Hey! This is actually a pretty fast update for me, so enjoy it! This is a pretty interesting chapter, and I was debating what to do in this chapter and the next one for a long time, so that's why I didn't update Chapter Five sooner. As always, please review!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Host, I only own Lexi.
Chapter six
I woke up to a strange, thrumming sound. It sound familiar, but I couldn't put a name to it.
"That's weird," Doc said, "It almost sounds like…" He paused, as the sound faded.
We were still listening hard for the sound, but instead we heard footsteps. These were fast, though, as though someone was running.
Doc jogged out to meet the runner. I could tell Wanda wanted to see who it was, too, but neither of us could move our hands for fear of upsetting Walter.
"Brandt?" Doc said, sounding as surprised as I felt.
"Where is it? Where is it?" Brandt demanded breathlessly.
"What are you talking about?" Doc asked.
"The parasite!" Brandt hissed impatiently. I stiffened next to Walter, and I saw Wanda's eyes widen with fear.
Brandt isn't big, like Kyle or Ian, but he's thick and solid. That's why Kyle always wants him on his team when we play soccer. He'll dribble the ball and ram right through you if you don't move.
Doc finally caught up with Brandt, and he gripped Brandt's shoulder to stop him from moving towards Wanda.
"What are you doing?" Doc said. His voice was low and angry. Brandt seemed to calm down a bit at Doc's tone. See, Doc doesn't get angry often, but when he does, you better watch out. He's not big or strong, but he's so persistent that if you fight with him when he's angry, he'll wear you out and then beat you to the ground. He could probably take Kyle if he wanted to, but he was generally a peaceful guy. You had to do a lot to make him angry. And boy, was he angry now.
Brandt was about to reply, when the noise came back. Suddenly I recognized it. A helicopter, I thought. But what was a helicopter doing out here?
"Is that – is that a helicopter?" Doc whispered.
"Yes," Brandt replied. "It's the Seeker – the one from before, the one who was looking for it." He jerked his chin at Wanda.
"Are you sure?" Doc asked.
"Kyle's got a clear view through the binoculars while it was hovering. Same one he saw before."
"Is it looking here?" Doc asked, horrified at the thought. "Where's Sharon?"
Brandt shook his head. "It's just running sweeps. Starts at Picacho, then fans out in spokes. Doesn't look like it's focusing on anything close. Circled around a few times where we dumped the car."
"Sharon?" Doc asked again.
"She's with the kids and Lucina. They're fine. The boys are getting things packed in case we have to roll tonight, but Jeb says it's not likely." I thought for a minute about what that would be like, 'rolling'. Ian, Kyle, and I had only lived here for about six months, but it already felt like home. It was the safest place we'd ever been since the invasion.
Doc exhaled and paced over to his desk. He slouched against it, looking tired. "So it's nothing new, really," he murmured.
"Naw. Just have to lay low for a few days," Brandt said reassuringly. "Do you have anny rope handy?" he asked.
"Rope?" Doc echoed, looking confused.
"For the parasite. Kyle sent me out to secure it." I hissed quietly, but then Walter whimpered and I turned to comfort him. I sang a few bars of the lullaby to him, and that settled him a bit. When I looked up, I saw Wanda looking terrified.
"It'll be okay, promise," I told her. She didn't look reassured.
"You're here to secure Wanda?" Doc said sharply. "And what make you think that's necessary?"
"Come on, Doc. Don't be stupid. You've got some big vents in here, and a lot of reflective metal." Brandt gestured to a file cabinet against the far wall. I gasped when I realized what he was saying. "You let your attention wander for half a minute, and it'll be flashing signals to that Seeker."
Wanda inhaled loudly, and I reached over to grab her free hand with mine.
"See?" Brandt said. "Guessed its plan in one."
I let go of Wanda's hand and turned to face Brandt, still being careful not to bother Walter.
"You can go, Brandt," I said icily. "Doc and I will keep an eye on Wanda."
Brandt raised an eyebrow at me. "What happened to you guys? To you and Ian and Trudy and the rest? It's like you're all hypnotized. If your eyes weren't right, I'd have to wonder…"
"Go ahead and wonder all you want, Brandt," Doc said. "But get out while you're doing it."
