"Go get some water," came Mattie's voice, softly. It was then that Nicholas understood what the pills were for, and even though Mattie couldn't see him, his expression darkened as his heart sunk into his stomach. She grabbed his hand gently, and put one of the bottles in it. Then she said, "They'll... they'll make her go to sleep. It's the easiest way. It's - the kindest way."

That was that. Nicholas knew it to be true. His sister wasn't going to make it no matter how much he wanted her to. There was no stopping it. There was no cure.

"We can only do one thing for her. Make it a peaceful end," Mattie said, and Nicholas found himself repeating these words over and over again in his mind. He still did not move or speak yet. He just sat with Mattie's hand cupping his around the pill bottle. Slowly, he moved his head to look down at the bottle. The seal had not even been broken. It was full.

He withdrew his hand. He moved over to where he remembered the backpacks being and shuffled inside of them blindly until his hand grasped an opened water bottle. It was some of the only pure water left, and yet he had to use it for...this. It felt as if he were in a trance - as if he were completely, existentially numb - as he moved back over to his sister. He sat the bottles aside long enough to wake her and help her sit up.

"What?" her voice was a faint, groggy whisper. As if the very walls of her throat were deserts.

For a moment, Nicholas couldn't even reply. He now held the pill bottle in the hand that wasn't supporting his sister. This was as close as he'd been to a...a zombie - even though she was not fully dead yet. As if it were possible, his heart sank lower. Then, his voice came out, tearful.

"I have some medicine," he said.

And he could have sworn that he saw a faint smile across Alissa's face. Before she could speak, Nicholas propped her against a shelf and emptied the bottle into his palm. Carefully, he helped her take as many pills that she could take comfortably at one time with the water. Then again. Then again. And again until she'd consumed the entire bottle that Mattie had given him.

"That should help," he said, very audibly sobbing. "It'll make you feel better."

As he helped Alissa lie back down, her eyes opened and stared up at him - and for a moment, he thought she'd already died. But then the smallest of smiles formed upon her lips and she managed to croak, "I'll be okay."