Sightless

God Save Us All

I was hoping that I'd miss, but of course I didn't. I fell to my knees as her body hit the ground. I couldn't believe what I'd done. Grief racked my body and I sat there for a while. Evan came over and cradle me, letting me cry into his shoulder. Eventually, I took a deep breath and held back my sobs. I stood up and plodded over to Norah's body; gently picking her up. Red had bloomed on her sky-blue dress, staining it. Her childlike face had a relaxed expression. She hadn't suffered; a small comfort in this world of grief and pain.

I held her as Evan and Kyle dug a small grave for her body. I hadn't realized just how soon my small shovel was going to be needed. Reina approached me, carrying one of our few spare blankets. She laid it flat out on the ground. I carefully laid my sister on the blanket. I took the red flower she had given me and placed it in her hair. I folded her hands together on her chest. I took a final look at my little sister; she looked so peaceful, yet happy, even in death. I helped Reina wrap her body in the blanket and carried her over to Kyle and Evan, who were just finishing the hole. I gave her to Evan and he tenderly laid her in the child-sized grave.

The guys filled up the hole, packing in the dirt. I wandered around, picking a bouquet of colorful flowers. I stumbled across a large stone that was a rusty red hue. I called Ashton over and he helped me carry it over to the grave. We placed it where the headstone would be, and arranged the bouquet in front of it.

We stood around the small grave in silence. I took a breath and spoke. "Norah, you were one of a kind; the best sister anyone could ask for. I love you with all my heart, and I will never forget you. I have so many good memories of you; all the good times we had. I remember when you lost your first tooth." I laughed briefly. "That was only last week, but it seems like years. You were an angel, and now you've joined the angels. I make you a promise; a promise that I will keep, or die trying. I will make things better. It seems impossible, but with help, we will find a cure. I don't care how long it takes; I will keep trying, for you. I love you, Norah."

There was so much more that I wanted to say, but I didn't trust my voice anymore. Already it was wavering, threatening to break at any second. Reina stepped forward. "Norah," she began, "I didn't know you for very long, but you were a sweet kid. You were always cheerful and you simply being there raised out spirits in this dark time. I wish you could have lived to see the end of this, to grow up, to live, but that's not the way things turned out. That isn't fair but that's how the world works. I'm sorry you had to learn that at such a young age. Nobody deserves that." She stepped backwards, somewhat sheepishly. "Thank you." I said in a choked whisper. I looked around at the rest of the group. "Thank you for your help." I said a little louder. I sighed and walked away. I dried my eyes "We should set up camp; it's going to be dark soon." I called over my shoulder. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~We pitched our tents a short distance from the road. We ate dinner and went to bed. I lay there for what felt like hours, crying silently until I fell asleep. I was awoken some time later by screaming and shouting. I was confused for a few seconds; until the sound of insane giggles reached my ears. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and grabbed my gun, stuffing some extra bullets in my pocket. I unzipped the tent flap and poked my head out. There were sightless running around the camp, chasing my team members. I couldn't say for sure but I figured that there were about five or more of the deranged monsters. I hesitated to use my gun, as I didn't want to hit any of my friends.

One of them came running right for me. My reflexes moved faster than I thought was possible, shooting the sightless at point blank range. It reeled backwards into a second sightless, knocking it over. Kyle, or who I assumed was Kyle, ran over and bashed it in the head until is stopped moving.