Zeldabit

Just One Bite

Nicholas shook his head at Mattie, gratefully taking the pills and putting them in his mouth before taking the glass of water and swallowing it too. He handed the glass back to Jake and relaxed into the couch again. "Thank you," he muttered to him, worried his voice would betray him if he tried to speak at normal volume.

He looked over at Mattie and Cole. It seemed like Cole had fallen asleep now, and probably rightfully so. It was dark outside. Nicholas wanted to check a clock or his watch, but there were neither. His watch was still lying on the top shelf of his dresser.

Looking up at Jake, he quietly asked, "Do you h-have a shirt I could borrow?"

Jake nodded and disappeared into his bedroom while Nicholas waited, looking at Mattie. He frowned, eyes drooping. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to drag you into anything. I didn't mean for us to almost get killed twice in one day. I didn't mean any of it. I just wanted help. I can't survive by myself. I'm a wimp. I've always been a wimp," he looked down in shame. "I couldn't save my sister even though I knew how to. I was hoping for something that obviously wasn't going to happen, and now two people that I love are dead because of it, and now you have to worry about me and a baby."

Before Jake came back into the room, Nicholas quickly whispered again, "I'm sorry."

---

There were several nice dress shirts available in Jacob's wardrobe; however, he wasn't about to lend one to this kid. Instead, he checked his dresser's drawers and found a black t-shirt with the name of some washed up band across the chest, logo below it to boot. When he went back into the living room, the two of them seemed tense. He thought he'd heard low voices, but he wasn't the type to eavesdrop. Instead, while he'd been looking for a shirt, he'd started humming.

"Here," he said lowly. "Sit up."

Nicholas obeyed, pushing himself to a sitting position. Jacob pulled his jacket off of Nicholas, which had been wrapped around him, and carefully helped him take his shirt off. He balled it up in the jacket, cautious in handling it as he didn't want to touch the blood of the infected arm. Then, he helped Nicholas put the t-shirt on. When it was on, Nicholas laid back down and relaxed. It seemed like the pills were kicking in.

"I'll be right back," Jacob said to Mattie. He went into the bathroom and picked up a clean wash cloth, absentmindedly trying to soak it with water under the faucet before realizing it didn't work anymore. He grumbled lowly and went into the kitchen, soaking it instead with a water bottle. He brought it back out to Nicholas and started wiping his face with it.

"Gotta get that blood off," he said. "You know, you remind me a lot of my little brother."

Nicholas grinned a little bit, and then groggily said, "Funny, 'cause I'm actually a big brother."

Brocklen Hall Asylum

Joining!

Just One Bite

With all the commotion going on, Nicholas automatically retreated as far down into the couch as he could go. It was such a comfortable couch, he mused. He wished he'd had it when he was having to sleep on that warehouse's floor. It would have been heaven. His eyes slipped closed again and there was a small smile on his face. He was trying his best to ignore the pain that didn't seem to want to go away. He wished it did.

At the same time he heard Jake slamming the door shut, Mattie was beside him in a chair. He heard her say something, and he opened his eyes a little to look at her. In his almost delirious state, he couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked. He'd only known her less than twenty-four hours, and yet he felt like he'd known her his whole life. They had already been through so much together.

"Thank you," he found himself whispering. Mattie was the closest thing to family that he had left, because all the rest were gone or dead now. His mind wandered to think about his mother and Alisa, lying there in the street, flames engulfing their bodies...and it was his fault. It was all his fault.

He put his hand up to his face to cover the fact that he started crying.

---

Jacob stared out into the street where the person had run off. It didn't make any sense - did he look that scary? But the boy had turned to run off before Jacob had even answered the door. He shook his head, gave the street one last look, then slammed the door shut and turned around, assault rifle still in hand. Mattie had pulled up a chair next to where Nicholas lay. In a way, it warmed his heart.

Carefully, he sat himself on the sofa across from them. Nicholas' face animated distress before he put his hand up to cover it, his body shaking. Was he crying?

He got up and went into the bathroom, searching through the medicine cabinet. He was sure he had to have had some kind of pain killers. When he found a bottle of some that weren't too high in strength but not too low, he shook out three of them and then shut the cabinet. He went into the kitchen and got a glass and a bottle of water, filling the glass with the water. He brought it out and handed it and the pills to Nicholas. "Pain killers," he told him.

Just One Bite

Oh, no problem! You're doing great.

