Friends Against The World (Book 1): Bite Me

by Walters, Geneva

  “Next is the pharmacy, then we should get back to the school before our friends start to worry.” Sonji says, and turns to us, making sure we agree.

  “Sounds great.” I agree, and then begin to walk back to my car. “Want to just follow me?”

  Phoenix nodded, and I jump in the car, quickly reversing then heading off in the direction of downtown. Some of Mom’s CDs are tucked in the console, and I find a Barenaked Ladies one, sliding it in. I go in auto pilot to the pharmacy in the plaza, lost in memories of blasting this music and singing along.

  Chapter 62

  The red storefront comes into view and I park, the others following me. We push the door open and begin to walk slowly through, wails sounding from the back of the store.

  Two infected are stumbling around near the supply counter, and Lynx motions that she is going to sneak around to the other side. Sonji follows and then they leave, the shelves swallowing my view of them. Phoenix draws out two daggers and holds them loosely. Something hits the back wall and the infected turn to the noise. Lynx comes flying out of no where and stabs the back of the infected’s neck, swiping left to make sure its detached. As the body hits the ground she leaps up and dances away from the second, her body now on top of the counter.

  As the second infected reaches for Lynx I follow her lead, catching it with my gloved hand and bringing the dagger down. The blade sinks in with a gross noise, and I pull right. As the knife leaves it’s flesh a spray of blood squishes out and onto the wall. I gag, wiping my blade on its clothed back. I step back, and Phoenix comes up beside me, looking impressed.

  “Well. That takes care of that then.” She says, and then grabs a bag. “Let’s start raiding. I miss my Bella.”

  “You got it bad, don’t ya?” Lynx smirks, and Phoenix turns red.

  “Maybe.”

  We lapse into silence, studying manuals and deciding what to take. We pretty much bring everything, stacking multiple plastic bags in both our cars. The sun is about halfway down to the west when we finish. As we laugh, about to climb into our vehicles, when a pair of trucks roars up. Lynx pulls out the hand gun and I pull the shotgun down into a cradling hold, ready just in case. Three men with bandanas over their faces rush out, facing us, holding mean looking knives in one hand and two had guns in the other.

  “Give us everything valuable.” A gruff voice orders, and the middle one’s eyes sweep Phoenix hungrily. “And the redhead.”

  “We don’t think so.” Lynx growls, slowly taking the safety off her gun.

  “Try to hurt her and we will do twice that to you.” Sonji threatened, taking Lynx’s knife off her and duel-wielding, matching Phoenix.

  “Really. You think you are tough?” The one on the left mocks, and I tighten my grip on the shotgun.

  “Fuck off man. Just leave and we won’t have to do this.” I order, and they chuckle.

  “We don’t think so sweetheart, so give up what we asked, and I won’t have to put a bullet in the beautiful Asian girl here who is straight banging.” The one on the right says, and Lynx’s eyes gain a dangerous look to them.

  “No.” Sonji says rebelliously, and the one on the right lifts his gun, and before we can react, shoots Lynx in the thigh.

  She screams, dropping the gun as she falls. I fire the shot gun and the one on the right explodes, the shell dropping to my feet. In one smooth move I holster the shotgun and draw my knife, leaping for the one in the center. A sudden pain explodes through my knee, but I continue my attack and drive my knife into his chest. His eyes flicker to surprise before going unfocused. I hear Sonji sob before a gunshot echoes beside me, and the one on the left grunts, and then makes no more noise. The silence deafens us before Sonji starts crying again and I feel Phoenix try to help me stand. I shout in pain and she stops, taking more of my right side’s weight onto her.

  “Are you shot?” She whispers, and I groan out a yes. “Fuck.”

  She gets me sitting in the Rav4’s passenger side and helps Sonji stand up, then reaches down to cradle Lynx. She puts her in her Jeep, speaking quickly with Sonji. They nod, then Sonji comes towards me. At this point I found the first aid kit my Mom always kept in the dash and began to cut back my pant leg. Sonji climbs in, her cheeks wet but eyes determined, starting the car.

  Chapter 63

  “Keep awake for me.” She asks me, her voice rough with emotion. “Phoenix says she remembers the way back.”

