by Misti Vanhoy
The fire spread quickly throughout the house. The trail of leaves and gas had done what I intended them to do. I couldn’t be happier, either! As the flames danced in my eyes, an evil smile lit up my face yet again. I had to admit it: nothing made me happier then being my evil self. Hiding it was only painful and it gave me migraines. This was the real me and I wasn’t going to hide again.
I watched only a few more seconds before starting my bike and turning it to the road. No guilt ate away at me. I hadn’t felt that good in years! I wasn’t going to miss her in the least bit, I was sure. That was the best thing about being me! It was all so easily turned on and off. I couldn’t care if she died! I rode off into the distance without so much as a look over my shoulders, heading to Louisiana and the rest of my life. I had no idea what was in store for me, but I could care less at that point in my life. Whatever happened, it would erase away the memories of this bitch and the four years I had to spend with her family.
Chapter 21
I could hear all the commotion outside and downstairs, but I wasn’t worried about what happened now. I sat there with the door locked in the tub wishing I could just go back to my old life. I wanted to think this was all a really long, drawn-out dream and I would wake up to my normal life. Normal sounded pretty good to me. I would be the happiest woman alive if I could just go back.
The sound of Reagan’s bike starting alerted me that something was wrong. She rarely ever went out at night. Maybe she felt it was safe since we hadn’t seen any zombies or people after leaving the city. You never knew with her why she did anything, though. I got up, braced myself mentally for whatever I was about to walk into, and slowly left the bathroom. For all I knew, the undead had entered the home and it was no longer safe here.
Smoke came barreling up the stairs, filling the hallway with thick, black plumes. I choked on its suffocating vapors as my eyes filled with tears. In all these years, I never had to worry about fire. You had to be stupid to light something on fire that could provide you with life-saving protection. These past twenty-four hours really were hell on Earth. It was in that moment that I realized why Reagan had left this place.
I dropped to my hands and knees, begging for a quick death. Even knowing that I deserved to suffer excruciating pain for all I’d done and who I’d let down, I prayed for forgiveness of all sins and for mercy on my worthless soul. I didn’t want to die at the hands of Reagan or Brantley. I didn’t want to die this way in a fire.
I crawled to the closest bedroom I could find, shutting the door behind me. I stumbled on my way to my feet, but was able to make it to the window quickly. I pulled up on it, but it didn’t budge. Desperately, I turned the latch and pulled up again. It still refused to budge. This was not good!
In a fit of panic and fear, I pulled out my knife, turned it so that I clung on closest to the blade, and swung at the glass. I cracked it with the first hit, but pain seared through my hand as it slid off the hilt and up the blade. I cried out as a sharp heat radiated from the cut, but picked up my knife and swung on the glass again. I wasn’t going to give up. A dislocated shoulder and a palm cut wide the hell open weren’t going to stop me from surviving these past few days. The window shattered completely, sending glass fragments everywhere. Cutting a piece of fabric loose from the curtain, I quickly wrapped my hand up and climbed through the window to escape the smoke that was now filling the room. My body took over, shutting out all thoughts of fear and death.
Out on the overhang of the porch, I could see the entire landscape around the house. A set of headlights were barreling toward us and I could hear the faint sound of bass coming with it. I wasn’t sure how the gang had found us, but I knew that they were probably leading a group of zombies behind them. I was in serious trouble now. I needed to get out of here.
Looking out toward the barn, my heart stopped. The sting of reality plunged into my heart like a million needles. My eyes welled up with tears instantly and the pain I felt in my chest was awful. I fell to my knees and cried hysterically as Brantley and Samantha shuffled away from the barn. They walked around in small circles, dazed and blinded, in search of food. Brantley’s pants were missing, confirming my beliefs about him all these years. He had raped my sister after he let her turn. He had taken advantage of an innocent child at death’s door and I knew without a doubt that he had tried while she was still living.
My shoulders shook violently with each sob that escaped my body. It was bad enough knowing she was dead, but I couldn’t handle the fact that she had turned because of Brantley. It wasn’t supposed to be that way… I was supposed to be the one to drive my knife through her skull before she could become one of them. He had taken that from me and I hated him with all I had. I felt it; a white heat burning from deep inside my body somewhere. I was going to kill him myself!
That burning flame inside me matched the intensity of the fire burning the house down right under my feet. Now was the time to strike. They were blinded by the fires and would never see me coming. I walked the length of the overhang and located a trellis to climb down. I could clearly see that it had been nailed to the house so it would be safe for me to use, or at least should be. Before my flame burned out and I was left too scared to climb down, I forced my legs to the edge and descended swiftly, skipping several rungs at a time. My heart beat rapidly with fear that didn’t want to be extinguished.
At the bottom, it was obvious that they had picked up my scent. The smell of the blood that still oozed out of the cut on my hand had wafted their way. Their noses sticking up in the air in search of the origin of the smell gave them the look of a couple of dogs that smelled bacon cooking. Fear had no place in my heart. I walked briskly over to Brantley, knife in hand, and didn’t hesitate to deliver a death blow to his head with it. He crumpled at the sudden loss of brain activity, bringing a smile to my face. I watched him lay there, motionless, dead because of me. I could not have been happier with myself! He deserved to be in more pain, but Sammy had done a good job of it herself.
