Trying to Survive (Part 2)

by C. J. Crowley

  I started to walk around the back of the car so I could help, but Jenny stopped me. “Go rest your leg, James. It’s okay.”

  I waved her off and said “Yeah, yeah.”

  The plush maroon chair was calling out to me, but I still felt the need to stay by the front bay… More people or a group of shredders could show up at any time…

  When Walt shut the trunk and I looked back on all the food they carried inside, I knew Jenny was right to say “probably less” than a week.

  When the sounds of their return filled the house, Naya, Melanie and Clara came down from upstairs. Jenny turned to them and said “We can all rest easy now. We won’t have to leave here for at least another five days.”

  I stood by the window and watched as they all gathered around the kitchen table – talking, laughing and looking through the food. I could tell they felt safe, and it deeply worried me.

  Chapter 14

  It was another sleepless night. I’d gotten used to the loud chirping and croaks coming from the small lake outback, so I didn’t mind leaving the sliding glass door open anymore. It also gifted me with the comfort of lying in bed with a cigarette and not choking myself out.

  I was starting to feel the physical effects of not sleeping enough, and I knew it was only slowing down the healing process and endangering me, but there was nothing I could do. I had too many questions, too many fears and doubts. Though worst of all, my faith in humanity has been severely chiseled away.

  As I let out a cloud of smoke and watched it swirl around in the broken up moonlight coming through the trees, I thought to myself – Do we really want to risk running into any more people?

  I knew there was liquor stashed somewhere downstairs. I’d just been avoiding using it as a sleep aid in case there was an emergency in the middle of the night. I knew it would take more than just a few shots to put me down… Fuck it. Being tired and making stupid decisions could get me killed too.

  When I stepped out into the hall way, I was met by Naya.

  She was standing no more than five feet away. There was a large window behind me, letting in just enough light for me to see the blood all over her clothing. When I saw that her hands were behind her back, I turned around to get my gun from the room.

  Before I could take another step, she had already lunged at me. I turned back, just in time to see the flash of the blade in her hand and grab her wrists. She couldn’t have weighed more than 115lbs, so I easily slammed her against the wall and threw her to the ground.

  Just as I kicked her in the stomach and took the knife away, I heard Clara begin to scream.

  I stepped over Naya and headed down the hall. Brian and Jenny both came out of their rooms at the same time. I yelled “Naya was covered in blood and she tried to kill me! Go back and watch her!”

  I ran by them so quickly that I didn’t even have time to glance in their direction.

  I flung open the door to Melanie’s room and was met by a bed entirely covered in blood. My eye followed the heavy smears and handprints leading away from Melanie’s body until I came upon Clara. She was pressed against the wall in the furthest corner of the room – practically huddled into a ball.

  I could see that Melanie’s blood was all over her.

  No… Why? Why would she do this!?

  As I looked down at Melanie’s lifeless body, I began to hear Naya screaming. “You motherfuckers! You killed them!” I could hear her fighting Jenny and Brian, kicking the walls and knocking things over as they struggled to subdue her. “And you! You killed my only son, you bitch! I’m gonna kill you!”

  Knowing Naya was under control, I flew across the room, picked up Clara and rushed to the stairs so I could get her away from the body and the noise.

  She has to be talking to Jenny… Who would she be mad about? Why is this happening?

  Clara was crying so forcefully that I couldn’t make out anything she was saying as I painfully worked my way down the stairs with her in my arms. All I could make out was “Melanie”.

  As I thought to myself – It was all an act… she was one of them – Walt appeared at the bottom of the stairs. “What’s going on!?”

  When he saw Clara in my arms and noticed the blood, his eyes widened and he rushed up to us. “Is she okay!?”

  I painfully groaned “Take her, please.”

  Walt took her from my arms and yelled “What the hell is happening, James!?”

  I was speechless…

  “James!” Is Clara okay!?”

  “…Yes.”

  “Well, then why is she covered in blood!? James, talk to me!”

  I didn’t speak until he made it over to the couch and gently set Clara down. I put my hand up to silence him and said “Not in front of her… Just go upstairs. They might need help anyway.”

