Never Give Up: A Novel

CHAPTER 4 The Fallen

A pool of thick, red liquid accumulated around the dead girls’ body, continually spilling out of the bite marks that lined the circumference of her small neck. Her clothes were stained with the forbidden, ruby wine speckled with crusted dirt and mud. A low hanging branch was suspended high above her head, rattling with each gust of wind as it clung, with difficulty, to the parent oak. Lauren, salty tears rolling endlessly down both of her cheeks, watched as one, young, miniscule leaf fluttered down onto Sam’s limp back. Without the needed nutrients that the single tree provided for the child, it quickly shriveled up, and in an instant, was gone. All that was left in its place was a token of its memory: a brown, crumpled entity.

The lone oak tree had lost its pride and joy, but even so, it continued on with its job. One lost life meant nothing to nature. One lost friend meant nothing to the vile creatures that huddled around Sam’s body and greedily began to rip pieces of flesh off of her bone, sticking it into their mouths and swallowing the bloodied pieces whole.

The leaf that lay idle on the girl’s back was whisked off into the distance, where it would be stepped on and broken into tiny fragments. Soon, it would be gone. Sam would be gone. And with no physical or mental strength to get up and escape the same fate her best friend had to endure, Lauren would be gone. Forgotten, just like the leaf.  Fallen.

As bones were revealed under the heavy, thick matter of flesh and blood flowed at a slower pace; Lauren observed as the infected began to lose interest. One by one they began to retreat away from the still mass.

Seeing that his comrades were receding, the one, larger monster Lauren assumed to be a leader let go of his hold with an evil cackle. Sam flopped onto the ground, her eyelids closed tightly over her eyes. Lauren knew Sam was gone, that she would never see the light of a beautiful day again. The beasts, however, had other thoughts.

 To finish the sinful deal, the leader snapped a throaty, inaudible order to a cohort kneeling close to her sweat matted, blonde hair. With a hurried nod, she picked up Sam’s head and twisted it quickly to the side, snapping the spine with an eerie crunch. Now Lauren was all but positive that, her friend was dead. 

As Lauren watched with hopeless eyes, she started to choke, her throat closed shut so tightly that only small breaths of air came rushing down her throat. As the sick huddled in a group around her, now finished with their main course, she could barely manage the scream that was begging to be released.

One of the monsters reached out a taunting hand, teasing with her emotions as his sharp talons rapped down her arm, tearing into the thin membrane of skin. Another grabbed her knee cap, taking out a large chunk of her muscle as he pulled back, clearly enjoying the delectable taste.

 The atmosphere grew thinner as Lauren struggled to breathe. The end was near. Lauren grimaced at the thought that her last minutes on Earth would be of the sight of her murdered friend and the gruesome faces and smells of the infected closing in for the kill.

The odor of their foul smelling breath wafted into her nose. Lauren shut her eyes, preparing for a swift, clean cut death. She began to count each second until her demise.

One.

Two.