Immediate Survivors

by Cenz Barone

  Elise felt his hands begin to slowly ease off shaking as she then disclosed seriously "I want to see him when we get proper help though, in a centre of safety. That is what I imagine will happen to me. I know it is stupid Grant but I cannot phone him, if he does not answer I will be worrying far more than I am right now. What the hell can I do but just hope, because I am already imagining things related to what we have gone through, happening to him. And that is unacceptable to me". Elise picturing her husband and playing out in her mind herself reaching a rescue station and being swept in her husband's arms, this was all that was keeping her together.

  The breaking point would be dialling and not hearing from him as she directly told Grant, and Elise just needed his reassurance she was doing the right thing, and the fact she had no calls on her mobile phone from him was adding to her sense of alarm. Plus her own reluctance to try and get through to him, as Grant firmly held her hand upon observing her traumatic look and said "You should phone him Elise, he might be waiting for you at home”. Grant looked through the window but Elise shook her head and said "No Grant. This is how I am dealing with it. If he was waiting for me he would have phoned me by now, my mobile has no calls or messages left unaccounted for, so to me he is in a rescue station and the signal is as bad as it is here, but he is in a better place than I am right now".

  Grant could see she was clinging to this notion and nothing would shake her from it. She then looked at Grant and was tempted to move her hands away but she did not, she needed the comfort as she said “How are you dealing with it?" Grant turned away from Elise and paused before taking him time and saying "It is hard to believe this is happening to us. But I have left four calls for Kirsten but she has not answered or replied to any, neither missed calls on my end or texts. So I think she is with her parents" Grant could not help but gasp as he fought against further tears, himself feeling embarrassed by how he had behaved earlier on with that family he tried to help.

  He added "I never really memorised her parent’s home phone number. I have left messages though on our answer phone at home. God I hope she is okay. I wish I got my mobile charger from my desk before I left the office, fucking stupid of me. I am almost out of battery and I cannot find any charger here that matches my phone”. Grant stood up and went to the draw of a bedside cupboard and he opened it, Grant glared inside, but he only saw a book. He shut the draw softly and added to Elise “You should change out of that business suit Elise, we might be doing some running later on, who knows what will happen in the next few hours or days” Grant stood up and went shuffling through more draws, having no idea what he was looking for but he was speaking truth about the unpredictability of their current situation.

  “Is there a light in here Grant, can we put one on?” pleaded Elise who remained sitting at the foot of the bed, wanting to try and have a normal conversation. Grant went towards her and sat down near her, and he replied to her firmly “No Elise. Do not put on any light on, it might attract those things”. Grant's own self-awareness returning as he regained self-control. Elise responded to him “I was always scared of the dark when I was a little girl. Now the dark seems awfully trivial to be afraid of”. Grant shot back and said "I think we have all realised what we were once afraid of is trivial now".

  Elise at this point began to whimper, she had warm tears stream from her eyes. Grant came closer to her and held her arms again, as he said “Please Elise do not cry, keep it together for me. You keep me going and I will keep you going. Then we will see our partners again, okay”. Grant laughed in desperation briefly as he added "I know I was no help earlier on but I..." but Elise interrupted him and answered, looking directly at him and said "No, you were right to be upset. I too was upset Grant. You tried to do the right thing, I am ashamed of myself. I should have supported you better in going outside to help those people". Grant found solace in Elise’s words as she went on and said, herself recalling the family they witnessed being massacred outside the stranger’s house they were currently in.

  Sniffing Elise said "Those kids Grant, those little babies. I have a sister who was the same age as them and they just killed them both. I hear their cries and I think how much more I should have tried to do for them, but I was unable to do anything for them” he held her hands firmly, himself reflecting on the children of that crazy man with his smashed up car. Grant coming out of his own grief as he said to her “I know it’s difficult but please, just hold onto the hope of seeing your loved ones and getting out of here, please Elise”. Elise answered him without any answer related to what Grant just said as she asked “What makes someone kill children Grant?” Elise was looking into Grants eyes, and he himself had no answer for her and her question threw him as he said to her "Whoever those people are. Whatever is making people do this we cannot understand why but we have to try and..." Grants words trailed off and Elise watched as Grant fell onto the floor.

