The Awakening

Chapter 7 - Edited

*Edited on Sept. 20, 2017 (First published on July 7, 2015)

I could tell everyone was worried, their eyes constantly moving around cautiously as they looked for anything that seemed not to belong. Daniel was almost constantly by my side now as I walked near the back of the group. He seemed concerned that I would somehow disappear if he took his eyes off me. He was probably right. It had become obvious enough to all of us that although they only came in small groups so far, the undead seemed to be trying to get to me for some reason.

Did the inhuman forces feel I had betrayed them by escaping my cell? Or perhaps they wanted to lock me back up inside that room until the loneliness broke me. Maybe there was some other reason for them to chase after me so persistently. All I knew was that the people around me were in far more danger than usual for as long as I was with them.

It didn't help that I was unable to so much as help them fight back, lacking any kind of defensive knowledge. I didn't even know how to use a gun or a simple knife and nobody here seemed willing to teach me, not guns and not anything else. Especially now with how Isaac glared at anyone I got close to once the attacks had started, Daniel the only one who ignored the cold gaze and stayed close.

I was beginning to feel helpless, a burden they couldn't afford to have, but too weak to dare try leaving on my own. What would I do if I got separated? I couldn't even defend myself. I wonder if I could ask...

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It was hard learning from someone who never spoke but at least Daniel had been willing to try. Every time we stopped for a break, every time we made camp for the night, he would try teaching me whatever he could. And slowly, I was starting to learn, even if it was only hand to hand defenses. I could now just barely manage to break out of a few different holds he had used on me.

We had agreed, him with just a simple nod, that those were the most important to learn right now. He seemed to be trying to teach me how to block a few basic attacks now, but I just didn't seem able to catch on fast enough. Was it because of what I was, that my body was slower than the living around me? Or was it that I was lacking something I needed?

Maybe I needed more than just water to sustain me if I wanted to be as strong, as fast as the living I was surrounded by?

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Everyone had looked at me oddly when I joined them at the campfire that night, asking for something more than just water. I had never asked for more than water, so I am sure they were shocked at the change. I myself was unsure if I would even be able to eat anything I tried, never hearing about others like me needing to eat, so had requested just the smallest amount of food to try.

Feeling their eyes on me, I lifted a bite of the stew up and sniffed at it. I could only just barely smell a hint of some kind of root vegetable and spices of some kind. Slowly opening my mouth, I closed my eyes and took the bite of food from the spoon. I could barely taste anything, my taste buds not so shockingly dull. In fact, it was more a shock that I could taste anything at all, but I was not about to complain at being able to enjoy even this much of the living world I was no longer quite a part of.

At least I wasn't repulsed by the flavor of human food, rolling the liquid over my tongue as I tried to taste what I could of it. I felt no urge to spit it out, no rebelling of my body at the attempt to eat food. But I also felt no burning desire to eat more. Perhaps I would just finish the small amount in the bowl I was given and see if it had any effect on me, positive or negative. At that point, I could decide if it was worth trying to eat a little bit every now and then.

If I did come to eat with them, I would have to start doing more to help them gather food from the forest than just pointing out the plants that my mind told me were safe to eat. I would have to start actively searching them out and gathering from them. After all, the rule was if you wanted to eat, you helped gather what you ate. I would help gather tomorrow since I ate today, whether I ate again or not, even if I would be the slowest person to collect anything.

I would just have to make sure to keep aware of things so I didn't slow them down too much.