A/N:

Well Chapter Two was proofread and revised much sooner than I thought it would be, so two days ahead of schedule, here it is! I noticed that I got quite a few views on Chapter One; to all of my readers, I am forever grateful to you for you giving my story a chance! Being a new author and posting any of your work for the first time can be a little nerve wrecking, and I'm so happy people have been reading it. Sadly I didn't get any reviews so if you guys are actually paying attention to my author's notes, I humbly ask that you guys please review! Whether you want to just say you hated it, loved it, mildly liked it, or want to give constructive criticism, I welcome it all!

I realize that my story is quite dialogue heavy. I focus a lot on character development so if you're looking for a quick fix, this story is definitely not for you. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the second chapter!

As always, Dying Light does not belong to me, it belongs to Techland.

Last Chapter:

"That's because I am about to give you bad news." He paused and looked down, interlacing his fingers. When he looked back up at me, my stomach dropped in anticipation. Considering the grim expression on his face, I pretty much knew what he was going to say. He took a deep breath and as he exhaled, he said,

"You were bitten."

The room fell silent at Luke's bomb drop of information.

I turned to gaze out the window when I heard what he said, forgetting that it was boarded up. How was I supposed to process this? How did anyone process something like this? I turned back to look him in the eyes and whispered, "Bitten?" As if hearing him say it again would make the pill of truth easier to swallow.

He nodded slowly, his gaze holding mine. I blew out a large breath of air and shook my head. "What do I do now? How soon until I...?" I broke eye contact and shivered, rubbing my hands up and down my upper arms, as if to warm myself. Harran this time of year or any time of year, is rarely cold, so I knew that wasn't the real reason for my sudden goosebumps. Luke slowly, tentatively, reached his hand out to place it on my thigh. A jolt, almost like an electric shock, shot through my leg. I cringed away from his touch unintentionally, confused by my reaction and not wanting any kind of physical contact at the moment. Especially from someone I didn't know. He pulled his hand back quickly, "Sorry I was just trying to-" I shook my head. "No, I know. I-I'm sorry. It was just a reflex. Thank you...for the gesture, I mean."

Luke sighed and brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck. "To answer one of your questions, how long is really kind of up in the air. I gave you a shot of Antizin to hold the symptoms at bay for now. But it was my last dose and if you don't get regular doses...the inevitable will happen. You said you were on a supply run. Is there a camp or a group that you're with? Maybe they have more in stock that you could use?"

I shrugged my shoulders, sending a spike of pain from my shoulder up into my neck. "I guess you could call it a group. They're based in the really tall condo building just up on the hill past the-"

In a sharp, swift motion, he turned to me and said, "Brecken's group? You're with them?" He exclaimed. I eyed him suspiciously and leaned away from him, choosing my words carefully. "I am. You know Brecken?" Luke stood abruptly, pacing the room. "I help him out from time to time. I'm not officially part of the group but I work as an external scout. I let him know when different breeds of biters emerge or if a large group heads up their way. How have I never seen you before? I mean I've been to the Tower quite a few times."

I crossed my arms and looked up at him defiantly, "Are you saying you don't believe me? Ask Brecken yourself if you want! You probably haven't seen me because I joined them recently. As in, within the last couple of weeks. Before that, I wandered around mostly on my own, jumping from group to group. There aren't too many people out there you can trust and I didn't want to run into Rais's men. When I came across some of Brecken's runners, I went back with them to the Tower and kind of just ended up sticking around. I agreed to become a runner in exchange for a bed."

Luke also crossed his arms in response to my now defensive pose. "I'm not sure if I believe you, anyone could've come up with that story. In fact, I've already said too much. I'm still going to verify with Brecken. For all I know, you are one of Rais's men, trying to scope out Brecken's resources. Wait here." He turned and strode out of the room at a relatively fast pace. I could practically feel the anxiety he was experiencing, his need to speak to Brecken as soon as possible was nearly tangible in the air. In the next room, I could hear him rummaging through drawers, looking for something. The static sound of a radio started up until he switched to the right frequency. "Jade? You there? It's Luke. I need to speak to Brecken."

Jade's slightly accented but husky voice floated throughout the room, "Luke, how's it going? Sorry, Brecken isn't here at the moment. He's stuck outside. His whole squad was killed by biters last night."

Luke exhaled a large breath, "So the mission failed? Damn. Who's going to recover him? Do you need my help?"

"No, one of our new guys is going out to arm the traps Spike set. Brecken should hopefully be back by nightfall."

