by A. R. Wise
"Help me stay alive. Help me get back to Dexy."
"How can I help?" I asked.
"Just stay alive. I know you've had a rough day, and I know you're ready to give up, but do me a favor and just try to stay alive. I need someone to talk to. Okay?"
"I don't think it's up to me," I said.
"Sure it is. Before, you were talking like you were about to give up and let yourself die on the spot. The last thing I need is another dead body chained up beside me. Do me a favor and keep your spirits up. Help me make it through this, and I promise to show you how great the outside world can be. Okay? Dexy and I will take you up to our spot in Juniper and watch the sunrise with you. It'll be worth it, I promise. It's my favorite place in the world."
It was painful to listen to his hopefulness as I kept the secret of Juniper's destruction. "Okay, I'll do my best." I didn't know what else to say.
"Great. It's a deal then, we'll both do our best to stay alive and then go to Juniper together."
One of the other temporary survivors on the other side of the truck, close to the rear exit, started to cough. I glanced down at him, past a row of wavering corpses, and saw that it was an old man with white hair and a long, braided beard. His clothes were mopped with the fluid from the bottom of the truck, and he was shivering as if freezing to death. He looked up at me, as if he could sense my eyes on him, and tried to smile. Then he coughed again, violently, until it seemed he might choke to death. He started to gasp intermittently, between his coughs, and he began to shake as blood coursed out of his nose. He convulsed and clenched his jaw as he moaned in pain.
"Don't look at him," said Griffin, but I didn't listen.
The old man started to bounce on the floor and I could hear his chains scraping against the metal holes in the side of the truck as he tried to get free. He was only afforded a few inches of room to rise up before dropping down again, but he made the most of what he had. His back end crashed into the metal floor time and time again as he coughed, moaned, and sputtered. Blood continued to gush from his nose, coursing along his braided beard. He shook his head back and forth and his wet beard flung blood around him like a paintbrush in the hands of a temperamental child.
"Celeste," said Griffin, "you shouldn't watch."
"Kill me!" The old man screamed before he started to bash the back of his head into the truck's perforated side. His fury startled me and I gasped as I watched him continue his self-mutilating assault. He thrust his head into the metal again and again until the clatter turned to a sopping wet thud with each new strike. Soon, his bright red blood colored the back of his hair as he continued to try and kill himself.
"Just kill us!" He stopped his assault, and his head drooped to the side. It seemed that he'd dazed himself, and I was thankful for the respite. The scene had unsettled me, which I would've thought was impossible given the circumstance. Despite my acceptance of impending death, I was disturbed by the prospect of watching someone commit suicide like that.
"Don't look," said Griffin, but his voice was timid. He sounded defeated.
"I think he knocked himself out," I said, still staring at the old man.
A bump in the road caused the trailer to bounce, and the old man's head rolled forward. Blood still dripped from his nose, but it didn't flow as strong as it had moments before. I couldn't be sure if he was still alive, but at least he was quiet.
I finally looked away, back out at the rising sun that now warmed my skin. The old man got my attention again soon enough. He gasped, but in a more desperate manner than he'd done before. His head reared back and he sucked in a long breath as his back straightened. He looked directly at me, and then did his best to move my way.
He was a zombie now, and the chain around his neck tightened as he tried to crawl forward. The pressure choked him, like it did the others around us that were doing the same. They all tried to move towards Griffin and me, because we were the only ones left alive. This trailer was filled with creatures that wanted nothing more than to eat us.
I closed my eyes and rested my head against the side of the truck. With the old man dead, and the zombies choking themselves into submission, we were afforded a grim solace.
It wasn't long after the old man died that the truck started to slow down. We made a few turns, which caused the fluid in the bottom of the trailer to slosh around, and then the brakes squealed as we finally came to a stop. The sun was high above us now, and baked the trailer. The metal sides had become hot to the touch, and the stench of cooking, putrid blood and flesh caused my eyes to water.
I heard someone walking through the gravel behind me, but didn't bother to turn far enough to see. I wanted to hate the people of Vineyard for this, but I understood that this wasn't their fault. The conditions we'd been placed in weren't done to us out of spite, but rather out of pity. We were doomed, but the slight chance that some of us might be immune to the disease was enough to warrant this hellish journey. There was no other way for them to have compassionately brought us, and despite my rage over the conditions of the trip, I knew it would be misguided to blame the people that put me here.