  Walt just stood there and stared at me, going through all the different possibilities of what could have happened.

  Clara suddenly cried out “She killed Melanie! Melanie’s dead!”

  I fell back onto the couch next to Clara and took her in my arms again. “Just go, Walt. They really might need your help.”

  Once I heard Walt making his way up the stairs, I relaxed myself and spoke to her as softly as I could. “We didn’t know, Clara… I’m sorry… We won’t ever let something like this happen again. We won’t ever trust anyone again… I’m so sorry.”

  Clara took a deep breath, tensed her body and began forcing herself to stop crying. As she leaned up against me, I could feel that her entire body would suddenly start to tremble and then stop after a few moments. She sucked in air through her nose to clear it out, and said “I thought she was nice… she tricked me too.”

  As she spoke, I found that the usual softness and childish uncertainly in her voice was no longer present. She clenched her fists and curled her body tighter in my lap. “I don’t want to go look for more people, James. We should just stay by ourselves... We can’t trust anyone. If we leave this place, more of us are going to die.”

  I wanted to tell her we could stay… I want to stay… Our new existence was complicated, confusing, totally unpredictable and dangerous in many ways, but there was one aspect that remained simplistic – we will constantly need more food and water.

  We will always have to go back out and risk being killed by shredders or running into more gangs of psychopaths. As the local supplies dwindle, we’ll have to start venturing out at night so we can get them to empty out of the stores. We’ll have to spread out farther and farther until it eventually forces us to relocate so we don’t have to travel such long distances.

  I know there are still plenty of good people out there, and we have to find them. The longer we stay somewhere without the protection and help of larger numbers, the more dangerous things will become… And all it will take to get us killed is one simple mistake, or running into an even larger and more dangerous group of people who mean to do us harm.

  We’re about to dig a third grave outback. This place holds nothing but horrible memories… Could that be why she wants to stay? Anthony’s grave?

  “I wish we could Clara... But the only way we’re ever going to be safe is if we get out there and find a piece of our old world that’s been preserved. We’re good people, and we’re still alive. We can’t be the only ones.”

  I heard footsteps and turned my head back to see Walt. His entire face wrinkled as he struggled to hold back his emotions. His strides were short and his feet dragged as if they were made of iron. “I don’t really know what’s going on… Jenny locked herself in a room with her. She won’t even let Brian in.”

  She’s questioning Naya… She wants to know why – just like I do…

  When I started to ease Clara off of me, she shifted more of her weight into my lap and just held on tighter. “I won’t be gone long.” I looked over to Walt. “And Walt will be here with you.”

  She squeezed even tighter for several moments and then released me and sat up. Walt traded places with me as Clara wiped her face
dry and tried to calm her breathing. I didn’t want to miss anything, so I wasted no time getting back to them.

  When I made it to the upstairs hallway and Brian saw me, he simply shrugged and shook his head. I could hear raised voices coming from the room. Naya’s was the loudest. She was screaming obscenities and calling us all murderers – specifically furious with Jenny for killing her son.

  The young man with the same black hair Jenny shot outside that house...

  “She won’t even answer me, man.”

  I banged on the door twice and yelled out “It’s James! I want the same thing you do, Jenny! I won’t get in the way of whatever it is you’re doing! I want answers!”

  I waited a few seconds and then banged several more times. “You don’t have the right to take this away from me! Melanie was with us since the beginning!”

  My anger caused me to step back and ready myself to kick open the door. Just as I tried to raise my knee up, and hurt myself, I heard it unlock. The door slowly opened and revealed Naya on the floor in the middle of the room. She was hog-tied with cut lamp cords, and I could see that Jenny had hit her more than a few times.

  When Naya saw me, she started spitting and continued to fill the house with ear piercing screams. I thought back to what I saw in that room… I could picture Clara waking up to find Melanie dead – covered in her blood... Having to crawl through it to get away…

  I pushed past Jenny and flipped Naya onto her side. I fell to one knee, wrapped my hands around her throat and squeezed with a large majority of my strength. Brian headed into the room and said “Whoa, what the hell are you doing?”

