Sliding the kisses aside, I noticed a tattered piece of paper underneath. Another note! It had to be from Owen! Delighted, I snatched the paper from the cupboard and smiled. Finding anything from him at all made me feel like he was still around and never left.
Georgina,
I left you these because when I found them, I thought they were sweet, like you.
O.
My heart fluttered and I stuffed the note in my pocket. Then, I grabbed the kisses, shoved two in my pocket with the note and unwrapped the first one. I didn’t even care if it was white, flaky or stale. Chocolate was chocolate. And it was a luxury that I hadn’t been able to consume since I was fourteen.
Staring at the little blob of sugary splendor, I inhaled deeply. It smelled fresh. The mixture of cocoa, milk, and sugar tickled my taste buds and I hadn’t even plopped it into my mouth yet. I wanted to savor the candy. I didn’t want to be greedy and gobble it up all at once but, I couldn’t help it. I shoved it into my mouth as the milky chocolate melted against my tongue and dripped down my throat.
Sucking on the chocolate, I enjoyed every last bit of it, until it was no bigger than a raisin and I finally chewed it up. Touching my pocket, I thought about giving one to Frankie. She would be so excited when she saw the candy. I could already see her face lighting up in my mind. But giving the chocolate to Frankie meant that she would probably tell somebody and then people would come to me asking where I got it. And that would open up a whole new can of worms because then I’d have to tell someone about my hiding place and that was something I wasn’t willing to give up or share.
That’s when I had a genius idea. Frankie was only nine when the asteroid hit. To be in a situation like that at such a young age can be devastating. Fourteen was young too, but I got to do a lot of things that Frankie would never be able to do. I went to school dances, traveled, and the list went on. Frankie missed out on her childhood and had to grow up really fast. So, I thought about how happy she’d be finding the piece of chocolate and came to a decision that I would hide the chocolate kiss somewhere in her things, so that she’d think she found it on her own.Entering my room, I remained as still as possible, listening for any sound or movement. I waited.
After seconds of silence, I tiptoed over to the nightstand, next to Frankie’s bed, quietly opened the drawer, placed the kiss on top of a notebook, and closed the drawer. Then, I removed the rest of the items in my pocket and wrapped them up in the letter Owen gave me and tucked them safely under my cot.
At dinner, I plopped down next to Grace as our plates were being distributed. “I came to your room today,” she commented. “You weren’t there. Where did you go?”
I took my plate and passed the rest down to the next person. “Oh,” I answered quickly. “I was around. Did you need something?”
She shrugged. “I just wanted to see if you wanted to go to the rec after dinner. Maybe we could play checkers or something.”
I smiled. “Definitely. That sounds fun.” Honestly, it sounded boring. With the amount of action that had taken place in the last couple weeks, returning to normal every day colony life was a major adjustment.
Colin sat down across from us, with Molly Edwards. “What’s up, girls?”
“Nothing,” I replied. My answer was short yet cordial. I never elaborated or struck up a conversation with him, but I simply remained polite to save myself from any future arguments.
“Same here,” said Grace. “How about with you?”Grace didn’t stay mad at Colin for long. He explained to her that he had nothing to do with Monica’s disappearance. He also said that Mr. Baker had formed that plan on his own, before he got his father and Mr. Edwards involved.
He smirked. “Not too much.” After that he turned his attention to Molly and proceeded to flirt with her in front of me.
Occasionally, I’d catch him, out of the corner of my eye, trying to sneak a peek at me without seeming too obvious. He was about as obvious as a T-Rex watching a field full of brontosauruses. I knew exactly what he was trying to do. And I knew for sure that the jealousy I’d once felt when I watched him flirt with Molly Edwards before would never return again.
In the rec, I sat across from Grace on the dirt floor, with a stern face, trying to decipher my next move. Grace glanced at the checkerboard, then back up at me. “You could move there.” She pointed to an empty red square.
“Don’t help me!” I scolded. She was already annihilating me, and had way too many pieces left on the board.
