Friends Against The World (Book 1): Bite Me

by Walters, Geneva

  Chapter 25

  We arrive to Anthony's in a timely fashion and the sun just starts to set and unpack into the house quickly. Anthony's mom was long gone, she died during the initial attack at Avyanna's and his Dad was gone at the same time. We unpack everything and move the important things into the house, where we find Anthony's cat alive and well, and yelling for attention. As we bring the other two in and let them loose they fight but settle down quickly. Liam and Anthony disappear into the back, and I call after them to let me look at Liam's wound after, who sighs dramatically.

  The rest of us begin to choose our sleeping spaces for the night and arrange the watch schedule. It's decided to be three at a time for the night, for two hours shifts. We didn't want to waste too much of the day sleeping. James, Idris and Violet will take the first, Xavier, myself and Liam will take the second, and Avyanna, Anthony and Dainan would take the third, and last would be Lee and Quiyl.

  "Who needs blankets?" Anthony asked as he walks back into the room and flicks one of the lamps on, and we cheer at the light, and begins to hand out the blankets he gathered.

  "Can I have first shower?" I ask, and everyone nods their consent.

  I grab my suitcase and bring it with me to the bathroom and begin to strip out of my clothes. The brightly coloured towel I packed gets swung over a towel rung, and I let the water heat up. I jump in and quickly wash, letting the warm water soothe my muscles, and in under ten minutes I finish, stepping out and drying myself. My pajamas are laying on top and I slip them on, my boxer shorts and tank top sticking to my body. My hair drips a bit until I towel dry it, and I finish the last of my nightly routine. As I walk out of the bathroom Lee claims it.

  "Looking hot dearest." Xavier winks from where he is leaning against the counter in the kitchen, which is in-between the washroom and the living room.

  "With my clothes sticking to my body I look hot? Now is really not the time to flirt in a house full of other people." I tease and wring my towel up and gently snap it at him.

  "How do you know that doesn't excite me?" He walks closer, and his eyes darken with desire, before a book suddenly hits his side and he winces.

  "No! Bad new couple!" Violet exclaims, a bit of her old fire returning to her eyes. "No making out in the kitchen, Jesus!"

  My face burns and Xavier smirks, and goes to move closer and then another book flies and hits him. I step back with a laugh then return to the living room, and Xavier follows with two mugs of tea. He points to where he has us set up, on an old air mattress that was inflated while I was in the shower. I sit down on the corner of it and he hands me the tea after I arrange my suitcase. The air mattress deflates a tad when he sits down, and we snuggle into each other. James makes a gagging action and we chuckle.

  "Gross you guys." He comments, and Lee comes back into the room.

  "What did I miss?"

  "Xavier and Eva undressing each other with their eyes." James says sarcastically, and my face burns again.

  "So, what? Am I not allowed to look at her?" Xavier defends himself, and Lee smirks.

  "Oh, you are, we will just tease you every step of the way. But it's a bit uncomfortable for all of us if you keep eye-fucking."

  "Lee! Rude!" Quiyl fires back, and Lee rolls his eyes.

  The steam from the tea fogs up my glasses as I hide my face in my mug, and I look out of the side of my eye to see Xavier smirking proudly. I shake my head and sigh, and then Liam limps over to me and pulls a chair to beside me.

  "You said you wanted to check it?"

  "Oh yea!" I place my tea on the coaster on the side table, and Liam hands me a towel and the first aid kit we took from Dainan's.

  I open the kit up and Xavier helps me arrange what I need and grabs a garbage can as I begin to unwrap his foot. Some bandages come away soaked with red, and I use some of the clean bandages to wipe away some of the blood.

  "You should sleep with this foot elevated tonight, try and keep some of the blood flow away from the injury." I instruct and being inspecting the gash. "It's clotted but part of it keeps breaking open...You might have a scar, but at least you will always remember Lee."

  Liam chuckles and Xavier peers over my shoulder then rustles through the first aid kit for something, and hands me a large plastic package. I open it and find a large swath of gauze and some surgical tape.

  "You are a genius my dear." I compliment, then apply the bandage to the worst of the gash, taping it down after applying some cream on the gauze.

