“Come on.” Jim shook his head and took my hand in his, running with me by his side. Mike stopped at a three way intersection and sat down in the middle of the road. I could barely make out his dark frame from our vantage point. The moon seemed to spotlight him as he just sat there, unmoving.
I was about to say something to Jim when Mike pulled out something that glistened from the back of his pants. His back was to us but he held something in front of his face, and I realized what he had. It was my fucking knife! He must have taken it from Marcus. I forgot to get it back during the scuffle with the eaters.
I lunged forward to stop him from making the biggest mistake of his life. Jim grabbed me around the waist holding me back. I spun around to fight him off me.
Jim put his finger to his mouth, shushing me. I relaxed. I turned with Jim’s arms still holding me. Mike inspected the knife, spinning it around and twisting it. The light played off the metallic part, dancing in the moonlight.
“He won’t do it,” Jim said from behind me in a whisper. His body pressed against mine, his breath hot in my ear. My mind focused on saving Michael only. Nobody else was going to die on my watch.
I heard the clink of the knife as Michael dropped it. He slumped forward onto the pavement, his body folding over itself. The knife clattered. I let out a heavy breath that I didn’t know I was holding.
Mike’s sobs ricocheted across the street, bouncing off vacant houses and storefronts. His head dropped into his hands as a cry escaped his lips. Something groaned from behind us, and I turned around, coming face to face with an eater. I stepped back, stumbling as my breath caught in my throat.
I lifted my gun, but Jim moved faster. He jammed his knife right into the eater’s mouth, lifting it up so it lodged into his skull. He paused, making sure the eater had fully gone, and then pulled the knife out. The eater fell to the ground in a pile of decaying flesh. I kicked it to the side.
“Who’s there?” Mike asked as if sensing us. Maybe he heard us. He jumped up from the pavement, bending down to grab the knife. He held it in front of him and even from ten feet away I saw it shake. Jim and I walked in the middle of the street.
“This bitch again,” Mike mumbled.
“Don’t call her a bitch,” Jim growled as he stepped in front of me. I shoved past him so Mike could look me in the eyes. I was tired of Jim protecting me, shielding me. I could do this alone.
“You’re going to kill that boy if you think dying is the answer,” I said, keeping my voice even-keeled.
“It’s none of your damn business.”
I flinched at his words but stood my ground. I wouldn’t give up on something I believed in. And that boy deserved his father around. Michael was a coward.
“We’re all a group, so it is my business. We work together—we have each other’s backs. If you’re gone, who will watch your kid? Who will raise him? You may want to leave, but I tell you what, he doesn’t want you to. He’ll be crushed.”
“It’s not your business.” He pronounced every syllable like a threat, daring me to say another word. I wouldn’t be shot down. Whether it was my business or not, someone had to look after that child. Marcus deserved better. And I would fight for him if Mike wouldn’t.
“Don’t do it.” I narrowed my eyes on him. Jim’s hand found the small of my back, reassuring me.
“I’ll do whatever I want.”
“Not tonight.” His eyes pierced me hard as he stared me down. He lowered his head, and I took that as his acknowledgement.
I turned without another word and trekked back towards camp. He’d eventually follow. The sorrow on his face told me he wouldn’t go through with it—at least for tonight. The orange flame at camp called to me. Something high-pitched sounded near the woods. It wasn’t an eater’s voice, more like a scream. I stopped and listened.
“What’s wrong?” Jim asked as he caught up to me.
“I swear I heard someone screaming.” I glanced around us, but in the now dark night, it was hard to see past my own arm span. The tree line was dense, hundreds of trees that blocked one another.
“It’s probably just the eaters.”
“Yeah…” Though I wasn’t convinced. I had no doubt it was a human scream. Not one of the eaters’ growls or moans or whatever it is they do. Jim took my hand, and we walked back to camp together.
“Hey guys,” I said as we stepped around the fire. Gavin sat with Marcus beside him. Gabe leaned back next to the fire, resting on his elbows.
“Where’d you run off to?” Gabe asked with narrowed eyes.
“For a walk,” Jim answered fast, no hesitation.