Just One Bite

Jacob leaned against the wall by the fireplace, and put his hands up defensively in front of him. "I'm not going to hurt you. I've already made that clear. "I know you're scared. Hell, I would be too, being randomly approached by someone with the likes of me." He grinned at her, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "If anything, you three are as much of a threat to me as I am to you. Well, two, I guess. Nothing to be afraid about with a baby."

"By the way," Jacob said, "That impromptu amputation your friend performed was most likely to save your and your baby's life." He nodded, never being the type of person who let a good deed by anyone go unnoticed. Especially not one like this. He looked over to where Nicholas lay and asked, "You still awake, Nicky?"

---

Nicholas' eyes had finally comfortably closed, and he was just on the edges of sleep when he heard Jake's voice cut through, "You still awake, Nicky?" He cringed at the nickname. He despised them because anything other than Nicholas just was not his name. He wasn't Nick, Nicky, or anything. That was that.

"I'm awake," he mumbled. The pain had dulled, or at least, he had become used to it. Every few seconds, though, a sharp pain would run through his shoulder, and he would instinctively try to move his arm. But he couldn't anymore. It was so surreal. Just to be sure, Nicholas moved his only arm over to try to grab the other one, but sure enough, it wasn't there. He felt across his own body until he touched the gauze covering the wound, and he cried out in pain at the touch.

"Don't touch it," he heard Jake saying, but his voice was coming into Nicholas' ears like a lost signal, distant and broken.

He felt the footsteps. He didn't hear them, he felt them. Jake came to the couch, and crouched in front of him. He felt his presence in front of him, so he opened his eyes. Jake reached out a hand toward his forehead, and Nicholas found himself shrinking away from his touch.

"Come on now, I ain't gonna hurt you," he said softly, putting his palm against Nicholas' forehead. He nodded and cracked a smile. "You don't seem to have a fever. That's a good sign, man."

"I-I'm not infected," Nicholas said, more to himself than to anyone.

"No, you're not," Jake shook his head, agreeing. "If you were, there'd be a change by now. At least a fever. You'd be coughing."

At the mention of coughing, Nicholas felt a prickling sensation in his throat. He hastily cleared it, and Jake laughed.

Then, there was a banging at the door that shocked both Jake and Nicholas. At the same time, Cole started wailing, spitting out the food that Mattie had been feeding him. Jake hurried into another room, out of sight. Nicholas sat up a bit, straining to see where he'd went. When he returned, he was holding an assault rifle.

"Where'd you get that?!" Nicholas choked out.

"My brother gave it to me for my 20th birthday."

---

Jacob looked over at Mattie, assault rifle in his hands. He held out a free hand and led her off of the couch and into his bedroom. "Stay here. Don't worry about Nicholas, okay? Just protect yourself and that baby." He gestured to his closet, "Plethora of guns in there. Go crazy."

After saying that, he went back out into the living room, up to his front door. The banging had stopped, as if someone had simply knocked on the door for entrance. The doorknob jiggled a bit, and then the knocking continued. Jacob's eyebrows rose in curiosity and he said, "Uh...Who's there?"

There was no reply. Sighing, Jacob unlocked the door and opened it just in time to see someone turning their back to leave. Reaching out, Jacob tried to grab the back of their shirt, but missed by an inch, and the person took off down the street, into the darkness and out of sight.

Hi...

Welcome~

I'm quite new myself.

Just One Bite

Jacob lay Nicholas his couch, which was soft enough that it should feel comfortable to him. Again, Jacob silently cursed himself for allowing his things to get soiled. He could always try to get the blood out, though. If this kid was strong enough to cut his own arm off to survive, and possibly to protect Mattie and that baby, then there was no telling what he'd accomplished once he recovered.

If he recovers, Jacob found himself thinking. He shook the thought out of his head. There was no way that he was going to let Nicholas die, not on his watch.

The fire was dying down, so the room had gotten a bit chilly. Jacob took a thick piece of firewood and threw it in the fireplace, squirting a bit of lighter fluid on it, just enough so that the remaining sparks at the bottom would ignite the rest of the wood. He turned to Mattie and gestured at the couch across from the one Nicholas was lying on, "You can take a seat."

For the first time, Jacob examined Mattie. Her hair was all astray and her eyes were...obviously traumatized. She was wearing a rather nice looking shirt, but behind her shorts Jacob could see a makeshift bandage.

"What happened to your leg?" he asked.

