Surviving This Life

by Rodgers, Salice

  Tears fill my eyes as I look back at her “Liv none of us could've saved her. I shouldn't have left her in the car. I should have taken her with me to find all of you, but I thought she would be fine if she stayed quiet and she died hating me.”

  Liv runs over to me dropping her bag and bat and pulls me into a hug, “She didn’t hate you. Her last words were tell Wil I’m sorry I didn’t stay quiet. Even in death that little girl respected you and didn’t want you mad at her,” she cries into my shoulder.

  I feel my knees go weak and both of us slide to the ground letting go of the anger and the guilt we held against one another. The guilt I hold against myself will stay until all of this is over or we all die too. That isn’t something I can let go of that quickly.

  “Guys the noise attracted flesh eaters, we need to go NOW!” Cade says.

  I look up just as the herd is coming into the parking lot of the store. Tony sprints over to us snatching up Liv’s things and chucking them inside the car. He bends down and swoops up Liv and practically drags her in the car. I jump up and dart to my door. I pull it open and slump down in the seat just as the first eater makes it to the back of the Hummer. Cade stomps on the gas, not even closing his door all the way. We peel out of the parking lot with a squeal.

  “That was close!” Cade pants as he finally slams his door shut.

  “Yeah it was,” Tony agrees.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Liv

  After we left the store I feel a little better about the situation, but I also still feel like shit. All those nasty things I said to Cade and for what? He didn’t do anything to me. All he did was love my best friend. Or I think he loves her. I mean he looks at her like he loves her.

  I glance between the front seats and their hands are linked together. His thumb is rubbing smooth lines up and down hers. I lean over and whisper to Tony, “Do you think I am a bitch?”

  “No, babe I think you just feel things stronger than others sometimes and speak before you think,” he says and winks at me.

  “I should apologize to Cade, shouldn’t I?”

  “In your own time.”

  I smile over at him. “I think you know me too well Mr.Reeves,” I say and kiss his cheek.

  “I know you better than you think,” he says as he wraps his arm around me and kisses the top of my head.

  The rest of the ride falls silent and I close my eyes and doze off into a fitful sleep. Images of eater Emily fill my dreams.

  “No Emily! Please stop,” I plead with the lifeless Emily as she stalks toward Wil. It’s like I can see what is happening but I can’t stop it. She reaches out and grabs Wil’s arms munching on it. I try to run over and save her but my feet won’t budge. I look down and see a pile of eater corpses on top of my feet holding me in place. “EMILY STOP!” I scream as she pulls Wil to the ground and bites a plug out of her neck. “Wil fight back! Run! Do something!” I beg her. She turns her head and looks at me. “You are the savior not me. You were supposed to always save me.” Blood comes gushing out of her mouth as she chokes out her last words, “You failed me too.”

  I pop my head up off of Tony’s shoulder and scream out, “WIL NO!” I blink and look around, the sky is dark and the moon is hidden behind some clouds. The only light is coming from Cade’s headlights. It was all a nightmare but it seemed so real.

  Wil jumps awake in the front seat and turns around to look at me. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

  I am sweating and my breath is coming out in short struggled huffs. “A ...dream...It was just a dream,” I pant.

  “What happened? You screamed my name.”

  I relax my head back on the seat and try to catch my breath. After a few seconds I find enough air to reply, “You were getting eaten by Emily and I couldn’t save you,” I whisper ashamed of myself for not being able to save her even if it was just a dream.

  She reaches back and grabs my hand. “Liv you have saved me more times than I can count. Remember that bully in middle school who made fun of me for having braces? You kicked her ass all over the playground. And then that thing with Grant. You think I don’t know that you were the one who started the rumors that he had an STD and made his last days in high school hell? Not to mention all the times you have saved me since all this shit happened. You have always been there for me and I have no doubt that you will continue to be.” She squeezes my hand and smiles at me, “Don’t let some dream make you feel like you can’t take care of me because you have been doing a kick ass job at it so far.”