The back gate squealed as the lock was loosened. One of the two doors opened and Hero stepped up to inspect the trailer.
"All right," he said as he looked around. "Do we have any survivors here?"
"Yes," I said and looked at Griffin. I was surprised to see that he didn't bother to answer. He just kept his head pressed against his knees. "There are at least two of us that are still alive."
Griffin kept his head down.
"Is that you, Cobra?" asked Hero.
"Yes. You can call me Celeste now." I kept my eyes on Griffin as I answered Hero. I was confused why my new friend wasn't speaking up for himself.
Hero walked through the center of the trailer, careful not to lean too close to the creatures that lined the sides. The zombies stretched out and bit at him, but he was out of their reach as he made his way to me.
"Hot damn, girl," said Hero. "I'd just about written you off."
"He's still alive too," I said and nodded at Griffin.
Finally, Griffin looked up. He shook his head at Hero.
"What?" I asked, confused. "You're fine. You're immune too. What's wrong with you?"
He avoided eye contact before setting his face down on his knees again.
"Griffin, what's the matter?"
Hero reached me and knelt down to unlock my chains. "Let him go, honey."
"What?" I was incensed. "No. He's alive. What the hell's going on? He's still alive."
"Give me a chance to talk to him," said Hero.
The chain around my neck was finally taken off, but the one that bound my hands was still in place. Hero reached around to unshackle me as I continued to yell at Griffin. "What's the matter? You made it, Griffin. Why are you just sitting there? What about Dexy?"
He turned to me and rested his cheek on his knee. He smiled, but it was a faint display. "I'm not immune."
"What are you talking about?" I was as heartbroken as I was angry.
"I've got the disease. I knew it was only a matter of time."
"You said we were going to make it. You said you were going to take me to see Juniper."
"You'll have to go without me."
Hero unlocked my hands and I swiftly pulled them free. I rushed to Griffin's side and Hero tried to stop me, but I pulled away from him. I crawled over to Griffin and pulled at the chain on his neck until the padlock swiveled into view. "Hero, give me the key."
"Honey," said Hero in sympathy as he knelt behind me. He pointed at black lesions that covered Griffin's neck. "He's not going to make it."
"What are you talking about? He's still alive. He's immune. We made it."
Griffin put his cheek against my hand and then kissed me. "I'll be okay, Celeste. I'm going to go be with Dexy now."
"What do you mean? You need to come with me to Juniper so that we can find her."
"Dexy's dead. Thanks for trying to hide it fro
m me, but I know what happened. I know she died. I was there when Beach told everyone that Juniper had been hit with the disease. I lied to you, because you looked like you needed to be cheered up."
"Griffin," I was sobbing as I pressed my face into his shoulder. "Don't give up. You can still make it." I hardly knew the boy, but it felt like I was losing my only living friend.
"Honey," said Hero as he tried to pull me back. "We need to go."
"No." I jerked my shoulder out of Hero's grip and held onto Griffin tighter. "I'm staying here. I'm not going anywhere."
"Celeste," said Griffin. "I want you to go. I want you to find Juniper, and get up on that tower I was telling you about. Get up there and watch the sunrise. Trust me, it'll be worth it." He kissed my cheek.
"I don't want to leave you."
"I'm going to be with Dexy again. You don't have to worry about me."
Hero helped me stand up. I'd been crouched inside the trailer for so long that my legs wobbled beneath me. I was dripping with the sludge that soaked the floor and couldn't stop sobbing as I looked down at Griffin. Hero helped me walk away from him, and guided me to the back of the trailer where he held my hand as I stepped down. The undead monsters on either side of us mocked me as I passed, pulling at their restraints and snapping their jaws.
"Give me a minute," said Hero as he walked back towards Griffin.
The sun blazed above, and bugs zipped around, enticed by the smell of death that clung to me. I shook off some of the fluid and it struck the dry earth, causing dust to puff up with each drop. When I looked back into the trailer I could see Hero's back. He kneeled down beside Griffin and they were talking, but all I could hear was the distant murmur of their voices.
I turned away and stared out at the unforgiving, arid plains.
Then there was a gunshot, and I knew what had happened.
Griffin made it back to Dexy.