After The End

by Jamie Campbell

  We slow down enough for her to reach the front of our little group. She runs quickly, leading the way to the exit—or our doom. I have no idea what we are about to encounter and can only hope for the best.

  Right now, instincts are everything.

  The woman sets a grueling pace but it’s easier now we are running with some direction. She knows exactly which doors to open and which ones to leave behind. The corridors flash past as we weave this way and that.

  She opens yet another door.

  Sunshine.

  I never thought I would be this happy to see the great outside. She holds the door open for us as we stream through to the forest outside.

  “Come with us,” I say to her. She’s going to get into a lot of trouble when Philip finds out she helped us. “We’ll look after you. I promise.”

  She shakes her head and casts her eyes to the ground. “I’ll be okay. I’ll say you forced me. I have a child here, I can’t leave her behind.”

  I take her hands in mine and give them a squeeze. “Thank you. We owe you our lives.”

  “Then go. I didn’t do all that running just to see you caught. Be safe and good luck.”

  She steps back inside and closes the door.

  Everything is deathly quiet out here. Only the birds in the trees and the leaves rustling in the breeze make any sound. My breathing is heavy and labored. I can’t seem to gasp in enough oxygen to calm my lungs.

  Garlind is the first to recover. “We need to keep moving. Everybody okay?”

  We all nod—talking is too difficult. Garlind takes off in a straight line away from the door and we follow. The underground corridors of the group must be massive. The door has let out into the wilderness, probably on the outskirts of Raleigh. It feels like we’ve run miles because we have run miles.

  My ears are keenly aware of any noise that might indicate we’ve been followed. I stay behind Sarah, making sure she doesn’t slow down and start to lag. All four of us have to make it out of this situation or none of us do. We’re a team.

  I’m vaguely aware that Garlind has steered us north as we continue our tiresome journey. The sun is high in the sky which means we were in the underground for either a day or two. It’s difficult to know for sure but I guess it doesn’t really matter either way.

  The forest is thick here, dense with trees and underbrush. There is no way to mask our footsteps but hopefully there is nobody around to hear them. It’s a vast expanse of nothing but the best mother nature has to offer.

  We run and run until we’re far enough away to risk a brisk walking pace. My side aches with exertion and exhaustion. I want to collapse where I stand and not get up for a few days, at least. But I only have to remember that noose to keep going a bit farther.

  And a bit more farther still.

  This forest goes on forever, I’m convinced of it. There will be no end, it will just loop right around the world and deposit us back at Raleigh where we started.

  We’ve lost our packs again. All of them are still lost in the underground, never to be seen by us again. We’re out here with nothing and have to start scavenging supplies all over again. Just when we’d thought we were organized.

  We’re too exhausted to talk. It’s like the trauma of what just happened—how close to death we were—is a black cloud that hangs over us. We’re probably all thinking the same thing but nobody wants to voice it. To speak of the trauma makes it more real again.

  I hope we never find ourselves that completely stuffed again. We have to be smarter, more careful. I thought we were before but we were ambushed all too easily. We let ourselves be that vulnerable and it will not happen again.

  From now on, we treat the humans like the aliens and stay the hell away.

  The sun starts to dip in the sky. We’re walking at a normal pace now. My legs are at serious risk of giving out on me. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if I fell flat on my face and never got up again. No amount of fitness or training could prepare me for this.

  I look over at Sarah to check on her—like I’ve done a million times already since we set off. There are tear tracks running down her little cheeks.

  “Sarah, you okay?” I ask.

  She stops walking and shakes her head. Her eyes are red raw and her nose is sniffling. I kick myself for not noticing sooner.

  I kneel down in front of her so we’re eye to eye. I can hear the boys stop behind me as they watch on but remain silent. It’s difficult for boys to deal with female tears.

  I clasp her shoulders so she knows I’m here for her. “What’s wrong, honey? Are you hurt in some way?” My gaze rakes over her but all I can see are the tears.

  “What if they find us again?” she chokes out. I’ve never heard her sound so young before. She looks like the eight-year-old she is and not the bravado she wears like a shield around her.

  “They aren’t going to. We’re a long way from them now. They’ll never find us.” I almost add the words ‘I promise’ but stop myself. I’m not going to make promises I’m not sure I can keep. I can’t guarantee our safety, only our ability to do everything we can to preserve it.

  She sniffles and wipes her nose with her hand. I don’t even have a tissue to offer her.

  “You were really brave back there,” I continue. I have no idea how to deal with this. “I’m really proud of the way you handled yourself. It’s okay to be scared because we all are. But we have to keep going so we stay safe. Do you think you can do that?”

  She takes a few moments before she nods. “I don’t want to die, Maisy.”

  “I don’t want to die either.”

  “Neither do I,” Garlind and Rhys say in unison.

  It’s such a little thing, the way they sound like twins, but it’s enough to break the tension. Sarah lets out the first giggle and then we all collapse like dominoes.

  Our laughter chases the birds away from the nearest trees. We laugh and giggle until we’re breathless and sitting on the ground, completely useless.

