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I'll carry you

I could hear the buzz of voices around me, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I could feel the touches of hands on me. I could tell the difference between Ian and Mel's hands, both soft and gentle. I found that comforting.

Hot and cold, first one and then another. I never seem to get the in between… But I was lucky now. There were no dreams…

Ian's POV

I sat there and just watched helplessly as Wanda's fever got worse. The van doors were open allowing a fresh breeze to blow through with the fresh mountain air. I watched over her all night as her skin became like fire under my hands. The sweat began to soak her clothes. I never thought I could feel any worse than when Wanda first came to the caves and we were all so horrible to her. But I was wrong. I felt the pain of not knowing what was happening to the woman I loved as I watched her suffer.

"Ian," Jared walked over to the backdoors of the van, "We should get moving soon. We need to get as far away from here as possible and we need to get to Nate's."

"Screw you Jared. We can't leave. Not with Wanda like this." I snapped.

"They might know something we don't! Ian, they might now how to save her!"

"She's not dying!" I looked back down at her and my heart ached. I had to do whatever I could to get her better.

"Okay." I agreed.

"Great. I'll go tell the others. We'll leave in the next hour."

I watched as Jared walked away. I looked down when I heard Wanda murmur my name.

"Hey. Wanda can you hear me?" I whispered shifting my weight so her head was in my lap.

"Ian." I watched her eyes slowly opened.

"How do you feel?"

"Tired and cold."

I pulled the blanket closer around her. She looked pale.

"Here, how about I help you sit up and you can have a drink." I carefully pulled her onto my lap and handed her a bottle of cold water.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked once she took a few sips.

"Just through the night." I told her, holding her close. "We're actually getting ready to leave. We need to get to Nate's as soon as possible. We can't stay out in the open like this anymore, just in case."

"Okay. That sounds like a plan. I don't think I can walk that far though."

"You aren't going to walk. I'm gonna carry you."

"Thanks." Wanda murmured before drifting back to sleep.

We ended up leaving fifteen minutes later, with nothing but food and water. I had Wanda wrapped in her blanket in my arms and we made our way off to the edge of the lake. Once we got there, there was supposed to be a hidden trail that leads to a narrow cove that is hidden from the rest of the lake. Once there, we headed North up the mountainside.

"Let's stop and take a break." Kyle suggested once we got about a mile into the forest.

"How is she?" Mel asked as I sat on the ground cradling Wanda in my lap. She was still so little and fragile.

"No different." I gently wiped the sweat that ran down the side of her face. Her blonde hair was sticking to the sides of her face.

Mel looked down at Wanda, sadness and pain was written all over her face. A mirror of myself…

We finally made it to the area of the mountain that was described to us. Jared guided us into the cave opening were we were greeted by group that had watched us travel up the mountainside.

"Jared." Nate greeted as he made his way to the front of the crowd. "I was expecting that you would come sooner or later."

"Can you blame us with all this craziness that is going on around us?" Jared shook Nate's hand.

"No, I guess I can't." He shook his head. Then he stopped and his lips parted as if in shock. "What happened to Wanda?" He ran over to Ian side.

"We had a run in down in the town with whatever the shit is that's doing this. It hit her like a ton of bricks and we were hoping you would know how to help." Ian asked his voice on the verge of cracking.

"Ian, as much as I don't want to tell you this, we have no idea how to stop it." Nate ran his hand over his face and sighed in frustration.

"What do you mean?" Mel asked, looking at him in disbelief.

"We don't know what it is or what it does Mel. All we know is that it kills. I know that is worse when the dose is smaller." Everyone was looking at Nate with looks of pain, shock, and anger as he told the newcomers all that he knew.

"Why is it worse?" Jared asked even though he was afraid to know the answer.

"Because they die slower."

*At the Cave*

Jamie sat at the lookout station and looked up at the stars. He was still mad that the others had left without him and hadn't even bothered to say goodbye. Yeah he knew that he would have fought to have gone with them but that still didn't make it right. What if something happened and he wasn't able to say goodbye.

"Shut up and don't think like that." He said to himself.

There was a distant light towards the East all of a sudden. Jamie watched as the light bobbed around the desert ground below. After watching a few more minutes he finally stood and ran back to the entrance of the cave to get the others.

"Uncle Jeb!" Jamie called down the dark corridor as he ran with all he could.

"What's up?" Jeb asked as he came towards him from the opposite end of the hallway.

"A light towards the East," Jamie gasped. "Coming this way."

Jeb and the rest of the troop that had been assembled waited at the top of the mountain covered by the darkness of the night as they watched the light come closer.

"They look like they know the way." Jeb whispered at no one in particular.

"Do you think its Mel and Jared?" Jaime asked.

"It's too early for them to be back. They would just be getting to the others by now." Jeb answered him.

"What if they turned around? What if something happened and they had to come back!" Jamie began to think of the worst and began to fidget.

"Jaime sit still or you're going back. It's not them. I can tell because they would have given some sign by now." Jeb kept his eye on the moving light as it came even closer. The only thing he wanted to know was who it was and how they knew where to find them. He wasn't fond of there location floating among the outer limits. It was to dangerous and there was to much to loose now.

*Montana*

I could here the faint whispers of voices around me as the fog began to lift a little. Some of them were familiar and others I had never heard before.

"Ian?" I coughed. I felt his hand on my forehead. It felt cool against my burning skin.

"Hey." He whispered from beside me. I opened my eyes and saw the forced smile on his face.

"Water?" I coughed again. I winced as he helped me sit up and helped me sip from a cup. Every limb felt like it weighed a ton. My head screamed in protest to the sudden movements and my stomach did flips as I fought to keep the little fluid that I could down.

"Where are we?" I looked around the room. There was a lamp that was run off electricity that lit up the room. I was on a bed that was small. I guess it wasn't really a bed, more of a cot. The walls were painted a simple white color and there were no windows.

"We're at Nate's." Ian answered as brushed his lips on my forehead.

"Oh." I laid back down and closed my eyes for a bit. The room had begun to spin a little. The fog began to get heavier the more I fought to stay awake. "How's Burns?"

I listened to the hesitation as Ian thought about his answer. That's when I knew that I was not going to be the first one of my friends to die. One have them was already gone.

I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed! Sry again for the wait! I'm hoping things will start to slow down a little here so I can write more. A special thanks to BeCullen1 for giving me the extra push to get this chapter out! Please Review!

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Mcena99