Enjoy the chapter! This one is shorted compared to the last few, but trust me, you're gonna wanna read this one...also, HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS STORY...I decided to add a FOURTH installment to this story that is completely original titled "The Maze Runner - The Loud House Remake: The Wicked Within Us". It will have the same cast of characters we all know, but this time they will be taking on a new adventure...or nightmare...anyway, enjoy the chapter.
CHAPTER SIX - The Scorch
It was morning. A blue sky...
Everyone was still asleep under the concrete they hid in.
The sun glared on the ruins of the mall.
No one had time to process what happened the night before...
It was quiet.
The cranks weren't an obstacle...they were a threat.
...
Aazay's eyes opened...
The only thing he could hear...was the sounds of his friends sleeping.
No sounds of screeches.
He stared at the sky for several seconds.
Aazay dusted off his glasses, as they had grains of sand on the lenses.
Aazay sat up, and took a look at the group.
He noticed Sage was breathing hard.
He knew Sage was immune...but how immune was she?
Aazay stood up, and collected himself.
He took a look around.
Not a single crank in sight.
Aazay looked back at the group.
He approached the sleeping gladers.
"Hey." Aazay said. He knew they had to keep moving quick...the cranks could still be nearby, and not to mention, the Unit 8...
A few woke up.
Lincoln, Lynn, Luke, Sam, Luna and Kaitlin woke up.
Luke immediately looked at Sage, and noticed how pale her face was.
"We should start getting up, we don't have a lot of time." Aazay said.
Others like Cyrus, Jordan, Mollie, Luan, Benny and Lori woke up.
Luke tapped Sage so she could wake up.
Sage's eyes opened.
Sage groaned in pain as she tried to move.
Nick and Stella woke up seconds later.
Everyone started to remember what happened the night before.
"We should've never turned on that fucking power...all for some goddamn water..." Lynn said as she began to get up.
Nick looked at Sage.
"Holy hell..." Nick said.
Luna and Sam stood up.
Sam looked at her hand and saw the bite mark.
Aazay noticed this.
"Yeah...I saw...you're immune though..." Aazay said.
"I don't feel anything different...just the bite...it stings. That's it." Sam said.
"How about Sage?" Aazay said.
The group looked at her.
"She looks pale..." Jordan said.
"We have to assume she's gonna be okay right? If Sam is immune, why wouldn't Sage be?" Luke said.
"We can't assume that..." Cyrus said.
The group looked at him.
"It doesn't matter if your haired is colored differently. Everyone has a chance of getting infected...there are no fully immune people." Cyrus explained.
"We'll just...have to hope for the best..." Aazay said. "There's nothing we can do."
Aazay noticed something was off.
He looked at the group once more.
He counted everyone.
Aazay then noticed what was wrong.
"Wait...where's Matias?" Aazay asked.
Everyone except Luke and Sage looked around.
"Shit! Did we leave him behind? He was there with us right?" Nick asked.
"Yeah, he threw the knifes towards us..." Lincoln said.
"We have to go look for him!" Nick said.
"No...don't bother." Luke said while staring at the ground.
Everyone looked at Luke.
"What?" Lori asked.
"He's...gone." Luke said with dread.
Everybody that didn't know was shocked.
"Wait...what?! What the fuck do you mean GONE?!" Nick asked in disbelief.
"No..." Luna said.
"Fuck..." Kaitlin said.
Aazay couldn't say anything...
"Wait, are you sure? What happened?!" Lynn asked.
Luke took a second to respond.
"He...saved me from a crank...then others swarmed him and overwhelmed him...and then, he f-fell...all the way d-down." Luke said quietly.
Nick was trembling in shock.
The rest stood in shock.
"I saw it happen..." Sage said. "There's no way he could've survived that..."
"No, fuck! This can't be happening!" Nick said frantically.
Aazay was in great pain knowing Matias was gone, but he needed to be calm and assuring for the rest of the group.
Aazay spoke.
"One thing I know...Matias would want us to keep going...he was one of the kindest people I've ever met..." Aazay said.
The group couldn't comprehend that their friend was gone.
Stella and Cyrus barely knew Matias, but they too felt the pain the group was feeling.
"He's just gone...just like that...no fucking way..." Mollie said in disbelief.
"How the hell did none of us notice..." Kaitlin said to herself.
Aazay looked around and took notice of the group.
