Surviving This Life

by Rodgers, Salice

  ***

  It’s been four days since my accident and Tony still insists on treating me like I am some fragile little girl.

  “Would you please stop fussing over me? I can put my shoes on myself!” I snatch my shoe from his hands and pull them on my sock covered feet aggravated.

  “I am just trying to help you baby,” he says as he pushes my hair out of my face.

  “I know you are but it has been four days I am totally fine now. The headaches stopped a few days ago. So you can stop trying to help me with everything.” I look up at him after I tug my last shoe on. “I am happy you care and want to help, I really am, but come on now I am not three I can put my own shoes on.” I smile and kiss him on the nose. “Come on Cade wanted us all to meet in the kitchen he has something to tell us.” I rub my hands together like it’s going to be a juicy secret.

  “Maybe Wil is pregnant with their love child.” Tony laughs and follows me down the stairs.

  Cade looks around the full table. Grant and Melody, Jose and his family, Emily, Wil, Tony and I.

  “Thank you all for coming. I just wanted you all to know that I am leaving. I can’t stay here with memories of my dead family surrounding me.”

  “You’re not fucking leaving me!” Wil says jumping up from her seat causing all of us to look at her.

  He smiles at her. “As much as I would love to stay with you forever I can’t stay here babe.”

  “I am going with you! Liv please say we are going too! I can’t go through this pain again!” she begs turning her eyes towards me.

  “Uh…” I look over to Tony and then over to Emily. ”Wil I don’t think it’s safe out there for Em. Where would we even go?” I ask looking to Cade.

  “I am not asking any of you to go with me. But I am heading up to the mountains. I have a vacation house up on Smoky Mountain, that’s where I am headed,” he says.

  “Liv I have loved you like a sister for a long time, but look beside you, would you let him leave and not go too? I am going. You’re welcome to stay.” And with that Wil walks out of the kitchen.

  “Wow,” Tony whispers to no one in particular.

  “Are y’all even together?” I ask looking at Cade a little annoyed.

  “I know that I don’t want to be away from her. I know that with each day she is here she is my breath of fresh air in all the bull-shit this world has handed us and I haven’t had that in a long time,” he replies.

  “She has never and I mean EVER chose a guy over me. Even when Dev begged her to move with him two hours away she wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t leave me. And now here you are and she is ready to just throw me aside and go off with you?” I huff. “You must be a really good fuck.” I roll my eyes.

  “Think about it Olivia, when he asked her to move away there was always the option that she could jump in her car and go to him. There was never flesh eaters in the way, it was a simple two hour drive. Now that simple two hour drive could take weeks and cost you your life. She has already lost one person. What do you want me to do? Tell her I don’t want her to go?”

  “No that would crush her, then I would have to kick your ass,” I sigh. “Just stay Cade. We are safe. Emily is safe. We can make it here. So stay with her. Don’t take her away from her family,” I plead.

  “Have you looked on the walls in the living room Olivia? The walls down the hallway? Or how about the bedroom my parents and sister slept in? Maybe the room that my brother or my niece stayed in? Everyone I have ever known or loved is dead and all of that started with this house. I am not asking any of you to go with me. I will tell her to stay. It is safer here for all of you with the fence. But I have no family here. Maybe that isn’t something any of you can understand but for me it is clear. I am sorry.”

  “You’re being very difficult Mr. Tough Guy,” I sigh “Fine we will go, but I swear if you make me regret this I will end you.”

  “I can’t and won’t ask you to put Em or yourselves in that kind of danger. I just know I can’t stay. What you choose to do can’t be put on me Olivia, that isn’t fair.”

  “Can’t be put on you? My best friend all but told me to shove it she was going with you. I have looked out for her since the day we met and I’ll be damned if I am going to stop now because you and her think you are in love or something. Hell you barely know each other! Tell me Cade what is her middle name? When is her birthday? How old is she? Does she like dogs or cats? Can you tell me any of that? No you can’t! But you are willing to put her life in danger because you can’t stand a few pictures on the wall. Hell burn em! This is so fucked up I swear!” I storm out of the kitchen and go to find Willow the traitor.

