Chapter 34 - Everyday changes

—" Alicia, I'm already infected, I literally feel like my mind is getting muddled". — I said, taking my sister by the shoulders and shaking her. — "I don't want you to see me slowly turning... so go home to your parents."

— "No." — she sobbed, burying her face in my chest, thereby pushing Rei away a little— " I'll go with you and everything will be fine, we'll find a cure and…"

— "Alicia, please, go home. "— I said stroking her on the head, and then pushed her away from me and smiled. — "Rei, you too, stop shedding tears, you still have your whole life ahead of you."

—" I don't need a life without you!" — sister shouted. —" How ... it's all a bad dream ... Felix ... brother ... everything will be fine ..." — she said clearly being in some kind of prostration.

— "Saeko, I trust you with the safety of these silly girls... please look after them." — I looked at the purple-haired one, who still hadn't uttered a word.

—"I... will, because that's my way... to follow you... your orders." — she said softly. — "Felix, I wanted to tell you... I fell in love with you. I don't know exactly when... but I hate myself so much now for not being able to confess earlier." — said the repentant girl, as if she had committed some unthinkable sin.

—" ...fool." — Saya said softly, her face changing. —" Fool!" — she said louder. — "So that's how you leave us, right? Well, get out!" — she shouted emotionally without really thinking and went deeper into the bus.

— "Tsundere." — I muttered after her, and then grimaced from the pain in my arm. — "Shizuka, take them to my parents' mansion, you know the way. And Saeko... I can say the same to you. I've been partial to you for a long time, it's a pity that we were both so stupid and weak-willed that we didn't dare to confess earlier." — with tenderness I ran my hand over her face.

— "I'll go with you, do you hear?" — Alicia whispered, sobbing. —"I... I love you too." — she said and kissed me on the lips, but everything was spoiled by the taste of tears and the twitching of the girl's body. — "Don't go, please... brother, don't leave me alone. " — she said when she saw in my eyes that I just wouldn't take her with me. — "You and I have always been together since birth, let it be so until our death. I can't live without you, without your care and your warmth... I can't... I can't…"

—"I... huh." — I covered my mouth with my hand and coughed... and now the hemoptysis has begun. — "Saeko, take Alicia. I want you to live a happy life, even if without me."

— "No!" — Sis shouted as Busujima's strong arms wrapped around her. —" Let go!" — naturally, she clung to the girl's hands, wanting her to let her go. — "Let go! Brother! Don't you dare go and leave me alone!" — she screamed, and the tears became more and more.

— "Rei... I ..." — but the girl surprised me and also kissed me, but already on the cheek, as I managed to turn my head. After all, I started coughing up blood, the virus can be transmitted through the blood.

— "What fools we are all. "— she said sadly in a hoarse voice.

— "Alicia has a contact of her parents in her phone, contact them." — I said and pushed the girls away. —" I have to go... I don't have much time."

—" F-Felix... m-maybe you want everything to be fast? " — Koto stammered, pointing at the nail gun. — "Ouch." — he got a slap on the back of the head, he's pink.

—" Are you really sick or something?" — I heard her voice and then the quiet hiss of the chubby.

—" I didn't expect such a proposal from him... but I, as a scientist, wonder how it will feel." — I found something to say.

—"E-everything will be fine! Y-you're definitely not an ordinary person, not with your strength and endurance! Your body will cope with this." — Alicia said, often stammering because of tears and nerves.

—" Maybe ... or maybe I'll just become a strong infected and attack you. Khr" — I fell to the floor because of the pain in my entire arm and especially in my forearm. — "Alicia, you still have parents, what will they do from the loss of all the children? I'm glad I was able to protect you and it's better to bear this burden myself... ahem-kha. I have to go. I hope you will have a happy life." — I looked into the bus cabin and saw Takashi's look full of guilt... well, yes, I somehow saved him, but he could not return the favor to me and repay the debt. But I don't blame him, he was far away, and he couldn't help in that situation.

