We Are Still Here

by Jimmy Bird

  That caught my attention, “What?”

  She devilishly smiled, “Oh, you didn’t know that you belong to me now? Your brother abandoned me. Sorry. He abandoned us!”

  She motioned her arm around the room.

  I looked down at her, “You’re crazy!”

  Her smiled creeped me out as she said, “Sweetie, you have no idea.”

  Billy reached out and grabbed my left arm. I stood before her defiantly, ready to fight her. Never in my life had I been so pissed! She had the audacity to think that she owned me. I was going to show her.

  I balled my right hand into a fist and began to pull it back. I had never been in a fight outside of my siblings and at that moment, I didn’t really care. I was going to show her she didn’t control me.

  She must have sensed what I was about to do and motioned her head towards Billy. He pulled me back just as I began to swing towards her head. I missed her by a long shot. My anger got the best of me, especially, after I missed Serina that I turned to hit Billy.

  With a firm grip on my left arm, he turned my body at an angle that made it impossible to hit him. I squirmed, trying to get out of his grip, but it was useless. He was a lot stronger than he looked.

  My arm was beginning to hurt. After a few minutes of struggling to free myself, I realized that it was pointless fight. Somehow, I knew that if I was going to escape, I was going to have to learn to survive. To properly fight.

  I think, to Billy’s surprise, I stopped trying to free myself. He loosened his grip on my arm and allowed me to stand up straight again.

  “Okay. Okay. You win. Please, take me to my friend.”

  Serina stood up and smiled again, “Win? Girl, don’t kid yourself, you’re not even in the same league as me.”

  To my surprise, she took a few steps towards me and grabbed my face with her right hand. She turned my face to the left and then towards the right. She was studying me and stopped moving my face when it was directly facing her again. She pulled my face towards her and kissed me.

  She let go of my face and pulled back, “See. I told you. You belong to me now. You may not realize it yet, but it’s going to be fun breaking you.”

  Without another word, Billy pulled me away from her. She began laughing out loud. Her laugh echoed down the hallway that Billy was leading me down.

  When I was sure that I was out of listening range, I turned towards Billy, “Please, let me and my friend go. I won’t tell anyone or press charges. I swear.”

  He laughed, “Press charges? Didn’t you hear Serina? The old way of living as we know it is gone. There are no more police, no more judges, no more jails. Hell, there isn’t going to be an army much longer.”

  I angrily looked at him, “You’re wrong!”

  He smirked, “Am I? Don’t look at me like that. You don’t have a family anymore. Your family is gone. You belong here now and apparently; you now belong to Serina.”

  I defiantly told him, “I don’t belong to anyone!”

  “If you say so. I’ll tell you what, if you can prove that to me then I’ll let you go.”

  Surprised, I asked, “Really? You’ll let me, and my friend go?”

  We came up to a locked door that had a small hatchway a little over halfway up, dead center.

  Billy looked over at me, “Yes, I will. In fact, if you can find a way to take ‘care’ of your friend, I’ll not only let you go, I’ll personally escort you home.”

  “You will?”

  He smiled, “Yes, I will. Let me ask you a question first. Why do you want to go home?”

  Surprised by his question, “Because....Because, that’s where my family is.”

  He raised his eyebrows, “And your boyfriend?”

  Did he know I was lying, “Yes, and my boyfriend!”

  I just stood there and listened to him, “You know what I think? I don’t think that you have a boyfriend. In fact, I don’t think that you have ever been with a guy at all. I just don’t think that you’re attracted to girls and said the first thing that popped into your head.”

  I was about to protest and object, but he cut me off by lifting his hand. He walked up close to me. He was close enough that I felt uncomfortable and began to slowly ease my way backwards. I continued until I bumped into the wall behind me.

  He stepped forward until the front of our bodies touched. He leaned forward until his head was next to mine and whispered in my left ear, “I can protect you from Serina and everyone else around here. All you would have to do is agree to be mine.”

  I stood there frozen, “Be your what?”