“I’m just trying to help,” she stated.
“It would help me if your pieces just magically disappeared,” I joked. And we shared a laugh.
Getting back to my move, I started to slide my piece forward. Grace shook her head. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she warned.
I grinned. “You’re not me.”
The truth was, I was tired of playing. I just wanted to go back to my room, lie down on my cot and relax. So, I continued moving my piece forward, knowing that as soon as I took my hand off of it, Grace was going to jump me four times and the game would be over.
Grace’s eyes sparkled as she picked up one of her pieces. “One. Two. Three. Four!” She made her move, swiped all of my pieces off of the board and snapped her fingers. “I win!”
“Darn it,” I whined with a bit of anguish in my voice, trying to sound believable.
“Maybe next time, eh, Georgie,” Grace teased.
“That’s what you say every time.”
* * * *
On my way to my room, Frankie met up with me in the hall. “Where were you?” She looked around the hall warily.
“Getting my ass kicked in checkers by Grace.”
“Don’t swear,” she said.
“Sorry,” I corrected myself. “Getting my “butt” kicked in checkers.”
Frankie stopped mid-step in the middle of the hallway and grabbed me by the arm. I watched her intensely as she stifled a look around the hall. She seemed worried. Frankie was rarely ever like that so I was instantly concerned. “Is there something wrong?” I patted her shoulder gently and she faced me.
“Come with me,” she demanded and drug me down the hall to our room. “Someone has been in my things.”
“What?”
Inside, I flopped backward on my cot when it dawned on me that she found the kiss that I’d put in her drawer.
Propping myself up with my elbow, I kept my eyes on her as she rooted through her drawer. Then, Frankie removed the kiss and brought it over to over to me. “It’s chocolate,” she said. “I don’t know how it got in my drawer because it wasn’t in there yesterday.”
“Chocolate,” I said in a hushed voice. Then, I peered around the room cautiously, playing along. “If I were you, I’d eat it before anybody can catch you with it.”
Frankie focused on the shiny silver wrapping. “It would be terrible if I let it go to waste. I didn’t even think chocolate existed anymore.”
“You shouldn’t waste it,” I told her. “Do you know how many people down here would fight you for that piece of candy?”
She closed her fingers around the kiss and looked at me solemnly. “You’re not going to tell anybody are you?”
I pretended to zip my lips. “You have my word. I won’t utter a peep.”
The crinkling sound of the wrapper filled the quiet room and Frankie marveled at the chocolate in her hand. She held it out to me. “Do you want to share it?”
The gesture made me beam, a gleeful feeling writhed in my veins. Even though she had a big mouth, Frankie really was the kindest, most generous little girl, and she had a bigger heart than most adults.
I shook my head. “You enjoy it. Maybe one day, I’ll find my own chocolate kiss.”
“Are you sure, Georgie? Isn’t it rude if I eat it in front of you and don’t offer you any?”
“No. Besides, I don’t want any.”
Slowly, Frankie rested the chocolate against her lips. She moved her mouth, shot her tongue out and pu
shed the kiss back. It rested against her tongue and I smiled as tears formed in her eyes. “This was one of the best days of my new life,” she said through her mouthful.
She chewed the chocolate and brushed her tongue against her lips for a second time as I lifted my arms and she buried her head in my shoulder. Never in a million years did I think that one, single, solitary piece of chocolate could have that much of a lasting effect on a twelve year old. In the times that we were living in, it was those simple things like a piece of chocolate that could make your entire year or as Frankie said, “one of the best days of my new life.” And I was more than thrilled to be the one that gave her one of those days.
* * * *
That night, I agreed to let Frankie sleep with me and after an hour of her kicking me, rolling over, elbowing me in the gut, and shouting I knew that I’d made a mistake in allowing it.
“Ouch!” I yelped as she kicked me in the shin for the fourth time. Finally, I’d had enough of sharing a cot with her and moved from mine over to hers.