"We need to keep going...we don't have a lot of time to find those defectors or whatever..." Aazay said.
Aazay noticed everyone's mood...
Lincoln, Lynn, Stella, Cyrus, Sam and Luke were dead silent.
The group listened.
"Ok...what supplies did we get?" Aazay asked.
"Me and Lincoln didn't have the chance to find much." Lynn said.
"I found some water...that's it though." Jordan said.
"Matias had most of our important stuff we found...the bag it was all in fell with him." Luke said.
"Fuck me..." Aazay said.
Aazay looked at Mollie and noticed something.
"Mollie, what happened to your head?" Aazay asked.
Mollie looked at Aazay.
"I was just about to tell you..." Mollie said.
The group looked.
"These guys from the Unit 8 took me, Luan and Benny and kept us hostage in some room. We were able to escape because those insane whatever-the-fuck-they-are creatures came outta nowhere and attacked them. One of the guys hit me and another covered the wound..." Mollie explained.
Aazay took note.
"They didn't tell anyone anything, right?" Aazay asked.
"No, I didn't say anything they needed to know." Mollie said.
"So...they must be close if a few already found you three...we gotta get out of here." Aazay said.
"Wait, what about Sawyer, Casey and the others?" Cyrus asked.
"Didn't Sawyer say the mall was safe? He fucked us over and got Matias killed, Sage and Sam infected and costed us supplies!" Luke said.
"I don't think Sawyer would do that..." Stella said.
"How long did you know him? You said he wasn't in your maze...he came alone, he barely talked? Is that NOT suspicious at all?! The guy's probably a fucking plant." Luke said.
"A plant for what? To overrun and destroy a prime location for the Unit 8?" Cyrus asked confusingly.
"I don't know...a plant for some crazy shit..." Luke said.
"You don't even know what you're saying! Sawyer wouldn't screw us over!" Cyrus argued.
"You said you never even heard him talk before we left, and now suddenly you're putting all your trust into him? The fuck?!" Luke said.
"Screw off." Cyrus said.
Aazay stepped forward.
"That's enough! Keep it down and keep it cool." Aazay said. "We can't be against each other...especially now."
"And we definitely don't want to attract the cranks." Lincoln added.
Aazay looked around.
"Do we know where we are going?" Benny asked.
"Look out for a factory and anything that says San City or Casborough. That's what I overheard." Lynn said.
"How do we even know they are nearby?" Lori asked.
"We gotta start somewhere..." Kaitlin said.
Aazay nodded.
"Let's go...grab your things." Aazay said, taking lead.
The group grabbed their bags and flashlights and began to follow Aazay.
Aazay began to walk towards some rubble and debris.
Luke looked at Sage.
Luke lent his hand out towards her.
Sage grabbed it and Luke pulled her up and placed her arm around his body to keep her standing.
"You're going to be okay..." Luke said, trying to reassure her.
"I sure...as hell don't feel okay..." Sage said as she coughed.
She was extremely pale.
Luke knew he was infected, but kept it to himself, he didn't want the others to worry more.
Aazay began to climb up the debris and towards the glare of the sun.
It was hot. Very hot.
Aazay was the first to reach the top, followed by Lincoln and Lynn.
Luke and Nick helped Sage up the debris.
Sage groaned as she was lifted up.
Aazay walked forward and towards the glare of sun.
Aazay, Lincoln and Lynn were hypnotized by what they saw over the ledge.
The rest of the group approached from behind and saw what they were seeing.
Tall, destroyed and vacant skyscrapers and buildings beside a sand covered road with abandoned and rusted cars was the perfect way to describe the scenery in front of them.
The sound of buzzing and distant heat waves filled the isolate city.
The blazing sun scorched the pavement and concrete.
They were only out in the scorch for a few hours, and now one of them is dead, and three are infected.
This was their new world now...
"Holy shit..." Nick said.
The group continued walking down towards the road.
The maze was one thing...but the scorch...everything that happened...the kids weren't ready for the REAL world...not yet...
Jay sat in the communications room, checking off names on a packet.
"George Leyland...Beatrice McCarroll...Landon Fotono...to station four..." Jay said to himself.
The door to the room opened.
It was Mavys.
"Almost done?" Mavys asked.
Jay sighed.
"Almost done." Jay replied.
Jay shook his head.