  “I will do my best.” I groan out, managing to clear enough of my skin around the wound. I pull out the cleansing wipes and shakily clean the edges. “Just focus on the drive, there are people back at the school willing to help save Lynx, I will be fine.”

  “Geneva, you have a bullet lodged in your right knee. We do not nearly have enough materials for reconstructing that, let alone the tendons. You might never feel down there again. And Lynx already has bleeding problems, and we weren’t sure that it didn’t hit something major.”

  “No, stop.” I order, stopping what I am doing, pressing a cloth to the wound. “Sonji. Xavier and you repaired an internal organ. You two are barely adults and you did that. I am sure we can figure out Lynx, she didn’t shoot blood, so it is probably just lodged against the bone. Easy. Breathe for me, I didn’t know you knew how to drive standard.”

  “My Dad insisted in case of emergencies.” She smiled sadly, her eyes less misty. “You are right. Do any of the people at the school have medical knowledge besides you and Xavier?”

  I think for a moment, keeping the pressure on and hissing slightly. “I think Idris might. Liam faints at the sight of blood so don’t ask him. Violet probably but she might be a mess when she sees me, I wouldn’t ask her. Dainan, maybe?”

  “That…narrows down a lot. Okay, thank you.”

  “Anthony has the best emergency mood ever, nothing phases him, ask him first. Also, fix Lynx first, I can keep pressure on for a while and if necessary, tie a tourniquet.” I list, seeing the gates come into view, James and Anthony fixing the poles in.

  Phoenix screeches in, slowing down to yell something then speeding towards the school. Sonji slows down, opening the window. “I’ll stop, get in.”

  She does and the quickly climb in. The doors are barely shut before she is off again.

  “What’s going on?” James asks, as Anthony’s eyes widen when he sees the red cloth by my leg.

  “We ran into some raiders and it went south.” I say vaguely. “Lynx was hurt really bad, it’s why Phoenix was in a hurry.”

  “Geneva. Stop bullshitting.” Anthony’s level voice orders, and I sigh.

  “Okay, and I kind of got shot taking down one of the bad guys.”

  “No, you took on two of them. Moron.” Sonji growled, and Anthony’s eyes ignite in rage.

  “You did what.”

  “No, I went for the center and forgot about the guy on my left. Less heroism, more stupidity.” I hiss, and he stares at me silently.

  “What’s rule number one?” He lectures, and I return his look with an eyebrow raised.

  “Keep and eye on my surroundings?” I smirk, and the rage breaks as he shakes his head, lips slightly upwards.

  “Yes.”

  Sonji screeches to a stop and leaps out, the two boys following. Xavier comes running to me, his eyes widening at the sight of my leg when he opened the car door.

  “Heeeyyy, remember what you said about ‘be safe’?” I say meekly, and he throws his hands up, before telling me off with love in his eyes.

  Anthony holds the door as Xavier bridal carries me into the school. James opens the next as Phoenix carries Lynx inside as well. They rush to the nurse’s office and I look to catch a view of Lynx, and she looked pale. My panic levels rose as Xavier places me on the cot on the floor and rushes over to clean off the bed for Lynx. Sonji starts to sanitize, mumbling to Anthony who obviously agreed. They both pull on rubber gloves as Xavier begins to cut away the fabric around Lynx’s wound. Anthony kneels next to me and removes the soaked red cloth, shining a light at t
he wound.

  “Holy shit, Geneva.” He mumbles, and then takes a deep breath. “We are going to have to cut that open and hope Liam remembers welding class because you are going to need a metal knee pretty much. This is so much out of my skill set, I might help Xavier with Lynx, so Sonji can focus on you and not obsess over Lynx condition and doing it right.”

  “Sounds like a good plan. Go talk to her, but first get me a thin strip of fabric and a stick.” I say, and he gathers said materials, a questioning glint in his eye. “Just cutting off circulation for right now, just talk to Sonji.”

  He nods to me, turning to talk to the pair. He mumbles to Sonji and I whimper, pulling the band tight. Sonji comes over and takes over for me. She has a pencil and paper, laying a medical textbook beside. I lay back, grabbing the pillow that was set down for the cot. I pull it behind my back and lean back, hissing as Sonji poked at it while dabbling the blood away.

