The First 30 Days (PUBLISHED)

Thirty-Four - Day 18

     Wide eyed with horror, I looked down to where the zombie had sunk it's teeth into my shoulder. Shaking it's head like a dog trying to kill something within it's jaws, the zombie reared back.

The strap of the backpack pulled forward, pinched tightly in it's teeth.

Chomping down hard on the padded nylon, the creature focused red eyes on my face, and growled. Hyperventilating, I shoved it back with all of the strength I could muster.

A hand clutching my dropped knife appeared from behind me and stabbed the zombie through an eye.

It instantly went limp. Kicking out from under it's dead weight frantically, I lurched to my feet. A set of hands spun me around and I was met with worried grey eyes. Muttering his most colorful expletives yet, Shawn pulled at the neck of my shirt to reveal the bite.

Dazed, I looked down.

An angry looking bruise was already growing where the zombie's teeth had given me a nasty pinch, but there was no blood. Incredulous, Shawn grabbed the backpack strap and looked at the rips bitten into the tough fabric.

"I can't believe it."

"Is she bit?" Carrie appeared next to Shawn and looked at what we were both staring at. She started to laugh. "You have got to be the only person alive to be saved from a zombie by a backpack."

I must have been going into shock, because I failed to see the humor in the situation. At least I still had enough sense to realize that my mouth was hanging open, and close it.

I wasn't the only one to fail to think it was funny. "We should get back to the others." He glared at Carrie over his shoulder as he turned me to go back.

The walk back took less than a minute, and I felt like I was trying to move under water. Everything seemed sluggish and a bit fuzzy around the edges. Maya had been watching for us and she knew that something wasn't right as soon as she opened the door. Her voice sounded like it was far away.

"What happened?"

"Bri had a really close call," Shawn pulled out a kitchen chair and sat me down in it.

"Is she ok?"

That was genuine worry I heard in her voice. The note brought a bit of reality back to me.

I had nearly been bitten by a zombie. The strap of my backpack was the only reason I was not now just waiting to become one of them. That was way to close.

"She's fine, just bruised." Carrie huffed as she shouldered her way through the door carrying two overloaded bags. Hers, and the duffel that I just now realized Shawn must have abandoned three houses over.

My arms felt chilled. I began rubbing my hands over them to try to warm up, but the heavy backpack that I still wore hindered my movements. Shrugging out of it, I fingered the bite mark.

The rest of our group filtered into the room and before long, everyone seemed to be talking at once. They wanted to know what had happened, and I couldn't really blame them. But the conversation went around me as if I was insulated from anything beyond the torn nylon still in my fingers.

A ragged stuffed monkey dropped into my lap.

Rex stood with his nose nearly touching my knee, brown eyes watching my face intently. Reaching out slowly, I rested my free hand on top of his neck.

When a blanket draped around my shoulders, I looked up. Releasing my grip on the strap, I grabbed Shawn's hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you."

I had decided to make a conscious effort to not be mad at Carrie.

We had all been through unspeakable horrors. We weren't all going to react the same way to every situation that arose. I knew that she hadn't been laughing about me nearly getting bitten. Not really. The stress of the situation was enough to make any of us have odd reactions.

After she had risked her own safety to look for the medicine that Devon needed, I knew that she was a good person.

But I was still having a hard time being in the same room with her.

This was my issue, and I was going to have to work it out, but it was going to take longer than one afternoon.

"I think that we should stay the night. We can reevaluate in the morning." Bill looked around to see if we all agreed.

No one objected, so I jumped up off of the couch. It was my turn to keep watch, giving me a plausible excuse for a hasty exit.

Roaming the house slowly, stopping to watch out of every window for a minute or two, took my mind off of the ache in my shoulder. When the fog of shock had finally cleared from my mind, I'd discovered that I must have banged my head when I hit the ground. There was a sore spot on my skull and a dull throbbing headache as proof.

Following behind me, he hadn't left me out of his sight since we got back, Rex carried his toy. Every time I stopped, he would drop it at my feet and sit. Petting his head lightly while looking out the window was proving therapeutic.

I was looking out of the window in the upstairs hallway when Shawn found me. He didn't say anything, just leaned up against the wall to wait with me. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say exactly, so I kept quiet.

The three of us made our way around the house like that for several hours. By the end of my shift I had realized something that, up until then, hadn't occurred to me.

The world may have effectively come to an end. Civilization had been thrust back hundreds of years, and appeared to be tottering on the brink of complete extinction. But, for the first time in a very long time, I was not alone.

Later on, when I was sufficiently exhausted that I thought I may be able to actually get some sleep, I dragged my feet back to the bedroom that I had used the night before. But when I cracked open the door, I found Fallon already asleep there. Closing the door, I tried the next room over.

Maya and Bill were there, and I shut the door quickly, feeling like I'd intruded. The couple seemed to never get any time to themselves, with so many of us all forced together like we were.

I knew the last bedroom was probably already occupied, and by whom. Carrie was on watch, and I'd passed Devon asleep on the couch in the living room. That only left one person who I hadn't already run across in my search for a place to sleep.

Hesitating in the hall, I thought about finding someplace else to curl up for the night, but that wasn't really what I wanted to do. I took a deep breath and lightly tapped my knuckles on the door frame.

"Yeah?" Shawn's voice was groggy.

"Um, I don't really want to sleep alone, so..." I trailed off. I was already feeling like some sort of idiot for even suggesting that we share a room. I was glad for the darkness to cover the burn I felt spreading across my cheeks.

Covers rustled in the room. "Come here."

Crossing to the bed before I could talk myself out of doing it, I climbed under the covers that he was holding up for me. His arms wound around me, pulling me back to rest against his front, and I felt his nose rest lightly against the back of my head.

After a tense few seconds, I felt myself relax and before long, was sleeping a blessedly dreamless sleep.