Painted Red

by Kelsey D. Garmendia

  There were times out in the woods where I wanted things to be over. The endless waiting, not knowing—it really was more than I could take. But Hunter was my rock. He’s my only friend now.

  He jumps up on the bed and licks my face.

  “I wish things could be simple again, Hunter.” I rub behind his ears while he pants hot air into my face. “Things won’t change between us. Ever. You and me are what matters. Then, when everything goes back to normal, it’ll be Aisley, Hayley, you and I.”

  He barks and returns to licking my face.

  After the year in the woods, I’ve had this constant hopelessness lurking over my head. Hunter helps me by bringing me back out of my thoughts, but it still creeps back in. Why haven’t I been allowed into the fort? Did Hayley survive? She was practically dead when I lowered her onto that gurney. That soldier a year ago seemed confident that she was safe. What about Aisley? The soldiers had to drag her away from me.

  We’re safe.

  A knock at the door makes both Hunter and I jump. “How’re things going in here?” The woman named Nikia strolls into our room leaving the door open behind her.

  “I’m going for a run with Hunter.”

  “Great, I’ll come with—”

  “I—as in by myself.”

  Nikia folds her arms across her chest. “I explained the rules—”

  “And I explained that I don’t care.” I walk past her with Hunter by my side. I slide down the banister to the stairs until I reach the ground floor.

  “Xavier!”

  The group near the front door who took my blood all stand at Nikia’s voice. I turn and run to the back door that she took me through earlier. Hunter’s panting covers the rest of Nikia’s calls to me. We’re in the woods in seconds. The trees whip by us in a swirling silence that makes my head stop pounding. The ground crunches under my feet at a quick pace.

  Do you run like this so that you can hear us again?

  The thought never occurred to me until Hayley’s voice mentioned it. I think that’s part of why I don’t like being around people.

  Come to us.

  My feet pick up speed. Hunter matches my stride. No growling yet. The sun is still high enough that the cannibals won’t come out. They’re lethal at night, but during the day, I definitely have the upper hand. Hunter has gotten so good at spotting them, and my aim has only gotten better.

  Don’t think like that. Not when you’re so close to Aisley and I.

  The gray walls shine through the barren forest. Hunter and I slow to a walk. “Do you think we’ll ever get the chance to see them other than here Hunter?”

  He never answers, but his silence is good enough for me. Hayley and Aisley’s voices have gotten louder since killing Earl and the rest of his cult. Sometimes I’m not sure if it’s just in my head anymore. There were times out in the woods that I felt her. Her touch. Her breath on my neck. Some people would say that’s a sign of a haunting. But I refuse to believe in things like that.

  Says the guy who’s listening to us in his head.

  I smile at Aisley’s voice. “It’s only to keep my memories alive and well kid,” I respond.

  “Jesus Christ—” I turn, drawing my Bowie knife. Two guys who look nearly identical stand next to each other behind me. One has a scar across his cheek with a mess of dirty blond hair under a trucker hat. The other is short with white blond hair donning a scar through his eyebrow.

  “You’re a fast one,” the shorter one says.

  “Who are you?”

  “Nikia told us you fled. My brother and I saw you bolt out the back door,” the short one responds.

  “I don’t follow rules. I told her I was going for a run. With Hunter.”

  “Yeah, yeah. We get that part dude.” The man with the scar across his cheek stands up straight and comes towards me. “Do what you want out here. But we gotta stick by you. At least near you. We look after each other at the house—”

  “I managed on my own for a year,” I respond, gripping my knife until my knuckles turn white. “I doubt a run to the fort will be what kills me.”

  “Do you know what they’ve been doing to people here?” the other brother asks. “They hang warnings. People caught stalking their walls are being strung up.”

  “So I’ve seen.”

  The man with the scar on his cheek scoffs and shakes his head. “What the hell ever,” he mutters and turns in the opposite direction.

  “One—”

  “Nah, brother. I ain’t wasting my time on someone like him.Especially if it was Nikia who wanted us to check up on him.” He looks me up and down shaking his head. “Seems to me he wants to be left alone. I respect people’s boundaries unlike her.” He stalks off in the opposite direction without another word.

  I think I could actually like that one.

  The remaining man lets out a long sigh and rests his fists on his hips. “I’ll stay out of your way,” he says without making eye contact. “But I’m just looking out for you. I swear. I don’t want none of those things getting to you or your dog—”

  “Hunter. His name is Hunter.”

  The guy nods and lets a crooked smile creep across his face. “Hunter and you are safe to do what you need to out here,” he says. “Whatever that may be.” He never looks up at me, but instead, slouches back against a thick tree trunk and chews on a toothpick.

  I walk with Hunter to the closest point to the fort I can get without being spotted. We sit together on the frozen ground while watching the steady stream of smoke float out of the fort’s walls.

  “What if they don’t ever come out Hunter?”

  He lays down and crosses his paws with a sigh.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” I respond. “I’ve been saying that almost everyday I’ve known you.” My eyes travel down the gray stones until I meet the tiny speck of a guard patrolling the perimeter. “I miss them. I miss them so much.”