"The guy asks for 150 of my soldiers to transfer to his camp when he has more than me, and yet I'm supposed to be cool with that?" Jay said to himself.
Mavys sighed.
Suddenly, the radio went off.
Jay put down his pen and grabbed the radio.
"This is The Owl. Anything?" Jay said.
...
A convoy of trucks from the Unit 8 was driving down a road.
In the front of the convoy, an Indian man was in the passenger seat while another drove the truck.
The Indian man replied. He had black hair, dark skin and a mustache.
"We haven't heard back from the guys who checked out the mall...sent a few there to search...city team is currently on their way to look for the kids. We have squads and the E-9 plane currently disbanded in the city and looking..." The Indian soldier said.
"That's good. Find them. We can't risk anything." Jay replied.
"Got it. Halek out." The Indian soldier said.
Jay placed the radio down.
"Who was that?" Mavys asked.
"Halek and his group are looking for them. They said the mall team wasn't responding..." Jay explained.
"Could be cranks." Mavys said.
"Or it could be them." Jay said.
Jay sat back in his chair.
"Trevett asked me if I could transfer Halek Brajat and Tyler Parker to his camp by tomorrow..." Jay said.
"I don't see a problem in doing that?" Mavys asked.
"Tyler is afraid of him." Jay said.
"It's not like all of Trev's attention is going to be on him..." Mavys said.
"But you know how he is with the young..." Jay said.
"The things he's doing, I know they aren't good, but what my father used to tell me...to do good...we have to some bad..." Mavys said.
"Your father...he's not wrong, it's the plain truth...but Mavys, do you damn well know what he does...I never understood how the hell he got away with all of the things he's done..." Jay explained. "The whole Harvey Hudson shit, Blake Meyers and the riots, Operation Oldclam, Harlow Garden..."
Mavys nodded.
"I get it...but we can't do anything, not now at least..." Mavys said.
Jay looked at his work and sighed.
"Update Tyler on the transfer." Jay said.
Mavys nodded and exited the room.
Jay picked up his pen and continued marking off names...
The group continued walking down the abandoned road.
Some of them looked up at the shattered buildings above.
Lincoln looked up at one particular building.
He looked like an ant compared to the skyscraper...
Lincoln felt really strange for a moment...like he had thought of this before...
Lincoln ignored this and kept walking.
"Doesn't look like anyone has been here for a long time..." Sam said.
"Dude, longer than long..." Luna said.
"I hope the whole world isn't like this..." Luan said.
Aazay was in the front of the group.
Lincoln and Lynn were behind him.
Lori, Kaitlin and Stella were following behind.
Jordan, Mollie, Cyrus, Luna, Sam, Benny and Luan were behind them towards the middle of the group.
Nick was following close behind while Luke and Sage were walking slowly behind Nick.
Aazay felt something was off...
He stopped moving.
"What?" Kaitlin asked.
"Hold on..." Aazay said.
Everyone was quiet.
Everyone looked at Aazay.
"You hear that...?" Aazay asked.
The group looked around.
Lynn looked at the sky.
Suddenly, the sound became louder.
It sounded like blades spinning around in the distance.
Aazay turned around.
"Shit, GET DOWN! EVERYBODY HIDE!" Aazay shouted.
"In here!" Cyrus pointed.
The group ran towards some debris.
The group quickly got under some concrete, out of sight from the sky.
Nick and Luke helped Sage get under the concrete.
"Go, go, grab her." Luke said quickly and quietly.
Luna and Aazay helped Sage inside as Luke and Nick quickly got under the concrete.
Aazay peeked his head out towards the sky.
A ginormous plane with "E-9" printed on the bottom flew past with two helicopters flying beside it.
The E-9 plane had the shape of a military VTOL. It also had a turret in the front.
The group looked as the plane passed by.
It was a close one...
Once Aazay noticed the aircrafts were far enough, he sighed in relief.
"They aren't going to stop looking for us..." Lincoln said.
Aazay exited the hiding spot.
"Alright, let's keep going and keep your voices down, they're out here..." Aazay commanded.
The group continued to walk through the collapsed city for what seemed like hours.
The heat was getting to them.
The sun seared the skin of anything below...
The group were walking on an overpass that went over a multi-lane highway below. There were many cars and trucks on the road, motionless and broken...
Luna looked over the side of the overpass and saw the highway.
Sage and Luke were still in the back.
