Dead Last (Vol. 1): Dead Last

by Quaranta, Marc

  Finally, I came across a monitor that looked to be like a camera sitting on top of a building in downtown Indianapolis. I would later learn that it was the Tower cam. It was on top of the Chase building downtown and the news programs used it to show morning sunrises or evening sunsets. It had terrific zooming power and could find an apartment fire all over central Indianapolis and use it on the air for a breaking news story.

  I grabbed the joystick and started messing around with it. It was dark so there wasn't much to see, especially with most of the city lights being out. There was an occasional building that would have a couple of floor lights on. I didn't take that to mean that there were survivors in the building, but that the lights were somehow kicked on.

  Then there was a light in the sky that lit up most of the area the camera was focused on. It blew up in the sky and trickled down onto the streets. It was a firework. Somebody was shooting them off, in my guess, to signal that there were survivors from the source of the explosion.

  It went off again, and this time I notice the streets. The sparks fell down to the street and when it lit up the roadways and sidewalks. It was only lit for a quick moment that I was actually doubting myself for thinking I saw what I saw, but I swore that I saw...

  There were hundreds of people walking around downtown Indianapolis.

  XLIX

  Kurt Elkins, May 2nd 2013. 10:34 a.m.

  W hen I was a young kid, I had a dream once that frightened me to my very core. I was in my old elementary school, even though I was around thirteen when I had the dream. The school was empty. It was a couple of my close friends and myself. We could have been breaking into the school, could have been there early before the day started, I don’t know. That wasn’t the part I was concentrating on.

  When I realized what was going on in the dream, it changed so quickly. For no reason at all, a fire broke out. It started, I remember, in the library. The books started catching fire quite quickly and we had to get out of the school. The library was surrounded by its own set of glass windows and only had one door in and out. We pushed and pushed at the front doors of the building but they wouldn’t budge. We watched the fire growing rapidly behind the glass walls.

  I remember my two friends continued to push at the door until I yelled at them to stop. I had lost control. I started shouting and panicking while one of them froze and the other cried. I picked up a chair and tossed it at the glass and it broke. We had our way out. I turned around and yelled at them to move their asses but neither one of them moved. I wasn’t going to leave them behind. They were my best friends.

  I ran back and picked the crying one off the ground and then pushed the other in the back. We got to the door, but it was back. The glass that had shattered all over the ground was perfectly back to normal and blocking our way out. I turned around and the chair was back in its starting position.

  Then the glass shattered from the library and sprayed all over the lobby of the school like a bomb had gone off. The fire escaped the library like water leaking from a balloon. We ran down the hall and tried to get away but it just kept gaining on us.

  At first, I thought that, maybe, I was blacking out. That I was losing consciousness, but it was the smoke. The thick, black smoke was surrounding the halls, the walls, and us. I couldn’t see anything for a while. I couldn’t feel anything but the disruption of my breathing. Like Death, himself, reached through my chest and squeezed my lungs tightly. Then I felt the heat. The scorching heat. Almost like I had been thrown onto a giant grill and cooked for dinner.

  The next thing I knew my eyes were opening slowly. Not in real life. This still remained to be a part of the dream. I opened my eyes and was outside the school. I could still feel a choke in my breathing, but the air was clear. The smell was clear. I didn’t feel the burn and I didn’t see the fire.

  There were two EMTs standing over me. I think they resuscitated me. Brought me back to life. I didn’t cough when I woke, though. I just looked at them. They looked like they had seen a ghost. It was because they didn’t ever, in a million years, expect me to wake up. I couldn’t see myself, but I could in their eyes. My skin was burnt, my hair was gone. I was dead. They weren’t looking at me because I woke up. They looked at me with pain in their eyes because I didn’t wake up.

  Standing inside WTIX…it was the first time I had thought about that dream since I was a kid. It had been almost 13 years since I thought about it. I had the same choked up feeling I had in that dream. There wasn’t smoke or fire, but the feeling of being stuck inside a building that I was growing to hate sure made my lungs seem smaller than they were.

