We're the Last

by G Sasaki

  Hailey tried her best to block the graphic images flickering in her mind. “I’m sorry,” Hailey whispered. “Mine is too. And I killed my brother.” This was the first time since it happened that that fact had a chance to start to settle. An enormous bubble of guilt swelled in her stomach. Hailey blinked dozens of times to keep tears from flowing out. There would be a chance for that later… when Grace wasn’t around to have it pull her down even more.

  Hailey pulled herself to her feet and analyzed the classroom. Close to thirty desks lined up in perfectly straight rows. Hailey walked through and grazed her hand on each chair as she passed. She imagined the way it used to be- filled with classmates. Mrs. Walsh would stand in the front constantly scribbling on the green board with chalk. She would always go on about diagramming sentences and how important that was. Hailey smirked. When she approached her old desk, she sat down. She could see the vivid color of the room come back. She could practically smell the dry air and faint mist of Mrs. Walsh’s perfume. Grace would’ve been sitting in the desk behind her. When Mrs. Walsh wasn’t looking, they’d pass each other notes that seemed so important it couldn’t wait until after class. Hailey took a deep breath and smiled, remembering how nice those days really were.

  Grace spoke up. “What are you doing?” The color disappeared and the dark hues left by the moon swallowed Hailey. It’s true, she thought. You don’t appreciate the way things are until they’re gone. Then somehow, her scurrying mind remembered. “My backpack,” she declared.

  Hailey scampered to Grace and unzipped her backpack. Earlier, when she was in her room and desperately packed to leave, she dumped everything out of her backpack first… almost everything. A few stubborn things stayed behind and she hadn’t bothered to clear them out. Hailey’s hand flailed through the space until… there it is! Grace asked with an annoyed tone, “What are you doing?”

  Hailey triumphantly pulled out a black and white static-looking journal they used to write in every week in 8th grade. On the front, in bold black letters, it read COMPOSITION NOTEBOOK. Underneath, in scribbly black marker: HAILEY. Although she obviously didn’t use it anymore, Hailey always kept it in her backpack.

  Grace sneered. “Your old journal? Why do you even have that?” Grace didn’t say what she continued to think: And why do you have to be so weird?

  But it wasn’t something a member of the Fab Four would understand. Maybe the old Grace, the one who didn’t think she was better than everyone else, would. But Hailey didn’t hold that against her. People changed.

  Hailey shifted through the pages toward the front of the journal. “‘August 28th. What I hope to accomplish this school year.’ This is it.”

  Grace glared at Hailey. She didn’t care to hear it and couldn’t figure out the point. This was the worst night of her life, the beginning of the end really, and Hailey wanted to read from her old school journal. But she was too exhausted to stop her.

  Hailey continued, using the moonlight to catch a glimpse of her writing. “This year, I hope to accomplish a lot of things. I’d like to get straight A’s. Mom would be so proud if I did. I’m going to try to watch football more because my Dad loves it and coaches the linebackers. It’s all he ever talks about and I know he would be so happy if I tried it. I hope to not get in trouble and stay out of detention. It will be hard because Mrs. Walsh is very strict, but I know I can do it. High school is next year and I’m very nervous for it. I know I will meet a lot of new people and make a lot of new friends. Hopefully some of them will like me. I’ve heard people say that things change when you graduate from 8th grade but I hope that some things don’t change. I hope me and Grace will stay friends.” Grace’s ears perked and tuned in to Hailey. “Sometimes I think she doesn’t like me as much anymore but that’s okay. I hope she hasn’t forgotten that we became sisters in Kindergarten. It means a lot to me. She is someone I care about very much. She is my best friend.”

  Hailey lowered the notebook from her eyes and looked for Grace’s approval. Grace felt touched by her words but stricken with guilt. Was that the point? Or was she trying to make her feel better? Grace had gone out of her way to stop being friends with Hailey. As Hailey smiled at her, Grace couldn’t help but feel even worse. Grace whispered, “I’m sorry we stopped being friends.”

