Something shaking me draws me slowly out of the sleep I had been in, but it doesn't completely pull me out of my haze. It is as if I am underwater or covered by a thick blanket, with the way my body is feeling. Everything is heavy, making it hard for me to do the simple act of turning over in order to tell the person who is shaking me to go away.

"Alden," a voice says, and it takes me a minute to match it with the guy I had met earlier today, Finn. "You need to wake up. We have to go to the hospital."

"Hospital?" I grumble, but I am pretty sure it comes out more like Hushpitoll. "'m, fine."

Finn lets out an irritated sigh from above me, and the blankets I am gripping tightly around me are pulled away, exposing me to the cold air in the room. A cool hand settles on my forehead, and I let out a blissful sigh at the contact. My body feels as if it is on fire, but I am shivering at the same time. It is as if my body cannot make up its mind whether to be hot or cold. That's when it clicks in my head that I must have a fever, and a high one too if I am this out of it.

"Come on, let's get you up," Finn says, and his arm moves away from my head, only to slide beneath me. His other arm wraps below my knees, allowing him to easily pick me up in a bridal carry.

"No hospital," I grumble, but Finn just ignores me. He walks us out of the room, and the clicking on the wood floors tells me that Harry is not far behind us.

"I know it isn't safe," Finn tells me. He sets me down on the couch, which I am very appreciative of. A plush couch is much more comfortable than being held by someone, no matter what the cheesy rom coms try to tell you. "But we don't have a choice. Your fever is much higher, and the cuts on your knee are badly infected. I don't think it's a blood infection, but a regular old bacteria infection can kill you just as easily."

"Can't risk it," I try to tell him, but through my barely opened eyes, I see Finn shake his head.

He paces in front of the couch, and this is the most agitated I have ever seen him, and we have run away from those crazy beasts together. His auburn hair is in disarray, looking as if he has been restlessly running his fingers through it. The pallor of his skin even makes freckles that I had not seen before stick out on his skin.

Who knew freckles could be so cute? I think to myself.

Finn stops his pacing and looks over at me briefly, his eye brows scrunching together slightly before he shakes his head.

"One of my best features, thanks," he says before resuming his pacing.

Huh, must have said that out loud. My bad.

Finn shakes his head again before running another hand through his hair, causing the strands to take on a new crazy position. "Not your fault. Your fever makes it harder for you to think clearly."

"Hm." Too tired to say anything else, I slump against the couch, hoping that Finn will just leave me here while he makes this dangerous trip to the hospital.

"We're going to both go, but when we get there, you stay in the car. I'll just run in, find the medication, and come back out. You can take it as soon as I make it back, and the infection should start to go away. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

The way his voice waivers at the end makes it clear how unsure and anxious this whole ordeal is making him. I don't blame him in the slightest. Going outside seems like the most dangerous thing to do right now. Even worse is that the hospital is in the middle of the city, only a few blocks away from the building we had escaped from yesterday.

So getting down there without being attacked by one of those beasts is highly unlikely, Making it into the hospital and grabbing the medication I need to survive another week is highly improbable. Finn doesn't seem to care about the dangers, though, since he is determined to go into the mess that makes up downtown.

Or maybe he does care about the risks we will face but is determined to go downtown anyway. Who knows, and my head hurts from all this critical thinking I am doing.

"Alden?" Finn sounds frantic when he says my name. Blinking open my eyes is harder than I thought I would be, the heaviness of them making it difficult. Finn is hovering in front of me, a worried expression on his face. "Okay, we don't have a choice anymore."

Not wasting another second, Finn picks me up in the same bridal carry as before, quickly carrying me out of the house and placing me in the passenger seat of the car.

At least it is dark out here. No hard lights on my eyes with my ever growing headache. But it is uncannily quiet. There are absolutely no sounds coming from around us, and that is almost more terrifying than hearing the growls of the monsters.

Finn runs back into the house, his footsteps heavy against the driveway. Keys jangle as he locks the door behind him, and he comes running back over to the car. Slipping inside, he throws some things into the back seat, one of the objects sounding suspiciously like a metal baseball bat.

The car lurches as he backs it out of the driveway, and the sudden motion isn't welcome.

