Chapter 19:

Gavin was slowly beginning to recover but his constant string of nightmares continued. According to him, they were becoming more vivid, and he was actually seeing more things with each passing dream. I tried my best to help him out with them, but I knew they were nothing more than dreams.
Or I thought they were nothing more than dreams.
I really had to stop thinking like that. Being paranoid during an apocalypse was never a good thing. Eventually your paranoia would become too much and you'd end up jumping off a building or shooting your brains out. Something to end the constant string of terrifying thoughts.
I sighed and made my rounds of everyone. Ray was helping me out and we talked about the random games we used to play before the apocalypse. With each passing day, I missed Achievement Hunter more and more. I never thought the day would come when I would actually begin longing for work.
I let my mind wander to the days when we would all lounge around the office and tell stories about each other. Geoff would talk about the pranks he used to pull on Jack and Burnie when he first started working for RoosterTeeth. Ray and I would talk about the pranks we were constructing for the others around the building.
"Michael, you okay?" Ray asked me.
I blinked quickly and looked at Ray, nodding quickly and continuing to walk around the building that we made camp in.
"If your worrying about Gavin, I can finish up rounds for you," Ray offered. I smiled gratefully towards him and raced up the stairs, leaving him to finish.
As I walking down the hallway, I saw Chloe standing outside Gavin's room with a disgusted face. I quirked my head at her, stopping in front of her.
"What's got you all disgusted?" I asked her playfully. She scowled at me and stuck her tongue out at me, making me smirk.
Chloe and I had become good friends within the time we had known each other. She was pretty badass and bitchy at times but eventually she does warm up to people. Her and Barbara had also become good friends and I had heard them ranting about random things from time to time.
"I don't understand how daddy can deal with sick people all the time. If I hear one person gag, I'm already running for the garbage can," She told me. I smirked in amusement until I realized Gavin might be throwing up.
"Wait... Is he..." I started. Chloe nodded and I instantly walked into his room, already feeling bad for him.
Dr. Weston was standing over Gavin while he threw up into a can. Gavin struggled to breath after each bout and Dr. Weston eventually leaned over him, pressing his chest down, trying to help him breath.
I gulped and stood next to Barbara, who was watching with fear in her eyes. I couldn't help but feel my heart break at how much it sounded like he was struggling.
When he finished, he collapsed back onto his bed and sucked in a breath of air. Dr. Weston began taking care of his vomit and Barbara dashed over to Gavin and started cleaning him up. I watched everyone do their own things, feeling slightly out of place.
"Well, as horrible as that sounded, and probably felt, that is actually sign that Gavin is getting better," Dr. Weston smiled, cleaning off his hands and turning to us.
"How?" Was all I asked.
"His digestive system is getting back on track which means the rest of systems will be following in pursuit. But because of the lack of use of the digestive system, it made him vomit which I was waiting for. I'm sure you'll be fine the next time you eat something, Gavin," Dr. Weston smiled.
"I better be. I hate throwing up," Gavin moaned, flopping onto his side and staring at me. "Especially when people I like decide to come in and watch me."
I smirked and walked over to him, kissing his cheek gently and sitting on the edge of the bed. I stroked back his hair and gazed into his eyes lovingly.
"You look a lot better. Do you feel any better?" I asked him.
"A little. It's still kinda hard to breath though," He informed me. I nodded and looked up to Dr. Weston.
"How long do you think it'll be before he's back on his feet?" I asked him.
"Well, I suppose it'll be a week at the most. He's still going to have a cough and chest pains for a while but those'll clear up eventually," He told me. I smiled and nodded, wrapping my fingers around his.
He really did look a lot better. He even seemed happier and more lively then when he first fell ill. It was nice seeing him like this again.
"Michael, may I speak to you?" I heard Dr. Weston say. I blinked and turned towards him, nodding. He led me into the hallway and gave me a slight smile.
"So, I don't know if you can tell but Chloe and I have been settling very nicely with your group. I've got another daughter, her husband and a little boy I've gotta watch over and living in the farmhouse isn't working out to well for us. I hope it isn't too much of a problem if we possibly joined your group," Dr. Weston addressed.
I gulped and looked down. We were already fairly low on food and supplies and there wasn't much chance that we could find more with the colder weathers and traveling. Five extra people who needed to be taken care of was a tall request as of right now.
Although, Dr. Weston was a qualified doctor and God knew we needed one within the group to keep us standing. Plus, he saved Gavin's life. I still hadn't found a way to repay him for that so perhaps this was how I could.
"I suppose it would be okay. But right now supplies are kind of tight. I can't guarantee you and your family will be going to bed with full stomaches every night," I warned him.
"That is no issue to us. We've gotten used to those conditions and we can bring plenty of our supplies to you. I promise you, Michael, you haven't made a mistake," Dr. Weston smiled and patted my shoulder before stepping back into Gavin's room.
What am I gonna do?

"What element is represented by X?" I asked drowsily.
"That's nonexistent, Mi-cool," Gavin giggled at me. I smirked and wrapped an arm tighter around him.
"I never did well with that whole... Periodic table shit we did," I told him, hearing him giggle again.
"Obviously," He responded, sighing gently.
"So, how much biology do you know?" I asked him.
"Well, a lot. Even though I was teaching I was still studying biology and stuff so. Why? Is there anything you want to know specifically?" He asked me. I shrugged.
"No. I'm just wondering," I told him.
We were lulled into a gentle silence after that. I felt my eyes getting heavier as the minutes ticked away. Gavin had already fallen asleep and his snores were getting louder as he fell into a deeper sleep. I tried not to giggle after each snore as to not wake him.
Apparently it didn't matter since the door was burst open anyway.
"Michael!?" I heard a shout. I was suddenly awake and alert, along with Gavin.
"What?" I yelped, jumping out of bed and approaching Geoff.
"We can't find Ray. But we found this note in his room," Geoff said frantically.
I didn't even need to read the note to know what it was about.
It was Ray's suicide note.
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I'm really sorry for the uneventful chapters that I've been posting for this. I'm trying to finish up this part, I guess you could call it, so I can continue on to more exciting things. So hopefully this'll be the last boring/filler chapter I post but knowing me the next ones probably gonna be the same way.
Anyway, thank you to those of you who have been bearing with me. It's means a lot to have you guys comment and stuff on my stories (and for just reading them), so thank you for that.
Thanks for reading!