  Grant collapsed onto the floor before the bed they sat on as he held his head, a sudden pain shot through his brain and his arms fell to his side. Elise went onto her knees beside him. Elise with fear stated “Oh God, Grant what is happening. Are you okay? Grant, answer me!” she was shaking him but he was almost vibrating on the spot. Elise was nervous and Grant barely able to get his words out muttered and said once he ceased moving “Elise I need my medicine”. Grant was laying on his back with his hands up at her. Elise uncertain what he meant stated “What do you mean? What medicine?” Grant was now focusing on Elise with his eyes glazed as she screamed "What do you mean!"

  Elise was frightened and her scream carried far. Kenny in the kitchen moved from the kitchen table and he went into the lounge, Cherie was already standing up and she turned to him in the kitchen doorway. Cherie no longer watching television as the scream and shout of Elise alerted them both, and they both were quietly looking at the other and they knew the noise was coming from upstairs. Cherie had a steel pole beside her, which she picked up and held close, as Kenny had the hunting rifle near his chest. There again Elise screamed for help, she was calling Kenny and Cherie. Kenny and Cherie both rushed down the corridor and headed up the stairs following Elise screams, the stairs being before the front door but as they reached the stairs they turned and headed upstairs.

  Within 20 seconds they were upstairs and Kenny entered first towards the room where Elise was shouting for help from. “What the hell is going on up here” demanded Kenny as Elise replied overlooking Grant on the floor “I don't know. He just collapsed and he has been shaking”. Kenny observed the shaking Grant on the floor, as Cherie appeared within a second near Kenny. Cherie watched as Grant was now vibrating like he was possessed, and after around one minute he ceased shaking. The three standing up persons, of Kenny, Cherie and Elise observed him and Grant replied barely able to through his heavy breathing “I am epileptic. I just have not got my medication, it is okay. Do not worry I am not ill” Grant wishing to convey he was not like those people outside, as those around him watched on, observing and studying him cautiously. Elise without doubt at Grant’s words, trusted him implicitly and went near him as she said with a whisper “I did not know you were epileptic”.

  Cherie and Kenny observed Elise and Grant engaged together as Grant replied to Elise "It is not something I like to tell people Elise. When I was younger, I had a hard time in school because of it. Kids, being kids you know. They liked to say I was possessed and right now, it feels like it was true but I am not” Grant coughed reflecting on all they had experienced to this point. Kenny and Cherie observed on pensively as Grant stated, reaffirming to Elise “And some of our colleagues though, I feared they might be just as bad, maybe hold it against me that I am like this”. Elise found his logic unbelievable and replied "Even our colleagues? You must have thought really lowly of our co-workers for them to pick on you for your disability. Did you even think I would?” Elise looking at him sympathetically as though he could think she would be so shallow.

  Grant began to laugh and muttered "No, not you. Just
some of them they are..." Elise and Grant continued their conversation but Kenny was not happy as he stated "I cannot believe you are a fucking epileptic". They all looked at him stunned at his tone as Cherie by the doorway of the bedroom was shocked he was so blunt. Elise stood up from being near Grant and said to Kenny "What the hell is your problem? So what he has epilepsy" Kenny with anger stared at Grant and stated looking directly at Grant "My problem is him. You Grant, you have been driving around out there in a fucking van. What would have happened if he had a fit behind the wheel, did you think of that? The kind of fit you just had". Elise was blindsided by this because Kenny had a point. Cherie to realised Kenny was right, Grant seemed sheepish.

  Unable to see any point in arguing or making this an issue Kenny just groaned and stated "What does it matter, it didn't happen but fuck me Grant. How lucky were we?" Grant replied "I have not got my medication". Elise turned to him and said "You asked me for it?" Grant shook his head unable to remember what he muttered between seizures as he said to her "I did?" Elise nodded and asked him "Do you have it on you". Grant was looking confused as he on the floor began to sit up from lying down, and he checked his pockets and then shook his head as he stated "No I don't. I must have been out of it temporarily to say I did have it". Cherie tried to disguise her anger at Grant but it was hard for Cherie who began to imagine Grant crashing the van she had drove in with him into a wall because of a seizure, and Cherie imagined those things swarming all over them. Grant could pick up on the tension from both Cherie and Kenny. "Look I am sorry" he stated did Grant.

