Driving for hours the manic pace of our home town had gone, we drove down some country lanes passing the odd melted one but not many as the rain hadn’t looked to have been that bad out here. Eventually the car broke down as we ran out of fuel, my dad had with the help of a friend turned the car to work from used cooking oil turning the fuel to biodiesel but even that was scarce, taking to walking by foot we walked for another number hours until my feet were so sore. Tanya was silent as we passed a large farmhouse, she hadn’t said anything since our back garden but I didn’t push her as I knew she was grieving, we all were.
Suddenly an older woman of about 60 came running out of the gate to the farmhouse, her long grey hair neatly tied up into a bun, she smiled at us wearily as we neared her, “Please stop we can help you, we have room in our home and food and the creatures are coming”.
Not taking any chances we followed her into her large grand home, a man who I presumed was her husband stood at the door with a shotgun waiting for us to all get in before following us and bolting the door shut. The house inside was beautiful, dark wood furnishings made the place look very oldie worldly, some other people were all sat on a few sofas, they looked like us, damaged but surviving. Suddenly a loud gun shot from upstairs echoed through the house, we all looked panicked but the woman said it was her son with a rifle shooting at the creatures. Explaining she saw all what had happened they had decided to open their home to people that needed somewhere safe to stay.
“Thank you for letting us in”, my dad said to her, “Is there anything we can do to help you?”
She nodded, “You could go upstairs and keep lookout with my son Terrance he has a spare rifle you can use. The girls could help me with some soup I have cooking in the kitchen”.
“Go on girls, I’ll be just upstairs ok”, I nodded but Tanya stood stuck to the spot.
“I’ll help but I think my sister needs to sit down”, I said.
The woman nodded, “Can you take count of all the mouths to feed and I’ll settle her on the arm chair”.
As she walked her to a small chair in the corner near a lit fireplace I took count of all the people including my dad and the man called Terrance upstairs. There was eleven of us all together, she walked back over and led me to the kitchen, we counted out some bowls and poured out the soup evenly, she then stuck another pan on with more soup in case anyone else turned up. Taking some to Tanya I could see in her eyes she wasn’t there, she wasn’t home. My sister had gone and left me at a time when I needed her most, what I had to do today made me feel sick to my core and I needed her here to help me through it. Sitting next to her I tried talking to her to get anything, something from her but she just stayed in her trance, taking her soup and spoon I gently fed her like you would a small child, asking her to open her mouth and placing the warm liquid in. When she was finished I hugged her but she gave nothing back. Leaving her be I headed to the kitchen grabbing two more bowls and taking them upstairs to my dad and Terrance, it didn’t take long to find them as I heard some more gun shots. I followed a long landing to a large bedroom, in here it looked like a small armoury of guns, bullets and other things which all lined the walls and lay on the bed. My dad stood by one window along with a man with long dark hair tied into a rough pony tail, he also had a long beard and a gruff voice when he spoke.
“Oh great I’m starved cheers love”, he said as he took the soup from my grasp.
My dad let out another shot before turning to me to take his, smoothing my hair in his hand he asked me, “How’s your sister?”
I shrugged at him, “Not there”.
“Not there?” he looked worried.
“She’s sitting on a chair but in her eyes she’s not there”, I said.
He nodded, “I did wonder, have you eaten yet?”
I shook my head.
“Then go eat I’ll come find you later ok?” he said holding my face in his warm hands, they smelt slightly of gunpowder.
Heading back down the stairs I saw one of the other survivors try to talk to Tanya but she just ignored them, walking over I apologised for her rudeness saying we lost our mother and it was a terrible shock for her, although I should have been the one in pieces, the one not really here. The older woman came in handing me a bowl of soup, “Eat up, I need to borrow you in a minute”, her voice was so calm for such a messy situation.
The soup was warm and tasted delicious, actual bits of chicken floated in a creamy white sauce with some potato and leeks. Finishing it I washed my bowl in the sink and went to find the woman, she was in the garden, she smiled at me when she spotted me.
“Come I need help getting these”, she said pointing to a tall tree.
“Apples!” I said, “But won’t they be tainted with the acid?”
Shaking her head she sighed, “No love, we didn’t really get hit much out here but my husband was in the town nearby working when the rain hit, came straight back to tell me what happened. Anyway I want the apples to make a crumble, you know try and boost people’s spirits after today”.
“But you can’t reach”, I smiled.
Nodding she showed me her knee’s, “Arthritis in both couldn’t climb even if I wanted to”.
Not wasting any time I set on climbing the tree, it wasn’t very large and was shorter than most I had climbed, I done it with ease and perched myself on a strong looking branch, “Shall I just throw them down?” I asked her.
She brought over a small basket, “In there please”.
I threw as many as she wanted down before jumping down, following her into the kitchen she got me to peel and wash the apples whilst she started getting the other ingredients together.
“What’s your name then dear?” she asked making the crumble base from some broken biscuits.
“I’m Stacie…What’s yours?”
“Linda and my husband is Arnold, what are your family member’s names?” she said.
