Chapter 12:

I chased after David while he had Michael over his shoulder. Michael was screaming a list of profanities that I couldn't ever dream of saying.
Geoff, Jack, Ryan, and Ray tried pushing him but nothing worked.
I got fed up and pulled out my knife. I charged for him, knife at ready but he just pushed me down, causing me to land roughly on my ass.
I watched him as he dunked Michael into the water. Michael's legs kicked out at whatever got near him as he was basically being drowned.
I stood up and ran over to them. David screamed at us to get back, that he would do the same to us if we got close enough. We listened to him, believing he probably would. If he could take down Michael, the strongest one in the group, he could easily take down any of us.
I watched in fear as Michael's kicking slowed down and came to a stop. He was dead. He was fucking dead! David murdered my one and only love!
I readied my knife again and pressed it against David's neck. He twisted his head, but that only resulted in him getting a shallow cut.
"I will press down more. Let him go, now," I growled. David stared at me for a moment before letting go of Michael's head.
I silently hoped Michael would jump up and strangle David but instead he just laid there, his head still in the water.
Jack and Geoff dragged him out. Geoff checked his pulse, his face becoming a shade back to his normal color.
"He has a pulse. He's not dead," Geoff said. I sighed in relief and watched as Geoff did CPR on him. I cringed when Geoff pressed his mouth against Michael's but I reminded myself that it was to save his life.
Suddenly Michael started coughing and Geoff held him up, close to his chest. He muttered words of encouragement to him, sounding like a father to him. Michael tried to hold onto him, but was apparently to weak to. He just groped harmlessly at his shoulder, trying to grip it, but failing miserably.
I felt David shift and I pressed my knife against his neck a little more.
"Don't you dare begin to think you can get out of this alive," I growled at him. He stayed still.
Geoff called over Jack and Jack picked Michael up with little effort. He carried him into the house, Barbara trailing behind him, and I watched as they left my sight.
Geoff came over to David and pushed his pistol against his head.
"You think you can get away with hitting Barbara, and nearly killing Michael?" Geoff growled at him. I rarely saw Geoff get angry in the short time I had known him, so this was quite a sight to see.
"I wasn't thinking," David croaked back. I suddenly felt a fire burn inside me.
"You damn sure weren't thinking! You're lucky I spared your life. I'm about ready to shove my knife into your lungs and see how you'd like to drown in your own blood," I hissed at him. David squirmed a bit but stayed still.
Geoff called up Ryan and Ray and they led David off. I saw them tying rope around his wrists and ankles to keep him from harming anyone anymore.
Once I made sure they were okay, I went inside to see how Michael was doing.
As I was walking into the house, I noticed a case in the corner of the living room. Curiosity got the better of me as I approached the the case.
I flipped the locks open on it and peered inside it. Inside was a bunch of coats, heavy coats. Coats that wouldn't be used during winter.
I sifted through the coats and saw there was gloves and reflective clothing. Hunters used to live here, obviously.
My hand touched something and I pulled it out. It was a beanie. A black beanie. It was soft and obviously could be warm if worn. I shoved it into my pocket and continued my way upstairs.
When I walked into the room, I saw Barbara and Jack standing over Michael while he was crouched over in a bed, Barbara rubbing his back while Jack encouraged him to continue to breath. He had a bowl in his lap and from what I could see, their was water and specks of blood in it.
"Come on, Michael. You can almost breath clearly. Just one more," Barbara started encouraging him.
"It hurts... I can't," Michael whispered back. I cringed at the sound of his raspy voice.
"And to think you were the person that thought he could do anything," Jack said. I was surprised but Jack's slight rudeness.
That got Michael, though. He glared up at Jack and leaned over the bowl a little more and let out probably the worst sounding cough I'd ever heard. Some specks of water appeared in the bowl along with some blood and Michael leaned back, Barbara taking the bowl and setting it on a dresser.
Michael finally looked up at me and gave me a small smile. I smiled back and walked over to him. Michael looked at Jack for a moment before taking my hand and massaging it.
"Did I scare you?" Michael asked, still smiling.
"Not so much you rather than the fact that I thought you were dead," I muttered. Michael nodded and looked back at Barbara, who was giving us a confused look.
"They're dating," Was all Jack said.
