by Laurèn Lee
So, the kids concocted a story consisting of running into a gang who tried to kill them and barely escaping with their lives. Lexa even pushed Rocky, much to his dismay, down a rocky hill so he’d look beaten up.
When they returned to camp, they cried with great enthusiasm and retold their harrowing tale. Lexa’s parents eyed her carefully, but in the end, the kids weren’t punished. Well, they did receive a warning and had extra chores to do for a week, which included digging a new bathroom trench and fertilizing some of the crops, but the kids were grateful. Lexa often wondered if her parents knew the truth about that day, or if they only pretended to believe her. Maybe they knew caging a wild thing up would only make her want freedom even more.
It was also Rocky who gave Lexa her first kiss. During one particular sunset, Lexa managed to shake off Ivie for a few hours. Ivie just reached the age where all she wanted to do was follow her big sister around and stick her cute little sloped nose into her business. But Rocky and Lexa offered to play hide and go seek with Ivie if she hid first. They counted and never looked for her. Lexa felt only a twinge of guilt until she and Rocky were alone, then she couldn’t think about anything else.
She was young, and her hormones just started to peek their exotic heads into her life and body. She noticed Rocky more and couldn’t help but watch him do simple tasks around camp like help carry the water jugs to each tent or help prepare that night’s dinner. She saw him with a new set of eyes, and they were glued to him.
They climbed up one of the hills outside of their campground and watched as the citrus sun casually made its descent, closer and closer to kissing the horizon. They didn’t speak a single word, but Rocky grazed Lexa’s pinky with his own. When she looked over to him, he leaned in and pecked her squarely on the lips. Neither spoke of it again, but Lexa pleasantly remembered that twilight as one of the best moments of her young life.
It was with those same longing eyes Rocky stared at her atop of the boulder. Except she knew he didn’t want to kiss her at this moment. He wanted to know what was going on.
“It’s my fault—” Lexa said before gasps erupted from the group. “Please! Let me finish!”
The campers, as they often called themselves collectively, hushed and leaned in toward Lexa to allow her to finish her speech.
“I was last on duty to check the water supply, but I wasn’t there for my shift.”
“But why?” Rocky’s father called out. His long curly hair hung low in his eyes.
Then, Ivie jumped forward, nearly knocking Lexa off the boulder. “It’s really my fault! I begged Lexa to take me out to the zoo for my birthday. I didn’t even let her finish breakfast. I’m the reason she—”
Lexa, while grateful to have a loyal sister, couldn’t let Ivie take the fall. She nudged her out of the spotlight and squeezed her shoulder twice. She gave her a look that said, “I’ve got this.”
Ivie reluctantly hopped off the shaky boulder and stood next to Harry with her arms wrapped around him. Harry and Kiki were like the grandparents they never had. As Lexa stood before her camp, she couldn’t stop thinking about the woman, sick in her tent, hours or maybe even minutes away from death.
“I’m very sorry, everyone. I truly am. And I take full responsibility for my actions. I will make this right if it’s the last thing I do.”
Lexa shook as she struggled to stay on her feet. Sobs erupted in her throat, and white orbs clouded her vision as though she might pass out at any moment. She wasn’t a killer, but she was responsible for killing her people. How would she survive such a great loss of life?
Voices grew louder and more impatient. Some of the campers who raised their hands signaling they drank the contaminated water grew quiet. Their faces fell pale, and even from several feet away, Lexa could see the sheen glimmering on their foreheads appear before her very own eyes. Would they survive the contamination? Was there a cure for it? Or would they become crazed and ravenous like many she’d see before?
The most important goal for Lexa was something even bigger than saving the infected. It was making sure the rest of them remained safe. She needed to find a new water source or a new way to filter the pond. If she didn’t, they’d all die, their time on earth only a distant memory. They’d vanish just like her parents and just like Kiki would do soon enough.
