We Are The Survivors

by Vanessa Marie

  Blake walks up to the door. Dave sees me watching him. He shakes his head walking away. Blake comes in.

  “Hey, I thought I told you to leave?” I ask.

  “I will. I wanted to see you,” he says.

  He grabs a protein bar from the cabinet. He sits at the table eating it. He is wearing a fancy leather jacket, a black T-shirt and jeans. Avian stands up with his bowl which has melted ice cream in it. He trips, spilling ice cream on Blake’s sleeve. The bowl shatters on the floor. Blake jumps up.

  “Look what you did! Watch it!” he screams.

  Avian is scared, his eyes are wide with fear. He steps back. Blake is on him punching and kicking. Avian is screaming. “Leave him alone! It was an accident!” I scream. Blake stops. He locks eyes with me. Adelyn is in the hall. Avian motions for her to go in the room. She goes in the room silently closing the door.

  Blake is still staring at me. His face is red with rage. “What did you say?” he asks.

  I open a draw behind me and grab a steak knife. I run towards the opening between the table and counter. Blake grabs my shirt and pulls me back into the kitchen. He pushes me. I land on the floor. Avian runs out of the door screaming for help. Blake slaps me across the face. The knife is by my shoulder. I reach for it but he slaps me again. Xavier is behind him pointing the gun at him.

  “Get out!” he yells.

  Blake gets up with his hands in surrender, “I’m sorry.”

  “Bullshit get out.” Xavier’s hand is shaking.

  Blake walks out. Everyone at the door parts the way. I get up with Xavier’s help; I walk to the door to make sure he leaves. He spins around.

  “I’ll get my stuff and I’ll leave tomorrow,” he says it as if we don’t have a choice.

  Gavin gets pissed at that. “No, forget your stuff. I want to see you leave now.”

  I watch Oakland unwrap the chain around the gate, Blake drives away. Oakland locks up. We sit at the table. I’m the first one to speak. “I’m sorry. Bringing him here was stupid,” I apologize.

  My face stings from him hitting me.

  “It’s not your fault. We were in a tough spot he got us out,” Nya says.

  “I’ve been apologizing a lot lately. I’ve been screwing things up so much. Putting myself in danger. Keeping secrets. It seems that with each passing day I’m losing who I was,” I say.

  “People make mistakes. Life now makes decisions harder to make. You are still you,” Dave says.

  I study everybody’s facial expressions. They show worry and concern, sympathy from Xavier.

  “I thought maybe I could have family by having my stepbrother here. I was wrong. I already have family here. Let’s forget Blake and have fun here. We’re doing good here. I don’t have to go on runs anymore. I’ll stay and help do things around here,” I say.

  “Amen,” Alex says.

  “What do you think he meant by stuff?” Gavin squints, “He had a gun, nothing else.”

  “I’ll go check, I’m curious,” I say.

  “Not alone,” Oliver exchanges a look with Gavin, “I’ll go with her.” Gavin nods.

  Oliver and I walk to the house. I’m curious to see what “stuff” he was referring to. Oliver is staring at me. “What?” I ask.

  “Your face still hurt?” he asks.

  “A little, I’m okay.”

  He stops. “You don’t have to feel like you’re losing yourself. We all were affected by this.”

  I wipe tears from my face. “Why am I the only one who acts like this then?”

  “Everyone acts like this. I bet you Oakland never had to guard a gate before. Dave was probably never a leader in anything before either,” he says.

  Oliver opens the door for me. I step inside. I turn to face him with my back to the wall.

  “Is Sierra still crushing on you?” I ask. He doesn’t answer. He points at the wall behind me.

  The wall has pictures of me on it. It’s a shrine. At the top, it says Thrill Killers in red, I can’t tell whether it’s written in blood or paint. The pictures were taken from far away where I wouldn’t be able to see anyone taking them. Some outside of my school were taken of me leaving. There are some of my mom, Fred and I. I remember what he said in the store. “He said he was trying to find me for months. He was stalking me. What was he going to do to me?” I ask.

  “You’re right let’s forget him,” he says.

