Who We Are

by Samantha Marsh

  Desire bathed then washed her hair knowing that it could be a while before she was able to bathe again. She let her hair dry naturally. She had a natural curl to her hair that in her former life she would often fight with to straighten. But now she just let it dry so that she could pin it up with the hair combs she had found.

  A couple more hours needed to pass before Johnny was due to pick her up so she just fiddled around her room. Then she remembered something. She pulled open her bedside table drawer and took out the little wooden figure of herself that Johnny had carved.

  How could I possibly forget and leave this behind?

  She looked at it and remembered the day he had given it to her. Living inside this illusion she remembered how delighted she had been that someone would take the time to craft something so ornate for her. Although it was just a few weeks ago, it felt like a lifetime ago. Not that she in any way wanted to continue living a hypnotic existence, she did mourn the loss of her innocence. Such simple things brought so much joy and pleasure and at this moment she didn’t believe that she would ever feel that pure joy and delight ever again.

  She wasn’t under any illusion that they would emerge from the forest and live happily ever after. She and Johnny had talked about what was on the other side a little bit, but she suspected that he knew as well as she did that in reality, whatever lay on the other side, was a complete mystery. They had enough on their minds just trying to focus on getting out without driving themselves mad wondering about all the ‘what-ifs’ that lay ahead.

  She tucked the little figure into the wrap that secured her bosom and thought about how nice it would be to finally free her chest from that uncomfortable wrap.

  She did a final check of her room but there was nothing here she wanted. She looked out her window and down the street a little she was sure she saw Nathaniel staring up at her. She ducked out of the window as her heart raced up. She peeked over the window, but didn’t see anything.

  Is my mind playing tricks on me?

  Just to be sure she pulled the curtains shut on her window and turned her little lamp on to compensate for the muted sunlight streaming in through the sheer curtains.

  When her hair was finally dry, she began to dress for the evening. She wore sheer thigh-high stockings and then put on her dress. It fit her perfectly. She went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. The style and colour couldn’t have been more perfectly suited to her. The dress hugged her in all the right places, but was delicate and tasteful. The shade of green complimented her fiery red hair and her eyes seemed to glow and sparkle like two emeralds.

  She got the combs and carefully pinned her curls up loosely on her head allowing a few tendrils to fall on either side. She had no make-up to wear, but didn’t really care because, truthfully, she didn’t like to paint her face. She preferred the natural look, and so did Aedan. He often told her that make-up didn’t add beauty; it usually covered it up.

  For a fleeting moment she forgot where she was and it felt like she getting ready to go to prom. But the feeling didn’t last. She pictured all the other ladies and girls in the town. Pulling on pretty gowns and frilly dresses excitedly for a night of fun, food and celebration not realizing that they were dressing up to walk into their grave. She shuddered and suddenly she was not as enamored with her reflection in the.

  She sat on the side of the bed with nothing more to do but wait. Closing her eyes she prayed once again to God. She even asked him that if it be his will that she and everyone else here would wake up from this nightmare and be safe in their beds. She knew better than that. That was not how God worked. She knew she had to have faith in the idea that there was a higher purpose for her and Aedan and that he would lead them there safely.

  In the middle of a prayer, she heard a knock at the front door. This was it. There was no turning back. The sun had started to fade and she hoped with all her heart that the next time the sun set in the sky that she and Aedan would be far, far away.

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  When she opened the door, his eyes pierced through her. She could see every emotion flashing in his eyes. She saw love, fear, desperation and hate. They stood there for what seemed like eternity staring at each other. He was stunned as she opened the door and, for a moment in time, he was back at home on her front porch, picking her up for his prom. He remembered how he felt when he greeted her that night. His heart had melted, not just because she was all dressed up in a gorgeous gown, but because of how she looked at him. Her eyes were full of warmth, hope and love. He saw that look now and it gave him the final bit of strength he needed to see this to the end.

  “You take my breath away,” was all he could manage to say.

  She smiled up at him. “And you, mine”

  When they arrived at the Hall, the entranceway door was propped open. They paused for a moment before stepping in. They had a legitimate fear that they may in fact not step back out.

  “What a handsome couple!” Tobias was motioning for them to come in. They followed his invitation and just inside the entranceway outside of the main Hall there was a table set up. There was a chair for each of them, two pencils and two clipboards.

  “My, you two make a lovely couple. He took one of each of their hands and squeezed them. I know that the future will be bright for two such wonderful people.” He squeezed their hands once more and his eyes moistened slightly.

  “Now come over here and let’s review your tasks for tonight.” He motioned for them to sit down. He gave them each a clipboard that had a roster on each. “Once everyone has arrived, you simply hit this button and it will ring a bell inside so that the elders will know that the program can officially begin.” That was it. Simple, yet dreadful.

