We Are Still Here

by Jimmy Bird

  I took a deep breath and turned toward Makalyn, “Makalyn. Look, it sounds like you’re not exactly sure what happened to your parents after you left. What about your siblings? Whatever happened to your brother and sisters?”

  She opened her eyes and slowly turned her head towards me, “My brother and sisters? Let’s see. The next morning when I woke up, my parents were still not home from the hospital. I called my mom’s cellphone and she told me that there was incident. For some reason, the hospital was being overrun by sick patients, which in turn meant that they hadn’t gotten to my dad’s wound yet. So, he wasn’t going to be able to come home, much less coach the game. She told me that he was running a fever and all the hospital would tell her was that it looked like a virus was going around, but it didn’t appear to be airborne. So, I didn’t have to worry about getting sick. It seemed to only affect certain people. She told me not to worry, that my older brother was coming to the house to watch our little sister while I went to my softball game. She wanted me to tell the team that our ‘Coach’ would be with us in spirit and added that we needed to win for him.”

  “That’s it? Nothing else?”

  She shook her head, “No. That’s it. Well, not too long after I got off the phone with my mom, my brother showed up. He told me to go, before I missed the team bus. Without thinking too much about it, I left. It was the worst decision I had ever made in my life!”

  “Why would you say that?”

  She didn’t say a word as she just stared at me with one of those ‘Are you freaking serious?’ type of facial expressions.

  “What’s that look for?”

  She didn’t respond. Instead, she turned her head to look back out the window. I guess that she was just done talking.

  I let it go. I needed to focus on the road anyway. I knew that we had to be getting close to the highway. I mean, we had to be. Right? I knew that we needed to get back on the highway to go to the lake. The problem was that I wasn’t sure if ‘this’ road even made it there. Some of the roads that came out of Oklahoma City, especially on the east side, were kind of squirrelly. Besides, even if this road made it to the highway, there was no guarantee that there was even an on ramp.

  It was as if a miracle appeared in the sky at the top of the bridge that the highway ran on appeared in the horizon. It seemed that luck was finally on our side. The only question was if there was an on ramp for us to us.

  By the time we got to the bridge, it seemed that luck was shinning fully upon us. There was indeed an on ramp. I just hoped that there was nothing blocking the on ramp, anything that would stop our access to the highway.

  As we looped around the ramp up to the highway, it seemed that something finally went right for us. After all we had been through the past few days, I was just hoping that nothing would stop us from reaching our destination.

  I was so focused on my own thoughts that I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a manly voice behind me, “Where? Where are we? What’s that smell?”

  I glanced toward the rearview mirror, “Seth? You’re finally awake. How? How do you feel?”

  He sat up, “My foot hurts.”

  Drowsy, he looked around, “What happened?”

  My mouth suddenly became dry, “Well, you were attacked and ended up hurting your ankle pretty bad. JoJo and I immediately tried to check out your ankle, but you ended up passing out from the pain of removing your sock.”

  “I..... I did?”

  I nodded my head, “Yes, you did. JoJo and I managed to get you into the vehicle and laid you down.”

  “My mom didn’t help?”

  I slowly shook my head, “No. No, she didn’t. She was kind of preoccupied.”

  “Preoccupied? What does that mean?”

  Seth looked around as if he just realized that his mom wasn’t there, “Where’s my mom and Bobby?”

  No one spoke. I noticed that my daughter closed her eyes tightly and tears began to run down the sides of her cheeks

  Seth must have noticed it also because he looked from JoJo to me, then towards the back of Makalyn’s head, “Uncle Jimmy! Who’s that? Where’s my mom and Bobby?”

  I nodded in Makalyn’s direction, “This is your cousin, Makalyn.”

  “Who?”

  I sighed, “Makalyn. She’s your second cousin or something like that. I can’t remember how it goes, but she’s the daughter of me and your mom’s cousin. We crossed paths a few miles back, completely by accident. Makalyn, say hi.”

  Makalyn turned around enough to see Seth and gave a lazy smile, “Hi.”