  I pull the pictures off the wall two at a time. They scatter on the floor. I walk in the master bedroom. His gun is sitting on the bed. There is a box of ammo with it. I pick it up to count the shells. The bullets fall on the floor through a hole in the bottom of the box. I lay on the floor to pick them out from under the bed.

  I see a black boot under the bed. It’s a woman’s. I pull it out. I hear a bang in the closet. It’s a zombie, it has to be. I grab the gun and make sure it’s loaded. I put one hand on the doorknob I turn it leaving it open a crack. I hold the gun and use my toe to nudge the door open.

  A girl jumps out and I shoot the wall narrowly missing her shoulder. I hear Oliver yell holy shit. He runs in the room. The girl is shaking. She is wearing a white tank top and jeans. She has a boot identical to the one I found under the bed, it’s hers.

  “Is Blake here? You need to help me. He took me from my house, please help.” She is talking so fast I can barely understand what she’s saying.

  Her blonde hair is knotty and her blue eyes are wide with fear and maybe exhaustion.

  “Who are you?” I ask lowering my gun.

  “My names Kay, I’m Blake’s ex-girlfriend. I broke up with him when I found out he was kidnapping girls. He came to my house a couple nights ago, I think. Please, help me.

  You can’t let him know I spoke to you, please. Help me,” she pleads, holding my shoulders.

  “We kicked him out today. He won’t be back. We’ll let you stay here,” I tell her.

  “Thank you.” She hugs me while crying into my shoulder.

  She holds on to me for a few moments. What the hell was he doing? Kidnapping girls?

  Oliver leads the way back to the house. Melissa is sitting on the couch. I almost forgot she was staying here. She spent the last few days in her house not having any social interaction. “Hi,” I say. She waves at me.

  “I’m enjoying my electricity. I’ve been sleeping most of the time, that’s why I haven’t talked to anyone,” she says.

  Kay sits on the couch next to her. I stand at the table.

  “Who is this?” Dave asks.

  “Her name is Kay. I found her in Blake’s house. She was kidnapped. She has nowhere else to go,” I say.

  There are people staring at her until she feels so uncomfortable she shrinks into the couch.

  “Yeah. Dammit, what the hell is wrong with this guy?” He shakes his head.

  Alex grabs her a protein bar and gives it to her. She thanks him. Kay stands up off the couch.

  “Can I change out of these clothes?” Kay asks in the quietest voice.

  “You can but nothing will be in your size. We should go grab clothes. We could hit a store and get things in our own style. We could also get decorations for the houses. I mean we live here let’s decorate them how we want,” Nya says.

  “What about the clothes we got you?” Dave asks.

  “There isn’t much and hell I thought it would be nice to take a shopping trip,” she says.

  Going on a shopping trip would be fun. I’m in. “I’ll go, if I’m allowed.”

  “I’m staying here. I’ll give you my size and you pick out comfortable clothes,” Melissa says.

  “Okay,” Nya says.

  “Is Sierra going?” Oliver asks.

  “I’ll ask,” Nya replies.

  Sierra walks in the house. Her eyes have dark circles under them.

  “The zombie I’m examining, I found out that the groans are how they communicate. I figured that they have to communicate by their five senses since they live by instinct. I let it out and it lunged for me
so I started groaning and it stopped. It ignored me. That can be used to our advantage,” she says noticing Kay, “Who are you?”

  “Blake hid me here, he took me, it’s a long story.”

  Sierra’s mouth hangs open for a minute. “What? Where is Blake?”

  “He’s gone. He hit me last night because he got angry. I told him to leave today,” I say.

  “No one told me that. What if he comes back?”

  “He won’t be walking away alive,” I say.

  Sierra walks to the door. I just now noticed she has the same clothes on as she did the first day she came here.

  Sarah stands up from the table. “Stay for dinner, please.”

  Sierra looks over her shoulder, “I have food to eat in my…your mom’s house.” She walks out.

  “Tell me who he is, what he did,” I say to Kay.

