Heart of Fire

Lilith was on the run, those things were drawing ever near. She was getting tired, barely able to breathe, running with no escape. Running is all she could do now but she was slowing, the gap between them growing ever smaller and smaller. The monsters closing in, she could hear them now the pounding of their foot steps, the moaning breathes behind her becoming louder. She had been so close to getting away when an aberrant Zombie showed up reinvigorating those that gave chase. Lilith knew her time was short now, her heart hammering in her chest, her lungs on fire, parched and weak from malnutrition since food and clean water was scarce in this area. Its been almost 100 years since the dead mutated, new aberrants popping up every where stronger and faster. Lilith was the second generation in this mess. The zombies would have died out had it not been for the nukes, lets give the walking dead radiation that's smart. It wound up mutating them, making them stronger, faster, smarter and able to heal. It wasn't right how it started, a failed vaccine led to the walking dead then we nuked the living dead which led to humanity dying out and being endangered. Lost in thought Lilith tripped on the cracked road and flew across the pavement losing what little lead she had. Trying to get up and run did not help her, it was too late they were upon her. She screamed in agony as they tore the flesh from her body in a ravenous frenzy. She felt every bite, every piece of herself being torn free. The boiling hot blood spraying, burning what little flesh it touched, splattering against the asphalt. Small rocks pricking into the wounds, she was in agonizing pain until it all went dark.

Small amounts of pain seeped through her consciousness. Lilith had to be dead right, those things had killed her. They had stripped the flesh from off her bones leaving nothing behind. If she was dead then she had to be in hell, heaven wouldn't hurt like this, she thought fading in and out of pain induced delirium and wakefulness. She didn't know what was going on, how she was even alive right now. She should be dead the Zombies cleaned her bones, but she was alive and healing ever so slowly. Days went by as bit by bit her body slowly healed bringing less pain but not by much, it was still torture as the sheer amount of damage done was slowly being erased. She had no clue how long its been since the attack or what happened to her, but her eyes finally healed, a shame her eye lids were still missing making her stare fully at the sun for days. A few days later her hearing returned, she could hear the birds chirping, the distant moaning of the dead, and an ever so slow heart beat that stuttered and failed often with no sign of giving up. The pain no longer brought her peacefully unaware, she didn't sleep and couldn't move, she lay there in agony aware but unmoving. At one point she heard voices and foot steps nearby but they passed quickly and never stopped.

A few more agonizing months passed before her body was fully healed from the trauma. Starting slow she stretched her muscles to help the blood flow, next she slowly sat up straining to do so. Once confident she moved her legs under her in an attempt to stand, she failed the first few times before succeeding. She stood on weak and shaky legs, naked to the world she wrapped her arms around her chest. Looking around it seemed like it had been at least 2 years since she was attacked. The road all but covered in ivy and grass barely showing and of the cobbles that has been left, she took a slow step forward her legs shaking, threating to give. Her first few steps weak and slow she soon got used to moving again after so long being stationary. Her first goal now would be to find clothing, as she took her first few steps her throat started to burn, a new craving over came her and her vision darkened, a foreign instinct taking over. Her vision going red she sniffed the air searching for what would bring her the relief she craved. Lilith caught the scent of something nearby, heading in that direction at a slow prowl to not alert her prey. going down a few blocks and over rubble she drew ever closer to her meal. Passing by the undead as they would not bring her what she craved.

Lilith rounded the corner a large buck stood before her, unaware of its doom standing so close. Her mind slowed and sounds became louder the pumping of the bucks heart, the slight breeze from the animals heavy breathing. She saw that the animal was on its own making this easy, her hunger ever growing felt like it was screaming for the kill, she melted into the shadows left by the early dusk light. Circling around the beast to the best vantage point she could find, she let out a terrifying scream unlike anything on earth, causing anything nearby to run in fear and birds taking to the sky in fright. The large buck froze from the sound being so close, giving her the perfect opportunity. Lilith rushed towards the animal as soon as her scream ended, it had taken less than 2 steps away when she jumped onto its back, it bucked trying to throw her off but she held fast not letting go. Throwing all her strength forward she knocked the beast to the ground throwing up a large cloud of dirt and debris. Struggling with him a bit longer she bit down hard right into the artery to give a quick and painless death. Sweet, hot blood started pouring from the bite and down her face as she drank from the animal quenching her thirst if only for now.

Coming back from the haze took effort for Lilith but it relented eventually, retreating to the recesses of her mind giving her back control. Now it was just her and the dead deer she had just drained of blood, shocked at what she had done she sank to her knees, knowing she needed to do something, but she couldn't stop thinking about how the thirst took over her mind allowing her to almost instantly kill a large animal naked and with no weapons. That had never happened before, she used to be human for the gods sakes, she should not currently have her human mind after the attack yet she did, she should also not have revived after the zombies fully ate her flesh, and now something took over her body and mind causing her to drain an entire fully grown buck in a matter of seconds. Not to mention her small weak body over powered it, taking it to the ground and her teeth being able to tear through hardened muscle and flesh that would have decimated an old world car. she slowly turned to look at the animal she killed and saw the wound, there were only 2 small holes in the flesh. She quickly started touching her teeth and gums, but they seemed human nothing had really changed from before. Pushing the strangeness aside she needed to preserve the rest of the deer.

She started looking for a tool to help her skin and butcher the buck to no avail she only found jagged rocks. She crudely fashioned a semi-sharp knife from one and set to work removing the hide, it took time and she nicked it quite a few times, cutting herself as well but she managed to get it off relatively well. Starting a fire proved harder than skinning the deer as she had no proper tools and after a few burns and cuts that healed in seconds she had a fire. Hanging the skin above on a thick stick to dry, she then started working on the meat getting it off the bones to cook and preserve as well. Once the bones were clear she used her sharp rock to fashion crudely made tools and weapons out of the bones. Making a knife and spear for weapons as well as using a larger flat rock to make an axe she had her basic tool set. She cleaned and dried the intestines to create string to sew the hide into a crude dress. After a few days the animal hide and string were fully dry and usable, making a rough dress and coverings for her feet as well as using the left overs to make a sack, she set out to survive in this harsh world not knowing what she was any longer, however since there were no aberrant Zombies in sight and the weaker zombies steered clear so she didn't worry too much.