  Liam winces as I clean some of the gash with some more rubbing alcohol and then I finish bandaging up and Anthony helps him to the couch, where he lays down with the hurt foot on the arm of the couch.

  "Nurse Eva, you don't bring any joy to my life." Liam comments, and I pick up my tea again after tossing the bandages in the garbage can.

  "But I also stave off infection so do you prefer that to a little bit of pain?" I ask, and Liam nods in defeat.

  As we begin to relax a loud banging sounds from the door, and we sigh. As Anthony gets up to check some banging happens from the back door as well and we all draw our blades then. Liam moves to get up, but I push him back down as a hush comes over the room, Avyanna clicks the lamp off so the room is plunged into darkness.

  Then the sound of shattering glass from the back and a few of us begin moving towards the back as a loud wailing soon follows. Dainan, Lee and I soon pass through the kitchen and then are at the back door. I peek through the window to see an infected staring at me, and I jump back. In one swift move Lee has the door open and Dainan has shoved the infected back a few feet. The infected falls and the moment it hit the ground Lee follows with his knife to its neck.

  A groaning sound from the darkness behind the tree to the side of Anthony's house and then two more infected come into view. As I raise my blade to defend myself another blade passes through its neck and Xavier comes into view, and I smile. As soon as most of us are out of the house more infected come into view from the field beside the house. I look around to see that Avyanna and Idris stayed in the house to help Liam defend it.

  "Let's kick some ass!" Lee triumphantly yells, and I sigh, then follow when he takes off running at the horde.

  There looks to be about ten of the infected, and their voices raised when they noticed more humans. We pair off and begin to take them down, two on one infected. Xavier and I quickly dispatch two of them and the rest of our friends do the same. As the shrieking gets cut off one by one, a more human shriek echo's through them, and I watch as Quiyl falls to the ground. Lee is quickly by her side as we finish up. Xavier takes off at a run to the house shouting he is going to get the kit and I kneel beside Quiyl.

  "My arm hurts..." She gasps through mumbling and I quickly scan the rest of her before focusing on her arm.

  The dark red blood is gushing from a long slice in her arm, a few inches long, appears to be caused by a blade of some sort. I look around her to notice one of the infected is clutching a blade in its dead hand.

  "Holy hell, they can wield weapons?" Dainan kicks the hand and the blade falls to the ground with a metallic clatter.

  Xavier drops the kit beside me and I open it, thinking to myself what to do. I grab the rubber band and place it on her upper arm, then press some clean rags to her arm to put some pressure on it.

  "We should get in the house." Anthony announces, standing over where we are kneeling and looking around, the streetlight above only illuminating a few feet around us.

  Lee looks to me without words and then moves to carry her, an arm behind her shoulders and then her knees, her injured arm facing me. We slowly stand, and I keep the bandage held. We begin to walk towards the house and Quiyl puts her head to Lee's chest, mumbling her sounds of pain. Violet holds the door open and Avyanna is clearing a spot on the floor to lay her down. Anthony, Dainan and James head to the back to begin nailing the back door shut.

  Avyanna hands me some towels after we get her on the floor, and Xavier takes over as he has some more experien
ce with deep cuts. Lee moves into a sitting position and begins to pet her hair. I help Xavier by handing him clean rags when he needs them, and he soon has the bleeding slowed down significantly, then looks to Lee and then to Quiyl.

  "We are going to need to stitch this, and I have only done it once. Someone find my bag, there should be a first aid manual in it. Quiyl, do you trust me?"

  "Yes." The single word answer holds so much, and Xavier begins to pull what he needs from the kit.

  Xavier quickly begins dressing the wound and I move over to by Liam, who is looking quite sweaty. I place my hand on his brow and feel how warm he is, and trade looks with Xavier without saying words.

  Quiyl winces as the needle and thread drags through her skin, Lee smoothing her hair and hands Xavier what he needs. He soon finishes up and helps her sit up, then moves her arm so it is diagonally across her chest, her hand on her shoulder. Xavier grabs a loose sling from the kit and ties it around her arm, and she relaxes her shoulder to let her arm hang in the sling.

  Lee moves to the couch on the other side of the room, opposite of Liam, and helps Quiyl up to sit on it. Xavier comes over to by me and does a cursory check of Liam, before gesturing for me to follow him into the kitchen, where Idris is chatting with Violet. Anthony, James and Dainan walk through the kitchen with boards and tools and begin to board up the front door.

  "What's up?" Idris asks us, and Xavier rubs his hand on the back of his neck before making eye contact.

  "Liam is not getting any better, we need to get antibiotics. Any of the houses we have been too, do you remember if we got some or not?" Xavier tells them, and they shake their heads.

  "I am not entirely sure, I know mine didn’t, but I didn't clear other people’s bathrooms." Violet mumbles, and Idris agrees.

  "Yea I don't think we had any at my house."

  "I don't feel comfortable about leaving Liam for a full night without any antibiotics, he needs to start fighting it now." Xavier tells us, just as James, Anthony and Dainan walk in.

  "Is he that bad?" James asks, Xavier answering silently with a nod.

  "His fever is climbing by the minute and his foot is oozing some pus, indicating some infection. It's better to catch it early I am sure we all know."

  "At this point do you think we should make a run to the pharmacy to raid it?" I ask, and Xavier thinks for a moment before indicating his agreement.

  "I think it would be for the best."

  "Well who should go?"

  "My car is the best for hard driving and I have the brightest headlights." Idris offered.

  "Sounds good, we can't have both of our good fighters here though, so I think Anthony should go with you." I say, and Anthony nods.

  "I'll go, Avyanna knows the house layout the best so she should stay."

  "I'll go with Idris." Violet volunteers.

  "And I should go because I know what we need. We should keep the forces to a minimum out there so, Eva?" Xavier turns to me. "You should stay. I promise to return in one piece and you and I have talked medical plenty of times, I think you'd be best to keep an eye on Liam."

  I nod my agreement with a look in my eye. "If you don't come back I will hunt your ghost down and resurrect you."

  Xavier smirks and kisses my cheek, before him and the chosen few get ready for the expedition. Anthony goes and updates the people in the living room the plan and I bring a chair over to sit by Liam.

  "All this fuss for me?" He groans, the fever clearly making him uncomfortable.

  "Of course, you are our friend and mean a lot to us." I say back and look him in his eyes. "To me. Even after all this time all I want is for you to be happy."

  He smiles and then begins to drift off into a fitful sleep, and I get a blanket and lay it over him. Xavier comes over to me and kisses me on the mouth, before grabbing his duffel bag and heading to the kitchen window. They only put a few boards over it and left that one open to leave, every other window boarded shut. Anthony muscles open the window and props it open, before jumping through himself to check for infected.

  "All clear, a few in the distance but hopefully we will draw them away with the car." Anthony says quietly back through the window.

  Idris helps boost Violet through, and then follows. Xavier is last to go, and we catch eyes one last time from where I am sitting, the worry showing in my eyes, which he winks at me. He lands outside the window with no sound and Dainan moves to close it firmly. He comes back to the main room and I look around at who is still here. Liam groans, and his eyes crack open as an engine starts and then roars off, getting quieter.

  "To...cold." He mumbles, and Avyanna hands me the blanket which I drape over him.

  The time passes slowly, the worry for our friends choking the air, some small conversations happening. I move the chair to be near Liam's foot and unwrap it, letting it air a bit. Then I move over to check Quiyl's wound, who is napping against Lee. Liam begins to stir after about twenty minutes.

  His hand reaches out from under the blanket and clutches my arm, groaning in pain from his foot. I hand him a water bottle and he drains it, his skin shiny from sweat. Dainan hands me a towel to wipe his face, and I do so gently.

  "I hope they are back soon." Avyanna voices the thought on all our minds.

  "What did they go to get?" Liam asks quietly, and I note in my mind the progression of the fever.

  "Medicine for you, to get you better." I answer, and Dainan and I trade worried looks about the forgetfulness. "Now do you mind if I put some more healing cream on the wound?"

