The Last Legacy (Season 1): Episodes 1-10

by Lavati, Taylor

  “I’m sure the guys could go with you for a few hours. We’ll get out of here around noon then walk, and get to your sisters by tomorrow. Any objections?” Jim looked pointedly at Scarlet. She shook her head no.

  “Great. I’ll owe you big time.”

  “No need. You let us stay here the night, so we’ll call it even.” Jim stood and shook Gavin’s hand. Jim placed his empty plate in the sink. He came over, kissed my cheek, and then left the room, mostly likely to get the other guys.

  “Well, that’s new.” Scarlet glared at me, watching the display of affection. She finished off her bacon, hopped up from the table, and trotted down the hallway.

  I finished eating as Gavin told me about his wife. She died years ago from uterine cancer, but it was fast. He’d lived alone, his three grandchildren only visiting once or twice during a good year.

  “It’s a good life. I’m healthy, alive, surviving. I can’t complain, honestly,” Gavin said as we cleaned the kitchen.

  “You know, you should come with us.” I put the rest of the plates in the sink, no way to wash them. I opened the refrigerator, and an awful smell of rotten eggs and spoiled milk slapped me across the face.

  “Old habits, die hard, huh?” Gavin chuckled as I slammed the door shut.

  “You can say that. I tried to wash my hands earlier, too.”

  “I think I’d rather stay around here. I know it’s safe. Maybe one of the kids will try to come find me. I just don’t want to drag you all down.”

  “You wouldn’t drag us down. We have kids with us. Trust me, you’d be more than welcome to come along for the ride.” I put my hand on his shoulder and nodded.

  “We’re all set,” Jim said as he leaned in the doorway. He almost filled it with his broad shoulders and wide frame. I stared at his long hair, waves dipping below his bushy eyebrows. He hardly resembled the man I first met. “Mike and Gabe were already outside killing strays.”

  “Let me just grab my knife from downstairs,” Gavin said as he walked past me. “I’ll be right back.” He ducked under Jim’s arm, his steps retreating down the hallway.

  “What was that about?” Jim asked as he walked towards me.

  “I invited him to come along with us. He seems so lonely.” I shrugged. “Guess I felt bad.”

  Jim stopped in front of me and leaned against the counter. “You’re too nice, Lana.”

  “I know.”

  “We’ll be back in a few hours. Hold down the fort?” he asked as he ran his hand down the side of my face. My entire body shivered. I nodded, a sense of pride running through me.

  I muttered a quick ‘hey’ to Mike and Gabe as they came in the front door. I jogged up the stairs on my way back to my bedroom. I figured I might as well pack up our things so I was ready to go before they came back.

  As I carried the backpack down the stairs, Marcus and Maggie ran up. Maggie twisted right by me, but Marcus tripped. I grabbed onto the side railing as Marcus nailed me right in the gut with a flailing elbow.

  “Oh man!” he yelled when he stopped. His jaw widened making a silly face with an oval mouth. “I’m sorry, Miss Lana. I didn’t mean to hit you.” He covered his mouth with his little hand.

  “It’s okay, buddy. Just watch where you’re going.” I smiled so he knew I wasn’t upset as I continued down the stairs. I heard his quiet steps following me down.

  “Where are ya going?” he asked from behind me.

  “I’m just getting the place ready so we can leave when your dad gets back.” I placed the bag near the front door and peeked out the window beside it.

  “How long are we going to have to walk this time?” He pushed beside me, peeking his head out, too. The street looked vacant, sunny yet a bit windy today. All of the trees branches swayed, leaves steadily falling down and covering the pavement.

  “We’re only walking two more days.” I wasn’t sure how true that was. Worst case, the house would be overrun, and we’d have to find somewhere else to go. I didn’t know how long that would take.

  “I still wanna know how to use a knife.” He leaned back as I did, his bright eyes pleading. I raised my eyebrows.

  “I can’t do that unless your mom tells me it’s okay. I got in big trouble, remember?”

  “Do you wanna just hang out then? My sister is really boring. All she ever wants to do is play house. I wanna play zombies and kill people.” He jumped onto the bottom stair and leaped over the banister with his hands pressed together like a gun. I laughed as he ran in the foyer acting like a spy.

