Jaxx swept through the door, his mouth set in a frown.

"Morgana. Get everything off the counter."

Morgana nodded. She let go of Gwynth, taking a moment to lower her to the floor, before rushing to the counter. There was a cash register on the counter, a metal stack containing the latest health and fitness magazines, a handful of protein bar wrappers that had been eaten due to boredom, then abandoned due to the lack of taste.

Morgana swept everything on the counter, wincing as the items crashed to the floor with a bang. She had never liked loud noises. They scared her, reminded of her youth, of her father's violent outbursts.

Morgana shook her head. She stepped back from the counter - just in time for Jaxx to dump Katherin down on the newly cleared surface.

"Katherin!" Esther shouted, her sneakers squeaking against the floor as she sprinted across the room.

Jaxx whirled around, pulling Esther into his grip. He shot a glance at Raven, who had rushed in behind Esther, warning her not to get any closer.

Esther and Raven had been watching the zombie. They hadn't been comfortable without someone guarding it. No one had wanted to watch the zombie by themselves either.

"Let me go! Jaxx!" Esther's voice rose in hysteria. She clawed at Jaxx's forearm, bringing blood to the surface of his skin.

"Esther, I'm going to need you to step back," Rosabelle murmured.

"What happened? Why won't you let me near her?"

Jaxx grabbed Esther's shoulders, forcing her to focus on him instead of Katherin's lifeless figure.

"She's going to be okay, alright?"

"That's not an answer!"

"She's bleeding out," Gwynth pursed her lips, hobbling into the main area on her crutches.

The crutches were too small. They were meant for a child. Gwynth hadn't wanted to take them, she was perfectly capable of walking on her own, but Ivory had insisted. If Gwynth put too much pressure on her leg, she'd make it worse.

Gwynth didn't care. They were all going to die, anyway.

Esther's eyes widened in horror. She pushed past Jaxx, ducking under his arm to grab Katherin's hand.

"You're a nurse. Help her!" Esther demanded, her teeth set as she glared at Rosabelle. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind Katherin's ear, carefully pulling the glasses from Katherin's face.

They were cracked. Esther wondered if Katherin even noticed.

"Why did you tell her?" Jaxx shouted at Gwynth, his eyes ablaze with fury.

"Did you really think you could keep it a secret?" Gwynth's tone was dry, amused at the situation that was unfolding.

Jaxx took a step towards Gwynth, intending to sweep Gwynth's feet from beneath her.

Raven ran to Jaxx. She pressed her hands against his chest, trying to stop him from doing something he'd regret.

"Stop it!" Raven begged.

Jaxx grabbed Raven, lifting her and placing her out of his path.

Gwynth found ill-amusement in the bickering of her friends. What was the point in fighting? Their noise was only attracting the attention of the zombies outside.

The zombie in the caged room was throwing itself against the bars. Its nose was bloodied, fingers mangled from clawing at the steel bars.

Gwynth could smell blood. She couldn't tell if it was Katherin's, or the zombies. It didn't really matter, anyway. Both of them were as good as dead.

Jaxx pushed Gwynth backwards.

Morgana rushed between them.

"Can you just shut up? I can't save Katherin because I can't fucking hear my own thoughts over the sounds of your bickering!"

The room fell into silence.

Rosabelle huffed.

"I need gloves."

Raven nodded, eager to leave the tension of the room. She scoured over the pharmacy floor, hoping to find a box of gloves. They had raided the store when they'd first arrived - tipping over shelves to barricade entrances and picking over the remaining items for food.

The gloves had to be in the caged area.

Raven grimaced. She wanted to go back, to find someone else to go with her, but she didn't dare risk angering Rosabelle further. It wasn't worth it.

There was a box of gloves. It was stuck, pressed against the steel bars of the cage.

Raven stepped towards the cage, tugging on the box.

It wouldn't budge.

The zombie turned its head.

Raven tugged at the box again. Her palms were sweaty, her hands slipping off the plastic on the box.

The zombie ran at Raven, crashing into the steel bars in its desperation to feed.

Raven jumped back.

The box fell to the floor.

Raven darted to the box.

The zombie's limp blonde hair tickled Raven's neck.

Raven grabbed the box, her fingers digging into the flimsy plastic layer as she pulled it to her chest. She fell back onto her heels. The zombie lowered its head, watching Raven through the gaps in the bars.

Raven shuffled backwards, scampering to her feet like a frightened dog. She looked over her shoulder, taking one last look at the zombie's empty eyes, before running back into the main area.

"Here," Raven's voice came out shakily.

Rosabelle's eyes flickered to meet Raven's. She nodded slightly, thanking Raven silently, before pulling some gloves from the box.

The gloves were too small, the fingers not long enough, but they'd have to do. Rosabelle couldn't expect someone to risk their life just to find a bigger glove. She knew where the other gloves were.

Rosabelle shouldn't have asked Raven to get the gloves. It had been too dangerous. She should have risked an infection.

Rosabelle peeled the bandage from Katherin's skin, discarding the bloody item on the floor behind her. She'd clean it up later. There wasn't time now.

Katherin's wound had blistered, red-raw burns splashing across the skin where the whiskey had been poured.

"Did - did you pour alcohol on her?"

Jaxx grimaced.

"I had to clean the wound."

Jaxx had forgotten to wash the wound with water. The water prevented the alcohol from burning through flesh.

Katherin would kill him. Jaxx had ruined her tattoo.

Katherin had gotten her first tattoo, the tattoo on her forearm, six months after her parents had died. She'd been fifteen. Jaxx had organised her fake ID. He hadn't wanted to, but Katherin had begged him. She'd been unable to look at herself after her parents had died, hadn't been able to face her past.

Jaxx had relented. He'd even offered to come with Katherin, though she told him that she'd be fine.

Her foster parents had been furious. Katherin had been kicked out of their house, traded between homes until she ran away and rented an apartment under Esther's name. That had been when her problems with the police started. All because Jaxx had been unable to say no.

"Jaxx - Jaxx! I need your help!"

Rosabelle clicked her fingers in Jaxx's face.

Jaxx blinked.

"Sorry."

"I need you to tie a tourniquet. I don't know how to."

Jaxx nodded, pressing his tongue against the top row of his teeth as he stepped towards the counter. He had a migraine. The stress of the last few days was beginning to wear him thin.

"Do you have any fabric?" Jaxx asked, forcing himself to stay focused.

There were bandages on the ground, but they were too valuable to use. If someone was injured, they couldn't risk not having enough bandages.

"I don't think so... Just hang on-"

Jaxx didn't wait.

He pulled his t-shirt over his head, leaving him in a singlet.

The fabric tore in uneven strips. Jaxx kept the thickest strip, discarding the others to the floor below him. He'd pick them up later. They'd be useful.

"You didn't need to do that," Rosabelle murmured.

Jaxx grunted in acknowledgement. He hovered over Katherin's arm, using his body to shield the scene from the others. They didn't need to see.

If Jaxx didn't tie the tourniquet correctly, he could make the bleeding worse.

"I think she's cut her radial artery. She'll be lucky if she hasn't severed it completely."

Jaxx nodded. It would make sense. She wouldn't have bled so much otherwise, even with the wound completely tearing through her forearm.

"What happened?" Rosabelle lowered her voice, ducking her head so the others wouldn't be suspicious.

Jaxx didn't respond. He tightened the tourniquet just above Katherin's elbow. The blood flow lessened immediately.

"Tell me, Jaxx. I can see through her arm! Her bone is visible!" Rosabelle hissed.

Esther looked over. She'd been pulled away from Katherin by Ivory, who had given her some protein powder mixed with room temperature water.

Esther didn't drink it. The flavour was strawberry. Ester hated strawberry. She preferred vanilla.

"Not with Esther listening," Jaxx responded, his jaw set firmly.

"She deserves to know, just as much as I do."

"You don't understand."

"I can't understand if you don't tell me!"

"She was stabbed through the forearm with a screwdriver because she wouldn't tell them who she was protecting! They called her a faggot and locked her in the basement with a fucking zombie! Katherin tried to save a kid, but the brat didn't want to be saved - he wanted to be with his brother! She watched him die!"

Rosabelle fell silent.

Jaxx's felt Esther's eyes on his back.

"They called her a faggot?" Esther's voice was barely a whisper.

Jaxx nodded, his eyes flickering to the floor.

Katherin groaned.

Esther's eyes shot to Katherin. She rose from her seat, rushing to Katherin's bedside as fast as she could run.

"She might be conscious, but that doesn't mean she hasn't lost a lot of blood. Be careful," Rosabelle murmured.

Esther nodded. She ran her nails through Katherin's hair, speaking softly into her ear.

Rosabelle rounded the counter, pulling Jaxx behind her as she walked into the staff room.

"I can't do anything more for her. At a hospital, I might be able to get her some blood, if we even knew her blood type, but that's not an option right now. Katherin needs emergency attention. People with hypovolemic shock die all the time!"

"You did what you could, Rosabelle," Jaxx responded.

He didn't know what else to say. Rosabelle was right. A lot of people died from so much blood loss, and Katherin was more vulnerable due to her diabetes. The loss of blood would drop her blood sugar critically low. They needed to raise her blood sugar, or she could have a seizure.

There was a crash in the main area.

Katherin forced herself to stand. She limped towards the staff room, trying to loosen Esther's grip on her good arm.

"Katherin! Stop it!" Esther pleaded.

Katherin pushed the staff door open. She crossed the room, grabbing Jaxx by his singlet.