The Strong Will Survive

Chapter Fifteen - Lilith [EDITED]

 I paced the floor of our Costco, wringing my hands fearfully.

"Calm down," Benji said, a hint of panic undermining his words. "They're probably fine."

"I can tell you don't believe that!" I yelled accusatorily, stomping my foot in frustration as I stopped pacing. "This is the zombie apocalypse. People don't always come home. They don't always live. We aren't going to all go skipping off into the sunset holding hands and all that crap. We - are going - to die." I slapped the wall with every word in the last sentence, emphasizing my point.

"Wait, I thought a few hours ago you were talking about how everything was going to be okay."

"I was trying to make you feel better!" I threw my hands in the air. "I didn't actually believe it!"

Benji sighed. "Listen. I get it, you've lost people. Hell, if they're dead, I'm gonna miss them like crazy, too. Even KC. But it's out of our control right now. So we just need to calm down and decide what we're going to do next."

I thought for a moment. "You're right," I finally decided, marching into the belly of the Costco. I returned with a standard, plain, red notebook.

"Planning time," I muttered, brushing my hair behind my ears and digging a pencil out of my suitcase.

*

Just as I had boldly titled the page, "Rescue Mission," Benji caught sight of someone outside.

"Oh - " he gasped, then broke off with a curse.

I started toward the entryway to the Costco.

"No, Lilith, don't look!" Benji begged, grabbing my arm. I shook him off impatiently and hurried to the doorway.

Jared was staggering toward us through the entry area, head bowed over...

KC.

She was limp in his arms, face turned outward towards us. It was a mess of torn skin and blood.

"Oh, God." I dropped to my knees, my legs too weak to support me. "Oh, God," I said, over and over, unable to stop. Tears ran down my face and a ringing filled my head, drowning out all other noise. I watched numbly as Benji opened one of the inner doors and helped Jared in. Tears ran down my face and trickled into my mouth as I gasped at seeing KC up close.

She couldn't be alive, not with those wounds.

Could she?

"She's breathing," Jared said shakily. "Barely. She needs help." His voice broke. "Please."

"For now, we'll get her condition stable. Then I'll go get...someone." Benji's voice trailed off as he realized what he was saying.

Who? I asked. Then I realized I hadn't actually spoken. I felt incabale of doing so.

"Come on." Benji pulled me to my feet, but I stayed glued in place. "Hey, move, Lilith. KC needs you."

Just like that, I snapped into action.

Using various supplies found in the Costco, we were able to wipe much of the dried blood off of KC's face. We found a bucket and used it to hold water to wash her hair and exposed skin so we could see how terrible her wounds were.. I used gauze to hold a few torn-up white shirts on her forehead, head, chin, left eye, and cheeks, where the worst wounds were. KC looked slightly silly, lying there with her head almost completely wrapped like a mummy. Ignore the mangled flesh and it was almost like we were playing a prank on her while she slept.

I choked back tears.

We wrapped her in a blanket and laid her on the couch. Every ten minutes, I cleaned up the wounds with warm water and soap until they finally stopped bleeding. If KC was conscious, it would have hurt like hell.

The sun had completely set when KC's eyes fluttered open. She squinted angrily at all of us from around her bandages.

"KC!" we all shrieked.

"I know I was shanked in the face by a zombie, so that department is officially ruined, but does my hair look okay?" she rasped painfully.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry - so I did both.

Benji and I eventually left Jared and KC alone. As Benji dragged me out the door, I shouted last-minute wound cleaning and bandaging instructions to Jared. "I can handle it!" he responded to each command, waving me off. Laughing, I finally stopped resisting Benji's tug.

"What do you want to do?" he asked when in the entryway, resting the barrel of the gun he had grabbed on the ground.

I thought for a moment. "Visit Reggie."

"Who?"

I realized with a jolt that I had never introduced Benji to Reggie. Benji didn't even know Reggie existed.

I bit my lip and took a shaky breath. "He's...my little brother."

Benji's eyebrows shot towards the sky. Thankfully, though, he didn't comment.

I trudged toward my car, long dormant. Benji probably hadn't even noticed it, seeing as it was parked where Costco display cars usually were.

I heard crunching in the gravel behind me and spun to see my furball of a dog trotting toward me. I laced my fingers through her fur, grateful to have my mutt by my side. I hadn't seen Reggie in a long time and now that Benji was with me, I was nervous for entirely different reasons.

Benji sucked in a breath when I opened the backseat door to my car. He gazed, stunned, at the zombified little boy that was lying peacefully on the backseat, looking for all the world like he was sleeping.

Tears glittered in my eyes, both at Benji's reaction and at the sight of Reggie. "Can...can we be alone for a little bit?" I asked.

Benji nodded hesitantly and, with one last glance at my little brother, left.

I crouched next to Reggie and stroked his hair. The tears began falling again, hard and fast.

I hunched over my brother's body, and I sobbed.