"What?" my head whipped around. Amanda stood, dumbfounded, staring at the ground.

Safety forgotten, I abandoned the bag of weapons without taking one and rushed towards her.

As I ran, the scene before Amanda came into closer and closer view, and with each pound of my feet against the pavement, I grew more horrified. I skidded to a stop beside her and gaped at what remained of my brother's body.

Beside him lay the remains of three prowlers, blown to pieces and covered in burns. But they were not what drew my attention.

A Driller had the upper half of Alec's torso, pulsing and slowly digging its horrible ripping claws into his back. He bucked and trembled beneath it, muscles straining. Hatred boiled in my gut once more as I realized that he was only alive because of pain and the natural drugs the fucking thing was pumping into him.

I took Amanda's gun from her hands and mouthed a silent prayer before shooting it in the head, the gunshot echoing loudly in the suddenly quiet air.

"Oh God..." Lilly breathed as she joined us, her shotgun hanging limply at her side.

I dropped my gun, not caring as it slammed into the concrete before bending down and grasping Alec's shoulders, calling over to Finn.

Finn ran up and stared, his face a mask of anger that slowly turned to something akin to pride. "Took those fuckers out with him," he said. "Look at all these things. Half dead, the bastard found the nest and blew them all to hell. Hold on, buddy, we're gonna send you right there behind them to terrorize them here in just a minute. I gotchu."

He set to work prying at the dead Driller. The thing clung to him like glue, tearing away strips of flesh with every tug and pull Finn made. With a grunt, Finn pulled his knife from his pocket, slid it into Alec's skin underneath the legs of the Driller, and began to cut, his face grim as he tugged and sawed through his friend's flesh. Alec gasped, but as the creature lifted away from him piece by piece, he sighed in relief.

"No, no, no," I said as I shook him desperately, somehow hoping for another miracle, but the chill in his skin and the weakening of his movements told me it was too late. Tears streamed down my face as Finn finally managed to pry him from the monster's grip, revealing a horrifying sight as we rolled him onto his back.

His torso was mangled and covered in deep claw marks. Half of his face was missing with exposed flesh and bone glistening in the dim firelight - one eye socket was empty, the lid tattered and torn, hanging loose. The other eye rolled wildly, looking at us each in turn as if begging for help. His mouth moved soundlessly, teeth clicking together in a grotesque rhythm.

I could barely process what I was seeing- his hand and most of his right arm were gone, replaced by a bloody stump. His clothes were torn and burned, leaving him almost naked except for tattered shreds of fabric clinging to his body. The right side of his body was peppered with shrapnel wounds, and I could now see the deep gash across his side that he had been hiding during the battle. My stomach churned at the sight of his exposed ribs and the deep gouges from the Prowler's claws.

Feeling sick with despair, I cradled my brother's broken body in my arms, hoping against hope that he could still be saved - as if I could shield him from death itself. But as I looked up at my companions, Lilly and Amanda looked as lost as I felt, Finn was staring in shock- I knew that there was nothing we could do to bring him back from this horror.

My voice came out in a desperate, raspy whisper. "We have to get him out of here," I said.

The weight of Alec's limp body in my arms was suffocating, his blood seeping through my shirt, staining it a deep crimson. Lilly knelt beside me and gently took him from me, cradling his head in her lap, and ran her fingers through what was left of his hair. His face was contorted in pain and she stroked his unmarred cheek with a tenderness that brought tears to my eyes.

"We can't leave him," she murmured, her voice shaking. "But how do we transport him? We all rode our bikes here."

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. She was right. But I couldn't bear the thought of leaving him behind.

"Then we'll come back with a car," I said. "To...to at least bring his..."

"Body," she finished for me, her voice breaking. "To get his body, yes."

As Lilly leaned down to kiss Alec's forehead, he stirred slightly, his remaining eyelid fluttering in a fading daze. His teeth opened and shut in an attempt to say something.