  It had been a couple of weeks since Joe’s death. We were all trying to put it behind us and, unfortunately, we were all doing just find forgetting about Joe. It was sad to think how quickly we were moving on. All of us, except Molly. Since that one night we all decided to relax and get to know one another, Molly was regressing. She wasn’t eating much food, she wasn’t sleeping much, and she was beginning to neglect the kids. Heather had become a permanent baby sitter to the four of them. She was also a babysitter for Molly. Molly constantly needed someone to help her. With everything.

  When it came to Reggie and Sam…well that is a sad story. Reggie is fine. He is pulling around to full health, once again, and him and Frank are probably going to be leaving by the end of the week, but Sam is a different story. He seems to be getting worse. Emily says he’s the same. No better, no worse. But I don’t believe her. I’ve walked past the room that he is staying in and he doesn’t look any better.

  There was a small cup next to him full of blood. It was a cup for him to spit up in. He’s got a serious case of internal bleeding and Emily doesn’t know what to do. She can’t necessarily do exploratory surgery inside a TV station. If she knew what the problem was, with the medicine and tools we brought back, she could go in, take care of it, and he’d be fine. But without knowing what it is, she could be inside of him for hours and it would probably only lead to Sam picking up an infection.

  Sam was dying. I didn’t want to say it out loud, to anyone. As far as Haylea goes, she is just as worried as I am. Everyone is worried. I would never tell Emily that he is dying, but she had to know that he was. It wasn’t possible to be a doctor and not know that a man in that condition wasn’t going to live much longer.

  A couple of the guys at the hospital, from Frank's group, stopped by to see if Frank was alright. By group’s rule, I couldn’t let them inside. But it had been about 12 days since Frank had made any contact with anyone from his group and they just wanted to stop by and make sure that we hadn’t tied him up and locked him away. I watched them from the lobby to make sure that they didn’t try to ambush us all. Frank put on a mask and approached the truck they were in. The driver didn’t even turn the car off. It looked like it was going to be a quick conversation.

  “What’s this?” Emily surprised me from behind. My shoulders jumped a bit at the sound of her voice. She laughed and apologized.

  “It’s okay. Just a couple of Frank’s guys. Can’t exactly send an email or text to let them know he’s okay. They’re just checking up on him,” I smiled at her and she stood and watched with me. It was awkward for a moment when she didn’t say anything else, but then she explained why she came to talk to me.

  “I know,” she said.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “I know…that you know Sam isn’t getting any better. He’s getting worse, Kurt,” she finally confessed.

  “I know he is.”

  “Does anyone else know?”

  “People are concerned, but nobody has said anything. Nobody is planning anything. How do you feel?”

  “How do you think I feel? I don’t know how to tell Elyse.”

  “No. I’m not ignoring your feelings right now, but…how do you feel?”

  “Oh. Oh, no, I’m fine. Really. I feel fine and I’ve been with him all week. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t have it.”

  “Well that is good
.”

  “Yea…Look, I just wanted to tell you that…Sam is going to die.”

  “Emily— “

  “No, Kurt. Listen. Sam is going to die. I just need you to let it happen…in here. We can’t kick him out. We can’t let him die out there like he is some kind of animal…please.”

  “Emily, I’m not going to move him anywhere. Nobody is. You and Elyse need to stay with your husband, with her father. When—if it happens, we’ll deal with it. Nobody is going to bother him. I promise.”

  “Thank you,” she was genuine. I put my hand on her back for a second or two.

  “How’s Reggie?” I figured I would change the subject.

  “Actually,” she choked up. I think she wanted Reggie and Sam so switch symptoms. “He’s fine. Completely fine. They can leave whenever they’d like.”

  I hadn’t noticed that Frank’s people had driven away. Frank was coming through the last door and tossed his mask into the waste basket that we placed next to the door. It startled me for a second because I didn’t get to see the truck drive away and I wanted to know one hundred percent that they were gone. I saw the truck turn the corner at the last second and get back onto the highway.