  “So, if I am reading this right…” She mumbles, tracing the medical textbook, open now, over an anatomical diagram of a knee. “The main tendon is here, and that goes there.”

  She quickly sketches out a copy, then highlights what needs to be replaced at first glance. The pencil just lands after she finished when Xavier walks up with a needle full of a clear liquid and kneels beside me. He leans down to kiss me, then presses my arm into the mat with one hand.

  “I love you dear, but we don’t need you going into shock. Lynx is going to be okay, I gave her some of my blood we had in storage.” He whispers, gently pricking me and sings to me quietly, just as he reaches the chorus my sight goes black and I pass out.

  Chapter 64

  Days pass as I come in and out of consciousness, when I am coherent I hear ‘infection’ and ‘transfusion’, then drifting into painless darkness.

  Eventually one day I hear someone calling my name in despair, and I knew I had to help them. The sun flickered across my eyelids as I fought to wake up, feeling my hand being squeezed and a warm figure over me.

  “Evie, lovely, come back to me please. I am so worried.” My beloveds voice became clear, and my voice rasps as I attempt to speak. “I love you.”

  “Xavi….” My voice drops off, and he hugs me tighter, before moving away to catch my eyes, as I blink to clear them and hold myself up.

  “Geneva are you awake now?” He asks hopefully, and I find myself raising an eyebrow and attempting a playful smirk.

  “No, I am sleep-posing. Have you never seen thi….” I break off into a coughing fit, and he gives me some lukewarm water, which I drink gratefully, slowly.

  “You have to be sarcastic, really? After almost three weeks of sleep?” He asks, and I almost drop the glass after the last sentence.

  “Three….weeks?” I choke out, and he nods.

  “You were asleep for the surgery, which took about six hours between me, Sonji and Anthony. We expected you to wake up after, but something must not have been cleaned right because you developed an infection, which almost killed you. We had to use a feeding tube on you for three weeks now, only removed it today after we thought you were waking up.” He stands, placing his forehead to mine. “I was so worried, we worked so hard on your knee, and you barely survived. For now, just rest, I will let people know the good news. Lynx is fine, you were right, missed everything and nudged the bone. Just had to remove it and stitch it up. Between myself, Lee and her we managed to donate enough blood to keep you alive. She is fine and walking now, only sometimes hurting.”

  I sip the water, contemplating, before lowering it. “I love you too, so much, so happy to hear and sorry to scare you.”

  He goes to walk to the door, and just before opening stops. “Lee is fine as well, please wait until I get back to look at your knee. Its about seventy percent healed and needs to stay isolated from germs.”

  “I promise.” I say, and then settle back in the bed, noticing I am the only one injured right now, placing the water on the side table.

  He looks at me one last time, with love in his eyes, before opening to almost be bowled over by Violet and Sonji. They rush to my side and he sighs, miming he is going to get food. The door shuts, and they almost tackle me, careful of my leg but squeezing my upper torso. It causes me to cough and they immediately let go.

  “Oh my god, sorry, here, drink.” Sonji holds out my drink and I accept. “I am so happy to see you are awake!”

  “I have missed you so much and been so worried!” Violet breathed, then gently hugs me again. “Its so good to see your blue eyes again.”

  As I hug her back I notice how thin my arms are, and gasp. Violet steps back and notices me feeling my arms weakness, gesturing to Sonji to help. She sighs, and sits down beside me, Violet joining her in two chairs I just noticed were there.

  “A side effect of being fed the way you were is the fact we just can’t keep your muscles strong, we don’t have access to the right type of medication and mixing methods. We did what we could. Even raided some hospitals but those were the first things stripped, nothing was left but undead patients.”

  I attempt to make a fist and it shakily happens, but I do not have the ability to fully close it. As I let the blanket fall down my torso I notice how thin I am, seeing the ribs from under my gown. The blanket pools in my lap and I sigh deeply, which hurts my throat.

  “Oh.” I say simply, then catch her eyes, hopefully reassuring. “I know you did the best you can, I am just going to need a while to recover.”