"Sh sh sh, easy baby," Lilly chided him softly. "Almost over. Almost out of this nightmare. You rest now. There's nothing left to say. You did so good baby! So good! Had one more trick up your sleeve, huh?" She cooed and stroked his face once more, her knuckles brushing lightly across his forehead, pushing his hair away so she could see him. Her eyes were kind and warm as she gazed into his remaining one.

My heart clenched at the sight - guilt at my earlier actions towards her overwhelmed me.

Lilly rested her cheek against Alec's and whispered something in his ear, something I couldn't hear. Maybe I didn't want to. I was glad for her, because I couldn't find words to say. Maybe I didn't need to.

I placed my head on his chest, feeling the ragged rise and fall of his breaths becoming weaker by the minute. With trembling hands, I lightly pounded my fist against his chest as I had once done as a child, begging for his attention. His blood mingled with my tears and stung my eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

Finn stood up and turned towards the front of the building, speaking in hushed tones into his radio.

"We found Sumner," he announced. A burst of chatter erupted from the helmets around me as our surprised and hopeful comrades launched a barrage of questions. Finn's next words shattered that hope into a million pieces.

"It's... not pretty," he said, shaking his head sadly.

There was a moment of stunned silence before someone asked the inevitable question. "Is he...?"

Finn's reply was a quiet, heart-wrenching confirmation. "He's gone. Fading away. But not before taking out a few hundred head humpers on his way out."

A chorus of curses and sniffles followed.

As they did so, I heard one last gurgle from Alec's chest beneath me, and then... A long, soft, exhale, followed by... Nothing. Nothing at all. It was the single loudest sound I'd ever heard.

Lilly sobbed into Alec's neck, her whole body shaking. I tried to wipe away the tears streaming down my cheek. It was a futile effort, only smearing more blood across my face. My brother was...

He was dead. My best friend, my confidant, my protector. Dead. I couldn't process it.

The women around me began to sob uncontrollably while Finn held his distance, speaking to someone else on the other end of the line.

Lilly threw her head back and screamed at the sky, a gut-wrenching howl that shook me to the core. Finn walked over to her and lay a hand on her head, brushing his thumb across her forehead comfortingly, speaking softly.

Time seemed to slow. My emotions froze with it, reducing from a torrent to barely a trickle, numbness setting into my bones.

I stood and walked away. A driller nearby twitched and I shot it on reflex, the bullet bursting through it effortlessly. I began walking about, kicking over rocks and concrete chunks, shooting at anything I found.

Amanda walked up behind me and put her arms around me. I stopped, holding still as she squeezed me tight. "I'm so sorry, Kendall."

I shook my head. "This isn't fair," I whispered, still not believing. "It's not right."

She squeezed me again. "It never is," she replied softly, turning my head towards her. Her eyes held an ocean of sorrow, but also a hint of understanding that made it worse. I knew Amanda had lost people, but she never talked about it. Not even with me.

She pressed her forehead to mine, then kissed me on the cheek and held me for a few moments longer. I buried my face into the corner of her neck. Her scent - a mixture of sweat, fear, and the slightest hint of spring flowers - filled my nostrils, bringing a fleeting moment of familiarity and peace.

My momentary solace cost me dearly as I thought of Lilly and how I had treated her only moments before. She had just lost her husband. I couldn't imagine living without Alec; he had always been there for me. She was the only other one who felt his loss as deeply as I did in this moment.

Finn cleared his throat awkwardly from behind us before speaking up, his voice graveled by emotion. "We have to leave him here for now," he said gently. "We will come back during the daylight hours."

"Okay," I said. "Okay. In the morning, right?"

"Yes. In the morning."

He put his arm around me, a rare gesture of softness from the hardened soldier. Amanda put her arm around my waist as well. I leaned against her, and together they helped me turn and walk away, back towards the caravan. Back towards home.

To Mom. To Alicia. How could I look them in the eye and tell them everything they heard over the radio was true? That their firstborn son, that their brother, their protector, their savior, their miracle they were afforded in this lifetime... had died? On my watch?

My feet dragged. Each step I took further from Alec's body felt like a betrayal.