We Are The Survivors

by Vanessa Marie

  She sighed. “I’m taking Claire back to our house with me. Craven will stay here. He will help you guys. I can’t stay here, it’s too dangerous. I’m sorry,” she said.

  I nodded and she got in the car. I opened the gate for her. She drove away.

  Dave and I are searching for Rain today. Nya is with Alex and Sierra and Oliver split up from us. We are searching houses and buildings. We’ve come up with nothing. We’ve been at it for five hours. We are sitting on the roof of a grocery store eating trail mix.

  His walkie talkie goes off suddenly. “We found something, we are in a building by the community. Someone lives here. They have a walkie. We think that this person is Blake’s informant. There must have been a person here watching us and telling Blake where we are. That’s how he found us in the store when he took Rain,” Nya says.

  “We’ll be there soon,” he says.

  We make it to the car. He speeds over there. Nya is standing on the roof of an office building waving to us. Dave pulls into the parking lot. I run inside and ignore the surroundings completely. I see a ladder and climb up there.

  There is a sleeping bag with a walkie talkie on it. There is a camera there and pictures next to it. One picture is of Dave and Kay kissing. I eye him. He looks at Nya.

  “Wait until he comes back. We get information from him,” he says.

  “Damn right,” she says.

  It takes an hour for the asshole to come back. We all stand around the hole in the roof where the ladder is. Dave grabs his jacket and pulls him on the roof. The boy blocks his face with his arms to protect himself from being hit.

  “Where is Rain?” he asks.

  “I won’t tell you,” he says.

  Dave punches him in the face. “Tell me where.”

  “Fuck you.” The boy spits at his shoes.

  He picks up the picture of him and Kay and shoves it in the boy’s face “Did you tell Blake about this?”

  “Yep. He knows all about it and he’s pissed too,” he says.

  “Give those people a message to meet me at a restaurant called MR. Wong’s Chinese,” Blake says on the walkie.

  The boy picks it up. Dave aims his pistol at his head.

  “Yeah,” the boy says.

  Nya looks at me. “We worked there, we know where it is.”

  The boy runs. Dave shoots at him but misses. Dave runs after him. I slide down the ladder and follow them both. The boy runs away faster than Dave can catch him. Dave leans on his knees gasping for air. The boy yells something I can’t quite hear.

  Our one lead ran away. Blake meeting us is suspicious. He might kill us then kill everyone at the community. Everything he does is suspicious. God knows what reasons he has for the things he does.

  We have no choice but to meet him there. That’s our only chance to get any leads.

  Dave straightens up. We decide for Nya to get in the car and for Alex to drive back in a different car with Sierra and Oliver who are at a house nearby.

  We drive to the restaurant. We arrive early. Blake isn’t here.

  The inside is decorated with Chinese paintings and wooden carvings of dragons. The chairs are wood carved into dragons and has red upholstery. The walls are painted tan. It’s very beautiful.

  A car pulls in the parking lot. Blake’s car. He walks inside. My hands are sweaty and I swallow. He scares me not because of what he can do to me but what he is doing with Rain. He sits at a table. He motions for us to sit. I sit across from him in between Dave and Nya.

  “You guys have to stay away from Rain or I will kill all of you,” he says.

  Dave clenches his fist. “We will never stop looking for her,” he says.

  Blake shakes his head. “You will, like you stopped looking for your sister.”

  Dave’s face goes pale. The angry expression he once had turns to shock like he is surprised Blake brought it up. I look at Dave the same time Nya does.

  “What?” I ask.

  “What is it? You didn’t tell them? Dave had a sister. My dad took her when she was nine years old. Dave was fourteen. My dad killed her for fun. He dumped her body somewhere. They kept looking for years and never found her. My dad told me she fought a lot but it didn’t really work out,” he says.

  Dave grabs his shirt collar and gets in his face. “I’ll kill you!” he yells.

  “My friends will kill you when their leader dies. Dave, be careful or Rain could end up like little Marina,” he says.

