heavenward | n.scatorccio

The ladder was narrow, the metal rungs cold beneath her hands as Julianna scrambled up, following the rest of the group. She wasn't sure what was worse, the horrific scene they'd just escaped, or the fact that she was now climbing up to a roof in the middle of a panic, unsure of what exactly they were running toward. But she didn't think about it too much, not when the fear was still there, gnawing at her insides, too loud to ignore.

When her feet finally hit the gravel of the roof, she collapsed onto the ground next to Misty, heart hammering in her chest. She tried to catch her breath, but it felt like she couldn't get enough air. Her lungs were still burning from the sprint, from the sheer terror of what the fuck just happened.

"Okay," Coach Ben wheezed, his voice hoarse from shouting orders, but still trying to sound calm. He slumped onto the ground, rubbing a hand over his face, still in disbelief. "Okay. We're safe. For now."

But no one was breathing easy. No one could. Not with the blood they'd just seen, not with the bodies they'd left behind. And as the realization started sinking in, it was like the air up here thickened, suffocating them all with the weight of it.

Javi and Travis were sitting close together, shoulders trembling, their faces pale, like they couldn't fully comprehend what they'd just witnessed. Travis was still staring at his hands, like he could wash the blood off if he tried hard enough. But there was no cleaning that up, no matter how many times he scrubbed. Javi was still in shock, his wide eyes darting between the others, barely blinking. They didn't need to say anything to know what the other was feeling. The blood still fresh in their minds. Their father, their father, ripped apart in front of them.

Jackie, on the other hand, was pacing, running her hands through her hair, but still trying to sound like the leader. Like the one who was going to pull them through this. "Okay, okay, listen up!" She raised her voice, but it was unsteady, a crack of panic she couldn't hide. "We—we just need to stay calm. We've got this. We'll figure it out. We just need to stick together."

But the cracks in her confidence were visible to everyone. Shauna was the first one to move toward her, putting a hand on her shoulder, pulling her to a stop. It was a simple touch, but one that conveyed everything the two had been through together. We're all scared. It's okay to be scared.

Taissa was the one who stood off to the side, arms crossed tightly across her chest, staring out over the horizon, smoke visible not far away. Her eyes narrowed as she thought, piecing together what had happened, but she still couldn't make sense of it. "What the hell was that?" she muttered, mostly to herself. "Those people weren't... they weren't people."

"Yeah," Lottie piped up from the side, her voice almost childlike in its confusion, her brow furrowing. "They were different—like something was controlling them. Not... not like normal humans."

"They were infected," Natalie said bluntly, the word cutting through the air, making everyone fall silent for a moment. Her voice was rough, like she had to force the words out of her throat, but they felt right. "They were infected. And whatever did that to them... it's still out there. Whatever it is."

"Infected," Jeff echoed, glancing over at Jackie, who nodded, her face pale, her lips trembling slightly as she processed the weight of the word.

The group fell into a tense silence, the wind whipping around them, but no one seemed to have the energy to do much of anything except breathe and think. It was surreal, like a bad dream. The world hadn't been like this an hour ago, and now, everything was shattered, all at once. It didn't even take an hour for the world to fall apart.

Van sat down beside Natalie, her hand on her knee, looking at the others, still trying to process the sudden shift from normalcy to pure chaos. "Infected?" she repeated, voice hollow. "So... we're just supposed to sit here and wait? For what? For them to... show up again?"

"That's not a plan," Misty added, her voice shaky but determined. She was leaning forward, staring at her hands like she could make sense of everything if she just looked hard enough. "We need a plan."

Julianna couldn't stop her hands from trembling as she looked at Misty, who was sitting beside her, still staring down at the floor. The girl had always been... well, odd, but the way she was gripping her knees, knuckles white with the pressure, made her seem more vulnerable than usual.

Julianna opened her mouth to say something, but the words got caught in her throat. She wanted to reassure Misty, but how? What could she say to make any of this better?