Lying in Frankie’s bed, I rolled over onto my side and shut my eyes. I moved the pillow, adjusting it beneath my head. When I was comfortable, I snuggled under the blanket as a gust of wind whipped through my hair.
The wind continued blowing and I picked up my head as the cool breeze washed over my face. When you didn’t have the wind anymore, you forgot how good it could feel when it tousled your hair on a humid summer day. I took the wind for granted.
Something else I didn’t appreciate while I had it. I was always complaining about the forceful gusts. “It blew my skirt up, messed up my hair,” were most of my common complaints.
But I didn’t have the wind anymore….
It never whipped through the halls of our underground world. So how was it that it was blowing now?
My eyes flew open and I bolted from Frankie’s bed. I stood at the edge of the hall, staring up at the entrance/exit to my home.
Another gust of wind carried down the hall and blew my hair into my face. I pushed my hair away from my face, opened my mouth and let out the loudest, piercing scream I had ever let out in my life.
One-by-one, colonists rushed out of their quarters, stopping right behind me, frozen in fear as six hungry cannibals breached the safety of our underground world and started descending down the rope ladder.
Chapter 23: Shattered
Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! ~ Numbers 23:10
Five-year-old Ruby Martin, Colin’s kid sister waddled up next to me. Her bottom lip was quivering and then she started wailing. Annie, her mother, sprinted forward, scooping Ruby up into her arms and ran to the back of the hall. Frankie woke up, peeked out from our room and ran down the hall to our mother.
My father, the council members, and boys old enough to fight charged forward as the first cannibal hit the ground. The cannibal hissed, twirling a makeshift machete made from aluminum scraps. The cannibals had weapons, dangerous weapons. We were unarmed and I feared that none of the men in the colony would leave this battle alive.
All of the women and children had retreated to the mess hall. I faced my father, watching in horror as he stormed toward a second cannibal, carrying only a large wooden pole. “No, Dad!” I screamed and rushed toward him. The cannibal had a baseball bat with nails sticking out of it and he brought the bat down as my father dodged it.
My father locked eyes with me for a split second. The sound of battle and the people screaming drowned out the sound of his voice. “Get out of here!” he yelled as the cannibal lifted the bat again.
“What?
“Get out!” The bat came down again, blasting my father’s foot.
I bent down reaching for his foot as tears swelled up in my eyes. “No, Dad! You’re hurt!”
He grimaced and twisted himself around, swatting at me. “Get out of here! Now!” he screamed. “I can’t fight if I’m too worried about you. Go find your mother!”
I was distracting him. I wouldn’t be any use to anybody if I was just standing out there screaming.
Bolting down the hall, I winced at the sound of one of the men screaming, one of the most gut-wrenching screams I had ever heard in my life. Tears brimmed in my eyes. I couldn’t look back to see who it was. If it was my father, I would have turned around, ran straight for the cannibal who hurt him and got myself killed.
No, I had to push forward, because I had bigger plans in store for the people of this colony.
In that moment, I knew that I could save everyone. I still
had my secret place. The one place I vowed to never tell anybody about. I kept it a secret for my own selfish reasons. And now was not the time for me to be selfish. We were on the verge of losing everything, our loved ones, our home, and most of all, our lives.
I skidded to a stop in the mess hall as my mother came to my side and wrapped me in one arm, Frankie in the other. “My babies,” she sniffled, trying to suck back the tears. “I love you so much.”
Looking around the room, I noticed all the women were just sitting there, hugging their children while the men from our colony were out front, fighting, maybe even dying. That’s when I decided to take charge. “Guys!” I shouted. “Everybody listen up!” Every eye in the room was on me. “I have a place where we will all be safe.”
My mother furrowed her eyebrows. “What?”