  It feels so good to let out some of the stress that was boiling inside me. We needed this. We needed to have something to release the fear and sadness enveloping us. I’ve never laughed so hard before and it never felt this good before.

  We sit here in a pile of leaves until we quiet down and recover. It’s the first break we’ve taken all day. We might be hungry and fatigued, but we’ve still got each other. We’ve still got our lives.

  We won today.

  That seems like accomplishment enough for now.

  I wait for Garlind to be the hard taskmaster and insist we keep going. But he doesn’t. He stares up at the trees’ canopy and the blue sky that flickers in the gaps.

  It would be nice to stay here all day but my stomach growls for food and I yearn for a safe place to sleep. “It’s getting dark,” I say. “We’re going to have to find shelter before too long.”

  “You’re probably right,” he sighs.

  I get up and reach out a hand to help Sarah to stand. She gives me a smile and all traces of her tears are gone. She’s helped the rest of us by letting her emotions through. She probably has no idea just how much we needed it.

  It’s already dark by the time we reach the next town. The forest opens up and spits us out on a road that has seen better days. Leaves scatter in the wind along the tarred pavement. They make a rustling sound that is almost soothing.

  We keep going in the near-darkness until we stumble across a house. The driveway leads off the road, the letterbox still stands on a single wooden pole. I can’t even comprehend a world where people got mail delivered to their house.

  The drive is long and has several curves before we find the house. It’s made from wood with a sturdy roof made out of tiles. Decades worth of leaves and debris clutter the gutters and sit in heaped mounds that can be seen from below.

  The windows are intact and the front door is locked. If Lady Luck is with us, the house might be exactly as it was left seventeen years ago. It could be full of supplies.
<
br />   I hope there is food inside.

  Garlind gives the door a good kick and it swings open after a few tries. The stench of mold and mildew assaults my sense of smell. My hand covers my mouth and nose to try to filter some of the toxic spores.

  Immediately inside is a living room with a sofa and television set. The kitchen is to the right with a hallway that leads away in the middle. We wander around on our own, choosing a room and exploring it for anything that may be of use to us.

  I end up in a bedroom. A large bed takes up most of the space. The base has succumbed to rot so the mattress sits at a slanted angle. Someone made the bed before they left. I wonder if they thought they’d return one day.

  A dresser is in better condition against the wall. I go through and pull out any clothes that are still viable. I score a few cotton shirts and shorts. A light pink dress that is a little big for me makes it in the cut too.

  The bathroom has some soap leftover in a cupboard. I can wash off the mold and salvage the bars when I find some water. A handful of prescription pill bottles are in a cabinet over the sink. I take them all.

  In the second bedroom, I find some backpacks and stuff in all the items I’ve found. There are two of them so I save one for the others and whatever they might have found.

  The house feels cozy, even though it’s been so long since it was anyone’s home. It’s a shame it has to sit here all alone and unloved. It seems like the owners really looked after it before they left. They were probably very sad to leave it behind.

  Where did they go?

  I join the others in the living room and we share what we’ve found. There was a small amount of salvageable food in cans but the real find were several jars of homemade jam. We can have a feast with the sweet spread. We’ll be riding sugar highs all night.

  Garlind doesn’t revel in our find for too long. “We’ll rotate so there is someone keeping watch all night. Philip might leave us alone but he could also have sent a team to find us. We close all the curtains and only have minimal light inside. The first sign of anyone outside and we run. Any questions?”

  Nobody speaks. We all know what is at risk here. If we’re not vigilant, we’ll end up dead. I promised myself I would be more cautious and giving up some sleep is a small sacrifice to make.

  “Can we all sleep in the living room? Together?” Sarah asks.

  “Of course we can,” I reply. I have no desire for my own space right now. We just went through a horrible experience together. There is safety in numbers.

  I take the first watch and set the timer I found in the kitchen for three hours’ time. The night will pass quickly when we rotate. I know I’m more than ready for some shut-eye.

  It’s completely black outside. Only the tiniest shreds of moonlight make it through the trees and some lingering clouds make it even harder. I open the window a crack so I can hear for any approaching footsteps or noises that shouldn’t be there.

  I tiptoe around the house to check all sides of the home. Our enemy can attack from any direction, there is no guarantee they’ll come walking up the driveway like we did.

  It’s all quiet and still outside. I keep walking around to stay awake. I can’t nod off on my shift or everyone will be at risk. I have to remain alert and watching. Always watching.

  Finally, my three hours is up and I wake Rhys for his shift. He stirs awake and blinks a few times before remembering his duty. “Any problems?”

  “No, nothing,” I reply.

  He gets up and I lie down. I fall asleep the moment my eyes are closed. I’m too exhausted to dream. If I do, I don’t remember any of them.

  I sleep straight through until morning. Everybody is already up by the time I’m conscious. Garlind sits next to me, offering a friendly and welcomed smile. “Good morning.”

  I rub my eyes a few times before I can really focus. I sit up and stretch, feeling all the soreness of my muscles as they strain. “Did anything happen during the night?” I ask. The fact I wasn’t woken is a good sign but I worry I might have slept through something big. I was that tired.

