I was exhausted. In fact, all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and sleep for a week. Trans kept us going as fast as we could, Party barely kept up. We made it out of the tunnel and out into the blinding daylight. I could see the wan, only a few meters ahead, but there were already dracs behind us.
Mech reached out and grabbed someone, pulling them along with us. I looked closer and realized that it was the guard from earlier, Andy.
“Shoot dracs,” she told him. He looked bewildered but shot behind us at the draculoids.
We kept running, going down a street of houses. People were looking at us, some angry and some amazed. Trans looked around and his eyes widened.
“Lauren!” he yelled, “Noah! Wait!”
He started to run towards two kids standing outside of their house but Sunshine grabbed his arm. The kids showed no signs that they recognized Trans but as I looked at the m for a second it clicked; they were his siblings.
“No!” Sunshine said, practically dragging him along with her, “We’ll come back and get them!”
Trans looked stricken, but he kept running.
We made it to the van. Play jumped in the front and started up the van, Party in the passenger side. Sunshine pulled Trans in and sat him down on one of the newly installed seats, and Mech threw the guard on the floor and started talking to him. Static sat on the floor and leaned his head against the wall, and I sat down gingerly next to the guard.
“Andy,” Louise said, “Andy it’s me, Louise, and Emily’s here. Emily and Erin and Jocelyn and Grant. Please, please wake up.”
Andy blinked sleepily a few times. Mech hit him over the head and his eyes focused.
“Louise…” he said groggily, “Emmy…Grant?”
“Good enough” Mech said. She hit him again and knocked him out cold.
Play kept driving, we were almost to the base.
But we didn’t make it.
The van sputtered and stopped. Play swore and turned around.
“Mech! I thought you said you fixed this!”
Mech let loose a stream of colorful words that made Sunshine blush and hopped out.
“Give me ten minutes!” she said.
“We may not have ten minutes,” Play muttered nervously. She looked in the rearview mirror and swore again.
“They’re coming.”
Silence.
“Mech!” I yelled, “How long?”
“Five minutes!”
I sighed.
“Static, Sunshine, c’mon.”
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“We’ll try to hold them off.”
“No!” Play exclaimed.
“Ex that’s practically suicide!” Trans said, “It’s not right!”
“We can give Mech five minutes!” I said forcefully, “Now come on!”
The two of them climbed out behind me, and we began shooting. We killed tons of dracs, but more were coming. And coming fast.
“Erin!” someone yelled. I turned around.
I vaguely recognized him; brown hair and blue eyes, and scars that only a skater could have. Josh.
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Josh and I were great friends for a long time. He liked me, and I liked him. When I moved to Marietta, I broke it off and he never forgot. Years later he showed up at the skate park when Static and I were skating. I think he was jealous, (not that there was anything to be jealous of).
“Josh?” I asked, “Seriously?”
He nodded solemnly, “Goodbye Erin.”
And he pulled the trigger.
At first I didn’t feel anything. Then I did; a blinding pain in my gut. I keeled over, blood already gushing from the gaping hole in my stomach.
“NO!” Kaleb screamed, “NO ERIN NO!”
He shot at Josh and Josh crumpled. Kaleb ran forward and knelt beside me, pushing the hair back from my face.
“Oh man,” he said, his voice thick with tears, “Oh man Erin please don’t die.”
He pulled off his leather jacket and pressed it to my stomach. Sunshine appeared on my other side, crying.
“No,” she sobbed, “Erin please no, please don’t die on me!”
I coughed, “Pleading won’t do you any good.”
Static gave a hard laugh and kept pressing his jacket to the bullet wound.
“Erin,” Sunshine, “If…If you don’t survive this, I love you. You’re the best friend any one could have, and I’ll miss you more than anyone.”
She hugged me and stood up to fend off any other dracs. I know she wanted to stay but she knew that if she did she would never give me up.
Static was very quiet. He was crying too, and his tears fell on my shirt.
“Kaleb…” I said softly. Already I could feel myself fading.
He looked in my eyes with such pain in his own.
“If I could be with you tonight,” he whispered, “I would sing you to sleep, and never let them take the light behind your eyes.”
I smiled, “Please do.”
He smile back and continued singing the song from the beginning. I felt myself being lulled to sleep by the sound of his voice.
“Be strong and hold my hand, time becomes for us you’ll understand.”
I smiled and felt for his hand. He grasped mined tightly and kept singing.
“Kaleb!” a voice interrupted him. I heard a gunshot, and Kaleb’s body fell down next to mine.
His face next to mine, he whispered the last chorus.
“I failed and lost this fight.”
I held his hand tighter.
“Just remember you will always burn as bright.” I said.
I could hear Emily yelling for the others. Gunshots rang out everywhere. I felt hands lift me from the ground, but I held tightly to Kaleb. I opened my eyes slightly and looked into his. He was barely there, just hanging long enough to meet my eyes.
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I sighed, and my world faded.
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Memories flashed before my eyes. Kaleb and I pranking our friend Stephanie, the two of us singing a duet by Pierce the Veil. Emily and Kaleb laughing at something I had told them, the three of us, plus Louise, rocking out tour favorite songs in Emily’s bedroom.
Then I woke up.
I looked around, we were on the ground in the middle of a burned up forest. Nobody was around, and the whole world was black and white.
Kaleb sat up next to me, “Where are we?”
“Your new home,” a voice said, “For now.”
We looked around and saw three very familiar figures in front of us. One was very short, one had a frizz of hair, and the last one wore glasses.
“It’s about time,” he said, “We’ve been waiting!”
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