  “Let’s play James Bond.” Zombies just hit too close to home. I put my hood over my head, shielding my eyes, and ran into the kitchen. I lifted my fingers like a gun—despite the fact that I had a real gun in my back pocket—and peeked out from behind the wall down the hallway.

  “What do we do?” Marcus asked as he ran towards me and assumed the same position, hiding behind the wall, with a paranoid yet calm demeanor. I widened my eyes and crouched beside him so we were on the same level.

  “Who’s the bad guy? We have to decide that first,” I told him.

  “Maggie, definitely.” He nodded, all very serious-like.

  “We need to fake assassinate her without her ever finding out that we were there. Where is the target now?” I leaned into the hallway to check that the coast was clear, acting my part.

  “Bedroom. Upstairs.”

  “We must be quiet and attack fast. You understand?” I raised my brows in question. He bit his lower lip.

  “Got it.” He nodded, and I raised my hand to high-five him. He smiled, laughed a little to himself, and then fell back into his role.

  “You lead the way.” I waved my hand out so he could get in front of me. He crouched, tiptoeing through the hallway and up the stairs. I followed him and matched his movements, completely engrossed in the game. It was nice to have a break from the norm.

  We found Maggie in her bedroom, playing with a blonde doll she must have found around the house. Marcus lay down in the hallway, his belly completely flat against it. He crawled to the edge of the door and stared at Maggie through the crack, planning his attack.

  I retreated into my bedroom, dragging Marcus along with me as we came up with a plan. I didn’t want him to blow our cover. The game needed to go on longer to distract us both.

  “I’ll distract her,” I told him. “You’ll have to come from behind and kill her. Fake kill, of course.”

  “Okay. I’ll count to fifty and then go in the room.” I put my hand in between us, and he placed his on top. I counted to three, and then he whispered, “Secret Spies!”

  I walked down the short distance to the bedroom that the Peterson’s all slept in. Unfortunately Margaret was lying in their bed. I didn’t want to talk to her, but I didn’t want to ruin the game either. She read what looked like a trashy romance novel.

  “Hey, guys. How’s it going?” I tried to look casual even though I wanted to laugh at how insane this stupid game was. I guessed anything was good if it kept the kid busy.

  “Are we leaving?” Margaret sneered without tearing her eyes away from her book. Maggie sat on the ground with the doll, brushing the fake blonde hair. Maggie looked up and waved.

  “No. The guys are all gone, though. I thought I’d just come and see what you all were up to.”

  “We’re busy,” Margaret said, brushing me off. I frowned from my spot in the doorway. The way she refused to make eye contact with me or even acknowledge my presence with a ‘hey’ made me feel inferior.

  All of a sudden, Marcus ran in from behind me. I had forgotten for a moment that we were playing a game. He shot his gun right at Maggie’s head from the doorway and then grabbed my hand. He pulled me out of the room and down the hall where we both collapsed in a fit of laughter.

  “Target killed. Mission accomplished.” I slapped his hand in a high-five, and we went back downstairs to plan for the next mission. I didn’t want his mother to be the target, so we decided to wait until the men came and hav
e a traveling mission.

  I remembered that I found those game books upstairs so I sent Marcus up to bring them downstairs. I was teaching Marcus Sudoku at the kitchen table when something banged from the rear of the house. I smiled because I thought the guys were back.

  “Get ready for the mission,” I told Marcus as I hopped up from the table. “Bring this just in case we get bored. I’ll show you all the tricks.” I handed him the book.

  I walked into the hallway, turned towards the backdoor, and saw the wood completely smashed in. The door had been torn from the hinges and laid in two pieces on the floor. An eater stomped through the now-open entryway.

  I jerked backwards and grabbed Marcus, shoving him backwards as I reached for my knife. My heart began pumping hard as my fingers trembled. The eater’s arms were out in front of him as he reached for me. His hands shook beneath red mittens.

  “Stay right there,” I told Marcus as I stepped towards the eater. The eater wore a heavy winter jacket, a hat with furry edges, and mittens. He walked slow enough that within two steps, I stood in front of him. I grabbed the back of his head and jammed my knife into his ear. With a final groan, the eater fell to the ground in a heap of decaying skin.

  “Where’d he come from?” Marcus asked from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure that he was okay. That couldn’t have been the only eater. One monster wasn’t strong enough to break a door, especially not in half. I stepped over the eater’s body and leaned out the back door. I gasped and immediately backed up.

  I tripped over the eater’s body and fell right onto his head. His entire skull caved in, brain matter spilling onto the floor. I screamed and jumped up, running to Marcus and grabbing his hand. He stared at the body on the ground with wide eyes. I turned his head away.

  “We need to go. Now. Call up to your mother.”

  I pulled him towards the front door with me as I threw my backpack over my back. I clipped it over my chest for extra support. Dozens of eaters meandered in the back yard. We wouldn’t be here when they came inside.

  “Mommy!” Marcus yelled, his voice full of fear. It trembled. His hand clammed up, and I squeezed it, hoping to reassure him that we were safe. “Mommy!” he yelled again.

  “What do you want Marcus?” Something banged upstairs and then footsteps moved down the hallway. I breathed heavily now. We had to get out of there fast. She appeared at the top of the stairs, her hands on her hips and her face twisted in a grimace.

  “Margaret, there are about a dozen eaters outside that door.” I pointed to the broken door. Two eaters both clawed and stepped through the threshold. Luckily, they were too stupid to wait their turn, and their wide builds bought us time.

  “Oh my God!” She clamped her hand over her mouth as she stood frozen at the top of the stairs. A selfish, bitchy part of me found some pleasure in her scared appearance.

  “Get Maggie and go out through the front bedroom window. There’s a canopy, and you can jump down or slide down the railing. Don’t try to come down the stairs!”

  I had to protect myself and Marcus first. We were the main priority. She nodded and ran, her footsteps loud. The two eaters made it into the house and slowly walked towards Marcus and me. I grabbed his hand and ran to the door. I swung open the front door and ran with Marcus in tow onto the front lawn.

  “Miss Lana, I’m scared,” Marcus said as he held onto my waist.

  I thought the front would be safer. An eater shuffled towards Marcus and me. I looked out in street, and there were a dozen more. Their heads seemed to move in unison as they noticed us and then changed direction, coming forward with their red eyes on one thing—us.

  How did we not notice the eaters circling the house? How did we not hear them? I should’ve been more prepared for this. I didn’t think anyone was being particularly loud in the house to attract the monsters. Maybe they could smell us from that far away. Whatever their reason, they wanted to eat us alive.

  Marcus clung to my side as I tried to figure out an escape plan. I surveyed the area. Eaters flooded the road in front of the house. Two emerged in front of the crowd, moving seemingly faster than the others. We didn’t have many options.

  “Here.” I handed Marcus my knife and pulled out the handgun from the back of my jeans. I grabbed his hand. Something bashed into the front door behind us from inside of the house. The eaters from the backyard must have made it in. I pulled Marcus with me off the porch. He stumbled over his feet.

  The drop from the raised porch wasn’t more than a few feet. I left Marcus up top as I jumped over the white railing. I landed on the grass in a crouch.

  “Come on, buddy.” I reached my arms up and helped get Marcus over the rail and over. An eater walked where we had just been, thumping into the siding and grabbing at it. The railing contained them, the immediate threats gone. Another eater came from behind and pushed into the rail, scratching. But the porch began creaking. We had to get out of there before it broke.

  “Where’s my mom?” Marcus cried, looking towards the house.

  Suddenly, a window crashed open. I bent down and covered my head, pulling Marcus beneath my arms. I turned towards the breaking sound and saw the kitchen window smashed by an eater. His head poked through it, stuck in the jagged edges. His neck bled profusely, coating the normally clear glass in thick blood.

  “Come on.” I spun Marcus around so he couldn’t see the nearly decapitated eater and took his hand. We sprinted towards the street around the side near a bush. Our front was clear. But the moans from behind us had me constantly peeking over my shoulder to make sure we weren’t getting flanked. My mind focused on getting to safety, but thoughts of how this could happen still intrigued me.