  Dave lets go. He sits in his chair. Blake folds his arms on the table.

  “I asked you at the community if you knew, you said you didn’t. You deserve to die slowly and painfully,” Dave says.

  “Stop looking for her. She agreed to live with me. She wants to live with me. Let her be happy,” he says.

  “You are crazy to say she is happy with you!” I yell.

  “Bottom line: stay away or else. Usually I would kill people that disobey me but I like messing with your leader. It’s fun to watch him act tough.” Blake walks to his car. Dave aims his gun at him. I pull his arm to the right. He fires a shot in the wall. Blake drives away.

  Dave slams the gun on the table. “His father kidnaped my sister at school. I was supposed to pick her up. I ran late. He took her. For months, my family was waiting for her to come home. My parents grew apart and they got divorced after they couldn’t find her. They never found a body. It ripped my family apart. My parents blamed me too for her death. I thought the past stayed in the past but now it’s happening again. We have to get Rain back. It’s like I need to. I’ll do it if it’s the last thing I do,” he says.

  He lost his whole family for one mistake. He felt the uneasiness in his stomach and he cried at night like I do sometimes. He knows how it feels to be worried about someone for days so much that you can barely eat. He felt the knots in his stomach from extreme anxiety. He felt the overwhelming fear of the worst becoming reality. Maybe I shouldn’t be so tough on him.

  I pat him on the shoulder. “I’m not mad. You care. I’m sorry for not listening. We should stick together.”

  He has tears in his eyes. “Thank you.”

  “Is there anything else you didn’t tell us?” I ask.

  “No.”

  We start driving to the community. Blake’s car is in front of us. He is going home. This is the only chance we have. “Follow him,” I say.

  “That’s my plan,” he says.

  “Turn right and follow behind slowly,” I say.

  Dave does it. He is going slower than Blake is going. We are driving behind the buildings. I can see Blake’s car in between the gaps of the buildings. We come to the end of the road. We turn and Blake’s car is speeding towards us.

  “Dave!” I scream. The car hits my side. The impact rips my seatbelt from the seat. I hit the right-side door with my shoulder.

  The car slides to the right. Blake’s car backs up and speeds away. I sit up and lean into the front. “Are you okay?” I ask.

  “Yeah, we’re good,” Nya says.

  Dave has some cuts on his forehead and nose. The air bag has blown up. I try my door and it doesn’t open. I use the other door to get out. They get out with me. Dave kicks his car and the hubcap rolls on the ground then falls flat.

  “He doesn’t get to ruin my car. We try to catch up with him. I’m getting a new car first,” he says.

  He leads us to a strip mall down the road. There is a white car in the parking lot in front of a pet store. Dave opens the door and gets inside.

  “Damn no keys,” he says.

  Inside the store there is a Diner crouching on the floor. I pat Dave on the shoulder and point to the Diner in the store. Dave shoots the zombie through the glass. The glass shatters. Shards falls on the sidewalk. He gets the keys and starts the engine. Nya and I get in.

  He speeds up. Blake’s car isn’t in site. Dave bangs on the steering wheel and accidently honks the horn.

  Dave punches the steering wheel. “Damn it, he’s gone”.

  “
We’ll never find him at this rate,” I say.

  I hold onto the necklace in my pocket. Where could he be living? He would need a secluded place. He would use the place he had before. There has to be documents about a place where he lived.

  The police station has records on this. There are no clues to go on. It’s not a waste of time. We’re wasting our time by searching random buildings. If we could get an old address that might be where she is. “We should check the police station. The case files should have something,” I say.

  “Okay,” Dave says.

  The police station is trashed. I assume from looters trying to find the armory. I can’t help stepping on papers all over the floor. I pick some up and read them. Most of it is useless. I open a tall file cabinet.

  I look in the B’s for Blake. I have to check every Blake in Vegas. With the three of us it shouldn’t take long. I call them over and we take all the Blake case files. I sit in an office chair by one of the desks. I open them and just scan the pictures. I find his picture and learn his name is Blake Grace.