“Did you find my daddy?” Marcus asked, his eyes droopy. I smiled at him.
“Of course. He’s on his way back now,” I lied, hoping that Marcus couldn’t see through me. I had never been a good liar. Something about my eyes always gave away my intentions, or maybe it was my lips. Either way, it had been a flaw my whole life and bitten me on the ass numerous times.
“Why don’t we head inside for bed?” Gavin rubbed his hand down Marcus’s back and nodded behind him. Marcus yawned, stretching his arms out to the side.
“Fine,” Marcus agreed. “‘Night, Miss Lana.” He hopped up from his rock near the fire and wrapped his arms around my mid-section. I laughed as he retreated into the house with Gavin hobbling behind.
“The kid seems to be attached to you,” Gabe said. But his voice didn’t hold admiration. Instead it was almost like he viewed the attachment as a negative.
“And?” I sat down on Marcus’s rock and held my hands above the fire, basking in the subtle warmth.
“Just an observation.” Gabe smiled, yet it didn’t reach his eyes. “You seem to protect the weak, Lana. Fair to say?” He cocked his head to the side.
“Sure. They’re the ones who need someone to stick up for them, right?”
“They’re also the ones to die first.”
“What’s with the questioning?” Jim asked as he put his arm around my shoulder. I leaned into it. But my eyes never left Gabe, who for some reason loved pressing my buttons.
“Except Jim. He’s not weak, and you seem to have grown very fond of him.”
“Be careful of your next words,” Jim threatened as his hold grew tighter around me. I didn’t want to break eye contact with Gabe, but I wanted to see the intensity I felt from Jim, too.
“Just relax. I don’t care what he has to say.” I glared across at Gabe. “I like protecting the ones who can’t protect themselves, so what? I’d help you if you needed it. It’s not a negative. I care about everyone here. We all deserve to be alive.”
“Were you a lawyer?” Gabe asked with a smile plastered on his face.
“No.”
“Teacher?”
“No.”
“What did you do?” he asked, his voice growing bored.
“It doesn’t matter what any of us did,” Jim cut in. “You’re done with the questions.”
Before Gabe could respond, Mike appeared. He sat down next to Gabe. We all fell into a comfortable, yet tension-filled silence. My eyes became hooked on the dying fire, the bright embers flickering. We agreed not to add wood. We weren’t positive if the eaters were attracted to light.
We could either leave the fire burning to provide warmth, which hindered the eaters. Or we could put it out, be left in the cold, but probably not attract the eaters to come to us. We figured we’d rather be safe and cold than dead and eaten.
“I’m heading to bed,” Michael said not too long later. He stomped around us and entered the hut. I had to hold back an eye roll. I hated Michael for what he was going to put Marcus through. I hated him for wanting to take the easy way out when the rest of us struggled, fighting to live.
“I’ll take the first watch. Why don’t you guys go to bed?” I offered.
“You need to sleep,” Jim said, still rooted on the ground. He had his knees bent, his elbows on top. His head rested on his hands as he stared at the pit, never moving.
“I
won’t be able to.” I shook my head, knowing that if he was out there, I’d be worried.
“Well, you two duke it out. I’m going to nap. You need me, shake me awake.” Gabe stood and clapped his hand over Jim’s back as he passed us. The hut door quietly clicked behind him.
“Come lie on my lap.”
As I hopped around the fire pit, the heat still warm, I nearly tripped over the rock circle Marcus had made. I sat on the ground between Jim’s legs and let him pull me back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around my chest and rested them over my stomach.
Before I knew it, I dozed, my mind numbing.
I woke to the smell of a campfire. I jumped up, thinking that a house was on fire nearby or that we were in some sort of danger. Two sturdy hands held me in place. I turned around and through my foggy eyes spotted Jim. His eyes dropped, red veins coloring the whites.
The sun had begun its ascent. It wasn’t light yet, but a dark blue cast across the ground and a faint whitish glimmer across the lake. I sat up and rubbed the crust from the corner of my eyes, my back aching from my awkward positioning.
