Trying to Survive (Part 2)

by C. J. Crowley

  “Will do.”

  Jenny walked right by the three men without even acknowledging their presence and waited for Walt by the front door. Just as she directed, I stopped about twenty feet away from them. The one with the long, black hair was still making me nervous, so I kept my gun trained on him.

  The door was just hanging open. Jenny stood on the front steps, moving her head back and forth, trying to see inside. When Walt reached her, I heard her give him instruction. “We just have to rush in. Don’t hesitate if you see a gun in their hands… Don’t hesitate.”

  As I spent some time looking over each one of the three men, I suddenly found myself thinking about killing them… And not just shooting them in the head – I imagined it being painful and unnecessarily prolonged… We should kill them… If we don’t, they’re just going to keep doing what they’re doing after we leave…

  Their “leader” was so strange, and obviously fucked in the head. I could only assume that if they followed him, it also spoke to their mental conditions and morals.

  It’s one thing to work with people and find women who are willing to help rebuild society…

  In my mind, what they did should be met with the punishment of death. There were no more cops, no more courts and no jails. I truly felt as though men like them were too dangerous to be let free.

  Just as I was wondering whether I should lie about why I killed them, or just tell the truth, Jenny came back outside. Her camouflage shirt was missing and she’d taken the M4 that Walt was using. She walked to the edge of first step in front of the door, and glared down at the three men.

  When I saw her point the gun at them, and heard the shots as the barrel continuously flashed, I didn’t even flinch. I just prepared myself to help her if they ran or got near her.

  Walt calmly walked into the doorway and looked at their bodies, then to me. He stepped out and a middle-aged woman wearing jeans and Jenny’s shirt was following closely behind him. When she came outside and began squinting her eyes and shying away from the light, I knew she’d been locked in a room for days. It was almost dusk.

  She had long, solid black hair that almost reached the center of her back, and her skin was abnormally pale for someone who lived in Florida. She was holding on to Walt’s arm as he approached me. His eyes told me that whatever he had just seen damaged his very soul.

  When they got within a few feet and she still hadn’t looked at me, Walt said “Naya, this is my brother, James. Come on, let me get you to the car.”

  As they passed, she turned her head away and allowed her hair to fall in front of her face. I watched Walt’s sleeve wrinkle as her grip on his arm tightened.

  “James, search the bodies for the car keys. I’ll look around the house.” Jenny yelled from the front step.

  After I checked the pockets of the younger man with the long hair, I thought to turn him over.

  Just as I’d suspected, he had a pistol tucked in his belt line. I yanked it out and tucked it in mine. When I finished with the other two, I hadn’t found the keys or anything else of use.

  I stood up and looked over them. I expected to feel some kind of guilt (they were people after all) but the only feeling I had was that of relief. For us, and for anyone else who might have run into them if we didn’t do this.

  Jenny came back outside, struggling to hold three different rifles and said “Walter, come inside and help me with these there’re still a few more left, and some ammunition. I already found the car keys.”

  I started walking to the house with Walt, but the steadily inclining driveway and steps told me to just wait…

  When I looked back at Naya, she was standing by the car and staring down the road. As I watched her, I noticed that she seemed to be focusing on one of the homes.

  I took a few steps in her direction and it startled her, so I came to a stop and said “Sorry, I just noticed you were staring at that house… Is it yours?”

  It would make sense that they found her here.

  She finally looked at me, but only briefly to study me before she looked to the ground. “Yes.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel safer you can stay with all of us. We have another woman with us, Melanie, and a young girl, Clara. There’s another guy, Brian. He’s a soldier too, just like Jenny.”

  Her eyes momentarily moved back to me as she said “I’d like that.” I could already see her calming down a little.

  “There was another girl in there with me… but she suddenly stopped screaming a few hours ago. I think she’s probably dead.”

  I didn’t know how to reply. Though it told me why Jenny simply walked out and killed them, and why Walt had such a disturbed look on his face… I’m glad I didn’t go inside…

  Chapter 12

  While we dug the next grave, Melanie took the time to make two surprisingly nice crosses using nothing more than a knife and some fallen branches she found out back. She used Jessie’s shoelaces to tie them together and hold the shape.

  There wasn’t much to be said. After watching Anthony die on that couch, and now having to mourn Jessie, we were all drained emotionally. After Jenny said a few words, there was nothing but silence and a collection of sorrowful expressions surrounding his grave.

  I’m pretty sure Brian was just too devastated to speak without bursting into tears.

  It wasn’t long before we all began to leave, one by one, some staying longer than others. Brian was the last to go. As I walked away, I heard him begin to speak as though Jessie was standing right next to him.

  He spent quite a bit of time sitting next to the cross.

  Jenny retreated to the front bay and detached herself from the world. The rest of us collected around the living-room and took our minds off of everything by talking to Naya.

  We were just going to have to get used to losing people... All we can do is learn from our mistakes and keep moving forward…

  It didn’t take long for Naya to open up to everyone. By noon the next day, we pretty much knew the whole story. She was in a daze and had a faraway look in her eyes, but talking seemed to comfort her.

