We were trapped, and we both knew it.
Zach's POV
"God damn it all!" I muttered. "Cam?"
Her eyes had fluttered closed, and her breathing and heartbeat slowed dramatically.
"Cammie! Stay awake, please. Cameron!" I shouted, the footsteps getting closer. She moaned, and I put her down in a sitting position against the locked doors, stepping in front of her.
I quickly glanced back at her, and sticky, crimson blood was running down through the strands of her light-brown long hair. The reddish dye she had put in it in when I first found her finally washed out, and I was relieved. She looked so much better with her natural hair color.
The heavy breathing got louder, and the footsteps came closer. I prepared myself to fight, and was about to swing my fist into their face when a familiar voice stopped me.
"Zach!" Grant shouted, ducking.
"Shit! Sorry, man. I thought you were..." I trailed off, knowing he understood, and went back to Cam.
"S'cool. We need to hurry and get her out of here. It's not going to take them long before they find out where we are."
"We're going to have to go back on the roof. These doors are locked, and I can't find anything to pick the lock with. Sometimes I wish I was a girl - they have those useful black bobby pin things. Cammie never has any in her hair, though, and..." I stopped rambling and looked at Grant.
Grant grinned and pulled a fork out of his pocket.
"...Why do you have a fork in your pocket?" I asked, bewildered. Grant simply shrugged, picking the lock with his fork. I scooped Cammie up and mumbled things to her, trying to get her to stay awake.
I was afraid if she went to sleep, she would stay there. I bit my lip, not wanting to think about what is a very strong possibility right now.
"Zach, I'm sleepy. And I hurt. I want to sleep." Cammie whimpered.
"I know, love. Just a little bit more. Then you can sleep. I'm sorry." I cooed, kicking the door open the moment Grant got it unlocked, hearing footsteps behind us again.
I heard Cammie sigh softly, and her eyes were closed again.
My breathing was labored, and I was getting dizzy. The cuts down my arms and legs were still bleeding a bit, and my bruises were making me sore.
"Go! I'll distract them." Grant shouted. I nodded, and ran out into the apartment building lobby. Luckily, there was no one down there, and the desk attendant was in the back room filing some papers. "Cammie, please. Don't sleep."
Suddenly, an echoing bang made its way into my head.
About five seconds passed before a shooting pain stabbed me in the stomach. I gasped and collapsed to my knees, making sure not to drop Cammie.
Oh my god.
No.
No.
I couldn't breathe. It felt like my lungs were going to burst. I felt like a fish out of water, gasping for breath and clutching my bleeding stomach.
"Zach!" I heard Liz shriek.
I fell all the way onto the ground, face-first. I fell half-over Cammie, my arm around her waist and my face pressed near her hair.
She was unconscious.
I brought her body closer to mine, and knew that if I died here, it would be the place I wanted to die most.
Grant's POV
I saw Zach collapse and pull Cammie closer to him, and the couple laid there on the ground, bleeding their lives out.
Oh my god.
I quickly roundhouse kicked the man I was fighting and violently slapped a napotine patch on his face. I got behind Bex and punched the man she was fighting, knocking him to the ground. She slapped a patch on him. We ran over to Zach and Cammie, where Liz and Jonas were already crouching. Macey and Tristan had the last three Circle members – I'm sure they could handle it.
"Are they dead? Are they alive? Are they breathing? Are they okay?" Bex cried.
"They're obviously not okay!" I exclaimed, staring at their wounds.
Bex sniffled. "God, we need to get them to the hospital. We need to get them better."
I reached for her hand and squeezed it gently.
"They're breathing. Both of their injuries are pretty bad. But we might be able to fix it back up in the apartment without going to the hospital and creating a scene." Jonas explained in a rush.
"Bring them up. Quickly." Liz ordered, already dabbing a white ointment-looking type of thing on Cammie's head wound. I quickly hoisted Zach up onto my shoulder and got into the elevator. Macey and Tristan dragged the Circle members into a closet, tied them up, put an extra napotine patch on each of them, and decided that they'd deal with them later.
Tristan picked Cammie up and everyone piled into the elevator.
It was the most silent elevator ride I have ever been in.
Apparently this elevator didn't have music, so all we could hear was the occasional drip of blood coming from Zach's gunshot or Cam's head wound, and the occasional ding the elevator made after it passed every floor.
We were all doing our nervous habits: Jonas was tapping his foot loudly, Liz was picking at her cuticles, Bex was biting the inside of her mouth, Tristan was grinding his teeth, Macey was tapping her fingers, and I was rolling my tongue back and forth in my mouth.
I knew if Cammie and Zach were...conscious, Cammie would be tugging viciously at her hair, yanking strands out, while Zach told her to stop while chewing on his bottom lip.