  Elise coming to his defence stated "They should be apologising to you for acting like this after you picked them up, and helped them when you did not have to". Kenny could see how upset Grant was so he opted to have a far more pacified tone and said, seeing how aggrieved Elise was "It doesn't matter like I said. Forget about it". Kenny then walked towards the window of the bedroom speaking as he went "Maybe you will be lucky and in the house we are in someone also had epilepsy mate. So we could try and find some medication for you here". Grant answered as he slowly sat up from the floor "It is not as simple as one tablet fits all Kenny". Kenny now turned to him, his hunting rifle resting under his arm "Well it is a start" an annoyed Kenny said. Cherie jumped at the noise of a distant cry, it drifted in through a gap in the window, and all heard it. "I wish those things would shut the fuck up" Cherie in frustration said.

  Kenny turned back to face the window and he looked outside where he faced the lane, he could make out a little bit of the top of the van they had arrived in but the rest of the van was obscured by the large wall at the back of the house they were in. His eyes were darting around the other gardens of the houses next door and he could make out only little bits of the garden furniture. There visible were garden sheds and also patio tables. The darkness was only illuminated by slight glimmers of light from the occasional house that had lights on in the rear but there was no telling if someone was within said house. Kenny also could see bits of the outside due to the light from the distant streetlights, but mostly the wind and rain made this a hard affair to appreciate.

  Grant asked, looking at Cherie "Has there been any updates on the television". Cherie just shook her head indicating there had not been. Elise added to Cherie’s head shake "Nothing at all". Cherie elaborated "It is just getting it worse it seems". At this moment Kenny was struck by what he was seeing across the row of houses on the other side of the lane. There, opposite the house they were in, in another house he saw activity. Kenny said curiously "Look over there. What the fuck is going on. There are some people in that house. I saw a light, it flickered a few times”. Cherie walked from the doorway of the room and came towards the window near Kenny, to be beside the front window. Cherie asked, with a whisper "What do you mean". He answered swiftly "I mean what I just said. I saw a light flicker a few times". Elise bemoaned "There are probably so many people like us hiding out in houses, hiding anywhere they can, if it is as crazy as it is here, it must be worse elsewhere".

  But Kenny stated as he kept looking at the house which drew his gaze “I don’t know Elise, this does not seem like that”. So Elise came to stand near Kenny and asked "Where do you see it?” Kenny was staring at the house opposite and pointed at it, as he responded "Right there. They keep flicking it on and off. I just saw it again". Cherie questioned if Kenny had seen it but then Kenny shouted “There it is”. “I see nothing Kenny” Cherie replied and nor did Elise who walked back to be near Grant, Grant who was by this time sitting back on the bed, rubbing his head. But Kenny did see it, it was just put off again, so very fast Kenny answered "Look where my finger is pointing".

  Kenny placed his finger on the window in the direction he saw the lights flickering, and Cherie followed his finger pointed direction. Cherie said to him "Are you sure because I..." Kenny firmly told her "Just keep looking Cherie". 30 seconds of silence passed and Elise and Grant were there in the background wondering what Kenny was doing. Cherie was growing irate, she did not like to be in the window overlooking the outside, her eyes just darting around, as if to amuse Kenny, and she could not help but move to those large tracts of blackness below her, she wondered what was behind them. Kenny noticed her looking away from where his finger was pointing as it pressed against the window, so he forcefully said to her "Just keep looking will you, follow the direction I am pointing". Cherie did so and after 20 seconds of no activity was about to turn to change the subject but she then noticed the flickering lights across the lane in another house, and then the lights went off, and she exclaimed "Oh I see it!”.

