CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX: SAVED
"How's your leg?" I asked Harry as I carefully led him towards our cabin – dropping my eyes down towards his bandaged leg, "Did it ever really heal, H?"
"Well...it's actually still pretty sore, so I guess not," Harry chuckled softly, "but it's OK, Laura. The dressing's still good, so I'll be fine."
"But don't you think we should still get Liam to have another look at it, anyway?" I pushed on.
Harry bit his lip. "I...don't think he'd be too chuffed about the idea."
"True..." I lowered my eyes and let out a sigh, "Harry...I'm so sorry, I...I-I don't know what came over him-"
"It's OK," Harry interrupted me with an assuring smile, "he probably just...got a little freaked out, that's all. I don't blame him."
"But...but he should've been happy to see you. He...he should've been excited that he was right all along..." I let out a sigh, "I...I don't know what happened..."
"Hey," Harry smiled at me again, "Laura, it was a close call...but we're still here. Let's just focus on something else for now, yeah?"
I looked up at him and managed to smile back. "Yeah. You're right. And in fact..." I felt my smile beginning to grow as I placed my hand on the doorknob of our cabin door, "this is what we can focus on..."
I turned the doorknob and pushed open the door – ushering Harry into the cabin and shutting the door with a quiet chuckle. Harry looked around the room for a few moments, and I saw a small smile spread across his face as he realized that he was finally home. I stood there with my back against the door – smiling at him as I watched him re-familiarize himself with his surroundings. But that wasn't why I was so excited.
Wait for it...
Harry's eyes suddenly dropped down towards the bed, and I heard him let out a soft gasp – and I immediately began chuckling fondly to myself once again.
Because sleeping like a log on top of Harry's pillow – with one of her arms stretched out across the bed – was our baby Lilly. I've been letting her sleep on his pillows lately because I wanted her to feel as if she was still around him by keeping her close to his scent. And it worked perfectly – because she would stay sound asleep for hours whenever she was lying on her daddy's pillow.
I felt my smile beginning to grow as Harry sunk down on the bed beside the sleeping baby – his face looking completely awestruck as he gazed down at her like the loving father that he was. I made my way over and sat down beside him as he began to reach out for Lilly's outstretched arm – stroking the back of her little chubby hand with his thumb. And he was just about to take his hand away when Lilly's tiny fingers suddenly closed around his thumb – much to me & Harry's delight.
I heard a soft chuckle escape from Harry's lips, and at the same time I saw his eyes starting to glisten with tears. I then moved forward and carefully lifted Lilly from the pillow – gently laying her in Harry's arms with a warm smile. Lilly's head immediately settled down comfortably against Harry's chest – and that was when I saw the first tear slide slowly down his face as he smiled down at her lovingly – his whole face immediately flushing with healthy colour as he rested his cheek on top of the sleeping baby's head.
"Laura..." his voice wobbled a little as he looked towards me with a smile, "she's so beautiful...and so healthy..." he reached out for me with his free arm, and I happily slipped my hand into his and intertwined our fingers together without hesitation, "you're the most wonderful mother...I hope you know that."
I smiled back at him. "It was you who kept me going," I used my free hand to reach down for Lilly's carrier sitting by the end of the bed – sticking my fingers into the torn lining and pulling out the photo of him that was kept there, "I kept this...in the lining of her carrier, because even with everything that happened...I still wanted her to be close to you. And...whenever I looked at it, I always remembered how I promised you that I'd keep her safe...that I'd take care of her...and guard her with my life."
I displayed the photo to him, and he took his hand away from mine only to take the photo from me and inspect it closely.
"I remember this..." he broke out a quiet chuckle, "this was your revenge on me...for refusing to throw away that photo of you sleeping."
I chuckled as well. "That's right."
"Thank you," Harry looked back at me and smiled, "you've...you've looked after her so well, Laura. I knew you would, but still...thank you."
I smiled back at him. "Of course, Harry."
"Oh...and Laura?" A cheeky smirk was starting to slowly spread across his face.
"Yeah?"
"I'm still not getting rid of that photo."
I let out a snicker before I rolled my eyes and chuckled softly at his words.