  Cade looks at me through the rear view mirror, “You are not alone any more. I will help look after our girl.” He winks at me and puts his eyes back on the road.

  I sigh. He is being so nice to me and I was a complete bitch to him. I suck in another deep breath, “Cade I owe you an apology.” He glances back up in the rearview mirror at me real quick then back at the road as if telling me to go on. I let out another huff of air then continue, “I was out of line when I said those things about your sister. It’s no secret I didn’t like Becky, but I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. Plus she is your sister and you have been nothing but nice to me. I’m really sorry Cade.”

  “It’s forgotten about Liv. I know you were just hurt and trying to lash out at anyone you could. I know my sister was a bitch at times and she probably deserved your hate. For the record I am sorry for whatever it was that she did to you.”

  “Thanks Cade. I guess you really are good enough for my best friend.” I wink at Wil and she giggles.

  His face lights up at the mention of Willow. I can see it in his eyes even if he doesn’t want to say it now, he loves her. And I know for a fact that she loves him too. Hell, if not we wouldn’t be here right now and as much as I hate to say this, if she didn’t then Emily would still be alive.

  I push that thought out of my head and give Cade a sly smile. I can’t blame Willow for falling in love again. She out of all people deserves love. And who am I to deny her that? I know she didn’t put Em in harm’s way intentionally. I have to fight passed my own shit and guilt for not taking her with me that morning or for not staying with her. Hell there are a hundred different things I could have done differently that could result in her still being alive, so who am I to blame someone else?

  “Thanks Liv.” Cade reaches over and grabs Will’s hand and kisses the back of it. “I will do everything I can to make sure I am always good enough for her. I know she is way out of my league though.” He smiles at Willow.

  She brings her other hand over and playfully slaps him on his shoulder. “I am not!” she giggles.

  “So how much longer until we reach your cabin?” Tony asks looking at Cade.

  “Umm not much longer maybe another thirty miles or so.”

  Tony sighs and leans back in his seat. I look over to him and he tips his head back until it is resting on the back of the seat. His eyes shut and I know he will soon be asleep. As I look at him I know Willow was right. If it would have been Tony leaving I would have followed him. I don’t know what this new world has in store for me but as I look around this car I know as long as I have these three people in it that I will be okay. I smile and lay my head over on Tony’s shoulder and close my eyes. His arm snakes around my waist and he pulls me closer. My smile widens as I sink into him and slip off into a calm dreamless sleep.

  “Liv! Liv! Wake up!” I hear Willow call to me as my body is being gently shaken awake.

  I bring my hand up and rub my eyes before I crack them open. I yawn, “Are we there yet?” I ask in a sleepy voice.

  “No we stopped at the last grocery store before the cabin. Cade thought it would be a good idea to look around and find some more supplies.” She nods her head in the direction of the Piggly Wiggly, “Him and Tony already went in. They want us to keep watch. I was going to let you sleep but…” she trails off.

  I raise up and stretch. Picking up my bat I hop out of the car. “I know Wil,” I say and give her a light pat on the back.

 
“It’s so creepy here. The parking lot is completely empty and I haven’t seen a flesh eater in miles. I have a bad feeling about this Liv.”

  “It’s been what a month or more since all this started? Maybe everyone else cleared out and the eaters followed them. I mean since when has emptiness been a bad thing. Be relieved that we don’t have to fight at every stop we make.” I give her a reassuring smile.

  She sighs, “Yeah you’re probably right. I was always the one to freak out at nothing.” She shrugs.

  I step around Wil and look around. The parking lot is completely empty. The big red letters of the Piggly Wiggly still look brand new. There are the typical in store ads hanging on the windows and mock Pepsi and Coca Cola drink boxes lining the lower half of the windows. The store is dark except for what light can get through the windows. I squint my eyes trying to see Cade or Tony. I see a glimpse of one of them moving down aisle seven throwing things off the selves into a duffle bag that is slung over his shoulder. As he makes his way closer to this end of the aisle I can now tell it isn’t Cade or Tony.

