Not The Last {Rough Draft}

Chapter 14: Stay Strong

  I couldn't tell w ere the bullet had hit. Everything was a blur. I felt somebody grab me by the shoulders and push me back into the building, hard. More people rushed forward and attacked Ash, Nile, Trent, and Van but they fought back. I still couldn't process anything correctly. I couldn't fight back. I was frozen and that was precisely the thing my attacker wanted. He grabbed me by my shoulders and slammed me against the building, again and again and for some reason I couldn't do anything.

  "Astrix!" Nile yelled. That's when I snapped out of it and as soon as I had snapped out of it I punched the guy that was attacking me in the face with all my force. There was my ass kicker that I had been missing.

  I jumped over the man who now lay on the ground with blood streaming from his nose. I was attacked by a girl that had straight, long, blonde hair and dark blue eyes that were almost green. She looked no older than 13.

  I swung my leg around and kicked her legs out from underneath her. She squinted her eyes as soon as she hit the ground and jumped back up. I saw a glint of metal that had to be a knife. I quick took out mine and our knives clanged together.

  "Astrix Richards I presume?" the girl asked. I widened my eyes in shock.

  "How do you know who I am?" I growled. She smiled and the knife flew towards my face. I ducked and jabbed my knife at her. She did a back spring and landed on her feet.

  "Ever heard of the government?" the blonde girl asked. I rolled as her knife sailed towards my neck.

  "You work for the government?" I asked. That took me off guard a little bit and the girl was able to kick me in the chest. I fell onto my back and she jumped on me holding down my hands and legs.

  "You put together stuff so well. Prepare to die you bitch!" the girl yelled. She raised up her knife but it was knocked out of her hand. She looked around in confusion only to be attacked by Ashley.

  I stood up and ran over to a struggling Nile. He was fighting off three different people and was doing a really good job. That is until one of the men's fists connected with his jaw and it threw off his rhythm.

  I jumped on the back of one of the men that was a foot away from Nile. I wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled back. The men fell back and I jumped off of him, punching another man in the face as I did so.

  Nile had the last guy on the ground and unconscious in a matter of seconds.

  I looked around and saw that what was left of Beige's group was retreating, including Beige and the girl that had attacked me. Beige looked back at the bodies that were lying on the ground and smiled a terrifying smile at one. I followed his gaze and felt all the air go out of me instantly.

  "Jeff!" I screamed running to his side. Ashley, Trent, Van, and Nile all followed me instantly. I fell by his side and looked at the bloody wound he had in his chest, just centimeters from his heart. Ashley and Trent fell by me too and Ashley let out a cry of sadness and pain.

  "Nile? I think you're the most educated on wounds here. Is there anyway-?" Trent started. He was trying to hide his terrified expression but couldn't.

  "No, we are too late. He's lost too much blood and the wound is too close to his heart," Nile whispered quietly. It was hardly audible but we all heard it.

  Jeff's eyes opened slowly and his eyes rested on both of his kids.

  "You'll be... okay," Jeff choked out. That was enough for Ashley to crumble into tears. "I love you both. Couldn't have had better,"

  Jeff turned his eyes to me. I was actually surprised when he did so.

  "Take care of them for me. They trust you and I trust you," Jeff was able to get the whole thing out before he took a large breath of air.

  "Yes, I will. They'll be fine," I said, tears brimming in my eyes. Someone had just asked me to keep their family safe.

  Jeff smiled and gave a small nod to both Van and Nile. Ashley grabbed his hand and he squeezed Ashley's before finally letting his eyes close and going still.

  Ashley let out a cry and tears started pouring down her face. I put down my head and tried to contain my tears. I wasn't about to show everyone that I was letting my guard down when we needed it most. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Nile. He had an expression of sadness and was trying to contain it. I heard Trent get up suddenly and walk away. After a moment Van got up and followed him.

  Finally it was all too much for me and a tear streamed down my face. I didn't have to see Victoria die but I watched Jeff die. Jeff, the person who took me in. Jeff, the reason I was still alive. Jeff, the person that had saved me from death more than once, was dead.

  I heard Ashley get up and sigh before saying, "We need to bury him," I swallowed and looked up not caring about my tears anymore.

  "Yeah," was all I could say as I stood up. Nile nodded and went to look for a place to dig the hole.

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  "You should really get some sleep or something. At least go inside. It's too dangerous to be out here at night," I heard Nile say behind me. I hadn't heard him walk out of the store. I has been sitting against the building for at least four hours now and it was dark.

  "I'm staying out here," I said. The only light was from the full moon and the few stars. Nile sat by me on the ground. I looked away not wanting him to see the tears in my eyes or on my face.

  "You don't have to be strong all the time," Nile said. I looked at him and he was looking at me with concern.

  "Who said that I thought that?" I said trying to cover up my lie.

  "Well for starters you get away from people when you are at your worst. You always feel like you have to be threatening and you hide your face whenever you cry. Nobody can be strong all the time, Astrix," Nile said. He had actually been paying attention to what I did. Me, the kid that everyone ignored, and he had noticed me.

  "But I do. I can't be weak around anyone or else they will take advantage of it," I said letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

  "Not you, X," Nile said smiling. "You can't hold this up forever. If you don't release tension or stress in an apocalypse, you might lose control," I knew what he meant.

  I sighed again and closed my eyes. I felt a hand wrap around my shoulder and my head fell against Nile's shoulder.

  "Thanks," I said.

  Nile laughed and asked, "For what?"

  "Making me realize that I have been being really, really dumb this whole time," I said. I lifted my head off of his shoulder and looked at him. His dark brown eyes looking at me thoughtfully.

  "You're not dumb. You're anything but. You are one of the smartest people I have met which is funny cause I only met you a few days ago," Nile said smiling.

  "Honestly I'm not all that smart. I may have been before all of this but I think I lost all of that," I said smiling back.

  "You still seem pretty smart to me," Nile said. Before I had a chance to think Nile leaned in and kissed me. I was frozen from the shock, then relaxed. I didn't even feel guilty about it which was probably the worst thing. After what seemed like forever we pulled away.

  We didn't even say anything. He wiped the tears off of my face and I smiled at him and laid my head back onto his shoulder and enjoyed the cool, September air.

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Author's Note

*GASP* So do you ship Nastrix or Kystrix? I can't choose. I think I like Nile more though... Even though Kyle may or may not be dead.

So read on, vote on, comment on, fan on, and FEEDBACK ON!!!