---

When Jacob put Nicholas on the couch, Nicholas couldn't have been more thankful to be lying on something so soft. He struggled to keep his eyes open, especially now that he was so comfortable, but he did. He watched Jacob and then his eyes drifted over to Mattie and Cole. Cole had seemed to have found peace with everything, because he wasn't fussing. Nicholas was glad for that. He wanted Cole to be happy.

The fire was ignited, and the room seemed to get warmer. Nicholas felt thankful, because he had been getting colder and colder. He'd heard of people, before they died, knowing that they were going to die. They could feel it. Nicholas didn't feel it; he just felt like he was going to live through this suffering. Maybe he would. That was what he hoped, at least.

He heard Jake ask Mattie what had happened to her leg. He wanted to laugh a little, but couldn't. After Jake had asked Mattie that, he came over to Nicholas and laid a blanket across him. Nicholas looked up at him a nodded a little in thanks.

Just One Bite

Jacob held Nicholas up firmly as he swayed. There was no doubt that he'd already lost too much blood, along with the fact that he lost a whole arm. This boy was not in a good state at all, mentally or physically. If he survived the blood loss, then he would live normally, but without an arm. He wasn't infected anymore, thanks to his sacrifice. Jacob watched Mattie help Nicholas drink from the bottle of water, and the kid cooperated pretty well. Nicholas' eyes were drooping, though. That wasn't a good sign.

"Hey, kid," Jacob shook him a bit, still holding him up. "I need you to stay awake for me, alright?"

Nicholas muttered under his breath incoherently, turning his head away from the water bottle this time. Jacob examined his face, noticing it had gone very pale, though that was understandable. He was shaking.

"You cold?" Jacob asked, hesitantly shrugging his jacket off of his shoulders and wrapping it around Nicholas. That was his favorite and only jacket, and now he'd gone and given it to this kid, covered in blood. Now, the jacket was soiled and Nicholas might die. What a waste. "I'm gonna carry you, alright? Don't freak out."

One arm around his shoulders, Jacob put his other arm behind Nicholas' knees and lifted him into his arms as if he were a baby. It was probably a ridiculous and grave sight, all at the same time - one man carrying another who'd lost an arm. Turning to the girl, Jacob said, "I've got a place right down here. See that house? It's mine. Come on, I've got plenty of food and I've got a fire going, so it's warm. By the way, I never got your name..."

---

At first, Nicholas was grateful for the water. His mouth had gone very dry inexplicably, so it was a relief when Mattie put the bottle to his lips. His head felt heavy, along with his eyelids, and he let them close a couple of times. Then, the man helping him told him to stay awake.

"I can't, it's too hard," he had muttered, but he didn't know if the man heard him. Mattie had put the water bottle to his lips again, and he turned his head away, starting to feel choked.

When the man picked him up to carry him, it surprised him. Obviously, Nicholas had never been carried before. At least, not since he was a toddler. It was a relief to be off of his feet, though, and he let his eyes close again. The man was talking to Mattie, and the words didn't register in Nicholas' ears. He started coughing.

Just One Bite

"Mattie? Who are you talking to?" Nicholas called out weakly. His whole body was shaking. Had the infection already spread to other parts of him? He hoped not, because if so then losing his arm and causing himself even more pain was for naught. All he wanted was to survive, but for what? Now, for Mattie and Cole, maybe. But he'd only met both of them today. His sister was dead. His father was dead. His mother was dead. His friends were probably dead, too. He went ahead and added all of them to the list in his head.

He could lay here and die, then it would be all over. Mattie wouldn't miss him, so there was no one else to live for. His heart was aching, but he didn't know why. Was it from something serious or was it his stupid emotions getting the best of him again? Everyone always told him he acted just like a girl.

"I'm sorry, Mattie," he said, though unsure if she could even hear him.

---

When the girl told Jacob that everything was fine, he knew it was bullshit. The girl was breathing so heavily that he was afraid at any inhale she'd explode. He put his hands up, showing her that he wasn't holding a weapon, though he did have a revolver strapped to his side. "I'm not here to hurt you, okay? Don't look so scared."

Then, she spoke of her friend. That he'd been bitten. Jacob assumed it was the boy he'd seen walking with her about an hour ago. The sun was getting low, which was dangerous. The undead came out at night.

"Alright," he said.

He moved forward slowly, hands still up because this girl seemed ready to attack at any moment. When he got closer to her, he put them down and carefully said, "My name is Jacob Stride." He nodded once at her, and retrieved his revolver from its holder.