  “Frank, I just wanted to let you know that Reggie is fine. I wish I could have told you a minute sooner because he doesn’t need me anymore. You could have gone back with your friends.”

  “Yea…that’s great,” Frank didn’t seem as excited as a father should. He stared at the ground.

  “Uhh, Frank? Reggie is fine. What’s wrong"” I asked.

  “It’s Cam.”

  Jack was on his way to the bathroom, but stopped when he heard Cam’s name. I think he was still bitter about Frank’s brother. Wishing that we had just killed him. If Cam had driven that truck here to visit Frank, Jack probably would have killed him. I wouldn’t doubt it for a second. Without ever being invited, Jack came closer to join the conversation.

  “What about Cam?” I asked with my eyes on Jack.

  “He and his friends never showed up to the hospital.”

  “What?”

  “What do you mean?” Emily asked without thinking about her question.

  “Exactly what I said. Cam is missing.”

  “What can we do?” Jack asked.

  It surprised all three of us. Jack was willing to help. Frank was comforted with that, but I was wary of it. Were we going to come across them in the woods or an old house and Jack would just shoot him? In front of Frank’s eyes? I decided that Jack was right. We did need to help, but I was going to keep my eyes on him. Cam was going to live through this and we were going to let him go with Frank and never see them again.

  “Frank,” I saw he was in a world of his own. “What can we do to help?”

  “Will you help me look for him?”

  “Yes,” again, Jack answered without a glitch.

  I thought about it more than he did, but, ultimately, “Yes.”

  “No. You won’t,” I shut my eyes and tried to pretend I didn’t hear her.

  “I have to,” I turned around and saw Haylea standing behind me with the most crushed look on her face.

  “No. Kurt, you son of a bitch. No!”

  I quickly walked up to her and grabbed her arms and pulled her aside. She started fighting me off and wouldn’t let me get close to her. She swung her arms in circles and wouldn’t let my fingers grasp her. When she was free she put both of her hands on my chest and pushed. She shoved me so hard I fell into the wall. It was as much an emotional blow as it was a physical one.

  She pointed her finger at me, “You’re an asshole. Go! But do not expect me to be okay with it!”

  And then she walked away.

  The last week or so was perfect between us. Whenever we needed more food, groceries, or supplies, I let the others handle it. Jack made a few trips, Scott made a couple, even Travis and Elyse went out a couple of times. Haylea was too afraid. She didn’t want me to go outside and I promised her that I wouldn’t.

  But this was so different and it made me angry that she didn’t understand that. This was about Frank’s brother. He was missing. Three people were missing and she wanted me to sit inside and pretend that I didn’t hear it. Pretend that everything was fine. I wasn’t going to do it. I told her the other night that no matter what happens between her and I, no matter if it is good or bad, that I was going to continue to lead these people. I was going to continue to do what I had to do to make sure these people were safe…everyone was safe.

  I watched her walk the entire hallway and turn down the corner. She didn’t look back at me once. She always looked back at me. If she were happy, she’d look back at me and smile at me or maybe even shoot me a wink. If she were angry, she’d look back and glare so that I knew just how angry she was. She didn’t. She was so angry with me that she couldn’t even look back to see my face.

  I turned my back and walked to…Frank, “Give us a half hour to get packed up and we’ll head out.”

  “You sure you want to do this?” Frank asked me.

  I didn’t want to, but I knew that I had to. I was leading these people because I was the strongest. I was the best choice for the job. At least, that is what I continued to tell myself. I think I was the leader because I didn’t trust anyone else to get the job done.

  “Yes.”

  L

  Haylea Peters

  K urt was the perfect guy for me. He was smart, he was funny. He knew what he wanted in life. He didn’t know what he wanted to do for a living, but he knew what he wanted and to me that was more important. He was a strong-willed guy. He had tough skin and never let anything get to him. He never seemed to be rattled by anything. He always kept his composure and thought things through.