Sage hadn't said a single word since they left the mall area.
Luke was starting to feel tired.
Sage looked at Luke who was still helping her walk.
Sage knew he was infected as she saw it happen.
"Luke..." Sage said was groaning.
Luke looked at Sage.
"Can we stop for a second..." Sage asked.
"Sure, sure, yeah..." Luke said.
Luke and Sage stopped walking.
Nick looked back.
"She's just gonna take a quick rest, you guys can keep going." Luke said, loud enough for them to hear, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear...
Nick nodded and kept walking.
Luke let Sage rest her back against an old car.
Luke looked at Sage.
"What's up?" Luke asked.
Sage breathed loudly.
The pain she had was growing rapidly.
"I...know...you got bit by one..." Sage said slowly.
Luke sighed.
"You can't tell them..." Luke said.
"Why?" Sage asked.
"Because, I don't need them to worry about me, they need to worry about you and Sam..." Luke answered.
Sage shook her head."You can't just hide a bite from them, you aren't as immune as me and Sam..." Sage said.
"We'll deal with it, AFTER you get better." Luke said.
"Luke..." Sage said.
Luke looked at Sage.
"What?" Luke asked.
Sage looked at Luke in the eyes.
"You know i'm not going to make it..." Sage said.
Luke was taken aback by this.
"What?! Yes you will, you're immune-" Luke was cut off.
"Look at me! They scratched and dug their fucking nails into me...my skin is almost fucking gray, and I feel the worst i've ever felt in my life..." Sage explained with teary eyes.
Luke was speechless.
"I...I can't just lose you! We'll find those people and they'll help you!" Luke said.
"Luke, we don't know if they're even out here..." Sage said.
Luke stood silently.
"You're going to tell the others about your bite. And I swear to god, you better. I need you to stay alive for me." Sage said.
"You're not dying Sage! You're just sick and wounded. You're going to be okay." Luke said.
"Luke, for fucks sake, you can't just pretend that things aren't happening!" Sage said.
Luke sighed.
"I just don't want to lose you..." Luke said.
Sage took a deep breath and got close to Luke.
"If anything happens to me...I need you to keep going, and don't give up, because I am not dying just to know that the person I care about the most is going to fucking give up and quit..." Sage said, almost crying.
Luke looked at Sage.
"Come on...don't say that...please..." Luke said.
Sage closed her eyes and hugged Luke.
Luke took in the hug.
The two held the hug for several seconds.
Luke looked at the group and noticed they were almost off the overpass.
"I'm sorry..." Luke said.
Sage coughed.
"Help me up..." Sage said.
Luke nodded and proceed to put her arm around his back.
The two continued walking...
Halek and his group exited their trucks.
Halek held his gun.
"Fan out and search the city." Halek ordered.
Halek looked at the group.
"Baker and Greenings will search the plaza by the Owen James building. Everlyn and Bane will search the highway. I'll search the flat land while the rest of you look in the buildings." Halek ordered.
The team took note as the soldiers began to split up.
The group were climbing the debris of a fallen building.
Luke and Sage were still in the back of the group.
Nick looked back and noticed they needed help up the debris.
Nick approached them and began to help Luke get Sage up the debris.
"Everyone good?" Aazay asked.
'Yeah." Luke replied.
Sage groaned and breathed heavy from the pain.
Stella was in the middle of the group.
Stella slipped on a piece of concrete.
"You okay?" Kaitlin asked.
Stella retained her grip.
Stella nodded.
The group continued to climb up the debris.
It was getting hotter.
...
The group made it over the debris and began approaching a large sand hill.
"We should be able to get a better view from that hill." Aazay said.
Luna sighed from the exhaustion from walking.
"No water until nightfall? Seriously?" Nick said in exhaustion.
"We have to preserve everything we can. There's so many of us and we don't how long we'll be out here for." Aazay said.
Luna looked at Sam.
"You doing okay? Feel any worse?" Luna asked.
"I feel fine..." Sam said.
"You don't look as pale as Sage does..." Luna said.
Sam looked at her bite.
"I feel bad for Luke...dude's going through a lot right now." Luna said.
The group began to march up the sand hill.
It was so big that they couldn't see past it from far away.
Aazay, Lincoln and Lynn started climbing first, followed by Kaitlin, Lori, Benny, Luan, Jordan, Mollie, Stella, Cyrus and finally Nick, Sage and Luke.