  I feel a drip of wetness hit my hands. Shit—I let the hopelessness back in again. My hand reaches up and swipes across my eyes. “I wonder if how I hear them in my head is how they really sound.”

  Hunter and I make eye contact. He returns to sitting and licks on my five o’ clock shadow.

  “You’re never gonna leave me right?”

  He tilts his head, then leans closer to me.

  “Good,” I say.

  Good.

  Winter

  The sun is setting just over the brick walls of the house. The brother that left Hunter and I sits on the concrete steps outside with his trucker hat resting on his knee. A whistle from behind me makes my muscles tense. The shorter brother walks past me.

  “‘Bout time you showed up,” the taller one says. “Nikia was nagging me about you two.”

  “Nothing to worry about,” his brother responds. “Got ‘em back safe no problem.” They head into the house together without another word spoken.

  Nikia comes barreling out the front doors seconds after they enter. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  I walk past her. My room is sounding like the best place to be even though I want nothing more than to have my shed back.

  “We’re not trying to convert you or anything,” she says. “When you come here, we look out for each other—”

  I stop at the bottom of the stairs and feel her collide into me. “I got the speech already. And just like I told those guys, I survived well enough on my own for a year.”

  “You don’t have to do that anymore,” she says. “Please. Let us help.”

  I swallow down spit and clench my jaw. That was enough talking for today.

  “There’s food in your room if you’re hungry. Doc brought it up.”

  Her feet click away as I climb up the staircase. Hunter waits for me at our doorway. The room reeks of meat. Gizzards of chicken lay on a plate next to a bowl of water.

  They’re trying to be nice.

  “They’re trying to get me to stay,” I say to Hayley. “I won’t.”

 
Just use your head for once and not your stubbornness to make a decision.

  The venison melts in my mouth. Once I take another bite, I can’t slow my pace. Alongside it is a generous serving of steamed vegetables. I haven’t seen food like this in a long time.

  Hunter noisily laps up water.

  “We go hunting tomorrow,” Nikia’s voice says from behind me.

  She’s like a damn tick.

  “I’d like for you to come with me,” she says leaning on the doorway. “To get to know everyone.”

  I swallow my mouthful and glance over my shoulder at her.

  “That food you got there is from hunting trips,” she says nodding toward my plate. “You have to at least be good at hunting if you survived out there for a year—”

  “I survived a lot longer than that.” My voice comes out grittier than I wanted, but I’m not apologizing.

  “I understand,” she says. “Come with us tomorrow morning. You won’t regret it.” She turns to leave, but stops. “Goodnight.” She disappears before I begin to even think to answer her.

  Hunter sits by my side while I go back to eating. “Think we should try it?”

  He inches closer to my plate.

  “You’re still hungry, aren’t you?”

  Drool hits my leg.

  A sigh pushes past my lips. I lay my plate down on the floor for him to finish. “Better get some rest I guess.”

  The Brothers: February, 2014

  “What’s her name?” Nikia says.

  “Who?” I say looking down at her from my branch.

  “The family you left behind,” she says. “I’m assuming it was your sister or someone you loved.”

  “Oh.”

  “So wife or daughter? Sister—”

  “I don’t think it really matters who they are. Not to you anyway.”

  She scoffs and looks back out into the forest. “I’m just trying to get to know your story.”

  “Well, I’m not willing to tell it,” I say. “So, stop asking.”

  “Ok, sorry.”

  I let out the air from my lungs and scan the forest again. A slight movement ahead makes me aim my bow. I draw back and whistle. It stops, and I can see the outline of antlers. I let out a breath and release my arrow. The deer cries and flops over.

  “How did you even see that?”

  “I’m a superhero,” I say and begin to descend from the tree.

  “Oh how funny.” She drops to the ground next to me.

  We trudge through the mud in a comfortable silence. The arrow protrudes from the deer’s eye. Blood pours from the socket. I pull my skinning knife, but Nikia stops me.

  “Don’t gut it here,” she says. “The wendigos could find us before we’re done.”

  “Well, how do you suggest we get it back to the house?”

  “Them,” she says pointing over my shoulder. I turn to a truck barreling towards us.

  “Who is that?” I say.

  “The brothers,” she says waving at them to slow down. “Conspiracy theorists and one hundred percent country. But you can call them One and Two.”

  Weird names.

  They skid to a stop about a foot from us sending mud everywhere. “Well, look at that buck!” says one of them hopping out of the car. “Who caught it?”

  “It was all the new guy,” Nikia says. “Shot it down with one arrow from about 800 feet away.”

  “Nice one man!”

  “How did you even see it?”

  “I’ve been hunting a lot longer than most people,” I say swinging my bow around my shoulders.

  “Well, nice job,” one brother says.

  “This will feed a lot of the kids,” the other one finishes. He holds out his hand in front of me. “We’ve never officially introduced ourselves. I’m Two. This is my brother One.”

  I look him up and down and clench my fist.

  “Okay,” One says clapping his hands. “You’re clearly a ladies’s man. Let’s just get this deer back. Crew two said they needed some help.”