  Jenny stopped him. “He won’t kill her – he wants answers.”

  As I tightened my grip even more, all she could do was let out the slightest squeak as she tried to breath. Everything in me wanted to just keep going until she was dead, but Jenny was right – I’m going to get my answers.

  I eased the muscles in my hands and said “Why Melanie!? She didn’t fire a single shot!”

  Naya took a few deep breaths and growled out “I was going to save Clara from you monsters!” Her eyes moved to Jenny. “You were next.”

  Naya fruitlessly tried to struggle free as she glared at Jenny. “I’ll find a way to make sure you pay.”

  She was going to take Clara as payment for Jenny killing her son… Crazy bitch… You aren’t doing shit, except telling me what I want and then dying…

  Jenny ignored her and said “She stole her whole story from the other girl we found dead in that room with her.”

  Naya roared “That little whore didn’t deserve to be a part of the new world! My brother… My family’s blood wasn’t going to be tarnished by trash like that!”

  Brother? The man in the car… She’s even starting to say the same kind of weird shit…

  Jenny muttered “She probably killed her too because she knew we’d assume those men did it.”

  Naya began struggling again, but the lamp cords around her wrists and ankles were so tight that she could barely move. “You better kill me, bitch!”

  Jenny coldly remarked “I think we know enough.” She raised her rifle.

  I looked back to Brian and he just turned around… I didn’t plan on stopping her either.

  Suddenly, a thought broke through the immense blockade of my anger and confusion. “Jenny, wait!”

  “We can’t let her live, James.”

  “It’s not about her, Jenny… She’s probably pregnant... She may not have been tortured and raped, but she’s probably still pregnant.”

  Brian sighed and dropped his head back. “Fuck me.”

  Jenny tensed up, thinned her eyes and dug the rifle deeper into her shoulder. I said “Jenny.”

  Naya began to demonically cackle like a villain in a bad action movie. “I’ll make sure I never have it… I know you’re just going to kill me and steal it!”

  I was somewhat in shock, having to stand before another human-being and make such a fucked up decision… After what she’s done. We have to… We can’t let her have anything to do with a child and we can’t let her live.

  I turned to Jenny. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

  Naya continued to laugh and said “You can’t make me eat… and the first chance I get – I’ll kill it myself!”

  “How are we going to make her eat, James? How are we going to drag her everywhere with us for nine months and make sure she doesn’t hurt the baby?”

  “You won’t! I’ll make sure of it! Just like I’ll make sure to gut you like the whore-pig you are the second I get the chance!”

  Brian said pleadingly “Jenny, we have to try.”

  Jenny lowered her rifle and turned around. “If she is indeed pregnant, that baby will only survive if she wants it to… And I hate to tell you – but she’s insane… You saw that bedroom. You know what she’s capable of.”

  Jenny looked over at Naya for a few seconds and she started spitting at Jenny again. “Come on, Jenny. Kill me, and kill the innocent life growing inside of me. It should be easy for someone like you.”

  Jenny’s eyes thinned and she walked over to Naya and kneeled. When Naya spit in her face, Jenny gave her a quick shot to the right side of the jaw and knocked her unconscious.

  Jenny began unbuttoning Naya’s shirt from the bottom and then proceeded to inspect her stomach. She seemed to have trouble seeing, so she rolled Naya over to allow the moonlight coming through the window to wash over her.

  Jenny let out a single laugh through her nose and said “Her son looked to be about twenty, right? This scar is far too new to be from a twenty year old C-section.” She turned back to us. “She’s lying, she’s had a hysterectomy – she knows she can’t have children.”

  Jenny began to nod. “That’s why she killed the other woman… Naya was jealous. She wanted to be the one to have children. It’s why she wanted to take Clara too.”

  A wave of relief washed over me and I heard Brian let out a long sigh before he said “Holy shit.”

  Jenny stood up and positioned her rifle. “We know everything we need to know.”

  I was surprised to hear myself say it, but the words just calmly flowed from my mouth. “Let’s take her outback so there won’t be blood all over the place… She doesn’t get buried anywhere near the others.”