  He leaned back enough to look at me, face to face. Our faces were a mere inch from each other. His face took on a look that made me feel even more uncomfortable. He looked down at my chest and back up to my eyes.

  He lightly smiled, “We only have a few rules here, but that’s the way Serina wants it. She came up with these rules, while working with the Wolves on the Reserve. The first is that anyone can be the leader, but you must challenge and win. If you lose, you’re disgraced and given a few options on how you want to live afterwards. You can choose to leave and try to survive on your own out there or you can choose to stay here but must live as a weaker citizen. The weaker citizens make sure that things run smoothly around here, like washing clothes and cooking. The second is a little more morally debatable because it’s the ‘Only the strong’ rule. The strong takes care of the weaker citizens here and therefor they have the right to take anything they want.”

  He looked down at my chest again and back up. He kind of licked his lips, “And I do mean ANYTHING. So, you my dear, have a choice. You’re obviously weak and need others to take care of you, and obviously you’re very beautiful. I could be that protector, but that means you will belong to ME and me alone.”

  He leaned forward to kiss me, but I turned my head.

  He pulled back as if he was offended by my actions, “Fine! Let’s see if you’ll survive the night then. Maybe, once you see then you’ll change your mind on my offer.”

  He grabbed my left shoulder with his right hand and grabbed the door handle with his left hand. He turned the knob and pulled open the door. He then shoved me through the doorway and quickly shut the door behind me.

  I stumbled inside the room and immediately noticed movement on my right side. My knees felt weak. I did everything I could to keep from passing out. Beth was a zombie!

  She reached out towards me with her hands that looked like talons. Lucky for me, she was chained to the wall. The chains held her about two feet from me. I jumped backwards and hit the wall.

  I turned towards the door, “Help, let me out! Please!”

  Billy slid open the little hatch, “I told you. I’ll let you out on one of two conditions. You either agree to be MINE or kill your friend.”

  “What did you do to my friend?”

  He smirked, “We didn’t do anything to your friend. She was already bitten when you got here. Now, what’s it going to be?”

  “I won’t agree to either of those.”

  He kind of shrug, “Your choice. See you tomorrow.”

  He quickly shut the hatch and ignored my continued screams for help.

  I looked over at Beth. Maybe, he was right? Maybe, it was the bite? No! What was I thinking? She wasn’t like that the last time I saw her.

  I glanced around the room. Nothing. Except, for Beth and me. I could feel the weight of the world begin to come down on me and before I knew it, I was sliding along the wall until I was sitting down.

  Beth was only feet from me and was trying as hard as she could to get to me. Oh Beth, what am I going to do? You’re my best friend, there was no way I could kill you.

  I was so focused on Beth moving around that I jumped when I heard someone begin talking. I looked up and Serina was standing in the open hatchway with a tray of food. I slowly stood up, careful not to take my eyes off Beth.

  In a sweet voice, Serina asked, “Are you hungry? I brought you something to eat.”


  I didn’t realize it, but I was starving. I slowly made my way over to the door and quickly grabbed the tray. I began to pull it towards me, but it wouldn’t budge. I looked at Serina and noticed she had a firm grip on the otherside of the tray.

  She smiled and spoke in a flirtatious voice, “Are you ready to get out of there?”

  I looked back towards Beth, “Yes!”

  She batted her eyelids, “Good. Are you ready to admit that you belong to me yet?”

  I looked back at her, “I don’t belong to you or anyone!”

  Her smile vanished as she pulled the tray of food out of my hands, “Well, it looks like you’re going to have to stay in there a bit longer.”

  A hollow feeling came over me, “For how long?”

  She seemed hurt, “Until you’re ready to admit that you’re mine.”

  My anger got the best of me, “I told you. I don’t belong to you! I don’t belong to Billy! I don’t belong to anyone!”

  I must have caught her off guard because she asked, “Billy? What’s he got to do with this?”

  I figured that if I played my cards right, I could use this knowledge to my advantage, “Oh, you didn’t know? Billy, tried to claim that I was also his.”