  “WILLOW SKIE SAMUELS!” I yell as I march my way up the stairs. “YOU BETTER GET YOUR TRAITOROUS ASS OUT HERE NOW!”

  Willow is throwing things from the room that she has been staying in into the hallway. Once I knock a few flying objects out of my way I spot her on the other side of the bed.

  “How could you say those things?!”

  “Me say those things? What the fuck about you! You are ready to leave me behind for some guy you don’t even know!” I say in angry voice.

  “Take a look around Liv! Open your eyes for one second and stop being so quick to blame! No, we haven’t known each other long, but he is the one person in all of this besides you that I don’t want to lose! You have Tony, I lost Devin and I don’t want to lose someone else! Why is that so bad for me to want to be happy to? Is that not okay? Or is that only allowed for you?” She turns to me and I see pain and venom in her eyes all at once.

  “You don’t want to lose me but you are ready to up and leave me to go with him? Have you ever stopped to think about anyone other than yourself? What about Emily? Huh? And give me a break Wil! You know you deserve to be happy I just didn’t know that for you to be happy you had to abandon me.” I turn away and go to walk out. She doesn’t need to see the tears and pain in my eyes. Even when I am pissed off at her I still try and protect her. Cade better hope like hell he doesn’t hurt her or get himself hurt. “I will go pack up Emily’s things,” I say in almost a whisper as I leave her room.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Willow the Traitor

  As I throw the last bag into the back of Cade’s Hummer I see everyone gathered on the steps to tell us goodbye. I walk over and stand by Cade.

  “You take care of them,” Grant says looking at Cade and Tony.

  “We will,” they say in unison.

  “You take care of that woman of yours and don’t let her run away again,” Cade chuckles to Grant.

  Grant puts his arm around Melody, “Oh she isn't getting out of my sight again.” He pulls her close to him and she smiles.

  “Grant is a good man Melody, don’t let his past stop you from being his future,” I say and smile at Grant.

  “I won’t, but he better not keep anything from me again.” She winks at Grant.

  “Jose take care of this place for me would you?” Cade says shaking Jose’s hand.

  “Yes sir,” Jose says.

  Alejandra comes up and pulls Cade into a hug, “Cuidate,” she says as she hugs him a little tighter.

  “I will Alejandra. You keep Jose and them kids in line. Voy a Alejandra a mantener Jose en ellos los ninos en linea,” Cade says to her and pulls back from the hug and stands back by my side.

  She nods and wipes the tears from her eyes as she moves back to stand by her husband and kids.

  I look over to Emily who is crying and hugging Alejandra and her kids.

  “I...I will probably never see you again so please stay safe and color lots of pictures. You can have my room now Maria. I know how much you liked it in there. I only took one Barbie you can have the rest.” She sniffles and runs over to Liv. Liv picks her up and shushes her. She walks away with her in her arms to the car.

  As she passes me she mumbles, “I hope you are happy with yourself.”

  Tony is right on her heels and opens the door for her.

  “
Well I guess we should be going now,” Cade says.

  “Are you sure y’all have enough food to get you to the next town?” Grant asks.

  “Yeah we are pretty loaded down,” I say as I step up and give Grant a quick hug.

  He shoves something in my hands. I look down and see the set of forks he used to save me.

  “Take care of yourself Wil. And don’t shut Liv out, she is your best friend, remember that.”

  I don’t regret my decision as I sit in the front seat and watch all the run down houses we pass by. I wish that Liv would look at things from my side. I have never chosen anyone over her, but the world is different now and I know in my heart she would do the same thing if she was in my shoes and it was Tony that wanted to leave. I will miss all of our friends there and wish I could see the baby when it is born, but there is no way I could have stood on that porch and watched Cade drive away and live with myself.

  We drive until the sun goes down and then some. I look over at the clock on the dashboard, 12:47 AM.