  “It’s alright. You made new friends… and so did I.” That last part wasn’t true but it didn’t matter. Hailey ripped the page out of the journal, folded it in half, and held it out to Grace. “When you feel sad, read it. And remember I’m here for you.”

  As Grace took the page, she seemed to relax a little. Her shoulders loosened and a tiny smile appeared on her face. Grace said, “Thank you. I haven’t forgotten. You’re my sister.” Grace crawled forward and wrapped her arms around Hailey.

  Whatever came next, Hailey was just glad Grace was with her.

  10

  Earlier that night…

  Alex woke in the middle of the night from a mediocre few hours of sleep and rubbed his eyes. The room was so silent, he could hear a faint ringing in his ears. Where am I? Still perplexed from dreaming, he looked around and recognized the dark outlines of his hospital room. Oh yeah. With his healthy hand, he grabbed the remote of his bed and pushed a button. His bed buzzed upwards until he was sitting nearly straight up.

  Alex shook his head, trying to rid himself of sleep. “What time is it?” he asked himself. He glanced around but couldn’t find a clock. His cell phone was outside the confines of his bed; too far to reach. Alex pushed another button on the remote of his bed and switched on the TV. The TV will tell me the time.

  The TV sat unusually high, nearly touching the ceiling, and rested in a crevice in the wall. They used a lot of effort putting that little square TV up so high. Maybe so people wouldn’t have to sit up? Alex shrugged as his eyes glued upwards to the image that filled the screen.

  The first thing he noticed was the screaming font: ZOMBIE OUTBREAK. Alex chuckled. This appeared to be a legitimate news channel but maybe they were playing a late-night joke. But who would fall for that anymore? In the bottom corner of the screen, it read 3:33 AM; only a few more hours until morning. The TV had served its purpose but now Alex was intrigued. The words sat in front of a white screen and a woman’s voice rang out in short panicked breaths. “This is an emergency broadcast. A large number of people have succumbed to insanity. We don’t have any answers right now and we are warning everyone to stay away from any people you may encounter. We hesitate to call this a zombie outbreak, but it seems there are no other adequate words to describe it. Stay away from everybody. This message will repeat until morning.”

  Wow. They’re really staying dedicated to this. Zombies? Ehhck. Boring. He changed the channel. Colored bars. Changed the channel again. Colored bars, more colored bars. What was going on? Didn’t the hospital get any channels?

  Finally, Alex saw a female reporter standing in the street, facing the camera. The headline under her read MASS CHAOS. The woman shouted, “We are here on special assignment as people everywhere across the country are killing by the thousands. It appears people have lost their minds. We have no news from any official authority. There is no news from the White House, no news from any federal agency. We can only speculate to the cause of what is now being referred to as a zombie epidemic. We are advising that everyone take shelter and…” The woman stopped and put a hand on her forehead. Alex immediately noticed her fingernails: black. The woman’s eyes squeezed shut and she let out a screechy yelp. She gripped her blonde hair and tugged. With ease, large chunks of hair ripped from her scalp. Alex quickly turned off the TV, tossed the remote aside, and thrust back in the bed. “What the hell was that?!”

  What if everyone really was losing their minds? He looked at the fingernails of his uncasted hand: still black. Am I going to go crazy too?

  Alex slipped out of the snug sheets and crawled out of bed. His feet dipped onto the icy floor. He threw off his hospital gown and changed into his own clothes. Much more comfortab
le. He slipped on his shoes and slid his cell phone into his pocket. Maybe one of the nurses knew something about this ‘zombie attack’.

  Alex opened the door of his room and stepped into the hallway. To his surprise, as he looked out, he saw nothing. Nobody. Just a peaceful night in the hospital. “Hello?” His voice echoed through the hallways. No answer. Where did everybody go?

  Alex took quiet steps. An empty center of reception desks sat across from him. Folders were neatly tucked away with a few sitting wide open on the counter as if someone had been reading them. Extra beds idly sat around and a lone wheelchair rested against the wall. All the patients’ rooms had their doors closed with the lights off. Everyone must’ve been sound asleep. The bustling hallway from hours earlier had turned into a ghost town.

