. There were no sounds. There was no light.

I couldn't even feel anything until searing pain shot up through my body. It reached every corner of every inch of every part of my body, leaving nothing unscathed from its touch.

Immediately following, I felt an aching sensation coming from my left arm. As if in slow motion, I slowly shifted it towards me. Another surge of pain echoed throughout my body and I scrunched up my face in agony.

The rest of my senses started returning and I could begin to hear the sounds around me.

"...going to make it?"

"...yes..."

Blurry images filled with specks of light appeared in my line of vision as I tried to lift my eyelids.

"...Private Canary..."

The stiff voice continued saying something else but I couldn't hear it. Jumbled nonsense filled my head as I prayed to just wake up and have the pain go away.

I'd make it. Which I could, thankfully, gather from the voices around me. As time went on, I could feel myself getting better. I didn't know what they were doing to me, or how long I was out, with only slight perspectives into the world around me, but eventually I could open my eyes.

I blinked once. And then twice.

"Private Canary."

A woman's face came into view and I quickly put the pieces together. It was Reznik. Never had I been so happy to see her.

"Sir," I mumbled.

"You had quite the fright," she said. "But Private Zombie seemed to get you back in time. You'll be fine and ready to go out into the field again in no time."

I just found myself nodding, too exhausted to ask her about going out into the field again. At this point I couldn't even fathom standing up, let alone shooting or fighting again.

"You were only out for a couple hours," she said. "You'll have to talk to Voche soon. Private Zombie is in the control room talking with him now."

A couple hours? It had felt like an eternity.

I nodded, moving to sit myself up.

I could feel my hair clinging to the sides of my face, drenched in sweat and all its glory. I had been dressed in a hospital gown, and my leg and arm had been wrapped in gauze. My blood had already managed to creep through its protective barrier and now the gauze was wet to the touch. I pulled the bed sheets over it, not wanting to look at it any longer.

"Do you remember anything?" Reznik asked suddenly. Her tone was etched with curiosity...and something else that I couldn't quite make out.

I slowly shook my head 'yes'. Yes, I did remember. I remembered everything. I remembered Oompa dying, the sound of shots ringing through the air, the cold bitter air flying past us as our feet thumped hard against the pavement. I remembered the sound of glass breaking and the pain of my body colliding with the floor below me.

I also remembered Ringer taking off her helmet. And then there was one of the horrible monsters harvesting on her brain. What was the significance of that? Had Ringer been an Other the whole time? That would explain a lot.

I shook my head clear. I couldn't think that much right now.

"I remember us getting shot at," I said quietly. "Oompa died. We ran for cover and then once inside someone shot me through the window."

Reznik nodded. "Do you know what happened to the rest of the squad?"

Something in her voice made me reluctant to say much else, so I answered her question by saying, "I don't know. But if they aren't here they're probably dead."

Reznik nodded one again before standing up.

"I'll come back when there's more information on your new squad," she said. "Until then, get some rest."

I sunk back into my pillow, pushing the blankets down to my waist.

"Don't let anyone in," I heard Reznik say to the guard by the door.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and a little bit of frustration, before I turned to lay on my good side.

Why had Reznik been asking about the squad? Why was Zombie the only one here? What had happened after I'd been shot?

I squeezed my eyes shut, praying the current nightmare would just go away and I'd wake up in the old one.

My train of thought was quickly interrupted by the loud blaring of an alarm. Alarms rang and echoed throughout the halls outside my room and my eyes shot open in surprise.

What was going on now? I made a small effort to move, but pain hit in all the wrong places and I let my muscles relax, defeated.

A little bit of time passed- I didn't know for sure how long- until I heard voices shouting from outside my door.

"Commander Voche gave me orders to transport the patient inside to a hangar, sir."

That voice sounded familiar and my shoulders sagged in relief as my eyes started tearing up.

Zombie.

The guard seemed hesitant in his response. "I was told not to let anyone in," he said.

"Commander Voche has given you new orders to report to Barracks 8," Zombie said. "He said it's an emergency."

The guard's next words were a jumbled mess, overwhelmed by the harsh sound of the alarm.

The door flew open in the next second and I flinched in surprise. I kept my back to the door, however, as It hurt too much to move my body even a quarter of an inch.

Boots hit the ground until they stopped by the side of my bed.

There stood Zombie.

He crouched down to me, his face breaking into a smile.

I assumed mine mirrored his as he reached his hand up, pushing strands of hair away from my face with his thumb.

I took in his face and his hair and the feeling of his warm, comforting hand on my skin. Time seemed to freeze.

"We have to go," he said suddenly, standing up.

"Wait, what?" I asked confused.

Then I remembered the alarm. Despite the aching of my body, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. "Wait what happened? Why is the alarm ringing? What'd Voche want? What happened to the rest of the squad?"

Zombie shook his head and ran his hand through his hair impatiently.