At first, he approached the door as slowly as he'd approached the girl. He peeked in the doorway and was met with a very bloody sight. The boy he'd seen earlier was leaned against a wall with a bloody blanket wrapped tight around a nub where his arm should have been. Jacob internally winced at the thought of what might have happened here. There was a decapitated body lying spread-eagle on the floor.

"You alright there, bud?" Jacob asked, not referring so much to his arm as much as whether or not he could reply coherently, which might determine whether or not he was infected.

"P-Peachy," the boy replied sarcastically, looking up at him with dull eyes. He was holding the blankets against the...nub.

"How do you feel?" Jacob inched closer to the boy and then crouched down beside him, carefully moving his hand away from the blankets, then unraveling them. The good news was that the rest of him probably wasn't infected. The bad news was that he was lacking an arm. Jacob had seen infected wounds, and they normally gushed green pus. His arm wasn't. He looked at the severed arm beside him, which had already started to shrivel up.

"Like I'm going to die," the boy wailed.

"Just stay calm, take deep breaths. Your girl's worried about you out there."

"She's n-not my girl..."

"Oh. Sorry," Jacob looked at him and said, "My name's Jacob. You can call me Jake."

"N-Nicholas."

Reaching into one of the pockets on his cargo shorts, Jacob retrieved a small, clear plastic bag with a roll of gauze in it. He tore the bag open with his teeth and pulled out the gauze, setting his revolver on the floor beside him. With careful, but quick movements, he wrapped Nicholas' arm with the gauze.

"Can you stand up? Come on," he said, putting his revolver back in its place and rising to his feet. He grabbed Nicholas' hand and pulled him up. Nicholas swayed, humiliatingly leaning on Jacob.

"It's alright," Jacob said. "Don't worry 'bout it. I'm here to help you."

He put an arm around Nicholas and started to lead him out of the house, over to the girl.

Just One Bite

"Mattie, don't go!" he yelled, then cried out in pain from the sting in his arm. "Stop, please!"

He was desperate. He didn't know what else to do. So, he took the machete in his hand and started to saw away at his arm at the shoulder, moaning and crying from the pain that didn't seem much worse than the sting already in his arm.

"Don't take Cole," he cried, tears streaming down his face. "Please."

Before long, his arm was as severed as the zombie's head in front of him, continuously pouring blood onto the floor and onto his clothes. He shrugged off the bag on his back., reaching into it with his remaining hand. Luckily, there was the last blanket. He wrapped what he could tightly around the spot where his other arm should have been, hands shaking so bad that he struggled with putting it on.

"Mattie," he called out. "Don't leave me."

---

Jacob's main concern was to find some booze. If he had to live through this terrible new life he was being forced to live, he at least wanted to live as much of it as he could drunk. He was shocked at the amount of people along this street who didn't seem to own any type of alcohol at all, not even a simple can of beer. It frustrated him. It was as if the world was condemning his drinking habit. To hell with that, he thought. There was alcoholics much worse off than he was.

On the opposite end of the street, the end he hadn't been down, there was a lot of open space. That's mainly why he hadn't been that way. Not only was he kind of vulnerable to the infected that way, but there were hardly any houses worth looking at. He'd noticed a kid walking down the street for a couple of days, going into houses. It was kind of unexpected when the kid came to his door, tried it and found it locked, that he turned away and left. If it had been Jake, he would have kicked down the door and looted what he could have.

Then again, it was a good thing that the kid hadn't done that. For his sake, not Jacob's. He wasn't the type of person who would kill someone who was alive, but if he had to, he would. He was trying to survive through this mess just like everyone else was.

He'd watched that same kid walk past his house, this time accompanied by a girl. He was carrying a bundle of blankets that looked like a baby, and he made the connection in his head that these two must have been together and that was their kid.

'Poor baby,' he thought.

It wasn't long after the couple had passed that Jacob decided he'd go after them. While he preferred to be alone during a time like this, mainly because he didn't trust anyone not to abandon him or use him as a human shield, he knew that he would need help eventually. Or, you know, maybe. He'd been a roofer most of his life, and that taught him how to get stuff done and fix things by himself. However, a little company never hurt. It'd been a while since he'd had company.

He saw the girl backing out of a house a little down the street, and right away he sensed danger because the boy was nowhere in sight, nor was the child. While he had been walking at a quick pace, he slowed and almost came to a stop just a few yards away from her.

"Hey!" he yelled, "Everything alright?"