Brandt shook his head. "I've got a job to do." I stood up so I could walk over to Brandt, but as soon as I let go of Walter's hand, he cried out for Emma. Doc motioned for me to sit down, and I reluctantly sat and held Walter's hand again. He quieted as soon as I did.
Doc walked toward Brandt and stood between Brandt and Wanda. There, he stopped and folded his arms across his chest.
"You're not going to touch her."
They stood silently as the helicopter passed over again, and then Brandt shook his head, but said nothing. He picked up Doc's chair, slammed it to the ground near the file cabinet, and sat down heard. Then he leaned forward and stared hard at Wanda.
"Gladys, Emma," Walter murmured, coming back into consciousness, "you're here."
"Yes, we're here, dad," I whispered. "We'll always be here." Wanda looked nervous as she patted Walter's hand.
"It hurts, it hurts a lot." He spoke to both of us.
"I know," Wanda whispered. "Doc?"
Doc had already grabbed the brandy and whispered, "Open up, Walter."
The sound of the helicopter returned for a moment while he poured it, and he spilled some on Wanda's arm.
The rest of the day was terrible. We were all anxious, listening every second for the helicopter, Brandt staring unceasingly at Wanda, Doc still pacing back and forth. Ian made it slightly better by dragging another cot beside Wanda's so he could sit in Brandt's line of view. But the worst part of the day came at noon, when Doc ran out of brandy. A few minutes afterwards, Walter was moaning and writhing around. I struggled to hold myself together as his moans turned to screams.
"Sh…Walter, it's okay," I whispered over and over again. When I sang it seemed to help, and he got quieter, but as soon as I stopped for a breath, he would start screaming again.
Brandt started to pace back and forth like Doc had before, trying to pretend this wasn't happening. Doc, on the other hand, had given up pacing and was simply suffering with Walter.
Jamie brought food for Ian, Wanda, Doc, and himself. He didn't bring anything for me, but I wasn't surprised. Wanda tried to share with me, but I told her I wasn't hungry. My lie didn't fool Ian though, and he told me that if I didn't eat, he would force the food down my throat, so I didn't have much of a choice. Jamie laughed at that, and we smiled at each other for a moment, before remembering that we were fighting.
Finally, the day was over, but we didn't dare turn on the light because of the helicopter, even though it had disappeared.
"Makes sense for it to give up," Brandt muttered after a few hours. Nothing to see at night. I'll just take your light with me, Doc, so that Jeb's parasite can't get up to anything, and be on my way."
Doc didn't even look up at him.
"Make it stop, Gladdie, make it stop! Emma, help me! Stop it, please!" Walter cried. Wanda wiped the sweat from his face, and I could see he was crushing her fingers, just like he was mine.
I started to sing to him immediately, and he quieted as usual. At the same time, Wanda whispered quietly to him. We were a good team, and it was only when neither of us were saying anything that he screamed. Unfortunately, these moments of silence were getting more and more frequent, as we both struggled to stay awake.
"Doc," Jared said, "Doc wake up." I hadn't realized he had come in, I had been so busy with Walter. I stopped singing to listen to him, and unfortunately, so did Wanda.
"Gladdie! Emma! Don't leave! Don't!" Walter screeched. This woke Doc up in a second.
Wanda and I turned back to Walter quickly, and soon he was quiet again.
"What's that about?" I heard Jared murmur.
"They're the best painkillers I've been able to find," Doc said, sounding tired.
"Well, I've found you something better than a tame Seeker, and it's even better than Lex, believe it or not."
"You found something!" Doc exclaimed.
"Morphine – there's not much. I would have gotten here sooner if the Seeker hadn't pinned me down out there."
"Jared, you're the miracle man!" Doc said excitedly. I heard him rustling through something that sounded like paper.
"Doc, just a sec…" Jared said, but Doc wasn't listening. He stuck a tiny needle into the crease at Walter's elbow. Within half a minute, Walter relaxed, and his breathing went from harsh to even. He finally released our hands, Wanda's and mine, that is.
There was a deep bruise on my hand, and I tried to get the blood flowing through my hand again. I almost laughed as I watched Wanda doing the same.
"Uh, Doc, there really isn't enough for that," Jared murmured. Doc looked surprised.