"There's no time to explain, alright? We have to go."

I clenched my jaw, crossing my arms stubbornly. "Zombie, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on."

I slowly, and carefully, shifted my legs so they dangled over the side of the bed.

Zombie closed his eyes and let out an exasperated breath.

"Ok, alright," he said quickly. "All of them, Reznik, Voche, all the people here at the base? They're the others. They've been using us to eliminate the rest of the human race- we're the 5th wave," he said.

I narrowed my eyes. "What?"

"Just listen," he said. "The rest of the squad escaped and they're waiting for us to get Nugget and meet up with them."

"That makes no sense," I said exasperated. "Reznik and Voche took us in; true, they're assholes but they saved us. Why-"

Zombie moved towards me hastily, resting his hands on my shoulders.

I noticed the slight grimace in every movement he made; he'd been shot too. I bit back my curiosity, assuming now wasn't the time or place to be bringing that up.

"I'll explain everything later," he said, letting his eyes meet mine. "We need to go."

Something about the desperation in his voice urged me to give in.

I nodded and before I could make any kind of move to get up, Zombie let out a frustrated grunt.

"Shit, you can't walk," he said.

I pursed my lips, irritated. "Yes I can," I said.

Although my body screamed in protest, I pushed myself up, placing one foot on the floor boldly. In a matter of seconds, my feet gave way below me and I crumbled to the floor.

Zombie was at my side before I had time to cry out for him. He picked me up in his arms, setting me carefully back down on the bed.

"You can't walk," he said again, giving me a warning look.

I let out a small groan. "Well you didn't give me the chance to show you that I can," I said.

Zombie ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. "Why do you have to always have to disagree with me? Can't you just admit that you're hurt and you can't walk?" he asked.

I crossed my arms defiantly in an attempt to look tough, although it was quite hard considering the circumstances. "Me admitting I can't walk isn't going to help anything," I pointed out.

I didn't know why I was upset with Zombie. He was only trying to help- he didn't have to come and get me. I could only assume that my frustration towards him was due to the face that I was currently helpless.

Zombie appeared to be in deep thought- no doubt trying to think how he was going to carry me throughout the entire compound, while injured, in search of Nugget while running from pretty much everyone.

"Zombie," I said softly, whispering his name as if it were forbidden. "I'll be ok. No one knows that I have any idea about the fifth wave. It'd be better if you just-"

"If you're going to say I should just leave you here, don't," he said warningly.

"Just listen," I said softly, "If-"

He moved to the side of my bed and knelt down so his eyes were level with mine. "No, you listen," he interrupted, his voice strong. "I'm not going to leave you here. That's not an option."

My eyes searched his, looking for answers. "Zombie, I can't walk, ok? Fine, I admit that. I understand that. It's not possible- why can't you just understand that I can't ask you to risk-"

He looked down at the ground, his nostrils flaring in frustration. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what? There's nothing to get! Tell me how you're going to get both me and Nugget out of here without getting caught!" I said.

Zombie opened his mouth to respond, but looked away from me again and shook his head.

I couldn't help but feel disappointed that he didn't have any ideas. Part of me had thought that he had some amazing plan formulating up there in that head of his.

"If there's no plan, then why are we still talking about this?" I asked, my voice softer than it was before.

He looked up and my breath hitched as he leaned in so his lips were mere centimeters away from mine.

"You still don't get it," he said, sliding his hand to caress my cheek. "I can't leave you."

It wasn't until then did I realize the desperation in his voice and the softness he etched into every word.

He was serious. He wasn't going to leave without me. I knew I should've been happy about that- that he was willing to risk it all for me. But then I saw him lying on the floor, eyes glassed over like Oompa, and I choked back tears, forcing out a weak protest, "But I want you to."

Before Zombie could respond, the door swung open and shouts filled the air. The alarm continued ringing. Boots hit the ground.

"Take the girl. Kill the boy," an officer yelled.

My heart beat rapidly and I reached for Zombie just as one of the officers reached for me, grabbing me by the waist.

"Zombie!" I screamed, grasping at his shirt.

Zombie yelled, trying to fight off the other officers.

Tears began to pour down my cheeks as I weakly tried to fight off my captor. One of the officers hit Zombie in the back of the legs, and he fell to the floor.

"Don't, don't take her," he shouted at the officers, bringing one of them to the floor with a quick swing of his leg.

My arms flailed and my legs kicked as I sobbed. "No, no, please don't hurt him."

My captor covered my mouth with his hand, muffling my screams.

Zombie's deep brown eyes met mine one last time before I was dragged out of the room.

"I'll find you," Zombie shouted. "I'm not going to leave you."

His voiced echoed down the hall, and even as I was being pulled further and further away from the room, I could still hear the sounds of fighting.

And right before I turned the corner, I heard a gunshot ring through the air.

Its' sound stayed with me even when I could no longer hear anything aside from the deafening blare of the alarm.

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