We Are Still Here

by Jimmy Bird

  When no one gave a suggestion on what to do, I decided that we would go around the cars on our way to the outlet stores. I figured that we could easily drive the backstreets through the neighborhoods. I just hoped that the streets were in as decent shape as I wanted them to be.

  Believe it or not, most of the streets were clear. In fact, we didn’t even get to our first obstacle until we got to Sooner Road. If you traveled east from Sooner Road on the highway I-40 was Tinker Air Force Base. It had always been the Council’s plan to go to Tinker and see what weapons we could find. Unfortunately for us, we never got the chance.

  On the northside of the highway was a supercenter, our destination. When it got within looking distance of the supercenter, things didn’t look at all promising.

  We pulled into the parking lot and noticed that the outside looked kind of trashed with graffiti and broken front door glass. My initial thought was that it was the work of looters. I just hoped that there weren’t any zombies inside it. We really needed a shovel and it was the closest place that I could think of where we could find one.

  While still in the car, we discussed what our next move was. James didn’t say much, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he still wanted to go back. Maybe, it was because he really wanted to kill Robert, but then again maybe it wasn’t. Whatever the reason, it didn’t look like he was going to give up suggesting it. I figured that he was just biding his time.

  We carefully got out of the car and looked around. It looked safe enough but looks can be deceiving. It was finally decided that Bobby and I would go into the supercenter. We would make sure that the coast was clear before we brought anyone in to search for supplies.

  Seth began to protest, “I want to go in with you.”

  I quickly cut him off, “No!”

  I guess that I had never really snapped at him like that before because he looked wide-eyed at me but didn’t push the subject. I noticed the shocked look on his face and walked up to him. I gave him a hug to whisper in his ear, something that I didn’t want James to hear.

  I whispered, “I don’t trust James and need you out here to protect JoJo and your mom. I want you to promise me that if anything happens to either Bobby or me then you will continue to take them to Eufaula, no matter what they have to say. You promise?”

  He whispered back, “I promise. Thanks for trusting me.”

  I pulled back and held him at arm’s length. I didn’t say another word but did wink with my left eye. I wanted him to know that I acknowledged his comment without trying to tip off James, but it seemed that he noticed it anyway. He was more observant then I gave him credit for.

  Suspiciously, James ask, “What was that all about? Were you talking about me?”

  I turned my head and looked directly into his eyes.

  I tried to control my annoyance as I told him, “I told Seth that the REASON I wanted him to stay out here is to watch over MY DAUGHTER and HIS MOTHER!”

  I’m not sure if he believed me because he looked over at Seth.

  Seth shrugged, “It’s true.”

  He rolled his eyes, “If that was true then why didn’t you just say it out loud?”

  I turned directly towards him and gave up holding my tongue. I let the frustration of his question show in my body language and tone.

  I told him, “Because I wanted Seth to fully understand why he was being asked to stay out here and not go inside to help us. I wanted him to know that it wasn’t because of his age!”

  James replied, “Come on. You expect me to believe that the real reason he was asked to wait out here wasn’t to watch me?”

  I smiled and told him, “No, it wasn’t. Because you’re not going to be out here for him to watch. You’re going inside to help me, and Bobby check the supercenter to make sure that it’s safe before we bring anyone in.”

  He looked shocked. I don’t think that James was expecting that kind of answer. It was as my explanation had caught him completely off guard. It took him a second to respond, but when he did, he was kind of hesitant.

  James stated, “It was my understanding that you were kind of ‘old school’ in your ways.”

  “What do you mean by that?

  James responded, “That only men did whatever needed to be done. Men hunt, fight, stand guard, risk your lives while the women and children cook, clean, etc.”

  “What gave you that idea?”

  He shrugged, “That’s what I thought when I saw you driving and then again when I heard that you wouldn’t allow Seth to go inside with you.”

  I smiled and re-illustrated, “I need Seth out here to watch over my daughter and his mom. Me and Bobby need them to be safe.”

  James’s only response was an absentmindedly head knob.

  I then asked him, “Well, are ready to go inside?”

  Wide-eyed, he asked, “Are you serious? Don’t you need a man out here to stand guard, someone to protect the women and children?”

  I shook my head, “No. They can protect themselves.”

  I extended my hand towards him to show that I was serious, “Are YOU ready to go inside?”

  He hesitated and looked around. Everyone was watching him, watching his next move. I guess we were all curious to see how he was going to respond.

  When James noticed that everyone was watching him, he awkwardly smiled and turned towards me. He didn’t extend his hand to accept mine, but he did take a few steps towards the broken glass front doors. I smiled in return and shrugged as I turned back towards the doors.

  I glanced over and asked Bobby, “Are you ready?”

  He responded sarcastically, “I guess I’m as ready as I will ever be.”

  “I know the feeling, but it needs to be done.”

  I guess James felt left out of our conversation and complained, “I guess NO ONE’S going to ask me if I’m ready?”

  Bobby and I stopped walking and turned in unison in his direction.

  I responded, “I did ask if you were ready, but you didn’t respond.”

