Alive

by Ashley Shannon

  “So don’t give me anything that has peanuts in it.”

  “Why?” Eli asked, puzzled.

  “You don’t want to kill your new best friend, dummy.” It felt good for Eli to know he had a friend. The two of them bonded over over lunch. They talked about video games and anime shows. The two boys had a lot in common even though Jasper was a senior and Eli was only a freshman.

  “Hey, man.” Jasper greeted Eli, walking towards the counter.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Eli leaned against the opposite side of the counter.

  “Nothing, just hanging around before I have to pull a night shift.” Jasper pulled a magazine from the rack next to the cash register. It was a tattoo magazine. The cover displayed a barely dressed twenty something girl with fake blonde hair and colorful sleeves. Eli had looked at the magazine a few shifts ago when it first came out. The colorful pictures that adorned the girl’s arms were of old school video game characters. Zelda, Pikachu, Mario, and more stood in fighting stance, battling the bad guys just as they had in their video games.

  “Cool, right? Check out the Princess Peach one. It’s pretty sweet.”

  The two boys geeked out over the beautiful girl covered in their favorite video game tattoos. Each was so absorbed in the beautiful flesh covered in artwork that they didn’t hear the door open. Neither one looked up until a full box of candy bars collided with the floor. At first, they thought it fell on its own, but then they saw the group of five guys that had walked in unannounced.

  Eli knew them, but wished he didn’t. The group always appeared to just be a bunch of jocks with bad attitudes, but he knew better. A few months ago, he use to be one of them. They usually could be found wearing letterman jackets with shiny gold pins from different sports teams, but those jackets might as well have been the Dyersville version of gang signs. The Mighty Die was a secret club of sorts. Each year they picked a few guys and initiated them in. If you chose to pledge to them, they treated it just like a big city gang. Once you were in, you were in for life, but Eli hadn’t seen it that way. He had made his way through the initiation period without a problem. It was mostly binge drinking and doing stupid dares around town. None of it seemed like a big deal and for the first time Eli felt like he belonged. He had a group of friends, something he hadn’t had after Jasper graduated. After he made it in the Mighty Die, he began to see a rowdier side of the main five leaders in the group. Brian, Mike, Shane, Tyler, and Ferg were the leaders of the pack. They had the privilege of running the gang after the last round of seniors had graduated. But the real leader was Brian. He ran everything. If a prank or party wasn’t approved by him, it didn’t happen. The big end of year party was all Brian’s idea and it had been the reason that Eli chose to leave.

  It was a big bonfire in the middle of a field outside of town. Ferg’s family owned the field and didn’t care about the party, so if the cops showed up it wasn’t a big deal. Everyone knew what to do if they did. They would hide the booze, act normal, and after the officer sniffed around a little bit, they left. Then the music would get turned back up and the party would commence.

  Around midnight that night, the cops had already come to call and the party was back on. Eli was pretty sure most of the school was there, all drinking and laughing. Everyone was celebrating the end of the school year, especially the main five. It was their last big party. They were all graduating at the end of the month.

  Andrea had just broken up with Shane a few days before the party. She stumbled around the party, trying her best to hold it together. But she was drunk, too far gone to realize she was just a mess. Eli felt sorry for her. From the edge of the party where he stood next to his sister drinking a beer, he watched her fall. Her feet were unsteady and she tripped and almost fell into the fire. Instead of helping her up, Brian walked over and kicked her shoe.

  “Pathetic.” He spat towards the ground and it landed on her leg. She was dressed in cutoff shorts and a flannel shirt. Her brown cowboy boots were caked in mud. With her eyes closed, she tried to push herself up, but Brian nudged her with his shoe and she fell again. Eli chugged what was left of his beer and walked to the small crowd that had formed around the two past lovers.

  “Man, stop, she’s drunk. Let me just take her home.” Eli was trying to do the right thing, but Brian was too drunk to see that.

  “You trying to mop up my sloppy seconds, Eli?” Brian’s breath smelled like beer when he got up in Eli’s face. His words were beginning to slur, a signaling that he was probably a few beers over his limit.

  “No, Brian, it’s not like that. But someone should take her home. She shouldn’t be here when she’s this wasted.”

  “She shouldn’t be here at all.” Brian spat on her again. “She should have known better than to show her face here.” He extended his arm and dumped what was left of his beer onto Andrea’s back. The poor girl was so out of it she didn’t even move when the cold liquid covered her back and legs.

  “Come on, Brian! Just let me take her home.” Eli wasn’t drunk. He had only had two beers and was probably Andrea’s best chance of getting home alright.

  Brian crushed the can in his hand and threw it to the ground. He moved closer towards Eli, so close that he could feel the spittle that left his mouth when he talked.

  “You can leave, but she’s staying.”

  Eli moved toward Brian. One good push and he knew the big jock would hit the ground. That’s what alcohol did to a person. Have too many drinks and even the strongest man could be taken down with a well directed shove. Kimber and Drew ran to Eli’s side from where they had been standing. The girls each took a hold of his arms and pulled him away from Brian. They knew what would happen if Eli made it physical. Brian and the rest of the gang all might be drunk, but get enough drunks together against one guy and a lot of damage could be done.

  “Eli, let’s go.” Kimber yelled, putting herself in between Brian and Eli.

  “Yeah, Eli, why don’t you head home. Wouldn’t want your little sister to have to fight your fight for you.”

  “This is done.” Eli pointed his finger at Brian and said, “I’m out of this bullshit.” He took off his letterman’s jacket they had given him and threw it in the fire. With Kimber and Drew each holding on to his arms, they walked to car. Kimber didn’t drink so she drove them home. Once they were out of the field, Eli called Officer Tripp and told him about the party. The cops passed them on the gravel road as they headed in the opposite direction.

  Eli had made a point to avoid the Mighty Die since that night. When they walked in the Lucky’s the main five of the Mighty Die weren’t wearing their usually varsity jackets. It was too hot to wear them in the summer weather. In gym shorts and cut off t-shirts, they still looked as daunting as ever to Eli. When he had broken the rules and called the cops on the party, he knew he would be out of the group. He hadn’t cared, making sure Andrea was safe and okay had been all that mattered. But he hadn’t thought about what would happen after they found out it was him who broke up the party. The main five almost didn’t graduate because of what he did. They spent the rest of their senior year in suspension, not allowed to go out for baseball or go to prom. Each of their end of year privileges were stripped from them and they would never let Eli forget that he was to blame.

  Now when they should have been heading to baseball practice, they came into the store as a daily reminder to Eli of just how much he had screwed up. This time Brian looked worse for wear, obviously drunk, and holding a baseball bat. With his eye on the candy bar aisle like it was the perfect pitch coming at him straight down to home plate , he squared up and swung the bat down the shelf. An entire row of candy bars flew across the store.

  “What the hell man?” Eli yelled, jumping over the counter, almost knocking Jasper over. With a few steps he was face to face with Brian. “Get out of here.”

  “Or what?” He spat on the floor. The brown liquid marked the light color tiled Eli had just mopped. Brian’s bottom lip jutted out because of
the dip of chew he had stuck in it. He spat again and then met Eli’s eyes. “Ya gonna call the cops, Eli? Isn’t that what you do when you don’t get your way?” The two stared each other down, moving in a circle slowly. While they sized each other up, Jasper slide between them.

  “Hey, guys, this doesn’t have to go like this. Why don’t you fine gentlemen just take your bat and leave. No one has to call the cops. This doesn’t have to end ugly.”

  “Yeah, well this pussy probably already called them.”

  “Nobody called anyone,” Jasper continued, putting his hands up between Brian and Eli. He looked at Eli and tried to persuade him to stand down without saying anything. “So why don’t we all just move along.”

  Brian moved suddenly, lunging his shoulders forward, as if he was going to come at Eli and Jasper, but it was just a fake out. With that last move and one more puddle of spit on the floor, the gang left. When the door was closed behind them, Jasper looked at Eli, his eyes wide in shock.

  “I knew they were giving you a hard time, but I didn’t think it was like this.”

  “Just help me clean this up.” The two friends bent over and started picking up the candy bars. Eli didn’t want to talk about all the issues he was having with the Mighty Die. He just wanted to pick everything up and leave work, counting down the days with the main five went off to college.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Three Months Before the Outbreak

  The house smelled sensational when Kimber walked through the door with Drew. All around her the air was filled with the smell of cilantro, peppers, and lime juice, the things her mother loved to use when she cooked. No matter how long or hard her mom’s day had been, she always had a delicious meal on the table come dinner time. It was a long standing rule that her kids were to be home to eat it.

  “I’m not wasting my time in front of a hot stove after ten hours of work just for no one to be here to eat it with me.” Her mother always told Kimber, her voice thick with a Spanish accent. It was with that mentality that always made her welcome Kimber and Eli’s friends into their home. The more the merrier as far as their mother, Maria was concerned. Traditional family values became very important to Maria when she moved with her two children to the United States. It had taken a very long time for her to be able to get them into the country safely and legally. In their hometown in Mexico, things had gotten pretty bad. The Cartel gangs had taken over the town, using the citizens to help smuggle drugs across the border. Men with guns walked the streets, picking up children to do do their bidding, putting the young at risk to save themselves. Maria had contemplated moving to America illegally instead of waiting the long time to took to do it the right way, but she didn’t want to spend all of their money just to get sent back across the border. So they waited for the legal process to go through and eventually it did.

  “Hola Drew. Kimber set the table.” Maria tasted her main course and smiled.

  “It smells so good, Mama,” Kimber said, picking up the forks and spoons to set out on the table. Drew walked over to the cupboard and grabbed the plates to help. Maria watched over her daughter and her girlfriend. They talked and smiled, making eyes at each other in a subtle but loving way. She knew that Drew’s father didn’t accept their relationship. The thought of not accepting who her daughter was or who she loved had never crossed Maria’s mind. Maybe it was because of all the families she had seen torn apart back at home. She would rather just love her daughter for who exactly she was and who she wanted to be, then let some outdated way of thinking come between them. So when Kimber came to her and told her who Drew was and what she meant to her, Maria hugged her daughter and told her that she loved her. It didn’t take long before Drew felt like one of the family and Maria knew the girl needed a safe place to go away from the judgement of her father.

