Chapter 61 - Shattered Heart

"We have to go out and help-"

"No, we don't!" I yelled out at my delusional father.

"We can't just let them all die."

I slammed shut the gutters and made sure that there were no cracks to let in any of the contaminated air, although I knew that there was no use. Eventually, all will be contaminated and we will find out whether or not we are immune after all. My father ran towards the door and I darted to block him," what are you doing? You can't leave-"

"But the gas can't hurt us, right? We can help—"

"We don't know for sure! And besides, it's too late for those people; there's nothing we can do for them!"

"What's that smell?"

It was difficult to focus on anything else with the deafening screams outside. It took me a moment to realize a harsh chemical odor had infiltrated the room. The gas had gotten inside.
"The bathroom, the window in the bathroom!" I shouted.

I pushed past my father and rushed to the back, discovering the window above the tub was wide open. I balanced on the sides and reached out to slam it shut. The intense gas filled my nostrils, making me choke.

"Shit!" I yelled out as my eyes began to burn and my vision blurred," dad, where are you?"

The living room was a smokey blur, it was impossible to see anything. I swung my arms to lead my way back towards the entrance. The door was wide open," Dad, dad! Where the hell are you?"

He must have gotten out.
I hurried outside and down the steps, tripping on the last one that I did not see. I screamed out as I fell and felt the painful scraping of the skin on my knees. I quickly got up to my feet and kept yelling" Dad, dad!"

The only thing that guided me was the swinging of my arms and the shouting and choking of the dying. I felt the nails of the desperate hands dragging down my skin. I felt the bodies collapse and heard them hit the ground with a deafening thud. I tripped again , this time over a body that was hidden within the shadows of the smoke. I felt dizzy, the rush of the gas draped over me like a cloud that was slowly closing in. Still, I hadn't truly figured it out if I was immune or not. The village was almost impossible to see now. I walked even further and tripped again and again. I must have been covered in my own blood and the blood of the others. The screaming eventually died down and what followed was haunting silence.
Had everyone died?

"DAD!" I felt stinging tears racing down my face," DAD!"
I could die now, at any second.

"DAD, please! Answer me!"
I could have already tripped over his dead body a while ago and had no idea.

"We're over here."

"Where are you! Dad!"

I followed the sound of his voice suddenly overwhelmed with relief. My dad was on his knees, his hands and face were buried atop someone's chest behind a tree, the smoke had begun to clear and the bodies were now visible. I choked on sobs that I struggled to hold back. I could see that there were others around him. I could see Maria who held onto my fathers shoulders, alongside her still alive, her kids.

"You guys are alive," I choked out, swallowing my own blood and tears," who is that?"

Dad would not budge from the dead body he covered. Maria stared at me with guilty eyes.
"What's going on, who the hell is that?"

Again, no one spoke. No one dared to move,
"Dad, tell me who!"

I marched in front of the body and struggled to move my father. When his eyes met mine, they were red with tears.
"I'm so sorry," he cried out," I'm so sorry."

I shook my head in disbelief and peered down at the body of the dead and almost could not believe it.
It was Evan.

"What?" for a moment, I could not register it at all. It was almost as if my brain was trying to distract me with confusion before the inevitable grief," how?"
I looked up at everyone else who stared at me as if awaiting my rage, "how? We all survived didn't we? The blood worked, it worked, we are immune!"
Again, no one answered.

"What happened! Didn't he take the blood, why didn't it work, why..."

I met Maria's eyes and suddenly realized," How come you're alive? There wasn't enough blood for you. You said you gave it to my father and Evan-"

"Evan refused to take it. I told him there wasn't enough for both of us, but he insisted I take it instead," she revealed.

I shook my head, unwilling to accept it.

"No, no, no. You said you gave it to him. He should be alive, not dead. It should have worked—" I shook his body.

"Believe me, I tried! I begged him for hours, but he wouldn't take it if there wasn't enough for both of us!"

"You should have told me," I said, looking down at the lifeless body of the man I once loved.

My heart shattered into a million pieces. I felt the true meaning of being undone, and for the first time since the incident, I regretted not killing Damon.