"She's hot," is what Mattie told him.

That was that. Nicholas was up and no longer tired at all. Alissa's skin was hotter than before - she was infected. Damn it. She was infected. Was there going to be no end? No father. He just had to [i]burn his mother's body.[/i] Would his sister be next? Would she live through it? One could only hope - well, Nicholas could only hope. If there was a god, he was praying to each and every one of them now.

[i]Please, just let me keep my sister. Please.[/i]

Shaking hands reached down and touched the burning, graying skin of the small body before him. Not only was she now infected, she was so terribly undernourished. Nicholas cursed himself for not being able to find more food, better food, or give her what little portions he ate even when she'd had her share. He could survive longer without food than she could. Now here she lay, practically bones, face sunken in. Maybe it was the sickness - but how quick did it work? She'd just gotten bit that afternoon.

"Damn it," he said. "Damn it all."

His hands then rose to the top of his head, placed on top of one another. His jaw clenched and his eyes slipped shut. There wasn't a chance. Her skin was already turning discolored - she already looked like a corpse.

"Do we - do we wait?" he opened his eyes and looked at Mattie, eyes shining with tears.