A Shout From Outside

At the sound of the new person outside, River pulled his bandana up over his nose, grabbed his empty gun, and tore off down the hall. Michael followed with a little whoop, digging a pistol from his jacket, and Daniel grabbed a very large hatchet that he'd set just outside the door.

Instinct made me want to go and help, but Keanu blocked me with his arm, drew his gun, and ran out without me.

I instead joined Jade and Corey at the window, subconsciously biting my nail as I heard the guys thundering down the stairs. Moments later, they'd ran around the side of the building, and I saw their figures reach the person in the middle.

Keanu grabbed the one who was limping and threw an arm around them to help them move away from the dead, and Daniel swung at one of the oncoming walkers and split its head.

River pulled the person from the stranger's shoulders and carried them in a fireman's carry, sprinting through the throng of dead bodies to reach the building. Michael fired three rounds at the oncoming dead, all of them reaching their intended target, which gave the lot of them a good head start to make it back to the door.

River's feet pounded up the stairs, and he shoved his way back into his apartment with an unconscious girl over his shoulder.

He gently laid her down on the couch, where Corey had hastily moved all of my stuff off of it. Without a second glance, River ran back out of the room and into the hall to see if he could help the others.

This left me, Corey, and Jade to assess the damage. I started barking orders left and right in a panic. The girl was bleeding from a head would, and her leg was sliced open. She, like Keanu, would need stitches. She also needed to stop bleeding fifteen minutes ago.

My own blood ran cold at the sight of all the sticky red blood. My stomach turned in the worst way. Would it be absolutely heinous of me if I turned and vomited right now?

I started feeling lightheaded and forced myself not to look.

"Corey, gimme a towel," I slurred, holding in my lunch that I didn't even eat.

Corey ran off to grab me towels, and I heard the door open again. Keanu held a girl with both her arms thrown around him. She was pale as snow and couldn't seem to walk, and that was a good sign she was about to pass out. Keanu put her in a chair.

"Reeves! Get her on the ground, feet above the head!" I barked, slapping a hand to my mouth in fear of fainting myself. Keanu obeyed without question.

Daniel helped the guy into the apartment and got him on the kitchen table. No visible blood, no passing out, that guy is last on the list. My mind immediately assessed the situation as Corey handed me three towels, which started soaking up the blood.

"What's her name?" I asked in a panic, gesturing to the girl with the bleeding leg.

"Her name's Sam, that's Emma, and I'm Wil," he answered all in one worried breath.

"I'm sorry, Sam," I said under my breath to the unconscious girl as I cleaned the wound with an alcohol pad. Her blood was on my hands. I wanted to be sick.

Michael was kneeling by Emma, who was fading in and out of consciousness. He held both of her feet in the air to get the blood back to her head and keep her from passing out.

"How long has she been bleeding?" I asked Wil.

"Half hour, maybe," Wil stammered. "She was bit but seconds later I cut the bite off."

My stomach lurched. I couldn't help it. My fingers stated shaking and I forced myself to look at Wil. He was skinny and tall, and his brown hair was kind of shaggy and unkempt. I wondered where they had come from.

"What happened to her?" I asked, referring to Emma as I kept my head forward.

"Dehydrated, I think. I don't know. She just started. I think she twisted her foot, too," Wil's voice was shaking.

Suddenly, Keanu was behind me, both hands on my shoulders.

"You can do this," he murmured into my ear. I felt his hot breath and it focused me, despite the tears gathering in my eyes.

I threaded the needle. I didn't want to do this. I wanted literally anyone else in the world to do this. But Michael and Jade were taking care of Emma, Daniel and River were looking over Wil for marks, and if Corey or Keanu tried to help, they'd get in the way.

I shut my eyes and steadied my hand. I took a deep breath. Then, I sewed her leg shut.

My hands and arms were covered in another human's blood, but I had not taken their life. Hopefully, I had just saved it.

I'd never been so thankful that a person was unconscious. I wouldn't have been able to do it if she was awake and in pain. Keanu was behind me the entire time, from the threading of the needle to the last stitch. He was holding onto the back of my neck with his enormous hand, and sometimes his thumb would trace in a circle or catch the string of my necklace.

