by Greene, Dane
When I look at Brian, I know lying would be pointless, especially after I told him I was slipping on the boat. So I decide to tell him everything. I know he’s strong enough not to panic—or at least I hope he is.
“I know I can’t last the night with everything that’s going on. I hear the Palemen screaming in my mind, and the noise is all-consuming. I’m struggling even now to stay sane. On top of that, I don’t see a way out of this mess. Unless something comes to me, I plan on staying up here on the roof until my mind breaks. Then I plan on walking off the roof.”
When I pause and look at Brian, I’m not sure what I expect out of him. I find him sitting next to me, no trace of emotion on his face. It’s amazing that he can stay so calm, and I’m glad of it.
“Brian, can you make me a promise?” I ask. “Someone has to look after Evelyn. If the Palemen find a way inside after I’m gone, I want you to promise you won’t let them get her. I can’t bear the thought of her being torn apart by those monsters.”
Brian looks at me in horror. I never thought I’d be able to crack Brian’s composure, but it looks like I have. That’s when I realize that what I’m asking is too much. Asking a friend to kill a small girl in cold blood is something that should never be done. We sit in silence for a few minutes, and I’m about to get up when Brian speaks up.
“Okay, I can do that. If I can’t get everyone out, I’ll make sure no one is turned.”
Relief hits me. That shouldn’t be something a person ever has to ask a friend. Now that I know someone will take care of things if there’s no other choice, I’m relieved. As Brian and I sit in silence, I decide to tell him everything about Chris and my delusions.
I’ve kept my secret so long, but since it looks like we’re going to die, I tell him. Beginning at the start, I tell him about everything. I don’t expect him to reply, but talking about it helps to relieve some of the pain from the voices.
I’m surprised when, after a few minutes, he starts talking about Dawn. He tells me all about their relationship and all the promises she had him make. He tells me about how he hears and sees Dawn everywhere we go. He tells me that, even now, he can feel her with him.
After he finishes talking, we stay silent for a while. I imagine that, like me, he wanted someone to hear about his pain. We watch as the sun starts to go down. The beauty of the sunset on the water has a calming effect. Even now, without hope, I can admire how beautiful the world is.
The sun’s glare catches on something, and as I look at it more closely, I see that it’s a boat rack with two canoes on it. They’re hung up with paddles and life jackets attached. An idea hits me.
It may not be ideal, and it would be a horrible journey with only water as a provision, but we could make it to Beaver Island with those canoes. All we need to do is divert the horde long enough to get the boats into the water. Then we’ll be safe. We still have a sliver of hope left.
“Brian, look over there. Do you see those canoes?”
Brian looks to where I’m pointing and nods yes.
“Say we could think of a way to get to them. Those could be our tickets to Beaver Island.”
“Do you think we could make it that far with no food?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time someone made a long trip without food. I’m not saying the chances would be great, but we have a better shot on the water than we do here. This horde will follow us on the shore, so the way I see it, Beaver Island is our only choice. It’s our best shot. What do you think?”
“You’re right. It might be a long shot, but it’s our best option. We need to figure out how to get those boats. Look around, though. How are we going to get through all these Palemen?”
Brian isn’t wrong. There’s no point thinking about the boats if we can’t even reach them. Going through the building is impossible since the inside is flooded with Palemen, so I move to the edge of the roof and look down.
We’re only twelve feet above the ground here. If we’re careful, everyone could reach the ground from up here. The fall isn’t that far, and avoiding injury from a jump would be easy as long as we’re careful.
How can I distract this many Palemen long enough for the others to escape? There’s no possible way I can think of at first. The only way to do this would be to lead the Palemen away somehow.
Then the revelation hits me. The only way to save everyone is for someone to sacrifice themselves. If a person were to jump off the roof and make it through the horde, they could lead the Palemen away. Whoever leads them away has no chance of surviving, but they would save the others.
The truth is painful, but I know it has to be me. These Palemen are fixated on me. If I were to be our distraction, there might be a way to get the others out alive. The sooner we start the plan, the better chance the others have. If I act as bait, my death will at least mean something. Besides, at the rate these voices are pulling at me, I’ll be dead by morning anyway.
The horde is thick, but I might be able to get through. My chances will be even better if I don’t worry about being bitten. If I know I won’t survive anyway, who cares if I’m bitten? The idea of death scares me, but I don’t see any other way to save those I love. I realize that I’m getting ahead of myself and think it would be smart to run my idea by Brian.
“Hey, Brian, what if I went off the roof alone. I could cut through all the Palemen before drawing them to me. It might cause a big enough distraction that everyone else could make it to the boats. After you guys got onto the water a ways, I could swim to you.”
Brian looks at me, and I can tell he sees through me. He knows that if I were to distract the Palemen, there would be no surviving. He looks hesitant, but I can see that he knows it would work. He must have come to the same realization that I did: nobody will survive without someone sacrificing themselves. It doesn’t matter how well someone can fight. There’s no fighting off hundreds without injury and death.
“I don’t know, Aaron. I don’t think there’s another way, but I could be wrong. We should ask the others. They can think of some way to make it to those canoes without you having to die.”
