The Ones Who Lived

by Ashley Nemer

  AS THE SUN BEGAN TO rise for the day outside Anthony and Sam each awake and reviewing what they gathered in the house. The two friends discussed each of their lists compiled yesterday. Sam's food provisions and Anthony's living supplies each took up a page. Individually they searched the house looking for anything close to resembling a weapon or food. With the decision finalized last night, all food would be stored in the kitchen and all weapons in the garage. They didn't want Sunny getting into anything that might hurt her.

  Sam went outside to the back yard to assess the safety of the fence. Anthony observed Sam fortifying parts of it. In all probability it was a good idea, who knew what the future held or if anything sinister laid in their future? His dad had sprung for heavy duty wood for the fence about five years ago. It still held up through the hurricanes and was in great condition. After an inspection, the only issue discovered came in the form of parts of the wooden gate needing to be repaired. Sam found the spare two by fours in the garage and taken charge in its repair ensuring all of it functioned properly.

  Anthony found six guns in total including; two riffles, one shot gun, and three pistols, or at least what he thought a pistol looked like. Truth be told Amelia should have been doing the assessment for weapons and food, however she still slept. When he looked in on her he saw that Sunny was there, so he assumed the two girls experienced a rough night.

  "The three loose posts on the fence are now secure and ready for use. Do you know if there are any locks we might use to install on the fence to ensure people stay out?" Sam asked after he walked into the kitchen and started washing his hands.

  "Yeah I believe so, I'll go retrieve some out of the garage my dad has a few locks I think."

  Sam washing his hands made Anthony think of something he hadn't before, water. What would happen to their water supply? He had watched his mom pay a monthly bill however the idea where they got it from slipped past his recollection.

  "Hey man, if crap hits the fan do you have any idea if water will still flow?" He asked Sam after handing him two locks.

  "No clue. Isn't water like a natural thing?"

  Anthony moved his shoulders up and down, "No clue."

  Sam held up the locks, "What's the code for these, man?"

  "Easy, three fifteen four, Amy and my birthday."

  Sam rolled his eyes and walked back outside laughing to secure the two gates.

  "Morning." Amelia said from behind Anthony.

  He turned around and smiled, "Hey sis. How did you sleep? I saw you shared your bed with a visitor."

  "She got scared, but we slept alright. Better than I thought I would given what all happened yesterday."

  "Good, glad you were okay. I had nightmares all night, I couldn't wipe their images out of my mind. Been up for a while, easier than sleeping."

  Amelia walked to her brother and wrapped her arms around him giving him a hug. "I'm sorry Bub."

  "Me too Amy. Me to."

  After a momentary embrace, Amelia walked away from her brother and went towards the fridge. She looked like she was assessing the situation when her brother chimed in. "Sam went through the food supply already and made note of what we do and don't have."

  "Okay," Amelia said, "and what did Sam determine."

  "Food won't be an issue for a while."

  Amelia shook her head back and forth. "I should be the one doing this, most of our foods are perishables. We need to stock up on canned items, plus we need to get vegetables we can stock pile or can."

  "Seriously?" Anthony questioned.

  "Yes, don't you remember anything about survival?"

  "Some," he shrugged with his shoulders, "I am more suited in physical tasks than homemaker tasks."

  "Anthony! This isn't a homemaker task this is survival and I refuse to be offended by you first thing in the morning. I'll make a list and I'll handle food prep for the time being."

  The back door opened and both Anthony and Amelia turned around and acknowledged Sam as he enters the kitchen.

  "Morning Amelia. Thanks for taking care of Sunny last night."

  "No problem Sam, my pleasure." Amelia paused for a moment, “I tried calling Charlotte, and she didn’t answer at all. I spoke to Kelly last night, she is staying with Zach. She wasn’t able to get ahold of Charlotte either. I don’t know what is going on out there but this is scary.”

