind him noticing the redhead.
Since i spoke so loudly she finally sits up and looks over towards me and Miguel. Her eye widen when she notices the stick in my hand. She quickly backs up. It wasnt until the panic showed in her eyes i remembered who she was.
Gianna, from the Generals group.
I slowly drop the stick. It made a low thump as it hits the ground. "What is she doing here?" I repeat.
Miguel still looking at the girl tilts his head in confusion. Everything in me fought off a smile at how adorable he looked at that moment. He looked like a confused puppy. "You spared her and said she could survive with us, so we thought she could join us." That made my eye narrow.
"Uh...whose we?" I try racking my memory for that specific moment. I dont remember anything after my last fight. My fight with Amiri. "I dont remember the moment you're talking about. Why would i save her?" I question.
Miguel waves his hand at our fellow group members. Danielle raises her hand. My hands clench into fists. I slightly close my eyes trying to contain my anger. I slowly breath in through my nose and out through my nose.
I may not have killed her when i killed her group but that doesnt mean she could survive with us. I open my eyes and look at the two who had no right to make that executive decision. "Why should she survive with us?" That one sentence caused both Danielles and Miguel's eyes to widen.
"More people the better." Danielle replies. That cause a chuckled to escape my lips.
"That's your go to for everything ain't it?" Danielles eyes narrow.
"Whats that supposed to mean?" I shake my head.
"I might not have killed her but that doesn't mean you," I look towards the person i now call my husband, "Or you can decided whether or not they get to survive with us."
This causes Miguel to back slowly away from me. "What makes you think you can decide whether or not we can't make that decision?" He questions.
"You know who got this group all together?" I raise my eyebrows. "Me." I wave my hand towards my chest.
This causes Danielle to roll her eyes. "Yeah only because we both," She jestureds between her and Miguel. "Told you to let the other into this group."
I tilt my head. The little ruckus between us cused the other two to wake up from their slumber. "Really?" I ask. "Who was it that let Lilliey and Cora stay in this group?" I shake my head. "It wasnt you. Yeah i was on Miguel but who let him stay?" I jammed my pointer finger into my chest. "We dont know anything about this girl." I throw my hands in the general direction where she is.
Danielle opens her mouth but i cut her off. "All we know about her is her little sap story." I know what she said was true, but we dont know if it didnt fuck her in the head. Because it sure as hell fucked with me. "How do we know shes not going to murder us all in the middle of the night?" My eyebrows reach my hairline.
Miguel was about to answer but Gianna beats him to it. "I understand. You dont know anything about me." Her voice is quiet as she looks at me. "All you know is i was with the group that was your enemy. I understand if you dont want me here." Her redhair falls into her face as she looks down. "I'll go." I look around at all the faces surounding me. Danielle looks at the girl sadly.
Cora nods her head at me like she thinks im doing the right thing. Miguel looks at me with a pointed look. Anger flares through me. I clench my teeth at look at the youngest member of the group. Lilley just shrugs her shoulders.
Its all about survival of the fittest out here. She turns around and starts to head for the forest she just reaches the treeline when i spoke up. Danielle does have a point about more people the better. If she does one wrong thing shes going to be the first one to get ripped apart. "If i let you stay," I pause. "And you decide to be a two faced bitch and stab me in the back you're going to regret not letting me shot you when i had the chance." I warn.
She turns around. "How do i prove myself to you?"
I slightly smirk. "In all do time darlin'"
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After a couple of hours of doing absolutely nothing Lilliey and Cora finally rise from their slumber. Cora sits up blinking slowly trying to get used to the bright light of the sun. "Hey," I nod towards them. Cora glances at me. Lilley totally ignores me. After finding out shes a teenager that has pretty much lost everything i relised i should lay off on her.
Cora shakes her head, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "How are you feeling?" Cora trys to get up but hisses in pain.
My eyebrows furrow. "What wrong? Did you get hurt during the fight?" I question.
Cora lightly shakes her head. "No After you were taken we were knocked unconscious." Cora waved between herself and Lilliey. I nod alreadying knowing this information.
"Yeah, I watched them do it."
Cora looks down slightly. "Well i guess i wasn't breathing." I softly gasp. "Danielle started doing CPR. Long story short my ribs got broken." I look down with a frown.
If i didnt go, if i fought harder they wouldn't have been knocked unconscious. Cora almost died because of my decision. If i fought harder i could have overpowered them. Cora and Lilley wouldn't have gotten knocked unconscious. Why do i always try to do good but something bad happens?
All I was trying to do was protect them but instead i endangered their lives. Cora could be a rotting corpse right about now because of my decision. Cora groans, I look towards her with raised eyebrows.
"You know not everything is your fault." Cora gives me a stern look.
"You could have died." I quietly utter.
"Yeah and if you didnt go with them we would all have died." I sharply inhale. A stabbing pain shoot through my stomach. I stiffle a gasp. The pain pills have worn off.
"Are you okay?" Cora asks again. I lift up my shirt seeing a knew white bandage over my stomach. Bruises littered all over my ribs and around my bandaged wound.
"The General stabbed me." I told her with a shrug. Coras eyes widen.
"You say that so nonchalantly." I shrug once again.
"It is what it is."
"You got stabbed and you fought the general's group?" She continues to interrogate.
"Yeah so?" I look at her with exhausted eyes.
"What are you? Some kind of superhuman?" I laugh. A hearty laugh that comes right from the chest. Not long after I start laughing Cora joins in. After a couple seconds Cora starts wheezing in pain.
"Oh, don't make me laugh." She wheezes.