It was hard to climb the sand hill. It was very slippery and it was even harder for Sage.
"Fuck..." Sage said to herself.
"What?" Luke asked.
"It just...hurts..." Sage replied.
Aazay reached the top of the sand hill.
Everyone else except Luke and Sage stood on the top of the sand hill and looked in the distance.
What they saw was more buildings, but this time, they were more scattered to the side. There was noticeable distant bridge almost swallowed in sand. The distance was getting flatter. There were distant mountains and several vacant buildings.
Aazay pointed towards something.
"You see that?" Aazay said. "Casborough...eight miles..."
Aazay was pointing to a sign on a freeway in the distance.
"Those mountains...it's gotta be it...that's where we're going." Aazay said.
"Hopefully they didn't already beat us to it." Lynn said.
The group looked on.
Luke and Sage approached.
"That's a long way off..." Kaitlin said.
Sage looked at Luke and removed her arm from his shoulder.
"Sage, what are you doing?" Luke asked.
Sage shook her head.
"So we better get moving." Aazay said.
Sage took a step forward.
"Sage?" Luke said.
Suddenly, she collapsed.
Sage fell inches down the sand hill.
"Sage!" Luke yelled.
The group ran towards Sage and surrounded her.
Luke looked at her worryingly.
She wasn't out, but she was barely able to walk.
Sage gasped for air.
Kaitlin grabbed Sage's face and turned it towards the group.
"Sage? Sage!" Kaitlin said.
"Water! Get the water!" Nick said.
Jordan grabbed her backpack and quickly opened it.
Jordan grabbed the less than warm water. It wasn't going to be refreshing, but it was better than nothing.
Jordan handed it to Kaitlin.
Kaitlin opened the bottle.
"Hey, Sage, look! Drink!" Kaitlin said as she lowered the bottle top towards Sage's mouth.
Sage barely opened her eyes and saw the bottle.
Sage leaned forward and began to drink from the bottle, but not too much.
When Sage was done drinking, Kaitlin moved it away from her face.
"What do we do?" Lori asked.
Aazay stood up and looked in the distance.
Aazay looked back at Sage.
"We gotta carry her. A long walk like that would kill her." Aazay said.
Lynn looked at Aazay.
Aazay looked at the group.
"Lynn, Nick, Luke and I will carry her up. If one you guys get too tired, we can swap..." Aazay suggested.
"Alright..." Lynn said.
"Alright, come on, pick her up, we gotta keep moving." Aazay said as he leaned down towards her.
Lynn, Nick, Luke and Aazay were in the back now, carrying an exhausted Sage up the hill.
Lincoln and Lori were now in the front.
The group kept walking...and walking...and walking as they got closer to the bridge.
...
The middle of the bridge was collapsed, so the group decided to travel under the bridge.
The eerie thought that they were crossing where there was once an entire lake.
Luke started to become weak.
"I can't...somebody swap." Luke said exhaustingly.
Kaitlin walked over.
"I got her." Kaitlin said.
Luke and Kaitlin swapped positions and Kaitlin began to help carry Sage.
The group had passed the bridge.
The weather was starting to pick up.
Sand and dust blew everywhere.
Everyone tried to cover their eyes and mouths.
Everyone with hoodies put them over their heads.
Some members of the group were coughing from the dust storm.
"We gotta find shelter!" Aazay said.
The group continued walking...and walking...and walking...
The group settled under some pillars of concrete, which provided good shade.
Everyone stopped to take a rest as Sage was on the ground.
Jordan and Mollie were talking to each other.
Lynn was drinking a little bit from the bottle and began to pass it around to those near her.
Kaitlin took off her boots to empty the sand inside.
Luna and Sam were talking.
"You sure you're not feeling anything?" Luna asked.
"No, the bite looks like it's healing...I think whatever's inside is fighting it back..." Sam said.
"Sage...she's not looking any better. She looks worse if anything." Luna said.
Sam and Luna looked at Sage.
Her head was resting on a backpack.
"I know Luke is very close with her..." Luna said.
Luna looked around for Luke.
"Wait, where is he?" Luna asked.
Luna and Sam looked around.
"He went up the hill by himself, he said he needed some privacy." Nick said.
Luna and Sam looked towards the sand hill next to them.
"I'll talk to him..." Luna said.
