Marie was staring at the body on the floor, and everyone in the room had frozen for a moment. Some were just about to get bit by Olivia or Kai, but now they were busy looking at the dead person on the ground.
Lifeless. Being in the industry they were in, there were times where they had seen people sent to the hospital or a death happened right in front of their eyes, but it was usually in the middle of a struggle.
For this, it was a person that just wanted to change something. Someone who wanted to do better and help the town, and now they had lost their life at a young age.
All of these thoughts were going through Marie’s head as well. Immediately, Kai had stopped what he was doing and picked up the body; he walked out of the tent. As he carried the body, he was moving it to the tent next to the one that was set up.
A tent with doctors and nurses on standby to try to help whatever was going to happen, but as Kai carried the body, he didn’t have a lot of hope.
‘Damn it, damn it all! The Phoenix Gang, they pushed us so far that we had to do this. They can never be forgiven. We didn’t have to do it like this. What the heck did we do to you guys?’ Kai thought, placing the body on one of the beds.
The nurses and doctors did their best to see if there was anything they could do, but moments later, it was confirmed that he had passed, and there was no chance of bringing him back.
When Kai returned back to the tent with the others, they looked at him. He could tell that they were hoping for some good news. Instead, he just shook his head at them all.
“This is a reminder of the risks we are taking,” Kai stated. “But also, remember, the reason why we are all doing this. I promise I will fight the Phoenix Gang until my last breath.”
Kai moved to the next person, waiting for them to come to him. He could see that the others were startled now after what had happened. The small percentage or small chance of one dying when turning into a werewolf hadn’t just become a statistic; it was now a reality.
In the end, though, they could hear the sounds, cries, and screams from the hospital buildings that weren’t too far from them, pushing them to give it another go. They rolled up their sleeves and proceeded again.
The only thing was, the next person that had been presented to Marie was none other than the young Kevin.
She looked at his small arm, his smaller body compared to the rest. After the strong fighter from before died, she only imagined what could happen to him.
“I… I can’t do it,” Marie said.
“What!” Kevin shouted. “I thought we had this conversation before. I’m ready, I need to protect my family, I need to protect my friends, I don’t want to lose anything anymore.”
That wasn’t the reason she couldn’t do it though; it was that she couldn’t be responsible for another death.
“Hey, get a grip,” Olivia said, slapping Marie on the back; it was quite a loud hit as it was heard in the tent. “Look at the one in front of you; they're the one that is taking the risk. If you have no confidence in doing such a thing, think about how you’re going to make them feel.”
Marie looked into Kevin’s eyes once again.
“It’s okay, someone just failed before you right, so my chances are better now. It’s unlikely to happen two times in a row,” Kevin replied.
It was something he told himself. The truth was they didn’t know if a strong body or strong mind was needed. Or the reason why some would turn and others would not. Was it just potluck?
If it was, then there was nothing she could do.
“Do you remember when you came to me, the feelings you had? I didn’t reject you, so don’t reject this kid either,” Olivia said.
Trying not to worry anymore, Marie got to it. At first, she closed her eyes. But that wasn’t right. She needed to leave them open and face this thing head-on. She looked at Kevin and opened her mouth wide.
With determination, she thought about her transformation and focused on her teeth, biting down into Kevin’s arm; they waited a few seconds, and finally, she let go.
Kevin could feel immediate pain through his muscles; he knelt over and had stuck his head right into the ground. Everything was hurting, and he was wailing and screaming a lot more than the others.
He started to punch the ground again and again, all of this just worrying Marie even more. The punching had stopped, his head stayed in position, and his body was still.
“No,” Marie said softly, until Kevin lifted his head.
He wiped away some blood that was on his mouth and then fell to the ground.
She quickly went and knelt by Kevin’s side.
“No!” She shouted this time, but when she held his body, she could feel a heartbeat.
She turned him over and could see the blood was just from him biting his own lip; perhaps the pain was too much. Kevin was okay, and now he was one of them.
The process continued until all 23 people that had remained were bitten. In the end, there were 2 deaths in total. The group mourned their loss of the two, and they all agreed after making it out of this, they wouldn’t forget their brave sacrifice.
Slowly, those that had passed out and were successfully made a werewolf were starting to wake up.
“The rest is up to you now, right?” Kai asked. “So how long do you need with them?”
“Give me a day,” Dean replied. “Survive the next day on your own, and we’ll be ready to fight them back.”
****