We Are Still Here

by Jimmy Bird

  JoJo looked thoughtful, “I agree with my dad. I think that it’s weapons.”

  I looked at the bag and smiled, “Alright, only one way to find out.”

  I reached over and grabbed the bag handles. I began to pull it towards me and noticed that it had some weight to it. When it was directly in front of me, I grabbed the zipper and pulled it.

  I looked over at the girls, “Ready?”

  Without waiting for a response, I grabbed the sides of the bag and spread them. To my surprise, we were all correct. In the center of the bag was a small caliber handgun and stacks of money.

  The girls asked in unison, “What’s in it?”

  I looked wide-eyed at the girls, “We were all right.”

  I turned the bag to show them the gun and money.

  Absentmindedly, I asked, “I wonder who’s cabin this used to be?”

  JoJo’s imagination started getting the better of her, “I bet they were bank robbers.”

  Makalyn played along, “Maybe the person was a gang member or something.”

  I joined in, “I wonder if this was their way of trying to be prepared before this all started.”

  The girls looked at me, causing me to explain, “Look, just pay attention to the facts. The bag has money in it. Money is no longer relevant. It was probably stashed before all this started, which means that they didn’t think that the things happening were zombies. Next, the dog remains we found, show that it was abandoned a long time ago. We can only assume that its owner went searching for help or something. Lastly, if this was a gang members house or even a bank robbers house then we would have found more weapons or even drug paraphernalia lying around. We didn’t find any. Now, I’m not saying that its not possible but probably not likely. Okay enough of this, we have a long walk ahead of us and we need to keep searching for supplies. JoJo, can you go get the wagon? Makalyn, did you find anything?”

  “Yeah, I found some luggage bags. Will that work?”

  Our luck was hanging in there, “Yeah, that’ll work.”

  I grabbed the gun and slid it into my pants waist. I briefly thought about taking the money but thought better of it. Money was no longer important, only weapons and food were.

  We made our way back to the kitchen area and noticed that it had already begun to cool off.

  I nodded towards the food, “Let’s grab whatever we can and go. If we’re going to have any chance of catching Seth, we need to leave soon.”

  We grabbed all the food that survived the tornado, which was a significant amount and placed it into the wagon.

  I turned towards JoJo, “Hey, grab whatever blankets you can find and clothes. Makalyn, can you help her search? I’m going to go outside and see if I can see anything.”

  I walked towards the open area where the wall used to be in the kitchen. I looked around the backyard area. Fences were missing all around us. Hell, a few cabins were missing their roofs. The worst part was witnessing that some of the cabins were destroyed. All that was left was debris and rubble. I felt a mixture of emotions raging inside of me. I felt happiness because were survived, but I was sad with the damage that surrounded me.

  I poked my head out and looked to my left. The next three yards that had cabins were missing roofs or walls. I turned my head to the right. Most of those cabins were gone, leaving only rubble behind. In the furthest yard, I saw something red that could have been the rear tailgate of a truck. It was covered in debris, but that didn’t matter. Hope sprung up at the thought of finding us a ride. With a vehicle, we could catch up to Seth, no problem.

  I carefully stepped out of the cabin. The ground was muddy and covered in various debris. I didn’t want to take a chance of stepping on something old and rusted. With my luck, I would step on a rusty nail or something and my foot would get infected. Wouldn’t that be something? Die from an infection.

  I began to slowly walk towards the vehicle when I heard my daughter scream, “Dad? Dad? Where are you?”

  I turned around, “I’m out here. I think I found something.”

  Makalyn came jogging towards me, “What did you find?”

  I pointed towards the debris covered vehicle, “Look. I think I found us a ride.”

  JoJo came running up behind us, “Are you sure? It doesn’t look like a car to me.”

  I nodded, “That’s because it’s covered in debris. I want to take a closer look.”

  JoJo was pulling the wagon while Makalyn was dragging the luggage bags, “Makalyn, let me grab one of those.”

  Makalyn handed one over to me, “Thanks.”

