Chapter 13: Elektra

Chapter 13

Elektra

Sam screams.

I was too late. I didn't get there in time. I lurch forward and impale the Riser where it stands. I remove the piece of metal and head towards Sam. I take her arm and examine the bloody mess. There are the teeth marks, definitely, but also scratches. God, she's going to bleed out. I place pressure on the wound and drag her to the car.

“Lucas, get her in the car now! I'll hold them off as long as I can but you have to go now,” I instruct. Lucas looks shocked. He knows that what has to happen next. He knows that Sam is dead. He knows if he leaves now, he will be leaving one of the only people who is any state to help his wife. It is not possible to win in this situation.

“No! Elektra, take this and go. I'll stay, I'll stay-”

“Sam, no!” Lucas interrupts.

“No. No, Lucas. This is how it has to 'appen. I'm dead. I've been infected. I'm dead anyway so why not go down fighting? Lucas, Elektra please go,” she forces the hammer into my hands and pushes Lucas back, “please f***ing go!”

Lucas run to his car and opens the door. He places Helene into the back of the car. I look at Sam. She's accepted it. She knew she was going to die and it looks like she's accepted it. I put my hand on her shoulder and she doesn't even look at me. She just nods and moves forward. This is my fault. My fault.

Jason emerges from the crowd, Alfie in tow. I breath a sigh of relief; Jason's a fighter, I don't know why I doubt him. I move to the car. Alfie is still creating a scene from what I can observe. Jason has a hold of his arms and legs so at least he is not kicking out. Jason makes it to me and places Alfie into the car and closes the door. He places his hands on my shoulders and shakes me.

“Lex, Lex. It's okay, it's okay,” Jason draws me into a bear hug. Am I really that obvious? I try and hug him back but I can't physically move my arms.

“Jason, you have to drive. Get Alfie somewhere safe. I have a feeling Helene is going to need me,” I assert, pulling away.

“Are you sure? I'm not leaving you if I don't have to.”

“Yes, do this for me. Go. Make sure he's safe and...I'll make sure his mum and sibling are,” I reassure. He hesitates and then gets into the car.

I run to the car. Lucas has started the car and has begun to reverse. I dive into the back. Helene is still bleeding heavily, sweat pouring out of every pore. I put my hand on her forehead; she's burning up. She's too exhausted to scream. I wonder if she even realises what is going on around her. I can see she's straining: I don't think she has the energy or the strength to try and push. Oh God, I can see the head. The baby's head is out. Oh lord. Oh lord. Oh lord.

“It's nearly over. Helene, I can see it. You've done so well, just one more push. Hold on, do you hear me?”

“I can't. Merde. Merde. I can't do this,” she mutters under her breath. I slap her. She looks shocked but it encourages her from what I can tell. She pushes one last time before she loses consciousness. The baby is here. Lying on the car seat . It's not crying.

No, please. Don't tell me it's dead after everything. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. It's a girl. I have a niece but she's not breathing. I feel underneath my belt and take out a nail-file. Right, I need to cut the cord and get the baby warm. She has a hint of warmth to her but not enough. I hack away at the cord. Blood covers my hand. I bundle the baby into my jacket and tap her back. Come on little one. Not today, not to-bloody-day.

I hear a cough. A slight cough. Then, she cries. A real hearty sob, as babies so often do. As if to say 'why did you rip me from my warm watery world and shove me in this s**te-hole'. I take off my jacket and wrap her up; if she gets cold now, well she's not out of the woods yet.

“What is it? Elektra, are they okay? Are they okay?” he begs, glancing back momentarily but keeping his eyes on the road.

“Yeah, she's fine. It's a little girl and...and she's gorgeous. Congratulations, she's got a pair of lungs on her,” I begin to laugh and place the bloody bundle on Helene's chest. She's still unconscious but I can hear her laboured breath. Neither one of them is entirely safe right now but, both are alive which is the main thing.

