Chapter 26

The building is lit up enough to move around thanks to the large storefront windows where they showcased their latest furniture deals. The place looks relatively untouched aside from smatterings of blood here and there like modern decorating gone wrong. Jackson and I weave through the furniture, guns at the ready, should anything pop up. We had Mikayla wait by the employee entrance doors just in case. I feel like the place is empty just because the swinging doors were squeaky and should have alerted anything in the vicinity, living or not, to our presence. I'm checking out a nice suede sectional with a gray and black color scheme when I hear Jackson mutter under his breath a few couches over. I glance up and he subtly motions for me to come closer. Standing beside him Mikayla is out of sight and when I look down, I audibly gasp.

The body of the man we just spoke to stares up at me. His corpse has been shot in the head twice, once through the eye socket and once through the forehead. His remaining eye is open, a look of despair frozen on his face with his limbs splayed around him. The blood has puddled around his head, seeping under the new living room sets right beside us. I cover my mouth with my hand, my stomach threatening to force my meager nutrition back up.

"This happened not very long ago," Jackson whispers to me where Mikayla won't hear.

I can't even respond. My mind is racing. Whoever did this could still be in the building and could know that we are here. Just as I'm about to tell Jackson we hear Mikayla let out a blood-curdling scream. We don't even have to acknowledge each other before we are both sprinting across the store back towards Mikayla. As soon as we get closer, we see Robert's daughter. Shit. Forgot about her. Her jaw is clamped firmly onto Mikayla's shoulder, hence the agonizing scream leaving her lips. Jackson doesn't miss a beat, making it to her before I do, and he brings the butt of his gun down as hard as he can on the girl's skull. The force doesn't do much since she isn't decayed, but it does the job. She loosens her grip and her body goes slack before dropping like a sack of potatoes with a loud thud. Mikayla falls to her knees, clutching her shoulder and I rush to her. She is no longer screaming but the pain is still evident by the fat tears streaming down her face. She looks at me and my eyes water. We shouldn't have left her alone. This shouldn't have happened.

I pull her against me, both of us sitting on the floor crying as Jackson stands to the side still staring at the girl. I don't have any room for jealousy with the immense emotions running through me right now.

"At least I won't die alone." Mikayla tries to joke but it comes out sounding broken and it just causes me to cry harder. I rub her hair gently, unsure of what to say because I can't take her to a doctor, and I can't just tell her everything will be okay because it won't. Jackson leans down and gently pulls her from me, picking her up bridal style and carrying her to a nice couch nearby. Even he looks like he might shed some tears as he gingerly places her down and helps her get comfortable.

"Let me look at it." He says to her softly and she responds by moving the hand that was clutching her shoulder and clutching the couch instead.

When his fingers grasp the torn material of her shirt to rip it she closes her eyes and flinches. He rips it enough to see the injury clearly and there is a nasty wound in the shape of a perfect set of teeth. It's not bleeding too bad, but the skin is punctured and swelling, redness spreading out around it. Mikayla doesn't open her eyes to look, just lays there while we examine it. I reach out to touch the skin gently but it's hot to the touch and causes her to jerk away lightly. I look at Jackson, unable to formulate the next step in my head.

Jackson stands, sadness in his eyes but he keeps his voice calm and steady. "I'll go look for some bandages and ointment in the employee break room. You guys stay here and tell if you need help."

"Not like I'm going to get far..." Mikayla again attempts to be lighthearted but it doesn't work.

I lace my fingers with hers and as Jackson walks away, she turns to look at me. "You shouldn't be so sad."

"Why would I not be sad. You're my family now." I say to her, my voice sounding frail which is new to me.

She smiles, it's weak though, her energy is already being sapped as the infection spreads through her body. "This sucks. Like bad. But I'm just glad I don't have to be alone like I thought I would be. And you won't be alone because you have Jackson."

She's so much stronger than me and it breaks my heart. She's just a kid. She didn't even get to finish high school, go to prom, get her first car. So many firsts that she will never experience now.

"I told you that you wouldn't have to be alone." I smile through the tears, holding onto her hand tightly as rough coughs begin to wrack her body.

I'm ready to panic but then Jackson comes back with a first aid kit.

"Sorry, it took me a minute in the dark. Not as many windows back there." He sits down on the edge of the couch and gets to work getting stuff out.

"She's getting worse fast," I say solemnly as another coughing fit overtakes her.

Her hand is getting hot and the skin of her arm is breaking out in a rash, spreading out from the bite.

"I know." Is all Jackson says.

He puts a latex glove on and spreads ointment on the wound before wrapping it with gauze. I pull a water bottle from my backpack and help Mikayla slowly sip it. We reminisce about our journey and the silly things we've taken for granted before the apocalypse in between coughing fits. After about an hour Mikayla tells us she is tired, and I find a model throw blanket on one of the couches to cover her. She is shivering as she falls asleep.

Jackson and I move a couple of couches over after we are sure she is sleeping to talk. He sits down beside me but I'm too busy picking at my nails to talk just yet. It's silent as he lets me process what is happening.

"I should have let her drive my car." My voice breaks, the statement causing the lump in my throat to grow.

"What?" Softly, he leans closer, putting one of his arms around me.

"I should have let her drive my car. I couldn't have given her any of her other firsts as a teenager in the apocalypse, but I could have let her drive my car." I start to cry again, and he just rubs my back, the comforting gesture making the tears come harder.

"Somehow I doubt that's what she would have been thankful for in the end. You were there for her, plain as that. Sometimes that's more than enough." His voice is soft and kind and it makes me feel better knowing I at least still have him.

For now.

I beg the negative thoughts in my head to give me some space. I don't know how much more I can take before I wind up going insane and doing something reckless and stupid.

"I can't do it." I don't have to elaborate on what I'm talking about for him to understand.

"I don't expect you to." The words hang in the air between us, the ones unspoken weighing heavily on our minds and hearts.