"It's not my fault!" I gasp between breaths. Miguel glances at me with a smile, I smile back at him. I break eye contact with Miguel and glance up towards the sky, noticing that dark angry clouds are overtaking the once blue sky. My eyebrows furrow. "Looks like a storm is going to happen," I comment. Both Miguel and Cora follow my lead and look towards the storm clouds. Thunder crashes in the distance mkaing me flinch violently. Lightning flashes close by, making me jump, grabbing Coras hand in a firm grip.
Lighting dances across the sky. A huge flash happens about a hundred yars to my right. The dark green of a huge tree turns into orange-red flames. I gasp in shock. My eyes are the size of dinner plates. The fire bursts and crackles onto more greenery of the forest. Slowly and steadily the fire started heading towards us. I try to get to my feet only to fall back onto the hard dirt with a groan of pain. "We need to move." I say through clenched teeth. Getting stabbed made me a liability and i hate it.
I try to stand up one more time only for my feet to slip out from under my body, not being able to take the weight. I fall once again on the ground, harder than before, knocking the wind right out of me. I hiss in pain not being able to withhold the sound. Miguel quickly rushes over towards me checking to see if im alright. I wave him off telling him we need to gather our stuff and hurry. The flames were getting closer by the second.
Miguel nods. Miguel, Danielle, Lilley and the new girl Gianna start getting all of our things together. Even though i hate it, Cora and I help each other get up considering both of us just almost died a couple days ago. After im stable on my feet i stumble over towards Miguel, Cora doing the same thing but she chose to go over to Lilley and Danielle.
Miguel throws and arm over my lower back, while i throw an arm around his shoulders. I hate being injured. I silently groan at myself for being so pathetic as getting stabbed. I hate not being able to do anything. Smoke wafts into my nostrils making my nose ring burn. I start to cough violently as the smoke reaches my lungs. My eyes burn, filling with tears. The fire finally arrived. I try blinking the burn away but that only made things a million times worse. Everyone else started coughing as they too started to breathe in the poisoned air.
We all huddle together, trying our best to get out of the forest so the fire doesnt burn any of us. Blistering hot heat meets our backs, making us accelerate our speed. Fire looms over us from the right. We quickly move away from the wall of fire. We change courses. We try to keep going as fast as we can but Lilley trips over a tree root making her go crashing to the ground.
Gianna quickly lifts her off the ground pushing her to go faster. We see a clearing the the trees makingus all gasp in relief as the road comes into view. Suddenly i hear a scream of pain. I look over towards Cora and Danielle. Danielle throws Cora at Lilley making the nineteen year old catch her. Danielle rips a part of her shirt revealing a red angry burn. She cry as she pats the fire out on her skin.
"Keep going!" Danielle screams. Fire travels towards us from all directions as we finally make it onto the hard gray concrete. Danielle keeps groaning in pain as her arm turns a dark red with blisters forming all over her skin. Lilley suddenly screams and spins around trying to put out fire thats on the back of her shirt.
My eyes widen. Both Gianna and I quickly pat out the flames, calming her down. "Did you get burned?" I question.
Lilley shakes her head. I look at Danielle. She pures some water on her arm. She crys out in pain and falls to her knees. I rush over towards her. Suddenly rain starts falling from the clouds. I sigh in relief. The fire slowly turns to sizzling embers.
I hold Danielle as tears continue to fall down her face from the pain. "Danielle tell us what to do?" I ask in a hurry.
Danielle slightly shakes her head. "Danielle!" I grab her face making her look at me. Her eyes are glazed with pain. "You have to tell me what to do!"
Danielle swallows. She tries to answer but no words come out. Suddenly i get an idea. Considering she out of commissions right now i need to do something to help her.
I rip off a section of my shirt and drench it in water. I had it to Lilley. "Keep this on her wound." I command. She nods and does as i say. I look at Miguel. I get up from the ground. "You and I are going into town."
"What for?" Miguel questions.
"To get a ride." I answer.
We both run the distance into town. Our clothes sticking to our skin. I find the same store that i found my red bike. Theres one more car in the stores empty parking lot. Its a rather big car, meaning that everyone will be able to fit in. Its a type of van. The window is all covered in dust. I open the door. It opens with a grind of metal. A undead tries to attack me only for my to stab it in its decaying head. I throw the corsp out of the car and look around. I found a pair of keys in the ignition.
I try turning on the car making it grumble and groan. The no gas light flashes. I go over to the gas station next door and try to sypon some gas into a can i found.
Before trying to syphon gas i go into the gas station and try to look for any gas tanks i can find. Luckly for me i found two that are almost both filled.
I run back to where Miguel is waiting by the van. I fill the car up and whip a hand over the window. I turn the key once again making it start up with a grumble. I smile. I get out of the car and look at Miguel.
"You're going to drive this to the others." I tell him.
He looks at me with a look. "Where are you going to be doing?" He asks.
I wave towards the red bike. "I'll be biking behind you." He nods and we go our separate ways. With the other can of gas i fill up the bike. I throw my leg over the seat and turn the vehicle on. We both drive out of the parking lot.
We drive back to where the others were. Miguel stops in front of the others. I stop right next to him. I look back at the others. "Get in with Miguel." I demand. They nod and do as i say.
I roll up to Miguels window. He rolls it down. Its slow but it makes the trip. "Follow me." He nods.
Once everyone was in the vehicle i start riding again. I never thought i would never go back. But desprate times call for desprate measures. I need help. Not like i will actually admit that out loud. We pass the place i saw my parents for the first time in over eight years. We drive past more trees and we keep driving. After about thirty minutes of driving we finally pull up at the place that was a living nightmare for me growing up.
We stop at the side of the wooden cabin. I kick my stand down and get off. Miguel gets out of the van and starts showering me in questions. Ignoring his questions i walts up towards the door and knock.
The blonde i was supposed to call a mother opens the door. Her face is slack in shock. I take a deep breath. "I need your help."