"Sorry," Finn says in answer of my grumbles.

He drives in silence after that, not saying anything as we get closer to danger.

Sounds start to filter into the car once we reach the city lines. Even though I am pretty out of it, I can still hear the sounds of utter chaos outside. Sirens are blaring in the background, not loud enough to cover the growls of the monsters and the screams of the terrified people.

"Almost there," Finn whispers.

Peeking open my eyes, I look at the guy sitting next to me. His hands are clenched on the wheel so hard that his knuckles are turning white. Looking up at his face, it is easy to see that he is paler than normal, the freckles dotting his skin standing out even more. His brows are scrunched together as he gnaws on his bottom lip, his anxiety palpable.

"You sure you want to do this?" I ask, my voice raspy from exhaustion. "We can just turn back now and go back to the house."

Finn looks over at me briefly before turning his gaze back to the road. "I'm not just going to let you die, not when there is something I can do about it."

"But you don't even know me," I say. It's true, though. We have only known each other for a day, less than that really. He shouldn't risk his life for me, not when I am virtually a stranger. Not that I am not grateful because I am, despite the fact that all I want to do it curl up in a ball and not move until I feel better.

"Maybe not," he says, voice soft. "But you were with me when this thing started, so you are going to make it until the end."

Warmth spreads through me at his words, but the shiver that runs through me is definitely from the fever. Damn, it's hard to figure things out when you don't even have control of your own body.

"We're here," Finn whispers, and the car comes to a stop.

Peeling open my eyes, I take in the sight in front of me. The hospital is a complete disaster. Cars are scattered around the parking lot, more often than not parked haphazardly. People are running around, some rushing into the hospitals while others are running out. There doesn't seem to be any of those monsters, though, at the moment. But that is the only good thing about this place.

"You stay here and don't get out, no matter what." He unbuckles his seatbelt before looking over at me. "That includes trying to save someone."

"But-" Whatever I was planning on saying next is cut off by Finn opening his door and stepping out, his baseball bat in his hand.

He bends down one last time before shutting the door and walking off. "Stay here."

With a huff, I slump back into the seat. Fine, I'll stay in the goddamn car. It is not like I could save anyone in my state anyways. There aren't any monsters around anyway, so nobody is at risk of being in need of rescuing.

Closing my eyes, I decide to try to get some sleep while Finn is away being his heroic self.

Something making a horrible wailing sound jolts me from my sleep. I have no idea how long I was even passed out, but looking around, I see that Finn still isn't back yet. Probably only a few minutes then.

The wailing sound comes again, and now that I am awake, I can tell that it is coming from my right. Blinking away the bleariness in my eyes, I try to find the source of the sound.

Curiosity peaks inside me, and I know I won't be able to rest until I figure out what that sound belongs to. It isn't the high pitched screeches that belong to the monsters; in fact, it sounds surprisingly human.

Looking around, I see that no one else is paying attention to the sound. I seem to be the only one hearing it, or more likely, the only one stupid enough to want to figure out what it is.

No one is anywhere near the car, so I decide to investigate. Finn's words from earlier filter into my brain, but I shrug them away. Something about this noise pulls at my heart, and Finn isn't here to stop me this time from helping the person it belongs to.

With a shaky hand, I unbuckle my seatbelt. Just to make sure that I truly am the only one over in this section of the parking lot, I scan for any potential danger. Not seeing anything, I step out of the car.

Standing up is more difficult than I thought it would be. It feels as if my legs are about to buckle at any second. Steeling myself, I walk in the direction of the noise. Walking is becoming exhausting, but I use the cars around me to keep myself up.

The sound becomes louder the closer I get, and after five minutes of stumbling around and searching, I find the source of the sound.

Sitting inside the dark gray Toyota I am leaning against, is a tiny, screaming creature. Something that I have absolutely no experience with, but I can't just leave it in there. Not when at any moment, something in this now terrifying world could kill it.

Turning, the small thing looks at me, and that just seems to make it cry more insistently, squirming in the car seat holding it hostage.

A baby. The source of the wailing is a newborn baby. I have a feeling that Finn is going to be absolutely pissed with me when he comes back, but this is someone who I can save.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright, tiny human."