"OK. Truce," I said with a sigh, "keep it if you really have to."
"I do," Harry smirked again, "thank you."
***
I couldn't stop watching Harry sleeping that afternoon – with Lilly sleeping with him right on top of his chest – and I was totally unable to stop smiling at how adorable they looked together.
Harry's been looking so tired ever since he showed up so miraculously this morning – and I knew he really needed to get some sleep. I guess another thing that happens when you become un-zombified is the desperate need for a comfortable bed and a good sleep (the walkers don't ever sleep, after all) – and I knew that Lilly was definitely helping him with that.
Bonding with Lilly seemed like something Harry desperately needed to properly heal...because ever since he first saw her again, his skin was slowly returning to its old smooth olive colour, his constricted pupils were slowly starting to dilate back to normal, and that beautiful emerald green shade of his eyes became more & more vibrant by the hour. All he needs to fight whatever's left of the infection in his body is to spend time with his family – the people he loves the most.
Well...that was my theory, at least – since Liam's seemed to have lost all beliefs in his ideas of the cure to the apocalypse to come up with any further notions.
What the hell even came over Liam just then..?
And what was up with Eric just shooting him in the leg without a care in the world..?
I swear to God something must've happened between Liam & Eric. They must've had some sort of argument...maybe one of them did something that the other really didn't like. Either way, I have to know what went down. The last thing we need is any schisms happening in this group – even if it is a small one.
I slowly rose from where I'd been sitting beside Harry & Lilly on the bed – leaving them together and quietly slipping out of the cabin so that I could find Eric. But even though he'd been sitting at the mess table last time I saw him – he wasn't there anymore. In fact – I couldn't find him anywhere in camp – but all the same I still quickly managed to figure out where he'd most likely be. Eric's never been one to wander around, but...if he wasn't in camp, there was only one other place that he'd go.
I went to the gate and was unsurprised to see that it was unlocked and not even properly closed. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the gate back open and slid it shut behind me once I'd slipped through. A loud, hungry growl suddenly erupted nearby – and looking ahead of me I saw that a badly decayed walker had gotten caught in the brambles – and I let out a deep sigh before rolling my eyes and pulling out my screwdriver.
"I was wondering when you'd start showing up," I told the walker as I made my way over to it, "nice to see ya. Now goodbye."
I held the walker at an arm's length and shoved my screwdriver through its left eye – letting out a satisfied huff before I yanked my screwdriver back out of its head and cleaned it off – sheathing it as the biter dropped to the ground. I bent down and hauled it out of the brambles with a focused yet frustrated grunt – grabbing it by the ankles and dragging it over to the graveyard around the corner.
And, as I'd expected – Eric was right there – sitting on the big stone that laid in front of his parents' and the rest of the group's graves. He was looking down at all the graves with a slightly furrowed brow – clearly in deep thought. However, the walker I was dragging across the ground easily made enough noise to catch his attention – making him gasp and whip around in my direction – but his tense body immediately softened as he realized that it was just me approaching him.
"Hey, buddy," I told him with a soft smile, "you alright?"
"Hi, Laura," he smiled back at me faintly, "yeah – I'm fine."
"Just saying hello to your parents?" I guessed.
"Yeah," Eric said again with a slow nod, "and the rest of the group, too."
"I was on my way over too, but then this guy showed up," I nodded towards the dead biter at my feet, "mind giving me a hand, sport? Then we can say hello to the group together."
"Alright," Eric smiled again – a little bigger this time – before hopping off the rock and checking the walker for ID while I grabbed a shovel and made a start on digging a new grave hole, "how's Harry?" he asked me before taking a second shovel so that he could help me out, "Is he OK?"
"Yeah, he's looking good," I replied, "he's just having a little nap with Lilly right now," I smiled at him again, "I think being with Lilly helps him feel better."
Eric smiled back. "That's good. Then he'll be better in no time – because he can spend as much time with Lilly as he wants, right?"
I let out a soft chuckle. "Right," I then began to turn serious again, and I cleared my throat, "er, listen Eric...you're not in trouble or anything, but...I'd like to talk to you...about what you did before."
"You mean about what I did to Liam?" Eric went straight to the point.
"Yeah," I replied, "Eric, I can't thank you enough for doing that – if you didn't, Harry would probably be dead, but...I still have to know..." I looked up at him, "...how could you do it without any hesitation?"
"That's easy," Eric huffed, "he lied to us, Laura. He's been lying to us this whole time."
My eyes widened. "W...What..?" I immediately dropped my shovel and pulled him aside so that I could crouch down to his height and look him in the eyes, "Eric...w-what do you mean 'he lied to us'?"
"When Farlan first came to our base...Liam said that he tested his blood so that he could check on all the 'infected cells'," Eric made quotation marks in the air, "but, Laura...he never did that. He didn't even have the equipment to do that. But he still came to us and said that he did it anyway!" He crossed his arms angrily and grunted in frustration, "And Laura, I'm glad that Harry's alive, but...it's because of that that I'm almost pissed off about him being right about his theories all along."
I immediately gasped. "He...he never tested Farlan's blood at all...but he still said that he did..?"
Eric nodded. "Why do you think he never showed us the infected cells? Why do you think he never let us in his 'lab' while Farlan was recovering? Because he couldn't prove it," he said through gritted teeth.
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. "But...w-why would he do that..?"
"That's the part that angers me the most," Eric huffed again, "Laura, it's because he wanted – in his own words – a 'moment of glory'. He...thrived in the idea that we all believed him...and that we were all fascinated by what he was doing."
My eyes widened again. "I...he...w-what..?" my breathing began to turn shaky, "But we...we all believed him..."
"I know," Eric let out another angry grunt, "and I hate him for it, Laura. Our group...my parents died believing all his lies! They died with hope in their hearts that he'll find a way to stop this thing...and even if his theories are true, he still told us the biggest, fattest lie I've ever heard! And when he tried to kill Harry...that was the last straw for me. I'd choose Harry over him any day of the week! I was happy to shoot him in his stupid leg!"
"OK, Eric, just...just calm down..." I told him soothingly, "just calm down, honey...alright?"
Eric took a deep breath and let out a long, shaky sigh.
"I'm sorry, Laura..." Eric's voice began to wobble as his blue eyes began to glisten with tears, "I just...I just can't believe he would do that to us..." he sniffled.
"Neither can I..." I took Eric in my arms and shushed him quietly as he began to cry quietly on my shoulder, "it's alright, Eric...it'll be alright. I'll talk to him."
"You..." Eric looked up at me and sniffled again before wiping his eyes, "you will..?"
"Yes," I promised, "and soon as we take care of him..." I nodded towards the walker on the ground, "I'll march straight up to Liam's door and give him a good long talk, OK?"
"I hope you give him hell," Eric whimpered, "he deserves it after what he did to us..."
"Oh, believe me..." I began as we began to make our way back to the grave we were digging, "...I will."
***
I found Liam in his quarters after Eric helped me bury the walker – and he was muttering angrily to himself while finishing off the dressing on his wounded leg and wincing in pain as he did so.
"How are you?" Was the first thing I asked once I'd found him.
"Fine," he grumbled, "I'm pretty sure the bullet went straight through," he huffed and cursed under his breath, "fucking hell...damn Eric and his itchy trigger finger..."
"Hey," I narrowed my eyes at him, "don't you dare blame Eric for this. You were asking for it, you idiot," I then crossed my arms at him angrily, "I talked to him, by the way. And now I know for sure that him shooting you is more than justified," I huffed, "how could you, Liam? How the fuck could you just blatantly lie to all of us like that?!"
"Oh, come on," Liam rolled his eyes, "that all happened ages ago. There's no need for you to make a big fat deal out of it. And it turns out I didn't even need those stupid blood samples, because according to you I was right all along anyway! So just drop it, for fuck's sake!" He hissed at me, "Now, are we done?!"
I glared at him. "Oh, I am nowhere near done with you, Liam Payne," I growled at him, "I still need answers from you. Answers to why the fuck you would try to kill the father of my child when he wasn't even trying to hurt you!?"
"How was I supposed to know that?!" Liam hissed, "You said so yourself, Laura. You said that you saw him as a walker!"
"But did he look like a walker when you saw him today?!"
"He looked walker enough!"
"He's not a walker, Liam! He's hungry, and he's tired. Hell, he could even be sick from mindlessly wandering around in the freezing cold night air!" I shouted, "I told you, Liam. I told you that he didn't even make a scratch on me yesterday! And he didn't even attempt to hurt Lilly! He...he recognized us...the memory of us brought him back, and now he needs us more than ever! Especially you, Liam. You're a doctor...you can help him!"
"I'm not doing shit for him," Liam spat, "I don't like this, and I don't trust this. Not. One. Bit."
I gawked at him in total shock. "What happened to you?!" I demanded, "What the hell happened to that hopeful, bright-eyed doctor who never gave up on humanity, or a cure to all of this?! And now that a real cure – one that you've already predicted – is right in front of your eyes...you don't want to have anything to do with it?!"
"Whether it's a cure or just pure luck, it doesn't even matter!" Liam retorted, "If what I predicted really is true...any walker at or past the stage of black putrefaction is beyond saving, Laura! And probably every single walker around is way past that stage already, so we're all still doomed either way! It may be a way of saving someone...but it's still not enough to save the world!" He leaned back on the hospital bed he was sitting on and slowly rose to his feet with a pained grunt, "And I'm warning you now, Laura: If Harry does anything – anything that I don't like the look of, I won't even hesitate to blow his brains out."
My eyes immediately widened, and I shook my head at him in disbelief. "I can't believe you. I can't believe that I trusted you. That we all trusted you..." I discreetly reached behind me and wrapped my hand around the handle of my screwdriver just in case, "our whole group trusted you to look after us when we were hurt or sick. Harry trusted you to keep walkers inside our camp for your supposed 'research'...and I...I trusted you to help me deliver my child!" I gritted my teeth and tightened my grip around my screwdriver, "I don't know what the hell's happening to you Liam. And I don't know whether any of us should trust you for anything ever again..." I let out a shaky breath before I forced myself to regain my confidence and composure, "but let me tell you this..." I shot him a piercing glare, "if you, try anything, anything at all that would harm Harry, or anyone else in this group...then I swear...I swear on my life...it won't just be your leg that's getting shot," I straightened myself out and shot him a scornful look, "God only knows if non-existent blood samples were the only things you've ever lied to us about."
"No matter what I've done to any of you in the past..." Liam began with a glare, "I'd still trust a doctor more than I'd trust a bite victim, if I were you."
"I'm not so sure about that," I retorted, "and even though I'm glad that your stupid 'research walkers' are gone now, a part of me wishes they were still around...so that I can slit your throat and feed your fresh corpse to them if you ever tried to do anything to my family."
Liam didn't say anything and only rolled his eyes.
"I'm only going to say this once," I continued, "if you want to stay within these walls, you'd better pull yourself together. Because if you're proving to be too dangerous to be around any of us, I'll throw you to the wolves. Or, in this case – the walkers."
Liam looked at me blankly for a moment, but soon enough his face began to harden – and that crazed, demented look I'd seen before slowly began to pierce back through his eyes. One of his hands began to tightly clutch the edge of his desk – his knuckles turning white due to his forceful grip. His lips twisted into a chilling snarl, and within moments he'd lunged at me – pinning me against the wall with his hand wrapped around my throat – cutting off my panicked scream and forcing it to reduce to a choked gasp.
"FUCK YOU!" He screamed at me, "YOU'D BE LOST WITHOUT ME, YOU STUPID BITCH! YOU'D ALL BE LOST WITHOUT ME!"
My vision was starting to reduce to a blurry mess all around me as his grasp severed all of my air supply. But just before he could choke me out cold, I gritted my teeth and kicked my knee in between his stomach and his groin – making him cry out in pain and loosen his grip. I struggled to free my left arm and used it to knock my elbow into his cheek. I managed to use enough force to knock him out – and I finally felt safe enough to catch my breath as his unconscious body dropped at my feet.
I had to spent several moments leaning against the wall – coughing, wheezing and panting heavily as I became desperate to regain my oxygen. I kept my sights fixed on Liam as I did so – my eyes wide with terror as I refused to look away from him out of the fear that he'd lash back out at me any moment. Letting out a shaky breath, I rushed to the front door and frantically felt around for the doorknob – immediately turning it all the way once I'd found it and scrambling out of Liam's quarters so that I could race back to me & Harry's cabin. I really didn't want to wake him up from his desperately-needed nap, but I had to warn him about Liam. I had to.
"Harry!" I cried out hastily as soon as I'd stumbled into the room, "Harry, I...L-Liam just gave me the biggest scare..."
"...What..?" Harry stirred and let his eyes flutter open to slits as he tiredly squinted up at me, "...Liam? Why? What happened?"
"There's...there's something wrong with him, I..." my voice began to break as I felt my eyes starting to well up with tears, "...I've never seen him like this before!"
"What do you mean?" Harry was beginning to sound more & more concerned, "Laura, what's he done? Has he...has he hurt you..?"
"He nearly choked me out, Harry!"
"What?!" Harry's eyes immediately widened, and he carefully removed Lilly from his chest and laid her back on the bed before he scrambled to his feet and took me in his arms, "How badly? Are you breathing properly? D-Did he do anything else?!"
"I...I nearly blacked out, Harry..." I felt one tear starting to escape from my duct, "I...I managed to get away but...I had to knock him out first..." I felt my bottom lip beginning to tremble, "I...I-I don't know what came over him, Harry...a-and for the first time since I met him...I was actually scared of him..." I had to let out a sob, "he said he...h-he said he didn't trust you, Harry, and he...he threatened to kill you if you did something he didn't like..." I squeezed my eyes shut and let several more tears fall, "I don't know if he's going crazy, or what! But there's something wrong with him!"
"Oh, Laura..." Harry immediately wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight, "it's OK...it's gonna be alright, love, don't worry..." he told me soothingly, "what brought all this on? Why was he so pissed?"
"I-It's a long story, Harry...a-and it's all just come out, and I...I'm still trying to make sense of it myself..." I whimpered, "Eric knows all about it. You can ask him, but I..." another sob was forced out of my mouth as I hid my face in his shirt, "I don't want to talk about it, Harry...n-not now..."
"No, of course you don't. God, he...he must've left you so spooked..." Harry let out a shaky sigh and hugged me tighter.
"I won't let him do anything to you, Harry...I swear on my life..." I said tearfully, "I won't let him...because I won't be able to handle it if anything took you away from us again!"
"I'm not going anywhere," Harry promised me, "he won't lay a finger on me, Laura, I promise," he cupped my face in his hands and looked me right in the eyes, "this is my second chance to be with you, Laura. My second chance to be with Lilly. With Eric. And I'm not about to let anything rob me of that. He won't do anything to me, he won't do anything to you, and he definitely won't do anything to the kids. I won't let him. You know I won't."
I looked up at him, and I don't know what came over me at that moment. He just...he sounded so determined, and...protective, and he was holding me in his arms as if I were some type of valuable treasure he would never let anybody touch. It was just like before...before he was bitten, and I honestly just couldn't help myself.
I kissed him.
I know it was risky. I know he didn't want me to do anything like that until he was sure that he'd gotten better...but something told me that he already was better. I could somehow...feel it.
Harry momentarily stiffened once I'd pressed my lips to his, but soon enough his tense body began to relax, and he was so close to me that I could feel his heartbeat accelerating inside his chest as I kissed him. And as for me...I couldn't even explain how sensational it felt to have his lips against mine once again. And the longer we kissed, the more it felt like complete paradise for me...and I knew that it was the same for Harry, too.
We pulled an inch apart from each other with shaky breaths, and Harry looked down at me so that his eyes met with mine. I could still feel how rapidly his heart was beating, and I saw his eyes suddenly brighten to such a vibrant shade of green that I hadn't seen for so long. And the return of that beautiful emerald colour told me one thing, and one thing only.
He was back.
All of him was back.
Harry defeated the infection.
Harry was saved.
A/N: I hope you didn't mind me throwing in two edits of Harry with babies :)) Sorry for the long wait, I hope this chapter was worth it <3