  He looks to be in his early teens. My guess would be fourteen or fifteen. His hair is jet black and spiked up all over his head. He turns his head and looks right at me as I look at him through the windows. A slow smile spreads across his face and he waves to me like we are old friends. I give him a halfhearted wave and turn back to Willow.

  “Wil there is a boy in there.” I say and point to the store.

  “Well duh there are two of them in there. Cade and Tony,” she says with an eye roll.

  I shake my head, “No Wil I mean a kid. Couldn’t be much older than fourteen. He was grabbing things off the shelves and throwing them in a duffle bag. Look he is right," I turn around and point to where I last saw the boy, “there,” I whisper.

  Wil comes up beside me. “It was probably Cade or Tony Liv.”

  I shake my head as if it will clear my mind. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re probably right.” I scan my eyes down each aisle that I can see looking for the mysterious boy again. I don’t see him. It’s like he vanished.

  “Heads up Liv,” willow says and I turn around to see what she is talking about. “Looks like it was too good to be true,” she mumbles and readies herself for a fight.

  I raise my bat and get ready to fight as the little herd of flesh eaters stumble and stagger their way toward us.

  I glance over at Wil and she is in a baseball player stance with her bat raised over her shoulder. She looks like she is getting ready for a pitcher to throw a curveball. I chuckle at her and she glares over at me. “What?” she snips.

  “Nothing you look like you are getting ready to play ball not ready to kill.” I laugh out.

  “Batter up!” she yells and swings her bat, hitting the first eater between the eyes. He doesn’t fall right away so she swings again and this time it knocks him to the ground. He twitches and she takes that as a sign that he isn’t dead so she brings the bat over her head with both of her arms and bashes it down on the back of his skull. Brain matter oozes out of the sides of his semi flattened head.

  She looks up and smiles over at me. Blood drips off the tip of her nose. She giggles and wipes it away.

  My first eater trips forward and I grip the bat and swing with all of my might and knock him flat on his ass. “Home run," I smirk over at her. We fight the rest of them off with as many bad baseball puns as we can think of. At one point she slides between one of the eaters legs and brings the bat up whopping him in between his legs. If he was truly alive it would have dropped him to his knees instantly but instead he just turns around and reaches out for her. “Ball!” she yells and then “Walk!” As he stumbles toward her. I can’t help but laugh when she smacks him in the temple and yells, “You’re Out!” and he falls down to the ground.

  He was the last of them and I got to sit there and just watch as she took him out. Not once did I get the urge to step in because she had him. I knew she had him. I smile over at her as she steps over his limp body. “I would say we won the game,” she giggles.

  I look around at the dead eaters piled around us and laugh, “Yeah It looks like we really slayed the competition.” We both bust into a fit of laughter.

  “What’s so funny?” I hear an unfamiliar voice ask. I spin around just as the teen walks around the side of the Hummer toward us.

  “Whoa you girls did all of this?” He looks around at the pile of eaters. “I thought once I released them they would surely kill y’all so I could get your car. Looks like I underestimated you two.” He smiles like he is happy about that. “So ladies what do you say? Want to come hang with the Nate Man? I could use some kick ass fighters like y’all.”

  “You sent those eaters after us?” I asked stepping toward him with my bat held tightly.

  “Whoa momma chill!” He says as he steps back. “I ..I just wanted your ride. I have been out here awhile. My dogs are barking is all.”

  “Well Nate Man,” Willow says stepping up next to me with her bat in her hands as well. “We took them out so you will not be a problem. I suggest you run along before …”

  “We get here,” Cade says stepping up behind Nate and grabbing his shoulders.

  Nate jumps and spins around, His eyes go wide as he looks up at Cade. “Now what was it you were saying you wanted? My Hummer? My girl?” He asks him in a deep pissed off voice. It sends chills up my back and he isn’t even talking to me.

  “I… I…I” Nate stutters.

  “I I I” Tony mimics him. “Spit it out boy we don’t got all day.” His voice is equal parts pissed off and annoyed.