Sam nodded and watched as Luna began to walk up the hill towards Luke.
Luke was standing motionless and looking out into the distance.
Luna approached Luke and walked up next to him.
Luna looked towards the distance.
Flat.
The only thing visible was an abandoned ship and the mountains.
"Looks like the mountains are getting further away..." Luna said.
Luke didn't reply.
Luna looked at Luke.
"Dude, you okay?" Luna asked.
A voice came from the shelter.
"How's it looking?" Kaitlin asked, noticing the two.
"Just a little further..." Luna replied.
Kaitlin sighed.
Kaitlin looked at Lori and Aazay.
"Well that's not very convincing..." Kaitlin said.
Luna looked at Luke who was still looking out into the distance.
"Hey...what's going with you?" Luna asked.
Luna sighed.
Luke faced Luna.
Luna noticed there were tears.
"I can't lose her..." Luke said.
Luna looked at him.
"Look, I don't know what happens when an infection fully takes over...if they just die or come back as one of them, but just know...if she does go...just know that you're not alone." Luna said.
Luke shook his head.
"It's different, Luna! She's not just a friend to me! Matias died inches from my face! And now Sage told me she was dying and that I had to keep going without her! How am I supposed to do that? I can't..." Luke explained.
Luna crossed her arms.
"We need you, Luke." Luna said. "Sage is always going to be there with you."
Luke looked at Luna.
"I need her there with me! Not in my fucking head..." Luke said.
Luna and Luke looked at each other.
"She's going to-" Luna was cutoff.
The echo of a gunshot rang through the distance.
It came from the shelter.
Luna and Luke looked towards the shelter.
"HEY!" Someone yelled.
"GUYS! GET DOWN HERE!" Nick yelled.
Luna and Luke ran towards the group.
"Sage, what are you doing?!" Aazay yelled.
Luna and Luke got to the shelter.
"What happened?!" Luna yelled.
Nick looked at them.
"I-I don't know, she just grabbed the gun and she tried to..." Nick said.
Sage was on the floor, gasping for air violently.
Luke approached Sage.
Sage moved away from Luke.
Sage yelled in pain.
Everyone backed up.
Sage fell back down to the floor.
The group was shocked.
Aazay held the smoking gun in his hand.
"I saw her last second and took the gun from her." Aazay explained.
Luke looked at Aazay.
"Wait, she tried to...?" Luke said.
Luke looked back at Sage.
Sage was breathing hard.
The group got closer to her.
Sage looked at the group.
"You should've just let me..." Sage said.
Luke approached Sage.
The two looked at each other.
"Sage..." Luke said.
Sage looked at Luke.
"I'm...not going to make it..." Sage said.
"Don't say that!" Luke said.
Sage shook her head.
"I CAN'T LOSE YOU! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF FUCKING GOD, PLEASE!" Luke shouted in sorrow.
Sage looked at Luke and then at the rest of the group.
Sage was silent for five seconds before speaking.
"Guys..." Sage said.
Aazay approached Sage.
"Yeah..?" Aazay said.
Sage breathed...she needed everyone else to know.
"Luke's...infected...he, got bit, at the mall...his arm..." Sage said.
The group looked at Luke.
Luke looked at the rest of the group.
"What..." Aazay said.
"Wait..." Luna said.
"Show it." Aazay said.
Luke looked around.
Nick was shaking his head.
Luke sighed and rolled up his sleeve.
There was a bite mark...
"No!" Nick said.
"Fuck, he's not as immune..." Kaitlin said.
"You didn't tell us? Luke, this isn't just something you can keep from us!" Aazay said.
Jordan's eyes widened as she realized something.
"Wait..." Jordan said.
Everyone looked at her.
Jordan reached into her pocket.
Jordan pulled out something.
It was the vial Jordan picked up back at the maze in the lab.
"Didn't these things work on Bobby?" Jordan asked.
The group looked at the vial.
Luke ran up to Jordan and grabbed the vial.
"This is perfect! This is it! If you got stung back in the maze, it was like a weird version of those cranks! This has to work for infections out here too!" Luke said.
Luke quickly approached Sage and leaned down.
"Here, take this, this can help!" Luke said.
Sage shook her head.
"Luke wait..." Sage said, trying to get his attention.
"Just take this and you'll be fine!" Luke said.
"No, no, Luke, hold on!" Sage said.
