We Are The Survivors

by Vanessa Marie

  “Oh really? At least I’m not the one who is leaving their parents to die,” I say.

  That makes him stop. He turns. His face is red from anger. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare say that!”

  “Stop!” Sarah yells. “You are family. Rain was doing what she thought was right. Don’t say such awful things to each other. Rain isn’t selfish, she helped me put down my mom when I couldn’t bear to do it. She cares about all of us. Can’t you see that’s why she volunteered?”

  “Well said,” Sierra says. “Your body must have fought the virus off. You don’t show any symptoms and the color is coming back in your face. I’ll take a blood sample to be sure.”

  She goes to the table. I follow. She takes blood from my other arm. She puts a drop from the needle on a slide and examines it under the scope. She takes my blood sample out, putting another one that’s blacker under the microscope.

  “Your immune. You can go back to the house if you want. I’ll prepare this.”

  “Where did you get this stuff?” I ask.

  “A hospital. After the dead were coming alive I stopped by one. I prepare for anything.”

  I walk out. The boys follow me. Gavin and Blake walk in the house without a word.

  I stop at the house to the left of our house, which I should now count as mine since this is home, for forever. I want to introduce myself to the new family that came back with Dave. I walk up to the house and knock on the door with Xavier behind me. A woman answers the door.

  “Hi, is there something you need?” she asks.

  “I wanted to meet you guys. We’re pretty much neighbors since I live in the house next to this one.”

  She nods. “Would you like to come in?”

  “Sure,” I say.

  There is a fireplace on the right wall. There are candles and jars with herbs set up on the mantle. The style of the house is the same as the one I am sleeping in. I guess people liked that style. On the couch a girl with blonde hair is sitting with some biker guy. These people can’t be a family, they’re too different to be a family.

  I wave. “Hi, I wanted to welcome you and meet you guys.”

  “Thanks. We’re happy to be here.” The girl on the couch smiles.

  “You guys are from Pahrump?” I ask.

  “Yes. We owned a metaphysical store there.”

  I’ve been interested in metaphysical stuff for a while. I wanted to learn about witchcraft religions. “Can you teach me? I want to learn what witchcraft is,” I say. She tells me yes. She goes into another room coming back with a stack of books. She tells me to read them. She says she’s tired and she’ll teach me stuff tomorrow. I tell her I’m fine with that.

  I sit at the table back at the main house. I read the book she gave me all day.

  Witchcraft is about doing good and being in tune with nature. Devil worshipping and witchcraft are not related whatsoever. I learn the difference in the pentagram symbol.

  One point up is a witch’s pentagram and two points up means devil worshippers. I learn that that bad witches don’t exist because any real witch is good and they do good spells.

  Blake smirks at me. “What are you reading?” he asks.

  “A book about Italian witchcraft. It’s called the Old Religion.”

  “Devil worshipping?” he asks.

  I sigh, his question angers me a little. “No, there is a difference between the two. Witches are misunderstood. They want to help people. The first rule is to not harm anyone. There are no bad witches.”

  “Okay.”

  He seems irritated. I hope I didn’t say it coldly. I don’t think I did.

  Oliver slumps in the chair across from me. He smiles like an idiot, resting his head on his hand. “I’m in love,” he says.

  “Oh God,” I roll my eyes.

  “What?” he clasps his hands on the table looking at me.

  “Is she interested in you?” I ask.

  “I hit on her and she told me to leave the house, that she doesn’t want to get involved with me. She likes me though, just playing hard to get,” he says.

  “No. That’s completely the opposite actually,” I say. He doesn’t get it. This is going to be hard to get through to him.

  “She likes me. She is coming over soon so don’t mention what I said.”

  “Okay.” I roll my eyes.

  Sierra walks in. She goes in the fridge. She tells Alex she won’t be joining us for dinner. Oliver turns his head to the side to peer at her from the corner of his eye.

  “You must be from Mississippi because you’re the only ten I see,” he says.

