Snippet #2678759

((I hate to agree with yurface66 but I think Dead Fingers is officially dead... I wish it wasn't but we've seemed to reach the end of the story. They've already been through so much, and so many have gone and passed, and it might be time to let them go their separate ways. If you guys wish to continue... hey... maybe we just need a new set of characters and a new location! But for now I think our journey with this rogue band of misfits has been ran dry and they're ready to be let go.))

A shadow passed over Kira's face. The trees were blowing in the wind and a soft warm breeze touched the grass. They were resting under a lone tree on a hill. They could see all the land stretching out before them, mountains on one side, and the ocean would be in the other. There were strangers a little ways away setting up camp for the night. She stopped trying to remember names and faces, what was the point when they would all either leave or die? She didn't think she could take it anymore. Losing people would always be hard. It would never "get easier with time". Zach's face hovered nearby. Now there was a familiar face she would always remember. It had been a year and some months since she'd parted ways with her old friends. It hurt her so deeply that she now knew she would never see any of those other familiar faces again.

Patrick, with his innocence and playful smile. Bravery.
Tallara, with her strong will and sarcastic jokes. Passionate.
Zach, with his loyalty and drive to protect his friends. Love.
There were so many. So many people she had fought beside and had almost died beside. People who'd died for her, dogs, people who she had sacrificed herself for.

A tear fell down her face. The sun was hot and warm. It was summer again. The winter had been long, and painful, everyone had bones protruding and dark circles under their eyes. The dead would never haunt them more than those dark winters had. No food. No warmth. It would last days, weeks, months. You could never escape the cold. Fire would bring danger. Danger would bring death. Sickness would follow no matter how far you ran. And now that the sun had melted all of that away it was almost like a bad dream.

Kira had hoped she'd get better. Her ribs had to be broken multiple times from healing wrong. No matter what she did or what she took the pain never would go away. And now she lay in the shade with a cool breeze blowing through the branches and the sweat wouldn't leave. She shivered from a cold that was deeper than her bones and her throat was scratchy and faint.

Her vision had become blurry these past few months. These past few weeks she'd been in and out of this sickness. Whatever it was it was only getting worse. Everyone they'd come in contact with had become fearful of her, her cries of pain were enough to draw anyone nearby, and her feverish sweating and coughing scared anyone away. They were afraid she was turning into a zombie. They didn't want to stay with her and Zach long because of fear she would die in her sleep and eat everyone.

Now they kept away from everyone else and they were only allowed to follow a group as long as one of her hands were tied up while they slept. A rope rash had burned into her right wrist but she could no longer feel the pain.

The world was growing hazy again and Kira shook her feverish head. Sweat dripped off her skin in pools. Her skin was hot to the touch but she was shivering and cold.

"Zach??" She called out but her voice was weak. How much longer did she have? She knew this wouldn't last forever and she knew she wouldn't get better. Her ribs had been broken too many times and they would never heal right. They couldn't just keep breaking them. She was sure they'd damaged her insides already and they'd caused an infection in her blood. There was no getting better. At least not without REAL medical care... and even then she wasn't sure she'd be able to really walk right anymore.

She knew it deep down... she was dying. She'd known it ever since her ribs were first broken in that death-machine. It would be fine if it had been one, but it had been many, and they had been crushed.
She knew she was dying when the winter came in and she was always sick. It made it hard for her body to heal herself.

She knew deep down now, as she lay under a tree on a blood stained sheet, the sun never seeming to reach her core that she was dying today.

"Zach!?" she called out in fear. Her vision was blurring more and now she was scared."