The elevator finally got to the floor we needed to be on, and we literally sprinted out and into Cam's apartment. Macey slammed open the door, making a loud bang. We put Cammie down on the couch and Zach on the bed. Jonas and Liz got the first aid kit out.
Leaving it to Liz and Jonas, we all started showering, one by one.
I got out of the steamy shower and quickly pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, and ran out to see if Cammie or Zach had regained consciousness. They were all wrapped up now-Liz applied wound-closing ointment to their wounds and bandaged them up.
Jonas had pulled the bullet out of Zach, because Liz cried every time she tried to. They were breathing steadily now.
"I think they're going to be okay." Liz smiled wearily. Jonas heaved out a big sigh and collapsed into a chair, gulping down water.
Liz and Jonas both had Zach and Cammie's dried blood on their fingers, and they went to wash up. Bex walked out of the shower, and she ran over to me, throwing her arms around my neck in a hug. I blinked, surprised.
Bex usually didn't show her emotions – to anyone.
"Hey. They'll be okay. Shh, don't cry." I soothed her, hugging her and stroking her hair. I pulled back and tucked her hair behind her ear. She brought her hands up and shielded her face, harshly wiping the tears off her cheeks.
"Sorry." She breathed, still looking down. "I just...I just hate how this is happening to Cam. She deserves so much better than this. She deserves to live a safe life..."
"I know, Bex. I know." I pecked her on the lips and dragged her over to the couch.
Tristan had carried Cam over to the bed, knowing that when they woke up, they would want to be with each other.
Then, Tristan settled down with Macey on the floor, and they fell asleep together. I snuggled up with Bex on the couch, and fell into a dreamless slumber.
Cammie's POV
I woke to a painful throbbing in my head. I didn't open my eyes, knowing the light that was probably going to be streaming through the window in the room would hurt my head even more. But I knew that I would have to open them sometime, so I peeled my eyelashes apart, blinking groggily.
It was dark outside.
Huh.
For my internal clock to be messed up, I've probably been out for a while. I slowly became aware of my surroundings – all of my friends were asleep around me. It was two in the morning. We were back in my apartment. I felt breathing next to me, and I rolled my eyes over to the right to see Zach knocked out beside me.
I couldn't remember anything. I remember Zach urging me to stay awake, and then...darkness. I cupped Zach's stubbly cheek with my hand, but he didn't stir. I sighed and painfully rolled over onto my side, my body sore. I reached up, feeling a bloody bandage wrapped around my head. I groaned.
I knew I should probably tell one of my friends I was awake, but I didn't want to disturb them. Instead, I opted for running my hand through Zach's hair and memorizing the lines of his face with my fingers.
I had to say – even though my head was pulsing painfully, I was feeling extremely peaceful. My breathing was calm and matched Zach's, and I could barely see through the dark. The window was half-open, and the moon was casting blue rays into the room. Everyone was snuggled up with their boyfriend/girlfriend, and I smiled softly.
For a second, I could pretend that we were all going to be okay.
We were all going to be okay.
I heard Zach's breathing hitch a bit, and I looked at him, alarmed. He was still sleeping, though. Was he sleeping? Or unconscious?
I remember when he was carrying me, he hadn't been hurt. I scanned his face, seeing no major injuries save for a couple cuts and bruises. I lifted the blanket a little and saw that he didn't have a shirt on.
In the place of a shirt was a red-stained bandage wrapped around his stomach.
I ignored my throbbing head and sat up, scanning the room more carefully, my right hand rested on Zach's stomach.
There.
A desk with tweezers, a lot of bloody paper towels, and a small metal thing that was reflecting the light of the moon.
A bullet.
I bit my lip so hard that it bled a little.
I wondered if Zach had taken that bullet for me.
Considering the circumstances, he probably did. He had been carrying me, after all. My ears were ringing and I felt like I was going to throw up. I sat in the bed, hand still on Zach's stomach, taking deep breaths.
I needed a distraction.
I guess it's time to wake someone up.
"Lizzie?" I said. Nobody in the room even twitched.
"Bex? Mace?" Nothing.
"Grant. Tris? Jonas?" I called a little louder.
Again, nothing.
I sighed. I guess if they were in this deep a sleep, I should let them get their rest. I looked to my left, and noticed my guitar leaning against the bed. I shrugged and picked it up, laying it in my lap and scooting up against the headboard. I took my hand off of Zach's wound and picked up the pick, strumming the strings softly. I looked up to see if anyone woke up.
As I thought, nothing. They were too deep in Dreamland to notice anything happening in the real world. I started humming, picking out a melody on the strings nimbly with my fingers. The vibrations of the strings under my fingers calmed me.
This was something familiar. Something that would be with me until I died. Something that I had control over.