  Alex wandered behind the counters and glanced at some of the open folders. I wonder if mine is in here somewhere. Alex scanned through the files and looked at the names and diagnoses of the patients. Sure enough, in front of him sat his open file: Bates, Alex.

  A voice shouted at him and startled his calmed ears. “Alex!”

  That voice sounded strangely familiar. Alex asked, “Hailey?”

  Alex emerged from the counter and peered down the hallway. In front of two metallic doors leading to a main wing of the hospital stood Hailey. She wore a sparkly red dress that hugged her body and showed off her figure. Where have I seen that dress before? Alex squinted with surprise. Then he realized: she wore that dress to the school dance last year. How could he forget? She looked amazing that day. He shouted, “What are you doing here?”

  Hailey smiled. “I don’t love you. I hate you. I never want to see you again.”

  Those words jabbed at his heart… but they didn’t sound right. “What are you talking about? How did you get in here? Why are you dressed up?” Alex stepped toward her, one endless footstep at a time. He passed the doors of his neighbors and all remained silent. As Hailey grew in his vision, he noticed something about her that seemed… off. Alex asked, “Are you okay?”

  Like she often did, she lifted her hand and faced her palm toward him. Her fingers extended out, inviting Alex to fill the spaces between them. Alex held up his hand and obliged, clamping the palms of their hands together. Her fingers slightly perspired. It was nice to feel her again. Hailey closed her eyes, like she always did, and her gentle voice whispered, “You’re a monster.”

  Alex yanked his hand from hers. This couldn’t be. Hailey wouldn’t say that. Alex looked at her face. The detail of each hair of her brows, the dimples in her cheeks, the makeup on her face, it was all so convincing. He really was going crazy. “You’re not real,” Alex declared.

  The beautiful girl in front of him disappeared. The two metallic doors stared back. From behind him, Hailey’s voice echoed, “You really think I could be with someone like you? There’s nothing wrong with me. You’re a freak!”

  Alex turned and saw her standing in front of the door to his room. She appeared obviously younger, wearing a green T-shirt and jeans. Then he remembered. She wore that outfit on the day they met. He paced toward her until he could almost reach out and touch her. Hailey exclaimed, “The only reason I’m with you is because Kai screwed up. I’d still be with him if it wasn’t for that. You’re just my second choice.”

  Alex replied, “Say whatever you want. I’m not talking to you. You’re not real.” The metallic doors at the end of the hall busted open and a gust of wind hurricaned through him. A loud shriek tore through the air and a naked woman sprinted down the hallway. But she wasn’t just a woman- fur covered her body and her ears protruded, pointing upwards. The shape of her body looked human but everything else seemed animalistic. Alex’s first inclination was werewolf. But no, she looked almost bat-like in appearance. Like… a human bat with no wings.

  A human bat with no wings!?

  Alex wanted to bolt out and run as fast as he could. Instead, he stood in place and stared at this bat-looking woman furiously sprinting toward him.

  Hailey asked, “Are you just going to stand there?”

  Alex turned his head and opened his mouth to respond. No. He wouldn’t talk to her. She wasn’t real. But this woman running toward him sure seemed real.

  Her momentum took her straight to Alex, where she stopped inches from him. In her right hand, she clutched a brown leather notebook. Alex stared at the details of her face, the fur that sprouted from every pore, the ears that pointed like a rabbit’s, and the nose that had flattened, no longer resembling a nose at all, but a panel of nostrils. On her head, no hair lied, just an even buzz of fur. The only part of this woman that remained distinctively human was her eyes.

  The woman asked, “You’re not scared?” Her voice squeaked, nearly non-existent. Her chest puffed up and down as she worked to catch her breath.

  Alex tilted his head in surprise. He didn’t feel fear. But why not? Shouldn’t he be terrified in a situation like this? “No,” Alex admitted, “I’m not.”

  The woman gripped Alex’s healthy hand and looked at his black fingernails. “It’s happening.” She held up the back of her hand and revealed her own black fingernails. “It’s affecting everyone’s minds first. Making them crazy.” She turned around, looking in a near panic for signs of... something. “They’re going to be here any second. It looks like you’re keeping it together.” She put the notebook into Alex’s hand. “I need you to take this. Don’t let anyone take it from you. Don’t lose it. If I don’t make it, it’s our only hope.”

