hey, so, right at the top: this is going to be graphic. Gore and cursing galore. I've put a gore warning in during he chapter for the most graphic description.

—

Panic. It rattled Fred's bones as he stared down at the odd square gashes in Daphne's forearm. He couldn't hear anything but a ringing in his ears. Maybe it was Daphne still screaming. The world around him went blurry and stared to spin.

How could this happen? How could he let this happen? He sunk to his knees and groaned with pure dread as he tried to process what was happening.

Suddenly, there was a BANG! Fred snapped out of his trance and Daphne stopped screaming. They both turned to Velma. She'd just fired a shot into the air, shocking them both out of their stupors. Her face was painted with determination and if it weren't for two tears pooling under her chin, you wouldn't know anything was wrong.

"Both of you get a damn hold of yourselves!" She barked, "we might still be able to fix this but we're going to run out of time if you keep wallowing like that."

She pocketed her gun and snapped her focus to Fred, "listen Fred, I need you to do EXACTLY as I say."

Fred stood up, nodding readily, "Look around the town," Velma continued. "I need hard liquor, a needle and thread, and a saw if you can find one. After ten minutes I'm gonna fire my gun again, once you hear that you have to come back with whatever you have, got it?"

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Fred whimpered.

"I'm going cut off the infection before it can spread." She said evenly.

Fred nodded. Velma turned to Daphne, "Daphne, this is most definitely going to be the most painful experience of your life and is going to scar us both mentally. But if I don't do this, you're going to die, so you need to power through it, ok?"

Daphne looked wide eyed at Velma, and wiped a tea off her face. She nodded solemnly.

Fred stared at Velma for a moment, pure fear clawing at his chest, "Velma, are you even qualified to do this?"

Velma sneered, "of course I'm fucking not. But of the two of us, I've at least seen and amputation preformed before. Now go get the shit I need before your girlfriend fucking dies!"

Fred turned on his heel away from Velma, his eyes darted back and forth for a place to start looking. At last his eyes landed on a liquor store. He ran towards it faster than he even realized he could run. He flung the door open and was only distantly aware of the glass pane shattering as it hit a metal shelf.

The first thing his eyes landed on was a cardboard display advertising some Vodka brand. That would work. He darted towards it and grabbed three bottles of the stuff. He quickly shoved it in his backpack and dashed out the door.

Back on Main Street, Fred looked around once more. Where would there be needle and thread? A craft store? He craned his neck, looking for something— anything resembling a craft store. There was nothing. Fred was about to turn away and go in search of a saw instead, but then something caught his eye.

A hair salon, perched right across the street from the liquor store. In some miracle the sight of the store brought him back to a memory.

He remembered one blissfully breezy morning back home with Daphne. They had been in the dining room enjoying coffee, but in that moment Daphne was hiding her face in her hands as her whole body shook with laughter.

"Wait she had laughed you thought sew-in extensions went into the scalp?! Freddie why would anyone do that?"

Fred smiled for a moment before abruptly snapping back into focus. Sew-in hair extensions. If this town didn't have a craft store, then maybe a salon would have what he needed.

He bolted into the salon. Rummaging randomly through drawers until —miracle of all miracles— he held a spool of light brown thread and a sharp needle in his grasp.

And not a moment too soon. Fred heard a distant gunshot and took his cue to start sprinting towards the sound.

—-

Velma: GORE WARNING

—-

Velma put her gun down besides where she was kneeling and and silently hoped (prayed?) that Fred would be back as soon as he could. She'd never been one for superstition but damnit she could use all the help she could get. She turned back to her work on Daphne's arm.

Velma had managed to cut down through the skin and muscles of her arm with the small serrated knife in her multi-tool pocket knife. But it had been a struggle to do. The bone on the other hand was giving her trouble. She needed a bigger saw.

Until Fred was back, she worked on making progress with her multi-tool. Velma could feel Daphne wince and writhe with every cut Velma made. She looked over and saw Daphne's face welled up in absolute agony.

"You're doing great Daph!" Velma cooed, failing miserably at hiding he panic in her voice, "almost done."

That last bit was a lie, but is seemed to calm Daphne down so, Velma had no problem with it.

Velma made a final cut and was able to peel back the tissue of Daphne's arm, revealing her bone. Daphne let out a strangled whimper. Velma didn't want to start sawing at the bone with her tiny blade. But if Fred didn't get here soon—

"I'm here!" A familiar voice panted, "Velma I'm — HOLY SHIT!"

Fred recoiled at the sight of Daphne's disassembled arm before him. Velma didn't have time to deal with that right now.

"Freak out later." She snapped, "please tell me you have a saw."

Fred tensed, "I didn't get it. Got everything else though."

Velma rolled back on her heels, her fingers tapping rapidly on the gravel. Her shaking hand knocked gently against the barrel of the gun besides her, and an idea came to mind. She grabbed the revolver in her hand.

"That's fine Fred leave everything here, and go grab the first aid kit and see if we have any bandages left. If not, cut up your shirt."