  “Now I must bid you adieu so that I can go sit a rest and wait. I am thankful that I don’t have to wait much longer.” He smiled gently at them and patted his heart. He turned around and walked into the Hall. He did not turn back.

  Desire and Johnny looked at each other and took their seats at the little table. Time seemed to slow around them, but there was nothing left to do but wait. Aedan grabbed her hand under the table and squeezed it. She looked over at him and they locked eyes. A nervous smile crossed her lips and she squeezed his hand back.

  Before long, the clear night sky sparkled with twinkling stars and community members started to arrive. Everyone stopped at the table to check in with Johnny and Desire. Some spoke about how proud Desire’s Mama would be of her Family after family poured in to the Hall. Everyone had dressed in their best and grinned from ear to ear in anticipation of a night of festivity.

  When the arrivals slowed, Desire and Johnny took the opportunity to look at the lists before them. They had only about a dozen more people to check in. As they waited patiently, they could hear laughter and frivolity inside the Hall. Desire leaned over and could see everyone talking and laughing.

  When the last two families arrived and were safely checked in, Desire and Johnny knew that all were accounted for. They stared at the button of death and paused for a moment. She was sure they were both thinking the same thing. Was there anything they could do to change the fate for all these souls?

  They both knew the answer. What was to be, was to be, and now was their moment. This was their only opportunity. With hearts pounding they looked at each other. Desire lifted her hand toward the button, but Johnny took her hand in his and used his other hand to push the button. They heard the bell ring inside the Hall and without a wasted moment they stood up from the table and slipped out through the doors

  They ran into the forest with only the glow of the moon to guide them. When they arrived at the workshop, Johnny pulled Desire in and frantically helped Desire out of her dress. He started to gather it up to put in his wood stove.

  “No.” She held fast to the dress, and he didn’t argue. She dressed in the clothes and boots Johnny had ready for and quickly folded up the dress as small as she could. She grabbed her bag off the hook just inside the
door and managed to stuff the dress inside.

  Johnny took off his suit and pitched it in the wood stove. He re-dressed and grabbed his bag off the hook. “This is it, baby girl. This is our time.” He grabbed her hand and they headed out the back door and into the forest.

  Their hearts were pounding and the adrenaline was pumping as they ran. They were just five minutes into their escape, when Desire got tackled out of nowhere and let out a short scream. Nathaniel had her pinned to the ground and was holding a knife in his hands.

  “Did you think I would let you get away from me? Oh no, I decided long ago that I would keep you for myself while all those other fools burned up.”

  He turned to Johnny, still holding the knife close to Desire’s throat. “Now you can watch me and see what a real man is. If you move a muscle, I will slice her throat open from ear to ear.”

  He turned back to Desire and, before she knew it, Aedan tackled Nathaniel, rolling him off of Desire. Stunned, Nathaniel dropped the knife. The two wrestled about before Nathaniel wriggled out of Johnny’s grip. “Have it your way! After I kill you, she will be all mine!”

  Like a beast, he lunged at Johnny, but not before Johnny pulled his own knife out of his boot. Nathaniel tumbled over, clutching his gut. Johnny had stabbed him. Johnny scrambled up and raised his arm to stab him again, but Desire grabbed him.

  “Aedan. No. Stop. We must go.”

  “Let me finish him off!”

  “Aedan! It’s finished! Let’s go. .Please!”

  Aedan wiped his knife on the forest floor and place it back in its holder in his boot. “Are you okay?”

  “A little stunned, but yes, I’m okay.” She looked over at Nathaniel laying on the ground and she flashbacked to that day in the forest and then to the day in the sewing room. Suddenly, her anger overcame her, and she started to kick his body. She kicked and kicked and kicked. She even kicked him once in the head and stomped on his groin. Aedan watched in awe. He wanted to stop her, but he knew she needed to do this to release some of the anger that was bottled up inside of her.

  Finally, out of breath she stopped and started to cry. He went over to her and hugged her.

  “It’s over now Darby, it’s all over. He can never hurt you again.” She nodded and caught her breath, not letting him go. “Now it’s our time. We belong to ourselves again.”

  They grabbed their sacs and ran. It was a rough journey and the deeper they got into the forest the less the moonlight guided them. Determination carried them through and they counted steps and searched for the groups of rocks that Aedan had laid as markers. Each time they reached a new marker, they gained a little more hope that they might actually make it out alive.

