Embers of Eternity (Book 8 of the Keyblade Legends Rainimator Fanfic Series)

Chapter 127: Panicking

Nina's POV

"FUCK!" I heard Damian shout, pulling out a sword and began to fight the zombies along with Jun.

No no no! 

Memories began to flood through my mind, and everything disappeared as I saw images flash in front of my eyes.

My father.

The experiments.

The virus.

The infected.

Father's insane laughing.

A hand pulling me away.

Running.

Gunshots.

A body falling.

Mother...

I couldn't move, not as Jun shouted for me.

I closed my eyes, trying to stay calm, trying to not cry.

Just trying to get those images out of my head.

Just wanting to be anywhere but here now.

These people fight zombies daily! And I can't fight five without having a mental breakdown?!

Why am I so pathetic?

Please don't look at me like I'm pathetic...

"Hey~ Nina? Can you hear us?"

I jolted back into reality to see  Damian, Jun and Hannah staring at me with concern.

Wait when did Hannah get here?

"Nina," Damian said. "The zombies are gone, don't worry. Nobody was bitten."

I knew that Damian was just trying to comfort me, but all he did was trigger more memories.

My fault that there was a zombie apocalypse back in my world. I should've stopped my father. I should've warned them...  

I  felt my body tremble. My heart rate started to pick up, my breaths coming in quickly. Tears started to form in the in my eyes as my  gaze looked downward to my lap.

No I can't be like this. I can't cry. I can't be seen as a crybaby now, I can't do anything right like this, I can't breath.

I can't breath.

"Nina,  are you okay?" Hannah's voice echoed into my mind. Her volume was barely audible yet it sounded like it was blasted through speakers at max volume at the same time.

I just shook my  head, not sure what to do to get them to leave, to get the crying to stop...

"Hey, Hey, Hey, Nina can you look at me?"

I couldn't look up, I couldn't move. It was if somebody had injected me with a paralysis toxin.

I felt my chin gently being raised up from its frozen position, showing Hannah looking at me calmly. The others were out of my view which made me grateful.

"I know this is all really overwhelming for you right now Nina but don't worry. I'm going to help you calm down. I'm going to stay with you the whole entire time."

Suddenly I felt my hand being unraveled from its tightly curled position.

Wait when did my hands curl up?

I watched my hand being moved by Hannah as she placed it onto her chest. I felt how steady and rhythmic the older girl's breathing was, shocked at how calm it was while my own felt like I was gasping for air.

"Just focus on how I breath. Let your mind focus on how steady and even it is. There you go, just focus your attention on me. Your doing great Nina." Hannah said gently.

I intently watched as Hannah's body went up and down with exaggerated breaths, trying my best to do the same. I took in as big of a breath as she could, trying to let it out but felt like the air snagged in my throat.

The feeling of the air being stuck in my throat caused the panic to return, thought it was quickly noticed by Hannah as she took my other hand and gently rubbed circles on the back of it.

"It's okay Nina, your alright. Try to go slowly. Let your breath out slowly like your trying to blow out a candle. Or like how the wind blows in the trees outside. Calm and gentle." she explained, allowing the analogy to click in my head and letting me release my held breath.

Dispite the nervousness within me, I  decided to try to take in another breath, this time following The older girl's tip.

Surely, as I let out her breath of air in a consistent stream, my body felt less tight and clammy.

"There you go. Your doing a great job Nina. Let's keep this up for a little bit longer." Hannah said gently, earning a nod from me as I continued the pattern.

Hannah's POV

It took a while for Nina to get her breathing back to normal but eventually, she managed to get it steady and back to its normal pace.

I smiled at the younger girl who looked more exhausted than she did before, seeing out of my periphery, I saw Damian and Jun rejoining us.

"Are you feeling better Nina? That must have been scary for you." Jun said, sympathy lacing his voice as the brunette gave a weak nod.

"Yes," Nina said. "Thanks Hannah."

Damian handed Nina a bottle of water.

"Here's some water for you Nina." He said, handing the plastic bottle to Nina who carefully took it in her hands. She slowly drank the bottle of water, letting out a relieved sigh.

"Here, let's get you to the Infirmary." Jun said, seeing the trio nod as Damian and I helped her stand on her weak legs, while Jun trailed behind his best friend just in case she collapsed.

Damian and I looked at Jun, silently asking him if he knew what prompted Nina's panic attack.

Jun lightly shook his head and mouthed. "Not now, talk later."

I nodded, ready to hear the story when Jun told us about it.