Radiation Point

Forty Eight

The ground seemed to fly up to meet me, and I rolled onto my shoulder just in time to prevent my face from flattening against the dirt.
Pain shot up my shoulder at the impact, but that wasn't what made me freeze. Bodies pushed on either side of me, hungry, groaning bodies.
Fingers trailed against the bare skin of my arm and I swatted them away, nausea flooding me. The smell of rotting flesh was overwhelming, along with the sensation of being pressed on from every side.
But they didn't attack. They seemed to be waiting. I followed their gaze up to the tree where the undead who had dodged stood.
He flashed me a triumphant smile before nodding to his men. With that single action of his I knew it was over. He had loosed the flood gates.
Everyone seemed to move at once and I felt the absence of my knife acutely. I was going to die. I felt like that little girl who helplessly watched her parents die. The little girl who wasn't prepared for the contamination and the death it would bring.
Tears flooded my eyes in the seconds before my death. My wound throbbed in my arm to the rush of blood in my body.
Thump thump. Thump thump.
As hungry undead converged upon me, nails ready to rip and teeth ready to tear, a single word was torn from my throat.
"Stop."
For a moment everything stood still.
The undead tilted their head like dogs hearing their master speak. They seemed confused, a hissing sound escaping their throats.
The sound of stomping broke their confusion, as they snapped their heads up to look at the leader.
He growled menacingly and bared his teeth at the undead.
He had given an order. One that he expected obeyed.
Still I clutched onto my only hope. That I had asked them to stop and they had.
"Stop," I said again, more firmly this time. I tried to control my shaking body and the flood of adrenaline coursing through me. "Back up."
If they looked confused before, they looked absolutely confounded now. They backed up as if their feet had minds of their owns. With wild eyes they stared down at their feet, before shooting me angry glances.
A growl so loud is sounded like the roar of a predatory cat sounded from behind me. The leader had dropped down from the tree with a look of murder in his eyes. He clutched his spear and strode towards me, strength pouring from every orifice.
"Stop," I said, meeting his eyes and praying he would listen. The others had stopped before, why not him?
He stopped.
Then his lips twisted and a nasty dry cackle escaped his lips. He was laughing. He lunged at me, with the spry and quickness to match his roar.
I rolled out of the way, my heart pounding, preparing for a fight. But as I glanced around, a new sight met me. One that I hadn't expected.
The surrounding undead had turned on the spear holder, pinning him down with the shear number of them-ripping and tearing into his rotting flesh.
He didn't scream.
He only stared at me with accusing eyes.
This should be you, he seemed to say. Or perhaps he was telling me it still would be.
But it didn't matter. I needed to move while they were preoccupied. I pulled myself up, ignoring the pain in my shoulder and arm. I glanced wildly around for my knife, looking for the shining metal in the mess of leaves under the tree.
Finally, I spotted it. I snatched it up and turned to face the undead, who were rising from their kill and moving towards me with slow, methodical steps.
Hatred filled their eyes, anger coursing through them.
"Stop," I whispered, trying the word out again.
They stopped, but their angry eyes still followed me.
"Leave here and don't ever come back," I said shakily.
They frowned and a few even growled at me, fingers tightening into a ball.
But they turned and walked away from the camp, disappearing into the forest beyond it.
Then my legs gave way and I collapsed on the ground beneath me, emotions I'd smothered coming flooding out. I had nearly died. I should have died, I thought as I glanced at the body of the undead leader besides me.
Why had they listened to me?
A thought warmed me, like the warmth of arms in a hug. It was the miracle that my mom promised for me. Even in her death her wishes of my safety were kept.
"Thank you, Mama," I whispered into the trees, warm tears falling down my cheeks.
The wind in the trees was the only answer, but I smiled, tears still blurring my eyes. My mom had promised a miracle and I had gotten one. It was enough.
I turned with a lighter heart back to the camp. Contaminated still roamed the grounds. I had to find Tyler and Ellen. My sister was still contaminated. All of the things that were heavy on my heart were still there, but I was alive and that was enough to lighten my step, if only a little.