"Riot, I want to thank you for coming along with us. I mean, I know we've been through nothing but Hell since day one, but you and Tori kind of give us all the strength to get going. We see the way you love her and we know there's still a chance to feel human again.. And when we see that sparkle in her eyes that only a child can possess, we feel the need to protect and defend her, like we are still human."


Alex and I were seated on the couch with a blanket wrapped around our legs. We were watching cartoons, which we'd found on DVD, so that Tori could have something comforting to fall asleep to. Though, it made me quiet sad to think that the couple who lived here before were close enough to a child to keep movies for it here. I would pray every night that they were all still alive.


Tori was on the floor, sound asleep on Matt's chest as he restlessly slept beside her. We'd been here for about a week and a half, and somehow between all of us, we'd managed to make all of our supplies last. We hadn't left the apartment yet but we knew it wouldn't be long before we left. Not because we would go hungry, but because Tori was sick. If she wasn't hacking up a lung, she was holding her small head and crying. Her fever was spiking pretty high recently. I couldn't let her sit here and suffer.


"Thanks, Alex," I managed to smile, my eyes flickering from Tori to the man beside me. "Tori has a new hope since she met Matt. We'd probably be dead already if it wasn't for you guys."


He shot me a crooked grin and extended his arms. Since I've been with these guys constantly, I've started to view them all as a certain type of family. Not the kind I'd call my blood, but the kind I knew I wouldn't be able to live without. I curled up against Alex's chest, feeling safe for the first time all night, and let my eyes flutter shut. Morning would come soon enough, but for now, sleep was calling..


______________________


"Tori?" I murmured, rubbing my eyes as I sat up on the couch. My little sister was having a hard time catching her breath, coughing so hard my throat was aching for her. Alex sat up behind me and tossed the blankets off of us. He sat down beside Tori, as Matt stirred in his sleep, and placed one hand on her head while the other was on her lower back. "How is she?"


"Burning up."


Frowning, I let out a soft sigh. My feet sloppily carried me through the house and into the bathroom, where I prepared a cold wash cloth for Tori's head. I returned to the room and curled up on the floor next to my baby sister, placing the rag on her head as she shook in my arms. She hadn't been this sick since she was younger. I knew it would only get worse before it got better, but the poor child was suffering. Tears formed in my eyes as I let out a soft sniff.


"We need supplies," Grieco appeared in the living room, a fresh cup of coffee in his hands. We didn't have much of that left, either. He took a long sip of it before he handed the cup over to me. "We can't let her go on like this. She needs medicine, Riot."


Taking a sip of the brew, I felt relaxed as the hot liquid slid down my throat. Of course she needed medicine, but we couldn't leave, it was too much of a risk. With another sip, I passed the cup off to Alex, who took two sips of his own and handed it to Matt. This was how we made things last, even if it did gross me out at first.


"We can't leave the building," Matt yawned, finally awake enough to speak with the help of the coffee. "Have you seen the swarm of those things?"


It was true, the undead had caught on to our scent and they had swarmed around the building. Just looking out our window, we could see at least two dozen of them clawing at the brick building. We hadn't been brave enough to see if any were at the front of the building, though I didn't find it very likely what with our scent not being there. They were probably attracted to the smell of Jeff's blood, and by now I was willing to guess his body was no longer that of a human. They'd probably ripped him to shreads for dinner. It was sad, but life had to go on..


"Guys, I'm not just going to sit here and watch Tori catch her death because we're all chicken shit."


"What else can we do?" Vinny asked, walking into the room followed by Jack, Rian and Zack. It seemed that they had been awake a while, plotting on what we were going to do next. Zack was our best shot of getting out of here alive. He was the only one with enough upper body strength to take out an undead without lifing a gun. "She'll be okay. We'll all keep watch of her and try to bring down her fever."


"Look at her, Vinny," Grieco sighed, shaking his head. "She's not going to be okay if we just leave her like this. If we can distract them long enough for you guys to get to the bus, you can find somewhere to get gas and supplies then drive straight through until you find another place to stay."


"You guys?" Rian questioned, stepping closer to his friend. "What the fuck are you talking about?"


"Why is all of our shit packed by the door?"


Grieco turned his face away from us. He was staring out of the window, a frown visible from where I was sitting. He'd been through a lot and it was perfectly understandable for him to be depressed, but there was no need to assume he wouldn't make it. We could all make it if we were alert and ready for anything.


"I can't keep sitting here and doing nothing. I love you guys, but I refuse to stick around and watch anymore of my friends die off."


"Gr-"
"Just stop. We all know how this is going to end. What happens when we can't run anymore, Alex? We're all going to die. We're all going to end up like Jeff and Danny and everyone else we've lost since this shit started. I'm sorry, but I won't do it anymore."


"Dude, you shouldn't talk like that in front of Tori," Alex growled, his heart breaking. "We're going to get through this, I promise. We just have to be calm and figure it out."


"I've already figured it out. Tori, despite how much I love you all, is the most important person here. She's a child, for fucks sake. If I can say I did anything to help this little girl, I will not have died in vain."


The room had grown deathly silent. Fear was hidden in all of our eyes. What was wrong with him? What had he planned? This man had been nothing but kind to me and Tori. We'd grown to love him just as much as everyone else. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he did something stupid to protect my baby sister, though I would be ever grateful for his actions.


"A few of us will sneak out to get supplies," I whispered, trying my best to convince myself and Grieco. "If we're quiet and fast we can do this. Tori is my responsibility, not yours. Please, she loves you, losing you would kill her more than the illness."


Everyone looked to my baby sister, who was having a hard time breathing, curled up against Matt with her eyes closed. Though through her lids, tears were falling down her cheeks. She could hear every word we were saying and she was scared. Tori had accepted death over the recent events, but she didn't need to hear that someone would die for her. She'd feel guilt for the rest of her young life.


"Tor, please don't cry," Grieco made his way over to her. He bent down beside Tori and brushed some hair away from her face so he could plant a kiss on her forehead. "There isn't a thing in the world I wouldn't do to keep you safe, or the rest of you," he looked around the room. "I love you guys, honestly, I do."


He stepped away from Tori and made his way back over to the window, his eyes trailing along the hungry undead below us. Tori began to stir against Matt, gasping for air as she began to cough again. I ran to be beside her, brushing her hair as I tried to tell her she'd be okay. Grieco was right. She couldn't go on like this.


"Get her medicine," Grieco whispered, a stern look in his eyes. "And take care of yourselves."


"What are you doing?!"


Matt pushed Tori on me and stood up as quickly as he could, but Grieco was faster. I couldn't help but scream, a heart breaking scream, as Grieco tossed his body through the window and fell to the ground, the undead pawing at him before his bones even broke. We were all in a panic, Matt's eyes glossing over as he looked out of the window. We could hear him screaming and I thought for a moment we were all just going to break down, until one word caught our ears.


"Run!"


And so we did. With tears pouring down all of our faces, we grabbed our things and ran. Everyone but Rian. He lingered by the window, silently bawling his eyes out. Tori was with Matt, bundled up in his arms so he could carry her to the bus, but I remained by the door, watching Rian watch his friend die. He stuck his hand in the back of his pocket and pulled out his gun. For a moment, I thought he was going to kill himself, but he pointed the gun out of the window. I turned my eyes away just before he pulled the trigger. Grieco was no longer screaming.


He died to save Tori.

Notes

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