CLIW

Just One Bite

Darrin yelped and toppled backwards, landing hard on his ass. He groped around for his backpack to pull out his baseball bat, but it wasn't there. Damn it! Mattie had it! And then he heard laughing. His face burned with humiliation, and he picked himself up with the look of a wounded dog. He narrowed his eyes at Nicholas. He wouldn't be laughing if I had my bat. I'll beat the shit out of him.

Mattie was doing her best to hide the giggles. The only reason she'd wished Nicholas hadn't jumped out was because he had a fever. She knelt down and pulled him back onto the couch, careful to keep her hands away from his wound, and smiled a little. "Enough stunts."

"Okay, first of all," whined Darrin, "He was being a dick to me and you're helping him? Second of all, you are touching an infected.

"Go to bed," Mattie told him. "Maybe in the morning you won't be such a prick."

This was the last straw. Darrin grabbed Nicholas by the hair, lifted him, and threw a punch at his stupid feverish face.

Just One Bite

Darrin gaped at Nicholas with unmasked shock and worry. And fear. He had the virus. And he was right there in the house. He could lunge for someone any second, and the fact that Mattie wanted in the guy's pants or whatever only made it worse. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled.

"So the guy's infected and you're just letting him lounge on the couch," he said grouchily. "Great idea. I can see why you've survived this long." He addressed Nicholas coldly, now: "Oh, and by the way, stay away from my sister. I've already lost my only brother, and you're not going to infect her with your nasty virus."

Mattie came back after having rocked Cole to sleep. "Maybe you guys should give Nicholas a little space," she suggested, oblivious to Darrin's warning.

Just One Bite

"Go ahead and shoot me, dickhead," sneered Darrin. "I've seen enough damn guns in my life that I'm not scared of some arrogant asshole who thinks he's some kind of prepper, okay?"

Mattie hit him on the head lightly and groaned. "Listen, Jacob, I'm really sorry, but he is my brother. And he needs help. And it's my fault that he's like this." Tears shone. She fought them back and dug through Darrin's backpack. There was a big enough variety of pills, and such a huge amount, that they could kill an elephant. She shuddered. It was a miracle he wasn't dead.

Darrin eyed her. "Can you give that back?"

"I have a baby to take care of. Sit the fuck down and listen to Jacob or he has my full consent to throw you out. And for the record? Aaron would hate what you've become. You're not the brother he had." She ignored his shocked expression and left to tend to Cole.

Darrin stared grumpily at Nicholas. "So how'd that happen?"

Just One Bite

To say the very least, Mattie was embarrassed. She wanted to explain that her brother wasn't usually like this...but how could she know that? It had been a long time since they'd seen each other. She turned around and said defensively, "I am not attached to him. But uh, yeah, he's pretty cool. And Darrin, if you keep acting like a snot I'm going to kick you out without water."

"So I can end up like Aaron?"

Mattie turned white. Darrin took a bottle of pills out of his backpack and downed all of them right there, making Mattie forget his stinging remark. "What the hell are you doing with those!" She snatched the bottle and looked at the label. Her face darkened and her eyes dropped. "You have a problem."

"I couldn't find any heroin after society collapsed," muttered Darrin. He averted his eyes, not wanting to admit that he was ashamed of himself. "But when everyone died they left their medicine cabinets full to the brim." His voice had lowered.

Mattie threw the empty bottle to the ground and grabbed his backpack. "Druggy idiot!" she huffed, her face now a very interesting shade of red.

Just One Bite

"Baby?" Darrin's jaw dropped, then he rounded on Mattie. "You got knocked up? Who with? This prick?" he demanded, gesturing toward Jacob. He was furious. A baby in a time like this. Plus, Mattie didn't seem like the type to go around getting knocked up. It occurred to him that she could have been assaulted, and it only made him more agitated. "Holy shit!"

"I didn't get knocked up, idiot, we found him," snarled Mattie. She turned around, surprised to see that Nicholas was sitting up and wasn't bound. It was a relief, but the timing wasn't exactly optimal. She was torn between making sure he was okay and catching up with Darrin, if the boy would calm down. "This isn't the best time for family introductions," she muttered the obvious fact, and decided that her brother looked to be in okay shape. Clearly he hadn't eaten enough--pang of guilt--but he wasn't in as serious a condition as Nicholas, who she approached.

Darrin grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "He's infected! Why haven't you two popped a cap on him?"

Mattie turned and crossed her arms. "Where did you learn that phrase?" He didn't answer. Bristling, she knelt and put a hand on Nicholas' shoulder. "I'm sure some water's in order," she said gently, though with an undercurrent of tension. Her brother had been troubled, but nice, when he'd set off. Other than the note. She wondered what had happened to him; he certainly hadn't had that scar. She took a bottle from one of the packs and offered it to Nicholas.

Just One Bite

Mattie withdrew her head from the window and stared through wide eyes at Jacob. She opened her mouth. Closed it. He's alive. Opened it and drew in a deep breath. "My brother," she said flatly. "I'm talking to my brother." Her heart was going at a thousand beats per minute. He was alive! Was he okay? Where had he been for all that time? How had he found them? Mind abuzz, she rushed passed Jacob and toward the front door, which by now was alive with frantic banging.