  Anthony lowered his head briefly and then looked at his sister, “I think we need to face the reality that life is changing forever. We need to worry about our immediate needs. As much as we love our friends I think the people in this house are who we focus on.”

  Sam nodded his heads, “Sadly I think you’re right.”

  Amelia let out a sigh and then she turned towards her brother and looked at him head on, "Sunny and I will go handle the food while you and Sam head out to do your stuff. We all need to meet back at the house by noon."

  "Amelia you and Sunny are not going out alone." Anthony declared.

  "We are, there are food things we need to acquire in order to ensure we don't suffer any immediate issues and you can't handle that."

  "I'm not okay with my little cousin roaming around right now alone." Sam interjected.

  "She won't be alone she will be with me and if we don't get a head start on some of these things people will wipe everything out. Boys now isn't the time to be babies, we all gotta step up." Mother taught Amelia to stand her ground, she was finally testing out her skill.

  Anthony regarded his sister, who thought she was a master of the art of ignoring both men in the room. He figured she had some agenda up her sleeve and didn't want them to interfere with it. "Sam you wanna grab something to eat and then head out?"

  "I was thinking of grabbing a banana and string cheese, which will be enough for me."

  "Good idea me too, Amy, be safe please. I love you and can't stomach anything happening to you."

  Amelia turned her head out from the fridge and then her whole body turned around. She reached out and handed each of them a cheese stick. "I love you guys too, and you all need to be just as careful, okay? Home by noon, no exceptions, anyone. And charge your cell phones!"

  "Yes ma'am" the guys said in unison.

  Anthony stepped over to his sister and gave her a hug and when he backed away he witnessed Sam do the same thing, except he added a kiss on her cheek. His mind did a double take, Anthony wondered what that was about and was going to ask about it on their way to handle errands today.

  "See you two later. Sunny and I will have a nice break from the noise with you two gone."

  Anthony rolled his eyes and watched Sam grab the keys to the car they came over in last night. They walked out of the kitchen and then out of the house, grabbing only their jackets in case it rained.

  "What's up with you and my sister?" Anthony wasted no time asking as they got into Sam's vehicle.

  "Nothing why?"

  "Don't try and give me a load of crap I'm not blind!"

  "Nothing happened Anthony."

  "Uh huh Sam, you better not hurt her I will beat your ass good if you do."

  The two didn't say much else for the five-minute drive to Sunny's house. When they pulled into her driveway both boys held their breath.

  "Thank God we left her with Amy." Sam said looking at the driveway.

  "They must have been driving when it happened." Anthony stated.

  Sam lowered his head, Anthony noticed a new sadness coming over his life-long friend. His voice was shaky, but Anthony could make out what he said. "I pray they didn't suffer."

  Amelia and Sunny had a quick egg and bacon breakfast before packing up a few essentials. They then piled in her car to head out. She didn't want to risk hearing anything on the radio with Sunny sitting right there next to her, so she pushed her CD button and her mixed disc started to shuffle through songs.

  "Where did Sam go?" Sunny's voice came out soft but the worried tone still evident in her voice.

  "He and my brother are going see if your folks are
okay and if they aren't then they will bring back some of your clothing and toys to our house."

  "My parents aren't okay. I know it." She said sadly.

  "We don't know yet Sunny, try to stay hopeful." Amelia knew it was a risky deal telling the little girl to have hope, but she just couldn't find it in her to talk about horrible deaths with the child. They all knew no one was alive looking for Sunny, Sam hadn't received any phone calls inquiring, or any replies or answers to his calls or texts. The guys had told her about the burial plans, somehow, Amelia just wanted to pretend a little longer.

  "If they are alive they would have called Sam's phone by now. I yelled at him for not keeping me where they thought I was."

  The conversation made Amelia's heart break. This little girl knew that her own fate was doomed, and she was sitting here with a practical stranger putting on a brave face. She could learn a lot from Sunny.

  "Are you sure you're okay Sunny?" When Amelia looked in her direction she noticed the pools of tears starting to form on her eyes. Seeing the little girl break down after being so strong was too much for Amelia. Without a moment's hesitation she pulled the car over to the side of the road and put it into park.

  Sunny looked over at Amelia and after she unbuckled her seat belt she jumped into Amelia's arms. The two clung together tight right there for twenty minutes each crying with one another. Their parents, gone, and there was nothing either of them could do to bring them back to life.

  "I'm sorry Sunny, I promise we will help you through this no matter what happens."

  "I know Amy, Sam would never leave me with someone he doesn't trust. That much makes me feel better."

  Such a smart girl she was, and that made Amelia want to protect her more. As she pulled out of her driveway she looked around at her neighbors' houses. A lot of people had one or two vehicles in their driveways, but no one was outside. Amelia didn't know if it was because everyone seemed to be dead like her parents or if it was because the four of them all acted scared.

  When she turned out onto the main drive heading to the grocery store she saw one other car on the road driving. The person behind the wheel was a man and he looked to be older than her. She had a moment of hope when she realized others were alive. Part of her wanted to follow the car because with no one answering at the police department or other family members, she didn't know if she would come across an adult again. However, the little girl next to her insisted on the grocery store, so that was where she drove.

  Traveling at a safe speed of forty miles per hour Amelia and Sunny made it to the parking lot of their destination five minutes later. There were plenty of vehicles in the parking lot, but no one was moving. It suddenly occurred to Amelia that they would be walking into a grave yard.

  "Sunny, make sure you stay next to me. We don't know what we will find when we go inside."

  "Okay Amy." Her soft voice responded with pain in her tone. As Amelia looked over at the child she saw tears forming.

  "Honey are you okay?"

  "Just scared."

  Amelia second that emotion, she was scared too, but they needed to do this to protect their survival.

  The two girls parked in front of the store not in a parking place, and walked towards the motion sensor doors. As they approached the doors parted and the girls walked inside. The stench of death wafted through the air and hit Amelia's nose making Amelia reach out for Sunny's hand. Holding each other tightly they grabbed one cart and made their way to the vegetable section. Amelia tried hard not to look at the bodies that were starting to decay along the floors.

  Hundreds of bodies began to decompose in the store and Amelia felt her stomach churning with disgust. What would cause all of this? The two tried to just focus on their task at hand. They grabbed ten heads of lettuce then moved to the potato section. Then they grabbed ten ten-pound bags of russet potatoes, six bags of the five pounds of red potatoes, and then they tossed in over twenty of the sweet potatoes. As they approached the corn Sunny tossed in as many ears of corn that laid out on display. Amelia went over to the carrots and cleared out everything she could and as Sunny pushed the cart forward Amelia tossed in tomatoes and peppers until most of the selections were inside their cart.

  "I think we are going to need another cart." Amelia said out loud.

  "I can go get us one." Sunny offered.

  "Okay, but be quick about it." Amelia didn't want the little girl out of her sight for very long.

  As she looked around the Publix Grocery store she realized she should also stock up on toiletries. Who knew what they were in store for.

  "Here we go!" Sunny was smiling as she pushed the cart over towards Amelia dodging the dead bodies. It was probably the sense of pride she got from helping.

  "Take this full cart and go over to the fruit. Pile up anything you can find that you like to eat. Like strawberries, blueberries, bananas, apples, just anything you want."

  "I can do that."

  Watching her push the heavy cart across the aisle made Amelia feel bad for not helping, but she wanted to keep the girl busy. Now she needed to find easy non-perishable foods. "I'm going over to this aisle, I will be right back."

  With a nod from Sunny acknowledging her, she turned towards the cereal aisle and made her way down the rows. After settling on Fruit Loops, Cheerios and Rice Crispy she put all the boxes she could find in the cart and then made her way to the canned food aisle. She tossed in soups, vegetables, pastes, anything she could think of. Sunny came running down the row to find her, she had left the cart where it had been.. “I think we need another cart!” She claimed. After retrieving a third cart, together they walked over to the paper product aisle and put several paper towels and toilet papers into the basket along with trash bags and cleaning products. As they were walking back to pick up the other cart Sunny pulled Amelia's shirt stopping them in front of the candy aisle.

  "Can we get some?" Sunny looked innocent as she stared at an M & M display.

  "Of course, sweetie." They piled in an assortment of treats and then made their way to the other basket. Since the one Amelia filed up with non-perishables was lightest she had Sunny push that one as they went to their car. After loading everything into brown bags for easy storage they piled the groceries inside the trunk and back seat took some time but once both carts were empty Amelia realized she forgot one important thing. They took the carts back towards the soda aisle where she put a dozen cases of bottled water into two carts and went back to their vehicle. They barely had enough room for all the supplies.

  "How long do you think this will keep us?" Sunny asked.

  "No clue, but we can come back if we think we need more after we unload all of this stuff."

  Amelia took advantage of all of the paper bags around. Once the groceries were handled she grabbed extra stacks of paper bags and tossed them onto the pile of goods.

  “What do we need those for?” Sunny asked.

  “Never know when we will need help starting a fire and need kindling.” Amelia spent many nights with her father camping. She knew how hard it could be to find kindling if you weren’t prepared.

  The girls drove back to Amelia's house in silence listening to the music that played in the speakers. When they turned into the subdivision Amelia noticed that now there appeared to be some kids in the neighborhood walking around. No adults just kids, exactly like it was at the store, only adults died. Except they didn't see any other children at the store.

  "Do you think these kids will want the food we have with us?" Sunny inquired.

  Amelia thought about that, she didn't know how long life was going to be rough and she didn't want to share food with all the kids in her neighborhood. "I don't know but I think it would be best if we kept it a secret that we have all of this."

  As they pulled into her drive way she opened the garage door with the remote and backed the car into the safety of her house. She made sure the garage door was closed all the way before she got out of her car.

  "Why did
we do that?" Sunny asked.

  "Just to keep us safe kid, always have to be prepared."

  "Oh."

  The girls assessed the best way to unload and store their food. Amelia decided it would be best to move everything into the kitchen where she could better access how to store the items. It took both of them about an hour of working before the car was emptied and the items were organized. Nothing that they brought home required refrigeration which was what Amelia had wanted. She opened the pantry and decided the cereal and canned items can easily be stored in there where the rest of their stock had been. It was the vegetables that she worried about. To keep Sunny busy, she had her divide all the toilet paper up by the three bathrooms they occupied and dispersed them accordingly.

  Before Amelia knew it, the time had flown by and it was now a quarter to noon and her stomach began growling. She was famished, and she knew the boys were about to be back and they would be hungry too. She looked around the refrigerator to decided what she would be making for lunch.

  The two guys slowly walked into Sam's aunts' home. They had seen his aunt and uncle in their vehicle smashed into the garage. The blood from the impact of the vehicle with the brick house was a sight that both boys won't ever forget. Sam's uncle had his nose bashed in and blood was covering his body. His aunt had her eyes wide open staring back at them when they looked in the car. Sam won't be able to explain the image to Sunny, ever.

  "Sam come on." Anthony encouraged his friend to continue walking into the house. They didn't spend any time downstairs instead they moved up the one flight of steps and walked into Sunny's room. Here they found one backpack, which Anthony knew would not suffice in depth enough for packing. "I'll go look for a suitcase." He said.

  As he walked out of the girl's room he heard his friend start going through items. Sam knew his aunt and uncle would be dead but seeing the image was too much for anyone. Anthony found two more suit cases in the hall closet, he brought them back to the room and set them on the bed.

  "How about we fill the backpack with toys and stuffed animals then the two suitcases with clothing."