— "No! Come back! Let me go!" — I heard my sister's voice from behind. A couple of infected people have already started approaching us, so I decided to just leave, otherwise I just won't be able to do it. It hurts to realize that all plans are being ruined because of one mistake ... but it could have been avoided, now I clearly see it. But what's done is done. I could still hear Alicia and Rei sobbing, but they were dragged into the bus by Busujima and Sai's joint efforts. Suzuki just cried silently holding the steering wheel and couldn't utter a word, but I told her everything with a look and a smile before leaving.

And now I'm alone and that's good. It would be much worse for me if one of the girls got into such a situation... perhaps this is my weakness, my fear. It's still easier to die than to live with such a burden... and my sister will have to live like the rest. Am I sorry that everything happened like this? Endlessly, but if I hadn't been in a hurry, we could have been surrounded by hundreds of infected people and I wasn't sure that everything would be fine with the bus in that case.

—" Kha. "— I coughed into my hand again and saw blood... quite a lot of blood, to be honest. In addition, several infected people clearly heard this and headed in my direction. —" Yes ... to die at the beginning, knowing that such a thing could happen, is very ..." — I did not finish because of the attack of the infected, to whom I quickly wrung my neck.

I spat on the body. Eyes began to burn, as if some pepper had got into them, and the heat was getting stronger and stronger. On barely bending legs, I entered a building, trying to avoid all infected people. I can't feel my hand at all anymore, and all my feelings seem to have gone crazy. Not understanding where I am, I went into some room…

— "Alicia? Sis, are you here? " — my weak voice sounded in the room and I heard Alicia's cheerful laugh. — "I feel bad... I love…"

***

— "Let me go!" — shouted a black-haired pretty girl who was being held by two other girls at once. — "Saeko, he's... he's all alone there." — surprisingly quietly she said the last. — "How can you drive so calmly ..." — the girl stammered when she looked up at her friends who had recently held her and noticed the tracks of tears flowing from their eyes.

— "M-my way... I promised him to protect you." — Busujima said softly, but with steel in her voice. — "If you leave, you will most likely disappear, do you think he would want that? Do you think it's easy for me? I fell in love with him... he accepted me as I am..." — the swordswoman said.

— "Rei..." — Takashi said trying to calm down his girlfriend ... or rather ex-girlfriend, but she just waved him off.

—" Don't you dare bother me in a moment of weakness, you didn't care about me before." — she said angrily to his face.

—" Rei, what are you saying, because I'm your friend. Anyway, I still believe it. I understand that it's hard for you ..." — after these words, there was a loud sound of a slap in the face.

— "You don't understand shit, Takashi. All this time, when I needed support, it came not from my "friend", but from Felix and my new friends. And now he's... he's gone."

— "Don't say that." — Alicia's voice sounded. — "He'll be fine, I'm sure of it... but I'll be even more sure when I see him. Shizuka, open the door and let me out." — she said to the driver.

— "Well, I don't think that's a good idea. "— Marikawa answered her with a little stretch at first.

— "And I think it's just a great idea, I won't leave my brother!"

— "Yes, shut your mouth, you're not the only one who feels bad here. "— shouted some guy sitting in the back and his eyes darted as if in a crazy dance. —" I squeaked here with my... well, what are you going to do?" — he asked when he saw Alicia coming at him menacingly. But the answer to the question came pretty quickly, a sharp and correctly delivered blow to the face and the guy screams in pain holding on to a broken and bleeding nose.

— "One more word and I'll beat you to death." — now this beautiful girl did not seem white and fluffy to them, it was clear from her that she was really ready to do it. —"If it wasn't for him, you would have been devoured by now, you ungrateful brute."

—" Calm down Alicia." — Busujima said, but her look did not promise the boy anything good, on the contrary, it showed that she could stab him without any problems. —" I also think that everything will be fine. We know that he is not ordinary, in every sense of the word."

A little later, Rei and Saeko again had to make efforts to stop Alicia from rash actions, although God knows, they also wanted to go with him, but his words about protecting his sister and saying that they should be happy did not let them back down. Especially his look, in which it was clear that he wanted them to live and fight for their lives, but if at least one of the two had given up, then the three of them would have gone after Felix. For someone who has become more than just a friend to them. But the hope that everything would be fine with him and this was only a temporary parting glowed in their chest, because they knew a lot more about him and his abilities than the others on this bus.