Gavin stirred a can of beans over the fire, his back to me. He turned and nodded as I began to wake up fully. My back cracked all up my spine as I leaned forward, my arms like lead.
“Miss Lana!” Marcus ran towards me, coming up from the lake with a bundle of small sticks in his arms. “Mr. Gavin said I can have candy if I help with the camp! And I’m helping, so I’ll get some, right?” He bounced off the walls like he had already eaten chocolate. His eyes alit with a strange ignorance. His mother died, yet couldn’t wait for a chocolate bar.
“You gonna share with me? I’m awfully hungry.” My voice rasped, my throat dry and scratchy.
“You can eat the beans,” Marcus said with a shrug.
“The beans?” I laughed as I stood and brushed myself off. I reached down and grabbed onto Jim’s hands, yanking him up off the ground with me. He groaned as his bad knee cracked.
“Let me get one little baby bite,” I begged, sticking out my lower lip. Gavin held the Hershey’s bar up away from both of us, and I lunged for it, faking my need. Marcus snatched the bar from my fingers, laughing as he ran. He waved the bar in the air, taunting me as he skipped circles around the fire.
“Morning everyone,” Gabe said as he ducked out of the hut. Jim sat down and bent his knees, Gabe did the same beside him. He pulled out a bottle of brown water from his pocket. “We boiling water yet?” he asked as he placed the bottle against the rock circle around the fire.
“After the beans, we can clean out the can to boil water.” Gavin used a small kindling stick to stir and then licked the bean juice off. It was gross. But my stomach was so empty, I’d probably eat the dirt off the ground if I knew it’d fill me up. Saliva infested beans were better than dirt right now.
“I was thinking of doing a quick sweep for Scarlet before we leave,” I said as I stretched my legs. I sat in a squat, my leg muscles screaming at me to stop. While it hurt, the stretch released tension, too.
“We have to start moving south,” Jim said, his eyes flashing up to mine.
“I’ll go now and be back by the time you’re all packed,” I said with a smile, knowing that no matter what, he wouldn’t agree. But I wasn’t leaving without searching. If she left of her own will, fine, but if she just got lost, she’d need help.
“You’re not going alone.” Jim’s stare cut into me.
“I won’t go into houses, just sweep the woods a little and look around. She could be hurt. I would hate it if we left without trying to find her. You know she wouldn’t last alone.”
“I’ll go with you, then.” He stood, brushing the backs of his hands on his jeans. He nodded at Gavin, who turned and went back to tending the beans.
“I don’t need you to do everything with me. I’m fine,” I whispered as we walked towards the hut. I stepped inside without waiting for him and slammed it, blocking him from following. It might have been a childish move, but it liberated me.
I needed another weapon for close range. I was down to just my handgun since Michael had claimed my knife as his own. I didn’t want to have to ask Mike for it back. The least amount of interaction with him, the better. I searched around for something to use.
Luckily in the smaller of the boxes, I found a fishing knife. I had no idea what it was used for, maybe scaling or gutting fish. It probably wouldn’t be super useful against an eater since it had a strange curve to the blade, but it would definitely break the skin.
I exited the hut and saw that most of the group had scattered. I used my hand as a visor to combat the rising sun and saw Marcus and Michael down by the water skipping rocks. The icy water looked inviting. I smiled and turned right into Jim’s chest.
“God!” I hissed and slapped him across the chest. I clutched my heart as it rapidly picked up. “You scared the crap out of me.” I cocked my head and walked past him towards the road. His boots clomped behind me, his heavy steps annoyingly loud.
“Let’s go through the woods first. She could’ve left to go to her sister’s alone. Or gotten lost during the attack.”
“That’s smart.” I glanced back at him over my shoulder. He was an asshole—a commandeering asshole who didn’t know how to let the reins go. But I appreciated his protectiveness. I waved him forward and took his hand in mine. He smirked, hiding it under his fake cold demeanor.
The ground was hard, covered in multi-colored leaves. I glanced around us at the changing season, noticing that some trees were already full red. Jim was right, we’d have to go somewhere warmer. I didn’t want to. If I had had my way, I’d be in my house still, all alone. Maybe.