  “Let’s hope they took down a damn Hostess truck,” Two responds nudging his brother’s shoulder.

  I turn off back towards our tree stand and slush through the mud and slushy snow. That deer would’ve lasted Hunter and I almost three months. Now, it’ll maybe be there for a week. That’s not enough.

  A hand grips my shoulder and pulls me back. I throw my elbow behind me and connect with something. I turn and load my bow with an arrow.

  “Jesus,” Nikia says holding up her hands. “Stop! It’s just me.”

  “Don’t do that.”

  “Ok, I’m sorry,” she responds. “Where are you going?”

  “Back to hunt.”

  “We got something, we can go back,” she says holding her ribs.

  “One deer for how many. I don’t half-do hunting jobs.”

  “You’re not the only one out here, Xavier,” she says. “We work in pairs; it’s the rule.”

  I turn towards the house and grind my teeth. Rules—what a joke. I march through the slush away from her.

  “Where are you going now?” she says.

  “Home.”

  “The brothers can drive us—”

  “I’d rather walk,” I say holding up my hand to stop her. Rules. Why would she stop me from hunting when I could bring in three times the amount everyone else would?

  “Xavier,” she says jogging up to me. “Listen, I know you survived on your own out there, but you need to trust that we know what we’re doing here.”

  “Right.”

  We make it to the front of the house in record time. I push open the front doors and go to walk in when Nikia grabs my arm.

  “Shoes off,” she says.

  I look down and observe the mess of mud that collected on my boots. I unlace and pull them off.

  “Leave them under the overhang,” she says. “We can clean them off tomorrow.”

  “Ok,” I say and throw them against the side of the house. I walk in the front doors and into the foyer.

  “Xavier!” Doc says. “I’m glad I caught you before you disappeared to your room again.”

  “Oh, um what did you need from me?”

  “A supply run came in earlier while you were out,” he says. “We were able to find you some materials for your teeth. Would you like me to fix them?”

  “Sure,” I say.

  “We couldn’t find any pain killers though,” he says fiddling with his thumbs.

  “That’s fine,” I say. “When do we start?”

  “Well, you might want to get your shoes on,” he says. “All my equipment is at the guest house.”

  “I’ll go barefoot.” Anything to keep me from going back outside with Nikia. I peel off my socks and shove them into my pockets.

  “Oh, all right,” he says frowning.

  The walk is quiet. It seems like Doc doesn’t mind. The inside of his guest house smells like rubbing alcohol. I take off my jacket and leave it over a chair in the corner.

  “I’m not going to lie,” he says throwing his jacket over a chair just inside the door. “I don’t have much Novocain left, so I’ll only be able to give you a minimal amount. You’re still going to be able to feel this bridgework going in.”

  I hold up my hand. “No Novocain,” I say. “Don’t give me any of that.”

  “Xavier, that’s a lot of pain—”

  “I haven’t felt a damn thing since I lost everyone. Do your worst.”

  Doc frowns and shrugs his shoulders. If he were me, he wouldn’t look so confused.

  March

  “Xavier,” Hayley says from my arms.

  “I love you Hayles,” I say. “Always have, always will.”

  “Then why did you leave us?”

  * * *

  A knock on my door wakes Hunter. He barks from the opposite side of the room.

  “Xavier?”

  God, she never quits.

  “You in here?” Nikia pushes open the door and peeks around the corner
.

  “What is it?” I say pulling the covers off of me.

  “Oh god,” she says turning around. “You’re naked.”

  “I get hot when I sleep.”

  “Note to self,” she says. “Don’t go into Xavier’s room without a warning.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Doc wanted to see how you were doing.”

  “I’ll go see him,” I say pulling on pants.

  “Great,” she says. “And breakfast is downstairs.”

  I pull on my flannel and button it up to the top. Hunter stands from the pile of blankets I gave him and stretches several times before letting out a whining yawn.

  “The dog can’t come,” she says.

  “Well then I’ll bring it up to this room,” I say.

  “That’s not how things work here—”

  “I’ve eaten in my room before. Besides Hunter is my friend, and my friend eats with me. That’s not gonna change because some girl says so.”

  Nikia folds her arms across her chest and clenches her jaw. I shrug my shoulders and sit on the bed to pull on socks. I’m not a member of this little cult. Why should I follow their rules? I pull my jacket from the chair and throw it over my shoulders.

  “Where are you going now?” she says.

  “Well apparently Doc wants to see me, and we’re not welcome together at breakfast, so I’m going to hunt for Hunter and I.”

  “It’s not hunting time—”

  “How many times do I have to say that I don’t care?”

  “If you’re living in this house, you should.”

  “The only reason why I’m here is because it’s close to the fort, and I was being chased by a bunch of psychos,” I say. “I’m not gonna jump into whatever way of life you think you have here. So stop trying to mold me into something I’m not.” I push past her with Hunter and head for the foyer.

  “Xavier,” a voice says from the bottom of the stairs. “Just the man I wanted to see.”

  I attempt a smile, but my mouth throbs in protest.

  “It’ll get easier with time,” Doc says. “Won’t it now.”