ZOMBIESTUCK ~ DECAY

21: Four Gone

Be Kanaya==>

Honestly, you weren't sure how to comfort Karkat or Rose. Rose isolated herself in the room Karkat and Dave had previously slept in; and Karkat was balling his eyes out beside you. He wasn't taking it well at all. You tried to calm him down so you could speak to him, but nothing you said was working.
So you just sat there, and let him cry. You ran your fingers through his hair. He had laid his head down on your lap, just like old times. Even though you're at the brink of death, you're still the one comforting him. How strange...

You look across the room and spot Dirk practically doing the same thing to Jake. He seems to notice you and he gives you a nod. You smile for a brief moment then realize Karkat had fallen asleep. You carefully push him off of your lap and shakily stand up. You feel faint, and a fever is beginning to kick in. You walked over to Dirk, taking a seat beside him.

"Hey, Maryam..."
"Strider..." You groan, holding your side, "Looks like we're in a pickle here."
"More like trapped in a gross, sour, liquid filled pickle jar. Someone shut the jar tightly, twisting the cap as far as it could go."

"Creative word choice," You gave a quiet applaud to him, "You're just like Dave."
"Where do you think he learned it from?" He laughed, "I'm the best. I'm gonna leave behind all my smart ass remarks with him. What about you?"
"Me? I'm leaving behind a damn sewing kit and hopefully strength to both Rose and Karkat."

"Same here for Jake..." He looked down, seeing the English boy fast asleep, "Kanaya... I'm scared to die..."
"I'm not..." You look down.
"Of course you aren't..." He sighed, "What if they don't have the guts to take us out when we turn or before we do? I'm scared we might bite them."

"If they can't do it, we'll just do it ourselves after we make our final goodbyes. Seeing the situations we are in right now, we probably have two to three hours of life left standing..." 
"You're saying I have to deal with this awful fever like feeling for three fucking hours?" He groaned, "I might as well just kill myself now." 
"Maybe it won't be so bad?" You keep positive thoughts. 
"Sure." Dirk rolled his eyes, "This is probably the worst thing I've ever felt." 
"Yeah..." 

Be Dave==> 

You stared at the lump of dirt. your eyes gazed up to the shitty sign you made to stick into the ground. His name was carved into the sign with a knife, some blood smeared across it.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you..." You kneel down, "I know you probably don't want me being this heartbroken over you, but I never thought you'd have such an impact on me, dude. You... You were kind of like an adopted kid, y'know? My kid. Mine and Karkat's... But... I guess I did a shitty job at being a guardian..." You laughed sadly, "I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree..." You wipe your eyes free of tears, "I'm sorry, Mayor..."
After standing in silence, you make your way back inside. You saw Karkat and Jake sleeping. Kanaya was talking to Dirk, so there wasn't any point in seeing him right now. You coudln't find Rose, though. 
You walked into the room that you slept in the night before and saw Rose sharpening a stick with a pocket knife. She looked up at you. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Sharpening  a stick..." She muttered, continuing, "What are you doing in here?" 

"I wanted to be alone for a while... I dug a grave for Mayor outside... I just sat there for a while and came inside. I was gonna talk to Dirk, but I saw him talking to Kanaya." You walked to her side and sat down next to her, "What are we gonna do?" 

"Well... I have a stick. What are you going to use?"