Those Who Survive

Remember Things Already Told

The next few days were uneventful as Mark and his friends stayed locked in their apartment. Bored out of their minds, and relieved to be bored of all the things they've felt over the last seven months. Felix has counted their supplies five times over for the third time in the span of an hour, just so he has something to do and it freaks him out when he miscounts. Ken puts a hand on his shoulder, "Our supplies are fine, you can stop counting."

Felix frowns lightly, "Yeah, I know."

"I know," Ken smiles softly, "I'm bored, too."

"Who knew the apocalypse would be so boring?" Felix chuckles lightly and Nate glares at him. Felix rolls his eyes, "It was a joke, man, chill. We are still allowed to make those, you know."

Nate just looks away and Felix makes a face at him before looking away himself, shaking his head. Ken raises an eyebrow at him and Felix scoffs, "What?"

Ken shrugs, "You guys have to start getting along."

"Good luck," Mark smirks as Nate huffs, "We get along fine."

Nate and Mark stare at one another and then they both grin and laugh. Their laughter is cut short as Infected pound at the door. Ken puts a finger to his lips, signifying silence. Everyone is quiet as they listen to the sounds of the dead trying to invade. Felix stares at the wall, going over the very real possibility that they could all die in here, with no way out of here or out of town with the horde making itself at home, wreaking havoc. He sighs and stands, walking over to the window. He looks out, the sun casting a long shadow on him, covering the floor behind and up the front door.

He opens the window, wanting some fresh air, feeling restless. No one stops him, they all understand feeling stir crazy, they all feel it, too. The distant sound of the dead on the wind carries into the room, shrill, inhuman screams reach their ears. Nate hisses, "Shut the window!"

Felix rolls his eyes, but does as he's told. He shakes his head, starting back to where he had settled before on the floor. Before he even gets there, his eyes widen as he stumbles lightly, suddenly very dizzy. This gets everyone's attention, Mark is the first to stand, "Felix? You okay, dude?"

Ken stands and takes a step towards him, just as Felix suddenly coughs up blood and Nate stands, "Get away from him!"

The sudden shout causes the Infected at the door to roar and beat against the door with more force. Ken backs up, eyes wide and expression confused. Jack looks between Felix and the door with wide eyes. Nate's glaring at Felix, eyes guarded and body rigid. Felix is sweating, skin already a shade more pale and a few black veins can be seen in his neck. Mark takes a step towards Felix, looking around at his friends. He whispers, "Everyone, calm down!"

"He's infected!" Nate whisper shouts back, trembling lightly.

Jack stares at Felix, his eyes just sad, "It's airborne, guys, remember..?"

Ken just frowns and Nate shakes his head, "So? We can't stay near him or we'll catch it, too!"

Mark helps Felix sit against the wall, glancing back at them, "Go hide in another room then, I'll help Felix, I can't get sick."

Nate's the first to move towards the kitchen, "Come on.."

Jack follows reluctantly and Ken stares at them before he, too, heads to the bedroom to check on the baby. He looks back at Mark and Felix before he enters the bedroom, "Call if you need anything.."

The doors close, and Mark is left alone in the living room with Felix. Felix glances at him, he looks scared, covering his mouth as he coughs up blood again. Mark smiles softly, "Don't worry, you're going to be okay. I'm going to give you some of my blood, okay? It should stop the infection, it did for Stephanie."

Felix looks away, nodding. Mark moves back to the couch where his backpack lies against the left arm. He gets out a syringe and a small box of Band-Aids. It'll have to work. Checking to make sure the syringe is clean, he uses it to draw his own blood from his arm. He puts a Band-Aid where the puncture was, and quickly cleans the syringe before walking back over to Felix. He kneels down, taking Felix's right arm gently. Felix still won't look at him, breathing a little heavily. Mark frowns lightly and injects the needle into Felix's arm as carefully and accurately as he can, pushing the end to insert his blood into Felix's bloodstream.

Pulling the syringe out once done, Mark quickly puts a Band-Aid over the puncture wound and sighs, hoping for the best. Felix looks down at his arm, not looking convinced that his life is saved. Mark smiles softly, "Let's get you cleaned up, okay?"

"Don't waste the supplies on me." Felix replies, "Not until we're sure it'll work."

Mark frowns, "You should still get cleaned up.."

"Don't waste the water." Felix replies sternly.

Mark sighs, conceding, "Fine, you win. I'll keep an eye on you, and if you're any worse by the morning, we'll figure out what to do, I guess."

Felix looks away, nodding as he wipes the blood off his hands onto his jeans. He wipes the blood from his face onto his jacket sleeve as well. Mark sits across from him to wait this out. After awhile, Jack peeks out of the kitchen, whispering loudly as he calls for Mark's attention. Mark turns back, curious, "Jack?"

He sees Jack standing in the kitchen doorway, holding the top of his shirt up over his nose and mouth. Mark frowns and stands, jogging over, "What's going on?"

"It's Nate.." Jack replies.

Mark's eyebrows furrow and he nods, "Go to the bedroom with Ken, I'll take care of it."

Jack nods and runs past him. Mark enters the kitchen fully, and his eyes widen as he sees Nate curled up on the floor in the corner. He can hear his heavy breathing from across the room. He runs over and kneels next to him, "Nate?"

Nate doesn't respond and Mark reaches out, grasping his shoulder and shaking him lightly, "Nate, can you hear me?"

Nate groans in response this time and Mark looks concerned. He gently tries to move him onto his back and away from the corner so he can check his condition. Nate coughs up blood as Mark moves him and Mark can see it's not the first time, as evident by the blood on Nate's shirt. He frowns, Did this just start? Felix didn't react like this. Nate's barely responding to me.. Now that he can see Nate's face clearly, he can see the black veins creeping up his neck and some protruding from his temples. Ragged breathing and trembling, Nate looks much worse than Felix does, or even did when it started for him. Realization hits and Mark gasps softly, "Nate's been trying to recover from the gunshot for awhile.. His immune system isn't as strong as ours.."

Mark hurries from the kitchen and Felix looks at him, concerned, "Mark? What's going on?"

Mark doesn't reply, running over and snatching up the syringe he used earlier. If he does nothing, Nate will most likely die, and soon by the looks of it.