  She looked deep in thought, “Did he now?”

  I decided to press it a little further, “Yes, he did. He said that he could protect me from you!”

  She smiled at me, “I see what’s happening here.”

  I stood there silently watching her. My mind raced around trying to figure out what she meant by that. Did she figure out what I was trying to do? Did she know that I was trying to pit them against each other? I had been so focused that I didn’t even realize that she had taken a step backwards and had grabbed the latch on the door.

  She softly spoke, “I know what you’re trying to do. Hell, a child could see what you’re trying to do. But you know what? You’re not wrong.”

  Confused, I asked, “What’s that you mean?”

  She whispered, “I told you. You belong to me!”

  I was about to protest, but she quickly cut me off, “I know what you’re going to say, but you don’t understand. You see, the Weak belongs to the Strong. Billy knows this and whoever lays claim on you, owns you. In other words, you belong to that person.”

  She looked deep in thought as she smiled devilishly, “It looks like Billy wants a competition. Good, it looks like he’s finally getting over losing his family. Well, if it’s a competition he wants then it’s a competition he’ll get.”

  Without another word, she shut the latch. I stood there a second before I found my voice, “I DON’T BELONG TO ANYONE. YOU HEAR ME? I DON’T BELONG TO ANYONE!””

  I was so angry and focused, that I jumped when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I screamed as I jumped backwards. I couldn’t believe it; I had almost backed into Beth.

  I turned around and looked at her. Oh Beth, what was I going to do? I could only hope that someone was working on a cure out there. She grunted as she opened and closed her mouth, exposing her blood-stained teeth. Her hands looked like claws as she swiped them back and forth in her chains.

  I felt lightheaded and edged my way down the wall to the far corner. I wanted to make sure that I was away from the door and as far away from Beth as I could get.

  I had never felt so helpless and alone as I had right them. I pulled my knees up to me chest and wrapped my arms around them. Without even thinking about it, my body began to shake uncontrollably. My emotions began to get the better of me. I buried my face into my knees and wept.

  I’m not sure how long I had been asleep, but I awoke to the sound of a couple of people standing above me. They were faint at first but quickly became clear. It sounded like Serina and Billy.

  I kept my eyes shut and just listened. I hoped that if they thought that I was asleep then they would leave me alone. As I sat there and listened, I realized that something was wrong. I didn’t hear the moaning that I had come to associate with Beth.

  I wanted to peek to see if she was okay but was afraid to move. I feared that if they knew that I was awake then they would do something to me. So, I stayed as I was and listened.

  “You know she’s going to be upset when she finds out about her friend?”

  “And? You think I care? Her friend was a zombie. We were going to put her out of her misery anyway.”

  Beth? Were they talking about Beth? It sounded like they were joking with each other.

  “Regardless, I think that this will push her more towards me.”

  “Not if she knows that it was you who had killed her friend.”

  “Yeah, but it was under your orders.”

  “You would snitch me out like that?”

  “Yep. Remember, you were the one that wanted to bet on this.”

  “It doesn’t matter. She heard everything. She’s awake. Pick her up.”

  I felt a firm hand grip my right arm and begin to lift me up. I used the momentum from being lifted and my legs to jump towards the person lifting me up. Blindly, I balled up my right fist and swung upwards as hard as I could. I MISSED!

  On my way up, I felt another hand grab my opposite should and pull backwards, causing me to lose my balance. The hand that had a firm grip on my arm let go and I spun around. Dizzy, I opened my eyes and immediately jumped backwards.

  Standing in front of me, mere inches away was Serina. She had a devilish look in her face as she looked up at me. I was so surprised that I immediately jumped backwards and into someone who was standing right behind me. I already knew who was there but risked a glance anyways.

  Billy was standing there, looking downwards at me. He also had a devilish grin on his face.

  Billy tried to flirt, “Damn girl. I knew you wanted me, but you didn’t have to jump on me like this.”