  We carefully walked over to the vehicle. The closer we got, the more the building looked like a collapsed detachable garage. I began to have a bad feeling about the vehicle.

  The entire roof had collapsed, and it wasn’t just the plywood and shingles that had fallen. We’re talking about a roof that had 2” x 6” beams holding it up. For the beams to completely fail the way they did, the wind must have been insanely powerful. They have said that the strength of a tornado’s winds can be comparable to that of a bomb. Hell, the May 2013 tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma did so much damage that the experts claim that it was six hundred times more powerful than the Hiroshima Bomb. It was an Atomic Bomb that the US dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War 2.

  Aw, history. I had always been fascinated with historical events and places. I looked over at my daughter. It really was a shame that she will never get to experience history from books or even going to those places and learning about them firsthand.

  We walked up to the debris covered truck. It looked kind of flattened. I reached out and grabbed the debris to lift it up, but it was no use. It was extremely heavy. I looked around trying to find something that I could use to help get leverage, but there was nothing useful.

  I glanced around at the surrounding cabins; they were all destroyed. It looked like nothing else useful survived the tornado. I couldn’t even see the houseboat anymore. It was gone! I took a deep breath. We needed to get going before the dead showed up.

  We walked up to the main road and followed it from Porum Landing to Highway I-44. A normal 15-20-minute drive took us a few hours. By the time we made it to the old abandoned gas station that was off the service ramp to the bridge that went over I-44, we decided to stop and rest. We took the opportunity to eat. We found a couple of benches and sat down to rest our feet. Man, the temperature had cooled off drastically.

  While eating, JoJo asked, “Dad? How long do you think that it’ll take us to get to Okemah?”

  I tried to estimate, “Mmmm. It’s hard to say. We should be about halfway there. So, I would say about the same time it took us to walk here. Why?”

  JoJo, “Because I want to hurry up and catch up to Seth, so I can punch him for leaving us.”

  I wrinkled my forehead, “JoJo, we don’t even know if he’ll be around when we get there.”

  “That’s true, but if he is, then I’m going to punch him.”

  I chuckled, “Okay. Okay. Just remember, we need to get there first. So, rest up. We’ll be leaving shortly.”

  At the rate we were travelling, it took us more then a few hours to reach Okemah. In fact, it was close to dark when we arrived at the city limits. We turned onto the main street and immediately felt hope rise in me. There in the distance, in front of the store from the other day, was our car. Before I knew it, I began running. We all were. I was no longer tired from walking. We made it to the car within minutes.

  I investigated the car; Seth was not there. I turned to the store and began walking towards it, thinking that Seth might be inside waiting for us. Makalyn stopped me.

  “Jimmy, look, a note from Seth.”

  “What does it say?”

  “It says: Dear Uncle Jimmy, I’m sorry. I know I hurt you and you feel like I abandoned you. You’re right, I did. But I had no choice. You promised me a long time ago that we would go looking for my dad, but we didn’t. I understand that stuff happens and that recent
ly we had been running for our lives, but that’s why I did it. I’m not sure that I would have gotten another opportunity to search for him. I’m sure that you of all people, would understand. Please tell JoJo that I love her and that I’m sorry for leaving. I don’t want her to be mad at me, so can you help her understand that I needed to do this? Also, let Makalyn know that it’s not her fault that I left and that I hope she finds her family too. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. So, please don’t come looking for me. I know that you don’t know the way to my dad’s house, and you could get lost or worse. I swear if anything were to happen to JoJo.... Well, let’s just say that I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. Please, Uncle Jimmy. Please, keep her safe. I hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for and who knows, maybe we’ll see each other again someday. I Love Y’all, Seth. P.S. The car ran out of gas, but I left most of the supplies for you. Also, I took the battery out of the car because I found another car that needed it.”

  I stood there, unable to move. He was right. I didn’t know where his dad lived. I knew he had a house in Little Axe, but that was a long time ago. He could have easily left or worse, died.