The little bundle tries to find her source of food, blind. I see her tiny mouth open and close as if she were miming something. Helene has begun to leak; whether it's sweat or milk, I am not too certain. However, I move her up to aid her and she latches on her. I turn back to face the front and lean back. My God, I'm shaking and sweating all at once. She's going to be all right. I delivered a baby and she survived. Everything's that's happened to this point and along comes this baby. This tiny little thing and yet, yet, you allow yourself to hope for a resolution. Is this what's going to happen to me? If I decide to go through with this for some unknown reason, is this what I will feel when looking at my own...baby? Or will I be passed out, drenched in my own blood and sweat, and completely unaware of how close the baby's death came? Or will death have already claimed it?

I don't want to think about it. I just want to be happy for this one moment, if that's even possible. Is it possible? I really hope it is.

I keep my hand on the baby, holding her in place. The erratic driving of her father encourages this. I am not willing to go through all that; save the baby and then have her fly through the window because of a dodgy turn. Na-ah. Not the best outcome. I can hear her little sniffling which is seriously adorable. I close my eyes and allow myself to relax for just a few moments.

The engine shuts off. I wake up and Helene is still out cold. Lucas has the baby in the front and is cooing over her. I wipe the sweat off of my forehead and clear my throat. He doesn't even acknowledge me: he's so engrossed in that little creature of his own creation. I turn back and see Jason's car behind. He gets out of the car and runs over to the door. He opens the door and helps me out. He examines my hand and then draws me into a hug.

“Are you okay? Is everything okay?” he whispers into my ear.

“Yeah, I'm fine and so is she. The baby's okay, I think,” I say as I start to laugh. Jason begins to laugh and picks me up, cackling. He spins me around and then puts me down.

“Wait, where is Sam? I was sure I saw her; how come-” he catches himself and realises, “Oh, she...did not make it, did she?”

I shake my head and take a deep breath.

“Yeah, she didn't make it. She got bitten and sacrificed herself so we could get out. It was my fault.” I hesitate and continue. “I could have saved her but I realised that there was no point: she was already bitten, from before. I could have done something but I didn't....Now she's dead.”

“Why do you say that? If she was already bitten then you know she was marked for death. You did not force her to stay. Do not blame yourself Lex. What's done is done,” he responds, tilting my chin up to look him in the eye. Why the hell is he so calm about this? I have just told him that I allowed someone to die, someone who I could have saved, and he has never looked more calm.

I pull away from him.

“How dare you? How f***ing dare you? Someone has just died-”

“What do you want me to do? Antagonise you? Guilt trip you?” he interrupts, becoming irate.

“Yes, do something. I did something abominable and you are acting like it was nothing.”

“Yes, you did something that is morally ambiguous but why does that matter to me? You are my main concern. You are who I care about so why should it matter to me?”

“”You are incredible, actually incredible, but you can't think like that. They're our group now, you can't afford to be complacent with their lives. Especially when that group contains my brother and his family.”

“You're the one who I am concerned with but...but if you want me to, I will try to think differently. Are you satisfied with that?”

“It will do for now, I suppose,” I respond, my eyes fixed on Lucas. He looks so happy, engrossed in this new life. So engrossed yet has not even looked around to see if his wife is still alive. Then again, I guess I wouldn't look behind me either. Put off any negative outcome. As long as you don't see something, you don't have to acknowledge it. Not to say that it is no longer there: it's just not...real until you give it logical truth or reasoning.

I walk over to the door and tap on the window. Lucas looks up and opens his door.

“Isn't she beautiful? My little girl. I've always wanted a daughter and here she is, healthy and so beautiful. Isn't she? Isn't she?”

“Yep. Yep. She is definitely...something,” Jason says, clearing his throat. He does have a point: she does resemble a small alien but, hopefully, that should just be the shock. I hope it's just the shock or that is unfortunate. Then again, the little bugger has every right to be traumatised. A thing with a head the size of a fist coming out of a small hole. From a watery safe haven to a bloodstained quarantine. I'd never want to leave but that's just me.

“Do you want to hold her, Elektra? I mean you are her aunty. What do you say?” he asks, adjusting the jacket to cover up a little bit of flesh that has been exposed.