  James was irritated, “I didn’t realize that was what you were asking me. I thought that you meant, was I ready to risk my life for strangers not if I was ready to go inside.”

  I sarcastically responded, “I’m sorry. I thought that it was clear when I asked you if you were ready to go inside. Okay. So, are you ready now?”

  He replied, “No. No, I’m not. But I guess that doesn’t matter much. Does it?”

  Bobby and I glanced at one another and then back at James.

  In unison, we replied, “Nope!”

  We then turned back around and started walking carefully towards the broken doors. We wanted to make sure that there were no zombies or that we weren’t walking into a trap.

  Bobby was the first to reach the door with me right on his tail. From the amount of dirt and leaves just inside the doorway, it looked like the glass in the doors had been broken for a very long time. The inside push down handle located at the midway point of the door looked kind of bent down. The painted metal where it had been bent had a dark rustic look. The handle looked like it was ready to break off, like it was waiting for the right push.

  It was a reminder of those early days, when people panicked and began rioting businesses for supplies. The worst part was that people began attacking each other for whatever supplies they had managed to gather. That wasn’t the only thing people killed each other for either. People killed for food, shelter, medicine, etc. Pretty much anything that had some kind value to it.

  From the outside, it didn’t look like the building had much light in it. Except for the front door, the building was void of any windows. It meant that the only glass around on the ground was basically the front doors. Well, that wasn’t entirely true about the light. I glanced upward and noticed some old skylights, but there wasn’t much light coming down from them. Most of the skylights looked like they were covered by trash or dirt or whatever else was up there.

  I glanced over at Bobby, “You got your flas
hlight ready?”

  He pointed his flashlight at my eyes and turned it on as he jokingly replied, “Yep.”

  I got a little irritated, “Cut that crap out.”

  He aimed the flashlight back towards the doors, “Man, I was just playing.”

  “How? By blinding me?”

  Before he could reply, James spoke up, “Do you have a flashlight for me or am I having to go in blind?”

  I turned and told him, “Sorry. We only have these two with us.”

  Thinking that he would try to use it as an excuse for getting off from having to go inside, I quickly asked my sister, “Can you get James a flashlight from the car?”

  James gave me one of those looks as he said, “Are you kidding me? You had more flashlights?”

  I looked at him, “Yes. Sorry. I forgot about the flashlights until you asked for one?”

  He looked at me as if he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut. It looked like he was deciding what to do in his head, but I couldn’t be sure.

  Instead, I told James, “Bobby will take the lead, you’ll go next, and I’ll would bring up the rear.”

  Without waiting for a reply, I turned around and told Bobby, “We’re ready.”

  Bobby started off by doing the smart thing and that was to bang on the door frame. He knew that the noise would attract whatever zombies were inside and who knows, it could also attract whatever people could be hiding inside. The thumping noise echoed throughout the dark building.

  After banging on the metal frames for a few minutes, we didn’t get the response that we were expecting. In fact, we didn’t hear any noise. No moaning. No growling. No nothing.

  We weren’t sure exactly how to proceed. I mean, we were expecting reaction. You know, something for us to fight. But there wasn’t anything. At least, nothing around the door.

  I asked Bobby, “Are you ready to go in?”

  He turned his head slightly to look in my direction from the corner of his eyes and nodded his head up and down to indicate that he was. I nodded my head to tell him to go ahead and enter.

  Bobby reached out for the old and dirty door handle. When he grabbed it, he pulled it back towards him. Nothing happened, except for a little creaking noise.

  He slightly turned his head towards us and replied, “It’s stuck.”

  I smiled, “It’s probably still locked.”

  He smiled in return, “It’s either that or rusted.”

  We both began to laugh out loud.

  James look from Bobby to me and asked, “What’s so funny?”

  Bobby responded before I could, “Absolutely nothing.”

  I tried to be serious as I told him, “With all that’s wrong with the world, we found it kind of funny that a stuck door would slow us down.”

  James frowned as he stated, “Well, that’s just stupid!”

  I busted out laughing again, “I know. That’s why it’s so funny.”

  Bobby look at James and smiled as he said, “Haven’t you ever just laughed at something for no particular reason?”

  James replied, “No. Robert was always the serious type.”

  “That’s not the Robert that I remember. At our old job, he was always playing pranks on people.”

  With a serious tone, James stated, “He’s not that kind of person anymore. He would train us as if we were in the military, 24/7.”

  I smiled as I told him, “I guess it’s a good thing that you’re with us now and not Robert.”

  Still frowning, he stated, “We shall see.”

  It was my turn to frown as I asked, “What does that mean?”

  James quickly added, “Nothing. You just can never tell what the future holds, is all.”

  Without waiting for me to reply, he turned back around towards Bobby. I noticed that he was also frowning at James. Like me, I think that he was trying to figure out the hidden meaning.

  I told Bobby, “I guess we could go in now.”

  He looked from James to me, our eyes locked. From the look in his eyes, it looked like James’s tone worried him.

