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The outbreak did nobody any good, and 6 years later, supplies were scarce. I hated dragging my team out for scavenging missions every time, but this one was going to be simple. A quick trek about five miles east to an abandoned gas station in search of fuel for the trucks and any snacks possibly left behind in the accompanying convenience store. Nova, Diaz, Jyn, Chopper and I all decided to take this one. We’d left at sunrise in order to have the whole day to make it there and back with no surprises. Armed with knives and shotguns, we were a small but mighty team who departed camp with confidence.
The hike to the station was easy. There were a few stray infected here and there, but we made quick work of them. Even though we took our time, the sun shone bright on our backs and our shirts were soaked by the time we reached the station. I ordered Diaz and Jyn to see what gas they could siphon from the old pumps while the rest of us did recon on the perimeter. When no infected were spotted outside, Chopper picked the lock of the convenience store and we made our way inside. Not to our surprise, most of the shelves had been cleared out.
“Why the fuck was this place even locked if there’s nothing left?” Chopper tossed the heavy padlock on the ground in annoyance.
I shrugged. “We’ll still do a quick sweep and see what we can find.” I looked at Chopper, who still wore a scowl. “If you’re so unhappy, stay outside and keep watch while the others pump the gas.”
He cocked his shotgun. “Yeah, okay.”
Nova grabbed my hand and dragged me inside the store. “Looks like it’s just you and me, then, battle buddy.” I was grateful she went in first so I could easily hide the redness creeping into my cheeks. Excitedly, I followed her into the little shop. Most of the shelves had been ransacked already. The small drinks cooler in the back was busted, but Nova swung the door open and bent down. “Check this out!”
I snorted. “I bet that’s beyond flat by now.”
My partner rose with a glass bottle of Coke in each hand. “Nah, these babies are vacuum sealed. Shit’s tighter than a virgin pussy.”
Laughing, I snatched one of the bottles from her hand. “You’re so fucked up.” I pulled my Swiss army knife from my pocket and used the bottle opener to crack open my soda. Passing it to Nova, she did the same and we clinked our drinks together in a toast. Even though we both raised the bottles to our lips, neither one was bold enough to take the first sip.
She raised an eyebrow. “Well, go ahead,” she encouraged.
“No, no,” I gestured politely, “I insist you go first.”
“But it was my gift to you. It’d be just rude if I didn’t let you have the first sip.”
“Alright,” I compromised, “together?”
“Together,” she agreed. “One, two-“
she held up three fingers as we both took a swig of the caramel liquid. I hadn’t drunk soda in so long that the carbonation burned my throat. Judging by Nova’s watery eyes, I assumed she had a similar reaction. I only had a few sips before I pulled the bottle away.
“Okay, that would definitely taste way better on the rocks,” I noted, still recovering from the shock of all the bubbles. Nova grimaced in agreement.
“Yeah, sorry, that wasn’t as good as I remember.” She gave me an apologetic look. “Just brings me back, you know?”
I nodded but set my Coke down on an empty shelf. “Let’s see what else we can find.” I enjoyed the moment we shared together, but I knew we couldn’t stay there forever, and as Lieutenant I had to keep my squad moving forward. Nova put her Coke down next to mine and disappeared behind a shelf. I went in an opposite direction, spotting a bag of trail mix and a couple packs of instant noodles. Then, turning another corner I saw something that made the entire trip worth it.
“Nova, get over here!” I shouted. “You won’t believe what some idiot left behind.” I grabbed my treasure and stuffed it in my backpack. “Nova?” I called out, making my way through the store. “Where are you?” Suddenly, I heard a crash behind me. “Can you stop fucking around?” I huffed impatiently. “I’m not trying to lose anyone today.” Another sound, like a display rack falling, so I went over to investigate. A faint smile tugged on my lips. “If you’re trying to scare me, it won’t work.” I approached the corner of the store where I’d heard the crash, tiptoeing in case my partner was waiting for me. I spotted a stack of boxes. Gotcha! I ran over and kicked the boxes. Something jumped out from behind and I yelled, “Ha! Found you!” But when I turned around, it wasn’t Nova. Six feet of hunched over, snarling infected was staring me in the face, eyes dead and hungry for human flesh.
“Oh, shit,” I said. The infected let out a sickening roar and charged at me. I turned on my heel and sprinted away, desperately calling out for my battle buddy. I pulled the knife strapped to my thigh and hurled it at the infected. It managed to lodge itself in the creature’s shoulder, but that didn’t seem to slow it down. Fuck, where’s my gun? I must’ve put it down when Nova and I were having our drink together. “Idiot,” I panted to myself as I knocked over an empty magazine rack to try and create some distance.
I guess all the commotion finally got her attention because out of the corner of my eye I finally saw Nova with a confused look on her face. “What the fuck was that?”
“Get out of the way!” I yelled and grabbed her hand. In a swift motion I pulled her down so we were both ducking behind the register. “An infected is chasing me,” I mouthed.
“Why didn’t you shoot it?” She whispered frantically.
“Oh, duh, silly me,” I shot her a look, “why didn’t I think of that?”
She rolled her eyes.
“What about your gun?”
Nova hung her head. “High and dry.”
“Great,” I threw my hands up. “Well, either we wait for the others to come help us, or we try and kill it with our bare hands.”
“Well,” Nova began, “I guess we could- “but whatever she was going to say was cut short when the infected hopped up onto the counter and zeroed in on both of us.