  But he felt he needed to help everyone. I had tried to tell him time and time again that he isn’t going to be able to be everywhere and save everyone, but he wasn’t getting it. He refused to let that truth get to him. I really felt like he just didn’t believe that. He truly believed that he was going to be able to do everything for anybody that asked. It was never going to wear on him; it wasn’t going to slow him down. He thought he was invincible.

  I was dreading the day to come when he realized that that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t a superhero and it was going to bite him in the ass some time. Hopefully, later rather than sooner.

  I stormed to our bedroom without stopping for anything. Everyone watched me yell at him. Everyone saw me threaten him and shove him into the wall. I didn’t care. I wasn’t running to my room to hide from them. I wasn't hiding from Kurt. I knew he wasn’t going to come back to me. He wasn’t going to run me down and apologize and promise to stay. He was going out with Frank and Jack and he was going to stay out there until he found Cam. Even if it got to the point that Frank gave up and was ready to call the search off, Kurt wouldn’t let him. It was Frank’s brother. Frank should have been calling the shots, but once Kurt got involved, he was already in charge.

  I’d like to say I was wrong when I heard a knock on the door, but I knew I was right. That is why I didn’t look up to see who it was. I heard the door open and didn’t hear Kurt’s voice. It wasn’t my fiancé's voice apologizing for anything. It was the voice of a bitch. It was the voice of someone that wanted nothing more than to hear my fiancés voice every night before she went to bed. I didn’t turn to look into her pathetic eyes.

  “Haylea,” Heather said. “I’m sorry if you’re hurt. I wish there was something that I could do to make you feel better, but we know Kurt. He’s going to do what he thinks is right every time. I don’t have to tell you that, though.”

  She didn’t have to tell me. Did this dumb cunt forget that I was Kurt’s fiancé? Did she forget that I was the one he was going to spend the rest of his life with? For the life of me, I didn’t know what this girl’s problem was, but I was inches away from my breaking point. I could feel myself being bent and bent and I was giving into it, but the point was coming where I couldn’t bend anymore. I was goi
ng to snap and she was going to feel it.

  “I think we just need to let him do his own thing,” the bitch continued. “He’s a strong guy. He and Jack, both, are. I’m sure they’ll find Cam and his friends and they’ll come right back here to us. I see the way that he is always looking at you. You need to trust him to do his thing. Kurt has proven that he is a great leader. He is a great guy. Don’t take that for granted.”

  Snap.

  “Heather, you need to listen to me, you fucking bitch,” I stood up and slammed the door closed. It sounded like a gun shot went off in the small room. But I trapped her in the room with me. “Apparently, being subtle doesn’t work with you. So, I’m going to look you square in your fucking eyes and tell you like it is. If you ever look at Kurt again, if you ever talk to me about the kind of person he is again, I swear to God I’m going to smash your head through the wall.”

  “And I don’t mean figuratively, either. I’m going to grab your hair and put your head through the first thing I see. Don’t take Kurt for granted? Are you fucking kidding me? Kurt chose me. Kurt never thought about choosing anyone but me. Kurt never thought about you. Kurt doesn’t think about you. He knows you are a sad lonely girl that dreams about unavailable men every night.”

  “You wish you could curl up with him in this room every night holding his hand and touching his body. You wish you could ride him and fuck him like I do. Do you wish you could feel his dick, Heather? Is that what you think about? Because I’m not exaggerating in any way. If you look at him, I will kill you. I will make It hurt and I will make it last. I will make Joe’s death look like the natural way to go.”

  If words could kill, if looks could kill, Heather was already dead. She stood frozen in the corner of the room. I hadn’t realized that I was backing her into the corner. Her mouth had slowly opened and her eyes accumulated tears.

  “Hay— “she began to speak but I slapped her. I made sure that I slapped her with my left hand. It wasn’t my dominate hand, but it had a big diamond ring on that if I opened my hand up perfectly, would leave a beautiful mark on her face.