I didn't want him to take his hand away. I feared that any loss of contact may have resulted in my own passing out. There was something so simple in Keanu's demeanor that made me feel okay in a not-okay situation. It was very strange. I didn't like my willingness to trust him.

I was shuddering on the floor after stitching Sam's leg, and Keanu wrapped an arm around me. Corey took the other side and tried his best to stop me from shaking. Something pulled me to my senses and all emotions stopped. I carefully untangled myself from the two of them and looked at Wil.

"How many walkers have you killed?"

Wil looked up at me from where he was playing with an old band aid on his thumb.

"Uhh.... fifteen maybe?"

"How many people have you killed?"

"Three," he stated blankly.

"Why?"

"They asked me to do it," Wil said, holding his eye contact with me. His brown eyes seemed so full of truth.

I nodded, and looked over at Daniel.

"Does he have any marks?"

"Bruises, nothing else,"

River finally pulled his bandana down from his mouth and stood up, pressing his hand to the back of Sam's forehead to check and see if the fever had started. The fever was usually a deciding factor if the person was infected.

"She's not warm," he said gently. "She just needs to wake up.

"You saved her," Wil noted, still looking at me. "You saved her life."

"It was a team effort," I said shyly, uncomfortable with the praise. "River brought her up, Keanu carried Emma, Jade saw you in the first place..."

"You all saved us," Wil seemed to correct himself. "How can we thank you?"

I was about to say that all we did was carry two unconscious girls into an apartment, lay them across furniture, and that, very possibly, they still might die, but River cut me off.

"What supplies do you have?"

Daniel, River, and Wil began talking business. This small group hardly had a penny to their name. They had no guns or ammo, and they were out of food, but they did have a spile for getting water out of trees and matches to light fires.

Jade went with Corey to sit on the couch, and he put an arm around her in a comforting way, both of them trying to forget the gore they'd both just seen.

Keanu and Michael were both tending to Emma as she came back into consciousness again. She sat up and groaned, using Keanu as a support.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked. She shut her eyes against the light, and Michael pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket for her to wear.

"Been worse," she whispered, "do you guys have water?"

Keanu got up to get the water for her, and I followed him to the kitchen.

He started filling a glass with water, and I stood next to him.

"Long day, isn't it, Reeves?" I sighed.

"You're telling me," he breathed, "I go out for a supply run, then hours later, I have seven new people I have to worry about."

He gave me a small smile, "I don't mind them all, though."

My heart sped up when he said that. I don't think he was talking about me, but it almost felt like it, and I didn't know what to think.

"Hey Reeves?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh... thanks. For the whole --you know-- stitches thing,"

Keanu smiled down at me, now very close as he tried to pass me by.

"It wasn't much, especially after you were willing to fix my hand,"

"I did what I could. I hate blood," I shuddered.

"I never would have guessed. Good job. Really." His smile was golden. It made me smile, too, for the first time.

"Thanks," I dropped my eyes to his feet, noticing how close we were. "Reeves?"

He stopped again.

"Is it okay if I hug you?"

He welcomed me back into his arms for another quick hug, and it was just enough to stop my knees shaking.

He smirked at me before going back to bring Emma her drink.

I watched him from the kitchen, because there was a large opening above the sink. He returned to Emma and she drank gratefully. Michael was holding her up.

River was in the chair next to Jade with his head in his hands, stressed out, and Jade made a movement to take his hand. He looked up at her, shocked, and then just left her to hang on to him.

Corey caught me looking and gave me a thumbs up and an encouraging smile, like he knew I needed it. I tried to return it.

I thought about the past few hours, and how my skills were needed twice already because no one else had the guts to do what I just did. I felt the chain on my neck, and I was overwhelmingly happy that I didn't pull the trigger this morning.

Thanks to 80s_wil and 80sweirdo for the characters! Please note, the characters that are not included in this chapter are still going to show up, just in different ways and different times. This is the apocalypse after all 😉