Those Who Survive

Don't Give Up

Nate stands against the wall, an arm wrapped around his torso as he forces himself to breathe regularly despite the pain that refuses to subside. Ken's looking around the room as the banging at the door persists. They're standing in a bathroom, there's nothing in here that can be a better weapon than the knives they already carry, and besides a small window there's no way out. The window is far too small to be able to fit even a child through, so there's no leaving this room.

"Mark's probably up on the roof by now, using the fire escape," Nate replies softly, swallowing. He takes a breath before continuing, "That was the plan, to distract the Infected on the floor away so I could check the rooms for you."

Ken turns back to him, listening silently to Nate's explanation, "He's probably on the roof, so he could probably get back to the room from there. There's no way for us to get out unless the Infected at the door leave. which I doubt they will."

"You can't give up just yet," Ken assures him, smiling lightly before going back to taking a look around, "There's gotta be a way out of here somewhere."

"Where?" Nate asks, tired, "We can't get through that window and going out the door is suicide, so what?"

He coughs lightly, "Are we going to go through the vents like a bad action movie?"

Ken grins back at him, pointing out the vent in the far corner, the ventilation shaft seems big enough for them to climb through. Nate groans softly, "You can't be serious."

He eases himself to sit on the floor while Ken goes over and into a stall, standing on the toilet to reach before using his knife as a screwdriver to open the vent's cover.

...

Mark's really starting to hate this. He's sitting on the roof, exhausted. Running for your life takes more out of you than you'd think. He's trapped until he decides to go back down, as neither of the two fire escapes are anywhere close to the room his friends are waiting for them to return to. He has no idea how Nate and Ken are fairing, either, This was a bad idea.

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. What am I going to do? There's no real way he can contact his remaining friends in their little apartment, and he'd feel like shit if he got back and Nate and Ken hadn't made it yet. That would defeat the purpose of doing this in general. The Infected that were following him have spilled out onto the street, but none of them have tried to climb the fire escape, at least not yet. Maybe Felix was right, maybe this is where it all ends for us. We made it for quite awhile, the few of us that are left.

Mark groans, shaking his head, "I can't let myself think like that. I have to stay strong, for my friends. If we give up, we really will die here."

He pushes himself to his feet and looks around. It's getting late, shadows casting across the landscape as the sun dips down behind buildings. It won't be long before night takes over, and without the light, Mark will have a harder time finding his way back, "Better get going then."

Moving to the nearest fire escape, he leans over the edge to get a better look of the situation surrounding it. This side of the building is still bathed in the sunset's light, but the street below is where he had led the Infected earlier, and they haven't moved on yet. Looking beyond to the street ahead, his heart sinks as he sees a few runners zipping around, hearing their faint screams. More Infected than before is crowding the streets ahead, seemingly coming from the entry point of the town. The horde's here.

...

"Felix," Jack turns from the window, orange light cascading over him and filtering into the room. Felix looks up from where he's counting their supplies on the couch, blinking slowly. He takes in Jack's serious expression and he frowns, "How bad is it?"

"The horde's definitely here," Jack walks over, sitting on the couch next to his old friend, "I've never seen so many in the streets before."

"So we hunker down and hope they pass quickly," Felix replies, "That's all we can do, going out there now would be suicide."

"I hope Mark, Ken, and Nate get back here soon." Jack sighs, "I really don't like that they've been gone for so long."

"How long has it been?" Felix frowns.

"An hour, maybe more." Jack shrugs, "Can't really tell, but it's getting dark and I'm worried about them."

Felix sighs now, "I'm worried about them, too. I'm sorry if it seemed like I wasn't. I'm just.. Having a crises."

"It's okay to be scared, Felix," Jack looks at him, "You think I'm not? I've been living my life in terror since all this started. It's hard to sleep, and I'm always on edge, not to mention I've become really paranoid about how much supplies we use every day. Especially with Mark going all self-sacrifice on us every chance he gets ever since finding out he's immune. I'm honestly worried about him, he's always kinda been this way, but it's like it's enhanced now."

Felix nods, "I get it, all of it, I do. But.. I almost feel wrong for being scared, you know? I'm kind of a coward, and that terrifies me more than the stupid Infected. I'm terrified I'll get someone killed, like I got Mar-----"

"Marzia's death wasn't your fault." Jack cuts him off sharply, putting a hand on his shoulder, "There was nothing you could have done."

Felix looks away, clenching his hands into fists, "How would you know? You weren't there."

"You know," Jack sighs softly, his eyes soft, "sometimes people's deaths aren't anyone's fault. That's just.. Something we have to understand about the world now, more than ever. People are just going to die, we can't prevent it forever, and just because someone died with you around, doesn't make it your fault. You tried to help her, you said so yourself, but everything just happened too quickly. There were just too many Infected around, no one blames you for that."

Felix sighs, "I blame me. I let her out of my sight for a second and before that I kept my eyes on her all the time, because I was afraid of exactly that happening. I should have stopped her from running ahead."

"You couldn't have controlled her every move, Felix. You did the very best you could for her, and she knew that." Jack smiles softly, "We all know that."

Felix just nods, but he's not looking at Jack. Jack tilts his head lightly, "You know.. If it's any consolation, Tyler told me she never became one of them, so.. She's at least at peace."

Felix looks back at him at last, eyes wide. Neither man says anything for a moment, and then Felix starts to cry and Jack wraps his arms around him. In all honesty, Jack has no idea if Marzia turned or not, and he feels bad for lying, but without Tyler around to debunk it, he figures it's the best he can do to give Felix some closure. So he holds his weeping friend in somber silence, glancing back towards the window as the last of the sun's light is replaced with the shadows of the night. Guys.. Please come back soon, and please let everyone be safe.