  “Are you getting tired yet?” I ask Cade in a whisper because I can hear Liv, Tony and Emily snoring peacefully in the back.

  “Nah I think I have a couple more hours in me. You need to get some rest though. I know you have to be exhausted.”

  “I’m fine.” I muffle a yawn.

  He chuckles, “Yeah you're just fine all right. Lean back in your seat and get some sleep babe.” He lifts my hand to his mouth and lightly kisses it.

  Hearing him call me babe causes my heart to speed up a little faster. The feeling of his lips on my hand causes it to want to burst out of my chest it is beating so fast. I yawn again and lean my seat back as far as I can without being in anyone’s lap and close my eyes.

  I feel the seat under me shake and I grumble out, “Quit moving my seat.” I pull my jacket, which I am using as a blanket closer under my chin.

  I try and ignore the shaking of my seat and go back to sleep but then I heard Emily scream to high heavens. My eyes pop open and I look around. I see eaters have the car swarmed. They are clawing and scratching at the windows trying to get in.

  “Oh. My. God! Cade!” I scream and turn to look in the direction of the driver seat. He isn’t there. I frantically turn around and see no one in the back seat but Emily. My heart is racing and my palms are sweaty. Where the fuck is everyone? I look at Emily who is curled up in the floorboard with her hands over her ears crying hysterically.

  “Em. Emily honey.” I reach over to her and touch her shoulder and she screams out. “Calm down baby it’s just me,” I say and she looks up at me and jumps up front and in my lap and wraps her shaking arms around me. Her whole body is trembling. “Emily honey I need you to listen to me.” I pull her back until she is looking at me. I hold each side of her face to make sure she is paying attention to me and not the eaters outside. “Emily where are Liv, Tony and Cade?” I ask trying to make my voice sound calm.

  “Th..They went out to use the bathroom. I didn’t have to go so I stayed here with you,” she answers as she cuts her eyes to nervously look at the eater that is pressed up against my window trying to bite through the glass to get to me.

  “How long ago has that been? Do you remember?” I ask her again to recall information that any kid shouldn’t remember, let alone a terrified kid.

  She shakes her head and cries, “I don’t know Willow. I went back to sleep and when I woke up th.. the things were outside of the car.”

  “Okay baby. It’s going to be okay. Get back in the back and on the floor like you were and I will get us out of this,” I say to her and give her a reassuring hug.

  She quickly obeys me and I look around the car trying to think of something to get us out of this mess. What would Liv do? I think to myself. I glance over at the ignition and see the keys dangling from it. I hurriedly hop over the middle console and into the driver seat. I scoot the seat up so my feet can touch the pedals and I crank the car. The engine roars to life and I slowly press on the gas. The Hummer creeps forward but not by much. It reminds me of when it snows and the snow covers your feet. When you try and walk in it, it pulls your feet back down and you have to pull back even harder to walk.

  So I press a little harder on the gas and we move a little further. The eaters that were banging and crawling on the hood easily fall under it and I feel the tires crunch and bump over their bodies. There are a couple eaters still hanging on the side the hummer but I keep moving forward pressing a little more on the accelerator. Emily squeals out as an eater breaks the passenger side back window and digs his arms around until her has her by the hair. He pulls and tugs on her all while trying to cram more and more of his tattered body into the broken window.

  “WILLOW! WILLOW! HELP ME!” She screams. I shove the car in park and climb into the backseat. I grab his hand and yank it free of Emily’s hair. His whole upper body is shoved through the window and he reaches for me grabbing my shirt collar and pulling toward him. Emily dashes over to the other side of the car to avoid getting grabbed by him again. Smart girl. The eater fists my collar and pulls me closer to him. My face is inches from his gnarly looking teeth, which are chomping at the bit to sink into my cheek. I remember the forks Grant gave me and reach into my back pocket and pull them out. I bring both my hands up and shove the forks deep in his temples and he slumps forward. I jerk the forks out of his head and push him out of the window.

