Gabrielle: II
I couldn't believe it when it was happening—we were so prepared. We were ready for when the flimsy fences gave in, and even then we kept them up. I wasn't ready. And apparently, neither was the village.
To alert the entire village when someone got infected, but without Hollowed getting inside the village, a bell was rung. The only thing to alert the entire village when the fences were breached was our own screams. Awful, I know, but it supposedly worked; we were lucky enough to never find out. But we were never lucky in the first place. I remembered what you were supposed to do when the bell rang—if someone had returned and died, the bell was rung twelve times. When that happened, everyone was supposed to escape to the platforms in the trees. If someone was only infected, and had not died and returned, the bell would ring six times, and you were supposed to meet at the village center.
The bell rang only eight times.
I was so confused—why eight? Maybe the ringer miscounted, and accidentally kept the bell going after six. Maybe, because only one person got infected, the council decided that it was fine if we all went to the town center. I walked numbly out the front door. Hunter had left with one of the patrols to walk the fences and test their strength, and also patch up holes and weak spots that were overlooked by the previous patrol. I was worried that Hunter had gotten infected—and even worse, I was afraid that Cameron had gotten infected. As I walked, I kept wondering if Cameron was still going to look at me the same if he was infected.
When I reached the center, which held a graveyard, I was surprised—almost everyone was here, milling around, apparently talking to each other. But where was the infected. I scanned the crowd, searching for him or her. But as far as I could see, there was no infected. Only…I froze as I watched my mother lumber towards me, blood cascading from a wound on her shoulder, and blood from another smeared over her mouth. Her skin seemed pale and her usually nice, honey-gold eyes were filled with hunger and an almost painful need. As my mother got closer to me, I watched the crowd, who was not walking but stumbling and dragging themselves. I watched in horror as I listened to moans echo around me, and the entire village began to shuffle after my mother. I gaped at them. How had this happened? I tore my gaze away rom my mother, and towards the sound of a strangled cry. I watched, fixated as Cameron ran towards me. He had that hungry look for me, as always. Was he Hollowed now? I couldn't tell.
"Gabrielle! Gabrielle!" He screamed, racing past the Hollowed. I felt my body relax. Some of the Hollowed, that were close enough, reached out and snagged his clothing, but he tore away quickly. Cameron took out a long knife and batted my mother away with it, slicing her skin and pushing her away when the blade hit bone.
Cameron grabbed my wrist firmly. "She didn't touch you? You didn't get infected or anything?" He panted. I slowly shook my head. Didn't he realize that that was my mother he just whacked with a blade? Sure, she was Hollowed, but she was still my mother. I didn't get to yell at Cameron because he practically crushed me to his chest. "Oh, thank God," He sighed to himself. Then he took my hand and we ran.
The platforms might have worked—if the Hollowed weren't everywhere. Apparently the village had the same idea as me—the ringer miscounted and we should go to the center of the village. Now the Hollowed were slowly but efficiently fanning out and covering ground. The closest place to go was some random house, but Cameron wasn't taking any chances. He dragged me over to his house and firmly locked the door behind us. I sank down to my knees and closed my eyes, breathing hard. Cameron sat down beside me and pulled me into his arms, smoothing down my hair. I buried my face into his shoulder and let the tears flow. Cameron murmured comforting things in m y ear, and before I knew it he was lightly my neck. I twisted my head so his lips couldn't touch me, and he sighed again, holding me tighter and resting his chin on my head. I felt a guilty pang. Hunter should be holding me, not Cameron. Hunter should be telling me everything was all right and that he'd keep me safe—but he wasn't. I felt my entire body stiffen up. I jumped up, ripping myself from Cameron's arms.
"What?" He asked, springing up. "Where's Hunter?" I asked. I could feel my throat constrict. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no—he was out reinforcing the fences! What if he got infected? Oh, no!" I cried, screaming. I fell to my knees, and I could see the shocked look on Cameron's. He looked hurt, too, but he quickly covered up everything and said stonily, "Hunter wasn't infected. He was in my patrol. As soon as Gerard got infected, he left running." I took a few calming breaths, and wiped away my tears. I was embarrassed—I didn't want anyone to see me cry; even if it was about a semi-loved one. Oh, well, there was going to be plenty of it by the end of the day.
Not looking at Cameron, I squeaked, "Well, what about you? You didn't get infected…did you?" I could hear the fear shaking my voice, and I was surprised how much I cared about Cameron's well being. I mean, sure, if he did turn, I would have one less creepy kid staring at me hawk-eyed, but one more Hollowed stumbling after me…uh. It's too depressing to think about. Not to mention horrible.
"No, I was fine. I tried to…well, you know. But Gerard infected David and Andrew, and I…I had to go. I was trying to spread word through the village, and I actually had your father ringing the bell. I was so sure that the message had gotten out; I was screaming my head off for people to go into the tree platforms, but when the bell stopped ringing after eight counts, I…" Cameron paused to regain his voice, and sat heavily down next to me. I looked at him, expecting for him to be looking at me. But his gaze was trained on his hands.
"I went to the village, and I saw everyone walking around, covered in blood, and I saw your father…He only lived long enough to ring the bell eight times. I'm so sorry, Gabrielle, but I couldn't save him in time, my brother…he had died and returned, too, and he was so fast…I barely had time to…" Cameron just waved at the air with his hand. I could see the tears rolling down his cheeks and dripping off his chin. I wasn't sure if I should be angry with him for not saving my family, or feel sorry for him because the last living member of his family had become Hollowed. "Oh, Cameron," I sighed, pulling him into my arms. He gratefully leaned against me, and I could feel my shirt gradually get wetter as his tears leaked out of his eyes, fall onto my neck and slide down to my shoulders. "All those people, Gabrielle. All of them are dead because of me." I sighed again, and pulled Cameron back so I could look at him. I lifted his chin with one hand. "Cameron, it's not your fault. No one could have saved them. I couldn't. Hunter couldn't. The council couldn't—the tree platforms couldn't." I shook Cameron when he started shaking his head slowly, staring at me with disbelief in his eyes. "Cameron, listen to me!" I said sharply.
"It was going to happen anyway—you can't put this on your shoulders because it's not your fault. You tried to save the village, but it was too late. We've been waging a lost war against the Hollowed for decades, and it was only a matter of time before the village collapsed. All that matters is that you tried. And what matters even more is that you survived." I stopped and stared at Cameron, trying to see if my words affected him at all. "At least I still have you," Cameron sighed, crushing me to his chest. I was too shocked too react other than hugging him back just as fiercely.
As always, I ruined the moments afterward when I jumped up when I heard a familiar voice shout, "Gabrielle!"
