There was movement, lots of movement around me, but I couldn't make out what any of it was. There were people here, too. Voices that were no higher than a whisper seemed like yelling in my ear. Heartbeats, pounding furiously in their chests, were calling out my name. The scent of blood was so overwhelming I couldn't tell if I wanted to vomit, or devour them. A strong, stranger hunger was growing in my gut and I couldn't get a grip on myself. Then again, my blurry vision didn't help with that. It only made me even more angry, even more lost.


"Get Tori out of here," finally, a voice I recognized was dancing around my head. Matt was here, which meant he'd made it back safe. "She needs to be fed before we can cure her."


"You have to save Riot," my baby sister cried, fighting aginst the person who was trying to take her away. "She don't have long, Matty!"


Tori was right. Even though I could still think, and feel, I could tell I was slipping further away. Saying I was pissed would be an understatement. I could barely restrain myself from crawling toward the blurs and sinking my teeth into their flesh. They just smelled so fucking good. And the worst part of it all, was now I finally understood why everyone had changed before they turned. I couldn't imagine the fear in their hearts, at least not for those who didn't understand what was happening at the time. Hell, even for those who did. Those like me who knew it was only a matter of minutes before their hearts gave out and the virus, the thing making me feel so evil took over. I would no longer be me, but they'd still see me, sick and insane, and cry when they killed the host inside of my blood.


The blurs were starting to fade away. My heart, it was hurting. It was beating so hard that it was taking my breath away. A painful stabbing feeling took over my brain while my guts twisted into knots. This was it, I knew it. This was what Tori meant. I was about to die.
But I wouldn't come back like her. I wouldn't recover like her. I'd never be saved like her.


The hunger was taking over me, so much that I could feel myself, my mind and soul, slipping away. I wanted to cry out for help, but only a disgusting growl managed to fall past my teeth.
That's when a stabbing pain took over my body. A loud, beeping noise covered my brain and my body was on fire. I wasn't entirely sure what was happening, I could still think and feel, but I didn't want to. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, my body jolting around on the ground. My head was bashing against the tiled floor and I thought I heard a few of my bones break.


I found sweet relief when everything around me went black.


____________________


"Is she.. Is she dead?"


"Well that would be a relief, wouldn't it? Knowing that she was out of her misery."


"Shut up, Vinny. You're going to scare Tori."


The voices, they sounded.. normal. I couldn't hear heartbeats or smell blood, though the ache in my bones and in my head were worse than ever. Was I dead? Had I survived? The only way I could think to find out was by forcing myself to open my eyes. It was a struggle, but the moment my eyelids fluttered open, she brightness of the light made me want to vomit. A groan came from my throat and I rolled over on my side, clutching my belly in hopes to take the pain away.


"Riot, you're alive!"


I winced to the loud sound, but a smile formed on my lips regardless. To be honest, I felt like I'd walked through Hell and had my body ripped apart in the process, but I was okay, I just knew it by the way everyone threw their arms around my body and held me close, despite how badly it hurt to be touched.


"So it works," Rian whispered, brushing my hair away from my forehead. "We've found the cure."


"But we don't have anyone to make anymore," Zack sighed, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "Everyone is dead and we've only got three vaccines left."


"Technically, we have two," Matt commented, planting a gentle kiss on my cheek. "One of those belongs to Tori. As soon as we get her fed, we can cure her."


"I got the meat. We've loaded everything onto the bus when we got some of the infected out."


When Jack spoke, that's when all the memories came flooding back into my mind. I'd come here to save Tori, Tori bit me, that's why I had gotten so sick in the first place. But how did they get through? There were so many infected, it shouldn't have even been possible for me to get to Tori.


Using all of the strength in my body, I shook the guys off of me and sat up, instantly regretting it. A part of me wanted to break down and cry from all of the pain shooting through my flesh, but I fought the desire and let my eyes scan the room. They were all here, Tori included. No one had died in attempt to save the lives of my baby sister and I. For that, I was beyond thankful. What scared me, however, were the massive amount of the undead crowding around the glass windows.


"Riot, you're okay," Matt brushed some of the hair from my forehead, despite the amount of sweat from the fever I'd suffered. "I knew it would work."