I could hear Luke pacing back and forth. "Okay. Well keep me updated. But hey, I guess I could ask you instead of Brecken. Did a girl show up and join you guys a couple of weeks ago?"

"Details much Luke? That could be anybody. What's her name? What's she look like?"

"She's about five three. Long, straight black hair and has really light eyes. Most would call them a blue-gray I guess. She's about your size, pretty slim. Her name is...uh...shit. Hold on." His steps headed back in the direction of the room and he popped his head through the door frame. "Sorry, I'm an ass. I never asked for your name."

I looked up at him and scoffed under my breath. So like the big, burly man who's in charge to forget to ask for names. "It's Allie. Short for Allison, but I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that."

Luke smiled and chuckled, "Okay, then. Allison." I rolled my eyes. Great. Stuck with a big, burly, immature kind of guy. He ducked back into the living room and I heard him talking to Jade again through the walkie talkie. "Her name's Allison. Ringing any bells?"

After a bout of feedback from the speaker, Jade's frantic voice filled the room. "Allie?! She's with you? We sent her on a raid a few days back and she never returned. My brother has been panicking ever since. Thank god you found her. Is she there? Can I speak to her?"

Luke's footsteps headed back towards the room again and he entered moments later, hand outstretched to give me the radio. I took it from him gingerly, trying not to make contact with his fingers. I didn't want to experience the same thing that happened earlier when he touched my leg. Our fingertips touched anyway, regardless of my efforts and the same tingle spread up through my arm. I jerked the radio and my hand away from his and he quirked an eyebrow at me, questioning my behavior. I turned away from him to face the wall, bringing the walkie talkie up to my ear. "Hey Jade, it's Allie. You can tell Rahim I'm fine, by the way."

"Allie! Thank god you're okay. We've been worried. It's a good thing Luke was the one who found you, you got really lucky."

"Yeah I know, he's been great. Listen, we have a slight problem though. The pack I had filled with goods from the raid was lost when I was attacked-" I heard Luke leaving the room in the background, "-and also, I was bitten."

"..." Silence came from the walkie talkie. I pulled it away from my ear to make sure it was still on and put it back to my ear. "Jade? Did you hear me?"

"Yes, sorry I just...you were bitten? Did Luke give you Antizin? He should have some there, we give him a few doses every time he stops by for emergencies."

"He said he did, yeah. But it was his last and I can't come back to the Tower empty handed either." Luke stomped back into the room with a khaki backpack in his hand, my khaki backpack. I dropped the walkie talkie and stood up, jumping to his side and grabbing the strap out of his hand. "Oh my god, where did you find this?"

He looked at the pack and said, "Next to the river when I found you. I figured it was yours and had gotten knocked off when you were taken down so I grabbed it. You wouldn't be lugging it around for nothing, right?"

Jade and I let out simultaneous whoops of excitement. I picked the radio back up and said to Jade, "Guess I'm not coming back empty handed, am I?" She laughed and responded, "No, you're definitely not. Thank god for you, Luke."

He smirked and crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe, one ankle crossed over the other. "Hey listen Jade, I need to stockpile up on some stuff anyway as well as speak to Brecken. We might be heading back to the Tower tomorrow." I looked over at him and cocked my head to the side as if to ask, We are? He nodded affirmatively to answer my silent question. I shrugged and turned around to sit back down on the bed, reaching for the glass of water on the nightstand.

"Sure, sounds good, but wait until tomorrow morning. It's already about mid-afternoon. I don't want you two risking it and your safe zone is pretty far from the Tower. Contact me tomorrow and let me know when you're on your way." Did she say mid-afternoon? That meant it was later in the day than I had originally thought when I first woke up.

He nodded and walked over to me, reaching to grab the radio out of my hand. He raised it to his ear and said, "Sounds good, thanks Jade. Out."

When she replied back, "Be safe. Out." Luke reached up and switched the walkie talkie off, setting it down on the nightstand. He started a bit, seeing the now cold bowl of water and the other medical supplies. "Shit, that's why I came in here in the first place; to change your bandage. Hold on, let me warm the water back up."

I reached for him, placing my hand on his forearm, forgetting momentarily that I was trying to avoid physical contact with him. The same spark shot through my arm again, surprising me, and I drew my hand back immediately. "It's fine, I can patch myself back up." He looked at my bandage, nearly soaked entirely through with blood and shook his head. "Not with your stitches in that condition. I may have to re-do them." I looked closely at him, meeting his gaze again. "You did my stitches?" He chuckled under his breath and teased, "Do you see any other doctors around here?" He bent down to grab the bowl and turned to head out of the room. I shot to my feet and followed him, asking in disbelief, "You're a doctor?!"

