Surviving

Chapter 32

I woke up slightly hazy, barely remembering what had happened the night before. Billy was curled up right beside me, his head resting on my pack. I started to get up, but his little hand reached out to mine. I had not realized he was awake.
  
"Don't get up. They said you had a bad cut," he said to me, tugging at my arm.
  
"He's right," Ingrid said from behind me. I turned to look at her. "I think one of your tendons might have been cut. You're gonna need help walking for a while."
   
I groaned, putting my head in my hands.
   
"How's Melody?" I asked. Ingrid's face became grim.
   
"She's alive, but infection has already set in. She may only have days. We need to find something to clean out her wounds, and soon." Ingrid sighed. "And we have to clean out your wound as well. If it gets infected then you could lose your foot."
   
My eyes widened, and Billy grabbed my hand.
   
"I don't want my sister to lose a foot," he said, his face full of concern.
  
"Don't worry. If I can help it she won't." Ingrid smiled and ruffled his hair.
   
I looked around at the sleeping people around me. No, not people. Children. Children hardened by their environment to the point where they appeared grown.
   
A few yards away Roland was on his side. He appeared to have fallen asleep watching Melody, who was a scary sight. She had become so pale that she would easily be mistaken as a ghost, and her the clothes around her stomach were dark with blood. My stomach churned at the sight of her. Parts of her clothes and bandages still appeared wet, as if blood was actively oozing from them.
   
Within an hour, everyone had awaken. A makeshift stretcher was made for Melody, allowing Travis and Roland to drag her. I could not put any weight on my foot at all, so somebody had to help me walk at all times. Ingrid volunteered to help me first.

We started making our journey, Travis and Roland with Melody in tow and Ingrid with an arm under one of my own. It was hard to hobble around,  but having help made it easier. The group's pace had slowed down a bit, but we still covered a substantial amount of ground. By midday, we had cleared the town. The group was mostly silent, with the most noise an occasional moan from Melody. She was still ghostly pale, and even though her bandages had been replaced they were dark with blood. 

By nightfall we had gone a ways into the woods and were beginning to look for an adequate place to settle. We looked at every clearing we came by, every stream. As we went higher up the mountain we saw fewer corpses, proving that it was safer. We trudged in silence, hoping we would come by a place to settle.

"Adira, look," Ingrid poked me and then pointed up. "Is that smoke?"
I looked at where she was pointing and saw a grayish cloud coming from the ground.

"I believe it is," I said. "Roland, there's smoke over there."
   
"Okay. What's your point?" he asked.

"That means there is somebody over there. And they might be able to help us," Ingrid replied.

"Well, if they see all of us they'll probably panic and flee," Travis said. "Or they might even shoot us."

"Then only a few of us will go," I said. "We can leave Hayden in charge and then the five of us will go. Then, only the injured are seen and we won't have to worry about the group being put in danger."

Everything was arranged, and Hayden assured us they would stay put while we were gone. We began going in the direction of the smoke, hoping for the best.

It took us about thirty minutes to reach the source of the smoke. There was a large campfire producing the grey plume in a small clearing.

"Hello?" Roland called out. "Hello? Is somebody there?" Something moved quickly around the fire, causing me to hold my breath.

"Who's there?" a raspy voice called out.

"We need help. My sister has been badly injured, and so has my friend, though hers is not quite as severe."

"If she's wounded so severely she can't be helped." A bearded man came out from behind the fire, holding a shotgun.

"Please, if you have something we could clean her wound with that's all we need." Roland looked absolutely desperate.

"And what caused this wound?" The man took a step closer. "Another person? A run in with a wild animal? Or, perhaps, was it one of them wretched zombies?"

"We don't know." Roland lowered his gaze. "She hasn't been well enough to say."

"Then it's hopeless." He lifted up the shotgun. "She's gonna die and is suffering." All I saw was a twitch of his finger, which was accompanied by a deafening BANG!

"NO!" Roland yelled, collapsing to his knees. He grabbed Melody's limp hand, watching as blood poured from a small hole in her forehead. My blood turned to ice as the dread swept over me, tears pooling in my eyes.

"I was doing her a favor. I did all of y'all a favor." He sat the gun down. "Now leave before I have to get rid of the rest of y'all."