A/N: Do you guys think I should have them meet up with the group sooner or later? My original plan was later but I'm not so sure. Leave a review with your answer please.


Chapter 3- Chomped by a Chomper

My memory at this point came in fractions as I gained and lost consciousness continuously. I wasn't sure what was reality and what was dreams. My entire shoulder ached and, really it was very hard to describe the pain I felt. I felt like I was dying. Heck, I knew I was dying. Nobody ever survived a chomper bite. We'd learned that fact only a few weeks into the apocalypse.

I remember someone picking me up, there was yelling, and I felt the chill of the night air against the wound in my neck. I was placed down in an uncomfortable position on some rather bumpy ground.

There were fingers against my wound, burning fingers. Then a cold cloth suddenly replaced it and I heard a gasp, my own gasp as it left my lips.

"Shh," someone murmured as they pressed the cloth back to the wound again and this time I whimpered softly, unable to keep my pain quiet. Something snuffled against my face. A wet nose; a furry wet nose. Then a rough tongue dragging across my cheek. Nuka.

My consciousness slipped again and I fell into the blackness.

-00-

The next time I woke, it was daylight. I was under a canopy of trees, my back resting against the roots of a tree- that was what had been making the ground so bumpy. The achiness had by now spread to the rest of my body. I lifted my head only slightly before hearing a click. Turning my eyes to the side, I noticed a pistol pointed directly at my head.

"Say something!" John hissed and I was confused, wondering why he wanted me to speak. The gun pointed at my head was what confused me even more. He held Nuka back by his collar.

"John?" I asked in a shaky voice. "What- what are you doing?"

The man lowered the gun with a relieved sigh. "I just had to know if you were one of them. A... chomper? Is that what you guys call them?" He released the canine who was almost strangling himself in an attempt to get to be. As soon as he was released he bounced over to me and nuzzled my hand, wanting to be pet. I obliged and ran my hand over the blueish grey fur behind his ears.

"Why would I be a chomper?" I asked, my head fuzzy as to the previous events. My brows furrowed and I moved my hand from Nuka's head to my neck, feeling the bandage there. "How long was I out?" I asked John.

"Three days," John replied. "I took you out of camp because Mary was going to shoot you without even waiting to see what happened."

"I was bitten." My voice was low, hollow. "It's protocol. I should have turned by now..."

The man looked a little lost for words, as was I. There was an awkward silence between us as I tried to come up with some sort of explanation as to why I hadn't become one of the undead. I couldn't figure any out other than...

"Do you think it's possible to fight the infection?" I asked him suddenly.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I've never seen it before," he replied. "Usually people turn within a few hours."

"Do I look any different? My eyes...?" Usually the chompers had weird looking eyes, paler than normal with browny-coloured whites.

John shook his head.

"I don't understand..." I murmured, my voice growing a little croaky. "Maybe I'm just taking longer to change?"

The man held out a bottle of water. "Or maybe you're just lucky?" he suggested.

Taking the bottle, I nodded in thanks and downed about half of it in one go. "Why did you protect me?" I asked.

"Because you didn't deserve to die like that," John replied. "I hoped that perhaps God would grant someone like you some sort of miracle and it looks like he has."

I'd never really thought anyone could remain religious in the current circumstances but it seemed that John had held onto his faith. Funny, I would never have guessed him a christian.

"Thank you," I told him honestly.

John stood, offering a hand to help me to my feet. I accepted and my legs immediately gave way under me, causing me to fall into him. He caught me and slipped an arm around my waist to help. "No food in three days," he reminded me. "You're probably going to be weak for at least two."

I didn't like that thought too much but who was I to complain? I'd just survived the unsurvivable.

-00-

When we got back to the camp, there was an uproar (to say the very least). Mary was immediately on her feet, her rifle pointed at John's chest as he pushed me behind him.

"Why would you bring one of those things back to camp with you?" said someone.

Another piped up with "It isn't going to be Mel anymore so kill it, Mary!"

There were a lot of other insults mixed in though I didn't catch every one. Couldn't they see that I hadn't changed?

Mary looked John right in the eye. "She got bitten, she will change, do you understand? Even if she-"

"Honestly, Mary." said Harry as he walked over. "It's been days. If she was going to change then she'd have done so ages ago. Something changed. She isn't one of them."

I peeked around John's shoulder at the old man. He gave me a smile.

"How're you feeling, kid?" he asked but I didn't get a chance to reply as Mary started talking again.

"Fine, but for the next week she'll be kept separate from the rest of the group." She directed this at John. "And you will be the one to shoot her if she turns or I'll shoot you both. After that week, if she still hasn't changed, then we'll decide on what to do. You can keep her over there." She pointed towards the side of the road, next to an old Volvo car, then she turned to leave.

"She needs food," John piped up suddenly.

Mary stopped and looked at him. "Go hunt her something then, boy," she said. "I ain't wasting any of what we have on her."

I could feel the tension building in John but he kept his silence, as did Harry. The Mary turned back and walked to the rest of the group.