When All is Lost

Chapter 64

It became the longest walk of my life. I spent the entirety of it leaning heavily on others as my fever spiked to a heat that made me nearly delirious. The pain was excruciating without the adrenaline to distract me. Each step was like being stabbed all over again. Yet, somehow, just as the sun crested above the horizon, we reached our destination.

"They could be anywhere," Ray groaned in frustration.

"No," Patrick looked much calmer than he had before and I wondered if that was because he'd been handed my rifle. "They'll be at the fire station. That's where we're supposed to meet if anything happens. Every town has one."

Why didn't I think of that?

---

I jolted awake to someone prodding at my stomach. "I know you," I said, feeling as though my head was underwater.

The man blinked at me through his oversized glasses. The crack in one of the lenses cut across his dark gaze. "You helped me before," he answered softly. "You helped me escape."

I yelped in pain when he pressed down on a particularly tender area. The man's eyes squeezed apologetically. "My name is Teddy. I believe you have internal bleeding. I'm sorry to say this, but I'm going to have to open you back up."

Almost out of nowhere, Ian appeared, making me smile. I turned back to the man with the glasses. "Guess it's a good thing I saved you, huh?"

Teddy smiled. "Guess so."

"What can I do?" Ian asked.

"I have all the supplies, but she'll need something to bite down on." He turned to someone I didn't see and added, "I was hoping she wouldn't be awake."

Feeling a shiver run through me, I made myself stare up at the ceiling. "That would have been nice."

"Will this work?" Ian asked. I hadn't even realized he'd left.

"That's perfect."

Ian began to try and coax me to open up and I did only to be met with the taste of leather.

A belt?

It made sense that it would be left behind. It was hardly the most helpful thing to find in the apocalypse and yet, we'd found a perfectly good use for it.

Something cool hit the skin on my stomach and my nose tickled from the scent of alcohol.

"This is going to hurt," Teddy warned me.

So glad I saved you.

And it did. I felt hands hold me down as my back bowed from the pain. I screamed and screamed around the belt, but unfortunately, I was never met with the blissful darkness that I usually found when my body couldn't take it. Instead, I felt every moment. Every cut, every pull, every tug, and every burn would all be etched into me forever.

---

"I'm telling you," my sister sighed. "That's not how you do it."

It took me everything I had not to roll my eyes. "You do it then."

She took the doll from me and rearranged its hold on its ax. "It should hold it like this."

"If the doll holds it like that, then it has to use both hands," I sighed.

Emily quirked an eyebrow at me, blowing the long strands of her blonde hair out of her face. "What's wrong with that?"

"It's less efficient." I crossed my arms, feeling a bit smug as I looked down at my army of dolls.

Emily snickered. "What's it going to do? Dual wield? How much killing are you actually trying to do?"

Alarmed that she'd verbalized my secret so loudly, I leaned in. "I don't know," I told her in a hushed whisper. "I keep doing it wrong, but I'm trying to get better."