"Let's go out, we need more ammo," Dawn breaks the silence in the office. Peter looks up from his comic and Anna and I are pulled from our private conversation.
"But it's Friday," Peter pouts.
"And we didn't go out Wednesday because someone had to get injured and we can't risk infection," Dawn rolls her eyes playfully, but her glance in my direction was a warning.
"Change you're bandage, then we'll leave," Dawn nods toward my arm and I pull myself from Anna's grasp and head toward the kitchen, Drako following.
A third pair of footsteps follow behind and I turn to see Anna.
"Is something wrong?" I furrow my eyebrows.
"I just thought I could help," Anna replies sheepishly.
"I'll be fine, thank you though. Do you want to get our stuff read?" I shoot her a smile and she nods before exiting the kitchen.
"You should tell her," Drako's deep voice speaks up as he begins to unravel the bandaging.
"I don't think she could handle it," I sigh.
"They all deserve to know," He tells me for the hundredth time. The last bit of wrap falls off and reveals my wrinkled forearm.
"It's getting worse," Drako inspects the greenish gray deteriorating skin, now exposing my bone.
"It's starting to eat at your bone now," He adds and I notice the tiny holes in the white surface. Drako hands me a small rag and I place it in my mouth, this process a routine now. Drako turns on the faucet and places my arm under as I retrain from hollering out in pain. Taking his knife, he gently scrapes away the giant gray chunks of rotted skin.
Once he's finished, he places a lot of packing on the gaping whole before wrapping it.
Appearing back into the office, we're greeting with three sets of eyes ready to leave. Sliding my right hand into Anna's left, we stroll out of the school. Drako climbs into the driver seat of the black truck, and Anna in the passenger seat. The rest of us position ourselves in the back of the truck, keeping watch. The bright Friday afternoon sun glitters on our guns, the air falling crisp in the change of weather.
"In and out," Dawn announces and the three of us pile out of the truck bed, rushing inside. We gather all that we can before we rush out. Peter accidentally trips the alarm, the sound of loud bells blaring signalling for us to get the hell out.
Drako slams on the gas as a Seikorae screeches, alerting his friends. Taking a sharp corner, I slide in the truck bed, slamming my left arm against the wall. Cringing in pain, I open my eyes to see Dawn glaring at me.
"What's the matter?" She spits.
"I was thrown into the wall," I simply reply. Her eyes narrow in on my arm, pursing her lips, before she turns her attention back to watch.
We finally reach the school and sprint for the doors. Drako immediately drops into his plush office chair and scans the screens.
"We've got two at the north end," Drako shouts.
"North end? But we came from the South," Dawn approaches Drako, staring over his should at the screen.
"Let's go, Anna and Chris you go North, Peter and I will watch the South end," Dawn calls out commands.
Grabbing our weapons we head out, splitting up and running toward our spots. Anna and I take the steps two at a time, making a beeline for the roof.
Standing at the edge of the roof, Anna and I start taking out the Seikoraes, two turned into six. They ran through the school yard, Anna to my right, dropped the closest one and two took a turn West. Anna just barely clipped him but he wasn't slowing.
I dropped the two in front of me and started taking shots at the third.
"You ugly fucker," Anna growled taking another shot at the one she clipped. One more shot, I prepare to drop the last one, when suddenly Anna is screaming hysterically.
I turn to look at her, confused, when suddenly a seering pain erupts from my leg. I can't help but yelp as I look down only to find a Seikorae had climbed up the wall and now had his claws dug deep into the flesh of my leg. quickly taking aim, I fire down at the beast.
It takes a moment for me to notice the extra set of black horns and black razor sharp teeth. His eyes are also slightly larger than the usual Seikorae's we fight. My bullet chips one of his horns and he growls, unmoving.
My heart races a million miles an hour as we wind up in a mexican stand off. Time seems to freeze and I wonder why he isn't attacking. Finally he moves, his face looking as though he's smirking. He pushes back from both my leg and the wall, flying back and landing quietly on the grass. He pauses for another moment before finally turning and running for the trees. My leg wobbles before giving out as I collapse on the cold surface of the roof.
"Somebody, please, help! We're on the roof, somebody!" Anna screams frantically into the walkie. My eyes fall on the giant puddle of blood now surrounding me. They travel up to my calf now adorned in cuts at least an inch deep.
I hear the sound of the roof door flying open and voices screaming but I can't undestand them. My eyes begin to throb, my head spinning as the world goes dark.
The first sense that comes back to me is my hearing.
"We've been compromised this whole time! And you didn't tell me?" Dawn snaps. "You could have put all of our lives in danger! And for what? Some bafoon?!"
"We aren't compromised, he's not going to turn into one. His flesh is decaying, that's it," Drako defends me.
"Then what is going to happen to him? What about his bones?" Dawn recoils.
"His bones are deteriorating too," Drako whispers.
"So what is happening to him then, if he's not infected," Dawn growls.
"He's dying," Drako's voice is barely audible. Suddenly I hear a small gasp and I realize it's Anna.
"His blood stream picked up the acid. His heart is undoubtedly failing, pumping acid into every inch of his body. I'm surprised he's still alive," Drako continues.
"Are we at risk?" Dawn's voice comes out cold.
"Yes," Drako sounds defeated.
"Then he is to be detained," Shortly after Dawn's reply, I hear a door slam and I can only assume she's left.
