This Would Be Paradise (Book 3)

Chapter 32

I let out a scream that eclipsed whatever noise Ethan had made. He's a dead man. He got bit saving me. Ethan knocked the thing off of him and put a bullet in its brain. For a brief second our eyes met. Ethan saw the terror in my face and smiled. He fucking smiled, a sad smile, but a smile none the less. I got to my feet, the world having fallen silent around me. Ethan and I looked at each other, both knowing what came next.

"What the fuck are you guys doin'?" Lucas hissed.

His foot hit my Beretta so he picked it up and handed it back to me. I took it from him with a limp hand. Lucas looked from me to Ethan, his eyes landing on the blood soaking Ethan's torn shirt.

"We gotta keep movin'," Lucas said, his eyes still glued on Ethan's bite.

Ethan nodded and grabbed my arm, starting me up again. I was in a daze; my brain couldn't handle anymore. We ran toward the restaurant where our truck was parked as more infected planked us on all sides. The truck would have a hard time getting through this many infected.

"We gotta get inside!" Rose said, jerking her finger at the restaurant.

Lucas raised his gun and shot out one of the glass doors. I barely registered the infected I shot. All I know is that they went down. We piled through the opening and Lucas immediately turned over a table and shoved it toward the front door as a blockade.

"Grab every table you can!" he yelled at us.

I put my Beretta into my waistband and we began piling up all the tables, even throwing in a few chairs for good measure. Soon the entrance was clogged with furniture, the infected unable to get through for the moment. Ethan let out a pained gasp and hunched over, his hand pressed to his bleeding wound. I led him over to one of the booths and had him sit down. I lifted up his shirt to reveal the angry bite mark the infected had left. His bite location mirrored my own scar from the scratches I'd gotten months and months ago. The difference being that his wound was already festering, where mine acted like any old injury. His bite had taken on a purplish hue with the engorged veins running from it pumping the poison throughout his system.

Ethan looked me deep in the eyes, seeing the hopelessness behind them, before reaching for his gun. He pointed it at his head, but I managed to whack it away before he could pull the trigger.

"Let me do it! I don't want to be one of those things!" he boomed, reaching back for his weapon. I threw it out of range, the rifle clattering to the floor, skidding away from us.

"You might be immune too! Just wait!" I said desperately, trying to hold him in place.

We both knew it was a long shot, especially considering the state of his wound, but Ethan listened, eventually slumping against the booth seat. In the end, no one really wanted to die. Fighters would keep fighting until the bitter and bloody end.

Both Rose and Lucas cast me a sympathetic look. Why were they looking at me like that? Ethan was the one who was dying! Then they both took off to ensure the infected couldn't breach the restaurant for the moment, giving Ethan and I some privacy. Infected banged and clamored against the windows but we paid them no mind.

I didn't think it was possible to physically see the moment someone's heart broke, but when Ethan whispered Chloe's name, there was no denying it. Ethan grabbed me by the arms, a wild look in his eyes.

"Please take care of Chloe!"

I laid a hand on his. "I'll protect her with my life."

He slumped back down, tears streaming down his face. "I won't even get to say goodbye."

"I'll tell her whatever you want me to," I whispered.

"Tell her I love her and to not be sad," he said with a faraway look, like he was imagining telling her himself. "Tell her to be strong for the both of us-and to listen to you."