“My sister is called Tanya, my dad is Kieran and my mum…” I paused, do I still tell people my mum’s name?
“Yes your mum?” she smiled touching my hand, “It’s ok, you can’t forget her”.
“Her name is…was Paige”, I said feeling a loose tear run down my cheek, the weight of her name and what I done hung heavily on my shoulders.
Linda must have got the feeling I didn’t want to talk anymore as she just left me be peeling and then when I was done I helped clean her kitchen. After I had finished helping her I went to find Tanya who was still holed up on the same chair, still hadn’t moved an inch since she had taken her seat. My dad and Terrance came down soon after for a rest Arnold went up to take their place, a silent agreement had taken place between them to take shifts in keeping watch during the night. He came over to see us, he stroked my cheek before turning to Tanya to try and talk to her but she still stayed in her same trance. Linda came over soon after and offered us a room upstairs to rest in private, leading us to a large room with pastel pink wallpaper, two single beds that sat either side of the room, a large wardrobe and an ottoman which had been placed like a seat nearest one of the beds.
“This was our daughters room, she’s all grown up working in a top hospital, she should be fine”, Linda said not to reassure us but herself.
“Thank you for taking us in, we really do appreciate it”, my dad said.
Nodding she just replied, “Towels are in the ottoman, clean clothes in the wardrobe please help yourselves, I’ll bring some apple crumble up when it’s done and there is a small first aid box in the bathroom if you want to tend to your small burns”.
Leaving us to it she closed the door behind her, a few minutes later we could hear her showing the others to rooms to rest in. Linda was so nice, I really hoped her daughter was ok!
That night was terrifying, the dreams that split my head in the night were so realistic and frightening I woke up screaming a few times, her eyes were what kept appearing, shouting, calling out to me asking why I killed her. The next few nights were the same the sweats w
ere embarrassing as they would soak the whole bed to the point Linda would have to change the sheets almost every day. They got so bad that when Terrance and my dad went to do a supply run to scavenge for food and other essentials they came back with sleeping tablets to try and help blot them out, it worked a little, they weren’t as bad, still there but manageable. Tanya though stayed the same, in a trance by day and asleep all night with no fidgeting or screams, I envied her calmness at night and despised her trance by day, in the end she just seemed to blend in with the furniture. I still had to feed her like a child, if we tried to leave it for herself to do it would go stale waiting, the weight fell off her so I had to force the food in her, she didn’t fight just accepted my help. I became her full time carer feeding her, washing her, clothing her even on the day that a new disaster struck I had been braiding her hair so she looked presentable.
Linda’s home became ours for around five or six months, my dad, Terrance and Arnold along with two other survivors formed a great alliance keeping watch over the house, going out for supplies and just keeping the moral of the house high. We had so much food it was like a luxury hotel where you just helped with chores, the chickens produced large yummy eggs, their cows produced milk, the goats cheese, their vegetable garden was a crop with many delicious fruits and veggies most of the time, it had been better here than when the war was making us all starved, the only thing that would of made this place the best would have been my mum.
Then the day arrived when everything was destroyed, all what we had worked so hard for taken from right underneath us. Arnold gave his usual shout when he spotted some survivors, Linda followed suit by going out to greet them at the gate only she didn’t return, BANG! A shot rang out but it wasn’t from Arnold’s gun, we could hear him shouting her name in terror and blasting some bullets off, my dad shot into action grabbing his rifle, Terrance taking his and they took positions at the door frame. Bullets sprayed the house from the outside shattering the windows, the pictures on the walls and even hitting some of our people, they fell lifeless in pools of blood over the wooden floor. BANG! A loud shot echoed in the house and I could see my dad had been hit in the leg, he hopped jumping behind the sofa ducking low and taking aim shooting at a man who walked in bold as brass like he owned the place, my dad’s shot took his head clean off and I felt sick as I watched brain matter and parts of the persons skull litter the room. I noticed as he fell he had an armband around his upper arm, two guns had been stitched on the dark material in a yellow thread, the words ‘BIG GUNS’ written below it. Another man with long dreadlocked hair strolled in taking aim at my dad who was tending to his own wound, then another man strolled right in behind him sweeping the place with his eyes before taking aim at Terrance who was beside my dad.
“DAD LOOK OUT!” I screamed but it was too late the bullet ripped into his neck and he fell to the floor.
The two others on our side in the house with guns kept pounding at the bloke and his men but to no avail, I watched the dreadlocked man who shot my dad blast them down like they were nothing, his dark and tangled hair snaked as he moved looking for his next kill, tattoos lined his neck as his muscles flexed. Turning to me he grinned, then suddenly Arnold appeared out of nowhere shooting at them.
Two arms suddenly grabbed me from behind dragging me up the stairs, “Get off me!” I cried turning to see it was Tanya using all her strength to pull me out of the line of danger. Charging to our room she shut the door turning the key Linda had left in the old lock, grabbing my arm she led me to the ottoman lifting the lid and throwing all the towels out.
“Get in”, she ordered me.
“What about you?” I asked her.