  “Man I just wanted a ride. I am so tired of walking or running,” Nate says as he drops his head and looks at the ground.

  “So you set eaters loose to come and attack our girls so you could steal his Hummer?” Tony asks stepping closer to Nate with his fist clenched at his side. “Where did the eaters come from? And are there more coming?”

  “There is a fence in the back that circles the trash bin. I locked several up in there a few weeks ago. I let them all out. There isn’t any more I promise,” he concedes.

  “And you thought ten eaters would stop our girls?” Cade throws back his head and laughs a deep, from the belly laugh.

  Nate looks irritated at Cade’s remark. He shrugs out of his hold and looks angrily at Cade. “How was I supposed to know that they were He-Women? I mean look at ‘em they probably don’t even weigh two hundred pounds put together. How was I supposed to know they could take all of the creepers out on their own?” he huffs.

  Tony shoots daggers from his eyes at Nate and stalks toward him. He grabs him by the collar of his shirt and pins him against the side of the Hummer. “You didn’t asshole and that is a problem for me. You were willing to send the eaters after them hoping they would die or run just so you could steal our ride? Ever thought to ask for a damn ride you stupid little prick!” He shoves him into the Hummer harder and lets him go.

  Nate’s eyes are wide with fear as he looks up to Cade and Tony hovering over him. “I..I’m sorry man. I wasn’t thinking. I am just trying to survive on my own and a car would have really helped.”

  I step up in between Cade, Tony and Nate. I stretch out my hand to offer him help up. “Well if you would have used half your brain you would have just asked us for help. We are nice people Nate.” He looks at me with a sorrowful look on his face before he reaches up and takes my hand. I easily pull him to his feet.

  “I’m sorry,” he says to me once he is on his feet.

  I pat him on his back. “It’s okay little man,” I chuckle.

  His head snaps up and he gives me a death stare. “I am not a little man!”

  “Look at her like that again and I will knock those pompous eyes out of your head,” Tony says moving forward until he is pressed up against my back. I can feel the heat of his body reach out and touch mine.

  “It’s okay Tony. He can’t hurt me with a look," I tease.

  Nate bends down and picks up his duffle b
ag that fell from his shoulder when Tony shoved him against the Hummer. “Look just let me go and I won’t bother y’all again and the next people I come to I will make sure I ask for help instead of just try and take from them.” He adjusts the straps over his shoulder and goes to walk past Cade.

  I reach out and grab his arm, “Nate wait!” I say causing him to stop and turn around to look at me.

  “What?”

  “Come with us,” I say as if it is no big deal.

  “WHAT?!” Cade, Tony, Wil and Nate say in unison.

  “Come with. Look you are just a kid. You shouldn’t be out in this on your own. You said it yourself you are tired of walking. So come ride with us. Let us help protect you.”

  Nate laughs and everyone else just stares at me like I have grown an extra head or something.

  “I can protect myself. I have done it all my life,” Nate snaps and yanks his arm away from me.

  “Please come with us.” I beg.

  “Liv if he wants to go let him go. He did try and get us killed,” Wil speaks up breaking her somewhat silence since Nate first appeared.

  “I remember Wil, I was there. But come on ten eaters? I could have taken that many out on my own. I HAVE taken that many out on my own. He is out here alone. He needs us,” I plea.

  “Look lady I don’t need you or anyone. I am making it just fine on my own.”

  “Oh yeah? What if the next group you come up on ain’t as nice as us and they decide to kill you or feed you to some hungry eaters? Come with us?” Cade ask.

  I look over to Cade shocked that he would take my side over Willow’s.

  “You have got to be kidding me.” Tony says and rolls his eyes, “He just tried to get Wil and Liv eaten and now you two want him to come with us? Why so he can smother us in our sleep?”

  “I agree with Tony,” Wil says stepping up beside him.

  “Come on guys he is a kid! We can’t just turn our back on him and leave him alone out here,” I look at Wil and Tony. Wil drops her gaze and looks down at the ground. She knows I am right.