She flung it open without a moment of hesitation, which she knew would give Jacob time to stop her, and stared out at a gaunt face that stared back. "Darrin," she whispered. "You're alive. You found me."

"What are you doing here?" shot back a rough voice. Even dripping with suspicion, he was music to Mattie's ears. He looked past her at...whoa. He blinked back horror. Someone writhing with fever and missing an arm. That was not good. "Mattie you have to get out of here," he growled. "It's dangerous here."

"It's worse outside," retorted Mattie, pulling her sibling through the door and shutting it, much to his anger. "There are zombies and flying poopy diapers."

"You're not funny."

Just One Bite

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Basics
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Name: Darrin Griffin

Age: 17

Birthday: November 18th

Gender: Male

Personality: Surly and sometimes unapproachable. Troubled, doesn't often talk except to snap at people and say rude things. Humorless, unlike Mattie. Blunt and to the point, he doesn't care whether or not he's with people, although under his tough shell he really misses his sister.

Notable traits: Gets high on prescription drugs (!)

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Appearance
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General: Thin from lack of regular meals, and carries a long scar from the bottom of his neck across his cheek, all the way to his hairline, from a knife fight before it all started.

Skin tone: Damn pale

Hair color: Black

Eye color: Honey-brown

Height: 5'9

Weight: 116 lbs

Other:

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Miscellaneous
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Biography: Darrin felt too grief-stricken and irrationally angry to stay home after the death of his brother Aaron. He had always been quick to anger, but usually it burned off quickly. Not this time. After leaving a rude note to Mattie in the middle of the night, he ran away and started roaming the streets. He ended up getting involved with drug dealers who gave him some money and a place to stay in exchange for distributing "goods". After himself getting addicted and facing 'termination', society collapsed and Darrin was able to slip away while the majority of the dealers became infected.

Equipment: A baseball bat with rusty nails poking out.

Living relatives: Mattie

Other:

Just One Bite

Things had started to go black. Mattie's head suddenly felt heavier than it ever had, and it took all her strength to keep it from slumping down. She was also fighting to keep her eyelids open. It was a two-fronted battle that she didn't think she could win, but she wasn't going to sleep while a fever ate up Nicholas. It was a vigil, and she intended to keep it through the whole night.

The sound of Cole wailing was almost a relief. Groggily she rose from the hard chair, stretching her stiff back, and put a couple knuckles against Nicholas' forehead to test how high his fever was. It was, as expected, pretty damn hot. She frowned and hurried to the bedroom, where she discovered that Cole had soiled his diaper. Disgusting, but normal at least. She changed his diaper and pitched the dirty one out of a window into the cool night air.

"Holy shit!" someone yelled. The sound of that voice...it made Mattie's heart climb into her throat. It can't be. The voice went on: "Watch where you're throwing!"

She stuck her head out the window and peered down. She couldn't see a thing, but she'd been sure it was him. Oh, god, oh god oh god oh god. Could it have been her imagination? Maybe she'd caught fever from Nicholas and she was hearing things. But she had to be sure. She called tentatively: "Darrin?"

Silence.

"Mattie!"

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Mattie wanted to tell Jacob thanks, but I'll be fine, but no words came out. Her eyes fell to the ground with her spirit. She didn't have any religious affiliation, but now was the time to start praying. And waiting. God, that would be a long wait. But she'd do it; Nicholas had to and she wasn't planning on relaxing while her friend burned up on the inside.

What the hell could she do to help? More painkillers? No, an overdose could kill him. Ice? No, she'd already been over that. God damn it. She just had to sit here and watch him suffer for a day. Was Jacob going to kill Nicholas if he wasn't better by tomorrow evening? She hoped not, but certainly understood the reasoning and wouldn't be able to do anything. Jacob looked like a strong guy, and Mattie didn't want to risk a brawl; even if she did win she'd be injured.

I bet he's thirsty, she thought, looking at Nicholas. I don't want to get my ass bitten but it might up his chances. That wasn't all. Looking at him in this state was heartbreaking. She remembered that she should start praying.

Hey, uh, Big G? You up there? You can see this, right? I'm gonna assume you can, since you're all-knowing or whatever. Okay, so, this is a special request, super special. You've gotta let this dude live. He's not all too special or anything I guess, but yeah, that's it. Not too much to ask, right, since, you know, you're God? Okay that's all. Thanks bye. End prayer. Not too bad for a first attempt.

Just One Bite

"Shh," said Mattie. Her chest heaved and her head felt light; she didn't know why. "Don't waste your energy trying to talk. Was that a sorry? You shouldn't be, okay? I know it isn't easy, but you should try to relax and rest." She rubbed his hand gently in hopes of making him feel better. "Focus on fighting this off. I'm right here." To set you on fire once you try to bite my head off. The thought made her eyes glimmer with tears. Pansy.

She turned her head when Jacob spoke. "I'm staying here," she proclaimed, her voice set. It was her fault Nicholas was suffering like this, and she was damn well going to stick with the poor bastard until the end. She added, lying: "To watch out for that creep who played ding-dong-ditch with us. He is going down." Her attempt to make humor had been half-hearted and weak, and she knew it. And the lie was obvious.