  I wanted to go after Seth, but how? We didn’t have a car and it was almost dark. Besides, he had a full day travel on us, not to mention that I didn’t know which way he would have gone. To make matters worse, it was almost dark.

  I looked up at the girls, “Grab our stuff from the car. We’re staying the night inside.”

  “What about Seth?”

  JoJo lashed out, “What about him?”

  Makalyn looked at me, “Aren’t we going after him?”

  Sadly, I looked her, “No, we’re not.”

  Confused, she asked, “Why not?”

  I sighed out my frustration, “Because it’s getting dark and the car doesn’t have a battery or any gas. Even if we went after him right now, he’s got a full day head start with a car. We don’t even know which way he went. Its better to wait until morning to plan our next move.”

  Makalyn look defeated, “Fine.”

  She handed me the note and grabbed a handful of supplies. She began walking towards the store entrance.

  JoJo looked at me, “Dad, what’s the plan?”

  I glanced at her, “It’s just like I told Makalyn. We’ll stay inside the store tonight and decide what to do in the morning. We can stay in the suspended tent, so we’ll be out of danger. Now, help me bring the rest of these supplies in.”

  JoJo grabbed a bag and began to carry it inside. I looked over my shoulder, hoping that Seth would be there. He wasn’t.

  A single tear began to roll down my cheek. He was gone. He had truly abandoned us!

  Chapter 16: New Plans

  I woke up the next morning to the sound of a disagreement over Seth and it seemed to be getting louder. At the mention of his name, a sadness took a hold of me. I couldn’t believe that he was truly gone. I’m not sure why, but I stayed still and listened to them go at it.

  Makalyn stated, “I don’t care what the note said. We need to go after him.”

  JoJo responded, “No! Seth made his choice by abandoning us. He left us to die!”

  “No, he didn’t! He left the supplies here for us to find.”

  “Makalyn, are you that stupid? The only reason he left the supplies was because he ran out of gas and then stole the car battery to use on another car.”

  Makalyn got defensive, “JoJo, don’t ever call me stupid. Look, I know he ran out of gas and TOOK the battery, but he left the supplies and a note. That’s got to count for something. He could have easily taken all the supplies with him, but instead he left most of them for us.”

  “Perhaps. But he still left us, and I’ll never forgive him for that.”

  “Why? Because he decided he wanted to go and find his dad?”

  “No. It’s because he waited until we were almost to the houseboat before he took off. He didn’t stay around to make sure we were safe.”

  “It was probably because of the zombies surrounding him.”

  “Don’t do that.”

  “Do what?”

  I pushed the sad feeling down as I sat up and joined the conversation, “Try to justify Seth’s actions. JoJo’s right. He had been around enough zombies to protect himself. Hell, the least he could have done was led them away and come back for us. No, he yelled that he was leaving us to go find his dad. Which meant that he thought about it and once the opportunity presented itself, he took advantage of it.”

  JoJo looked at me accusingly, “How long have you been awake?”

  I looked her, “A few minutes. Why?”

  JoJo shrugged, “Just curious.”

  “Yeah, it was hard to sleep with y’all talking loud.”

  Makalyn bowed her head, “Sorry.”

  JoJo added, “Yeah, sorry dad.”

  “It’s okay. I needed to get up anyway. We need to figure out our next move.”

  “Our next move?”

  I looked at her, “Yes, our next move. You have an have equal say in what we do next, you both do. You’re an adult and JoJo’s old enough to make a rational decision. If we decide to stay together, then we make decisions together. Everyone agree?”

  JoJo shook her head up and down, smiling. I think she enjoyed the fact that I thought her as grown up enough to make tough decisions.

  “Agreed. But, why would you think that I would leave?”

  I simpathetically looked at her, “Because, you might have family out here somewhere and if we leave, you might not get the opportunity to find them again and I would hate for you to risk it all for us. So, if you decide to stay, then it’s your choice and you won’t end up abandoning us too.”

