A tired and worn out Jack opens the door. He narrows his eyes at the sight of us.
Cory moves to say something, but Jack's eyes suddenly go wide and he hauls us inside, before Cory gets to say anything. Jack makes sure to lock the door and close the blinds before turning to look at us properly. I make sure to stay in the background.
"What on earth are you doing here?!" he demands trying to be stern, but worry floods his voice instead. "Don't you know the General is looking for you?"
"There's something we have to do," Cory answers. I'm sure he's aware of the gun in his father's back pocket just like I am. He keeps it there for protection. And he knows how to use it.
Jack looks all of us over and does a double take when he sees me. His eyes narrow again as he tries to determine what he's seeing. His hand lands on his gun and his eyes turn hard.
"What is going on, Cory?" he questions. "Who is this?" Jack points the gun at my head, ready to defend himself. But like everybody else, Jack is too curious to see if I really am what he thinks I am.
I step forward and let the hood fall.
At this point Jack's eyes are wide enough to pop out of his head. Pinch him and he would scream.
"James?" he mumbles and tries to get a hold of himself and we give him the time to process. The gun goes down when he looks up at us and he's frowning. "So it's true. They found you. But you can't be here!"
"We know Spencer told General Alden that James is infected," Cory begins, but his father interrupts him with a panicked expression. The gun is still corked.
"He's dead, Cory. Look at him," Jack points out and I do everything I can to look alive and human. "The dead doesn't belong here."
"No, dad. He's not - he's getting better. Sadie has proof. She's been examining him throughout the last week."
"It's true, sir," Sadie says encouragingly.
Jack doesn't look convinced. Suspicion is written all over his face. Sadie tries to explain her findings and how I'm showing signs of aliveness. We leave out the fact that I seem to be getting weaker at the moment.
Jack doesn't put his gun down. "Even if his heart still beats, he's one of them."
Sadie lowers her head a little. "Mr. McDean, we may not know where this leads," she says. "But it seems like he's changing, like he's becoming more alive with every single day that passes."
Jack doesn't look convinced. "Bullshit," he says.
"He's not a lost cause!" Cory yells. The vein in his neck is pulsing and I know he's losing it. "Why do you think he's here with us? Because he wants to change, because he is changing! Why are you choosing not to see that? How can you pretend you can't see how different he is?"
Cory wants to take a step forward, but I put my hand on his shoulder, silently telling him to let me handle this. Jack's face drains of color. I can't tell if this makes him want to kill me or if he's simply scared shitless.
"Don't h-have to trust me," I tell him and he actually flinches when hearing my voice. "T-trust Cory. W-want to show we c-can be s-saved."
We try to explain it all to him. Meanwhile he hardly speaks, but when we finish, he gets up and puts his gun on the table. Without a word he goes into the kitchen and brings out two packages of crackers, some cereal, and some water from his tank.
His eyes follow me. He needs to make sure that I'm not an imposter. He does not say anything else. Only stares. Sadie examines me again, this time not hiding her worry from Cory and myself. Jack comes over to watch.
"Your pulse is irregular," she explains. "I haven't seen anything like this before." She shows us the blood sample she took minutes earlier. It is dark, slightly red, and clotted. "It's like your system is fighting to survive, but the thing is... if you weren't awake and breathing right now, I'd be convinced you were dead."
Cory's face becomes strained. His smile is hollow as he looks at me, telling me it will all be okay. I just nod. I don't know what my fate is, but there is one thing I have to do. That is to convince my dad that I am not gone. That we can fix the world again. Somehow. I have to do this for Cory. For my friends.
Jack's hand lands on Cory's shoulder as a show of silent support. After that, he tells us to stay indoors, windows closed and blinds down, before he leaves the house. We don't see him again until the next morning. I sleep on the couch through the night with Cory beside me. He is holding me tighter than usual.
The next morning, I wake up to a lot of noise. Turns out Jack is back with five of what I believe to be my dad's recruits. I think our plan is dead, until I realize these men are five of my former recruits; It's Isaac's younger brother, Jason's cousin, and few good friends. Imagine what they must be thinking when they see me. They show astonishment rather than shock, but also a willingness to believe. It feels like it's getting easier to make people see and understand our cause.
Now, don't start to think that everything is suddenly perfect. It's not. We're inside camp now, but that's it. Since my dad is a shoot-first-listen-after kind of guy, we decide we have to disarm him first. I have no idea how we're supposed to pull that off.
I don't want to admit it, but there is something else that's been nagging me even more. I can't bring myself to tell anyone. I don't want to smash any hopes. I don't think I could handle the look on Cory's face. Jack constantly keeps an eye on me, especially when Cory moves over to kiss my cheek once in a while. I don't wanna focus on anything but his smiles and how he seems slightly happier than before. His hand caresses mine when Sadie does another round of check ups on me.
Like the perfect patient, I sit completely still and let her do her work. I don't even listen properly when she speaks to Cory about what she finds. I don't want any more bad news. My dreams have gone away and those were the things I was holding on to. They were giving me a sense of purpose. Right now, I'm standing at the highest cliff in a mountain range with no possibility of moving; no matter what I do I'm gonna fall. Doesn't matter which direction I take, it's all the same. My results have not improved. Nothing's happened even though Sadie has given me another one of her secret injections. Cory still doesn't know.
"Cory," Sadie says, almost in a whisper. She sounds scared.
"What?" he says, clearly affected already.
She bites her lip. "If he doesn't get some sort of nutrition soon..."
When I hear this, I get up without saying anything or looking at anyone. Since it's getting dark outside, I break the rules and drag myself onto the roof of the McDean house. No one is gonna see me anyway. Cory used to bring me here back when we were in high school. We still hadn't told anybody about our relationship then, but of course Jack knew. I would sit here with Cory in my arms and we would watch people live from up here. Now it's a completely different sight that meets my eye.
"I'm guessing you needed a breather."
I turn around to see Jason climbing up to join me. He offers a half smile and pats my back. "You know," he says. "Whatever's wrong, you can tell me - and please do. Cory looked like he was freaking out."
I shake my head. "N-no."
He takes a deep breath. "Jay, come on man, just tell me what it is."
Jason is great. He's a real leader and I wasn't aware he had that in him. Even the people you you're closest to can surprise you sometimes. I can see why my dad let him and Cory stay in the same squad. But then there's the problem we've been discussing all day; Spencer. He has a lot of bad influence on my dad right now. Isaac's little brother told us that Spencer grew up in a nice neighborhood and had parents who loved him until the infection ruined everything and he lost both parents in a heartbeat. I know what losing can do to a person, I've seen it so many times. Too many times. All those memories, the anguish is really starting to get to me and I feel like screaming. What the hell I am getting us all into? Honestly, what are the chances my dad won't kill us before we get our point through to him? Slim, that's what. This isn't like one of those old Hollywood movies where you know the problems will magically be solved towards the end, this is a different world, which is more real and not as neat as a movie plot. It's chaotic and it's meaningless most of the time. The saying that you should live everyday like it was your last has is more pressing these days.
I look my best friend in the eye. "Not s-strong enough," I tell him.
He frowns and almost looks shocked at my revelation. "Don't be stupid. You're the strongest person I know."
I shake my head. "Was m-maybe," I argue. "But..."
Jason's half smile disappears in an instant. "I'm guessing I ain't going to like this very much," he says.
I tell Jason everything that's been on my mind. How I'm improving one moment and the next I'm falling apart. I tell him how good it feels to have Cory back, but how I can't seem to stay in that fantasy because of my fragility. I'm sure used to fighting with every fiber of my being to survive another day - we all are. Surviving is a option that's slipping from my hands. I don't want to hurt Cory again, I don't want to cause any more pain but at the same time I'm terrified of what's happening to me. It's like that something I've felt tugging down on me lately is moving closer. It's more than nervousness, more than fearing my dad won't listen to us. I still don't sleep like I should at night, because I worry. I've never felt more human and more alive and yet afraid. My heartbeat is just restarting, but it is so slow. And at the same time I have to pressure myself harder and harder everyday.
"Jay..." Jason starts and the words get stuck in his throat as he realizes how right I am. "No. We can't lose you again."
My best answer is put my hand on his to try and wipe that grim look off of his face.
"Need you to promise me s-something," I ask of him.
"Anything," he responds in a heartbeat.
"I'm not the only one... changing," I decide. "Others n-need help too. H-ave to make them better."
Jason understands. "It's a promise," he agrees.
One thing I haven't told you about Jason is that much like Spencer, he's lost basically everything because of the way the world is now. He has his aunt, his uncle, and younger cousin left as the only surviving family members other than himself. I was there for him and I'll tell you it wasn't easy on him. Still, Jason made it through. I've never told him that he's the strongest person I know. Both he and Cory are stronger than they think and that's why I know they'll be okay. No matter what they say, they'll make it through... even without me. They did for 24 months.
When we return to the living room I sit down and just hold Cory. I feel something warm and wet travel down my cheek.
"Jay?" Cory says.
I look up at him, questioning, and as he's about to say something, Isaac's brother Jamie more or less kicks the door in, out of breath and with a look on his face that is best described as; fuuuuck.
"What's wrong?" Jason asks, instantly and the entire room goes quiet.
Jamie fights to get his breath back. "It's those skeletons," he explains. "They're here! And there are HUNDREDS of them as if something's dragging them here..."
My eyes widen. There's no doubt it's us they're coming for. Like I said, the boneys will not tolerate you messing with them. I grab Cory's wrist so he looks at me.
"H-have to find dad," I state. "Now."
He nods.
Jamie gives us all the information he can think of and everybody gets up, grabs their weapon and breathes in. We better hope we have what it takes if we don't want to die tonight.
It's all or nothing - and life is the goal.