“Separate about ten feet so we can cover more ground. Lana, I know you want to find her, but they won’t wait long. Gabriel knows that the longer we stay, the more at risk we are down the road. We don’t have much time to find her.” Jim let go of my hand and walked away from me. When about ten feet of space separated us, he nodded. We began walking, my eyes roaming like a pendulum from left to right, searching for any sign of Scarlet.
I didn’t know how much time had passed. The sun now lit up the sky, though the tall trees cast a nice shadow that kept us cool under its canopy. I figured we’d been walking a long time.
But it was hard to tell since there weren’t any markers of distance. We passed trees, more trees, and leaves, more leaves, ground, brown ground, piles of dirt, mounds of it. My eyes grew tired.
I was beginning to think we had to give up when I saw a dark black lump. It stuck out from what was pretty flat land. Only a few rocks and roots stuck up from the earth.
“Jim!” I called out as I pulled out my fishing knife. I held it in front of me and waited for Jim to come. He ran in front of me to the mound and paused. His body tensed, his shoulder raising and his back straight.
“Holy shit, I think it’s her.” He crouched down behind what looked like a body, and I huddled behind him. Red hair peeked out from under a black hoodie, knotted and stringy. I thought I saw the mound move, but it could have been my mind playing tricks on me—wishful thinking.
My eyes blurred as Jim flipped her over, taking his time to make sure she didn’t jostle too much. Her left eye was decorated in black and purple and blue like someone took a hammer to her face. My breath got caught in my throat at the sight. Her bottom lip had been split and was double its normal size, blood pooled in the corner of her mouth.
I sat down beside her, trying to control my emotions. She didn’t look like she’d been bitten. She appeared whole. Jim peeled the dark blanket off her body, revealing her completely naked lower half. He quickly put the blanket back over her and tucked it around her waist. I lifted her head and put it on my lap, tears trickling down my face. Who would do this to her?
Jim put his bottle of water on her lip and tilted it up so the water entered her mouth. Her chest steadily rose and fell. It took a moment for her to wake up. When she did, she choked on the water and spit it up to the side
. Her entire body shook.
“Scarlet, it’s me, Lana. Hey,” I cooed as she took in her surroundings. Her eyes darted from left to right, got caught on Jim, and then landed on me. They widened, her left eye too swollen to work.
“Where are they?” she gasped. Her voice came out like she hadn’t had a sip of water since we saw her last. Jim handed her the bottle, and she downed it all, squeezing the bottle dry. “Where are they?” she asked again, but more strongly.
“Who?” I asked as I stroked the hair back from her face.
“The men? Did you kill them? Please say you did.” Her eyebrows pinched together, but she winced like it hurt to frown. She tried to sit up, but when she moved, she cried out and fell back onto my lap. She clutched her stomach with both hands, pulling the blanket around her tighter.
“There are no men here. Who were they?” Jim asked, sitting down next to us. He glanced over his shoulder, checking for any eaters or threats. His eyes softened when they found Scarlet. He broke into a small smile, reassuring her as he took her hand in his.
“I never saw them before.” She turned her head away, squeezing her eyes shut. “They said they’d come back for me.” She sobbed, her entire body shaking with the violent crying. But the shaking must’ve been hurting her because she reigned it in, clutching her body.
“What did they look like?” I asked her, paranoid with fear. A twig snapped behind me, and I whipped my head around only to see a squirrel dart up the back of a tree. My heart steadily beat fast, my nerves perked and shot off.
“They had plastic masks on. But they said they’d come back for me. They’re going to kill me next time! I know it!” She lost it completely, screaming at the top of her lungs. It was then that the recognition dawned on me. Jim and I both glanced up at the same time, our eyes clashing. Her scream—we heard it last night. And we did nothing. We could’ve stopped it from happening.
Fuck. We could’ve prevented this. I sat back, letting go of Scarlet as I ran my hand down my face. Why didn’t I trust my gut? I knew something was off. I could feel it. And I did nothing.
The Last Legacy (Season 1): Episodes 1-10 Page 29