Zack's After Story

Fever Craze

*Eddie's pov*

"Eddie! Help!" That's what I woke up to this morning. I bolted upright so fast it made my head spin. I recovered quickly to see why Leah was screaming.
"Eddie! Do something!" She screamed louder with tears in her eyes. I looked over where she was pointing to see Emma with Leah's knife gripped tightly in her hand. She was really sweaty and her eyes were bloodshot, and she was breathing hard.
"Emma? What are you doing? Put that knife down." I tried talking to see if I could get to her. I've heard of fevers from wounds that can make a person senseless and do brainless actions.
"I have to die now! I have no purpose in this fucking world!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs. She then tried to stand up but failed and fell to the ground screaming in pain.
Leah and I both ran over to ger while she was distracted to try and get the knife. But she recovered fast and figured out what we were trying to do.
"No! Don't try to stop me! You won't be able to, not even I can stop myself." She panted.
"Emma please, you're not thinking straight, let us help you please!" Leah begged.
"There's no way you can help me now, I'm pretty much dead already!" She sounded like she actually believed this stuff. I decided to take action, I grabbed my shovel slowly and glanced at Leah.
"Eddie....... No.......please." Leah begged while tears streamed down her face.
I raised my shovel above the sick girl's head and heard Leah start to sob. I whacked the back of Emma's head and she collapsed, dropping the knife next to her.
"No! Emma!" Leah crawled over to her friend and cried for several minutes before suddenly stopping, all going quiet.
"Are you okay Leah? I'm sorry I ha-" "Eddie! She's not dead! She's just unconscious!" She said happily hugging me as tight as she could squeezing out the breath in my lungs.
"L-leah. C-can't br-reath." I gasped.
"Oh I'm so sorry!" She said letting go so I could breathe.
"It's okay don't worry about it." I looked down at Emma. How is she not dead? Everyone who I hit like that died instantly. What was different about her? Did I not hit her hard enough?
I hadn't realized Leah was looking at me.
"Stop Eddie, you're not gonna kill her, not when she has a chance to live." She said with authority.
"But you heard what she said right? She said she doesn't have any purpose here anymore. Why let her live with no purpose?" I asked.
"And you believe that? Eddie, I love you, but sometimes you really need to use your head." Ouch, that hurt. But good comeback for her I guess.
"She has a bad fever, and she's not thinking straight. And you might've just made it worse when you hit her head." She explained.
"I understand that, but what are we gonna do now? We can't just stand here until she dies." I pointed out the obvious.
"We have to find shelter somewhere, and medical supplies." She said.
"Right now?" I asked.
"Yes, now." She leaned down to pick Emma up but winced in pain. I stepped over next to her and put my arm around her to support some of her weight.
"Let me, you need to save as much energy as you can so you can heal. I can't lose you Leah, understand that please." I half whispered in her ear.
"Okay just be careful and take a break whenever you need to okay?" She was concerned for me? Why? I wasn't the one who was hurt.
"I will don't worry. Let's go." I said while pulling the other unconscious girl into my arms. I hope Leah doesn't get jealous, I'm just trying to help our little uh group here. I don't think of Emma any more or any less than a friend.
We walked back in the direction of the shed and we hope to meet Zack there when he returns like he promised. But I've learned over my years not to trust or rely on promises. So I have no idea if we will ever see Zack again.
I just hope everything will turn out alright in the end.