Dead Bite

chapter 21

We have little time to make it to Camp Haven before the blistering winter. The weather is already bad even though it is fall and George says it is a bad idea for me to be out in that kind of weather, but there is no way we can possibly make it to Camp Haven by then. I do not think we will make it to Camp Haven before the winter. I bet we will get trapped out here in the middle of winter. The wind has been howling and the trees have been groaning for weeks. Luckily, Rubble has been taking care of Chibi. Damien has been taking care of me as well. As well as me having to take care of him.
"Damien, how much longer until we find a place to take shelter?" We are in the middle of nowhere with nothing to shield us from the wind.
"I don't know sweetie," he sighs sadly. He pulls the blanket off of himself and wraps it around me. I take half of it off and wrap it around him.
"You are cold too," I coo. He always puts my well-being before his own. If I did not take care of him like I do, then he would surely freeze. After a while in the freezing wind, a few days, I spot a small house.
"Over there!" I point. The wind becomes stronger and more vicious as we come closer to the house. The hills were shifting into a flat plain where the hills can no longer shield us from the wind. The wind howls once we open the door. Everyone piles in and we close the door behind us. It is stiff and cold inside; however, it is much better than the feeling the wind biting at our ankles like hungry wolves.
"Let's get a fire going and get everyone warm. Once that is done we need to get everyone feeling better and make sure Kaylee is good." I roll my eyes at his last statement. I am perfectly fine and so is the baby. I mean, it has been a month since we left Saint Cody's Hospital. The baby has continued to grow and is now popping out more than they have before.
"I am fine," I mutter. Damien sighs and wraps his arms around me.
"We just want to make sure you are okay and that the baby is okay. I don't want anything to happen to you or that baby, okay?" I nod and watch as the others help collect some wood and start a fire. In no time, they have a fire blazing and everyone sitting around it. I sit on a chair in a corner. I hate not being able to do anything. I have to always stay on the sidelines, but that will soon be over and I'll be back to killing infected. As you might think, don't infected freeze during the winter? The answer is no. They become a lot slower, but they still move around. It is harder to see the crawlers because of all the snow, but we still get by without getting bit. Damien sits next to Elizabeth. She continues to turn around then tells Damien something. Damien finally comes over to me and sits next to me. I lean my head on his shoulders.
"Do you think we will make it to the camp before the baby is born?" I ask.
"I don't know, but hopefully we do. It would be much safer to have the baby at Camp Haven then it would be out here."
"I know it would. I can't wait to see Alice or Ace," I smile. He smiles back and ruffles my hair. When I look near the fire, I found Chibi cuddling up next to Rubble.
"Can we stay here forever?"
"We cannot. You will need proper medical attention; besides, it will get too cold here," he says kissing my head. We rest the rest of the night and the rest of the next day inside the warm cabin. It is a decent size for a place out in the middle of nowhere. Finally, the day comes where we have to leave. It is quite sad, seeing the warm cabin disappear from sight off in the distance. We bundle ourselves up against the never-relenting wind. I hope we get to the factory soon.

After about two months of walking, we find ourselves trapped in a sticky situation. A raging river lay in our path. There does not seem to be a way to get across and although other water sources have frozen over, the current of this river is strong. We look everywhere for a way around but find none. Zachariah comes up with a plan to knock over a tree and hopefully climb across with nothing bad happening. I doubt that will happen. We have a child and then we have me, as big as ever. The baby has become increasingly bigger. It has only been a few months, four or six, and we still are not close to the factory. I just want to get out of this weather. I want to stop walking. I want to be safe. The guys knock over a tree close to the water's edge. It lands with a splash.