6
The once peaceful campsite turned anything but peaceful in the hours after Lexa’s announcement. Panic overthrew the group, and there was nothing Lexa could say or do to quell the anxiety swarming throughout the air.
Some of the infected retired to their tents, refusing to see or talk to anyone else from camp. While the contamination only spread through ingestion, those infected wanted to stay clear of the “pure” the non-infected. Those who’d come into contact with the contaminated water could expect to see symptoms in a few weeks or in a few days. It seemed as though the side effects happened more spontaneously now. The disease had a mind of its own.
Lexa, though a hormone-infused teenager, never felt depressed despite the state of the world. Sure, it sucked she couldn’t live a normal life and constantly thought about clean water, but she was never depressed. However, she’d never felt so low as she felt tonight. She hated herself for letting the camp down, for causing death. It was easy to blame the sickness and contamination on the water, but this time? This time, it was on her.
Darkness encroached her thoughts, and she wondered what it would be like to die. Would it hurt? Did an afterworld even exist? And, if it did, was there clean water there?
Lexa wanted nothing more than to hide and fade into nothingness. She needed some time to think, to get away and be left to her own devices. There was absolutely nothing she could do for her people right now. So, she crept offstage from the theatrical demise of her home and ran into the shadows of the night. She ran like her life depended on it, like someone chased her, wanting to slit her throat.
She lunged over tree roots and ducked under branches. She narrowly avoided quicksand lurking in the darkness. She wanted to disappear, to run, and most of all, to hide. Lexa wondered if her parents were in the sky above, watching their daughter’s life crumble before them. Would they still be proud of their daughter if they knew she was essentially a murderer?
Lexa ran and ran until her legs nearly gave out. Oxygen refused to stay in her lungs, and she bent over, heaving and nauseated. Once she regained a semblance of her balance and breath, she looked ahead to see a fissure in the road. An abandoned city loomed up ahead with cars lining the sides of the road. But the cars had no tires. Imagine that: having a means of escape without the part of the car needed most. It was like having a gun without a bullet or a water source without a purifier.
Something glittered in the darkness at Lexa’s feet. She bent down to see a mysterious contraption she’d never seen before. She twirled it in her hands and noticed a battery at the bottom of the item. Ideas and thoughts swirled in her mind about the nature of the device. Some electric spark buzzing in her body told her to hold on to this. Maybe it was useful? Maybe it was junk? Either way, she needed to find out.
She held her breath and opened the container’s top, half-expecting smoke or a bomb to explode. Instead, when Lexa brought the top of the bottle to her nose, it smelled like absolutely nothing. She tipped it on its side, and a colorless liquid poured out. Water? Was this some sort of water bottle with a filter?
Lexa’s heart pounded like the herd of elephants through the abandoned zoo. Could this be the answer to her camp’s problems? Did she just discover a way to save them? She placed the bottle into her knapsack, which she’d still been wearing from earlier. The knapsack, the very last gift from her parents, was worn but made of excellent materials. It barely had two flaws across the whole thing. And it was purple, Lexa’s favorite color.
As quickly as Lexa ran into the outskirts of the camp, she returned in almost the same amount of time. Grasping the bottle in her hand, she raced to Harry and Kiki’s tent to show them. Inside, Ivie sat
beside Harry as he held Kiki’s hands. She wheezed harshly, and Lexa wondered just how much pain she was in. How much it hurt to simply breathe in and out.
“Lexa,” Harry said with a whimper. “I think she’s going to pass soon.”
Lexa hung her head and took a seat on Harry’s other side. She patted his arm. “I’m truly sorry for this, Harry. I never meant for anyone to get hurt.”
He turned to look at her with his big, blue, watery eyes. “I know, dear. I know. Kiki and I had a long life together. I will miss her, but nothing can take away the love that we shared and the life we had together. I am grateful she will go peacefully. Painfully, yes, but in peace, too.”