"Yeah, we need a plan," Shauna said, her voice wavering, but trying to hold it together. "But we need to think about what's happening first. How... how did this happen? Why did it happen?"

Lottie's eyes were wide, still in shock, but she managed to answer, her voice barely above a whisper. "I think... I think it's not just them. It's everywhere. I don't think they were the only ones."

A cold silence fell over the group.

"We should have never left the locker room," Taissa muttered, more to herself than anyone. "We should have just... stayed inside. Stayed safe."

"Well, it's too late for that now," Jackie snapped, her patience fraying. Her mood was all over the place. Going from boosting morale, to crying, to snapping in the span of five minutes. And i mean, who could blame her? She wiped at her eyes, as if trying to keep the panic under control. "We don't have the luxury of 'what ifs' right now. We just... we just have to make it through the next hour. The next minute."

Julianna nodded, unsure if she was trying to convince herself or the others. They had no idea what came next. They had no idea if they'd survive another night, another hour. But for the moment, they were alive. And that had to count for something, right?

Misty's voice broke through the tension, soft but clear. "Hey, um... Julianna?" She shifted closer to her, her gaze still darting between the group. "You alright?"

Julianna blinked, not quite expecting to be asked. She wasn't used to being asked how she was. Most of the time, she just floated in the background, trying not to stand out too much. But Misty was looking at her like she actually cared.

"I'm okay," Julianna answered softly, not meeting her eyes. "I guess I'm just trying to process. You know?"

Misty nodded, a small, tired smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Yeah. Me too."

For a moment, there was a brief silence, just the sound of wind in the air and distant, muffled growls. It felt like the world was holding its breath.

Julianna glanced up, just enough to see Natalie staring off into the distance, her expression closed off, but there was a flicker of something there, something Julianna couldn't quite place.

This wasn't a bad dream. It was real. And it was happening.

Right now, all she could do was sit on the roof with the others, trying to hold it together. She didn't know what to think.

Coach Ben let out a groan, low and guttural, loud enough to draw everyone's attention. His face twisted in pain, consciousness slipping, his features tight with discomfort.

"Coach, you good?" Taissa asked, her brow furrowing as she rose cautiously to her feet.

That's when the others noticed it—the dark stain of blood spreading through his torn clothes, vivid and unmistakable

The roof was cold beneath Julianna's legs, tiny pebbles of gravel biting into her skin through her jeans. She tried not to focus on it. Tried not to focus on anything, really, because the world had just gone sideways, and focusing on anything meant having to process. She wasn't sure she was ready for that yet.

Coach Ben lay sprawled on the ground, his face pale and shiny with sweat, his breathing shallow. The sharp tang of blood filled the air. It coated the gravel beneath him, dripping from his leg in slow, relentless streams.

Julianna wasn't a squeamish person.

She'd seen her fair share of accidents, Jeff wasn't exactly the most coordinated sibling, and neither was she–but this? This was different. This wasn't a scraped knee or a burned hand from a kitchen experiment gone wrong. This was something else entirely.

Misty was crouched by Coach Ben's leg, her movements quick and precise, though the set of her jaw gave away how nervous she was. In her hand was a jagged shard of glass, glinting faintly in the dim light, slick with blood she almost immediately grabbed.

"Okay," Misty said, her voice steady but a little too loud, as if she were trying to drown out the panicked murmurs of the others. "We have to do this now, or he's going to die. Someone get me-Uh-something to tie his leg off with. Like a belt! Or a scarf!"

"Wait, wait, wait." Taissa's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and skeptical.
"Are you seriously about to amputate his leg? With fucking glass?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Misty shot back, her wide eyes flashing with something fierce. "He's bitten, Taissa. If we don't stop it right now, it'll spread. And then he's one of them."

The words hung heavy in the air. One of them. The infected.

Julianna had never seen someone amputate a leg before, and she wasn't sure she wanted to-but the bite on Coach Ben's calf was bad. It was ragged and deep, the skin torn away to reveal raw, oozing muscle beneath. She swallowed hard, trying not to gag.