“Fuck, run!” As if she needed any encouragement, Nova scrambled to her feet with me tailing behind. I wasn’t sure if we should split up or not. I didn’t want to leave her side, but maybe going in different directions would confuse the feral and one of us could get a good blow in. Nova was the only one with a knife, but if I could get around its back maybe I could retrieve mine. We raced to the back of the store and when Nova made a left, I made a right. The infected followed me, and my plan was to run it in circles and then double back to get behind it. But the thing was smarter than that, and when I tried to juke it, it caught on to my running pattern and cut off my path. Before I could make my next move, the infected lunged at me so unexpectedly that I had no time to react. The force of its impact sent us both crashing to the floor. Seeing it up close was even nastier than I thought, and I fought with all my might to keep its rabid jaws away from me. Whoever this used to be was strong, though, and the creature was easily overpowering me. I took a risk and shifted my grip slightly to push my knife even deeper into its shoulder, hoping that would slow it down a bit. It didn’t. If anything, I think I angered it further. By now, my arms were starting to shake, and again I didn’t know where Nova was. The feral was dangerously close to biting my neck, and while it wouldn’t be a glorious death, I accepted it would be inevitable.
Suddenly I heard a loud scream and the weight of the feral was knocked away. I gasped with shaky arms and turned my head to see Nova riding its back like a horse.
“Stab its neck!” I yelled, and she did. Blood spurted onto her face and I cringed as the feral let out a primal screech. She pulled the knife as more blood splashed out and I waited for her to finish it, but as she aimed for its gut, the feral flung her over its shoulder like a ragdoll. I heard a sickening crunch as Nova hit the cold tiled floor.
I tried baiting the feral back to me. “Stay away from her, you freak!” But the beast had no intentions of leaving a kill unfinished, and I knew it. With a roar, it picked up my partner’s limp body and took a chunk out of her left side. I yelled for Nova to open her eyes and I saw them flutter briefly. Her right hand was still clutching the knife, so I dove for it and while the feral was still distracted, drove it straight into its jugular. Once, twice, again. With a final death rattle, the feral fell dead at my feet and I dropped the knife, my blood-splattered hands shaking. Then I remembered Nova laying on the floor. There was a large gash on her head that was bleeding steadily, but the bite mark from the feral was nasty. My stomach lurched and I numbly ripped off my sweatshirt to throw it over the wound. Instantly, the gray material turned red with blood.
“Don’t worry,” I reassured her with shallow breaths, “you’re going to be fine.” I applied as much pressure as possible to try and staunch the bleeding.
Nova reached up and weakly grabbed my hand with hers. “Please,” she gasped, her green eyes foggy, “don’t let me go like this.”
“Stop it,” I commanded. I tried not to let my voice shake. “You’re not dying here.”
“Yes, I am,” she insisted. “I won’t turn out like that.” She pointed with her eyes to the infected we’d just killed.
“You’re right, you won’t,” I confirmed, fumbling with the sweatshirt. “I’m going to patch you up and then take you back to camp where Doctor Carmine will fix this.”
My partner wore a sympathetic expression. “If only that could be the reality,” she groaned through clenched teeth. “By the way, what had you so excited before?”
Unzipping my backpack, I pulled out a dusty yet untouched chocolate bar. My bottom lip quivered as I explained, “Thought we could share this together to make up for your nasty ass soda.”
Even through all her discomfort, the corners of Nova’s mouth turned up sadly. “Think of it as a going away present.”
“You know,” I said through tears, “you’re a real dumbass.” Cupping her face, I continued, “You should’ve just run when you had the chance.” Wiping my face, blood smeared under my eyes like war paint. Another reminder of the battle she was quickly losing.
Now there was wetness on her face as well, and I wasn’t sure if they were her tears or mine. “You know I couldn’t do that,” she coughed out. “You… you would’ve done it for me.”
My heart ached, because I knew it was true. Breaking past the sobs that were now shaking my body, I managed to utter, “I’d do anything for you.”
“Anything?” For the first time, her eyes grew hopeful.
I nodded, unable to hold back my sadness. “Nova, I love you.” I knew this wasn’t the time or place, but my entire world lay dying in my arms, and if there was ever a moment I wanted her to know I cared, it was now.
“If you love me,” she panted, “don’t let me turn.”
“What are you- “
“Take my knife. You know what to do.”
My heart dropped to my stomach. “No,” I shook my head as fresh tears fell from my eyes. “No fucking way.” But even then, I could feel her skin burning up. I knew if I didn’t make a choice soon, the virus would for me, and I wouldn’t like what I saw on the other side.
“I see it on your face,” she pointed out. “The fever is setting in. Don’t let the girl you love turn into one of them. I can’t have you remember me like that.” Using what I knew was the last of her strength she reached over and clutched the knife in her hand. With her other she gently placed the hilt of the blade in my palm and closed my fingers around the weapon. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream, to run away. I’d rather kill myself than Nova.
“Look at me,” she whispered. Lining the knife up with her carotid artery, she held my hand in hers and promised, “it’s okay.” Her eyes drifted shut.
“Nova, wait,” I cried. “Don’t leave me yet.”
“It’s time,” she whispered, a single tear falling from her still closed eyes.
My hand was shaking so bad I was certain I’d drop the knife. “Please,” I begged, “look at me one last time.”
With great effort her eyes opened, though they were so foggy and distant, I wasn’t even sure if she was seeing me.
“I love you,” she sighed. “I’ll always be with you.”
“I- I love you, too,” I stammered between sobs. Nova slowly eased my hand forward as I bent down to touch my lips against hers while the rest of the life left her body.
And just like that, I was alone.