  Kenny encouraged by what he was relaying by Cherie’s words was just glad he was not seeing things, as Kenny stated "They are flicking it, on and off several times. It is a signal, shall we flick back?” Kenny finished speaking, as he checked the rest of those in the room with him, he was asking the rest of those in the room for consent to which Grant, who had stood up by this point stated as he walked towards the window near Kenny and Cherie. “Yes Kenny. Flick back, why not" Grant stood leaning towards the side of the wall, he trusted what Kenny was saying for whatever reason, but Elise said in objection “We cannot Kenny, we can’t flick back. We might attract those things over here”. Kenny speaking enthused and overlooking the house which was now flicking the light again as Kenny had flicked the light switch back to them, only Elise was slow on the uptake to notice, and said did Kenny “Just watch” and since being told to do so Elise followed where Kenny was looking. Kenny narrated over the lack of activity “None of those things are down there Elise, so we need to try and reach someone. We have to try and get into contact with someone, anyone” Kenny turned to her, his facial expression one of hope as she just nodded reluctantly unsure where this would go.

  Grant sat back down again on the bed. Grant was taking his time to relax as Elise went to his side knowing her objections were ignored. Cherie took over the light switching from Kenny and flicked it four times in quick succession, and then the other house did the same signal. Cherie did it 7 times and the house opposite did it 7 times and another four successions took place. Suddenly the house opposite stopped flicking and was no longer keeping up with Cherie's signals. Elise however, despite knowing the light flickering was taking place did not care as much as she did about Grant and his state of mind.

  Although everyone by this time was staring out looking through the dark sky on the other side of the house through the lane and back yards of the other house. “Where did they go, why did they stop!” demanded Kenny. Grant stood up from sitting on the bed once more as he went back to the window and asked "What happened?" Kenny replied staring outside the window "They have stopped doing our signal". Elise nervously watched on. Grant commanded of Cherie “Try it again”. Cherie did as Grant demanded and this time there was a quick response but it did not match the amount of times Cherie did so.

  “It was not a coincidence” said Kenny. Cherie replied to him amazed he could pose such a question "Of course it is not a coincidence Ke
nny. They have matched each of my signals until the last few. Don’t be daft". Kenny banged the window and stated angrily "So what the fuck is their problem". Elise offered again in retort "Maybe we should just stop. The light might attract those things, perhaps those people are signalling someone else". Kenny shook his head and answered Elise as he said "The lane is where they will see it and you can hardly see this window from the lane, and those fuckers won't scale those walls. I am sure of it, those things are slow moving, and they won't climb the wall outside. I bet those people saw us pull up into this house in the van, and that is why they are signalling us".

  Elise raised her voice and said "How can you be sure?" Kenny turned to her and answered "I cannot be sure Elise but who knows. I am guessing, but aren’t we all?" Elise had no reply to Kenny. Grant now lowered his eyes, as Cherie kept flicking the lights and Kenny told her "Cherie go easy, give them time to reply". Cherie replied angrily "They can do it as quick as before if they want. I know what I am doing". Cherie moved towards the window, herself worked up as Elise stated "Maybe it is a trap". Kenny turned to her and said "What kind of trap?" Elise replied sounding pissed off at Kenny "I don't know, for fucks sake. We are waiting for the police to come here, maybe we should try them again instead of playing games with strangers across the street". Cherie casually said to Elise "You are all strangers to me Elise".

  Cherie had a point, and before anyone could say anything more, everyone in the bedroom was startled and flinched, their faces terrified because now the phone of the house they were in started to ring. There they were in the pitch blackness of this unfamiliar house and the phone rang near the bedside table of the bed. Everyone was uncertain what to do. It felt awkward to be in a stranger’s house and have a phone ring. Cherie said "Maybe it is someone looking for the people who lived here". Kenny replied nervously "What the hell do we tell them if it is?" but nobody had any answer to this question of Kenny’s, and the phone kept ringing "It could be the police phoning us back though" said a hopeful Elise, after they had earlier on got through to the police station before it got cut off and just like their mobile phones, for those who still had them, no longer worked. But now the landline of the house was obviously working.