  He shakes his head quietly and I move to do that, noticing how hot his skin is everywhere as I apply it.

  Another half hour passes, all of us keep our eyes glued to the clock besides occasional napping from the injured, I sit in the chair and get lost in my thoughts.

  How had the world turned upside down so quickly?

  Chapter 26

  A full hour passes before we here the crunching of gravel and the engine shutting off. Dainan and James wake and move to open the kitchen window, and I turn in the chair to keep an eye. The kitchen window is a large one, almost two feet wide and three feet high, and Dainan presses the window from the bottom. James reaches out and they give him a bag. He places that down then helps Violet through the window. Then Idris follows, Anthony and finally Xavier, who closed the window then was tackled by me, and I wrapped him in a tight hug.

  "Eva, I am fine. We are fine. Minimal infected which Anthony quickly dispatched with the help of Idris and we got enough antibiotics to last us a long, long while." He kisses the top of my head and I release him, his hand moving from my back to my cheek. "We are safe. Now, shall we save Liam?"

  I nod and release him, and he picks up the bag again, walking to the living room while the friends find their significant others to reassure them. I grab a bottle of water from our supplies in the kitchen and follow, Xavier checking Liam's wound as I arrive. He digs through the bag and finds two bottles, tossing one to Lee and holding the other.

  "Quiyl should take one every four hours until those stitches heal after we remove them." Xavier tells Lee, then opens the bottle and pulls one out for Liam.

  I move to beside Liam and gently shake his shoulder, until his eyes crack open, and he immediately begins to move the blankets off him. I help him push them away and Xavier hands me the pill.

  "Liam?" I ask, and he catches my eyes, a haze of pain covering them. "Can you swallow this for me?"

  He sits up a bit and I hand him the pill and the water bottle, and he quickly downs it, then lays back down. Xavier wraps his foot back up as Lee convinces Quiyl to take the pill and she falls back asleep.

  "Okay we might want to rethink this watch timeline. It's midnight now, I am wide awake, so I can stay up for the first one. How do you guys want to do this?" I offer, and Xavier comes to beside me.

  "If I am up for the first watch I get a longer time asleep, so I am game."

  "So, we have an odd number of people who are fit to watch so I ca
n join you guys." Dainan mentions. "How about next is James, Idris and Violet? Then next can be Anthony, Avyanna and Lee. That way we all get about six hours cause us three can wake up for the final watch."

  "Sounds like a plan. So, we claim the back room, because you know, its my room and my house." Anthony jokes, grabbing Avyanna's hand and walking towards the back of the house.

  "Far air mattress!" I claim, and Xavier nods.

  "We can take this couch." Lee motions to the one he is sitting on. "Quiyl has to sleep sitting up for now and I can just lay the length of it."

  "We can take the middle double air mattress." Idris points, and Violet agrees.

  "So, I will take the single mattress near the door and Dainan can take the recliner if that is okay?" James asks, and Dainan nods.

  We get some dining chairs from the kitchen and arrange them in the doorway leading to the kitchen from the living room. Xavier hands me my blade and lays his across his lap, and I follow suit. Dainan copies, and we meet each others’ eyes.

  "Who would have thought last week that we would be sitting in Anthony's house, knives in hand, trying to survive the end of the world?" Dainan poses, and we shake our heads. "Because I know that thought did not cross my mind."

  "I am worried what I am going to find when we get to my house." I speculate sadly, and Xavier wraps an arm around my shoulders.

  "Whatever it is we will deal with it." Xavier confirms, and I look to him, angry by his response.

  "I'm sorry, what did you say? Deal with it? Because for myself I cannot imagine just dealing with my parents in such an emotionless tone." I snap, and Xavier turns to me with an annoyed look.

  "It's just an expression, I didn't mean to actually brush that off. Geez Eva, don't take everything so serious." He reprimands.

  I turn my chair, so I am facing towards only Dainan with a huff, and Xavier groans.

  "Don't be such a child."

  I stand and whip around to face him, my cheeks flushed in anger. "Excuse me?"

  "You heard what I said, there is no need to be so angry over just a phrase."