  I nodded to indicate that I was also bothered by it, but to also let him know that we didn’t have time to worry about it at that moment. We had other important matters to worry about.

  He nodded his understanding as he turned his attention back towards the door handle and grabbed it. He visibly took a deep breath and pulled. It still wouldn’t budge.

  I told him, “Don’t bother with the door. Just go through the broken glass but be careful not to cut yourself.”

  Wouldn’t that be something? To cut yourself on the glass or even worse, some of the rusted metal. That would be the last thing that we needed.

  As Bobby carefully entered through the door, I noticed that James kept glancing sideways in my direction. I couldn’t tell what he was doing. I just assumed that he was thinking about making a break for it.

  He surprised me though! When it came to his turn to enter the building, without so much as a fight, he carefully stepped through the doorway and went right.

  When it can to my turn, I slowly walked up to the rustic looking metal and stared at the broken glass. Without realizing it, my mind became focused on the glass. Thoughts of what could have transpired there raced through my head. Who broke the glass and why? Was it rioters or pillagers? Was it just normal people trying to escape the dead? Could it have been the dead trying to get at the people who were trying to hide in the supercenter for safety?

  My mind was quickly brought back to the present when I heard a deep male sounding scream, followed by an echoing thump.

  My sister yelled out, “What was that?”

  I blinked as I turned my head towards my sister, only to realize that she was already running towards me.

  “I didn’t know, but I’m about to find out.”

  She corrected me, “We are about to find out.”

  I shrugged and asked, “What about the kids?”

  “Seth will watch over JoJo.”

  I nodded my head as I turned back towards the door. Seth was more than capable enough to protect her.

  I extended my left leg to balance myself, just enough to slide underneath the rusted door handle. I leaned down and extended my right hand towards the door frame. I wanted to use it to help me keep balance. With my hand on the door frame, I used my leg muscles to carefully work my way under the handle. I made sure that I was careful not to cut my hand on the broken glass.

  Once I safely made it to the other side of the door, I slowly stood up and looked around. I wanted to make sure that it was safe before I brought my sister in. When I felt that it was safe enough, I reached back to help my sister, but she was already starting to stand up next to me.

  My sister screamed, “Bobby?”

  I in turn screamed out, “James?”

  Our only response was a gurgled groan that came from the darkness, somewhere to our right. I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t a zombie moan. It sounded like one of those painful groans a person makes when they get hurt unexpectedly, sort of like a car wreck. With my flashlight in my left hand, I slowly pulled out my gun with my right.

  I used the old police stance and with the flashlight in my left hand, I placed it on my right hand. I placed the flashlight to where the beam came from the base of my palm. This way, the beam shined in the same direction my gun pointed. I looked over and noticed that my sister had done the same.

  When our eyes locked, I nodded in the direction to my left which happened to be her right. She nodded in agreement and immediately went in that direction. She followed the wall. I went in the same direction but decided to go a few aisles down from the wall. I figured that it would be safer we split up just in case someone or something dangerous was in there with us.

  With my attention focused on finding Bobby, I decided that I needed to be as quietly as I could and tiptoed forward. I had been to focus on the task at hand that I failed to notice that the light from my sister’s flashlight had stopped moving.
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  My sister yelled out, “Bobby?”

  Followed immediately with, “Brother!”

  I must have zoned out again because it was only when she screamed that I realized that she had stopped moving. My attention shifted from looking in front of me towards the direction of my sister’s flashlight.

  “Brother, I need your help. Now!”

  I could hear the concern in her voice and quickly began walking in her direction. Fearing the worse, I quickened my pace. Forgetting all about trying to be quiet, my shoes clomped as I began running towards my sister. The noise from my shoes echoed throughout the dark old building.

  When I came to the last aisle, what I saw caused me to immediately come to a stop. Bobby was lying face first in a small pool of blood. The back of his head was wet. Next to his head, lying partially in the blood was an old opened hardback book.

  My sister was sitting on his right side and was pulling on his left shoulder as she struggled to turn him over onto his back. When she realized that I was standing there, she looked up with tears in her eyes.

  “Can you help me turn him over?”

  Worried about being attacked, I slowly walked towards them. I tried to keep an eye out for another possible attack but kept glancing at Bobby’s bloody head. The closer I got, the more intense his injury looked.

  When I was within a foot of them, I turned my attention fully towards my sister and Bobby. I was on the opposite side of my sister and slowly went to my knees.

  I placed the flashlight on my left side and my gun on my right. With my hands free, I extended them to Bobby’s left shoulder and carefully slid both hands under.

  “I’m ready whenever you are.”

  My sister counted, “On three. One. Two. Three. Lift.”

  While she began to pull on his shoulder, I lifted and pushed. With my help, we were able to roll him onto his back.

  Without thinking about it, I asked, “What happened?”

  With a shaky voice, she replied, “I....I didn’t know. I found him like this.”

  Suspiciously, I asked, “What about James? Where’s James?”

  My sister ignored me as she scooted over towards Bobby’s head. She carefully lifted it up and placed it in her lap.