Fred paused, "wha— my shirt?"

"Yes Fred, your shirt" Velma growled back, unable to process any more input.

But Fred wasn't done with his nerve-grating questions, "What are you doing with the gun?"

At this Velma snapped, "I am picking the best bad option. Now SHUT UP, STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY AND LET ME FOCUS CAUSE IM RUNNING OUT OF TIME."

Velma was vaguely aware of Fred dashing out of sight as she repositioned herself on the other side of Daphne. Daphne looked up at her and managed her first raspy words since she'd been bitten.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to shoot through the bone." Velma said matter of factly.

"WHAT?"

Velma glanced reassuringly into Daphne's eyes, "it's going to hurt like a bitch, but it's fast, and that's what we need right now."

Daphne nodded up at Velma. Velma pushed her glasses up her face and aimed the barrel of the gun so it would break her bone just above the elbow. And would zoom down the road, away from where either Daphne or Fred would be in danger.

Velma strained to pull the trigger, until finally a gunshot rang out followed by Daphne's agonized scream. It wasn't a pretty way of going things, but the bone had broken clean through.

—

Fred

—

Fred cringed as Daphne's scream pierced the air. He was sitting alone, far enough away from Velma's impromptu amputation so he wouldn't have to see it. There had been medical tape in the first aid kit, but not nearly enough gauze. So Fred had ripped the bottom half of his shirt off and was now tearing that fabric into smaller strips.

In he back of his head, Fred registered that they should really try to find new clothes while they were in this town. Between the clawed holes in the back of Velma's T-shirt and now Fred's involuntary crop-top, they were beginning to look like some odd punk rock band.

Suddenly, Velma's voice broke Fred's train of thought, "Fred! You got those bandages ready?"

"Coming!" He called back, scooping up what fabric scraps he had and rushed over to Velma.

For having only ever seen an amputation preformed, Velma had done an impressive job. As Fred placed the bandages and medical tape besides her she was finishing off stitching closed the gaping hole left by cutting off part of Daphne's arm. She then, then a shaking hand, wiped a vodka-doused scrap of Fred's shirt over the wound. Daphne whimpered with each wipe.

Fred moved to hold Daphne's one remaining hand. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it tightly... too tightly. Fred winced slightly but didn't say a word, knowing damn well that Daphne has dealing with enough pain of her own. Fred lightly brushed hair off of her face, and she looked up at him with what was meant to be a smile.

"Hey," Fred whispered, "You're going to be ok, ok?"

He looked over and saw Velma already finishing up the bandaging process. She shot him a thumbs up. It was finally done.

"You're done Daph." Fred pressed his forehead on hers, "how you feeling?"

"Everything hurts and I'm sleepy." She rasped.

"Go to sleep now, Velma and I will find some aspirin for you ok?"

Daphne made an odd face, halfway between a yawn and a wince, before she closed her eyes and nodded off to sleep.

Fred smiled and carefully planted a kiss on her forehead. Then, he looked up at Velma, searching for the words he could use to describe how thankful he was for what she had just done. But he could immediately tell that so was wrong.

Velma's eyes were wide and wild. Her breathing was ragged and her face was flushed. She was gripping onto her forearm so tightly that her fingernails had pierced the skin.

"Velma?" Fred whispered, "are you alright?

Velma opened her mouth to answer and them clamped it tightly shut again. She stood up and dashed a few feet away before bending over and wrenching up the contents of her stomach.

—

Velma

—

Velma stayed doubled over for a moment, dry-heaving and gasping for air. As she stood up straight she was aware of Fred behind her.

"You ok Velma?"

Velma turned to look at him. An ugly shuddering sob tore it's way out of Her throat, "I'm really sorry. " She gasped, "I-I- I just... I just need a moment... a moment to process... "

"Don't be sorry Velma!" Fred said softly as he scooped Daphne's sleeping figure up from the ground, "if you hadn't done that— well— I don't want to think about what could have happened..."

Velma wasn't quite processing what Fred was saying. All of the stress she'd been holding back was now crashing over her in waves. The world seemed distant somehow. Like Velma was floating away from it.

"C'mon," Fred's voice sounded so far away, "I saw a Hair Salon with these really comfortable looking spa-chairs. After all this you deserve to relax."

The two silently packed up all of Velma's things. The First aide kid now had nothing in it but a box of band-aids and a tube of antibiotic cream that was seven years out of date, so they took the smaller box and left the plastic case on the street. They poured the two remaining bottles of Vodka over the drying pool of blood on the street, just in case it might attract zombies. And finally Velma and Fred slung their respective backpacks over their shoulders. Fred— still caring Daphne in his arms, led Velma to the salon.

Night had fallen. Daphne and Fred were curled up together in a salon chair besides her. But Velma lay awake staring into the dark above. Her glasses were still perched on her face. She still felt sparks of panic dancing just under her skin. Hours after she'd finished the amputation and adrenaline was still coursing through her veins.