For my sake, I hope Brian’s right. I don’t want to die. I want to see my daughter grow up, and I want to fall in love with Sophia. There’s so much I want to do with my life, and if there’s a way I can fulfill those desires, I will. Deep down, though, I know that sacrificing myself is the only way the others will survive.
Brian and I make our way back into the building. The first thing I see when we get back inside is Jason talking to Melany in a corner. When I look around for Sophia, I find her sitting next to Evelyn.
“Sophia, could you please come over here?”
Sophia looks up to me and sets Evelyn down before coming over. Brian and I tell her about the discovery of the boats. Together, we brainstorm for a while, but we fail to think of any way for us to get the boats unmolested. The only worthwhile idea we have is using the guns to pick off the Palemen in a concentrated area.
Even with all our ammo, we wouldn’t be able to make a large enough dent in the horde. Also, the noise of the guns would likely draw as many Palemen to us as it would kill.
After a while, it’s clear that we won’t come up with a plan, so I propose my own.
“Sophia, there’s one way I can think of that has a chance of working.”
I see Sophia look at me. Brian walks away, and I’m grateful that he’s giving us some privacy.
“Sophia, I can’t make it through the night. I’m struggling even now to hold it together. Whatever we decide to do, it will have to be tonight. I can only think of one way to save anyone. If I jump off the roof alone, I can cut a path through the horde before they converge on me. Once I do that, I’d be able to fire my guns to draw them to me. If I did this, the rest of you might be able to escape.”
Tears form in Sophia’s eyes. The last thing I want is to see her cry, because I don’t know if I have the strength for that.
I’m scared to die. I know I won’t make
it out of that horde. If I go, there will be no hope of living.
“Aaron, I don’t want you to go. There’s no way you could live through that.”
Sophia starts crying and hugs me. Seeing her cry is more painful than any wound the Palemen could inflict on me. I wrap my arms around her and feel my eyes tear up.
“Can you see any other way?” I ask. “I’m losing my mind. I doubt I can last the hour. The rage is crawling in, and it’s hard to resist it. Chris will take over any time. I’m so scared of what he’ll do when he does. At least if I divert the Palemen, I’ll save you. I promised my parents I’d keep everyone safe, and this is the only way to fulfill that promise.”
As I hold Sophia, she cries into my chest, and I know she has no answer for me. If there was another way, we would have thought of it by now. Death scares me, but I’m strengthened by the fact that I’ll fulfill my promise. Sophia and the others will live, and I can die happy with that knowledge.
We’ve made it so far, and now the island is in sight. When I look around the room, I see Brian talking with Jason and Melany. He’s telling them and I’m relieved, since I’m not sure I’d have the strength to tell my sister and Jason.
Crying, Melany tries to walk over to me, but Brian stops her. I want to say goodbye to her, but first, I have to say goodbye to Sophia. Saying goodbye to my sister will be even harder, and I’ll need to collect my strength.
“Aaron, not like this,” Sophia says. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Let’s wait till tomorrow. You said you can’t, but you’ve always proven me wrong. Please, you can’t do this. I don’t want to leave you. I want to make it to the island with you and spend my life with you.”
What Sophia’s begging me to do is what I wish could happen, but it can’t. There’s no way I can hold out. Even now, my mind is starting to slip. When I look around the room, Chris sits at the corner of my vision. He laughs at me, and I know he’s waiting until I’m too weak to resist him. He’ll take over soon—I know it. I hold Sophia and kiss her.
“Sophia, I want you to take care of Evelyn for me.” Sophia’s crying, but she nods. “I’m sorry this had to happen, but we knew it was a possibility. Sorry to ask for more from you, but I need one last thing. I want you to promise not to kill me, even if I turn. Even though I made you promise you would, I want you to focus on getting out of here and not looking back, okay? You cannot afford having the horde’s attention drawn to you.”
Sophia’s still crying, but she nods. When I see my sister walking over, I let Sophia out of my embrace. Melany takes Sophia’s place, and she cries into my chest. Though I’m not sure what Brian told her, I know she realizes I’m going to die.
“I wanted to make it to the island with you,” Melany says. “I don’t want to lose my brother. We promised Mom and Dad we would live. Don’t make me tell them I failed.”
Everyone wants me to live, but I know I can’t. I smile. I may be about to die, but seeing all these people sad to see me go makes me feel like my life has had a purpose. No matter how valuable my life may be to them, though, it isn’t worth the lives of everyone else. One death is a small price to pay for saving five lives.
“Melany, where you’re going, you’ll finally be safe. You won’t have to worry about food or water. You’ll never again be in fear of Palemen hunting you. It’s what I promised to do, and I’m glad that you’ll make it. I know you’ve been keeping a journal of our journey. Talk to Sophia on the island. She can answer some questions for you. I want you to tell everyone about the things going on. You can inspire the people on the island to help others like us. Our journey and our story need to be told so people understand what it’s like out here.”
Melany’s crying, but I know she’ll listen to what I said. Reluctantly, I break my embrace with Melany. Everyone seems to be watching me.