“I’ll hide in a minute just get in and no matter what don’t get out!” she said, “I’m sorry…” she started but the cease of gun fire alerted us to time running out.
Climbing in she shoved all the towels over me as neatly as she could, closing the lid I could hear her feet moving in the room and it sounded like she opened a window, a small crack of light caught my eye and I shuffled over to it, peering out through it I could just see Tanya, she wasn’t hiding she had hold of a baseball bat waiting by the door. What was she doing she needed to hide? The door handle turned and I let out a gasp as it almost flew off the hinges as they kicked it in, the impact of the door flying knocking Tanya to the floor the baseball bat flew from her hands sliding under the bed.
“Stop right there girly?” the dreadlocked guy said.
She lifted her hands to show she wouldn’t fight them.
“Where’s the other girl?” he asked her looking around the room.
“She climbed out the window”, she lied.
“Check it”, Dreadlock ordered to the other man.
Footsteps neared my position and I tried so hard to be quiet, “Nothing boss, she’s gone”.
“We’ll find her if she’s running she’ll get tired and need to rest. Get up your coming with us”, he said to Tanya she done as he said, I felt like screaming to her to not go, to try and fight.
“Wait can I just get something?” she asked.
“Go on”, he sneered.
She came over to the ottoman and leant down near the crack, reaching near it but to something on the floor she whispered, “Love you”, before getting up. She held a teddy as she stood up, it wasn’t hers but one of Linda’s daughters.
“Aww bless breaks my heart, now come on”, Dreadlock said shoving her out the room, the next few minutes were unbearable as they tore the house apart finding the others that had hidden and either killing them or taking them with them, their screams of terror made me cry softly to myself but Tanya had wanted me to stay here, she had hidden me for a reason and I couldn’t go against her, she had sacrificed herself for me but why? But deep down I knew, because I had kept her alive all this time when she wouldn’t eat, wash or move, it had been me keeping her body alive whilst her mind crumbled, she had felt she owed me and tried to save my life.
I stayed in my hiding place for what seemed like hours, I did consider just staying there forever never moving again but I couldn’t just wait for nothing. Getting out I grabbed the baseball bat from under the bed, moving slowly I sneaked out the room keeping an eye on all the doors, sneaking down the stairs at a snail’s pace I almost crapped myself when I heard glass crunching underfoot, wasn’t until nothing came at me that I realised it was glass under my own feet. The front room was plastered in bullet holes and blood, the redness of it sticking everywhere like a blood red thick film of plasma and other fluids. Reaching the bottom I turned keeping low and looking all around for any movement.
“Stacie? Is that you?” the voice scared me half to death as I jumped out of my skin letting out a little yip, looking to where the voice came from I felt a smile spread over my face but only for a second.
“DAD!” I ran to him, he had propped himself on a broken bookshelf, blood had soaked all his shirt and his skin looked clammy and pale, “Oh my god dad, what can I do? How can I fix you?” I asked looking around the room for something.
He took my hand in his, his skin was cool but damp from sweat, “Stacie listen to me…I haven’t got much time…where’s your sister?”
I bowed my head, “They took her dad, she’s gone really gone”.
He looked broken as I said it, “Damn it”, he sounded so hurt but angry, “You need to find her Stacie you only have each other now”.
“No dad you’ll be fine, we’ll patch you up, just wait Linda must have had a first aid box or sewing kit…I can do it…” cutting me off he made me look at him.
“Stacie look at me please…I’m not going to be fine ok I’m not I can feel it but I need you to see it now, I know you will be fine, you’ll cope you’re a fighter. I need you to go now you might still have a chance of finding her”, he said moving his arm.
“No dad stay still I’ll help you…” I began to sob the last bit making my voice squeak.
“Take this”, he said handing me his rifle, “Terrance
has more bullets upstairs, stock up ok you’ll need them”.
“No dad you need it, what if the creatures come?” I said.
“Just take it you need it more than me”, he said making me take it.
“I can’t do it alone dad, they scare me. What if I find her but I can’t get her away from them?” I asked him feeling so afraid.
“Once you find her you won’t be alone Stacie, you’ll think of something your resourceful and you’re a survivor you will be ok….just promise to find her”, he begged.
I nodded, “I promise dad”.
“Argh”, he hissed as the pain really took hold of him, his skin looked even paler now and I knew he would die of blood loss soon.
“Dad, I love you”, I whispered as my hand shook holding onto the cool metal of the gun it felt so strange in my hands.
“I love you ….too”, he breathed before his eyes faltered, he wasn’t dead not yet just unconscious.
I done as he told me searching Terrance for more bullets and then raiding upstairs for more, grabbing my bag I filled it up with as many as I could carry, I also stocked up on food. Rushing back to him I knew he was going, I slumped down on the floor next to his lifeless unbreathing body, there was a cold fluttering feeling in the room like he was still there trying to tell me something, then it seemed to leave and I knew I was really and truly alone. Sobbing I leant forward wrapping my arms around him, “Dad no…dad I love you”.
Alone Page 3