  He had to use the most stupid pick up line didn’t he? Blake laughs. I don’t have to use psychic ability to know what is going to happen.

  Sierra hits him in the back of the head, which from the looks of it, was very painful. He holds the back of his head.

  “Don’t talk to me like that. Do me a favor and leave me alone,” she says.

  When Sierra leaves I try to make him understand what she said. “Oliver, it’s the apocalypse, not everyone is ready to start a relationship that soon especially being in the apocalypse. By the way, are you sure you’re not fourteen because you sure act like it?”

  “Twenty-one. You think I act like that because I’m love sick?” he asks.

  “No. Because you’re immature,” I answer with a smile.

  He breaks into a smile. “You tried warning me. I should have listened.”

  He learned the hard way, the painful way really.

  Alex serves us dinner. It’s chicken in some sauce that I can’t tell exactly what kind it is. Oliver smells it. He tastes it before anyone else does. He tells us that the food is good giving us the green light that it’s okay to eat. Alex jumps on us with a comment about how he should be trusted to cook good food.

  “I was going to go to culinary school. In Home economics my teacher loved my cooking,” he says.

  “Is the family eating with us tonight?” I ask.

  “They’re cooking for themselves so no.” He sits with his own plate of food.

  “What are they cooking?” Oliver asks.

  “Fish,” Alex says with a mouthful of food.

  I drop my fork on my plate which makes a crashing sound. I run to the door.

  “What is it?” Alex says.

  I turn the door knob. “The seafood is the cause of the disease.”

  I run into the house. I open the door finding Craven on the couch with Cassandra leaning over him, helping him drink something from a glass.

  “Did you guys eat the fish?” I ask.

  Cassandra puts the cup on the coffee table in the middle of the room. “Yeah, why?”

  “There is radioactive waste in the fish that’s what’s turning people.”

  Craven’s face is a shade of grey. Sweat is beading down his forehead. He is on the line of being alive and being dead, if I don’t get him to Sierra soon he will cross both lines.

  “Sierra has a cure.” I beckon for them to follow me. I run to her door. I pound on it.

  She answers looking groggy. “What is it? I was sleeping.” She rubs her eyes. Dark circles are under them.

  “Craven ate fish, is the cure ready to use?” I ask.

  “Yeah. That’s nice.” She isn’t listening to one word I’m saying.

  I grab her shoulders, “He ate fish! He needs the cure!” I say while shaking her.

  Her eyes open wide. She is alert now. Cassandra guides Craven in the door. Sierra is pushed aside by them. Craven sits in the same chair I sat in. Sierra gives him the shot.

  I didn’t feel much after getting the shot at first. It took a while for me to feel normal again.

  Sierra leans on the door frame. Craven is sitting at the table with his head on it. Cassandra is sitting next to him holding his hand. I can see his hand squeeze hers. Sierra glances at them then me.

  “Cassandra said that he ate the seafood ten minutes ago. That doesn’t sound like a lot but it means that it could be too late
for the cure to work,” she says.

  “What if he dies?” I ask.

  “I have a gun in the backpack of medical supplies. I’ll be all right,” she says with a lowered voice.

  I go back to eat the rest of my dinner. Later on sleep doesn’t come this time. I toss and turn in someone else’s pajamas I found in one of the rooms. I hear the screech of the metal gate. I peer out of the window. Blake is wrapping the chain up on the gate. He probably went for a walk. My gut tells me he didn’t just go for a walk. I should just sleep. It’s nothing, I reassure myself.

  I open the door and catch up with Blake. “Hey!” I yell louder than I meant to.

  He spins around like it’s the police who called him. “Rain, you scared me. What do you want?” he asks stepping back.

  “Why are you opening the gate? Are you the one who took the lock that was on the gate?” I ask.

  “I don’t know where the lock is. I was checking the perimeter for dead people.” He takes another step back from me.

