Left 4 Dead: Gemini Strain

Chapter XLIII: A Memory That Will Always Haunt - Adam

"Cassius, DO SOMETHING!" I yelled out to him. The monster gave me little time to aim my guns at it, using its own speed to keep me at bay with avoiding its blows. With each missed throw or thrust of its arms I felt the ground beneath me shake and my chest quiver with fear. With the luck of the divine I was managing to keep a distance but I could not keep up this game for long. My leg was becoming more and more unstable and the familiar heat was beginning to rise in my lungs.
Dammit, keep going!
 "Cassius!" I called out again, hoping that he could hear me. The absence of gunfire startled me. It seemed right now to be our only option and without that sound I began to panic yet again.
"Adam, keep it up! I'm out of ammo!" I heard him call out to me as I scrambled over barricades and slid down sandbags. I wanted to make a nasty remark but something else was occupying my attention at the moment.

"DO SOMETHING!" I yelled back frantically, aiming my handguns behind me and firing at the beast. It was doing nothing to slow it down and at this rate I would soon be done for. I only assumed the worse when I tripped over a loose piece of debris and slammed into the ground.
Fuck. Get up. Get up. Don't give in.
 I turned to see the beast in front of me. A large roar escaped its throat and the nauseating stench of its breath and odor made me cringe in disgust. There was something about how it pounded its chest like an animal and gave me a look of sheer ferocity that made me go limp. If it were for Cassius I might have died there and then. His shotgun pierced the air around me, its blast music to my ears and its results a salvation of its own. Somehow the Russian had made his way behind the creature and gave it a point blank shot right to the back of its disproportioned head. This seemed to stun it. Causing its arms to go limp to its sides. Its mouth was agape as if it was in shock. It fell to its knees, eyes wild and animalistic. I wasted no time getting myself up, quickly reaching into my backpack and bringing out the coup de grace. I pulled the pin and shoved it into its mouth.
"Time for you to just fade away." I said with a grimace as I pulled Cassius alongside me and we ran as far away from it as we could, ducking behind some cover as an explosion filled with blood and gore rocked the building. I looked at him, seeing that triumphant grin of his at what we had done and shook my head to clear my thoughts. We got back up, painfully, but surely enough. While Cassius took the time to flag the helicopter back down I made my way to Latvia.
Her eyes were closed, her body splayed out on the rooftop and blood all to fresh coming out of her slightly opened mouth.
"Lat, hun, can you hear me?!" I called out to her, grasping her hand in my own and looking at her expectantly. Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of her name but they held much more pain than warmth.
"Adam..."
"Lat, don't worry!" I said to her, tears beginning to form in my eyes as I looked at her condition. She was bleeding in several places; long cuts that looked rather deep were all over her body and went through her clothes. "Lat, we are getting out of here."
"Adam...I don't think I can make it..." She looked at me without blinking her eyes, her voice so full of pain and emptiness it shook me to the core.
"That's BULLSHIT, LAT!" I yelled to her, my voice choked with tears and my vision becoming blurry through its mist. "I can't let you just stay here!"
In the back of my head I was aware of the sound of a hovering helicopter near. In the back of my head I knew that Cassius was looking at the two of us, not interfering. In the back of my head I knew more than I would allow myself to believe.
"Lat..." I began, my voice becoming as soothing as I could manage through my own emotions, "Remember my promise?" I asked her pulling the necklace from under her shirt and holding it for her to see. She gazed at it momentarily before she coughed violently. Globs of blood came from her mouth but a weak grin soon after.
"I'm not one to back down from a promise!" I told her strongly. I pulled her arm onto my shoulder and picked her up off the ground with a grunt. She made no signs of protest as I led her onto the helicopter, even while we were up in the air she made no sound.
I looked at the two men with pain on my face. Even with this receiver on my head I did not care to much with what they had to say, all I could do was hold Latvia close as we flew into the night.
"Where are we going to?" Samuel asked the pilot.
"Military base not too far from here, with the lack of pilots in the area they are grateful for people like me" The pilot responded before he coughed deeply into his headset.
"Is this where our trials will end?" Cassius asked rhetorically. He looked at me with those words, drawing my attention away from Latvia's shallowing breath.
"I...just don't know, Cassius." I said to him. Latvia was growing heavier and heavier in my arms.
"Adam..." I heard her say even in the loud hum of the helicopter. It seemed distant from herself and weak.
"Yes! What is it!" I asked her expectantly.
"Adam...thank you." she said, clutching my shirt in a strong grip.
"Latvia..." I said low to her. I could feel tears welling up again in my eyes. She said nothing else to me. Her grip loosened and her arms fell limply to her sides. Her eyes were closed and a smile on her face.
"Latvia...?" I said again, startled at her lax positioning. "Latvia!"
Latvia?
 "Lat, c'mon stay with me!"
Are you...?
 "Latvia don't fall asleep!"
Don't leave me, not like this.
 "...Latvia..."
I'm still here because of you. Its not fair.
 "This is...don't do this to me!"
Its just not fair. Don't leave me alone!
 "Why did it have to be like this?" I said as I broke down and began to weep, holding her closer in my arms. I could feel Cassius' hand on my shoulder as if to offer reassurance. I could feel myself in the air high above the city, where I might have doomed my friends from escaping. I could feel the blood coursing through my veins. I could feel her limp body in my arms.
I couldn't feel her voice. I couldn't feel her strength. I couldn't feel her courage. I couldn't feel her very being. She was further and further away from me with each passing second and I was terrified.
"I promised..." I began through my tears. "I promised you..."