  Apparently, it was her own distinct way of dealing with the trauma… It just so happened to differ from what I’ve experienced from others so far.

  Naya confirmed that she lived down the street from where she was being held hostage, and also mentioned that she had a husband when this all started. That was the one subject she didn’t talk about for long.

  She was clearly censoring details of her story due to Clara’s presence, but it was still beyond frightening... None one mentioned it, not even Naya, but I knew I couldn’t be the only one certain that we’d find out she was pregnant in the next few weeks…

  Clara was still a bit standoffish, but the others seemed to be warming up to her. She came off as a rather nice person, and I could tell she was thankful for what we did, and especially happy to have the protection and company of good people.

  That being said – she was a strange looking woman... I knew it was partly because she was overly thin from not being fed for the last week, but there was still something about her that made me feel uneasy. Her delicate features, black hair and blacks eyes, somehow reminded me of the man from that car.

  As she spoke to the others and smiled, I closely studied her and began to sense a lack of emotion in her words – like she hadn’t been traumatized by what happened at all. Even though she appeared to be delicate, sweet and friendly, the longer I observed her, the more I began to sense something menacing.

  I shook off the feeling – Or maybe, all the crazy shit that’s been happening is making me paranoid. Some people just look strange. After what she’s been through, she doesn’t deserve to have me thinking things like that…

  We all agreed to spend more than a few days here before we set out again. Every one of us was in need of time to heal, whether it be physically, emotionally or both…

  After everything that just happened, I wasn’t exactly happy to hear that Walt was going out
with Jenny and Brian to search for food and water. But Naya claimed the other side of the development used to have a lot more people living in it, and that we were on the “newer” side.

  She also confirmed to have only seen “about ten” different men while she was being held captive. Which meant the only thing we’d have to fear until we left the development were the few shredders around. It almost made my worry for Walt slip away, but then I remembered – I can’t ever allow myself to be fooled into thinking we’re safe… I’ll pay for it…

  It was almost 3:00pm when they finally decided to leave.

  They didn’t necessarily have to go today. We retrieved all of our stolen supplies and gained all of theirs. Jenny and Brian just decided they’d rather get it over with so they can rest for a few days straight, and Walt was quick to agree.

  It was also rather important for them to find another, much larger car so we’d have a fast means of escape on hand. The one we came back in had four doors, but it was small and had a lot of mileage.

  As I watched them walk out of the house, I looked at the holes and blood stains on Walt’s shirt from where he was bitten. I could see a small amount of blood making its way through the bandage on Jenny’s ear. And Brian’s face still had the appearance of being beaten with a bat… When I found out several of his back teeth had been knocked out too, I wasn’t at all surprised.

  I went over by the front windows to start my guard duty and I couldn’t help but laugh, but in the depressing, hopeless kind of way… Clara and Naya are the only two among us who aren’t injured. And Naya’s probably only alive or unharmed because she’s been locked in a torture room... What the fuck is gonna happen next?

  I was staring at some bushes across the street that had the brightest of red and yellow leaves, mixed in with a lesser amount of green, actually giving the appearance of being on fire. Naya’s soft, yet somewhat high-pitched voice came from beside me.

  “When they started trying to kick our door down, we were all alone and the only thing my husband could find to use as weapon was a kitchen knife… When they finally broke through and the five strange men came walking into our living room, they started laughing when they saw the knife.”

  Naya walked a little closer and leaned up against the wall so we were facing each other. “He was a dentist… He was a wonderful, brilliant man, but he wasn’t exactly… the macho type. When they got closer and he stepped in front of me, one of them knocked him out cold with their rifle. They all just laughed… and laughed... They thought it was especially funny to…”

  She looked to the ground. “You know… right next to him while he was unconscious… When he didn’t wake up by the time a few of them had taken turns with me, they just shot him and dragged me out. They said he wasn’t tough enough to join them.”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head… I can see a few people behaving like that, but how can so many go along with it and even have fun in the process?

  “I’m sorry that happened to you. We’re going to do our best to keep everyone safe, and those men are all dead now. You won’t have anything to worry about while we stay here.”

  Strangely, she didn’t really react to what I said. It was almost as if she completely ignored it and was just waiting for her chance to speak again. “So, what made you think to fight back against them?”

  I locked eyes with her and said “Their leader – or whatever you want to call him. He didn’t really give us a choice. We couldn’t let them take Clara… or Melanie and Jenny.”

  “So, you really would all die to protect each other? Even though you’re basically strangers?”

  I was thrown by her question and it took a few seconds for me to respond. “It’s just part of being in a group of people working together to survive. I suppose it doesn’t take long to start caring about them.”

  Naya pushed herself away from the wall and approached the window, holding her hands behind her and swaying back and forth like she was recalling a song in her head. “How were you able to kill all of them like that? You were really outnumbered… They had Brian at the time too, right?”

  What’s with these questions?

