Where We Go | Book Three

55. You've Got Nothing Left

Both Pilot and I flinched as the firework detonated, echoing a hollow boom across the field. Pilot pressed a hand to my stomach, holding me back as he remained facing forward. With our backs to the sea, we were trapped.

"Those are GUN's trucks," I said, pointing to the vehicles that were entering through the gates.

Pilot shifted. "That can't be good," he said, casting a wary glare at me. I moved my gun from my waistband to my hand, quickly checking to make sure it was loaded.

Across the field, shots fired out, followed by the heavy thud of bodies dropping to the grass. We ran forward as fast as we could, towards the building commotion and saw the numbers of Infected building. 

There were more than I'd expected. More than I could even count as the distance to the gate lessened. Even the people of Land's End gathering their weapons and hurtling towards the fight wouldn't be enough to stop it.

When we were a few metres from the trucks, I spotted Ben to our right, running at full speed toward us. "Run!" he yelled, his voice straining.

"Ben Robertson!" Melanie's voice shouted, stepping into Land's End. "You lied to me!"

Three of us stopped dead in the grass. One shot rang out.

My legs crumpled beneath me, and everything seemed to slow. The air had been knocked from my lungs and only the slightest flicker of life held on.

"Em!" I heard Ben shout. It took a second before he screamed again, louder and more pained.

"Now it's done," she laughed, turning her feet away from my body. "I did tell you not to lie to me." The sound of Ben's screams hung in my ears, ringing around my head. "Don't you fucking move!" Melanie shouted.

The shot had only grazed my stomach, but the gun had fallen from my hand when I dropped. It lay a few centimetres away from my fingertips, just out of reach. I began to move my hand slowly across the grass, holding my breath until my fingers closed around the weapon.

"Your last hope for this cure is dead..." she laughed, closing the gap between us. "You've got nothing left."

"How did you survive?" Ben shouted.

"Do you really think I'd do anything without a little protection?" she taunted. 

Through squinted eyes, I saw her reveal the flash of a bulletproof vest. I felt a hand against my shoulder as Melanie went to turn my body. As my weight moved under her grip, I lifted the gun and pulled the trigger.

She gasped as the bullet pierced through her leg, the dark red blood instantly oozing from the wound. Her eyes widened as the pain receptors in her leg reached her brain. 

It had always been fascinating to me how fast that process was, how quick the human body was to react. Melanie stumbled but I was on my feet quicker, catching her body before she fell and clasping my arm around her neck. She struggled against my grip but each time her wounded leg hit the ground, she screamed. 

Ben couldn't seem to keep up with what was happening. His reddened face was still tear-stained and his eyes didn't know where to look.

"Em?" Ben scowled, taking cautious steps forwards. "What's your plan here?" 

One of Melanie's guards stopped level with Ben, pointing their gun at him frozen in place, raising his hands. The remaining guards followed, lifting their weapons toward me.

"This is the only way they'll listen," I said, moving backwards as they approached. "Stop moving!" I aimed the gun at Melanie. "You lot take another step and she dies."

"Alright," one of them called out. "You want us to listen... We're listening."

"You are all going to stop this fight against the cure and you're going to let it happen," I explained.

"You're still trying that shit?" Melanie sputtered.

I yanked at her neck, ignoring her. Turning the gun to the soldiers that faced me, I continued. "You stop going after us and you help us distribute it. This is your last chance. The Infected are at the gates because of you. We're all going to die here."

Melanie choked another laugh under my grip. "You seem to forget we've got a helicopter."

They all laughed like hyenas and one of them spoke up. He had dark hair and thick eyebrows. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" he spat. "You're telling us what to do? Do you think you're the hero now or something?" He scoffed, not waiting for me to answer as I kept my grasp firm around Melanie. They were trained for this and I was only one person holding their most valuable player. "I'll tell you something..." he said, lowering his voice and cocking his head. "You're the nobody here. You're just the one that's been causing all the trouble. The one who's been getting people killed. Innocent people."

He dared to take another step, and my finger pressed the trigger. 

My whole body felt the recoil and there was a vibration that stayed against my fingertip. Their faces whitened and Melanie's body slumped in my arms, her blood trickling down my arm and onto the grass.

"You mother-"

"I said don't fucking move." I dropped Melanie and turned the gun on him. "Or you'll be next." Pilot and Ben did the same, lifting their weapons and pointing them at the opposite group.

His hands raised and he retreated, dropping his stare to the ground. "Okay."

"We have the cure, and we are going to distribute it," I said. "And you are going to help us... This battle between groups is going nowhere and will only get more of you killed." I exhaled, letting my words sink in as I darted my stare between them. 

A few of them took glances at Melanie's body at my feet, at the deep red that stained my shoes. 

"Our enemy has been the Infected, for years it's been them and, for a while, it was me. Soon it won't have to be... There won't be a monster that keeps you awake at night, there won't be a reason to look over your shoulder when you go outside and there won't be another reason to bury your families."

The man in front of me continued to stare. Maybe he was trying to figure out whether I was bluffing but I was fed up with men like him. The only time they had power was when they had a weapon in their hands and, even then, they'd hesitate to use it. 

"How do we know this cure actually works?"

I caught his stare for a moment, flickering a smirk. "We don't. But you should believe it's the only chance we've got. Maybe the only one we'll ever get." 

He pursed his lips, his legs twitching before he gave a single nod to the guards behind him. The group obeyed him like trained dogs and ran off in the direction of the gate. I let my body loosen and I lowered the gun, exhaling the fear I hadn't been showing.

Ben's hand was against my back within seconds, his eyes wide on mine. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, standing up straighter. "Yeah. I'm good."

"Did you plan to kill her?" Pilot asked, waving his gun to her body.

Her eyes were sunken, devoid of anything and I couldn't help but feel like she deserved it. "For once, yeah... She had it coming."

Ben raised his thumb, wiping away the remaining blood on my chin. "You're insane," he said. My head dropped, thinking he was disappointed, but he placed his finger on my jaw, lifting my head to look at him. "I've never loved you more." He hesitated, his brow twitching. Through the sound of gunshots, our moment of tranquillity was short-lived. Engines revved in the distance, horns blaring across the chaotic landscape. "What is that?" Ben asked, turning to the noise.

A car had begun to approach the gate but with the growing numbers of Infected trying to get inside there was no way it was getting through. The passenger stuck their head from the window, shouting toward us.

"Is that-?"

"Holy shit," I whispered. "It's them... They've got it."