  Eli came in the back door into the kitchen. He looked tired from work, his eyes downcast to the floor. After a quiet hello and a quick kiss on his mother’s cheek, Eli washed his hands in the kitchen sink. Kimber watched her brother as she put the glasses on the table. His quietness was almost unbearable these days. Her brother had always been talkative and happy, making both Kimber and their mother laugh uncontrollably at dinner each night. When they first came to America all they had was each other and they learned to lean on one another instead of reaching out to other people. They had always been outsiders, but here, in their home, they were safe. Their mother always saw to that.

  “Another bad day?” Maria questioned Eli as she stirred the shredded beef in the pan on top of the stove.

  Eli nodded, his brow wrinkled in frustration. It was hard for him to open up to his mom about the troubles he had been having with the Might Die. Kimber knew that Eli had a complex about being the man of the house and admitting he couldn’t deal with a few thugs from their high school made him feel like he couldn’t deal with much else. He was their leader, the person who looked out for them, and Kimber knew he took that seriously. Kimber walked over to Eli, standing close to him at the sink, wanting to make sure her brother was okay.

  “Did they come by again?” Her voice was low, to keep their mother from eavesdropping.

  “They come by everyday and there isn’t anything I can do about it.”

  “You could tell your boss. Let him know what is going on. Maybe he can put up cameras to catch them-“

  Eli turned toward his sister, but he wouldn’t look at her. Shame was written across the lines of his face, making him look much older than he was. Sadness flooded through Kimber.

  “Lucky’s can’t afford cameras and I don’t want to make any trouble with them. It’ll just make everything worse.”

  Kimber knew he was right. She hated how helpless he felt to change the situation and how helpless she felt unable to do anything to make him feel better. There were things she had considered, messing with the guys, trying to get back at them, but they would only assume it was Eli and make things worse for him. Kimber didn’t want to do anything that would make her brother’s life harder.

  The teenagers took a seat at the table while Maria started to serve the food. After placing all the components of the meal on the table, Maria sat down with the rest of them. She reached out her hands and the teenagers followed suit.

  Maria began a short prayer. Normally she would pray in Spanish. Both of her child were raised in a Spanish speaking household but since Drew was over for dinner, Maria prayed aloud in English.

  “Father in heaven, please bless my children. All three of them,” Maria prayed.

  Kimber squeezed Drew’s hand. She knew her mother loved her girlfriend and would always welcome her into their home. Drew squeezed her hand back. Curiosity took over and Kimber broke her mother’s rules. She peaked her eyes open and quickly looked around the table. Eli’s eyes were open but he was just staring at the table. Kimber’s heart broke for her brother. Never before had she seen her brother so lost or defeated. When her mother ended the prayer with an amen, Kimber decided it was time to do something.

  “You have to tell mom.”

  Eli’s eyes widened and the two siblings stared at each other across the dinner table. Steam rose from the hot food set before them, but it was ignored.

  “Tell me what? What is going on? Are you in trouble, Mijo?”

  “No, mama, I’m not.”

  “But you are!” Kimber stood up as her voice rose. “You are and you’re lying to her about it.”

  Maria looked from her son to her daughter and then back again. Lines formed along her forehead and she pursed her lips. When it came to her children, Maria wasn’t one to be messed with.

  “Kimber sit down. You tell me right now Eli, what is going on.” Eli glared across the table at his sister as she took her seat, not wanting to look over at his mother. Kimber knew he would be mad at her, but eventually she would get him to come around. They never held grudges for very long. It all came back to knowing that they were all each other had at the end of the day and that meant something.

 
“It’s nothing, just some guys at school who are causing trouble. It’s not a big deal, I swear. Kimber is over reacting.”

  Kimber started to defend herself but Maria held her hand up affectively silencing her daughter’s protests.

  “Mijo, I love you and you know how I have raised you. You are to be honest to me, but if you think you can handle this, I will trust you.” Maria turned to her daughter, “Kimber, you need to let your brother handle things. He is almost a man and he knows more than you do about what is going on in his life.”

  “But Mama-“

  “No buts.”

  Kimber looked at Drew and rolled her eyes before turning her attention to her plate. She knew that her mother was wrong but because Eli was older she would refer to his judgement. All she could do was hope that the situation didn’t get any worse before the main five went off to college. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Eli could handle himself, Kimber knew he could, but she didn’t want him to have to. She didn’t want something to happen because when all was said and done, she knew her brother would be the one worse off. Pushing around her food, Kimber knew she had gotten herself into a mess. Not only was nothing solved with her brother, but Eli was mad at her now, and even though it wouldn’t last long, she hated when he was mad at her.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Two Months Before the Outbreak

  The nurse squirted a clear gel on Rion’s stomach as she held up her shirt with both hands. The gel was cold on Rion’s stomach and pooled just below her bellybutton. What had once been a flat, pale, bikini ready belly was now inflated like a small beach ball and covered in stretch marks. The skin of her stomach was streaked red and angry at having to accommodate a growing being inside. Her mother had warned her of this many times since she told her that she was going to have a baby.