Where We Go | Book Three

7. Familiar Red Stain

The man flinched when Pilot took a step closer. He lowered his hands and cowered into himself, clutching his arm around his stomach like he was trying to hold himself together. 

Blood pooled onto the floor beneath him, seeping into his trousers. Beneath his hands, his clothes were ripped and torn with scraps hanging from the pale-coloured fabric. Whatever he'd run from had put up a fight before he'd got away.

"Is it just you?" Pilot warned, still holding up his knife.

The man rested his head against the wall. "It's just me," he confirmed. "I promise."

I stepped out from behind Pilot's towering form. "What's your name?"

He tried to adjust his body and winced. "James," he hissed at the pain.

Pilot cocked his head. "How long have you been here, James?"

James looked up and his stare locked onto mine. I wondered how much of my and Pilot's conversation he'd heard. Whether he'd heard every word of it.

His brows pressed together. "A few hours..." he guessed. Sweat began to build on his brow, trickling down the side of his temple.

My gaze flickered to the arm he pressed against his stomach, where his skin tensed beneath his shirt. "You're hurt," I said.

The office door clicked shut and Pilot and I spun. Pilot shifted himself so he was hidden by the wall, holding his knife to his chest, poised for an attack.

When the figure appeared, Pilot was quick to step, swinging out his arm and holding the blade to the intruder's throat.

It was Chris who raised his palms, raising his brows with a crooked smile. "Not Infected," he stated.

"Jesus Christ," Pilot exhaled, lowering his hand. "I almost killed you," he added before turning back to face James.

Chris scowled at the man bleeding out on the floor. "Who's he?"

"What are you doing here?" I ignored his question, my voice firm. "You're supposed to be with Julia."

He waved a lazy hand. "She's downstairs resting. She's fine."

"She's been shot, Chris." I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

Chris took a step closer to James, moving past Pilot. "Who's the guy who's bitten?"

"What?" My head snapped. All three of us were now looking down at James, watching as the blood dripped from his skin to the kitchen floor.

"His arm," Chris pointed. "The bite."

At Chris's words, James tried to hide the wound by holding his arm closer to his body, but it was too late. The bite was visible as a familiar red stain against his skin.

"I'm not-" his voice cracked. "It's just..." He looked up at the three of us. His voice faltered and his head shook. "Please."

"Shit," Pilot whispered.

"I'll be fine," James tried to explain as the blood pooled around his fingers. "It's fine-".

"No," I stopped him, my eyes beginning to cloud. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

"We should go," Chris said quietly, placing a hand against Pilot's arm.

Pilot nodded in agreement, turning to the door.

James sat up. "No," he refused. "Please don't leave me here."

I didn't move. The tone of his voice and his words were all too familiar. they rang back to the moment it had happened to me. When the world felt as if it was crashing down, suffocating me. I knew the poison that ravaged his blood, searing each vein with a burning fire that even the burning pits of hell could not compete.

"Em," Pilot said, gesturing his head to leave. "Let's go."

That look in his eyes, the slight dulling of his irises. He didn't have long before his body succumbed to it all. I almost took a step closer, but James's next words stopped me. "I heard your conversation," he said. "All of it."

I was sure my chest stopped and my lungs halted. James kept his stare fixed on me and his lips pressed in a firm line as his chest heaved with each painful breath. He knew. Even wearing the contacts, I knew they hid nothing. He saw my white irises and every scar I bore underneath my clothes.

"If you're cured," he rasped. "Then there's a chance for me too."

My head began to shake, and I clenched my hands into fists. "No," I breathed.

"What do you mean no?" he pressed, leaning forward.

My breath hitched. I was aware of Chris and Pilot watching from the doorway, ready to make a move if they needed to.

"There's nothing," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

"What the fuck do you mean?" James tried to push himself up but immediately hissed at the pain. "I heard you," he seethed.

"Em," Chris said. "Let's go."

I turned away from James, forcing my body to move where it resisted.

"No!" James shouted, the word sharp against the air. "Don't fucking leave me here!"

It only took those words and a single thought. One single moment to confirm my next movements. Within seconds, my body twisted, and I pulled Pilot's gun from his waistband. Neither Chris nor Pilot had time to react before I aimed the gun at James and pulled the trigger.

The small kitchen echoed with the sound as his body sprawled onto the floor. Those fading eyes were empty now, blank and distant as they stared at the three of us. My arm dropped with the weight of the gun, significantly heavier than it had been a few moments earlier.

"Em..." Chris said, keeping his distance.

Ben burst through the door into the kitchen, pushing past the others. "What happened?" his words were frantic, his breaths heavy until they stopped entirely. His eyes found James first, then shifted to me and Pilot's gun in my hand. "Chris, keep Sophia out," he ordered before turning to face me. "Are you hurt?" 

His star-flecked eyes tried to meet mine but I was too far gone, my mind lost as I couldn't tear myself away from James on the floor. In the moment, I believed I'd done the right thing. But now, as his body lay lifeless in front of me, I wasn't so sure.

Pilot shifted closer, removing the gun from my hand. "I believe that's mine," he said with distaste on his tongue.

Ben gripped my arm, lifting my chin with his free hand. "Em, what happened?" he asked again. His hand remained against my cheek as I tore my stare from James, feeling the soft movement of his thumb against my jaw. Ben's skin had paled, the dark circles under his eyes more prominent now as I looked at him.

"He was Infected," I barely spoke.

Ben only nodded, a sense of understanding swimming in his pupils. "Okay," he said, loosening his grip on my arm. "It's okay."

Pilot shifted behind us. "I don't think it's a bad suggestion that we get out of here," he said. "We don't know where the Infected was who bit him."

Ben nodded and took my hand in his. "Agreed," he said. "Did you find any supplies?"

"Not enough," Pilot answered honestly. "But it'll have to do-"

We all heard the scream that followed Pilot's words. Heard it echo and shake the entirety of the building.

We all knew exactly who it belonged to.