Radiation Point

Four

He crossed the gap between us in seconds, pushing me backwards with the bulk of his weight. I stumbled, but caught my footing. The commotion roused Mia from her stupor and she watched with wild eyes.
The renegade lunged with his knife, but I kept my guard up, giving him only the flesh of my arm to slash. I gritted my teeth, trying to block out the pain; adrenaline keeping me going. He roared in irritation and began to slash with wild, violent thrusts, all while backing me into the tent.
Mia screamed against her gag, but I couldn't afford to be distracted. This man would kill me if I was; I had no doubt of that. He pushed me backwards with each jerk of his knife. Mia continued to scream, trashing against her bindings. Tearing my eyes away from my attacker for only an instant, I caught sight of Mia's tear stained face. But she wasn't watching the fight. She was looking behind me in terror.
That was when I knew we weren't alone.
Terror flooded me-numbing me, slowing my movements. My attacker realized this and smiled wickedly. He began to push me into the the tent with urgency. Each cut deeper than the one before. I grimaced in pain and fell backward onto my butt, bumping the hard body outside the tent. The tent came crashing down under my weight, just as a groan assaulted my ears.
A groan that belonged to a contaminated.
The contaminated gurgled excitedly as it felt me at his feet and bent down, wildly snapping his rotting jaws at my exposed flesh. I pushed my weight against his legs, sending him toppling backwards.
He came crawling back relentlessly; in a feeding frenzy. Kicking him with my steel toed boot, I scrambled up from the ground. I continued kicking the rotting, fleshy mass, not stopping until I felt him lay still; dead once and for all.
Blood pounding in my ears, I ran to Mia. Kneeling next to her, I cut her bindings, pulling her to her feet in one motion. Her eyes were wide with terror, her tiny body shaking violently. Our attacker was no where to be seen, but I didn't have time to worry about that. Instead, we crawled through the tangled remains of the tent, fearful that other contaminated would find their way to the tent.
Outside was no better.
Contaminated flooded in through the woods with hurried shuffles, as they heard the commotion from the camp. Most of them were visibly rotting, with patches of hair falling out and gaping holes in their flesh, while some of them were recently turned-looking almost normal except for their wild eyes and foaming mouths. These ones were particularly dangerous, as they moved faster; like a cheetah hunting their prey. They were swift moving with reckless abandonment, and yet, striking with precise blows. I watched as one pounced on a renegade, tearing at his neck and flesh, as the man screamed and tried to push him off. Other renegades fought off the contaminated with bows and knifes; the whole of the camp seeming to be up and in motion.
Still holding Mia's wrist, I tugged her towards the woods, slashing the neck of the contaminated nearest us and kicking back another. I glanced back at the camp, ready to bolt, only to freeze at the sight Tyler.
He stood in the center of the clearing fighting the contaminated, armed with bow and arrow. With one shot, he killed a contaminated that was about to pounce on a renegade. As he lowered his bow, a contaminated came shambling towards him from behind. Tyler spun around and shot him in the forehead without pausing to aim. He bent down and pulled the arrow from the contaminated's head and re-loaded it.
As if sensing me, Tyler jerked his head up from his kill and met my eyes. His bow was raised; aimed for the killing blow. I held my breath. I had waited too long. He would kill us before we could run. He stared for a moment with a strange look on his face-could it be sadness?
With a blink the look was gone and Tyler shifted his attention back to the overrun camp.
Confusion muddled my mind, but I shook it away at the sound of an anguished yell. Another renegade was being torn apart by a contaminated. That could be Mia or Me. The thought pounded into my head. With that in mind, I turned my back on the camp and ran. Leaving behind any thoughts of Tyler or the other renegades.

We ran for what seemed like forever, afraid to stop; afraid of who or what was behind us. When the only sound was our crashing footsteps, I stopped with my hands on my knees, panting. I glanced at Mia. Her face was dirty and tear stained, her blonde hair a nest of tangles; she looked like she'd been through hell and back. I didn't want to think of what I must look like. I could feel the blood from where I had been slashed beginning to harden and my red hair hung loosely down my back, a sticky mess of sweat and dirt.
I pulled Mia into a tight embrace, smoothing her hair as I did. She looked at me with wide blue eyes matching mine, and whispered, "I thought you were dead."
"I know," I nodded. "But I'll always fight until the end."
Mia's eyes shifted to my arms where the knife wounds were. Her face twisted in concern, a look that reminded of our mom. "Those look really bad, V. We should get them cleaned before they get infected."
She grabbed my hand, tugging me towards the river.
I grinned. She was an adult in a child's body; always surprising me with words of wisdom and maturity in the worst of times.
As we reached the waters edge, she knelt down and ripped the sleeves from her shirt and began ringing them in the water. She placed the sopping fabric on my arms, dabbing at the cuts. I winched in pain as the water touched them, but I didn't complain. Instead, I watched as my baby sister, only thirteen, grew into my mom.
"You really are just like Mom," I said, giving voice to my thoughts.
"And you," she said with a smile, "are just like Dad. I don't think I'll ever be able to fight like the two of you."
"Maybe not, but you need to know the basics. I worry about you."
Mia didn't look up. "I know. Things just went so bad tonight. I don't want to leave the camp--ever again," she said softly.
"But you understand why we have to, right?" I asked her, images of my parents floating into my mind.
She didn't answer for a long time, focusing on cleaning my arm, before finally meeting my eyes, "Because of what happened to Mom and Dad, I know. We have to get somewhere safe."
I pulled my arm away from her, and sat down at the edge of the bank. Images of my parents that I had been suppressing, filling my mind; crushing me. The weight of the world crashing around me.