"Jeriel!"
Jannah cried out, letting a pained gasp as she swung her sword through a zombie's head who managed to bite her by the arm. Her red eyes glossed with tears, looking at her little sister who's busy struggling fighting another group of zombies on her own.
She was betrayed by the people she helped when the apocalypse started. Juan, the person who led the betrayal was the last person she saw before the horde of the undead was let in by the others, successfully cornering her and her little sister.
"Sis! Snap out of it and get out of here!" Jeriel screamed at her, "I don't know how much longer I could do this so please fight for your life!"
But it's already too late, my dearest sister..
She wanted to tell her, but she knew that she had to help her first before anything else. She raised her bitten arm, swinging her sword with precision, aiming for the zombies' head. She didn't have enough strength to fend them all quickly, but she's determined to lessen the number to help her little sister escape the base.
"I can do this, Jeriel! The door is wide open, get out!" Jannah urged her little sister, she continued swinging her sword, the growls and moans of the undead filling the place as she killed the zombies one by one.Â
"I don't want to leave without you!" Her little sister sobbed out, swinging her own sword around and backing up towards the door.
Clicking her tongue, Jannah killed another zombie near her before she dashed towards her little sister's spot and grabbed her hand, dragging her out of there. The bite on her arm started throbbing more painfully as the second passed by, however, she didn't stop dragging her little sister away from their former base.
It was approximately five minutes later when Jannah stopped running, pulling her little sister towards the forest and making her climb up a tall tree. She followed suit, but slower than usual.
They were panting, sweating, and trembling. They're both exhausted from what happened.
"Jeriel.." Jannah croaked out, gasping for oxygen. Her pulses are quick against her chest and vision slightly getting blurry as the infection from the bite starts to spread dangerously fast.
"Don't." Jeriel said, shaking her head as her tears started to fall, "I know. I know already so.. Don't say anything."
Jannah pursed her lips, letting her little sister embrace her tightly to her chest. She knew that she's going to turn into a zombie soon and she's afraid that she'll probably turn in her little sister's presence.
"I don't know what to do.." Jeriel whimpered out, wrapping her arms around her big sister tighter as her tears continued to fall, "I don't think I can live in this world without you by my side, sister.. I managed to endure so much because you were here, but what would I do once you're gone..?"
"I'm sorry." Jannah could only say those two words as she returned the shaking yet warm embrace of her little sister, "I'm so sorry.. I didn't expect Juan to lead a rebellion using our group—"
"Don't think about that.. Focus on us for now, please? I don't know how long you have so don't think about that bastard anymore." Jeriel said, burying her face on Jannah's hair, sobbing harder, "I want to hold you like this until it's time.. So, please.."
"Alright, alright.." Jannah sighed out, hugging her tighter.
As much as she wants to let go of her, she couldn't do it. Jeriel is grieving. She might still be alive, but she knew that her little sister is savoring her last moment. The way her little sister trembled against her and doing her best to be quiet so no undead would come walking to their spot, broke her heart.
Three minutes had passed, four minutes, five minutes, seven minutes.. Until fifteen minutes. Jannah was the first one to let go of the hug and push her sister away gently which made the other woman sob harder.
"No.. No.. No.. Please, don't leave me yet." Jeriel pleaded, already knowing that Jannah will be parting ways with her before she could turn into an undead, "I don't want you to leave. Please, sister. I don't want to be left alone.. I don't want to live without you."
Jannah can feel her lips trembling, but she fought hard to not cry in front of her little sister. "You'll be fine, Jeri. You've done it before when I was sent to the battlefield, right? Just think of it like that."
"But this is different!" Jeriel screamed, "I know that you won't come back! I know that if you go down this tree, you won't come back to me anymore! You'll be—"
Jannah watched as Jeriel stopped what she was about to say, only tearing up more and covered her mouth with trembling hands. It was as if she was trying to quieten her cries to not attract anyone or anything.