He turned left out of the doorway and headed down a short hallway into what was apparently the kitchen. It was sparse, but it had most of the modern commodities. A fridge, a gas stove, and a couple of cabinets that were above the countertops. A sink sat directly under a window, also boarded up. The brown-green wallpaper extended into the kitchen as well. He poured the water into a large pot that was sitting on the stove, the pot he had used earlier I assumed. He set the pot back down on the burner and I heard the tell-tale clicking noise as he turned the switch on the stove. He then turned to face me, leaning against the stove, once again crossing his arms and one ankle over the other. "Was a doctor. Or almost one anyway, I'm obviously not much of one now. I was here in Harran for my residency when the outbreak happened."

I shook my head in confusion. "When the outbreak happened, medical staff and first responders were the first to turn. They were so exposed to the virus. How did you make it out alive?"

He turned to look at the pot of water, with a contemplative look on his face. "Ironically? I was home sick that day. I'd been feeling under the weather because I had been working extra shifts to send money home for...for stuff. I just overworked myself and was fatigued so I called out that day and stayed home, sleeping. I woke up to hear about it on the news. Obviously the quarantine had been in effect and I'd been treating people but somehow, I just never contracted it."

Now I was even more confused. I looked at Luke and asked, "Are you saying you're immune? That's impossible."

He shook his head and looked back at me, "Not immune, no. But perhaps a dormant carrier? I'm not sure how these things work. I got lucky and never questioned it."

"Did you have Dr. Zere examine you? Maybe he can find out why and use it for the antidote!"

Luke shook his head, "I told you, I don't think I'm immune. And I'm not a huge fan of letting other doctors poke and prod at me anyway." I began to protest, "But-"

The pot made bubbling noises and he turned around to grab the handle. I sensed that was his cue that this part of the conversation was over. I stepped forward and handed him the bowl, and he murmured, "Thanks," pouring the now steaming water back into the bowl.

He nudged me back in the direction of the bedroom and I turned, walking swiftly back through the door frame, wanting to get this over with. I sat back on the bed next to the nightstand and Luke set the bowl down on the tray once more. He pulled a pair of latex gloves out of his pocket, snapping them on with precision. I gestured in front of me at his hands and teased, "You always carry gloves in your pocket just in case?"

He smiled as he reached down and over to pull aside the strap to my tank top so he could peel off the medical tape holding my bandage in place. "No, but I knew I'd be changing your bandage, remember? I had those gloves in my pocket since before I walked into the room this morning." He tossed the bloodied bandage onto the tray and reached for the alcohol. I took a deep breath, bracing myself. This was going to hurt like a bitch. He noticed me mentally preparing myself for the pain and said, "Just try to relax, I know it'll be tough."

I nodded and looked up at him. "I'm ready." He nodded in response and reached down to grab some cotton pads I hadn't noticed he brought in. He poured the alcohol onto the pad and met my eyes for confirmation. I nodded again and gripped the edge of the mattress. He reached down with the pad and as soon as it made contact with my wound, I hissed sharply in pain. He glanced at me quickly and said, "Sorry." I sighed, "It's not your fault. It just reminds me I'm still alive, right?" He smirked and grunted in response. The next few minutes ticked by slowly as he meticulously cleaned the wound. The pile of bloody cotton pads just kept growing. How was I bleeding this much? I swung my gaze back towards Luke's face and noticed that he was now scowling.

"What, what is it?" I asked sharply. He shook his head and replied, "You shouldn't be bleeding this much from just torn stitches. Are you a hemophiliac?" I slowly shook my head in denial, "I don't think so. I haven't exactly been injured enough times to really test that out." He stood and looked at me with the scowl turning into a grimace, marring his handsome face. "Well we might have to call Jade back. There's no way you're going to make it to the Tower tomorrow with your neck like this."

"But if I don't make it back soon, then aren't I screwed? We need more Antizen, right?" I asked him.

"I wouldn't say screwed, I could always go without you. But you're not moving until this wound heals. If you so much as try to do any free running or attempt to lift your body up, the stitches will just tear again. And if you're a bleeder, that's a sure fire way to get their attention and get us killed."

A/N: What are Luke and Allie going to do? We'll find out next week! Again, if you enjoyed reading Effervescent, please review! I cherish each and every reader and would love to hear your input on the story, my writing, anything! See you next Sunday! *waves*