warning: mentions of blood and death. read at your own risk.
Z O E E
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Zoee wakes up frantically, her eyes wide and full of panic and she sits up on the bed. Her cheek aches as she opens her mouth to call out for anyone. Her first instinct is to call for her mother and her second Peter, but her jaw hurts too much to even try. She places her hands on the bed to stand up when her hand touches a cold pack. She blinks to clear her blurry vision and she finds herself sitting on Peter's bed in his room.
She picks up the cold ice pack and presses it against her aching cheek and jaw, closing her eyes at the ice-cold sensation. As she sits there with her eyes closed, she starts to wonder what happened since she was just going to the corner store. All of a sudden, everything starts going back to her.
"Zoee, would you mind going to the corner store to get some pain medication? My head hurts and there are no pain killers left." Laura Atkins asked her daughter who was laying on the couch under a blanket, reading a book.
Zoee checked the time on her phone and saw that it was pretty late, almost nine o'clock at night. It was super dark out already and she didn't feel like going out. She lightly shook her head, putting down the book and looking up at her mother with pleading eyes.
"Please Zoee?" Her mother continued, grabbing at her head. "My head hurts too much for me to go down there myself."
Zoee tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling for a couple of moments before reluctantly getting up. She approached her mother who gave her a kiss on the forehead and handed her a couple of dollars. Zoee grabbed her sweater and slipped it on, zipping it up and putting the hoodie over her head.
She made her way out of the apartment building and started her way to the corner store a couple of blocks away.
She saw the familiar lights of the corner store a couple of feet away when she heard someone yell, "Somebody stop that guy!" Zoee watched as a man with chin-length hair and dark sunglasses ran towards her direction.
She didn't think twice as she sprung into action. She ran to the man and pushed him, knocking him down. In the process of running, her hoodie fell off revealing her brown hair in a messy ponytail. The man fell down, his gun dropping and sliding across the sidewalk. The man looked up at Zoee and was quick to stand up and lunge at her, punching her hard right where her cheek and jaw met. Zoee collapsed to the floor, holding onto the bruise that was forming on her face.
Because of the pain, Zoee was fading in and out of consciousness, her vision blurring. She heard grunts of two men fighting and within the blurriness of her vision, she saw an older man wrestling with the man who hit her.
BANG!
The Atkins girl jumped at the loud gunshot that rang through the air. The older man rolled to the floor, holding onto his abdomen where the gunshot wound was. Zoee sat up and crawled over to the man to try to help. She pressed her hands to the wound to help with the bleeding. She looked up to the man's face to see if he was still awake but then gasped at the familiar face.
Ben Parker.
She stumbled back, tears clouding her vision even more. She looked down at her wet hands, making out the red blood staining her skin. Her head shot up when she heard the familiar voice of the cries of Peter Parker.
"Call an ambulance!" He screamed in agony. "Someone call an ambulance!"
She watched as her best friend cried for his dying uncle before everything went black.
Zoee opens her eyes again, feeling them wet at the memory. She gasps out a sob, dropping the ice pack as the tears freely run down her face and chin. An arm wraps around her shoulders and she looks over to see Peter with his phone pressed against his ear, his face wet with fresh tears. She hugs him fiercely and together they sob at the loss of Uncle Ben.
♡
The following day at school, Zoee watches as Peter approaches his locker, a somber look on his face. He opens his locker and starts to take out books when Flash calls out for him. Zoee's face hardens as she can't believe the bully has to pick on Peter, especially today. Zoee is sure the whole school knows what happened to his uncle so Flash has to know too.
As Eugene starts to talk to Peter and put a hand on his shoulder, the Parker boy grabs his collar and shoves him up the wall full of lockers. The crowd of walking students gasp along with Zoee and stop to watch the scene play out.
Flash surprisingly apologizes for his uncle dying, making Peter break down, let him go and walk away. Zoee feels her face cold and wet, not realizing when she started to cry. She watches him walk off and when he stops in front of Gwen Stacy.
Gwen wraps him into a comforting hug and for the first time Zoee is glad she did.
i couldn't stop crying as i rewatched this scene. rip uncle ben.