“Sure, sure. Come on, hand her over,” I gesture, extending my arms. He gently passes the tiny bundle into my arms. I stare at her little face. Her eyelids flicker open: she has the most amazing vivid blue eyes, just like Helene's. There is a pacifier in her mouth and she is sucking on it for dear life. The beginnings of brown hair paints the top of her head. I try to bounce her, to see if that is an effective way of getting her to react. She just stares at me. I must be a fascinating specimen to her little mind. Covered in blood and scars and God only knows what else. I've always wanted to know what babies must think. I mean, do they have the capacity to think and understand more than we can imagine? Their only issue being that they can't communicate due to the language barrier. Does she understand what she's let herself in for?

No. Nobody does.

I look up and Jason is looking at me, smiling. I smile back. For the s**t storm that has happened, today is a good day. There could have been so many outcomes for today and yet here we are, minus one. The baby is alive when she could have died. The question is: is this price of this new life the life of her mother? I look back and see Helene, still out cold and covered in blood. I place a kiss on the baby's forehead and hand her back to Lucas.

I open the back door and place the back of my hand on Helene's forehead. She's still slightly warm; beads of sweat still remain. I can feel her breath on my forearm. She is still alive, for the moment at least. I hold her hand. Please don't die. Please.

“Lex, come with me. She's beautiful Lucas; you should feel lucky to have her,” Jason says, taking a hold of my arm. We walk to the side and he places his hands on my shoulders.

“What is it?” I ask Jason, reluctantly. It is only now that I notice Danny, kneeling and staring out. They were close from what I can tell. I have to be careful not to say anything otherwise he would split my skull against the ground.

“Is it me or does Helene look like she is long for this world? What do we do with her? If she does...die?”

“We can't do anything; it isn't our place to do anything. She's still warm but I don't know how much damage the birth did to her. We just have to wait it out and...and cross that bridge when...if we come to it,” I reply, my voice trembling.

Danny notices us and walks over.

“Sam? Is Sam with you? She wasn't with us so...so she must be with you?”Danny says frantically, looking behind me to see a figure now certainly dead.

“Dan, I'm sorry. She didn't make it; she got bitten so she stayed behind. I'm sorry,” Jason says, still holding on to my shoulder. Danny looks at us with a sense of bemusement and disbelief. He steps back and shakes his head.

“What? She was fine. She was fine! No, you're lying. You're f***ing lying,” Danny screams, reaching for his knife. Jason pushes me back and tries to calm him down,

“Calm down! She did not make it; I am sorry, I really am. Put the knife down, I will not ask you twice.”

“Last time you went against me, I kicked your pathetic arse. You think you could stop me now?”

“I do. I do not need an excuse anymore; you hurt one of the only people I care about and now you pull a knife. You are heading in the right direction to end up dead. Put the bloody knife down, now!” Jason reasons, putting his hands out as if to accept the blade.

That's when Danny first tries to swipe at Jason. Jason pushes me backwards, right on my arse. I fiddle with my belt, trying to remove my gun. I have no bullets left but I could still...I don't know...hit someone with it? Jason flinches and dodges the next jab. Danny takes advantage of this and slashes at Jason's shin. Jason winces. He then slides behind Danny and kicks the back of his legs. Danny falls to his knees and looks at Jason. I crawl forward and stand between them.

“No, not f***ing again. You beat the s**t out of each other before, not again. Someone has just died. Have some f***ing respect.”

As soon as those words leave my lips, the hypocrisy hits me. I am such a hypocrite, lecturing them when it is my fault that she's dead. I do have a point though: does testosterone instantly heighten your desire to kick someone's teeth down their throat? Nothing that has happened has proved otherwise. I turn my back. Danny begins to pant heavily: it sounds like he is fighting for breath. Jesus, not another one. One person's already died today, they've fulfilled the quota. Great heaving sobs escape him. I turn around to face him: his head is in his hands and he is clawing at his face. I can't bring myself to feel particularly bad for him. There is nothing about Danny that makes me sympathise with him. He's a misogynistic twat who has not shown any attachment to anyone, never mind to Sam. From his reaction, you'd expect he's lost a partner in life and yet they never seemed to be around each other.

Still, they were obviously close. That much is clear. What the hell have I done?