With a quiet groan she rolled over to face Fred. His back was turned to her and he was snoring lightly. Velma groaned a little louder this time, as she bunched her T-shirt into tight fists. She felt another aftershock of panic wash over her, but this one brought guilt with it.

Velma had never realized how horrible guilt could be.

She wanted to scream, cry, kick, throw a fit. She wanted to collapse into herself or tear her own skin to shreds. She'd promised to keep Daphne safe. She'd failed. She couldn't fucking believe herself. Why the hell did she bring Daphne and Fred along? How could she do this to her friends?

But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to do any of those things, so instead she stood up, and padded quietly along towards the door. Hoping for some fresh air.

Velma reached out and swung open the front door. She cringed as a small silver bell overhead broke the silence of the night, and stepped outside.

—-

Fred

—-

Fred heard the sound of the doorbell and sat up abruptly. At first he had expected to see a zombie crawling towards them. But instead he saw Velma, leaving the salon in a hurry. Fred looked around and noticed that she'd left her revolver behind. Immediately concerned, Fred shot up and followed after her.

He felt the chill of night air as he swung open the door.

"Velma?" He called to her, "where you going?"

She turned around and Fred recognized the same wild look in her eyes from before. Something was wrong, and Fred was going to find out what.

"Nowhere," Velma mumbled.

Fred shook his head and strode up to her, "can I tag along?"

Velma didn't say anything. She started walking back towards the jewelers. Fred followed.

The silence of the whole ordeal made Fred antsy. And from his vantage point in the dark, he couldn't get a read on Velma's face. He searched for something to say to start a conversation.

"So... uh..." He faltered, "you sure curse like a sailor when you're stressed...heh."

Velma— apparently lost in thought— snapped out of her trance, "Hm? Oh... sorry about that."

The conversation died. Fred knit his brows and tried again, "Y'know... I was worried about all this before... but with you here I'm sure we'll make it to Crystal Cove in no time."

At this Velma stopped in her tracks.

"No." She whispered, "We won't."

Fred stepped back, confused, "we won't?"

"No."

"Then what are we...?"

Velma slouched hugging herself tightly, "you were right... back in Sanctuary 3. I'm probably going to die out here, well before I'm even close to Crystal Cove."

"Velma..."

"Even if I do make it, Shaggy's dead, he has to be. So I get there and what then? And I can't get back inside the sanctuaries so whatever happens I'm going to die a pointless death out here."

Velma turned her back to Fred, sinking down to her knees, "and the worst part is... I knew... I knew in the back of my mind... I knew this was a glorified death march ... I knew that... I knew that and I still dragged you into it anyways."

She wrapped her knees close to her chest and began to sob. Fred sat besides her, silently waiting for her to continue.

"But I'm hoping that it's not too late— I... I made a promise to you. And goddamnit I'm gonna keep it."

"Velma c'mon! What're you talking ab—"

"I'm going to die out here!" Velma paused and sniffed, looking up at Fred with and almost desperate look on her face. "But I'm not going to let you... or Daphne."

Velma stood up and kept walking, this time with a very brisk stride. Fred scrambled to follow after her.

"I'm going to find a car, fix it up, and you're going to drive it back to the sanctuaries. You're going to go home, propose to Daphne, and if there's any justice to the universe you'll get married and go back to the life I ruined for you!"

Fred shook his head, "Velma that's insane! We're here now. And if you can't get back into the sanctuaries what makes you think we can?"

"You're dad's part of the sanctuary government right?"

"Yeah, a governor why—?"

"Is he still as corrupt a politician as I remember?"

"I guess? What are you—?"

"Then you'll have no problems."

Kept walking ahead, not responding to any of Fred's follow up questions, and only stopping when she found a car stopped on the side of the road.

"You like green, Fred?" Velma asked, pointing to the paint job on the old junker of a minivan.

"I guess so."

"Good," Velma grunted, yanking at the door handle, "then I'd better get to work,"

There was a pause.

"Velma... I..."

"You can't talk me out of this Fred. My minds made up,"

"Look, Velma," Fred stared off at the horizon, searching for the right words, "I'll admit that I was less than pleased when Daphne decided to follow you, but now that I'm here? I'm here. And I want to see his through."

Velma gripped tightly to the side of the open car door, her back was tuned to Fred.

"As far as I'm concerned, Shaggy's dead because of me."

Velma's words hung in the air. She continued.

"If you and Daphne come along and get killed that's more blood on my hands." Velma tapped her fingers quickly on the roof of door handle. "I could tell you I'm worried that Daphne will get worse— and I wouldn't be lying— but honestly Fred I just can't have that on my conscience. I need you two to go home."

There was another, longer pause. Velma turned to look at Fred, who was cemented to the ground.

"Goodnight. Fred." She said pointedly.

Fred slouched, turning back the way he'd came. "goodnight Velma."

—

thank you so much for reading. Please let me know what you think with a review. Bonus Chapter this Friday! See y'all then!