"It worked for Bobby, so why wouldn't it work for you?" Luke said.
Sage grabbed Luke's arm.
"LUKE! NO!" Sage yelled.
Luke stopped talking and looked Sage in the eyes.
There were tears flowing down Sage's eyes.
The group watched on.
"You...are going to use it, not me..." Sage said.
Luke was shocked.
"What?!" Luke asked shocked. "What are you talking about?!"
Sage looked at Luke.
"Luke...you aren't as immune...you're going to die the same way I am if you don't take it..." Sage said.
"B-but, what about you?! I can't! I need you!" Luke said.
"You'll be fine out there...I'm already fucking dying...it's too late...it wouldn't work anyway..." Sage said.
Luke's eyes started getting red.
Tears were falling down from his eyes.
"Find them...and get somewhere safe..." Sage said.
Luke shook his head in disbelief.
"Please...Sage, just take it...please..." Luke said.
Sage's skin was almost gray.
"Luke...I'm not asking for much...I just need you to listen to me...I'm not taking it...you will...and you're going to live..." Sage said.
Luke closed his eyes and started to cry silently.
Kaitlin started to shed a tear while the rest of the group looked at her in sorrow.
Aazay looked at Sage.
He still had her gun in his hand.
There was only one bullet left...
Sage looked at the gun.
"I...can I...have that...? I don't w-want to turn into...one of them..." Sage said.
Nick and Lori started getting teary.
Luke looked at Sage.
"No...please..." Luke said.
Aazay looked at the gun.
"Please..." Sage said.
Aazay didn't want her to suffer...
Aazay approached Sage and leaned down.
"You're family, Sage...we're gonna miss you..." Aazay said, trying to keep calm.
Aazay placed the gun in Sage's hand softly.
Luke watched.
Sage looked at the group.
"Stay alive..." Sage said.
Luke was still kneeling down next to her.
Aazay stood up.
Aazay took a deep breath in, knowing this would be the last time he saw Sage.
"Let's go..." Aazay said.
The group looked at him.
Some members started to pack up.
No one said a thing.
Luke shook his head in disbelief.
Nick approached Sage and kneeled down.
"Goodbye..." Nick said softly, trying not to cry.
Aazay started walking up the sand hill as the rest of the group took one last look at Sage before continuing.
Nick took a deep breath and stood up.
Nick looked at Sage.
Nick closed his eyes and kept walking with the rest.
Luke was still kneeling down next to Sage.
"Luke..." Sage said.
Luke looked at her.
"It's going to be okay...I love you..." Sage said, trying to reassure him.
Luke sighed.
Luke couldn't speak.
Sage slowly sat up.
Sage groaned from the pain.
Sage grabbed Luke and pulled him in for one last hug...
Luke embraced it.
"I...I..." Luke struggled to speak.
The two hugged for what seemed like forever.
"Go..." Sage said.
Luke let go of her.
Luke looked at Sage, tears still flowing down.
Luke stood up and kept looking at her.
Sage looked at Luke and nodded.
"Stay alive for me..." Sage said.
Luke kept looking at Sage.
Sage smiled.
Luke took a deep breath.
Luke faced away from Sage and towards the sand hill.
Luke shook his head and began walking slowly towards the sand hill where everyone else was climbing.
...
Sage stared at the blue sky.
Sage took a deep breath in and set her eyes on the gun in her hand.
Sage closed her eyes as a tear fell down...
...
The sun was beginning to set...
The group was walking in a straight line across a sand hill.
The journey was far from over.
The walk to the mountains looked like it would last several days...
The group didn't know if they had enough supplies to last that long...
Aazay was in the front of the line while Luke was in the back with Luna in front of him.
The group kept walking...and walking...and walking...
Then...everyone stopped in unison.
Everyone's heart froze as they heard a singular gunshot in the distance behind them...
Everyone knew what it was...
Luna turned around and looked at Luke.
His hands were trembling.
Luke started crying more and fell to the ground.
Luna and Sam quickly ran over to him.
"Luke..." Luna said.
The group looked back at this...
It was almost night...
Matias was gone...and now Sage was gone too...
Damn...yeah that was...yeah...the group is already down 2 members with Sam and Luke still infected. With the group having several days ahead of them until they reach those mountains, you gotta wonder if they'll ever make it...tune into the next chapter titled "The Storm" and find out!