  I hug myself to keep warm from the chilly breeze that blows through me. “Blake, are you telling me the truth? Your father didn’t have my trust. You don’t either yet. If you’re staying here, you have to tell me the truth. Or else.” He laughs at the last sentence. He pulls me into a hug, he pats my head playfully. I pull back and cross my arms. He crosses his arms.

  “It’s not a joke. I’m serious. I’ve done things…” I don’t know why I said that.

  “You kill if you have to. Our father deserved it. I’m going to bed see you tomorrow,” he says walking away.

  This morning I can’t forget what Blake was doing. I can’t let paranoia set in. I can’t let fear run my life. The conversation just unsettles me.

  I understand what Blake felt about his father but he acted so calm last night. It was also strange how he acted. He acted like I caught him doing something wrong. Maybe I did.

  It would be worth it to check his house. I don’t want to be nosy or play detective. He just doesn’t seem…normal. He appears to be nice, that doesn’t mean he isn’t hiding secrets beneath the surface.

  I want to live this life not survive it. I want a life I can have fun in. I want to be something other than a survivor, I want to be my own person. I don’t want to constantly second guess people when I don’t even know them. That’s why I’m going to visit Cassandra.

  I got very intrigued by the book she gave me yesterday.

  I’m curious about divination in particular. I read that one form lets you ask a yes or no question. I know what I’m going to ask it.

  I knock on the door. Cassandra opens it. I come inside. We sit at the table. “Do you have any pendulums or tarot cards here?” I ask.

  “Yes. Which do you prefer?” she asks.

  “I’ll do both. Pendulum first,” I say.

  Cassandra goes in the hall coming out with a deck of tarot cards and an amethyst pendulum. She puts both on the table. She hands me the pendulum. I hold it with my index finger and thumb. She tells me to wait for it to stop moving and then ask a question. It spins then stops.

  Was Blake unlocking the gate for a bad purpose? I ask.

  It goes forward and back meaning a yes.

  Can I trust Blake?

  It goes side to side meaning no.

  Is my name Rain? I test it.

  It says yes.

  Is Blake a good person?

  It goes side to side rapidly, picking up speed. A big no.

  At least I know last night wasn’t my imagination. I tell Cassandra to do my tarot cards. I can’t get a yes or no but maybe it will provide some insight. Taking her instructions, I shuffle the deck and ask the question while thinking of Blake.

  What will happen now that Blake is living here?

  I fan the cards out and pick the ones I’m drawn to. I lay three cards down.

  The first one is the Magician but it’s upside down. The second is the Emperor card. The third is the High Priestess card. All the cards are upside down.

  She tells me the Magician is my past. It is telling me that someone has ulterior motives and is trying to trick me. The Emperor card tells me that there is someone in my life that is controlling. The High Priestess card tells me that in the future I will find out that someone I know will have an unbelievable secret revealed.

  That is not reassuring. I thought that the divination would help calm myself down, that my suspicions would be put to rest. Now I’m terrified of who Blake is. I’ll keep this reading to myself. Others might not believe me. Staying a little distant from Blake would be a good idea for now.

  I thank her and leave. I go to the main house for breakfast. Alex is making omelets. I like his cooking better than Sarah’s, she wasn’t horrible. Alex just cooks slightly better.

  I eat the food without paying much attention. I’m worried about what the reading said. What if it was all true?

  “Hey, are you okay?” Alex says.

  “Yeah.”

  I don’t need to think about it now.

  I plan to stop by Cassandra’s again later. I want to convert from Catholicism to Old Religion. I like the beliefs better. I read that you don’t have to turn witchcraft into a religious thing you can just do spells. I want to make it religious though.

  Blake sits next to me at the table which makes me flinch. I didn’t notice him come in. Oliver walks in and sits down opposite me.

  “Good morning, Rain,” Blake says.

  “Good morning,” I say not meeting his eyes.

  He smirks. “Did you talk to the Devil Worshippers today?”

  “Why do you call her that? That’s not what she is. Don’t be rude,” I say gently.

  Blake bangs both fists against the table shaking it. “What did you call me?”

