Chapter 18:

Millie watched me with great interest as I aimed my gun through the forest, watching for potential food. Michael was in front of me, doing the same. He suddenly found something and aimed his gun eagerly at the animal.
A buck. A huge one at that. One that could feed the entire group.
I stood back and covered Millie's ears as I waited for Michael to take the shot.
There was a pop.
But it wasn't from Michael's gun.
I stared in horror as Michael was thrown back onto the ground. His shoulder began to bleed profusely and he screamed out in pain.
I woke up.
I was sweating heavily and my throat felt raw and scratchy. My cheeks were moist from sweat and tears and my eyes ached.
I heard Dr. Weston get up and stand over me. He pressed a cold cloth against my head again and hushed me. My eyes became droopy again but the dream continued to haunt me.
"Your fever is spiking again," Dr. Weston said. I hardly made out what he said but eventually figured out the words.
Everything was blurry and echoey. I couldn't see straight or focus on one thing without seeing stars.
I moaned out and flopped onto my side, startling Dr. Weston and Barbara. Sharp pains erupted in my chest and I coughed painfully, feeling something splatter out in front of me.
I tried focusing on the strange liquid in front of me or the gasps of Dr. Weston and Barbara, but that was proving to be too much of a task for me so I gave up entirely.
The next thing I knew, Michael was pulling me up and holding me in his arms. I coughed some more, feeling the liquid come up again. I tried focusing on it again and finally saw the scarlet red liquid staining Michael's pale skin. I felt my heartbeat quicken at that and I struggled to sit up on my own. Instead, Michael held me tighter and hushed me.
"Hold onto him, Michael. I have to give him this shot," I heard Dr. Weston's voice.
Oh hell no!
I pushed against Michael with the little amount of strength I had. I cried out for him to let me go, but he only held me firmer. I felt so helpless and powerless so I resorted to biting him, realizing quickly it had no effect on him.
I felt the cold needle get pushed into my skin. I whipped my head around and growled, sounding like a feral animal. Dr. Weston pushed the liquid into me and I cried out when I felt the medicine burn my veins.
"Gavin, you're okay. This is going to help you. Hush," I heard Michael try to sooth me. I shook my head and tried to struggle against him again, realizing quickly again that I was much to weak to do much of anything, other than slump into his arms and sleep.
"That's my boi. You're okay," Michael whispered to me before I fell into another deep sleep.

I felt wind whip across my face. It was dark, the only light coming from the stars and moon. It was dead silent, except for the whistling of the wind.
I stood up straight and clutched the pistol tighter in my hand. I scrubbed at my cheeks and sniffled a bit before lifting up the pistol to a person's head.
"I'm so sorry," I croaked out.
The gun made its ever present popping noise as it went off. It sounded so much louder than a normal gun would sound like. My tears fell once again and I crouched down, crying again.
I awoke again to a dark room. I felt like the blankets around me were strangling me so I shifted a bit, pushing them off me. I heard someone in the corner of the room shift around and get up, approaching me.
It was Michael.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" Michael asked me gently.
"I don't feel like everything's spinning so I guess better," I croaked out, wincing at my cracked voice.
"That's good. Dr. Weston said the medicine he gave you should have brought down your fever," Michael told me, feeling my forehead and making a satisfied smile. "I guess it did what it was supposed to do, huh."
"I guess so," I smiled back at him, stretching out.
"For a while I thought you might actually die. Dr. Weston talked like you were slipping away," Michael told me, sitting on the edge of the bed and beginning to stroke my hair, making my eyes droop. I curled my body around his and placed my hands in his lap.
"I wouldn't do that, now would I?" I told him, smiling. Michael smiled too and shrugged.
A shiver ran up my spine as I recalled my string of dreams. I wondered if Barbara had told him about them, like I had asked her to. They were getting increasingly vivid, making me confused beyond belief on what they meant, if anything.
"You okay?" Michael noticed my discomfort immediately, like he usually did.
"Can I tell you something?" I asked him.
"Anything."
"Recently, I've been getting this string of incredibly vivid dreams. I'm not quite sure what they're supposed to me, if anything. But, I thought you should know since-," Michael cut me off.
"Cause they're about me," He muttered.
"Yeah. I'm guessing Barbara told you," I said to him.
"Yeah. I wouldn't worry about them, though. Everyone gets dreams like those once in a while. They'll go away soon, I'm sure," Michael told me, trying to reassure me.
I nodded, although I wasn't reassured at all. In fact, I was even more doubtful that the dreams meant nothing now. I had never had dreams this vivid before, and never about killing the person I love. I mean, yes, I've had dreams where I did go on killing sprees but usually everyone would come back to life for some odd reason or everyone turned to ghosts. But, I've never had dreams where I could feel these dark and depressing emotions inside me, calling out to me.
Warning me.
I shivered again, and Michael gave me a concerned look. I met his gaze and pleaded for him to understand what I was struggling with. Michael stopped stroking my hair and took my hands in his.
"Gavin, what are you thinking?" Michael asked me.
"Those dreams mean something, I know they do. Please try to understand that I'm scared for you, Mi-cool. Something's going to happen to you. Something..." I drifted off. "Please... Stay with me."
Michael stared at me, concerned for my sudden shift in attitude. He nodded slowly, crawling into the bed with me and curling up next to me. I clung onto him tightly, not wanting him to leave me, or die, or turn, or anything.
"Please... Don't go," I whispered as I drifted into an unsettling sleep.
"I won't, my boi. I won't."
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So, I wanted to update this since I haven't updated it in forever. Sorry it's not too exciting.
Thanks for reading. I really appreciate those who take the time to read this, vote, and review. It always puts a smile on my face when I see my notifications and it says 'so and so voted on your story' or 'so and so left a comment on your story'. Thank you all for this.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!