(7) The Tomb of the Dead

I'm not a person who would count herself as having a weak stomach, but the combination of extreme dehydration, being left unconscious twice, and waking up in a room full of hundreds of rotting corpses pushed me over the edge. My vision blacked out, there was a ringing in my ears, and I collapsed on the stone ground. I pulled my matted hair behind my head just before I wretched.  The only thing that came up was stomach bile and the last remains of that potion which burned my throat. Dry heaves followed and I had to lay there for a long while before I felt well enough to sit up again. Sweat was trickling down my face and neck and tears had leaked out of my eyes. My body was feeling rough. I needed to get out of there or I was going to die from dehydration. I clutched the stone table I had lain on for support as I raised myself into a standing position. The smell of death and rotting flesh filled the room, it was strong enough to overpower the smell of my own vomit. I stared around for a way out. In the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a body sit up under its sheet. I snapped my head around, stifling a small gasp, but nothing seemed changed. All of the bodies in my field of vision were laying down, no doubt decomposing into the stone. My mind must be playing tricks on me. I continued to scan the room, but there was another movement in the corner of my eye. Once I had a good look: nothing. I was allowing myself to get creeped out. I had to stay strong. I was only afraid of the unknown. I couldn't let fear rule my life. I paused for a moment, and closed my eyes.
I carried my fears to their logical conclusion:  
What if the bodies, the half-decomposed corpses, were moving. So what? What was I afraid they would do? The worst they could do would be to kill me. Well, I had already faced death once, besides, I wasn't afraid of death at all. When my time came, be in now or years later, I would welcome it.
My eyes opened with a sigh of relief. This time, they did not hesitate in finding the only opening leading out of this tomb. I started walking that way, knowing I needed to find water before I joined the corpses from natural causes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a great deal of movement. I kept my eyes forward. Just because I was no longer afraid of the ultimate consequences of my fear, didn't mean that corpses stalking me wasn't affecting me at all. When I walking as fast as I possibly could manage in my condition the movement behind me reached a very noticeable level; I jerked around. Over half of the bodies in the room were following me. Their sheets were still over their ruined bodies, making them appear like one imagines ghosts. They all stopped moving the instant I turned around. Only the folds of the fabric settling into new positions showed how quickly they had been following me. I didn't know what to do. I tried backing up, but I stepped on someone's foot, and it wasn't alive.

They had me surrounded.