Aftermath

6

   I needed to find some place to hide Em while I took a look around. There was an old shop to our right and I decided that I would check it and then have her hide in there if it was safe. I took my knife from my bag and then took Em's hand in my free one. We were careful stepping through the broken door. Shattered glass was everywhere.

It seemed pretty vacant. There was old food packages and wrappers scattered amongst the dust and glass on the floor. The main room was easy to check so I had Em squat down in the corner while I checked the back area. There was little hallway with a door on the left to get behind the counter, a door on the right that I'm assuming used to be a bathroom. At the end of the hall was a door that lead outside.

Just as I walked past the bathroom the back door was knocked in with such force it flew forward and knocked me off my feet. My head was spinning from the impact and I couldn't get my eyes to focus on anything. I managed to push the door off of me enough to crawl away from whatever had knocked the door in.

I could see the shape of something  hobbling towards me and from the way it walked and the sounds it made I knew exactly what it was. I had only ever seen a Changed from far away and the fact that I couldn't really see it when it was only a few feet away scared the hell out of me.

I tried to getting away as fast as I could, but I could feel that I had ripped my stitches open when I fell and I couldn't get up. The feeling of warm, sticky blood soaking my shirt. Even if I could have somehow manage to get up my ankle didn't feel right. It moved its head around like it was looking for something and then I realized it probably smelled the blood. My blood.

I was terrified of dying at the hands of this monster, but it was unlikely that I would be able to get away. What scared me was the sound of small whimpers that I could hear from where Em hid. My death was something that I could come to terms with, but I couldn't just leave Em alone. I wouldn't.

The Changed dropped down on all fours next to me. My vision began to clear and I saw it was particularly interested in the bloody stain that was growing on my side. I took a chance and felt around for my knife that I had dropped, but I couldn't find it. Instead my hand grazed over a rather sharp piece of glass making me hiss as it cut into my flesh. The changed spun its decaying head towards me and made and awful noise before lunging at my face with it's nasty, yellow teeth bared at me. In a second I reacted and did the only thing I could think of. I wrapped my fingers around the broken glass and stabbed the monster in the neck.

It's black blood sprayed across my face, but I didn't feel disgust. The only thing I felt was relief when it collapsed next to me. My hand and my side stung and I could feel the adrenalin wearing off. I couldn't get up and it was going to be dark in a few hours which meant more Changed would be coming out. Where there was one there was at least a dozen more hiding in the shadows.

"Em," I called knowing she was still hiding in the corner. I heard the crunch of debris under small feet before she came into view. Her cheeks were stained from crying and it broke my heart because of what I was going to have her do.

"Elsa." She whimpered looking at the dead creature and then back at me.

"It's okay, Em. It's dead now. It can't hurt you." I told her although it wasn't exactly true. I needed to cut off it's head, but I couldn't do that with Em here.

"It hurt you?" She asked pointing to my bleeding hand.

"It's okay. It doesn't hurt." I lied. "Em, I need you to do something for me."

"What?" She asked whipping away the last of her tears.

"Do you remember how we got here? Form Nosh's." I asked and she nodded. "Good. I need you to go back to him. As fast as you can."

"What about you?" She asked worried. And I felt my heart break again.

"I can't go with you, Sweetheart." I told her. I pulled myself up enough that I could lean against the old shelves. It was then that I saw where my knife was. "I need you to be a brave girl for me. Take my knife and my bag and go back to Harry. Tell him he has to protect you now."

"Why can't you protect me?" She sobbed.

"I'm hurt. I can't walk. I can't leave, Em. Please do this for me?" I asked her. I couldn't believe it had come to this; That I had to send this little girl out into the cruel world all alone. I thanked whatever higher power there was that we had met Harry and he had seemed to take a liking to Em. Probably because he too thought it was unfair that something so small and innocent had to be in this world.

"I promise, but I don't want to leave."

"It's for the best. I love you Em. Please be careful." I told her. She nodded and grabbed my bag and stuffed the knife inside.

"I love you too, Elsa." She told me before she ran off.

Once she was gone I took another piece of glass and while still sitting propped up against the shelving I detached the monster's head from its body to keep it from reviving. And then I cried. I cried because everything hurt. I cried because I was alone again. I cried because it was unfair that we had to live in a world like this because someone made a huge mistake and we all had to pay the price. But most importantly I cried because I had lost the one person that  I truly loved more than anything and I probably wouldn't know what happened to her.

After all the tears I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Hours had passed and I had yet to see another changed. It was getting darker and I knew that if I closed my eyes I probably wouldn't open them again. My shirt was soaked and my hand cut deep. Whether I died from blood loss or by a changed I wasn't going to make it through the night. Just as I closed my eyes for the last time I saw a figure in my peripheral vision and I was thankful that I wouldn't be able to feel the pain of the monsters attack.