Eli was barely staying afloat before the apocalypse. Working long shifts, taking care of his younger brother, and just trying to figure out what to do with his life.
When he finds his mom trying to take a chunk out of her youngest son though, Eli...
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
There was no way I could lose Mason like that.
No fucking way.
I wasn't allowing it, had it been by a bite, I would have understood and accepted it in the new world. But by getting snatched away from me by the water. No.
I was not going to lose the one person who had depended on me since the beginning of this. I've kept him alive in the face of our dead mother.
He was not going to drown.
But the hallowing fact that Mason wasn't the best swimmer didn't sit well in my stomach.
We had never openly swam in any type of water, he's a monkey in the trees, but in the water. I pushed myself faster, the air nipping at my skin.
Because if were being honest, I could find him face down in the water.
I had taken him aside as Harry was getting ready to walk across the tree, the lot of us nervous at the things that could happen on the water, what could be waiting under the water.
I had squatted in front of him, taken his arms into my hands and held him tight.
"Were going to go over the river." He nodded his head, the curiosity brimming in his eyes at the excitement of seeing those we haven't seen in so long. "Its not a game Mace." My voice broke as I cleared my throat.
"You have to be so careful out there."
"I know dad."
I tightened my hands around his arms as I shook my head. "You don't know Mason. If you get swept away, I won't be able to swim to you. Not with everything weighing me down, I would drown."
My heart had been pounding in my chest and I felt like I was going to throw up.
"You have to promise me to be careful. You're going to lower yourself on the tree when Harry and Amelia jump off, so you don't get pushed off. You're going to move so slow and make sure that your foot is secure before going. You can't slip Mason, do you understand?" When he didn't respond, I shook him slightly, his eyes widening as they meet my own. "You have to understand Mason."
"I understand dad, I promise, I promise I'll be careful." His voice was breathless as we got up, watching as Harry wobblily made his way out.
And then he was gone.
That splash would forever haunt my dreams.
The soaking wet luggage was weighing me down as I struggled to keep up my fast pace.
Harry and Amelia were yelling at me from behind me, but I didn't stop. My eyes raved across the open waters rushing fast as I searched for a head of dark hair. He had to be there. He couldn't be under the water.
The fast water had slowed down, and I nearly passed the figure on the rock. My eyes past the sopping wet figure slumped onto a rock, what caught my attention had been the red seeping in the water.
And that's when I saw him.
His head was gashed open, he was near the shoreline, his face turned sideways and pale. His body not moving.
I dropped everything off of my back, running to the water.
"Mason!" My voice was raw, I had been screaming as I was running for the boy I couldn't find. "Mason!" I ignored the bloated figures farther down the stream, the river taking them away as I hoisted the light figures body out of the water, making his face from the water.
Laying him down on the grass by my forgotten belongings. I momentarily forgot what to do. Everything that Red had ever told me flew from my mind as I stared down at an immobile Mason.
He wasn't breathing.
He wasn't breathing...
My ears were ringing as fury filled my body and my eyes welled with tears.
I didn't hear Amelia screaming until Harry dropped to my side.
"Give him CPR!" Her voice was breathless as she tried to catch up, her hair sticking to her face as she hugged her round stomach. "CPR Eli, now!"
Her screams jumpstarted my body as I straighten out the clammy body that made me want to hurl as I pumped his chest, after reaching 30. I cupped his head, pinching his nose and blowing air into his mouth.
Amelia dropped down beside us as Harry was dragging our dry clothing and towel from the one plastic bag, we had to shove everything in.
"Wake up, wake up." Amelia was whispering as she clasped her hands together, unaware of Harry rubbing himself and her down to prevent hypothermia from setting in.
A sickening crack had come from his chest and I paused momentarily, afraid I had done something wrong. "Keep going," Harry pushed. "Its means you're doing it right." Swallowing the sick feeling of the bones I just broke in his young body, I continued.
I don't know how long I had kept it up, but when Harry laid a hand on my shoulder and Amelia started crying, I knew it had been for a long time. I shrugged off the hand and continued. Not even two more compressions later, Masons throat began contracting and I fell back onto my heels as he spit up mouthfuls of water as he wailed.
"Im sorry!" He sputtered, his hand coming up to hold his chest where I had compressed. He sat up gingerly wincing if he moved too quickly, as he wrapped his arms around my neck. His body still too cold for my liking as he sobbed against me.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to fall. I couldn't get back up, I tried to kick, I tried so hard, but I couldn't get up and I hit my head and I fell asleep." I didn't say anything, barely hearing what he was saying as I held onto him.
My heart was racing the entire time we drug Mason out of his wet clothes and put him in his dry ones, my heart constricting at the sight of the black bruises blossoming over the expanse of his chest.
With the plan to make camp for the night and dry out belongings that are soaking wet, we set off with Amelia trying to carry Mason, but he refused and came over to me. I ignored the heavy weight on my back and Amelia's concerned glances as I held onto him tight, not allowing him to fall asleep as I tried to warm him up with my body heat.
It wasn't until later that night that everything hit me.
A small fire was going as everyone was huddled around it, Masons chest was lightly bound as his head was stitched up. Our belongings were hung to dry on the rope as I was up for watch.
I sobbed in the silence, angry at what I had allowed to happen.
And I felt so lonely.
I missed Isla so much, because I knew that if she was here right now, that she could be comforting me. Because she could know how much I was blaming myself in this moment, because this was my fault.
I should have had him stay right next to me. I should have made him crawl across the expanse of the tree.
There were a million different things that I could have done but didn't.