  Seth ignored her as he directed his attention towards me, “Uncle Jimmy, what about my mom and Bobby?”

  I tried to respond, but my words got lodged in my throat. Suddenly, my mouth became dry. I mean, how was I going to tell him what happened to his mom and to Bobby?

  Angered crept into his voice, “Jimmy! Answer me!”

  My eyes got wide, not from anger but from shock. I didn’t know how to respond. It was the first time I had ever heard my nephew called me by my first name. He was always respectful when addressing me. He had always used uncle in front of my name when he spoke to me.

  He broke into my thoughts, “JIMMY!”

  Without hesitation, I shifted my foot from the gas pedal to the bake and gently pushed down. I didn’t want to slam down on the brakes for two reasons. The first was that no one was wearing seatbelts. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. The second reason was Seth. He was already agitated, and I didn’t want to make matters worse by making it seem like I was mad.

  When we came to a complete stop, I made sure to look around and make sure that it was safe. We didn’t need strangers or zombies coming around. The highway was clear, allowing us to see what was in front or behind us.

  I shifted it into park and turned off the key. I took a deep breath and turned in my seat to face my nephew. His face had a painful scowl on it.

  Seeing his painful expression, I gently asked, “How’s your foot?”

  He ignored my question, “What about my mother?”

  With a heavy heart, “I’m sorry. She’s dead. Both her and Bobby are dead.”

  Sadness replaced his anger, “Dead? What do you mean dead? What happened?”

  I tried to control my emotions as I blurted out, “Bobby was attacked at the same time you were. When your mom saw that I ran to help you, she ran to help Bobby. When JoJo and I were working on your leg, we heard her scream out in pain. I had JoJo watch over you while I ran to help your mother, but I was too late. It seemed that Bobby had gotten bit and turned when your mother was with him. He attacked her and that was the reason she had screamed. I made it to her just as she died. I…. I…. I….”

  My emotions were beginning to run wild. It had become extremely difficult to concentrate on what I wanted to say, much less speak. Tears started to form in my eyes. I lowered me head and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath to calm myself. I quickly became aware that it was eerily quiet in the vehicle. No one spoke, which included Seth. I figured that he would have been livid by now.

  Curiosity got the best of me as I opened my teary eyes and looked up at him. He was silently watching me with tears in his eyes. I noticed that they were starting to slide down his cheeks.

  I found my voice again, “I…I’m…I’m sorry Seth. I’m so, so sorry I couldn’t save her.”

  The anger he had moments before was completely gone, “It’s okay Uncle Jimmy. I know that you would have tried everything in your power to save her. Can…Can you please finish telling me what happened? I need to know.”

  I choked out, “Okay. Where? Where was I?”

  He choked out, “My mom got bit and died.”

  I glanced over at my daughter, “Yeah. The sight of her caused me to want to collapse, but my body wouldn’t let me. I was so focused on your mom that Bobby grabbed my shoe, causing me to jump. I’m not sure why, but for some unknown reason, his feet weren’t working. Seeing him as a zombie, I decided that I just couldn’t
leave him like that. I was determined to put him out of his misery. I bent over and raised my machete. I was about to deal the final blow when I was bumped into by your mom.”

  His eyes widened, “My mom?”

  “Well, the zombie form of your mom. You see, she was beginning to stand up when she bumped into me, knocking me over. She stood over me for a few seconds, like she was trying to get her bearings before attacking. Lying on the ground, stuck between the zombie forms of your mom and Bobby, I knew that I needed to do something quick. When your mom began to lunge at me, I thought that if I could roll under her, causing her to trip over me. I figured with her down, I could use the time to get up and run to safety. Unfortunately, my plans never seem to work out. Somehow our feet got tangled up while I was rolling, and she fell directly on top of me. I caught her and tried to hold her up high enough, so she couldn’t bite me. I was about to push her to the side when her weight more than doubled. Bobby had begun crawling up her back. It seemed that he wanted in on the action. With their combined weight, my arms were quickly giving out. I began to give up hope of getting out of my predicament alive. Thoughts of you and JoJo began running through my head. I was afraid. I was afraid that I had failed to protect y’all and I knew that if I turned into a zombie then I would end up killing you. With that thought in my head, I refused to give up. I fought with every bit of strength that I had, but it was no use. Their combined weight was too much for me. My arms became tired, so tired that they began shaking from the strain. All hope seemed lost for me. In my darkest hour, a miracle happened. Their combined weight started to become lighter for me. JoJo had come from nowhere and saved me. As Bobby was trying his hardest to crawl up your mom’s back, JoJo was fighting just as hard to pull him off. She succeeded in her quest but ended up slipping backwards. As she fell backwards, Bobby fell on top of her.”

  With tears in his eyes, Seth silently glanced over at my daughter with a look of both, admiration and awe, “Even with less weight, I was still struggling to hold up your mother. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like flesh tearing and then nothing. Fearing the worse, I screamed out JoJo’s name. When I didn’t get a response, I wanted to give up.”

  I beamed with pride, “JoJo’s quick thinking led to her and my survival. It seemed that as she fell backwards, she managed to pull out her knife just as Bobby fell on top of her. His head fell directly onto the tip of her knife. Gravity took care of the rest. Unfortunately for her, gravity also trap her under him. Like I said before, when I didn’t hear a response, I thought it was all over for us all. There was no way ‘you’ would have survived if me and JoJo had died. Fearing that JoJo was dead, I almost gave up.”

  I paused for a brief second, “Then, it was as if a guardian angel had saved me. Your mom stopped moving and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. JoJo, my little guardian angel saved me for a second time. I’m sorry Seth, but JoJo killed your mom to save me. Well, to be honest, she saved both of us.”

  Seth reached over and hugged JoJo tightly. With tears in his eyes, he whispered, “Thank You, JoJo! I know how hard it must have been. I’m not sure that I could have done it.”

  Seth then released my daughter and looked back at me, “What happened next?”

  Surprised by his question, “Next, a herd of over a hundred zombies pushed their way through the massive car pileup.”

  Seth’s eyes got big, “For real? How was that even possible? Their must of been over fifty cars!”

  I shook my head, “I guess that the combined weight of all the zombies was too much and moved them out of the way.”

  “What about my mom’s body?”

  I lowered my eyes in shame, “We had to rush to get you and leave.”

  He asked again, “What about my mom’s body?”

  I looked into his eyes, “I’m sorry, but we had to leave her.”

  Anger crept back into his voice, “I want to go back.”

  Shocked, I told him, “Seth, we can’t.”

  His anger took over, “Then, let me out!”

  I tried speaking in a soothing voice, “I’m not going to do that.”

  He demanded to know, “Why not?”

  I wanted him to understand why I wouldn’t let him out, “For one thing, your foot is in too bad of shape. You need to give it time to heal. You wouldn’t make it half a mile before collapsing.”

  He looked for at his foot, “Oh yeah. I forgot all about my foot.”

  He looked back towards me, “Regardless. I need to bury my mom!”

  “We will, but not yet.”

  His anger was on the verge of returning, “Why not?”

  I answered truthfully, “Because, we’re not able to yet.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  I pleaded with him, “Come on Seth, you’re smarter than that. Your ankle needs time to heal or at least heal enough that you can help us fight zombies or people, when they attack us and as of right now, you’re not able to help. I’m not trying to sound insensitive, but your mom’s body isn’t going anywhere.”

  With that last comment, Seth clinched his jaw and looked away.

  “I promise that as soon as we find a safe place to settle down at and you’re healthy enough then we can come back and bury your mom. Is that a deal?”

  Seth didn’t respond as he continued to look out the window.

  I looked at him, “Seth. Is it a deal?”

  He still didn’t answer.

  I started to get frustrated, “Seth! SETH! IS IT A DEAL?”

  Finally, he answered, “Fine. As soon as my foot is healed, we’ll come back and bury my mom and Bobby.”

