Fallout

66 Days Since Outbreak, 4:00 P.M.

I'm not quite sure how my eyes manage to find my mother in the ocean of campers and rippers, who clash violently together like waves agitated by a storm. I barely recognize her beyond the muck and gore that coats her entire body. She awkwardly clutches a small knife in her trembling hands, as if it is a foreign object to her. Normally when holding equipment such as this, it is to help people, not to kill them. But then again, these aren't people.

My mother's mind has always been stronger than her body. Her eyes scan the scene in front of her, searching for a solution. I recognized this look; It is the one I saw on her face in the hospital when she saved that man.

Next to her, Beth, a pregnant woman in our camp, trips and falls to the ground. Mom reaches for her to help her up. She is distracted- just enough so as not to notice the ripper that sneaks up behind her, like a serpent advancing on its prey.

***

Everyday after school, granting our teachers showed us mercy in the amount of homework they gave, Isaac and I would play basketball together in front of my house. This one particular day in December, though it was only about 5:00 at night, it was unusually dark.

"Two seconds left on the timer, he goes for the three pointer to win the game! He shoots!" Isaac mimicked the voice of a commentator before launching the basketball, but it bounced off the rim and rolled down the driveway and onto the street.

"That's on you, Faith." Isaac laughed.

"Oh, nice try! You were the last to touch the ball, now you gotta go get it," I said matter-of-factly, crossing my arms over my chest.

Isaac threw his head back dramatically and groaned. "Ugh, fiiiine."

I held back a snicker as he sauntered off begrudgingly towards the road. I watched him cross the street to the far curb and scoop up the ball into his arms.

We heard the car before we saw it; It would have been hard to miss the deafening screech of speeding tires against the payment. I looked at my best friend who was frozen in place, his terrified expression illuminated by the headlights of the car that barreled towards him.

It was as if time slowed down. I wasn't thinking about the consequences or about my own life. My eyes locked on Isaac and my legs didn't stop moving until he was in my arms and we were flying through the air.

I remember hearing the sickening crack of bone and feeling something warm and wet seep through my hair. I remember the horrible pain that followed. I also vaguely remember the the eternal drive to the hospital, during which Dad drove like an absolute manic and Mom could barely speak through her hyperventilation. I guess I was in pretty bad shape. Unfortunately, I remained conscious the whole time. Isaac rode with us to the hospital, but he didn't speak a word on the way there. He just stared intently out of the window. I could see his lip trembling slightly, and every so often I'd catch him quickly wiping away a tear.

I spent some time in the hospital with a broken leg from the impact of the car and a minor concussion from hitting the pavement so hard. I had to get a lot of stitches, too. According to Dad, it took a couple of hours to remove all of the gravel from underneath my skin. Thankfully, I was unconscious for that, at least.

Isaac was unharmed, though immensely guilty; so much so that he refused to look my in the eye and offered to not be my friend anymore if that was what I wanted. I responded by laughing in his face and pulling him in for a tearful hug (which sort of hurt but I really didn't care). He asked to be the first to sign my purple cast.

Later on I heard the doctors talking with my parents. The man that had almost killed Isaac and had broken my leg was being treated in the same hospital for minor head injuries, but, once fully recovered, he would be arrested for driving with a BAC of .29.

After that, both Isaac's parents and mine wouldn't allow us to play outside after dark, which kinda sucked, but I knew I couldn't be angry. Secretly, I was too scared to, anyway. Since then I have forgotten most of the details from that night, but there is one memory- one feeling- that has stayed with me: the feeling of everything slowing down.

It is exactly what happens now as I see the ripper grab at Mom.

***

Isaacs's vice-like grip on my arm isn't enough to stop me from breaking into a sprint towards the mob. I run so fast, I swear to God my feet don't touch the ground. Just like they did with Isaac, my eyes zero on my mother trying to break the ripper's grasp, and all of the discord that surrounds me disappears. Adrenaline pulses through my veins as I tackle the ripper.

The force of the collision throws me off balance and I crash to the ground with the creature on top of me. I can barely hear my mother screaming my name over the ripper's snarling. I think Mom is trying to push it off of me, but it's too heavy; it's practically crushing me. Its rotten teeth gnash together just centimeters away from my face. I notice up close how its skin is in a state of decadence, and its eyes have a gray film over them. I can't imagine that this thing was once a human. I feel its hot breath on my neck and its saliva dripping down my cheek.

I grit my teeth through the burning in my arms as they strain to keep the ripper from getting close enough to bite me. My lungs struggle to get air as its weight restrains my breathing. I stare unwavering into its empty, emotionless eyes until I'm not anymore.

What I do see is its head rolling through the grass next to me and Isaac standing above me. The sunlight glints off his blade which drips with crimson. The way the sun is on his back creates a silhouette, outlining his broad shoulders, lean torso and muscular arms; he looks like a guardian angel. He reached out his hand towards me, and I take it gratefully.

I'm barely on my feet again when my mom crushes me in a hug. It felt too nice for me to push her away. I am beginning to wonder why I ever did.
Isaac helps Beth up and gestures to to a shed in the clearing away from the chaos. Isaac and I support Beth, and my mom flanks us we quickly make our way to safety.

Rounds are fired off more frequently behind us, signaling that the situation is escalating. Isaac and I glance quickly at each other; we don't need words to communicate what we need to do. I begin to follow him out of the shed and back the same way we came, but Mom shouts after us.

"Oh, no. You're both staying right here, you can go back into that mess when I'm dead."

"Mom, all due respect, but I wouldn't jinx it after what just happened." That shut her up. "I'm not gonna stand by and watch these people die. People who, mind you, plucked our sorry asses out of a ripper-infested town and took us in and probably saved our lives," I say, gesturing to Isaac and myself. "They could have left us for dead, but they didn't. And I'm not about to do that, either. Not if I can help it."

"You need to stop being a hero all of the time, Faith. It's gonna get you killed."

"I'm not being a hero; I'm being a friend."

"Damn it, Faith!" My mom's face flushes like it always does when we get into arguments. "I'm not losing you again. If you want to be stubborn, then so be it. I'm coming with you."

I shake my head. "Beth needs your help." Isaac and I exchange a quick glance, he knows exactly what I'm thinking.

Looking back at my mom, her eyes flash with confusion and then with realization."Don't you even thi-"

Knowing Mom is too weighed down with supporting Beth to run after us, Isaac and I push through the shed door and lock it behind us quickly. The sound of her fists landing blows against the door twists guilt into me.

"Sorry!" I shout. Her response is muffled by the thick wooden planks between us, but it's not difficult to guess its nature.

I turn to face Isaac. "You think she'll ever forgive us for that?"

He purses his lips, "I seriously doubt it."

"But she'll be safe in there, right?"

"Safer than she would be out here."

"Then I don't care."

****