  A sad look came over her and she took a deep breath, “I’ve already told you; I don’t think my parents are alive. If I stay alone looking for someone who’s not there, I would most likely die. As it is, both of you are my family, oh, and Seth too. That’s why I want to go look for him before something bad happens.”

  At the mention of Seth’s name, a hollow feeling in my heart sprung back up, “Seth made his own decision, one that he felt was the best for him. Now, it’s our turn to make the best decision for us, together.”

  I looked from Makalyn to JoJo and back again, “Okay. Makalyn, I’m going to ask this ONE last time, are we sticking together? If you want to leave, that’s fine, you can do so now without worry. No hard feelings. We’ll even give you a third of the supplies, but if you want to stay then you will have an equal say in our group. The choice is yours.”

  Makalyn sat there speechless. You could see the wheels behind her eyes turning. It seemed like an eternity passed before she began speaking.

  Finally, she spoke up, “Do you want me to leave?”

  I smiled sadly, “No, Makalyn. I do not. We are family and family should stick together. I just don’t want to wake up one morning and find out that you abandoned us somewhere. So, we’re either in this together or not at all.”

  Makalyn glanced over at JoJo, “Well? What do you think?”

  Surprised, JoJo looked at her, “I want you to stay. It’ll be nice having another girl around.”

  “Really? You don’t mind?”

  JoJo smiled, “No, I don’t mind.”

  With a smile on her face, Makalyn looked at me, “Okay, that settles it. I’m staying with y’all.”

  I couldn’t help but smile, “That’s good. I’m glad.”

  Excited, Makalyn asked, “So, what’s the plan?”

  I glanced from her to JoJo, “I’ve been giving it some thought and want to run this idea by the both of you.”

  JoJo looked impatient, “Well?”

  I put my hands up, “Okay. Okay. I’ve been thinking about going to the National Wildlife Refuge in Lawton?”

  Makalyn frowned, “Wildlife Refuge?”

  I nodded, “Yep.”

  JoJo got excited, “You mean Mount Scott?”

  I looked at her, “Yes. Think about it. There are buffalo and long h
orn bulls roaming around down there. Plus, there are lakes and ponds all over to go fishing in and as a bonus, there are buildings to stay in and mountains ranges to hide in.”

  Confused, JoJo asked, “Dad? Why didn’t you suggest that in the beginning?”

  I thought about it, “Well, think about it this way, if we would have gone directly to Mount Scott, we wouldn’t have found Makalyn.”

  JoJo had a serious look in her eyes, “Or lost Aunt Tina, Uncle Bobby, Seth, or any of the others.”

  I looked down and then back up at her, teary-eyed, “Yes. I admit it, I’ve made some mistakes. A lot of mistakes this past year or so, but please believe me when I said that I had the best of intentions. All I ever tried to do was protect our family.”

  I closed my eyes. I could see all the faces we had lost over the year. I almost jumped when an arm or two grabbed my shoulders. I opened my eyes. Both, JoJo and Makalyn were hugging me.

  JoJo pulled back and looked at me with teary eyes of her own, “I know that you tried your best dad. I love you.”

  Makalyn also pulled back, she had tears in her eyes, “It’s been a long time since I felt like I was part of a family. I love you both.”

  I wiped the tears from my eyes, “So, does that mean that everyone’s good with us going to Mount Scott?”

  “I am.”

  I looked over at Makalyn, “What about you?”

  “Lawton? Is that anywhere near Yukon?”

  I could see where she was going with this. She was afraid of running into Serina again.

  I shook my head, “No, it’s a few hours drive south of Yukon. Besides, if Serina followed you, then she would have gone northeast to Chandler. She can’t track you right?”

  Makalyn frowned, “What do you mean, track me?”

  “I mean, does she have any way to track you? A device or something that she could have hidden a tracker in it?”

  “No, not that I’m aware of. Do people really have stuff like that?”

  “Yes, an easy thing would have been a cell phone, but its been known to be place in necklaces or other small stuff like that.”

  Makalyn reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone.