Chapter 21: Near Death

(Floor 19 in the Tower - 14:09...)

All I saw was red.

Looking back nowadays, words couldn't describe how much I loathed myself. Why? Because that particular chain of events started with me handing Dawud the f*cking pistol and maybe if I didn't, he wouldn't have kidnapped his son and he wouldn't have shot my surrogate kid! Henry felt the same rage and self-loathing as well, perhaps even more - given that he knew Libby since she was 12 years old and he too figured out what Dawud did straight away.

One worried look shared between us and off we went, hightailing it back to the Tower.

"Dawud?!" I shouted as I stormed towards the hospital in a fit of rage with my radio, whilst Henry dashed upstairs to the *sshole's apartment to check on his wife - the poor woman. "Dawud - answer me, you son of a b*tch!"

"No need to shout, Crane!" Dawud calmly spoke on the other end. "There's no need to follow me either, it's pointless. Please tell Salma that I'm sorry. I had no choic—"

"You had no f*cking choice?!" I screamed down the radio hatefully. "You kidnapped your own son and you gunned another kid down, what the f*ck is wrong with you?!"

"I had no choice!" The man yelled back. "Libby wouldn't let me go, so I did what I had to do!" Wow, way to make yourself the f*cking victim.

"Please tell her I'm sorry as well," Dawud continued pleading. "Sammy's gonna be safe, I swear,"

With that, the line went dead and I almost went raging over the brink. "Wait, don't! Dawud? Dawud, where the f*ck are you?! Sh*t!"

"Kyle?"

I whirled round to see a concerned Jade exit the hospital and whilst the red I was seeing slowly dimmed, that didn't stop me from beating myself up even more. "J-Jade, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!"

"What are you apologising for?" My girlfriend questioned in shock.

"I'm the one who gave him the gun, because he told me that he wanted to get his wife and son to a better place," Before I knew it, tears were threatening to brim and I furiously wiped them off. "G-God! I'm so sorry!"

I fully expected Jade to lash out hatefully at me and if she had done, I wouldn't stopped her because... I felt like it would have been a nice wave of F*ck You for getting Sammy kidnapped and Libby to knock on death's door. Just yell at me, Jade. Tell me to get the f*ck out again, I deserve it!

But she didn't do any of that.

"Kyle," The woman began gently, gazing at me sympathetically. "I don't blame you and neither will Brecken. You didn't know what Dawud's motives were and even if you did, I know you would have done the same thing Libby tried to do,"

"W-What happened, exactly?" I asked shakily, relieved that I was still in everyone's good books.

Hearing this, Jade sighed. "Dawud attempted to drag Sammy out of here whilst Salma was gone and...! Libby heard the commotion. A fight broke out, she told Sammy to run and Dawud shot her right in front of him," That f*cking *sshole! "She's in surgery right now,"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and my hatred grew even stronger. The poor kid was probably traumatised for life, having to see his own father gun down a young girl trying to save him! I swear, when I get my hands on—

No, don't even go there, Crane!

"We've got scouts out there trying to find Dawud as well; their orders are to bring him back so Brecken can punish him," Jade continued calmly, despite fear visible in her eyes. She gave a sad sigh. "I just hope that Salma's coping well,"

"Well, I know Henry's just gone up to check on her," I reassured Jade. "Maybe we should support her until Lena gives us an update?"

"Good idea," The woman complimented, smiling.

And if we are lucky enough to find Dawud, I'll be very happy to use brute force on him.

K-H

(Meanwhile, up on Floor 20...)

Guilt stinks, doesn't it?

I already felt it because of the secret mission Rais had forced me to take, but the knowledge that Kyle and I had indirectly allowed Libby to get shot prompted my guilt to flare up even more! Not only that, but I felt completely numb as I approached Dawud's apartment. Why? Well, let's just say that... my time with Rais had changed the easy-going bloke I was before the outbreak.

And I'm not proud of it now, because I felt the same rage, terror and self-loathing my buddy did.

"Hello?" I called out worriedly after knocking on the apartment's door, prompting a deeply upset woman to open up. Her tearful brown eyes were bloodshot with red blotchy skin underneath, her tied up black hair was messy and she was clad in a darkish blue tank top, white pants and matching trainers. "Hi, my name's Henry. I... I heard what happened with Dawud and I thought I'd pop by, see how you're doing,"

Hearing this, the woman forced an appreciative smile on her face. "T-Thank you, that's very kind. I'm Salma, by the way,"

"It's nice to meet you," I replied kindly, offering my hand which she quickly took. "So, um, would you be willing to tell me what happened? It's okay if you're not ready yet,"

"No, no, I need to get it out of my system," Salma interrupted, her voice hoarse from crying. "My husband has wanted to leave for weeks now, but I told him it was too dangerous. We've been fighting about it and then out of the blue, he found a gun, took all of our money and kidnapped Sammy! He took my son and shot the little girl who tried to stop him!"

My heart gave a painful lurch. "I'm sorry, Salma. It was me and a friend who gave him the gun. He told us that he wanted to get the two of you to a safer place,"

"Dawud doesn't want me," The poor woman remarked bitterly, despite offering me a sympathetic look. "He hasn't wanted me for a long time and now he's happy,"

That *sshole will f*cking pay when I get my hands on him!

"Salma, I..." I began reassuring her. "I don't know how just yet, but I promise I'll help get your son back. You have my word,"

Hearing this, Salma smiled. "Thank you," A concerned frown. "Do you know how the girl's doing?"

"I'm actually going to check on Libby now," I replied politely. "Did you want to come?"

"Sure," The woman answered pleasantly, following me down to the hospital. "I honestly can't thank her enough for trying to save my little boy, you know? Here's hoping that she has a speedy recovery,"

I hope so too.