This can't b-be happening

Chapter 34

Declan:

Ella.

My mom.

Ella.

My mom...

JULIAN—

Ella.

I can't find the words to talk. Ellie's here. My mom's dead. Ellie's holding me up. My mom has a bullet in her head. People are yelling. There are so many people. Voices from all directions. It's making me dizzy. Ella's crying, I can feel her warm salty tears drip onto my dirt-drenched, blood-skidded skin. But I can't console her. I'm so tired. I'm so fucking tired. I can barely move, I feel so heavy. Like a barrel of boulders. Sleep, I want to sleep. My head is pounding, pulsating. And my eyes—my eyes are closing. They won't stop closing. I can't keep them open. I don't want to be here anymore.

Something hurts. Everything hurts. And it won't go away, amplifying and expanding and evolving. Like a parasite or a disease.