  As dawn broke, Aedan got his bearings with the fresh light. He knew they would soon arrive at the shelter. He didn’t know exactly how long they had been travelling but he guessed it was at least eight hours and they needed to rest. They walked about another 300 feet when he saw the twisty turning tree shelter. He breathed a sigh of relief. He looked down at Darby and could tell that she didn’t have much left in her. Although he had originally thought it would be best to travel in daylight he now thought that the cover of night might add another layer of safety for them.

  He led Darby into the shelter and he quickly lay out the canvas for them to lay on. He uncovered the bottles of water, which they quickly drank. Before going to bed Aedan found his way to the creek and filtered some more water into their bottle through some cheesecloth and then carefully added one drop of bleach to each of them. When he returned to the shelter, he found Darby fast asleep. He pulled some brush in front of the entrance to their shelter and lay down beside her. He pulled her into his arms and she snuggled into him. For the first time in what seemed like eternity, he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  They slept for almost ten hours and when they woke up they lay in each other’s arms and smiled.

  “I can’t believe we did it,” was all Darby could say.

  Aedan sat up and dug out the jars of beef jerky he had hidden. He opened it a pulled some out for each of them.

  “Not exactly a gourmet breakfast, but it will give us energy we need.” He pulled out a loaf of bread. He ripped off a piece for each of them and they ate in silence. They only ate a little bit, knowing that they needed to start rationing their food now to avoid hunger later. They really had no idea how long they would have to make the food last.

  They dug up all the extra supplies that he had hidden in the shelter and packed these into their bags. They rested a little more as they waited for dusk. When the sun began to fade, they left the shelter and started off again.

  They walked hand in hand as stars twinkled above them. They stopped occasionally to have a small bite to eat or a sip of water, minding every drop. They didn’t speak too much because they were focused on their surroundings and trying not to get off route. They travelled through the black of night with little more than a faint glow of light from the moon. As the hours passed, they grew tired, but refused to stop.

  As dawn began to break, they saw something ahead that stopped them dead in their tracks. They squeezed each other’s hand and stood there as if they were frozen to the forest floor. They turned to each other, smiled and started to laugh uncontrollably. They walked, then ran toward it, not letting go of each other’s hands.

  They jumped out of the forest at the same time that the sun rose in the sky to start a new day. They continued to run as they left the forest and found themselves running through a grassy lea. When they were a few hundred feet outside of the forest, they stopped and dropped their bags. Aedan scooped her up in his arms and spun her around and around until they tumbled to the ground. They laughed as they lay in the cool, dewy grass.

  They turned to each other and Aedan reached out to caress her cheek. “We are finally free, Darby. Now, it’s just you and me against the world.”

  She smiled back at him. As long as he was by her side, she would never look back. Johnny, Desire, Darby and Aedan all died as they jumped out of the forest. Who they would become they did not know. .

  Finally, our dreams have come true and we can decide for ourselves who we are.

  Epilogue

  The gates to the large stone building swung open and a dozen men emerged wearing yellow biohazard suits and carrying gas masks. They walked silently over to the Hall. As they approached, the sealed doors opened remotely from inside the large stone building. Each of the men put on their gas masks before entering the Hall. Before they could ignite the incinerator to complete the final phase of extermination, they had they daunting task of accounting for each lifeless body inside of the Hall. Some of the men felt pangs of guilt as they stepped among the bodies. The others walked among the bodies as if they were sorting through a junk pile.

  The supervisor had instructed them to first move the bodies and stack them upon each other if necessary in order to create a zone to move and identify each individual. Once the bodies were organized and moved to one side of the Hall, the identification process should go smoothly.

  The supervisor gave the signal. One by one, the men retrieved a body and carried it over to the supervisor. He used a handheld scanner and ran it across the left scapula of each body. It was here that each of them had a miniscule chip implanted that contained their unique identification number. Once they were all accounted for, they could proceed with phase two of extermination after which they would begin to clean up the camp. The supervisor laughed a wicked laugh as he pictured idiot tourists flocking to a brand new pioneer village unwittingly trampling on the souls of the fools that had perished here.

  When the workers carried over the last body, the supervisor scanned it and then looked at the men as if to say, “Keep ‘em coming.”

  The workers looked at each other and then the supervisor heard one of them say into his two way microphone, “That’s it.” He looked at them and then down at his handheld device. According to his system there were two bodies unaccounted for. He kicked the b
ody laying at his feet. “You fucking morons, now we have to do that all over again because you fuck heads piled two over there before I scanned them.”

  They repeated the process two more times and still came up short.

  “What about that woman that died last week. Is she the one who’s missing on your list?”

  “No!” the supervisor scowled. “She got erased from the list that day! Besides, we’re missing two bodies, not one.” He fumed. “Let’s count them again. And let’s get it right this time!”

  After the third completed count, the supervisor slumped in a chair. “Holy shit. Two of them got away.”