  I’m stunned by his reaction. He stands up. I see anger in his eyes. My heart beats faster. I have no clue what he is going to do. Alex and Oliver are staring at him. He doesn’t seem to notice. I flinch when he tries to put his hand on my shoulder. He stands up.

  “I’m sorry,” I say.

  He slaps me across the face so hard I fall on the floor. I hold my right cheek. Alex gets in his face.

  “What the hell was that? What do you think you’re doing? Get the hell away from her?” he screams pushing Blake after he says each sentence.

  Blake leaves. I watch him go. What did I say?

  Oliver has concern written on his face. “Are you okay?” he asks holding his hand for me to take.

  “Yeah,” I say sitting in my chair.

  Gavin comes in the living room from the hallway. “Did someone yell?” I turn around going to answer. He notices the red mark on my face. “Why is your face red? Did someone hit you?”

  “Blake did. I didn’t even know what I said to make him…” I trail off watching Gavin walk to the front door. “Stop! Don’t confront him.”

  “Why the hell not!?!”

  “He already snapped with me telling him not to judge Cassandra, he’s not right. If you go over there he could kill you. We need to think about this.”

  He squints his eyes in confusion. “Think about what?”

  “When he will be leaving. He’s not staying here,” I say.

  Why did he react like that? Maybe I said it too rudely. I have a tendency to say the wrong words, words I regret. “Did I say something wrong?” I ask.

  “No, you put it nicely,” Oliver says.

  I need to stay away from him. It scares me how much he looked like his dad a few minutes ago. Him banging his fists on the table. How hard he hit me. I have goosebumps.

  Alex sets a plate of chicken and rice in front of me before he sits and joins us.

  “Why are you feeding us this crap? I thought you went to culinary school?” Oliver asks.

  “I was going to go to culinary school,” he corrects.

  “So make a culinary-school-worthy dish,” Oliver says.

  “Shut up. Let’s think of what we can do.”

  I don’t want him here for long. He already hit m
e. He could hurt someone else even worse. The kids have dealt with abuse from their parents, I wouldn’t want to put them in the same situation with Blake. We need to protect everyone here.

  This incident reminds me of what he was doing last night. He has another side to him. Last night he wouldn’t tell me what he was doing. I wonder if it had to do with something or maybe someone in his house. He was very eager to get back to it. he kept stepping back like he was afraid to leave someone alone. I have to get in that house and see what he’s hiding.

  Shaking his head, Alex stares at the red handprint on my cheek. “We don’t have to deal with this now. You probably want to but maybe we don’t have to. I realize that he did something wrong but we need a break from all this. We should do something fun tomorrow.”

  I get what he’s saying. I think we do need to talk about it. “Don’t we have to deal with this?”

  “It sounds stupid, I know. Oakland can watch and make sure that he doesn’t leave his house until we need to deal with this. I’m saying that you’re a kid, you should have fun and try to forget about all this.”

  I think carefully about his suggestion. I don’t know if I’m still grounded from the last two times that I didn’t listen to, basically now, my guardian. It would be nice to forget everything for one day.

  Gavin turns to me. “I know I grounded you for the things you’ve done. Volunteering to get injected with zombie disease I thought was stupid at first. When you told me you did it for others I couldn’t tell if it was stupid or brave. You had the best intentions at heart. You did what you thought was right and…well, that’s what I would have done.

  “I keep thinking about you telling me I didn’t care about my parents. You were right to say that. I think we should look for them, we’ll plan it. Tomorrow we focus on fun.”

  I want to apologize for what I said about my aunt and uncle. I wish I could take it back. Words were said in the heat of the moment that weren’t meant. At least he agrees that we should find them.

  Alex smiles. “Where should we go?”

  Gavin folds his arms. “You’re coming too?”

  “Yeah. I won’t be too annoying. We should pick somewhere that doesn’t have the dead, would be easy to get into, which is pretty much everywhere, something that you guys have always wanted to do?”