Eyes of the infected ✔ [COMPLETED]

Chapter seventeen

 

I wouldn’t leave his body; I couldn’t even face the fact it was Lucas’ body and not just Lucas. The emptiness I felt in my soul was foreign, I’d felt complete grief when I’d said goodbye to my parents but losing my brother was finishing me off. I’d never felt such a longing for my baby brother and I needed Joel in my arms, it wasn’t just that I loved him anymore, it was that all we had was each other and I would raise him, it was my responsibility to make sure he grew up right. I just couldn't believe I would be doing it without my brother, I couldn’t believe he would never smile at me again, never tell a joke again, never just walk in a room and surprise me. I couldn't do it. I wasn't strong enough.
I never though he’d die. I worried about the others but I’d just assumed Lucas would be okay because you think no kind of fate would be cruel enough to steal away one of the last pieces of your life. I didn’t even know why he was dead in my arms, I didn’t know.

‘Harley…’ Keith was crouched next to me, I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my head, ‘Harley, I need to go speak to these people, I’ll be back in a second, okay?’
Even in my own bubble I could hear the grief in his voice with an undertone of complete anger that I wasn’t sure I’d heard before. I felt his absence as he left my side and I continued to sit staring at the closed eyelids of my brother, still willing him to wake up.
I was pulled from my trace by furious shouting which sounded suspiciously like Keith. Slowly, I lifted my head, just about able to see through the swelling around my eyes. I couldn’t believe it as my vision focused in on what looked like Keith squaring off with a man in the distance who was stood next to an army print truck. Several people were clamering out of the large vehicle and the man Keith was fighting with was holding a large object, it loo-
Oh god. A gun, it was a gun.
He killed my Lucas.

I was ready to get up screaming and kill this man, dying in the process if I had to but was halted as I saw Keith pull his fist back and punch the man square in the face. He went down like a tonne of bricks and I could only choke as several guns pointed at Keith, the collective sound of reloading making my blood run cold.
Not. Keith.
‘Don’t you fucking dare!’ I screamed like a banshee as I stumbled up from the ground, moving as fast as I could towards them. Sure enough, all their guns trained on me and as I got closer, I saw Keith furiously shaking his head at me, gesturing for me to go back. I almost fell several times on my unsteady limb but carried on going nonetheless.
‘Who are you?’ A middle-aged woman with hair pulled into a tight brunette bun asked me, narrowing her eyes. She was slim and sporting an army uniform; she couldn’t have been older than 35 but already had deep frown lines appearing on her forehead.
‘Who are you?’ I countered, shaking with fury, ‘Which one of you killed my brother?’
‘He was a threat’ the man Keith punched growled, standing unsteadily from the floor, ‘He would be infected now if it wasn’t for us. We saved him’.
‘Saved him?’ I spat incredulously, rage shooting through my body till I could practically feel my blood boiling, ‘He was fine! We’ve survived worse than him, you shot him!’

I turned round to see Percy perched over his body, watching us in confusion. I couldn’t save him now, I could only make sure he had a proper burial, a luxury nobody seemed to have anymore. The thought just about killed me but I was channeling my pain into anger. I would kill these people now, they didn’t deserve to live. Keith could obviously see my thoughts were in no way positive and moved to my side while the bulky man he’d hit stared angrily at him.
‘Harley, think about this’ he said in a soothing voice, hand on my shoulder.
‘Oh, I’m thinking’ I seethed, ‘Really, really clearly’. I stepped forward, shoving the brunette woman out of my way and making for the bulky man, all 6ft of him. He was bald and like the woman, looked to be middle aged. He sported the same army uniform and even had the same frown lines. I could tell these people had been through a lot, their frustration and anger was shared but I cared so little, they’d ruined my life.

With a steady exhalation of breath, I drew my fist back and reached to punch him in the face. It didn’t even have close to the same effect it had when Keith did it but I still remained satisfied when blood eascaped from his nose. While he stood confused, I took the opportunity to yank the gun from his hand and whip it round til it was pointing at him, watching in further satisfaction when his eyes widened in shock.
‘You little bitch!’
‘You’re in no position to call me a bitch’ I said bluntly, taking a chance to glance at the brunette who was pointing her gun at me and note the other officials who were surveying the area, out of earshot. Keith was cursing quietly and then telling the woman if she didn’t drop her gun, he’d kill her. I wasn’t sure if he was bluffing.
‘What are you waiting for, kid?’ he asked, accent similar to mine. So he was from around my area, how ironic, how awful.
‘You to beg’ I whispered, not recognising the words as my own. Was that really what I wanted? Keith didn’t think so and he told me as much, telling the man we’d leave, telling the woman to drop her gun.
‘Oh honey, you don’t know how to use that thing’.
‘I know how to pull a trigger’.

His face paled at my reply, glancing to the woman next to me.
‘Annette, shoot her’.
‘Don’t!’ Keith pleaded, ‘Look, you just shot her brother, she’s already lost her parents. You’re getting off lightly right now; the only reason I didn’t kill you is because I won’t die for scum like you. We’ll walk away if you do’.
‘I prefer living a fun life’ the man smirked, looking me up and down, ‘Give me the gun, honey. Killing me won’t bring him back’.
‘No, but I’ll feel better’.
‘You won’t, Harley’ Keith said sternly, ‘They’ll fucking shoot you, and then what? Joel grows up without any family, Percy loses probably the only person he’ll ever trust again. And what about me, Harley? What the hell do I do without you?’
‘You’ll all be fine’ I whispered but I was already lowering the gun. He was right, I didn’t want this piece of shit’s blood on my hands. Defeated, I launched the gun on the floor, turning away so I was facing Keith. Once more I tried to ignore the awful pulsing in my leg which was thumping louder than the people's voices around me but it was taking me over.

‘Oh, not so fast, ma’am’ the man smirked, ‘My name is Bruce’. He extended his hand to me and I fought the urge to spit on it, sneering at the man I hated the most in the world. I wanted to walk back and sit with my brother but he was even preventing me from doing that.
‘And we couldn’t give a shit’ Keith had with venom in his voice, taking my hand in his to lead me away.
‘No, don’t leave’ He glanced down at our hands, smirking again, ‘Ah, I see… Well, lovebirds, I’ll make you a deal. We’re supposed to clear the area of survivors and for every survivor, we get a hefty some of money. Besides, I like the spunk in you kids. Anyway, you come with and we’ll give your brother a proper send off, a real hero’s goodbye’.
‘Die’ I muttered, starting to walk away.
‘It’s a free pass outta here, girly!’
‘I’d rather die’ I replied to myself, fighting tears again.

‘Wait!’ a female voice called, different to the hard tone of Annette and far too feminine to be Bruce. I turned to see the rest of the officials had re-joined the group and a small sea of faces were looking at us curiously, mostly young men but a couple of women too. A particular woman had called to us, slightly plumper than the rest but still pretty and warm-looking with grey-green eyes and a nice smile. I almost softened to her but remembered fast enough the group she was part of - cold blooded killers.
‘Harley, is it? I heard him call you that, anyway…’ she stumbled on her words, ‘Look, I saw your brother, I saw him…’ she glanced at Bruce, looking almost as angry as I felt, ‘Saw him shoot and I know it’s awful, trust me, I know. But if you join us, your brother can be laid to rest properly and you can leave with us the way he’d want you to. Or you can stay and die and his death will have been in vain… I just…’.
‘His death will always have been in vain!’ I cried, wanting to strangle every person in front of me for showing up too late. It was heartbreaking to think that if we’d been even ten feet away in that bloody shop, we’d be home free out of this country and Lucas would have lived for seventy more years. They stole that though and so I’d rather rot here than leave with them.
‘Give us ten minutes’ Keith said solemnly, trying to lead me away. I yanked away from him though in complete disbelief, a new set of tears trying to escape from my eyes.
‘Ten minutes?’ I half yelled, ‘You want to leave with these people? They killed my brother!’
‘Its not what I want, it’s what we need’ he said quietly, reaching out to me. I shoved his hand away and stormed back to where my brother lay, Percy looking at me in wonder as I did.
‘Harley, please!’ Keith shouted after me, footsteps racing after mine.
‘Go away’ I said with such coldness in my voice that I heard him stop dead.
‘I’ll be right over here if you need me, Harley’.