“Listen up, everyone,” I say. “We need to get ready now. Whatever we do, though, we can’t let Evelyn know what’s going on. If she resists even slightly, it might put everyone in danger.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Sophia says. “Before you woke up, I was worried we wouldn’t make it through the night. I gave her a sleeping pill. Nothing will wake her up at this point. I can carry her on my back if we find a way to tie her there.”
Normally, Sophia’s confession to drugging Evelyn would be upsetting, but right now, it’s a relief. Thinking, I come up with a way to secure Evelyn to Sophia.
“Use my shirt as a rope,” I say. “If we cut it into strips, we should be able to make a rope strong enough to hold her.”
Everyone gets to work. It doesn’t take us long to make the rope. Once it’s done, we test it out and find that it works quite well. We secure Evelyn to Sophia and she seems safe enough.
We gather everything together, and I strap all the extra pistols to myself. Where they’re going, they won’t need these. After I take all the extras, I have a total of six pistols strapped to me. They’re all loaded and should give me enough firepower to divert the Palemen.
I decide to give one of my Dao swords to Sophia. At first, she refuses, but I insist. I want her to keep it as a memento. Some part of me should make it to the island. Once I’m surrounded, the extra one wouldn’t do me any good anyway. Strapping my remaining Dao sword and a hatchet to my side, I do one final check over before I’m ready. Before we go to the roof, both Brian and Jason hug me and say goodbye.
Jason is in a lot of pain, but there’s nothing I can say to him to make things any better. All I can hope is that the peace of the island will help heal him.
We all climb onto the roof one by one, starting with me. Once we’re all up, everyone’s demeanor changes. There are no more tears or hints of hesitation. After this journey together, we trust each other and work as a team. We all know that any hesitation or resistance could lead to everyone being killed. The only thing I receive before jumping off the roof is a last look of goodbye from everyone. I ready myself and start scanning the horde for an opening.
Spotting one, I sprint toward the edge of the roof. While flying through the air, I notice how free I feel. I don’t regret where this journey has led me, and I’m no longer scared of dying for those I love.
Chapter 21: Alexis
May 25th
The first day after I left was the hardest. Leaving Stephanie was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I’d done all that I could there. I knew I had to leave to be happy. Even though I feel a little guilty that I left Stephanie, I knew I had to. Honestly, I’ll miss Stephanie more than my parents. For all I know, they died long ago. Even if they’re still alive, they’re dead to me now.
The reason I wanted to leave is to save people. The community I set up with Stephanie fills me with pride, and I want to build others like it.
While I’m out saving others, there’s even a small part of me that hopes I’ll find my brother. My hopes of finding him increase when I find some clues that they made it to the edge of town.
Among the clues there’s a note from Aaron addressed to his father. The note is mostly sentimental, but luckily it also tells me where they were planning to go. I can’t bring myself to go back and show Stephanie, since the note is to her dead husband. Someday, when I see her again, I’ll give it to her, but not now.
I follow the trail the others planned out, hoping I’ll find more clues along the way. Finding a map, I mark it and follow their route.
My journey goes well, though I run into a few groups. Most are resistant to me being near them. The only reason most would even talk to me is because I told them I was a nurse. Even though it’s stretching the truth, telling people this seems to make them much less hostile toward me.
Even after everything that’s happened, I still hold hope for humanity. There have been times when I’ve seen people who degraded into animals. And a few times I’m forced to put them down. Seeing these people makes me realize that civilization was a luxury. Without luxuries and a system to provide, everything falls apart.
Without power, food
, and water, some people become vicious, looking out only for themselves. I would rather run into a pack of dogs or Palemen than humans who have fallen. At least the dogs and Palemen are only following their nature.
I remember my last few weeks and how I got to where I am now. I know I’m safe, but when I left, a holding cell is the last place I thought I would have ended up. Thinking back to how I got here kills time.
When I was walking along the road, I spotted something impossible. There was an old jeep driving toward me. If I had seen people approaching, I would have left the road and hidden.
Seeing a moving vehicle after all that time made me pause. In that moment, I understood how deer feel when they get caught in the headlights. What they see is so abnormal that it shocks and confuses them.
The car stopped, and the passengers aimed their guns at me. At first, I thought I was dead, but after they made sure I wasn’t infected, they lowered the guns.
They told me they were mercenaries of sorts and that they could drive me to their base if I wanted to come with them. Surviving this long, I learned to be wary, so I tried to extract some information first.
They told me their base was north, and I knew that if I risked the ride, I could shave days off my journey. Brian had too much of a head start for me to hope to catch up. Any time I could shave off would help me reach them on the island that much sooner.
For the last three days, I’ve been confined to this cell. I’m starting to think that I may die here. Now I wish I’d never taken that ride. They told me they put everyone in a holding cell for twenty-four hours to ensure they’re infection-free, so I agreed to be detained. As I look around my cell for the hundredth time today, I confirm that there’s no way to escape.
When I hear footsteps outside my room, I tell myself they aren’t for me. This time, I hear the click of a lock, and the door opens. A man steps through, and I’m so shocked that all I do is stare at him.