  “What? What is it?”

  The woman’s desperation grew more frantic with every breath. “There’s no time. Do you have a room here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Go in it and hide. Quick… Look into my eyes.”

  Alex peered into her green irises and gazed into her pupils. After the eternity of a few seconds passed, the woman said, “It’s the only way you’ll be able to recognize me again. Now go hide in your room before it’s too late!” The urgency in her voice shoved him away. Alex ran back to his room and whipped open the door. Hailey, as he remembered her from the night before, stood inside with her arms folded. “This isn’t your room, Alex!”

  She was right! His room was one over! Why did they all have to look the same!? It was too late; he slammed the door shut. No one would see him in the darkness. He looked out the small window next to the door. The furry woman stood where he left her. She turned and faced the metallic doors at the end of the hall. Two arm-like appendages sprouted out of the back of her shoulders and appeared to have long fibers dangling from them.

  Hailey scooted next to Alex and looked out the window with him. “What’s in the journal?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. Be quiet.”

  “Open it!”

  Alex ignored her and watched as the metallic doors flew open. Two police officers charged into the hallway with their guns drawn. “Put your hands up!”

  The woman raised her hands into the air.

  A skinny doctor in a white lab coat squeezed through the space between the officers. Glasses rested on the brim of his nose and made his eyes look slightly bigger than they were. Wearing a thick scowl, he seemed quite upset. The young doctor asked, “Where’s the journal?”

  “I told you,” the woman said, “You can’t have it.”

  “I’ve been taking care of you since the day you got here. You don’t trust me?”

  “Not today.” The woman lunged forward at the doctor and two officers. In a remarkable display of acrobatics, she dove ahead and soared over them. As gravity brought her back to the ground, she held out her hands and somersaulted forward. Her movements were swift; so quick, the officers didn’t have time to react. Her somersault ended and she effortlessly transitioned to her feet and darted out the metallic doors.

  “That bitch!” They chased after her and disappeared through the metal doors.

  Hailey remarked, “That was weird.”

  An unknown deep voice from behind asked, “What are you doing in my roo
m?”

  As Alex spun his head around, he was met with a sharp stinging in his face. A man smacked him with a lunch tray! Luckily, Alex balanced himself and promptly regained his footing. He tucked the journal under his arm and gripped the man’s plastic weapon with his only working hand. Alex ripped the tray from his grasp and tossed it aside. The bald wrinkly man didn’t have eyebrows… and he smelled like diarrhea.

  “Stop it!” Alex yelled. “I was just hiding from… something.”

  The man didn’t relent. He whipped his body forward in an attempt to tackle Alex to the ground. Instead he plopped headfirst into the wall. Unexpectedly, a strong vibration tugged at Alex’s pocket. Another hallucination? No! His phone was ringing! He tucked the journal back under his arm and pulled the phone out of his pocket. The screen read: Hailey.

  He answered. “Hailey!”

  Alex slammed objects to the ground to shield himself from the man. Chairs, hospital equipment … anything he could find was tossed to the ground with a loud crash. Alex made his way to the man’s bed and stood atop it. The man’s frail old body wouldn’t easily navigate this field of debris.

  Hailey yelled into his ear. “Alex! Everything is crazy! I killed my brother! I don’t know what’s going on.”

  Alex yelled back, “The world is going to Hell! Check the news, everyone is turning into zombies!”

  Fake Hailey appeared on the bed with Alex. She stood next to him and said, “Who are you talking to? Tell her to screw off! We have our own problems!”

  “Alex!” Hailey proclaimed, “Tell me where to meet you. I’ll find you.”

  “Listen Hailey.” He glanced at the ultra-realistic image of Hailey standing next to him. He looked at her delicate cheeks, at her soft gaze. There was only one way for the real Hailey to survive. So he knew what he had to say. Getting it out would be hard on the phone but even harder to Hailey’s face, real or not. “I think I might have this sickness. Don’t come looking for me. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. Find somewhere safe and hide there.”