  I scan the words and find an address.

  8345 S. Finley St. Pahrump, NV.

  I flip the pages. I come across a picture of a house. It is very worn from the weather. The paint is peeling off it. It’s large. The file says that the police rescued several girls from the premises and they arrested Fred Grace. That’s it, it must be the house. It is Blake’s last known address also.

  I get Nya’s attention. I give her the file. She closes it and stands up from the floor.

  “We have an address let’s go,” she says to Dave.

  Dave gets in the car and looks at the file. He throws it on the dashboard and speeds it up. The tires are screeching. Nya tells the group over the walkie talkie that we have an address and to be prepared for people going there.

  This is it. We found her. I’m going to see her in less than an hour. I’m so excited to finally can see her face again.

  The thought of Blake telling us to stay away or she will die runs through my mind again. What if he does kill her before we get there? What if he kills the people at the community?

  I haven’t even considered what to do when we get my girlfriends back. I think Blake deserves to die whether he is at the house or not. I’ll hunt him down myself if he isn’t there. He needs to be killed. It’s the only way to get him to leave Rain alone. I’m prepared to do that for her. I won’t let anyone I care about die. I let Mom die. I won’t make the same mistake again.

  CHAPTER TWELVE-NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM

  Apocalypse: Present Day

  The bite healed up miraculously. The doctor must have made me immune to the disease. I’m fortunate to have kept my bite a secret. I can’t remember how many days ago I was bitten. I didn’t get sick. I didn’t die.

  I will tell Zane I got bit. I told Kevin the day I was bit. The bite left a faint scar on my leg. I’m not worried about what they will do to me. I’m not sick. I’ll tell them the doctor cured me.

  On the bright side, it is easier to search for Rain and Gavin now for my sake, which, clue wise, is impossible. Zane has been looking endlessly for his sister. We have gotten no clues to where he or Alyssa is. The guy on the radio is careful not to reveal his location.

  Zane tries to trick him but he is smarter. He’s no amateur to this.

  I head to the front of the store. A group of people along with Wilson are in front of the doors. I go up to the door. It has a message written in blood on the door.

  You leave in three hours or I kill Alyssa and Pam and take this place by force. I have been too nice now I’m angry. If you were wondering this is Alyssa’s blood. I only cut her but you know I can do more than that.

  I shudder from the message and being cold. I get goosebumps. I’m wearing shorts and a tank top as pajamas. Clothes I found while scavenging.

  We have no choice. He is going to kill her. We have to give this store to him. The question is will he kill her anyway?

  Wilson glances at my leg then at me. He saw the bite. He pulls me back from the crowd.

  “Are you bit?” he asks in a whisper.

  “I was bit. I got better. I was in the hospital for a while. The fish…”

  “You told me that.” He shifts his weight on one foot impatiently.

  “Well, this doctor gave me these drugs and he cured me. He immunized me too. I didn’t get sick.”

  Zane walks up to us. “You are immune?” he asks.

  “Yes,” I say.

  “That’s remarkable,” he says.

  The crowd whispers back and forth about my immunity.

  He gets on the walkie talkie. “I’m not making a deal,” Zane says.

  “It’s not a deal it’s listening to a command,” Blake says.

  “My sisters could be dead. Will you let me see her?”

  “No. That can’t happen,” he says.

  “Asshole, I will…” he puts his hand up searching for something to say.

  “I will take my boys and we’ll kill you then take the store. No negotiation anymore. You shouldn’t complain, my boys never came back. I can’t say I miss them but we’re even. I kill your sisters; you kill my boys. We’re done here.”

  The group is looking at Zane. He stands on a stack of pallets by the door. “Fawn, Dana you get on the roof. Set the snipers up. You kill anybody wearing a leather jacket with the words ‘Thrill Killers’ on it in red letters. Those boys we shot had that name on their jackets. May, tell Kevin he needs to be on the roof shooting unless he wants to die. Basically, anyone that can shoot get to the roof with a gun,” he says.