  “Oh, uh… Well, to be honest, I think it all came down to the fact that they didn’t expect it. They thought since they took most of our weapons and had one of our people held hostage that we’d just comply.”

  Naya turned back to me and thinned her abnormally dark eyes. “I hated that man, Darren… Did he suffer? Were you the one who killed him?”

  Her questions started making me feel uneasy again, but I shook it off and attributed her want for details of his death to anger. “No. I killed one of them, and as the car sped away Jessie and Jenny were the ones to take the other two down.”

  Her glazed over eyes drifted off to the side and she began to slowly nod. “I’ll have to thank her.”

  Naya turned back to the window and started swaying back and forth again – this time, moving her head around as well. I watched with a frown as she squeezed her hands together behind her back as tightly as she could.

  What the hell is up with this chick?

  She left the window and moved closer to me. “So, Jenny told me about the whole… DNA… defense mechanism thing that caused all this.”

  “Crazy, huh?”

  “Well, I’m wondering why we don’t just stay here if it’s like this everywhere?”

  I leaned back in my chair and sighed. “They’re hell bent on finding more survivors and raising an army so we can set up a safe-zone.”

  I quickly put my hands up and shook my head. “Just, not the way those pieces of shit were doing it.”

  She smiled and said “I know, don’t worry.”

  “They’re also hoping to find one already set up by the government, or something like that… Can’t say I disagree. It’s scary to think about what could happen along the way, but it’s worth the risk.”

  Naya sighed out “I guess you’re right. Well, I’m gonna to go see what Melanie and Clara are doing.” She looked down at the book on the small table next to my chair. “I’ll let you get back to your book.”

  “Okay, if you need anything – just ask.”

  Naya nodded and headed for the staircase. I couldn’t help but notice that she still rarely made eye contact with me… She probably feels a little uncomfortable around men right now…

  I spent a minute or two thinking about how peculiar Naya’s behavior was, but it wasn’t long before I went back to worrying about Walt. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about Jenny and Brian, but they were trained – experienced.

  Walt just got done being a kid a few years ago…

  I tried to concentrate on the book, but I was glued to either the clock or the windows. It hadn’t even been long enough for them to find a new car yet, and I was already driving myself insane – staring at the end of the road and begging to see them coming back.

  Chapter 13

  I knew what they needed to do would take hours, but when it began to get dark my “rational” explanations no longer had any effect. I was distraught and as tense as humanly possible.

  When I brought my hand up to my mouth so I could start chewing at my fingernails again, I saw that two of them were already bleeding a little.

  Melanie, Naya and Clara all came around and made small talk several times over the last few hours, somewhat helping to pass the time. Though I was so agitated and overwhelmed with worry, I couldn’t stand to have someone talking to me. I just wanted to listen for gunshots or cars… anything that might tell me they’re still alive.

  I kept having to stop myself from getting up and pacing the floors. If I didn’t want to go through this anymore, I needed to heal. Once that happens, Walt will be the one to stay behind. I knew it would anger him and possibly even cause a big argument, but I couldn’t care less.

  When I saw the headlights, I jumped up and went to the front door. I took a step outside, but then reminded myself of the new world I lived in… Just to be safe, I stayed in the doo
rway and began to follow the car with my M4.

  It was still light enough to where the headlights didn’t block out my view of the front window. When I saw Jenny and Brian upfront, accompanied by a figure in the back, I headed to the edge of the driveway.

  Due to the area, they ended up with a top-dollar, 4-door Mercedes. Jenny stepped out and I noticed the emblem on the side that read “V12-Biturbo.”

  I laughed “Wow. Why not, right? You gotta let me try this thing out.”

  Brian got out and remarked “This thing is nuts, man. I convinced Jenny to floor it on the way back and we all almost shit ourselves.”

  Jenny derisively barked “We’re not keeping it.”

  “You say that now…” Brian said as he smiled.

  Walt stretched and said “It’s like a five star hotel back there. Thing even has a little fridge for drinks.”

  Jenny rolled her eyes. “The gas mileage is obviously going to be atrocious, and it’s so low to the ground that it could literally get us all killed.” She turned to me. “We just went with the first car we found. The keys were on the kitchen counter.”

  She pointed at Brian with the electronic key for the car. “See this? It’s electric start, and if this battery dies, and they do just suddenly die – we’ll be stranded… And it’s too small – we need another van or an SUV.”

  “I know. Just let me enjoy myself for a few days. That’s all I’m asking… Though I was thinkin… maybe it would be a good idea to keep that other car so if one does break down without warning, another one is right behind it.”

  Jenny gave him an agreeable nod and I said “What about food?”

  Walt cut in. “We only found two houses that weren’t cleaned out, but we still got enough to last another week or so.”

  Jenny said “Probably less. Since the powers out, it’s mainly junk food. We got a few boxes of rice, some jars of sauce and boxes of pasta though.”

  Walt walked around and popped open the trunk. Just when I was about to question using up our water to make food, he reached in and pulled out a 24-pack of bottled water. Brian joined him and pulled out another two gallons.