  He shakes his head. “Nah, all quiet. I’m thinking we might stay here for another night. It seems safe enough and we could all use the rest.”

  I’m in two minds about it. I really want to get far, far away from Philip and his group but I also really, really want to just rest for a while. We all need some time to nurse our sore muscles and heavy hearts.

  At the end of the day, I trust Garlind’s judgment. If he thinks it’s safe enough here, then that’s good enough for me. “Resting sounds like a good idea. I’m sure our bodies will appreciate it.”

  “It also looks like it might rain out.”

  I lift an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Yeah. If we need a sign to stay, I think that’s it.”

  “Agreed.”

  The four of us share some jam for breakfast. It would taste amazing on some crackers but all we can do is eat it straight from the jar by itself. The sweetness of the raspberry flavor pours over my tongue.

  For something to occupy our time, we search the house again more thoroughly. We’ve got all day so can go through every little thing in every room. We find some blankets and another bag that we can use to carry supplies.

  The plates and glasses in the kitchen cupboard are all neatly stacked and matched. The owners cleaned out the refrigerator before they left so they didn’t have to come home to a smelly mess.

  Everything about them says they really cared about their things. My parents were like that too. Maybe it was because our entire life was contained in a steel bunker, but they always put away their things straight away and cleaned everything. You could have eaten off the floor it was so clean.

  Around noon, I find Garlind outside in the garden. It’s overgrown but full of flowers that are surviving despite the weeds and long grass. They were probably meticulously kept before but there is still so much beauty in their wildness. Maybe even more so now they are free to grow however they like.

  Garlind picks off a daisy and hands it to me. “This is almost as beautiful as you are.”

  Heat rises to my cheeks and I’m unable to meet his gaze as I accept the flower. Its delicate white petals flap in the breeze. It might not have rained yet, but I’m pretty certain it will by the end of the day.

  “I’ve been thinking about Washington,” Garlind starts, idly spinning a daisy stem between his fingers. “If we have a few good days, we might make it there within a week.”

  “I mentioned our plan to Philip. He said it was ridiculous to think we might be able to contact the former government,” I reply.

  “He said the same to me. Also said we were fools.”

  “Same.”

  “Maybe we are fools for trying.”

  I look up to meet his gaze. “It’s still better to try though, right? We can’t just give up when we’ve come this far. It’s our one and only plan.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” His forehead creases with worry. “I know there is a risk that we’re going all that way for nothing but what about if we’re right? What if we can find some help and really start something?”

  “The potential payoff is bigger than the risk of trying,” I say. “Even if it’s all for nothing, at least we know. If we never go to Washington DC, we’ll never know if there was something we could have done.”

  “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

  I want to tell him we’ll always be on the same page but still my tongue. It’s hard to say something like that without the potential of being hurt.

  Garlind continues. “I’m wondering if it’s best if we leave Sarah and Rhys behind. Maybe in a small town where there are supplies and relative safety. We could find anything in a big city like Washington. It could be really dangerous.”

  “I want to protect them too. What we went through back there, it really affected Sarah. She’s too young for all this. And Rhys, I know he says he’s fine and he is getting better, but he should be taking i
t easy. They’re good together, they can look after each other.”

  “Exactly my thoughts. We can come back and find them again afterwards.”

  “They won’t be left behind easily,” I point out. All four of us are as stubborn as they come but I’m certain Sarah is the worst. She can argue all day and still not give up on something.

  “We could sneak off in the night, leave them a note.”

  “We could.”

  The girl’s voice behind us makes us both jump. “You’re going to leave us behind?”

  Sarah’s eyes are huge and watery. Her mouth hangs open to form an ‘O’. I really wish she wouldn’t sneak up on us. This was the exact reason why I considered leaving a note instead of telling her to her face.

  “It could be really dangerous in Washington,” I start. I know I’m walking on hot coals right now and have to be very careful not to get burned. “Garlind and I were thinking it would be much safer for you to stay behind. We’ll return once we’ve seen what’s happening in the city.”

  “No, you won’t. You’ll forget about me and I’ll never see you again.” She crosses her arms over her chest and pouts. “You’re treating me like a little kid. I don’t need anyone looking after me.”

  “I know. You’re strong and brave, you’ve proven that to us many times. But Washington is a really big, important place. It’s silly risking all of us when we don’t have to.”

  Rhys joins us at that moment. The expression on his face tells me he’s heard what we’ve just been discussing. “Why are you always trying to leave me behind?”

  I shoot a ‘help me’ look to Garlind. I feel like I’m just digging myself a deeper hole. I need someone to lower down a step ladder so I can get out.

  Garlind takes it up. “It’s not about leaving anyone behind. It’s about splitting up so we all have the best chance of Washington going well. Maisy and I can go in and check things out. If we find it safe, we can bring you two in. If we don’t return, you know it’s gone very badly.”

  “Bullshit,” Rhys curses. I’ve never heard him swear before. Perhaps we’ve pushed his patience one step too far this time. “You just want to cut the slack and be the heroes. Well, we all contribute to this group. You can’t do it without us.”