Barbara squealed and giggled happily before placing a wet washcloth on Michael's head.
"I think you should stay in bed for a while, Michael. Just until you're able to breath properly again," Barbara said. Michael nodded and leaned back a little more in the pillows.
Suddenly, a look of realization flashed in Michael's eyes and he looked at Jack.
"I hate to kick you out, Jack, but get out," Michael said.
"Wow, you carry a guy into their room and you get kicked out," Jack muttered before leaving, chuckling slightly.
Michael turned to Barbara and nodded to a chair in the corner of the room. Barbara pulled it up and say in it, looking at Michael intently.
"Barbara, why did David hit you?" Michael asked after a moment. Barbara looked down and started playing with her fingers.
"He used to do that before the apocalypse, he stopped for a little while after since we were a group but I guess he just got angry and decided to lash out at me again," Barbara admitted. I looked down, not knowing what she'd gone through.
"You do realize that he's a danger to the group now, right?" Michael asked. Barbara nodded slowly after a couple seconds.
"Look, I have to look after everyone in the group. And if he's a danger, then he shouldn't be with us. I don't even want to think about the nightmares some of the younger kids might get because of the scene that he made. And speaking of kids, what if he lashes out at them? The parents might kill him on spot. He needs to go," Michael told her.
Barbara looked down again and didn't say anything. I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes and I wondered if those were tears of relief or sorrow.
"He's all I have left of my life before. I lost everything. If I lose him to, then I have literally lost everything," Barbara said.
"But, Barbara, do you really want someone who hits you and tried to take advantage of you? You shouldn't. You're much to strong and beautiful to let anyone walk on you," Michael started again.
This time Barbara looked up and smiled. She took a deep breath before nodding and agreeing with Michael. Michael smiled too and Barbara bent down to hug him.
"Good. So, once I'm better, I'll make the announcement," Michael told her. She nodded and smiled at him one last time before passing me. I felt something fall out of my pocket and Barbara bent down to pick it up. She handed it back, I now knew it was the beanie, and she whispered in my ear.
"You know, Michael used to wear beanies all the time. You should give this to him so he doesn't have to be so self conscious about his hair."
She left the room then, which left Michael and I by ourselves.
I sat on the edge of the bed and pushed Michael's hair back. He closed his eyes in contentment while I played with his frizzy mess of curls.
I didn't understand why he was so embarrassed by his hair. Personally, I wished I had curly red hair. My hair was naturally straight and a fairly boring dirty blonde color, which a huge amount of people have. I had met few people with curly hair and never met a red haired person until I met Michael.
"Why are embarrassed by your hair?" I asked him.
Michael's eyes darted up to mind and his cheeks turned a little red.
"Have you not seen how frizzy and messy it is?" He asked me.
"Everyone's hair is like that," I reminded him, tugging at my own fairly messy hair to emphasize my point.
"Yeah, well it's never as bad as mine. Curly hair sucks," He muttered.
"You better take that back," I growled at him.
"Why? It does," He muttered stubbornly.
"Because I would kill to have curly hair. Straight hair is so boring and basically everyone I know has it. You should feel lucky to have such curly hair. Not to mention red curly hair," I told him.
Michael leaned back and smiled slightly.
"I couldn't see you with my hair," Michael giggled slightly.
"Well, I couldn't see you with straight hair," I retorted.
Michael smiled again and took my hand in his, squeezing slightly. He looked down at our intertwined hands and smiled even broader. I smiled too and reached into my back pocket.
"Here. You're gonna need it to keep warm in the Rockies," I told him, smiling.
Michael smiled back and instantly pulled it over his head, covering his mop of curls. I felt a little disappointed that I wouldn't be seeing his curls much anymore, but glad that I'd made him smile.
Before I knew it, he was pulling me down for a long and meaningful kiss.
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Alrighty! Michael's back with the beanies! Hehe this chapters his kinda cute, although not my best but whatever.
Thanks for reading! I really hope you guys are enjoying this. I'm putting a lot of work into the chapters I put up each day (I should be saying each week) and I'd really appreciate some feedback. I know I ask this a lot, but I am a budding author and I'm really hoping to someday make a career with writing so feedback would really help me in accomplishing my dream.
Thanks again for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed!