Radiation Point

Nineteen

Strong hands grabbed me by my shoulders, sending my heart fluttering wildly in my chest. The man looked almost normal-no dead, rotting skin-but he had a desperate look in his eyes. He foamed at mouth at the sight of me and in a desperate lunge, gnashed his teeth dangerously close to my skin.
As he pulled me to the ground, I finally snapped into action, kicking him backwards with the heel of my boot. He clawed desperately at my leg and bit what he could reach-the toe of my boot. With an angry crack, I kicked him hard in the head, sending him spiraling backwards.
Then before he could steady himself, I twisted myself up and with a giant lunge stabbed him directly in his eye. His body went slack and he fell backward to the forest floor with a thud.
I stood gasping over his body, still shaking from the experience. There was saliva on my boot from where he had tried to bite me. Stupid contaminated, I thought ruefully as I rubbed my boot back and forth in the dirt, hoping to get some of the saliva off.
"Huh. Looks like hussy can fight."
It was Bubba's voice that brought me to attention. I hadn't realized the group had been watching, but Tyler and his men stood a few feet from me. Tyler lowered his bow, with a strange expression on his face.

"We came as soon as we heard the commotion," Tyler said. "But it looks like you had it under control back here."

I nodded, "Well, I'm not good at a lot, but you should know I'm good at fighting these guys."
Tyler started to reply, but Jackson surprised me by interrupting him.
"Were you bit?"
His eyes held the same intensity they had before when he saw a threat. I glanced down and saw he was gripping his knife tightly, in ready position to attack.
I blinked in surprise and stepped back.
"What? No. He just got my boot."
I stuck my foot out and showed him my steel toed boots. Jackson didn't back down, instead he skewered me with his hard gaze.
"We can't take any chances. We need to check her for bite marks."
I found myself backing farther away from Jackson. My heart was suddenly aflutter again. "I wasn't bit, look." I slowly turned in a slow circle in front of the men.
Jackson let out a long breath and seemed to deflate before me. In an instant, he went back from being a blood thirsty warrior to a normal guy. He gave me an apologetic smile then, "Just had to be sure. You understand."
Tyler spoke up then, "Let's get moving guys. We've got a ways to go still."
Jackson and Bubba nodded and turned to follow Tyler again.
But I didn't follow. I stood planted in my spot and stared at Jackson. I knew I was tempting fate, but I found myself pushing the issue that he had started.
"But I don't understand. Even if I was bit, I wouldn't turn unless I was exposed to the radiation. Right?" It was the question that I needed an answer to from the core of my being. It was the question that I had been too afraid to ask for far too long.
Jackson froze, his shoulders stiff.
"Why you asking?"
I held my breath. I knew it had been foolish, but it was something that I needed answered.
"Because that's what we've been told. That it's only the radiation poisoning that causes people to turn. And if that's the case, as soon as we can get out of this contaminated zone, we may have a chance of beating this."
Tyler and Jackson shared a look, but it was Tyler who spoke.
"Nessa, you don't really believe that, do you?" He sounded gentle, more gentle than he had been since I'd met him.
"Yeah. No." I stopped a moment, collecting my thoughts. Then finally, "I don't know what to believe anymore," I said softly, not meeting his eyes.
"If that were the case, than why are there always more?"
It was Jackson. He didn't sound gentle like Tyler had, only logical.
"See, I been thinking. If it was just the radiation causing it, then only the people who were affected by the radiation would turn. Then when we killed them, that would be it-one less contaminated. But haven't you noticed, there are always more? They keep coming!"
His words made surprising sense.
"You're right. But are you sure people are turning because of their bite? What if it's their blood? Or what if we're all just ticking time bombs?"
The words seemed to spill out on their own accord. The questions that had haunted me since my mom's death had taken on a mind of their own.
Bubba shifted his weight, looking bored.
"We ain't got time for all these questions. This ain't 'Dr. Bill' or whatever that crap is. Let's get moving."
Tyler nodded, "Bubba's right. We gotta get a move on."
"Wait," I cried, the thumping sap still in my ears.
They turned to look at me in surprise. My voice had squeaked in terror and urgency.
"Do you hear something?"
All three men froze, only their eyes searching the forest for sound or movement.
It was Bubba who broke the silence.
"Hussy, the only thing I hear is you holding us up. I got camp to make."
So it was me then. I was going crazy.
Judging by the way Tyler and his men were watching me, they'd have to agree. Swallowing my fear, I squared my shoulders.
"Okay, you're right," I said in a whisper.
And Bubba had been right-as much as it pained me to say. We really didn't have time to talk. The sun was setting and the light was slowly fading.

Veering off the path, we stopped at a mostly empty clearing. Bubba and Tyler began building the tents, while Jackson and I looked for firewood.
The two of us didn't talk for a long time. We simply kept piling up wood, the clack of branches hitting the pile the only sound. That's why it came as a surprise when Jackson stopped abruptly and turned to me.
"Yes."
I raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Yes, I've seen someone who's been bit turn. That's why we always put them down if they've been bit."
His words stunned me and I almost dropped the stack of wood I was carrying. That was the answer I had been dreading. My biggest fear. As if in response to my fear, the wound on my arm began throbbing in rhythm to the blood in my head.
"Do they always turn?"
He met my long gaze.
"Always," he said, without hesitation.