Samantha had heard the raucous and came barreling in our direction. I stood there in the same spot and waited. Our eyes seemed to lock onto one another, unfaltering. Just as she was a foot or so from Brantley’s body, I jumped back a few paces. Her foot caught Brantley’s torso and she tumbled down across his still body, hitting her head on a rock with a crunch when she hit the ground. I reacted violently as soon as she was down. The heat from inside bubbled up and out. I knelt by her head and grabbed a handful of her straw-covered blonde hair. I jerked her head up to look at her face as I shoved the blade of my knife, still covered in mine and Brantley’s blood, through her skull. Her limp body and dead stare sent me over the edge of oblivion. I had just killed my sister for the second time. My consciousness shut down on me and pure instinct took over. Another safety mechanism my brain had to protect me from bad things.
As the headlights crested the top of the hill by the house, I ran into the woods to avoid capture. I made it to the tree line just as they pulled up into the driveway. I crouched down to watch as five armed gunmen exited the vehicle and formed a v-pattern to the passenger side of the headlights. They moved together like a synchronized swim team as they cautiously walked toward the burning house and the bodies of my fallen group stacked together by the barn. Their guns were poised in position in case something jumped out at them, a flashlight in their left hands. For a bunch of gang members, they were as well-trained as a military unit, and they moved as such.
They checked out the bodies first. The man on point nudged Samantha’s head than spoke to his comrades in hushed tones. While most of them surveyed the fires, one of them aimed a flashlight to the ground and walked around in slow circles radiating outward from Sammy and Brantley. He stopped a few feet from them, standing between the scene of the massacre and where I sat in hiding, and motioned for his people to come to him.
My heart stopped beating once more as the leader bent down to examine whatever was under the light and looked up toward my directi
on. They knew I was here… It felt as though he could see through these trees and was looking directly at me. Paralysis crept into every corner of my brain and my extremities felt heavier than steel. Fear froze me to the spot and the ache in my lungs told me I had been holding my breath as well. I let out the air carefully and forced my legs up under me so that I could stand slowly. All sudden movement would give away my position to them. I bent my knees slightly and was about to run almost blindly through the woods without stopping until I was shot or they lost the trail. Unless I fell victim to zombies before either of those would happen. I could only hope… At least then I would die for sure instead of being tortured.
They reassembled their v-pattern and quickly walked toward the tree line. Without thinking, my flight instinct kicked in and I bolted deeper into the woods. Shots rang out, followed closely by the swish and pops of bullets hitting leaves and tree trunks all around me. I was pelted by bark several times as I weaved in and out around the trees to the best of my seeing ability. No matter how strong that night light was, it couldn’t penetrate the thick canopy. The massive tree tops prevented any light from seeping through and the low intensity of the light waves stood no chance.
I could feel the branches leaving scratches on my body as they hit me and the thorns tore at my skin as I stumbled through thick bushes of it. I slid down a steep creek bank and hit the water before I even heard the babbling of the river. Drenched through my clothes from stomach down, I waded across to the other side. I ignored the chill that developed quickly in my body from the combination of cold water and cool night temperatures. I kept sliding back down the creek bank on the other side every time I tried to climb out. I just couldn’t catch my footing no matter how desperately I tried to clutch at branches and roots with my hands. The angle of it and the slick mud made it impossible.
Covered in mud and even more drenched, I paused in my useless endeavors to take stock of my situation. They were closing in. I could hear their clumsy feet crashing through the woods. I couldn’t get up this bank in front of me and there was no wading through it as it would be noisy enough to alert them to what I was doing. I couldn’t see well enough to find a hiding spot, either. To my disappointment, the blue nightlight didn’t reach this deep into the woods to make a difference. I could try to hide in the water and hold my breath, but for how long? Would I drown before they left me alone?
Safety may lie at the nightlight! I needed to get there to see at all costs. They could protect me from these gang members, right? They had to. I mean, they wouldn’t have been able to survive this long if they couldn’t protect themselves. I pictured an armed military safe house waiting for me at the base of that light. It was all I could hope for. I knew it would be too good to be true, but my rationality had long flown out the window.
They were getting even closer, but they didn’t seem to have flashlights any longer. I couldn’t see anything that well, but I could hear them. Survival mode kicked in. I ran as fast as I could through the water, following the current toward the nightlight. I watched the form of the bank for any change in slope or darkness. A darker spot meant a cave for me to hide in and a smaller angled slope would be my ticket out of here. I would take anything I could get right now.
I could hear yelling over the sound of the water splashing under my feet, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. I knew they heard me and would follow the bank after me if they could figure out which way I went. I needed to push myself harder, faster. I had to get away. These men were serious about the transgressions I had committed and wanted me to pay. I wished I hadn’t killed their men…
My heartbeat pounded away in my chest like a drum trying to keep an impossible rhythm. I finally understood what a deer felt like being hunted down. It was a truly frightening experience to be on this side of the gun. I was so glad that I had never participated in the sport of hunting, but at the same time it didn’t feel right to be reaping my karma this way. It was more fitting that I should suffer the consequences of what I had actually done instead of feeling like this group’s quarry. If I could see my face, I would probably say I had the ‘deer in the headlight’ look down pat.
