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“He is going to be fine. He’s just passed out from the pain,” Mary says directly to Karissa, who looks like she is about to have a full-blown panic attack while watching her brother. Once more, Mary tells everyone to hold Xander down. She grabs an antiseptic wipe, cleans the wound, then grabs the sutures. Karissa turns her face away the instant Mary punctures Xander's skin with the needle. Within seconds, Mary has the wound closed.

“Quick! Someone, hand me the bandages before he wakes up again,” Mary says, reaching blindly for them.

The roll of bandages is handed to her, and she quickly begins tightly wrapping the leg.

The room falls silent as she finishes, then backs away, wiping sweat from her forehead.

One by one, people line up with injuries, begging Mary for help. Of all the injuries I can see in the room, Xander's leg and my shoulder look to be the most serious; all the other injuries seem to be non-life-threatening.

I look over and see Julie standing alone in the back of the room, her gaze fixed on Mary. Kelly and Tyler stand off on the opposite side of the room from Julie, holding each other close. I turn to see Sara staring at Tyler and Kelly as well. I bring my attention back to Karissa sitting on the ground beside Xander, who has yet to wake up. Dead bodies are scattered all over, their crimson blood pooling on the floor. The remaining survivors stand around, holding their wounds and silently looking around. I stand up and make my way around the body to the center of the room. Logan’s body is still warm at my feet. My body is sore, and I look down at my shirtless torso and see blood all over, both dried and fresh. The gash is still seeping blood from my shoulder blade. I’m suddenly dizzy and close my eyes to steady myself. After a second, the dizziness subsides, and I open my eyes to everyone staring at me.

“Get treatment if you need it, throw the dead bodies overboard so they don't rot, and let's do our best to stay alive.” As I finish my sentence, my knees buckle, and I slump to the floor. I can’t move. I hear Tyler shouting in the distance and feel someone shaking me violently. I didn't even realize that I closed my eyes. When I open them, I see Mary running toward me, dropping to the floor next to my brother. I'm too weak to move, so I stare off and focus all my attention on the first thing I see. It’s Kelly. She's alone. I watch as she looks down and lifts the shirt she had placed on her right side. A moment later, she collapses onto the floor. I try to shout at Kelly, but nothing comes out. I’m too weak, and then, everything goes black.

27

MARY

“Mary, help!” screams Tyler while I’m in the middle of wrapping a bandage around an arm. I look up to see Theo sprawled out on the floor next to Logan's body. Theo is covered in blood. So much is happening at one time. From each corner of the room, I can hear my name being called. Someone needs me everywhere I turn. I’ve got this. I’ve handled far worse than this. I work best under pressure. These are the things I have to remind myself when I feel myself getting overwhelmed. I finish up with the bandage, take a deep breath and run over to Theo.

I drop down beside him and feel for a pulse. He is still breathing, but he has lost a lot of blood. I look up to find Tyler staring at me. “Grab the medical kit I used on Xander, and bring it to me.” I point to the bag behind me. When he returns, I dump out all the supplies and grab what I need. A moment later, Sara screams in the distance, and I turn to see Kelly on the floor. I take a breath, then refocus on Theo. I can't think about anything else right now. Tyler, sitting here with me next to Theo, looks up at Sara's scream as well. He looks at me, then back to his brother. I watch as he pauses, and I can tell he is questioning what he should do.

“I've got this, Tyler. Go help her,” I say.

He jumps up and races to Kelly’s side, a few feet away. When he reaches her, he drops to his knees and lifts her head.

“Are you okay?” I hear him ask.

“Who are you?” Kelly shouts, her voice higher than normal.

I turn my attention to the commotion and see Kelly crawling backward from Tyler. Kelly glances around the room, visibly terrified by the people around her covered in blood, and then her eyes go wide when she sees all the bodies lying all over the room. She starts breathing rapidly and I can tell she is having a panic attack. Sara rushes over to help Kelly, but before she reaches her, Tyler tries to ease up next to her. Kelly reaches up and slaps him across the face.

“Stay away from me,” shouts Kelly. “Someone, help me. This man is trying to attack me.”

Tyler suddenly stops and starts backing away. He looks around the room and everyone else looks just as confused as he is.

“I'll handle this. Go help your brother. She'll be okay, I promise,” Sara says, pointing to me. Tyler stares blankly at her, lost in his own thoughts.

“Come on, Tyler, she is right. Come help me,” I say, motioning him over to me.

Sara runs to Kelly's side and whispers something in a hushed tone, then gently rubs Kelly’s arm. My heart is racing with adrenaline. I look down at Theo’s limp body. I only have so much time before he is dead.

“Tyler, I need you right now!”

Shock remains evident on his face as the events unfold and he stands motionless beside me.

“Tyler!” I shout again, loud enough to get his attention. He turns to face Sara, who is holding Kelly and calming her down, then looks back at me, glaring. He shifts his gaze elsewhere. I follow his gaze and see he is looking at Julie, who remains in the same spot as moments ago. She is staring back in our direction, her face emotionless. I can’t handle Julie right now, I have to focus on Theo.

“Tyler!” I shout again.

This time he listens and looks at me. “What can I do?” he asks.

“Take this and clean your arm. We need to do a blood transfusion immediately. If Theo doesn't receive blood now, he is going to die. You should share the same blood type, making you his only chance for survival,” I say, handing Tyler an alcohol wipe.

“Oh. Okay,” he says, taking the bottle of rubbing alcohol and pouring it over the crease of his arm. I look at Julie and her face instantly creases into a scowl when our eyes meet.

Julie stands there staring at me; then she looks around the room at everyone watching her. Off to my side, I hear a group of people whispering and make out one of them saying, “Why isn't she moving?”

“Julie, what are you doing? Come over here,” Tyler shouts.