DEAD AND LIVING

A BITE

    Today is the final day of our getaway. We had planned to spend quality time with ourselves, the seven of us, and we decided to go camping in the woods for a week. We're all excited to go back to normality and prepare for college. Dave, my twin brother, had suggested that we did not go with our phone and we had all agreed to it but our parents weren't fine with the idea, "what if there's an emergency?" Mother had queried. After series of arguments, we took them with us but kept them in the van. We were excited to just be with ourselves and nature and have the best week of our lives.

     "I seriously cannot believe that I have spent an entire week without my phone." said Kerla, Dave's girlfriend

     "Neither can I." was Dora's reply. Dora and I have been best friends ever since I can remember but I have noticed that she has been more distant towards me lately, preferring the company of Kerla to mine.

     "Can someone please remind me why we camped a mile from the van?, My back is killing me." Dave says, he's sweat rolling down his face. He had offered to carry Kerla's bag, and she happily let go of the burden.  He is always the chivalrous knight in shining amour.

   Its around the middle of summer,today is a sunday and it is indeed a very sunny afternoon, it feels like the sun is at its hottest. Despite the shade from the trees all around us, I can still feel the intensity of the sun's heat on my body. We had walked for about ten minutes now and we were nearing the spot where Andre's Van is parked.

   "Sorry babe, we're here already."

   "Sorry babe, we're here already." Jim mimicked kerla's reply in a sing song voice

   "Shut up,bro." Dave gave Jim a jab in the side. Jim has been our neighbour ever since we were kids, his parents would drop him off with us whenever the had to go away for a while. He and Dave are close pals and he's like a brother to me.

" Guys, it looks like we have company." Andre pointed out

       Our van was parked in a clearing close to the road but a few meters away, there is another car, it looks like it had been in a car wreck or it had been atacked by an angry mob. It's front window has a large spider web crack, like it had been hit by a bat, its other windows were broken and its side mirrors were missing. It has scratches and blood stains all over it. The car owner's must have been in serious trouble for their car to be in such a condition. The car engine was also smoking so it must have just got here. We run towards the smoking car to check if there's anyone in it, they must need assistance.

      "Who's there?, Help!" There was no one in the car but not too far away were two girls, they looked our age or slightly younger, both wearing pyjamas and both covered in blood, one of them was lying on the grass breathing heavily, she must have suffered from the accident,the other girl was hovering over her, crying.

  "Help, help me, please." The Voice calls again between sobs.

      "Hey, calm down, its okay" I say, "Were here, what happened."

      "He bit her, he bit her!" She sounds so scared, she is shaking and her chest was heaving with fear.

      "Who bit her, where is he?" I stop to take a better look at the girl on the grass, she looks like she had been in struggle with someone, her blouse is ripped in places and a chunk of her upper arm is misssing, that's where all the blood must be coming from because the other girl did not seem to have any obvious injuries. If this the bite the other girl is talking about, whoever did it must be a cannibal, I think to myself. She is unconscious but is still breathing and she is loosing a lot of blood,the grasses around her already turning red and the air is strong with the metallic odour of blood, attracting flies to the scene.

     "Let's try to stop the bleeding and save her first" Dan says.

     "What's your name?" I ask.

     "I don't think that us the right question." Dora says. She turns towards the girl. "We would like to know how this happened."

    I turn to look at Dave, the look on his face begs me to not let this escalate, I stand back. Dan is trying to stop the blood, he's is applying pressure to the wound with a piece of cloth from Jim's bag, Jim and Kerla are still checking for anything that might come in handy.

   "He bit her, her bit her." The girl answers Dora

      "He bit her, her bit her." The girl keeps repeating. She has started to cry and it was hard to point out her exact words. Kerla was trying to pacify her, but it was in vain.

       "Shhhh, its okay, its going to be alright, your friend is going to be fine." kerla and I keep trying to get the girl to stay calm, she was starting to go into shock

      "Hey!, Guys!, look at this!" Dora sounded frightened.

    The girl that was lying on the grass was breathing more heavily, her chest was rising and falling fast, her skin was getting pale. We rush to her, the other girl kept repeating "he bit her".

   "I think we need to get her professional medical attention real quick" Andre says.

   It is a very confusing moment, why did someone bite her? Why is their car so trashed? Why are they out in the middle of the woods and not in a hospital? Where are their parents? Nothing adds up. Suddenly the girl stops breathing. I check her pulse, I don't feel anything. Enveloped in the arms of death, she is still. I looked to the other girl, she seems so unaware of everything that is going on, she was in shock. I start to notice the similarities between both girls, same red hair, same wrist tatoo, same face shape, I am guessing they're sisters. I don't know what to do. I run my hands through my short cropped hair and   take a deep breath, I look at the others and shake my head. I guess we all didn't know what to do, this is too much to handle.

        "Oh my God" Dora screamed, "is she..... Dead?"

   "Yes,she is Dead" Jim says, standing up from the dead girl and going to stand with Dave.

     "Okay, this is super creepy" Dave says rubbing his elbows, he has goosebumps.

     "Lets just try to stay calm and figure this out."

    Kerla and Dora were starting to cry, sitting on the grass, the girls sister between them. I looked to my brother Dave, he is standing away from us, trying not to look at the dead girl. He is not comfortable with the sight of blood, and there was blood everywhere and on everyone now. Jim is leaning on the van, hands on his head, looking into the distance. I'm surprised Andre can be calm in a situation like this although he looks like he is about to shed some tears too.

      "How can you expect me to be calm?" Dora screams randomly, drawing everyone's attention. She  is on her feet now. "TWO GIRLS RANDOMLY SHOW UP BESIDE OUR VAN IN THE WOODS, OKAY, AND ONE OF THEM JUST DIED, FROM A f*****g BITE WOUND, AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BE CALM?, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" She was screaming at me now.

     "I'm just saying....." I run out of words, I don't know what to say.

     "It's okay, this is not the right time for this, we have to get help and that is what we should be concerned about."

    But Dora would have none of it.

    "NO, I THINK SHE HAS TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS FIRST!" She says pointing to the girl. She is so loud, we did not notice Dave had moved closer to us and was calling our attention to something.

    "THIS DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT!" she screams.

       The girl we confirmed to be dead has staggered to her feet, her eyes  are swollen and blood shot like they are about to pop out of her skull,her skin is pale and white like there isn't a drop of blood left in her body. She twitches and twists until she settles in a lopsided standing position, swaying from side to side like its taking all her energy to be upright. Dora is still screaming on top of her lungs and is clueless of the ressurection going on behind her. The girl's sister is still in shock, she is sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth ,her hands in her hair,tears running down her face. Kerla is on her feet now,mouth wide open but no sound comes out of it. She walks backwards into Dave's arms. The girl's sister she is still chanting "he bit her, he bit my sister". She didn't notice her sister is now on her feet, even though she was looking in her direction. The dead girl let out a grunt, her teeth snapping fast, like she's feeling cold, then an inhuman howl and turns her head to Dora.

      "OKAY, WHAT BEAST FROM HELL DO WE HAVE TO FACE NOW?" Dora screeches, turning around.

   She sees the girl and at first she's petrified, all the colour drains from her face, her eyes wide with horror. She screams and takes a step backward. The girl wastes no time, she leaps on Dora like a predator attacks its prey, Dora tries to shake her off but her grip is vice like, the girl sinks her teeth into Dora's neck and bites a mouthful of her flesh.

    Terrified. We scream.