  I stood there extremely uncomfortable, afraid to move or even speak.

  Serina answered Billy, “What do you mean she wanted you? If it wasn’t for me, she would have hit you in the mouth.”

  Billy playfully responded, “But that’s just how I like it. I like it rough. I have a feeling that you like it rough too, don’t you Makalyn?”

  Serina tried to comfort me but failed, “Don’t listen to him Makalyn. He’s just trying to flirt with you. As you can see, he’s a little out of practice.”

  She put her arm around my waist and pulled me towards her, “Come on Makalyn, let’s get you cleaned up and get you some food.”

  She pulled me towards the door. Absentmindedly, I allowed her to lead me towards the door. I’m not sure why, but I looked over at Beth’s body.

  Blood covered the floor under her. I could see that her head had a gash in the left side of her temple. She wasn’t moving. I felt a hand touch the left side of my face and lightly pulled it towards the right.

  Serina spoke up, “Don’t look. Your friends no longer suffering and in a better place. Come on baby. I’ll take care of you.”

  The rage inside of me came out again. I pushed her away, “I DON’T BELONG TO YOU!”

  I glanced at Billy, “EITHER, ONE OF YOU!”

  Billy spoke up, “See, I told you Serina. She’s not going to break that easily.”

  Serina’s smile faded, “Thank you, Billy. I can see that for myself. Well, I guess Makalyn can stay in here with her friend.”

  I found my voice, “No! Please! Anything but that!”

  Serina smile returned, “Oh, okay. You’re lucky that your so damn cute. I’ll tell you what. Until you agree to be mine, you can either work in the kitchen or in the laundry room. Your choice. Unless……”

  “Unless what?

  She smiled wide, “Unless, you agree to be mine.”

  Before I could tell her once again, she put a finger up to my lips to shush me, “I’m trying to tell you that if you agree to be mine, you would never have to worry about anything ever again. You would be treated like a queen.”

  She glanced over at Billy, “That’s as long as you agree to b
e mine.”

  She looked back at me, “Well? What do you say? You agree to be mine?”

  She removed her finger from my lips, so I could speak, “I already told you, I don’t belong to you.”

  Her face tensed up as Billy began to laugh, “I told you. She’s not going to break that easily.”

  She pushed me in front of her and snapped, “I heard you the first time Billy! It’s alright though, she’ll learn. I bet she won’t last a week in the laundry room before she changes her mind.”

  Laughing, Billy replied, “Do you want to make a bet on that?”

  As Serina promised, I spent my days doing the hard things. The clothes that came in were usually covered in red gunk that not only looked like blood and guts but stunk very bad. I think that they were the clothes of the people that worked on the walls. My job was to hand wash the gunk out of the clothes. If a stained remained, I had to rewash the clothing. It was not easy, especially in the little laundry room. There was no air conditioning or fans. The room stunk from at the gunk of the clothes.

  I was not allowed to take breaks or even allowed to go outside to get a breath of fresh air. No, I had to wait until someone came and inspected my work. Once my work was approved, they grabbed the wet clothes and took them away. I assumed that they were taking the wet clothes outside to hang them on a clothesline or something.

  During my early days, either Serina or Billy would visit me and tried their hardest to get me to agree to be theirs, basically their property. I held them at bay at first, but after a few weeks in the conditions I was in, I admit that I thought about it. I almost did it, but I didn’t. Thoughts of my family kept me going. I knew that if I could escape, I could make it home to my family.

  I hate to admit it, but my days began to blur together during my time as a prisoner. I’m not sure if it was the fact that I was never allowed outside or the fact that I worked from dawn to dust. Maybe, it was the fact that I missed my family badly. I was feeling vulnerable and like I already said, I almost gave in.

  I began to run escape scenarios in my head while I worked, I didn’t have anyone to talk to. Serina made sure that if I didn’t talk to her or Billy then no one talked to me. So silently, I worked on an escape plan. When the opportunity came for me to make my escape, I didn’t hesitate.