Still, Misty was right. What else could they do?

She glanced around, her eyes darting over the group. Jackie was hovering near the edge of the roof, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as Shauna tried to steady her. Natalie stood a few feet away, her arms crossed, her expression unreadable but tense. Van was pulling off her jacket, her face pale but determined. "Here," she said, handing it to Misty. "Use this to stop the bleeding after."

"Perfect," Misty muttered, already looping a belt-someone's belt-around Ben's thigh, just above the bite. She yanked it tight, the leather creaking under the strain. Ben let out a low groan, barely conscious.

"Javi, don't look," Travis muttered, crouched next to his brother, shielding him from the sight of coach's leg.

Javi's face was buried in Travis's shoulder, his small frame trembling.

Julianna pressed her back against the side of the roof, trying to make herself as small as possible. She felt useless.

She wasn't a leader like Jackie or Taissa. She wasn't as comforting as Lottie or Laura Lee. She wasn't practical like Natalie or Shauna. She wasn't funny like Van or Jeff, or even quick-thinking like Misty. All she could do was watch, her hands gripping the straps of her bag so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"Hold him down," Misty ordered, her voice cutting through the mounting panic. "Shauna, Jeff-hold his arms. Van, get ready with the jacket. Julianna-uh, can you-" She hesitated, glancing at Julianna, who froze.

"What do you need?" Julianna stammered, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Just-keep pressure on his leg. Make sure he doesn't move too much. Please."

Julianna nodded, crawling forward on shaky knees. Her hands felt clammy as she pressed them against Ben's shoulder, feeling the sharp bones beneath his skin.

He was so still, so pale. She swallowed hard, trying not to think about how close he'd come to dying already.

Misty took a deep breath, gripping the shard of glass with both hands. "Okay," she muttered, mostly to herself. "Okay. I've got this. I can do this."

And then she started cutting.

The sound was the worst part. A horrible, wet, squelching noise as the glass bit into flesh and muscle, as Misty sawed through tendon and bone. Blood sprayed in dark, arterial bursts, soaking Misty's hands, her shirt, the gravel beneath them. The smell of iron was overwhelming, mixing with the acrid stench of sweat and fear.

Coach Ben didn't scream-he was too far gone for that-but his body jerked violently beneath Julianna's hands, his face contorting in pain even as he hovered on the edge of unconsciousness.

Julianna felt her stomach churn, bile rising in her throat, but she forced herself to stay still, to keep her hands steady. Misty's hands were trembling slightly, but her expression was focused, determined.

Sure, Misty was weird. Everyone Knew that. But right now, weird was exactly what they needed. Who else would have the nerve to amputate a man's leg with a shard of glass? Who else would keep their cool under this kind of pressure?

Julianna couldn't help but admire her for it.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Misty leaned back, the glass falling from her hands with a dull clink. The leg, or what was left of it, was a mess of raw, exposed flesh, tied off at the top with the belt. Van immediately pressed her jacket against the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding.

"Is... is he okay?" Shauna asked, her voice shaky, as she wiped her hands on her jeans.

"He's alive," Misty said, breathing heavily, her face pale and streaked with blood. "But we need real medical supplies. This-this won't hold for long."

Julianna glanced at Coach Ben's face, pale and slack, and felt a wave of nausea wash over her. She looked away quickly, staring out at the horizon instead.
The sun was starting to set, casting long, eerie shadows across the roof.
Somewhere in the distance, a low, guttural growl echoed through the air.
"We need to move," Taissa said suddenly, breaking the silence. "We can't stay up here. Not all night."

"Move where?" Jackie snapped, her voice rising in panic. "There's nowhere to go! They're everywhere!"

"Okay, everyone needs to calm down" Jeff said, stepping forward, his hands raised. "We can figure this out, but we have to stay calm. Right, Jules?"

Julianna blinked, startled to be pulled into the conversation. "Uh-yeah," she said, her voice weak. "Calm. That's good."

But deep down, she wasn't sure how much longer any of them could hold it together.