While We Fall (The Eva Series #2)

Chapter Seven

“Please,” Martin whispered again. “I don’t want to die.”
He fell to the ground, clutching his head in his hands as he began to weep.
Wyatt and I glanced at each other, confused by his sudden shift in demeanour.
Neither of us approached him, too suspicious of his intentions. We knew it could be a ploy to get us close enough for him to attack us.

“We know, mate,” said Wyatt, sympathetically. “We don’t want you to die, either. But if you’ve been bitten, you’ll turn. Do you really want to be one of those  monsters?”
Martin didn’t say anything, instead he just sobbed louder and louder.
“Please, Martin,” I begged. “Tell us the truth. Are you infected?”
I only needed to look at his face to know there was something horribly wrong with him, but I wouldn’t let him be killed if we couldn’t prove he had been infected.
Distraught, he pulled his legs up against his chest and buried his head behind his knees. Slowly, he started lifting his jeans up to reveal the skin of his right leg.
My head fell in sadness when I saw it.

The flesh of his calf had been bitten into, and the skin around the wound had already begun to rot.
“Maybe we can cut it off,” Wyatt suggested. “Stop the infection before it spreads.”
Martin just shook his head. “It’s no use.”
He shifted around, wincing in pain as he lifted the back of his shirt.
Another red raw bite had been taken out of the skin of his lower back.
“I’m sorry,” Martin cried. “I just… I knew if I told you, you would leave me. I didn’t want to die alone. Please, don’t let me die alone.”
I looked at Wyatt, unsure of what to do. He looked just as pained and uncertain as I felt.
My heart ached for Martin, and I knew that if it were me sitting there on the dirt, slowly mutating into one of those killers, I wouldn’t want to die alone, either.

“What do you want us to do?” I asked him, crouching down in place to look him in the eyes.
“Just stay. Please,” he replied, a tear falling onto his cheek as he pleaded with me. “Just until I go. Then… do what you need to do. Destroy my brain.”
“We’ll need to tie you up.” Warned Wyatt.
“Do whatever you need to do,” repeated Martin. “Just don’t let me become one of them. Promise me.”
“We promise.” I replied.

I climbed back into the RV, making sure I didn’t let Dixon out. If he got close to Martin he would tear him to shreds within minutes. After searching through my backpack, I pulled out some rope and ran back outside to tie him up.
“I’m really sorry,” I said as I began tying Martin’s wrists together behind his back. “But we have to do this.”
“I know, it’s ok. I’d do the same thing if I were you.” He replied, keeping still while Wyatt tied his legs together, carefully avoiding the contagious bite on his leg.
We finished tying the rope as tight as we could, stood up and took a few steps back, unsure of what to do next.
“You better step back further than that.” Martin murmured, struggling to keep his eyes open. “I can feel it growing. It won’t take much longer.”

Wyatt and I stepped back just as Ben was beginning to regain consciousness.
“Ben?” Jo asked, still by his side. “Can you hear me?”
Groaning in pain, Ben slowly sat up and started rubbing the back of his head. He took one look at Martin sitting on the ground in front of him and jumped to his feet.
“What the hell happened?” He yelled.
“It’s okay, Ben,” Said Jo, standing in front of him with her palms up. “He’s tied up. He’s dying.”
“So you are infected.” Ben glared at Martin.
“I’m sorry.” Martin whispered, his head hanging in shame as more tears dripped onto his lap.
“See? He’s sorry, Ben,” Jo said, and she pushed him back towards the RV to be out of ear-shot from Martin. “He doesn’t want to die alone. We’re going to stay with him until…” she trailed off, but he knew what she meant.
“Why should we? If Eva hadn’t have spotted the signs, he could have killed us all.” Ben grumbled back, making sure his words were loud enough for Martin to hear.
“What if it were you, Ben?” Jo snapped, I could see her frustration growing. “Wouldn’t you want some compassion shown to you? Or would you want to spend your last moments alone and terrified, knowing what you’re about to become.”
She stood her ground, her eyes blazing with determination. It wasn’t until Ben sighed and nodded his head that she backed away and came back to stand next to me.
We all sat down against the RV and started to wait for the inevitable.