based on Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Mayberry, great zombie book geared at 11-15 yr olds

-☆-

Tom Imura didn't know what he was doing. He sat on the floor of an unknown bathroom, wrapping his arms around his knees. Sure, they had started settling a town, and there was a fence up to keep out these new beings known as ‘zoms’, but how the hell was he supposed to raise a kid on his own? He alone was the last of Benny’s family - he was the only one there to take care of Benny. He couldn’t just leave his little brother behind, but he was nowhere near prepared enough to care for him and teach him everything he needed to be taught. 

He had really fucked Benny up, hadn’t he: the poor kid had seen his own mother and father die, and it was all Tom’s fault. At least that’s what Tom thought. Benny was lying asleep on the sofa, just outside the bathroom where Tom sat, in a room with another little girl his age, Phoenix, and her mother, Jessie. In the other rooms of the houses, there were other people, but Tom couldn't remember all their names at the moment. Eventually they hoped for everyone to move into their own homes, but as the settlement was still new - the apocalypse was still new - it was safer to stay in larger groups considering many people were not able to fight off zoms, so they would be safer around people who were able. 

Tom reached towards his pants that were sitting on the bathroom floor, unsheathing a knife from their belt and pulling up the bottoms of his boxers. He pulled his knife up to his thigh, pulling it across his leg, watching the blood well up and drip down his leg. He kept on dragging it across his leg, again and again until he couldn’t see the wounds covering his legs through all the blood. All the thoughts wouldn’t stop repeating through his head. He shouldn’t have left them behind. He should’ve handed Benny to their neighbor and gone back to save them. At least then Benny would still have a decent adult to raise him. 

‘It’s all my fault..’ Tom thought to himself.  

Just at that moment, there was a knock on the door. 

“I’ll be out in a minute,” Tom choked out, his voice wavering and betraying him.

“Are you alright?” a voice said from outside the door, the voice of Jessie Riley, muffled from the wall between them. Tom didn’t respond, so Jessie continued, “You’ve been in there for nearly an hour.”

Tom wasn’t planning on opening the door for her, but then he realized how tired he was, and that he may not have enough energy to stop his bleeding, and passing out in the bathroom while Benny was all alone in the living room wouldn’t be preferable, so he spoke up saying, "I think… I might need some help..”

“What do you need?” Jessie asked, panic starting to creep in on her voice.

Tom reached up to the door, turning the lock. “It’s unlocked,” he said, but then he added, “Just... Be prepared...”

Jessie Riley gasped as she saw Tom covered in his own blood, and she quickly stepped into the bathroom shutting the door behind her. 

“Oh my god... Tom…” She whispered, crouching down on the floor next to him. Jessie gently grabbed Tom’s hand, uncurling his fingers and removing the dagger, tossing it into the sink. Next she rummaged through the bathroom cabinets pulling out a dark towel and pressing it against Tom’s leg, trying to stop the blood. As she held the towel to his leg making sure to put pressure on it, they both stayed silent. Once the bleeding had stopped, Jessie removed the towel and began cleaning off the wounds with a damp washcloth and small amounts of soap.

“Sorry if this stings,” she said, “I don’t think we have any real medical supplies here, but this should work enough to stop an infection as long as you’re careful.”

Pulling down his boxers to cover most of the wounds, and then pulling on his pants to cover the rest, Tom nodded and mumbled a thank you as he tried standing up. Once he was standing, he tried taking a step, but he was too unsteady and Jessie caught him, preventing him from falling. Together, they walked back to the living room, Tom leaning against Jessie the entire time. Once they made it back to the living room, Tom leaned over, lifting Benny off of the sofa, and laying down, setting Benny on his chest. 

“Tuh?” Benny spoke aloud, attempting to say Tom’s name, his voice foggy with exhaustion. 

“Shh, shh, just go back to sleep, Benny,” Tom whispered back, loosely wrapping his arms around his little brother. 

Glancing over the room, Tom saw that Jessie had already gone back to sleep, curled up against Phoenix.

Tom shut his eyes and continued rubbing circles on Benny’s back.

“It’s gonna be okay, kid,” he whispered.

It’s gonna be okay.

-☆-
800 wc