"I-I d-don't feel s-so go-o-od."


"That's to be expected. You're going to be weak for a while, but what matters is that you're alive. What you did for Tori, it was... Fuck, I can't even explain it. All I can say is, it was amazing."


"T-the i-infected," I managed, stopping to catch my breath. Fuck, I was thirsty. My throat felt like it was on fire.


"We've got somewhat of a plan for that," Matt sighed, letting his fingers fall away from my face so he could spin to glance at the door. "Tori will go first, since they can't detect her. She'll clear a path while we shoot as many as we can. We just have to hope like Hell we make it out alive."


"I di-ed once," a small smile came to my lips, though the memories of the bite were painful. "It h-hurts."


"We're going to keep you safe Ri, don't worry," Alex assured, shooting a questioning look from me, to Matt. "Zack is going to carry you out of here, since you can't walk."


They barely gave me enough time to nod before Zack was scooping me up in his arms. He placed a gun firmly in my hand, though it probably wasn't the best idea, given the pain and sickness I was feeling. Still, he needed some form of protection and right now this was the best he could get. Tori moved to the glass door, her dark eyes full of fear, but she had the rest of the guys behind her so she was confident in opening the glass.


I let out a soft breath and watched the scene unfold. The dead were piling in the room, yet somehow, we were winning. Tori was able to push them off slightly if they got too close. When about six of them had fallen to the ground, completely lifeless, we started moving forward. Trying to feel safe in Zack's arms was hard, only because I knew if one came after us, I'd have to shoot it without hurting anyone else.


"Jack, watch out!"


I squeaked as Jack barely managed to shoot an infected that jumped at him. My heart was thudding in my chest as the guys took out as many as they could. Even I knew that they'd be out of ammo soon.


"Get the door, Vinny!"


The hallway. There were a lot of dead people scattered through the hall, but no infected. I watched as my friends made their way into the ward, one right after the other. Zack and I would go last, which meant I had to wrap my arms around his neck and aim the gun behind us. This gave me a little more confidence, but it still scared the fuck out of me. Especially when I saw a fresh group of infected coming our way.


"Run!" I screamed, not even caring that it felt like my throat was ripping apart. "They're coming, run!"


Matt was in front with Tori, pulling her so they moved faster. Following behind him were Alex and Jack (Alex was fending for Jack since the poor boy was still a little sick). Rian was close behind them and Vinny was trailing behind with Zack and myself, to help me shoot at the infected. He aimed his gun high, running backwards and blasted a few shots. It didn't matter how many he managed to nail in the head, they just kept coming.


"We left the door unlocked," Jack called, "keep going!"


I was slipping out of Zack's grip, but I fought past the pain and clung to his neck as thightly as I could. My heart was fluttering with joy when I heard the front doors to the building opening and the sound of my friends feet hitting the pavement. We were almost there. We just had to out run a few more --


"VINNY!"


My voice broke before I even got his name out. Tears were pooling in my eyes and the pain became so strong I felt like I was going to faint. Zack held tight to my body, preventing me from kicking out of his grip. The doors were closing, I knew this, but I couldn't just leave him behind.


He was trying to save us. He was holding the door open. One of those thing came out of fucking nowhere and took a chunk of his neck. It was all our fault. My fault for slowing everyone down.


"Stop kicking, Riot!" Zack yelled, doing his best to pull me from the door. The infected were right on our ass, but I was clinging to the wall, refusing to just let Vinny be eaten alive. Now that I knew that pain, I couldn't just walk away. "He's gone, Riot."


"No, he's not! Can't you see him!"


Fresh tears ran down my cheeks, from the pain in my heart for Vinny and the pain in my body from going from infected, to cured, in one day.


"Riot, Tori needs you," a hand began rubbing my back, though I could tell it was shaking. "You're going to get us all killed, Ri. They're almost to the door. Please."


It took everything in me, but I released my grip on the wall. However, before the doors could shut, I lifted my gun and placed a single bullet in Vinny's terrified face. There was no time to give him a cure. I saved him the best way I knew how.

Notes

Awh, poor Vinny. ):