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"Eyes open, come on!"
Abby hovered over you as you laid in a pool of your own blood. Her
Knees dug into the wet dirt. Tears streamed down her cheeks, unable to match the speed of her heaving chest.
You two did runs like this all the time, Isaac knew to pair you up since apparently Abby did so much better around you.
"It's useless Abs, I'm—"
"No! No, shut up."
You felt your waist being tightened by a roll of cloth and the pressure of her hand on your wound, causing you to wince.
Your eyes were slowly closing, fighting to stay up just to see a bit more of her blurred face.
You lost a lot of blood trying to fight off a handful of runners that you managed to accidentally startle. The tiny shards of glass in the sole of your boot were evidence.
"Backup's coming, stay awake a little more—"
"They're gonna shoot me, Abs."
"What?"
You gave her a pained look, one that wasn't from physical hurt.
"Lift up my shirt."
Her face went pale. It couldn't be. She knew you were careful. Sure it was a close call but she knew you could handle yourself. You'd done this too many times before.
"I can't do that, I gotta cover the—you'll bleed out—just a little longer—"
"Abby! Look!" You find energy to snap at her. She shakes her head aggressively and pinches her bottom lip.
When she reluctantly peels off her hand and cloth, she lets out a sob. A fresh bite by your stomach. Red webs were blooming under your skin already.
This wasn't happening. Given your ability to never catch a stadium-spreading cold, you were probably immune right?
She quickly covered the wound back up and hunched over you, crying.
"No, no, there's a chance you can be immune. You're strong. J-just, hold on a little more please."
"Bullshit. Let's face it."
Seeing her like this hurt you more than what the runners could do. You stuck to her from the time of the Fireflies, when you ran through the forests, splashed in the rivers. When she curled up into you on the hospital floor, clinging to the one piece she had left. She didn't understand. After Jerry's death she saw nothing but a burden in the mirror. But you stuck, and it confused her. It made the fluttering in her stomach beat even harder.
Everything flashed in front of her. The way you dragged her out of her shell when you joined the WLF, getting her to meet your friends since you were such a people magnet. The way you always sat close to her, running cold, to feel the warmth radiating off of her. The way you gave her tips on how to kiss someone, despite not ever kissing anyone yourself, when all she wanted was for you to visually show her, to lean in and hold her and do what she wanted you to do for years.
But that wasn't going to happen. With the way that you were bleeding out and getting sleepy, you were likely to die before you turned; Abby didn't know if that was a good thing.
"Can I get sentimental on you?"
You mumbled out, waking her up from her thoughts. A wince appeared on her face before she nodded, feeling your hand clutch on to her free one.
"I'll.. always be your best friend.. and I hope I'll be the same for you.. don't replace me, yeah?" She rolled her eyes, sniffling. Of course you decided to make it light. One thing she loved about you was how you just had to make a joke out of everything.
Another thing she loved about you was your empathy. You understood her fully, understanding her need to kill Joel, to run after leads. You could be bleeding out, but you'd still be more worried for her. Which was what was happening now.
Your arm stuttered up to her cheek, cupping it tenderly to be met with Abby leaning in more heavily.
"Too soon? Oh Abby...don't cry, you'll know it'll get me started..."
She only cried more at that, hiding her eyes into your hand. You felt her head and shake against your palm, her hand grabbing at your wrist.
"I love you.. stay awake for me, please. I-I can't lose you..."
"You're gonna have to, I'm sorry" A wince "...I love you too, Abs. Always"
"You don't get it! I love you. I want to hold you and kiss you. And now we're never going to have that. I can't even imagine—"
At this point you cried also, stroking her cheek with a trembling hand. You felt her lean down, pressing an equally trembling kiss to your forehead.
"You're much stronger, Abby."
She only shook her head at that. She was weak. She couldn't protect you. Didn't throw herself at every runner you encountered because she trusted you so much. She was scared, of what was happening to you and what was going to happen in the future.
A life without you. A life where there is only darkness and isolation. A life where she comes to her room after a long day to be met with silence and silence alone.
She let you grow weak, keeping herself uncomfortably low just so she could be close to you, watching your eyelids flutter and your chin quiver.
Carefully, she lied on the grass with you, clothes sharing the same tint. Her eyes counted your breaths as they got slower and slower, hand in yours.
Her world stopped when you did.