“Mom, now isn’t the time for all the questions!” I snapped. “You have to trust me!” Facing all of the women, I cupped my hands around my mouth. “I need all the mothers to go back to their quarters and bring anything they can grab! Get the food, blankets pillows, clothes, and meet me in the Baker’s old quarters!” I glanced at May, who was next to my mother, holding on to a frightened Grace. “Can you bring some medical supplies just in case?” May nodded in reply. “Ladies, whatever you do, do not look at the end of the hall.” I knew what would happen if they did. One look at their husbands, or sons and they would fall apart. That couldn’t happen right now. We needed to be strong. We needed to be organized or none of this would work. “The children need to come with me.”
Frankie clutched on to my arm. “I’m so scared, Georgie,” she whispered, in between sobs.
“Frankie, I won’t let anything happen to you, I swear.”The children filed into a line as the mothers took off. I guided them through the mess hall doors, telling them, “Look at the walls,” as we passed our fathers and brothers fighting. The sounds of clinking metal and distorted grunts hung in the air and it took every ounce of courage inside of me for me to stay calm and focused.
In the Baker’s chambers, I led the children through the closet, up the hidden ramps, up the metal ladder, and finally through the hatch doors. Once I made sure that everyone was safe and accounted for, I grabbed Grace by the arm. “Make sure they all stay here,” I commanded. “Leave the hatch open and only close if I tell you to.”
Grace’s eyes were filled with panic. “Where are you going?”
“To get our mothers.”
I slid down the ladder, raced down the ramps, and arrived to a room full of mothers. Most of them were out of breath and hysterical, but they had all done what I asked, carrying armfuls of food, blanket clothing, etc. “Follow me!”
During my second trip I was starting to get winded. I sucked in more air and breathed harder, trying to push through. At the end of the metal ladder, I helped each woman climb up until I came to last one: May. Panicked, I spun around in a circle. My mother wasn’t there. “May!” I shouted as she was halfway up the ladder. “Where’s my Mom?”
May looked over her shoulder. “She was right behind me, I swear.”
I took off running and shouted over my shoulder, “I’ll be right back. Leave the hatch open!”
When I reached the Baker’s quarters my mother was nowhere to be found. “Mom!” I shrieked. “Mom!” No answer. She wasn’t anywhere close to me or she would have heard me.
Sprinting out of the room, I charged down the hall, not focusing on
anyone who was fighting, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed bodies on the floor. I couldn’t tell whether they were cannibals or the men from the colony and I couldn’t make myself look. “Mom!” I screamed. “Mom!”
Finally, I told myself that I had to look. She might have been an accidental casualty and I had to know for sure. A million questions were running through my mind as I prepared myself for the worst. What would I tell Frankie? She was already so scared. How could I go back to her and tell her that something bad happened? That’s when I came to halt. That’s when I stopped breathing. That’s when I saw my mother, clutching my father’s lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably. And that was when I saw the cannibal with the makeshift machete, hovering over her, preparing to decapitate her.
“MOOOOOMMM!” I screamed so loud, I swore that the whole room shook and everything that took place after that seemed to happen in slow motion.
My mother lifted her head and met my gaze, her eyes rimmed in red and wide with fear. She contorted her body slightly and glanced over her shoulder and the tip of the machete ripped into the entire right side of her body from her shoulder to her hip.
Her mouth dropped open, she faced me, and blew me a kiss. I ran forward pumping my legs as hard as I could. “No, Mom! Don’t!”She smiled weakly and mouthed, “I love you.” That was when her body slumped over and hit the ground with a thud.
Shooting pains went through my heart. Hunching over, I gasped for air as rage and sorrow consumed me. I screamed out in agony. My face was rippled with hysteria and I hugged my chest as I hit my knees “No! No! No!” This had to be a dream. I was having another nightmare. That was it. Any second I would wake up and my mother would tell me that it was time for breakfast.
Pinching myself hard, the sad reality set in; Both of my parents were dead. I’d lost both of my parents. Frankie and I were now orphans—lost and alone.
Then, I heard a voice squeal behind me. “Georgie, where’s mommy?”
“Frankie!” I shouted. “Why aren’t you with the other kids?” She never listened. “I told you not to leave!”
“I had to come find you and mommy. Where is she?”
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