Dead Weight

Day 27 – No More Time

Mia Alvarez had carried dead weight before.

People who were too slow, too weak, too broken to make it in this world.

She had left people behind before.

But as she pressed a rag against Ben’s leg wound, watching the blood seep through the fabric, she realized something.

This wasn’t just another body to drop.

Ben wasn’t dead yet.

But if they didn’t make a decision soon?

He would be.

Ben lay against a rotting tree trunk, his face pale and sweaty.

Emily knelt beside him, whispering reassurances neither of them believed.

Leo stood a few feet away, gripping his stolen shotgun, his expression unreadable.

Mia crouched down, checking the wound again.

The bullet had gone clean through, but the bleeding wasn’t stopping.

They had no antibiotics.

No clean bandages.

No real way to help him.

And worst of all?

They were still being hunted.

Mia stood, exhaling sharply.

"We can’t stay here."

Emily’s head snapped up. "We can’t just—just leave him!"

Mia folded her arms. "I didn’t say that."

But she also hadn’t said they wouldn’t.

Ben groaned, shifting slightly. "Mia…"

She knelt back down.

He licked his cracked lips, eyes barely open.

"Just leave me," he rasped.

Emily shook her head violently. "No. No, we’re not doing this. We can find a town. A doctor—"

Mia cut her off.

"There is no town, Emily. No doctor."

Just the road.

Just survival.

And Ben?

He was dying.

Leo finally spoke.

"If we carry him, we slow down."

Mia nodded. "And if we slow down?"

Leo swallowed hard.

"They catch us."

Emily’s hands curled into fists.

"You’re talking like he’s already dead."

Mia didn’t flinch. "Because if we keep dragging him, he will be."

Emily’s breath hitched.

Her tears welled up, but she didn’t let them fall.

Ben exhaled shakily. "She’s right."

Emily whipped toward him. "Ben—"

He gave her a weak smile.

"I don’t want to be the reason you all die."

Silence.

Then—

Mia reached for her knife.

Emily gasped, moving between them.

"No!"

Mia’s jaw clenched. "Emily—"

"Please!"

She was begging now.

Mia looked at Ben.

His eyes met hers.

And he nodded.

Mia let out a slow breath.

Then she handed Emily the knife.

"You do it."

Mia, Leo, and Ben stayed silent as Emily knelt beside him, her shoulders shaking.

She wasn’t a killer.

Not yet.

But in this world?

If you didn’t make hard choices, the world made them for you.

A choked sob.

Then—

The knife went in.

Ben exhaled sharply.

And then he was gone.

Mia wiped the blood off the blade and stood.

"We have to move."

Emily was still crying.

Leo swallowed hard but didn’t argue.

Mia turned her back on the body.

On the past.

And kept walking.

Because survival didn’t wait.

And neither did she.