  “But not before we find a safe place.”

  He turned back around to look at me, “How long do you think that will take?”

  I shook my head, “I’m not sure.”

  He rolled his eyes and turned back towards the window.

  I pleaded once again, “Seth, listen to me. With the way the world is now, there are no guarantees on anything. I’m hoping that when we get to Porum Landing, there will be a Houseboat still operational that we can live on.”

  He frowned and turned back towards me, “Houseboat? That’s your big plan? You’re HOPING to find a Houseboat?”

  “Yes. If we can find a functioning Houseboat, we can live on it in the middle of the lake and not worry about zombies getting to us.”

  Seth frowned, “What about other people?’

  I didn’t think that far ahead, “Well……We can set up trip wires or something like that to warn us if people are able to make their way on board.”

  His mood turned sarcastic, “That plan is stupid. No wonder people had been dying around you, including YOUR KIDS!”

  Understandably, my attitude quickly changed from frustration to anger.

  Before I could respond, JoJo spoke up, “Seth that’s completely unfair. My dad has saved you more then a few times.”

  He looked over at JoJo, “I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about my mom, my sister, Aunt Nichole, Uncle Jesse, your brothers, Nana Jean, Bobby, and all of our friends.”

  JoJo defended me, “What was he supposed to have done? You weren’t there when my brother got bit and then bit my mom. What were you doing when we ran for our lives when my dad and Bobby stood outside the Warehouse to fight the zombies? What were you doing when the bad people attacked us and killed our family? What were you doing Seth? What did you do to try and save us?”

  He responded with a little attitude, “Let’s get one thing straight. When we were attacked, ‘I’m’ the one who saved YOU!”

  He looked over at me, “Not your DAD!”

  I began to lose my cool, “What? Why, you ungrateful piece of….”

  I was cut off by my cool tempered daughter, “Seth. It’s true that you came looking for me when we were attacked, but it was MY dad and Uncle Bobby who fought them, so WE could survive. Never forget that.”

  I watched speechless as my daughter put him in his place.

  She turned to
wards me and said, “My dad has done more to keep us alive than anyone. You should thank him. Dad, thank you!”

  My heart melted, “Oh, JoJo you never have to say thank you to me. I love you.”

  I looked from JoJo to Seth, “In fact, I love both of you.”

  I looked from Seth towards Makalyn, who had been silently watching us, “I love all of you. As far as we know, we’re the only family that we have left. That means that we need to stop fighting with each other and work on our survival. Seth, I know that you want to bury your mom. I know I do, but I know that your mom would want you to be safe. So as soon as we find someplace safe, a place ‘to call home’ then we’ll come back and bury your mom. Deal?”

  With sadness in his eyes, he responded, “Okay. Deal. What about looking for my dad?”

  “I don’t know Seth. When you talked to him last, wasn’t he still in Little Axe?”

  His eyes lite up, “Yes. But we lived in a secluded area. It could be untouched.”

  “Seth. After everything we’ve been through, do you still think that area remain untouched?”

  He thought for a second, “I’m not sure. I’m ‘hoping’ that the rest of my family is still safe and sound there. So, Uncle Jimmy, what do you say?”

  “I say, one step at a time.”

  He pleaded, “But, my dad could still be there.”

  I nodded in agreement, “I know Seth, but we don’t have time to go look yet.”

  Sarcastically, he responded, “But, we have time to go to Lake Eufaula?”

  I sighed my frustration out, “Seth, I’m trying to find us some place safe for right now.”

  I took a deep breath and exhaled to calm myself, “I’ll tell you what, just as soon as we find someplace safe, then we’ll go bury your mom and look for your dad. Okay?”

  He didn’t believe me, “You promise?”

  I nodded my head up and down, “Yes. I promise. But not until we find someplace safe first.”

  “How long do you think that will take?”

  I took a deep breath, “Look, I’m not going to lie to you. It probably won’t be right away. We haven’t even got to Lake Eufaula yet. But I promise you that we will go look.”