I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand why I was being hunted down like a rabid dog. I hadn’t done anything for this to be happening to me. It was all their fault. Everything that had happened today was all their doing! Losing our home, my family, and all that was important to me. If I hadn’t been outnumbered, I’d kill them all to get revenge for my family.
Lost in my own thoughts, I reached a section of the water that was worse than what I had began in. The current was much swifter and it repeatedly knocked me off of my feet, impeding my escape. Each time I fought to regain control, my pursuers gained distance on me. In desperation, I hurriedly searched for a way out of this water before it found a way to take me under, and keep me. There had to be a way out from this mess. I couldn’t have survived all this for nature to take me now.
With the little light my eyes could pick up, I could see on the opposite bank that there was an overhang up ahead of me. I maneuvered myself to grab for it as I went by and hopefully pull myself up. I reached up blindly as the current got the best of me yet again and clutched desperately to the roots hanging down. They were just strong enough to hold onto in order to help myself back to my feet so that I could reach up to the edge and pull up. I sighed in relief for a moment as it seemed that my luck could be changing.
I strained momentarily as my tired arms tried to give out before I could find a foothold. I kicked out wildly to find a hole, or to make one in the soft mud. It gave me an impression of a bear that had gotten too big to continue climbing. It seemed like ages, but my left foot caught onto something immediately and I hoisted myself up the rest of the way. I rolled away from the overhang and hunkered down behind a giant oak tree. I sank down against the soft ground and held my breath, waiting to see what the others did.
I heard them pause across the river from the overhang and they called out, “We will find you! We won’t stop until we do!” A splash sounded in the silence that had followed their threat. My heart stopped beating as though it knew it could be heard by my pursuers. I closed my eyes and prayed that if I made it through this I would never doubt the man upstairs again.
The shuffling that was coming through the trees around me sounded like hundreds of zombies coming toward us in the depths of the night. And they were close. They had the advantage here, not us. But it could work to my advantage, too. Just so long as I didn’t get myself caught in the middle of it all. I had high hopes for this plan to work, but I wasn’t going to get cocky. That was the worst thing for me to do.
A hand reached around the trunk and grabbed me by the shoulder in my moment of distraction. Now was my chance! I grabbed his arm and he hissed, “You bitch!” He came around the tree, swinging at me as he did so. Using my arm to block his punch, I kicked him in the nuts and pulled my knife out in one swift and fluid motion. I slashed backhanded across his neck, spilling his blood on me and the ground. He gurgled as he fell down, gasping for air. I bent down and picked up his gun to use for myself. I checked it real quick. Six bullets should be enough.
I could hear the zombies speed up. They had picked up the scent of the blood from the dead man and my still bleeding hand and they were hungry. I made a break for it, heading for the only thing that made sense to me now. The reason why my family had came out this way and ended up the way that it did. There was no point in turning away from the night light now. I pushed myself beyond my breaking point, beyond the screams and aches of my muscles. I couldn’t breath, I couldn’t think. The only thing I knew was that the screaming coming from behind me was my driving force. I didn’t want to end up like the guys back there.
Chapter 22
I collapsed several times and felt like I would die from muscle exhaustion. That alternative was much more appealing to me than any other. At least then I would die somewhat peacefully. I could be happy with a death like that. Right now I
felt like pure shit. A break from all of this would be perfect.
The edge of the woods was a scary sight for me. The light from the sun blinded me momentarily as I stepped out into the clearing. I hadn’t realized in all my running that the sun had come up. The sight I saw once my vision returned to me was completely heartbreaking. There, several miles from me, lay the ruins of an emergency military base. Bodies were on the ground as far as the eye could see. In the middle of it all, shiny in its magnificence, there stood a huge LED light pointing up at the sky. The purple wild-flowers that grew here contradicted the ugly sight that lay before me.
Everywhere around it, wind turbines and solar panels stood stoic amongst the green pastures. It was breathtaking in a beautiful and eerie kind of way. There were tanks and supply trucks parked to one side within the barb wire fence surrounding the machine. Uniforms stood out in a sea of green, signifying those that lost their lives to protect humanity. On the outside of the fence, zombies roamed aimlessly. None of them wore uniforms and must’ve migrated here after whatever killed the soldiers had left. The devastation was Earth-shattering.
It was somewhat clear what had happened. Pits could be clearly seen around the fence and holes in the defenses had been made. The machine, however, had not been damaged in the slightest. Whoever had done it obviously didn’t want it broken. It had provided a safe place for all and must’ve struck a cord with the perpetrators. Some of the grass was scorched as well, leading me to believe that this had been a territorial thing.
Tents lay tattered and limp around the machine and containers had been strewn about. The contents had been taken from their homes, leaving what was left to be destroyed by the elements. I wish I had gotten here sooner. I wish I had been able to convince my dad that we needed to. We could’ve changed what had happened here, but it was all over now… Everything was hopeless. There was no safe place and no reason to keep living any longer.