  Zane’s siblings walk up. Quin is crying and holding on to her sisters.

  “Are Alyssa and Pam going to die?” she asks.

  “No. We’re going to get her back,” I tell her. “You can come with me. We can…” I draw a blank. What can you do for fun in the apocalypse?

  Skylar pulls on my shirt’s edge. “We can draw,” he offers.

  “Okay.”

  I tell Kevin to go to the roof then I go with them to their makeshift beds. They have a desk made from pallets stacked up. They have three twin mattresses to sleep on. There is paper and crayons on the desk.

  We sit on the floor and draw. Quin is still crying. Tears fall on her drawing. Skylar tries to soothe her by telling her they will be okay.

  I should have told Gavin to meet me at a certain place. I’m so stupid. This place, West’s Bulk Food store was an evacuation site I heard from Zane. We checked all but one; Mirabella Homes. I should go there.

  We didn’t go there because we were tired from the trips. We checked half the city by now. I tell the kids that I’m going somewhere. They wave to me. I catch Kevin on the way to the roof. He tells me to be careful and gives me the keys and a rifle. Zane gives me a skeleton motorcycle mask.

  I tell him to come look for me if I don’t come back in an hour. I get dressed. Zane draws me a map. I head there. I put my mask on the dashboard. I can’t see well with it on.

  This could be it or it could be a death trap. I have no clue who is living there. I’m sweating. I’m excited and scared at the same time. I jump when I hear gun shots.

  I think I’m the one getting shot at. I hit the brake giving myself whiplash. I hear more shots. It’s not the store. There is no activity there. The shots are to the left of me. They are coming from a road to the left. I can either drive away or help. I’m so close to finding them.

  I have to help. It won’t be that hard. I make the turn. A teenage boy runs away from a huge group of the Munchers. His clothing is like what our enemies are wearing. Do I leave him based on an assumption that he is a bad guy? Teenagers dress the same sometimes. My morals tell me one answer when my heart tells me differently.

  The kid trips while running and he shoots one more Muncher. He crawls backwards on the ground. The Munchers are getting closer. He is kicking at them. Why am I still watching this?

  I speed toward them. I stop at the crowd. The boy is to the right of the car
. I get outside of the car. I put my eye to the scope of the rifle aiming for heads.

  “Need a ride?” I ask.

  He gets in slamming the door without answering me. I kill a handful then get inside. I speed toward the store. The boy grabs the wheel and swerves the car to the left. I yell at him to stop. I hit the brake. The boy grabs my head with his forearm across my forehead and his arm around my neck.

  “Listen carefully. I’m an informant for Blake. People already messed with me. I’m not in the mood to be messed with,” he says in my ear.

  I struggle and my vision goes blurry.

  “If you struggle you will blackout,” he says.

  I press the button for the window. I roll it down all the way.

  “Hey! Over here! Get over here!” I yell.

  His grip tightens. “None of your people will hear you. You can scream in the middle of nowhere and no one will hear you. Screaming now has the same effect. When do girls ever learn their screams will not be heard? No one can hear you scream.”

  I hear growling then the boy screams. He loosens his grip. I sit in the driver’s seat. The Munchers are eating him alive through the window. Blood is spraying on the seat and the roof of the car. I put the motorcycle mask on.

  Blood sprays on the mask. I jump back from it. The boy is screaming. The Munchers are biting his face and ripping at it. I push him into the crowd by his legs. I speed towards the community.

  His people never heard his screams. How ironic that those were his last words. I gaze at myself in the mirror. The bloody skeleton face stares at me.

  I ponder the crazy shit I did in my past. I did everything for thrills or an adrenaline rush. My heart never beat any faster with that than it does now. I didn’t want to mature. I was afraid of my childhood being over. I realize that I let my inner child get to my behavior too much.

  I have to raise my niece and my son with Kevin. She needs parents. I raised Gavin completely. He is going to be eighteen in a few weeks. I’ll have to raise a teenager again. I have to grow up and stop doing stupid things all the time. I was reckless and it almost got me killed.