  Kay tells me that they dated for a few months. They decided to move in together. He told her he built a tool shed in the yard and not to go in there because he didn’t think it was that sturdy and he didn’t want her to get hurt. She listened. One day she came home to three police cars parked in the driveway. They were taking girl after girl out of the shed. The shed had a doorway disguised as a wall panel. The doorway led to an underground tunnel. The tunnel was a corridor with rooms in it. He held the girls there for months.

  The police told her that Blake killed his sister and Fred killed Blake’s mother. They planned to get insurance money. Fred pinned both murders on Blake though so he wouldn’t get in trouble or have to split the money. The jury didn’t convict Fred because of the lack of evidence. Blake got out when he was nineteen for good behavior.

  Blake was the one who created the organization “Thrill Killers.” Like the name suggests they kill for the thrill of it. They banded together with friends and kidnapped girls for ransom money. They would get the money and dispose of the girls.

  I’m horrified by the story. I can’t eat afterwards. Nya agrees with Sarah, Kay, Sierra and I to go shopping in the morning. After today it would be nice to take a real break from the one that was ruined today. I have to move on from this. He’s gone and he won’t be coming back. I pray with all my heart I never see him again.

  Xavier lays on the couch with me once it’s time to go bed. I put my head on his chest. I close my eyes, breathing in his smell. He smells like soap. Better than I do.

  I’ve been washing my hair in the sink with bottled water. It still smells. My skin is greasy despite me washing up as best I can. I miss showering so much.

  I fall asleep in his arms.

  I wake up in the same position at 3:00 A.M. I stand up getting a water bottle from the fridge in the dark. I drink half of it. I shudder at how cold it is. The heaters are on but it doesn’t help much.

  I sit at the table. Blake was stalking me all this time. He was everywhere. I have to wonder, was everything he told me a lie? What was he going to do to me? Why did he stalk me? Did he plan on keeping me?

  I’ll move on from this somehow. I know that. I just have to forgive as hard as it will be to, I have to.

  I hope he never comes back. I see Oakland outside the window from across the room. He is armed, pacing back and forth to make sure Blake doesn’t come back.

  My thoughts wander to what he was going to do to Kay. He is a very controlling person, I saw that. Maybe he did it because he didn’t want anyone else to have her. I hope she’s okay. She got her own house before I went to sleep. I’m sure she’ll find the electricity as a plus to where she lived before.

  The circumstance of how she got here isn’t good. From my learning of witchcraft, I learned that everything in the world is interconnected. Running into Xavier was a miracle. We are a couple now because of it. I have faith that everything happens for a reason. Kay ending up here could be for some reason.

  Xavier rolls over.

  I put my water back. I lie on the couch. Gavin and I were offered a house and our own rooms. I’ve gotten used to the couch. I like living in this house. I am close to these people now.

  Oakland, Dave, Nya, Melissa, Sierra and Oliver have their own houses. That leaves Alex, Gavin, Xavier, Sarah and the kids and me in here.

  The kids stay in her room for security I assume. After what Blake did company is comforting to them.

  I practically pass out in a few minutes.

  I wake up to Adelyn shaking me. “Rain! Wake up! Wake up!”

  I open my eyes. She looks scared. Outside it is pitch black.

  “Rain, I went outside to play and he came back, Oakland wasn’t watching the gate and…” she talks so fast I can’t understand her.

  “Who did? Where’s Oakland?” I ask.

  “Blake did. Oakland was by the front gate and I walked out. I asked him if I could walk around, he told me to stay close. I walked by the back gate and he was standing there. I tried to run but he grabbed me through the bars. He told me to stay quiet or he would kill me. I ran and Oakland saw him and chased him away,” she says. I see her holding a note in her hand. She hands it to me.

  “He told me to give this to you,” she says.

  The note says:

  I wanted this to work out. That didn’t happen apparently. I’m sorry for how I acted. It was immature. I want a second chance. Let me make things right. You should give me a second chance. I will be here tomorrow to take my stuff whether you like it or not, regardless of whether you let me come back. I have important stuff to get, I need my stuff. I will see you tomorrow.