Wincing, I'm reminded of today's events by the burning sensation in my leg. I force my eyes open, glancing around, I see Peter comforting a sobbing Anna and Drako staring down at me.
"Where am I?" My voice comes out coarse and dry.
"Janitor's closet, compliments of my sister," Drako smiles a sad smile.
Suddenly Anna is standing over me and smacks me.
"That's for keeping this from me!" She shouts before crashing her lips to mine, "And that's because I-" She starts sobbing. "I just want you to get better."
"Shh, it's okay," I place a hand on her cheek and wipe at the tears. "I'm fine, really."
"No you're not! Stop with all the lies!" Peter snaps from the corner of the room.
"You're dying. The cat's out of the bag. Give it a rest, you're not fine. Why do you have to lie to us? What do you think we're stupid? Do you think we're too weak to handle it?" Peter scoffs. "You're so selfish sometimes."
My jaw drops as I watch my best friend storm out, leaving me speechless.
"He's just scared," Anna's voice cuts through the heavy silence. "We all are."
"We should probably report back to the office. Will you be okay here?" Drako speaks up.
"Yeah," I sigh.
"I'll try to bring you some food," Anna whispers, giving me another kiss before she slips out the door behind Drako.
The door clicks shut and soon I'm left to my own thoughts.
"He's dying,"
Drako's voice repeats in my head.
A pang of sadness beats in my chest as I realize I'll fail my dear Anna. I can't help the smile as I think back to the first time we'd met. Her eyes watching me from behind her red solo cup, laughing with her. Telling her about the dog I'd had when I was little.
Peter had helped me find Scraps. We were at the park and watched the little brown ball of patchy fur eating the scraps under the food truck.
We ran him home and gave him a bath, my mom freaked. Turns out his fur was white. I remember Peter inviting himself to my first date.
"Girls don't care, they like attention," Peter grinned at me in the backseat of my mom's minivan.
"I don't think you understand girl logic," I reply.
"And you do?" Peter quirks a brow, and I roll my eyes.
That date had been a disaster. Peter spilled spaghetti all over Cara's lap, then proceeded to eat it, even offering her some. He had also stabbed me in the eye with garlic bread and I had to get my eye flushed out.
My smile becomes bitter sweet as I realize I'm not ready to go. I have so much to do. I have to watch Peter's back, make sure he doesn't screw up with Dawn. I have to protect Anna, keep my promise. I have to-
The door swings open and in walks Anna, a plate of steaming hot food in her hands.
"Hey," She smiles sweetly as she helps me sit up. God I love her smile.
"Eat up," She places the plate on my lap, finally giving me a good look at my meal. It's a pile of lavish foods, something that would be saved for a special occasion.
"Peter said you'd enjoy it," Anna looks nervously at me.
"He was right," I smile as I look at the plate of Peter's favorite foods.
Digging in I soon realize my appetite isn't all that great.
"I don't think I can finish it all though, would you like to help?" I chuckle as Anna is already munching on a corn dog the second I look at her.
With Anna's help the plate is finished in no time and she curls up to lay next to me.
"What'd you do while I was away?" Anna mindlessly played with my fingers.
"Let my mind wander," I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"About?" Anna asked.
"You," I smile down at her as she looks up at me.
"When we first met. How I told you about my dog, which turned into me thinking about how Peter and I had found the dog. Then, I thought about my first date with Peter-,"
"You went on a date with Peter?" Anna cuts me off.
"No, Peter insisted he come along on my first date," I clarify.
A moment of silence settles between us before Anna finally speaks.
"What else did you think about? Or was that it?"
Letting another moment of silence fill the small closet, I decide to share.
"I'm not ready to go. I made a promise to you. And Peter needs me," I sigh.
"Who says you have to go?" Anna's voice is barely a whisper.
"There's nothing we can do," I sigh.
"You talk like you don't have much time," Anna looks up at me once again.
"I don't," I admit.
"How do you know that? Look how far you've come," Anna's voice raises a little, her hands becoming fists in my hands.
"You heard Drako, it's a wonder I've made it this far. Everyday I could feel myself getting weaker. I ignored it but it got harder, to the point where I can't now," I rub my thumb comfortingly over her knuckles.
"Why didn't you tell us you were dying? Why did Drako have to spill the beans? Huh? We couldn't had more time, more time for closure, more time to heal, instead we find out and you leave us!" She's restraining from yelling.
"He hadn't told me I was dying. I found out the same time as you," My eyes fall to our hands, unable to look her in the eyes anymore.
"Anna." Dawn's voice comes from Anna's walkie. "We've got company." Her voice deadpans.
"I have to go," Anna's eyes drop to the floor as she pulls herself up.
"Anna," my hand wraps around her wrist and her eyes finally lift to meet mine.
"There's some sort of blessing here,
but you have missed your cue,
So keep your eyes set on the horizon,
on the line where blue meet's blue,
And I would bet that silver lining,
Well, I know I'd find you soon," I smile up at her. Quickly she leans over, placing a kiss on my lips, her kiss salty from her tears. I run my fingers through her hair and soon she pulls away.
"I'll come back," She promises. "I will see you again."
"Anna," Dawn calls through the walkie as Anna places a hand on the door handle
"This isn't over. I'll be back." Her hand twists the door knob. "I promise." And like that she's gone, out the door, heading toward wherever it is she's needed.
"I'll see you again, too," I smile as I let my thoughts wander once more. This time starting with my very first memory.