Lexa’s breath caught in her throat. What a lovely way to think about death. She supposed it was better to pass in her sleep than, say, by a gang member’s blade or a tiger’s bite. Still, Kiki wouldn’t be dying in the first place if it weren’t for her mistake.
“Harry?” Lexa asked meekly. “I found something I want you to take a look at. If you don’t mind, that is.”
Harry furrowed his eyebrows. “What is it you want to show me?”
Carefully, Lexa pulled the foreign water bottle with a battery from her bag and handed it to Harry, who took it and inspected the thing from top to bottom.
“Where did you find this?”
“I, uh, took a run and found it near that abandoned city. You know, the place with all the cars missing their tires?”
Harry nodded knowingly, opened the bottle, sniffed its contents and took a sip. Lexa nearly shouted for him to stop, but it was too late. He’d drunk what was inside.
“It’s only water,” Harry said, noticing the look of fright plastered across Lexa’s face.
“How do you know it’s clean?”
“See this?” Harry pointed to the battery. “This is what helps the bottle purify the water inside. These are very rare. I’m surprised someone left it behind.”
“So, the camp can use this while we fix our filter?” Lexa asked, her voice a much higher pitch.
Harry didn’t answer and instead continued to study the purifying device. He shook it, then felt along its edges. “I’m afraid we can’t use this.”
“What do you mean? You said it’s a water purifier!” Lexa’s shoulders sank like she’d been deflated.
“The battery is dead,” he said. “And we don’t have any left.”
“So, that’s it, then? We have the tool to save us, and we can’t use it.”
“Such is life,” Harry said, tossing the purifier back to Lexa. “Such is life.”
A pregnant silence gestated in the tent as Harry, Lexa and Ivie listened to Kiki’s laborious breathing. Then, as a light switched flipped, Kiki’s eyes opened.
Harry let out a yelp and squeezed her hand tightly. “Kiki? It’s me, Harry. I love you, and I’m here for you.”
“Lexa,” she croaked. “I need Lexa. Alone.”
Harry and Ivie looked to Lexa. Harry gulped as fear enveloped his whole body. He didn’t want to leave his wife’s side, but he also wanted to grant her every last dying wish.
“Okay, we’ll leave you two alone. But only for a minute, okay?”
Kiki blinked as Harry and Ivie left the tent.
Lexa leaned in toward Kiki, and Kiki grabbed the collar of Lexa’s t-shirt. Lexa gasped; it was as through a zombie took hold of her without warning.
“I know how you can save the world,” Kiki said.
7
“Tell me!” Lexa pleaded.
Kiki let go of Lexa’s collar, and her breathing rattled inside her chest. She coughed feverently, and Lexa wondered how Kiki would manage to speak another word, let alone tell her a story or give her advice.
“There’s a place—” Kiki coughed again, and a dribble of blood escaped her lips. Lexa tried not to cringe and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe Kiki’s mouth.
“Thanks, doll. What was I saying?” Kiki’s eyes turned bloodshot. Death yanked at the strings tied to her life. He grew impatient.
“There’s a place? Something about saving the world?”
Kiki nodded. Her matted hair was soaked with sweat and vomit. “My mother told me about a place. They called it the Paradise Lake.”
Lexa’d heard the term before, but she just thought it was a fairytale. Her own mother told her stories about this place at bedtime.
“Isn’t that just a fable—”
“Quiet, girl. Let me finish,” she wheezed.
“Sorry, Kiki.”
“Paradise Lake is real. My mother saw it with her own two eyes. It’s a place where the water is always pure. No contamination.”
“That can’t be a real place, though. Can it?”
“I believed my mother when she said she found the Paradise Lake. And I believe if anyone can find it again, it’s you.” Kiki coughed again, and more watery blood pooled at the corner of her lips. “You may not be able to save me, but you can save the others.”
“How, Kiki? How would I ever find that place if it truly exists?”
“You must trust yourself. Believe in yourself. Follow your heart.”