  -Blake

  I don’t like how he doesn’t give me a choice in the matter. “I will be there” and “It was immature” is ridiculous. He’s saying I’m coming and you can’t do anything about it. He was immature? I could see if he threw a tantrum like a baby, but he didn’t, he tried to beat a kid to death.

  I already told this guy to stay away. I’m out of them. I don’t want this guy anywhere near this community, or these people.

  I’m more pissed off then scared. He can’t come in here and do whatever he pleases. He sure thinks he’s entitled to a lot.

  Adelyn has tears in her eyes. She’s scared. “Is he going to hurt us?” she asks.

  “I will make sure that doesn’t happen,” I say, “Go back to bed, try to sleep.” I hug her.

  She walks to bed. I consider tearing it up. I want to show the others in the morning though. I wouldn’t want to worry people at this hour.

  Oakland walks in the house. “She told you?” he asks.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry. I scared him away. If he comes by what should I do?” he asks.

  “You have to shoot him. He wants Kay. Apparently, he wants me too. I found a shrine of me in his house. He might kill her. We have no choice but to shoot. We tell him he’s not getting her and if he does something we shoot. What choice do we have?” I say.

  He shakes his head. “No choice but the choice of right and wrong. Sometimes you have to cross the line between good and bad to save people. You guys are my family. I lost my family on the first day. You guys are family to me and I would never let family down.” He points to Xavier. “That boy sleeps like a baby. At least he can rest.”

  He stares at him sleeping peacefully behind me. Oakland’s eyes have grey bags under them. He shakes his head getting back to reality. “I have to stand watch.”

  I grab his arm. “Let someone else do it.”

  He puts a hand on my shoulder. “This is my job now. Well, it was my job before. I was a security guard. I know what I’m doing. I’m a professional.” He smiles weakly as if it’s exhausting to.

  I lay my head on the pillow. He’s a good guy. He’s giving his life for people he has only known for a little while. We are lucky to have him here. He thinks the same of us.

  In the morning, I show Dave the note. He reads it and shakes his head. “No. No fucking way he’s coming here, inviting himself over,” he says slamming the note on the counter.

  “Right. What are we going to do? I don’t know if we should even go
on the shopping trip,” I say.

  “No, you girls go. Oliver will go with you for protection. Me and Oakland will guard the gates. We’ll handle it. Don’t sweat it,” he says.

  “Even if it’s been a week or more we’ve known each other I feel like we’re family. He is my stepbrother, I don’t want to endanger anyone,” I say.

  “Yeah, we will do whatever it takes to keep each other safe,” Dave says.

  Nya reads the letter. She wants to hang behind. Dave convinces her to go after twenty minutes of arguing with her. She reluctantly agrees. Melissa shows up saying she wants to come. She is wearing a grey T-shirt and jeans. Sierra, Oliver and Kay meet us by Dave’s car.

  Kay offers to drive. She is wearing the same clothes as last night. Nya agrees and gives her the keys. We don’t tell Kay about the letter. We don’t want to scare her but I will come clean later.

  Kay drives away slowly. She picks up speed as we get down the road. She is doing a hundred miles an hour. Oliver shuts his eyes tightly holding the armrests for dear life.

  “Can you slow down please?” he asks.

  “A little,” she says.

  “Try a lot, just a suggestion,” he says.

  I nudge him with my elbow. “I thought you liked reckless driving.”

  Kay slows down to eighty miles an hour. She smiles at him in the rear-view mirror. “Live a little,” she says.

  He doesn’t move, “Live a little? You are going to crash and we will be doing the opposite. I don’t like reckless driving, I just said that,” he says.

  Sierra mutters dork under her breath.

  We make it to a little clothing store. We try on clothes and Melissa picks out decorations. Oliver will, without a doubt, try to woo Sierra. He might not comprehend the word no; I don’t believe that he is too desperate to be with her. He is just in love. Sierra may perhaps give in to him.

  I watch him talk with her. He must have told her a joke because she laughs. He laughs with her. She’s giving in a little. He comes over to me. “Does she like you yet?” I ask.