"Sees a smoking gun..." I hummed softly. I worked out more of the melody, lyrics rolling out of my mouth naturally.
She sits in her cell,
And she lays on her bed.
Covers her head and closes her eyes.
She sees a smoking gun,
And the coward he ran.
And in her arms is the bleeding,
Love of her life.
And she cries,
Kiss it all better,
I'm not ready to go.
It's not your fault love,
You didn't know, you didn't know.
His hands are so cold,
And she kisses his face.
And says "Everything will be all right".
She noticed the gun,
And her rage grew inside.
She said "I'll avenge my lover tonight".
And he cried,
Kiss it all better,
I'm not ready to go.
It's not your fault love,
you didn't know, you didn't know.
Now she sits behind prison bars,
25 to life and he's not in her arms.
She couldn't bring him back with a bullet to the heart,
Or the back of a man and tore her world apart.
He was only a memory,
All it is, is a memory.
hey, hey.
She cries,
Stay with me until I fall asleep,
Stay with me.
Stay with me until I fall asleep,
Stay with me.
Stay with me until I fall asleep,
Stay with me.
Stay with me until I fall asleep,
Stay with me.
Kiss it all better,
I'm not ready to go.
It's not your fault love,
You didn't know, you didn't know.
Kiss it all better.
Stay with me until I fall asleep,
Stay with me.
Stay with me until i fall asleep,
Stay with me.
Kiss it all better.
Stay with me until I fall asleep,
Stay with me.
Stay with me until I fall asleep,
Stay with me.
My arm was extremely sore and aching now from the strumming, but I don't care. I finished my song and continued picking out random melodies from my guitar, losing myself in the music.
Dawn arrived, and rays of sunlight peeked through the windows. I was still with my guitar, waiting for someone to wake up.
Every few seconds, my eyes wandered over to Zach, who hasn't even twitched. It was 7:15 now, and Macey moaned and rolled over, throwing an arm over her eyes. I continued strumming, keeping my eyes on Macey, knowing she would come to soon enough.
Macey stretched, her eyes still closed. She stopped stretching and just lay there. She was laying on a spot on the floor where a batch of warm sunlight hit, and her black, shiny hair looked brown.
Suddenly, she froze and her eyes flew open, realizing what the musical strumming was in the background.
"Cammie!" She shrieked, jumping up and gently squishing me in a hug. "Are you okay? Does your head hurt? LIZ! BEX! WAKE UP!" Macey quickly ran over to them and yanked them away from their boyfriends' grip. Liz shrieked in shock and Jonas quickly shot up, but relaxed when they realized it was only Macey.
Bex shouted and blindly punched out, missing Macey by inches. Grant shot up, eyes wide, hair all ruffled from sleep. They glared at Macey.
But she didn't care, dancing over to Tristan and tickling him away.
"Gah!" He shouted, flailing around on the floor, sitting up. He, too, glared at Macey.
"Cam's awake!" Macey shouted, jumping up and down, her extremely messy side-braid flopping around in the air.
I can't believe they didn't notice. I was still playing the quiet melody on the guitar.
"Cammie!" They sighed in relief, all getting up and running over.
"I feel like you're getting fatal injuries too much lately, Cam. Stop it." Grant ruffled my hair. I rolled my eyes.
"I'll try and stop." I replied sarcastically.
Liz hugged me tightly and told me to be more careful. Jonas and Tristan kissed the top of my head, telling me they would buy me a helmet.
"I'll even get you a sparkly one, if you're good," Tristan grinned, amusement flickering around in his hazel eyes.
Bex unwrapped my bandage, gently combed my hair for me, and taped it up again.
"When's Zach going to wake up?" I asked quietly.
They eyed each other and shifted uncomfortably.
"What?" I demanded. "A day, a week? Come on, tell me. I'm a big girl – I can handle it." I was actually the youngest out of all of them, but that didn't matter.
"Well, the thing is, Cam..." Liz came over and patted my back. "We're not exactly...sure."
I blinked.
"What? You're always sure! How can you not be sure?" I asked, my voice raising a little. Liz flinched.
"I'm sorry, Cammie. It could be today, could be a week, could be months, or even years..." Jonas said softly. I blinked at them, expecting them to go all 'April Fool's' on me.
No one did.
"What?" My voice cracked. I looked over at Zach. He hasn't moved since I woke up, save for his shallow breathing.
They just shook their heads sadly.
I screamed in horror and anger, and chucked my guitar somewhere - I didn't care.
I wish that someone would burn it.
Because the guitar reminded me of Zach - the countless love songs I had written him, singing together...
I heard someone catch it and set it gently down to the floor. I crawled back under the covers with Zach and shut my stinging eyes, a numbness taking over.