Lexa attempted to hide her doubt, for she didn’t want to insult a dying woman by not taking her final words to heart. But how could she believe this? How could there possibly be a water source unaffected by the contamination? And, if this place was real, why weren’t they there now? Surely all the world’s living souls would have searched and found it by now. Gossip would have spread like wildfire. Where would the Paradise Lake be?
“I wouldn’t know where to start looking for it,” Lexa admitted.
“First, you must go through the City of Lightning,” Kiki whispered. More spittle exited her mouth as she spoke.
“The City of Lightning!” Lexa cried. “No one can make it out of there alive!” Lexa didn’t know whether that was the city’s official name, but it’s what all the campers called it.
“How do you know that for sure?”
“Well, I’ve never met anyone who has.” Lexa shrugged.
“Have you ever tasted pure water that didn’t need purifying?”
“No?”
“But you know it once existed, right?”
Lexa nodded, understanding more clearly where Kiki was headed.
“Just because we haven’t seen something with our own eyes doesn’t mean it’s not real, it doesn’t exist, or it’s not possible.”
“Are you sure I have to go through the City of Lightning first? Like positively sure?”
“That is what my mother told me. It is my best advice to you.”
“What is on the other side of the city?”
“She wouldn’t say. I don’t know, but you will figure it out.”
“Kiki?”
“Yes, Lexa?”
“I’m sorry this is happening to you.” Lexa fought the tears again.
Kiki patted Lexa’s hand and exhaled. “Save the camp. That is how you can make amends. One mistake won’t define you if you don’t let it. Fix it, Lexa. Fix it before it’s too late. On your way to Paradise Lake, look for the violet-plumed berries. They will help those already infected.”
“The whose-it, whats-it berry?”
Kiki smiled very faintly. “It’s a rare fruit that grows on a golden vine. My mother told me this berry can help those with the infection. It won’t cure them, but it will help their symptoms subside for a short time.”
“Sounds like another fairy tale,” Lexa grunted under her breath.
“Save them, Lexa. Save them all.”
With that, Kiki closed her eyes, took two more shallow breaths and stopped moving. Forever. While most people met a violent end after contamination, elderly people could simply die without a sound because their bodies were already so frail.
Lexa couldn’t control the flood of tears and emotions ripping through her body. One of the last women she truly looked up to in this world was dead. Kiki was a wonderful soul, and now she no longer existed.
Harry stumbled into the tent, and on
ce he saw Lexa whimpering over Kiki’s body, he too, crumbled to the ground. He rocked back and forth, moaning for the love of his life, the woman he loved more than anything, the woman who was dead because of Lexa.
“I’m so sorry!” Lexa cried. “So, so sorry.”
Harry pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. Ivie stood in the opening of the tent with her arms wrapped around her middle. She was still fairly young when their parents disappeared, or, for all intents and purposes, died, so she wasn’t used to seeing such heartbreak before her eyes.
Without warning, Rocky peeked his head inside the tent, and his eyes grew at the scene before him. He cleared his throat, and both Harry and Lexa whipped around.
“Uh, I’m, um, sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to talk to you, Lexa.”
Harry nodded and Lexa stood, wiping her damp cheeks with the back of her hand. “I’ll be back, Harry. Just give me a few minutes.”
Lexa wasn’t sure if Harry heard her. He laid with his head atop Kiki’s chest, and Lexa had a feeling he was willing her heart to start again.
Rocky led Lexa back to his tent, much to the disdain of the other campers. Lexa wasn’t their favorite person right now, and she couldn’t blame them one bit.
She sniffled and attempted to hide her ebbing emotions, but was unable to put a stop to them. How could she have a normal conversation when Kiki just died? She’s dead. No longer alive.
“What’s up, Rocky?” Lexa asked, keeping her head down.
“Are you okay?”
Lexa looked up and snickered. “Am I okay? Do I look okay?”
“No. That’s why I pulled you aside.”
“Well, thanks for that,” she huffed.
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m here for you, and I’m here if you need help with, ya know, anything?”