She smiled softly, a genuine proud and happy smile. Jeriel's eyes widened at the sight of her beautiful smile which only prompted her to cry even more. Jannah reached out, gently placing her palms on her sister's cheeks and placing a soft kiss on her forehead.
"You might be a crybaby, you might get scared without me, you might be vulnerable at a time like this, but I know that you're tough and strong. You're Jeriel Rafelon— my little sister." Jannah said, pulling away from her, "You'll pull through this just like all those battlefields you have gone through while guarding my position."
"No.. No.." Jeriel's muffled chants made her heart squeeze painfully inside her chest, but she could only smile at her before she jumped down from the tree.
She clutched the sword tightly and walked away from her little sister's spot without looking back. If she looked back, she knows that Jeriel would come running towards her and she doesn't want that. As she walk away, she let her tears finally fall, her eyesight became blurry from all the tears, but didn't stop walking towards the direction of the base.
She have to come back there, she needs to check if Juan really left with her people— well, former people.
Quietly crying, the zombies doesn't pay her any heee as she walk past them. She could only guess that it was because of the bite mark. She started staggering on her steps as the view of the base's walls came into sight, she clenched her fists and pushed herself to walk inside.
Her breathing started going ragged, she can feel something at the back of her throat and she fought hard to hold it back, but it was proven futile when she cough out blood.
Ah, shit.. The vault.. I need to go to open the vault..
Despite feeling sluggish from the coughing, she forced herself to go to her makeshift office— a tent. The vault was built on the ground and had locks on it. No one knows about the password except for her and Jeriel. The contents? Well, it's a flower that looked similar to daisies. Its side effects are nausea, stomach pain, or other digestive issues, but those who ate the plant never turned into a zombie once they were bitten and died normally from blood loss.
She would rather kill herself using the said plant instead of turning into a zombie and risking her little sister seeing her in that monstrous state—
"I'm glad to see that you're still alive Countess Rafelon."
Jannah stopped in her tracks, eyes blinking and focusing her sight on the person sitting behind her desk. Her throat itched badly and was quick to cover her mouth when she unintentionally coughed out blood. Seeing this, the person abruptly stood up, clearly alarmed. She let out a pained huff, staring at the person in front of her which made her clutched her sword a little tighter.
The person's red wavy hair is tied into a ponytail, white yet ragged skin, and orange eyes that stare at her with familiarity.
"Princess Huenazia.." Jannah acknowledged the person in front of her.
"Countess.. Were you bitten?" The princess asked, a horrified expression on her face. Her orange eyes are wide as saucers.
"I am." Jannah affirmed before approaching the desk, "I was betrayed by Marquis Briani. I was sheltering a few people in this place before they ruined it and let the undeads swarm the place."
Huenazia flinched in her spot when Jannah staggered in her heels and fell down beside the desk, however, Jannah didn't stop moving and crawled towards behind the chair instead.
"The Marquis did that..? But he said that you destroyed the place—"
"I wouldn't destroy the place where my sister is safe, your highness." Jannah quickly cut her off, "That bastard said something to the people and made them turn to his side.. The audacity."
As she said those words, she was busy unlocking the vault. It wasn't long before she opened it, the said plant was pulled out— dried and turned into a powder. It has the same effect if consumed with large amount.
"Countess, wait!—"
Seeing that she was about to inhale something, the princess was quick to stop her, but she was a little too late since Jannah had already inhaled the powder.
"What did you take?!" The crown princess panicked, grabbing her shoulders and spinning her around.
"Princess!" Another person came rushing inside the tent which fueled her dizziness to worsen, "Duke Sullivan had infiltrated the Marquis' hideout on the south and captured the peopl— is that Countess Rafelon?"
Right then and there, she could feel her consciousness slipping. She could hear muffled voices and yelling, but she couldn't make out what the words were being exchanged. She felt her body leaning into something sturdy before she felt a cool breeze on her skin.
She wanted to speak, but she had no strength left, before she knew it, she closed her eyes and had already slipped into the darkness.