  I quickly climb back up front and behind the wheel. I tug the gear shifter down and into drive. I run down several more eaters until the view is clear. What the fuck am I going to do? Where are Liv and Cade?

  I slow down and look out of the back window scouring the road and along the wood line for any sign of Liv or Cade. I don’t see anything.

  “Emily stay here, stay down and be quiet. I am going to see if I can find Cade and Liv okay?”

  She looks up at me from behind her hands and slowly nods her head. “O..Okay W..Willow,” she stutters out clearly still terrified.

  I reach back and give her a one armed hug. “Everything will be okay Em, I promise,” I say to her before I grab my forks and aluminum bat and easily slide out of the car closing the door as quietly as I can so I don’t draw any of the eaters attention.

  I crouch down and run straight to the tree lines. I figure I can stay on the edge of the woods and walk a little ways back to look for everyone and still be hidden from any eaters. Plus, I can also keep an eye on the car easily as well.

  I try and keep my steps light as the leaves sound like shattering glass under my feet. I hop over any fallen limbs or sticks. My palms get sweaty as I just think about what that would sound like and how many eaters that would attract.

  When I first woke up there had to be at least a hundred eaters surrounding the Hummer. If we had been in a smaller car there is no doubt that it would have gotten over turned.

  As I make it about a football field and a half away from the Hummer I glance back to make sure there is nothing around it. There isn’t and Em is no doubt safe. So I push on going a little further. As I round a curve I can start to hear the faint moans and groans of the flesh eaters. They are coming closer and moving at a fast pace for eaters. Yeah they are still wobbling and stumbling, but they are moving none the less.

  I hear leaves crunch behind me and I freeze. I hesitantly turn my head and look over my right shoulder. An eater lunges for me as I do so and I instinctively step to the left and onto the road in open view as he falls to the ground. I catch the eye of the herd that was moving off into the other field across the road and they start coming right for me. I know I can’t run back to the car and put Emily in danger so I sprint down the road, hoping they will follow me.

  As I go to the top of a small hill the moaning grows louder. Once I scramble up the hill I come face to face with the giant herd that woke me up. Several reach out for me and I can’t just side step them because no matter where I turn one will still grab me. This is it Willow. Fight like hell. Take as many of them out as you can and that will gi
ve Emily at least a chance. I tighten my hands around my bat and get ready for a battle I know I will lose.

  I shut my eyes and swing. The bat hits what feels like a stone wall and the vibrations roll up my arms and kind of tickle my chest. I open my eyes to see what I could have hit to make it feel that way.

  Cade is standing right in front of me with his back to me. He isn’t standing straight but has his back arched and he lets out a scream and I know it was him I just hit. I don’t know if I am more in shock that I hit him or found him. He turns around and scoops me up in his arms and runs into the woods. He runs for about five minutes, until we come to a small cave. He rushes inside and that’s where I see Liv and Tony.

  He sets me back on my feet. “What in the hell were you thinking out there?!” He demands wrapping his arms around me.

  I loop my arms around his neck and hug him like my life depended on it. “Thank God you are okay!” I rain down kisses all over his face. “Thank God! Thank God! Thank God!” I repeat over and over as I leave trails of kisses over his lips and cheeks.

  I hear a throat clearing and pull away from him to see who just ruined my good time. I see Liv trying to look around us like she is expecting someone else to be here too.

  “WHERE THE HELL IS EMILY?!” She demands when she doesn’t see anyone.

  Oh shit Emily! I jerk away from Cade. “We got to go back to her the eaters were heading right for the car!” I exclaim.

  “YOU LEFT HER IN THE CAR ALONE??!!” Liv screams and shoves past me almost knocking me on my ass. “Which way is the car?” She glares at me.”

  “This way,” I say as I shove past her in the same manner as she just did to me.

  “Bitch,” she mumbles under her breath.

  “What did you say?” I ask

  “Nothing. I don’t have time for this. Once Emily is safe and in my arms then I will be more than glad to tell you what I said. But until then just fucking worry about getting us back to her.”