"Enough for what? I'm not going to save this for a rainy day, Jared. I'm sure we'll wish we had it again, and too soon, but I'm not going to let Walter scream in agony while I have a way to help him!"
"That's not what I meant," Jared said.
Doc looked confused.
"There's enough to stop the pain for maybe three or four days, that's all," Jared said. "If you give it to him in doses."
I had no idea what Jared meant, but Doc must've.
"Ah," he sighed. He looked at Walter again, and I saw his eyes filled with tears.
"You can't save him. You can only save him pain, Doc."
"I know," Doc said, his voice breaking. "You're right."
Suddenly I got it. The wave of emotion that overwhelmed me was so intense that I cried out quietly. Jared turned to look at me. His face was sympathetic, and he came over to me and hugged me gently for a moment.
I knew Wanda got it too, because she gasped.
"Wanda?" Doc asked.
She just shook her head.
"I think you've been here too long," he said. "You should take a break." He put his hand on her shoulder. "You too, Lex."
"In a minute," I said, turning back to Walter.
Wanda shook her head again.
"You're worn out," Doc said. "Go clean up, stretch your legs. Eat something."
Wanda glared up at him. "Will Walter be here when I get back?" she mumbled.
"Do you want that?" Doc said, looking anxious.
"I'd like a chance to say goodbye. He's my friend."
Doc patted her arm. "I know, Wanda, I know. Me, too. I'm in no hurry. You get some air and then come back. Walter will be sleeping for a while."
Wanda nodded cautiously, and hurried down the corridor.
"You should go, too," Doc told me. "He'll still be here when you get back." I said nothing, so he continued. "He loved you like a daughter, you know. After Emma died too… you were one of the closest people to him."
I nodded, still trying to hold back my tears.
"But he would want you to go now, and come back in a minute. So you wouldn't be crying when you said goodbye. He wouldn't like that, you know he wouldn't."
"Alright," I said finally. Doc was right; the last thing Walter would want was people crying at his funeral. He had always said that he hated it when people cried for the dead. He told me once that he thought it was ridiculous, because surely, the person they were crying for was going to be much better off than they were before. So why cry for them?
Still, it was hard to make myself get up from my cot. I kissed Walter gently on the forehead, whispered, "I'll be back Walter," and left.
As I walked to our makeshift bathroom, I heard loud splashes. I stopped to listen, curious. Then I heard a groan of pain, and finally, a scream. The scream was a female's, and it was the most ear-splitting scream I had ever heard. After a moment, I recognized the voice of the screamer. Wanda, I thought, suddenly filled with dread. I ran into the dark cave.
"Wanda?" I called. "Wanda?" I searched desperately for her, but I couldn't see anything.
"Lex?" The voice confirmed my worst fears. It was Kyle. "Get out of here Lex." Kyle demanded.
"No! Don't hurt her! Please, Kyle, for me. For me!" I said desperately as I hurried toward the voice.
"Stay away from it!" Kyle bellowed. I felt something hard hit my chest, and I flew backwards. Then I hit something hard. I felt a jolt of pain through my body, and I crumpled to the ground. In the distance, I heard Wanda screaming.
"No, no! Lexi!" she shouted. The voice sounded so far away, as if I were dreaming it.
"Lexi?" I heard Kyle yell. He sounded remorseful for a moment, but then he roared, "You! This is your fault!" I knew from the tone of his voice that he was talking to Wanda. I wanted to yell at him, to tell him it was his own fault, not Wanda's, and to stop blaming other people for his mistakes. But I couldn't find my voice.
All I could feel now was pain. Dimly, I could feel something wet on my head. I tried to reach up with my hand to feel what was there, but as soon as I lifted my hand, another wave of pain washed over me.
I'm not sure how long I sat there, trying to figure out what was happening, and failing. Finally, I fell over, my limbs were so weak. My head hit the floor hard, and I struggled not to scream in pain. The effort must have taken more out of me than I thought, because as soon as I swallowed my scream, I felt exhausted. Then, all of a sudden, everything went black.
Sorry if this wasn't a very good chapter. I've never done an action scene before, so hopefully it turned out okay. If you have any ideas for the next chapter, please tell me. I'm sure I could use some constructive criticism.