  I looked up towards the canopy of the house when we were a safe distance. The eaters were slow, the majority still near the porch. I paused in the middle of the road, but I didn’t see anyone up there. Margaret was missing, the window still shut. I couldn’t hear much over the sound of the many eaters groaning and panting as they continued to walk towards us. I grunted as I debated our next move.

  “We have to go,” I told Marcus. I peered down at his face, his eyes full of tears and lower lip slightly shaking. I tugged him against my side.

  “But my mom,” he whined as his forehead pinched. I glanced up at the house, debating what to do. I had no idea how to get to Maggie and Margaret. There was no trellis to climb, or ladder in sight. I didn’t want to leave them. It went against everything I preached. Yet if I went back in, I knew Marcus and I would be dead.

  “She’ll find us.” I bent down so that Marcus and I were eye to eye, holding both of his shoulders. “We have to get out of here, okay? I need you to be strong for me. I might need your help. You remember what I showed you, right?” I smiled, acting strong so he could feed off my positivity.

  “Like this?” He held the knife facing outward in front of his chest. He widened his eyes, the tears drying, and I nodded. If I could distract him, he might forget that his mother was still in the house.

  “Great job. We have to get going.” I stood up but was thrown forward. I stumbled face first into grass, my face hitting the ground hard. An eater came at me from behind. I quickly rolled over with my arms blocking my face. He stood above me, gargling with blood creeping out of the corner of mouth.

  I dropped my gun during the fall, so I scrambled to grab it. As the eater bent down to kill me, I pulled the gun up with both hands and aimed for the spot right between his beady eyes. I pulled the trigger.

  My arms jerked backwards. Its blood spattered onto my face. I turned to the side and shut my eyes and mouth, not wanting anything to get on me. The eater fell beside me. Marcus ran to my side and grabbed my elbow, helping me to my feet.

  “You were awesome!” He smiled up at me like I told him there was ice-cream for dinner. I shook my head as the eaters all shuffled towards us. Most from the porch had changed direction, the sound of my loud gun attracting them.

  I grabbed onto Marcus’s h
and, and we ran. An eater charged forward from the side of the street but I dodged him, pulling Marcus behind me. The two-lane road was clear, but eaters loomed near the houses on our left and the woods on our right.

  “Jim!” I screamed, not caring that the eaters could hear. I needed help. I couldn’t do this alone. I didn’t know where Jim and the group were. Hopefully looting nearby.

  I didn’t know what happened, but Marcus’s hand unhooked from mine. He fell backwards with a grunt as he called out my name. An eater I had thought to be dead crawled for Marcus like it sensed the body. It grabbed Marcus’s shoe and tugged.

  I pressed the gun to the eater’s forehead and shot. Marcus sprang up from the pavement, wiping his now-torn jeans and latching to my side. His breaths were loud and fast. I glanced down at his ripped Converse sneaker.

  “We have to keep moving away from the herds. Are you okay?” I asked him. I bent down and pulled where his jeans had been ripped, making sure he hadn’t been bitten.

  “I’m good.” He glimpsed behind us and ran in the opposite direction, me on his heels. Four or five eaters broke off from the group in front of the house, coming towards us alone.

  I focused on our heavy footfalls and not the eaters that seemed to come from all over. I had no idea what was going on, only that there were more eaters in one place than I had ever seen.

  Silhouettes appeared down the street like mirages. In the bright afternoon light with the sun beaming behind them, they looked like angels. But then Jim’s distinct face appeared right in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. I let myself believe they were real. It was Jim. My body relaxed.

  “What are you doing out here?” Gabe asked me. Marcus ran to his father and wrapped his arms around his waist. Gavin limped behind Mike like he’d hurt his left leg. I prayed he wasn’t bitten. “What were those gunshots?”

  “The house got overrun.” I pointed behind me in the direction of Gavin’s home. “Margaret and Maggie are still inside. Scarlet’s missing. They were upstairs, and Marcus and I were downstairs. I tried to tell her to jump from the roof, but she never came out. More eaters came, and we had to run.”