  “Lynx is already developing a physical therapy program. While you were comatose she started reading textbooks, bored, and found an interest. It’s helpful and she is willing to do her best to help you get back to your old weight. Even stronger beyond that. After all, most of us can hold up to Liam now in hand to hand, we are going to work you tough, but you will fight with us again, we are going to help you every step of the way.” Violet declares, and I smile at her.

  “Alright, let’s do this!”

  Chapter 65

  Another week passed as I recovered to the point I could start walking again. I had visitors all day the first day, and Xavier eventually had to kick them out to let me sleep. Only then, he let me see the wound. It was ugly at first, all knotted flesh and discoloured skin. But as I worked to walk, I noticed how well it worked, and then began to admire it. Sure, it was a mar to my skin, but it is also a masterpiece of stories of how it helped me survive.

  On the last day of that week Xavier helped me dress, gently and carefully, and made me feel beautiful still. He was careful of the knee, but still made sure I knew I was attractive, no matter what. Tonight, was the first night I would eat in the cafeteria, and it was the first time I had left the nurse’s office. Luckily the office had a full bathroom in it, so it was easy for me to stay there.

  “I’m ready.” I say, and Xavier helps me stand.

  He loops an arm around my shoulders, taking some of my weight off the bad knee. He helped me put on a pair of leggings and a huge sweater, I was cold with barely any fat on my body. He took the first step and helped me begin to walk. We reached the doors and he held them open, then helped me down the hall. Sometimes I could walk by myself, others I had to rely on him. He never let out a complaint and told me how strong I was. My cheeks were rose-red by the time we got to the doorway of the cafeteria, and he paused.

  “Be prepared, our friends went over board when they heard you would walk tonight.” He mumbles, and I get excited, a little embarrassed by the attention already but loving the thought behind it.

  “Would we even know who they were if they didn’t tease us over everything?” I respond, and Xavier kisses me gently. “Now, throw me to the party lions.”

  He pushes the door open and I am assaulted by noise and sound, seeing my friends clustered around a cake and balloons strewn about the floor. I laugh, seeing Anthony even smiling from under a party hat, a fashioned matched by every member. Violet brings me a turquoise one, and I lean down so she can put it on my head. I laugh and move away from Xavier’s suppor
t.

  “Let me do this.” I catch his eyes with mine, and he nods.

  I turn back, take a deep breath, and begin to walk to where they are standing. I hear Xavier start to walk a few steps back, and I gasp a tiny bit as I put my full weight on my half metal knee. I manage to make it across to the cake, and Xavier then brings me a chair. I sink into it gratefully as everyone cheers. I see Lee holding his phone, taking photos of the event. I smile, my lips stretched wide as my thoughts jump with joy of what is happening.

  Over the past three weeks they had completed the perimeter and gates, making this place virtually impenetrable. They ran a trip wire a foot in, so even if they make it through, it would ring a bell located in the front hall. The same bell is rigged to the side of each gate, in case survivors request safety. We always want to be on guard, so we carry weapons with us everywhere, and have spare ones by each exit and in some closets. Idris arranged a radio schedule, so everyone scans the waves for an hour a day. They have reached one person so far and they were close, heading here, with a group of other survivors. Violet and Sonji set up a full farm, since it was almost summer they set up timed irrigation and barely must tend to it.

  James and Xavier figured out a safe insecticide made from various things around the school and sprayed every week, and we had begun to support ourselves fully for food. James had led another raiding party and found plenty of farm animals, making multiple trips to make a sustainable herd in the back, providing meat, eggs, wool, and fertilizer. Some more had been run, getting further away but finding valuables, such as valuable additions to our vehicle fleet, which Dainan had been trying to figure out a sustainable fuel and had some progress. We now had a full van, small moving truck, and some more off-road vehicles.

  Luckily where the school was located, once the town had been deserted they barely had any raiders. The ones that had come had met their caged infected. Xavier and Sonji were trying to make a cure, but when raiders attacked they would release their test subjects, which deterred them quite effectively. Sonji felt horrible about treating them as such, but they were doing their best to save them. They had them penned near the now larger farming area, extending the fence to almost double the area for the animals.