Zombie or Not

           Mama Williams stayed up with Lasso while everybody else slept peacefully. She sat next to him but just out of his reach for safety reasons. She quietly watched him, noticing that his breathing was still at a concerning speed, almost like a dog panting is what she thought. For a long while Lasso didn't move, even his breathing and shaking came to a standstill. Mama Williams carefully crept closer, thinking about checking his pulse. She slowly reached out to his neck but froze when he let out a long groan. His hands were still tied behind his back but that didn't stop him from moving a little. He slowly got to his knees, quietly groaning in the process. When he finally opened his eyes they were a cloudy grey instead of his deep brown eyes. Red rimmed eyes that were fixed right on her.

         "Lasso..." Mama slowly moved from her knees to the balls of her feet. The answer she got was a hungry snarl from him as he began trying to lunge forward at her, only to be yanked back by the rope that's tied around the tree. Mama Williams quickly jumped back, not wanting to be bitten by him. "Lasso Lasso...it's Mama..." she spoke softly to avoid waking the others but she just got another growl for an answer. Now she began creeping towards him, ignoring his savageness for the time being. He lunged at her again but the rope wasn't long enough for him to tackle her. Instead she grabbed his face, holding him in a way that he cannot bite her. He snapped at the air, trying to get to her but she held him strong. "Lasso..." she gently called while holding him. "It's mama...come on baby..." she mumbled, exhausted but determined.

        He snapped at the air again, hard enough to make his teeth hurt but for now it was not felt. His restraints dug into his wrists, causing blood to slowly trickle down his hands. Lasso's mission now was to get himself free from the woman's grasp and wanting something to satisfy his hunger. He tried to turn his head but she forced him still. His memory of this woman was foggy once more but she apparently knew him. She called him Lasso, was that what he was known as? Oh he could not remember and trying to remember just made his head hurt worse. Anything else in his mind was fogged except for one word that blared on in his head. Feed.

           Mama was too tired to be scared of him. The snarling, snapping, violent shaking didn't threaten her safety. She was worried about his. Mama Williams sighed deeply and let go, quickly shuffling away so she wouldn't get bit. She watched as he tried to break his restraints to get to her but it was no use. Lasso's ragged breathing began to slow a little as he lowered himself to the ground once more. He groaned again and laid his head in the dirt, slowly falling back asleep. Mama sadly watched her son let out a string of ragged coughs before falling back asleep. His breathing was still too fast for her liking and he would occasionally twitch in his sleep, which is something he'd never done before. She got up and walked over to her backpack, grabbing out her sleeping bag then walking back to him. Mama quietly unzipped the sleeping bag and carefully laid it over him, hoping that would slow some of his shaking. She wondered if some of his shaking was caused by the cold, maybe him being bundled up would help?

         She knelt next to him and tucked it around him so he would stay warm. Mama then took his hat and went to put it by his backpack. She went back to him and sat right next to him, too tired to care if he would wake up or not. If he did she had a few extra seconds to back up enough so he could not bite her. "I'm sorry baby...." She muttered while rubbing his head gently. When she touched him his whole body spasmed like he was trying to wake up but couldn't she quickly let go and backed up just in case but he laid still once more.

        There was numerous times that he had woken up that night. Almost all of them was because he smelled prey near but she kept moving out of his reach. His ravenous behavior didn't seem to scare the woman who sat near. He would wake up to find her right next to him at some moments while others she had already moved back out of his reach. At one point he woke up bundled in something that he quickly kicked off to get her. His jaws hurt from snapping at the air but he just wanted something to sink his teeth into. If only this damn woman would stop moving or she could let him loose. There were others laying farther away but he could not reach them either. This woman was just taunting him at this point, why was she constantly wrapping him back up in that thing...what was it called? He couldn't remember. This woman seemed to know him very well but why couldn't he remember her, fog hid the memory of her in his mind.

           After a few hours of Lasso waking up to try to snap at her and just falling back asleep he finally woke up and could remember something. He looked at the woman sitting by him again and tried to inch closer to her but his hands were still tied. "Mama...." Is what he thought he had said but it just came out as a long groan. Her tired blue eyes focused on his face. There was no aggression this time. She slowly went to him and sat close. He moved his head into her lap, not wanting to bite her this time. Lasso felt her fingers running through his hair and this time he smiled softly. "Mama.." he called again and this time she understood. "Yes?.." she asked, exhaustion setting into her voice. "My wrists hurt..." he told her and she carefully him. "Let me see.." she yawned and he gave her his hands.

        His wrists had a bad rope burn and were bleeding from him fighting against them so much. She had him sit up as she went to grab their makeshift first aide. She came back and also used the water from her canteen to clean the blood away. Mama Williams gently bandaged his wrists and let him lay his head in her lap once more. She stroked his hair until he fell back asleep and eventually leaned down, laying her head on his shoulder and fell asleep as well.

         Penny was the first awake that next morning. She noticed that Mama Williams was no longer next to her so she got up and looked around. Penny spotted her a few feet away, sitting with Lasso. She rushed over, grabbing her pistol just in case. The first thing she saw was Mama leaning down and that worried her but when she got there she was just sleeping. Lasso was also fast asleep with his head in her lap and his arms wrapped around her waist. The unzipped sleeping bag was pulled over him once more as he slept. They seemed okay but Penny saw the bloody cloth and bloody end of the rope and quickly pushed Lasso off of Mama Williams and pulled Mama away, waking them both up.