“Pleasure to meet you both. Really, it truly is,” Bertie referred to Kristina.
“So, are you gonna get in or what?” Elliot and everyone else was already seated in the vehicle, yet Bertie was still just standing there.
“Um, there’s no seats?” Bertie pointed out the obvious.
“Oh, forgive my lack of proper explanation. I didn’t mean sit down…” He smiled in a light-hearted, yet oddly horrible, manner.
The vehicle drove at a relatively fast, yet not dangerous, speed. Annabelle enjoyed feeling the wind brush past her face. None of the group objected to this, clearly they all felt the same.
“Just so you know!” Bertie yelled out, but he only gulped a mouthful of wind caressing his cheeks. “I’m totally opposed to this!” He referred to his current situation of having to tightly grip a handle bar which had been soldered onto the side of the SUV; he was standing on a sidebar which had been modified on, held up only by that single handle bar. Everyone laughed jovially.
“Oh my, did that really just happen?” Elliot pointed out how the entire group had just laughed.
“Did what just happen?” Annabelle hadn’t clocked the laughter in the same way as Elliot.
“Laughter! Happiness! Joy! I can’t believe it. After everything that’s happened, everything, Annabelle… We can all still find some sort of positivity. It’s just… so unprecedented.” Elliot let out a brief smile, something which Annabelle had clocked in the same way.
“Well look at that big brother. You’re smiling!” She nodded happily, taking a deep breath, tasting the sweetness of the air.
“You’re actually right,” she resumed, “You know back at Camp Hackley… After we lost that, I genuinely thought that was the end of our journey, Elliot. After everyone who we lost as well. Poor Louis. Poor Miguel. Oh, and dear Vanessa, losing her baby, and then her own life. A real tragedy that was…”
Elliot’s smile drooped again; now, he had returned to his natural ‘wary’ expression. “Vanessa… She was grief-stricken for the next couple of months. Losing her husband, and then her child. It’s horrible. But in a strange way, at least her own death finally brought her some peace. I hope somewhere out there, in some life, she’s reunited with them…”
Annabelle didn’t respond to this; she knew this conversation would end up in them discussing one particular person they both had in common; neither of them were ready to discuss her just yet.
“There we go,” in the back of the vehicle, Tina was treating Kristina’s wound. She had cleared away the pus already. “Hold the towel under her wrist,” Tina asked Celeste, who submitted.
“Annabelle,” Tina called out, “Slow down slightly just for a minute please!” And just like Celeste, Annabelle obeyed.
“This is gonna sting a bit,” Tina poured hydrogen peroxide over Kristina’s wound. She didn’t react. “Christ she’s really gone under…”
“I don’t get it. She was just dug by some mad bitch’s nails!” Bertie called out; he could speak now that the vehicle was travelling slower.
“Well those ‘nails’ must have had something on them. The infection’s spreading at such an inhumane rate!” Tina reported to him.
“Like what?” Bertie asked. Tina could only shrug in response.
Reed hadn’t been paying much attention to Kristina’s situation. Looking up overhead, he noticed a white bird fly over; was it perhaps a dove? Whatever it was, it had his smile to light up as well; “Beautiful…” He said to himself, as he watched the bird glide off into the sunset…
Unseen by any of the group, they were being tracked through a sniper scope; someone was watching them.
“There’s no room for the deluded in this world.” Sonia repeated her words, preparing to take a shot; but at who?
Chapter 15: A Death in the Family
The breeze was sweet. The wind pounded Elliot’s face; but in a nice, and gentle way. He closed his eyes, and in his imagination, it was almost as if he was back at Camp Hackley again.
Houses were being built all across the camp. Some made of wood, others made of metal. Some were plastic even. Others were just crushed soda cans; yet they were somehow the most impressive.
“Look at what we’ve built here,” Elliot was stuck in awe.
“No, look at what you’ve built here, Elliot,” Gwen put her arm around her new stepson’s shoulder. “William could never have envisioned this. He was an old and grumpy man. You on the other hand, you’re young and you present fresh ideas. These people… they’re thriving because of what you did. You did what needed doing, and it really paid off. Just look at this place. Look at all these houses. You’ve done a great service to the survivors.”
“Thank you, mum…” Elliot smiled at Gwen; an expression which he would not have again for a long time…
Elliot was snapped back to reality; a familiar, yet unpleasant noise, echoed through the air. The car had halted to a complete standstill. Elliot and Annabelle slowly turned to face each other; they both equally despised the sound they had just heard, and in their minds they were doing their very best to block out the echo, subconsciously filling in that blank with alternate explanations; but there were none.
They continued to slowly turn their heads; which only presented them with Kristina lying across the back seats. The doors were wide open; clearly the others had jumped out.
“Elliot….” Annabelle swayed in despair, raising her hand slowly. As it extended, Elliot noticed it was shivering the further it extended out. By the time her finger had unfolded, it was extremely jittery.
Elliot traced the direction in which she was pointing, and continued slowly turning his head. He saw Tina leaning over someone lying flat out on the ground; her body blocked out the victim’s face.
Whoever the victim was, they now sported a gunshot wound on their chest; a bullet appeared to have rifled through the victim’s heart…
There was angry knocking at Elliot’s trailer door. Gwen opened it ajar, “Yes… Ok, one moment.” She closed the door again and looked over at Elliot, “Vanessa and Miguel want to see you…”
Elliot leant back in his chair, “Ah shit…” He sighed, and then collected himself, “Alright, send them in… And then leave us.”
Gwen squinted at him in confusion, “But w – “
“Mother…” Elliot raised his voice and firmly iterated.
Gwen nodded, but also ever so slightly shook her head in disagreement at the same time.
“How might I help you?” Elliot locked his hands together and leant forward on his desk.
“You know why we’re here,” Miguel began. “Look at me, Elliot,” Vanessa gestured to her baby bump. “Seven months gone… Yet still, we don’t have a house. Why is that?”
Elliot put his head into hands, “Look, I’m sorry guys… There’s just not enough resources to build more!”
“Then give us sanctuary with someone else!” Miguel stood up.
Elliot took a deep breath, “I don’t control the residents here… You’ll have to ask them yourself if you can move in with anyone. I’m sorry Miguel, but if I force anyone to do anything, it breaks the code I’ve laid down. This place could turn into a riot.”
Vanessa got up out of her chair, and simply left the trailer.
“Van’!” Miguel called after her, but she didn’t return. He turned back in fury at Elliot, “Now see what you’ve done… If only you were as benevolent and as wise as your sister is…”
With that deep cut, he left the trailer as well; now, Elliot had even more pressure building up on him…
The next time Elliot returned to reality, he found himself by the victim’s eyes. As though he had just woken up, his eyes became less blurred, and fixated more on the victim’s face. Tension built up in his head, adrenaline rushing through his blood. He could see the victim shaking his head slowly from side to side, perhaps out of shock, or perhaps amidst a seizure.
“Elliot… Elliot!” A hand violently pushed and pulled him back and forth. Ellio
t slowly looked up, and found that Tina was trying to get his attention. She slurred an entire sentence at him, with tears forming in her eyes. Elliot couldn’t make out what she saying; his subconscious was still blocking out all goings-on around him.
He tried to read her lips, but none of the words came through clearly; but this made him realise his eyes were no longer blurry, and his vision was normal again. He looked back down at the victim.
The revelation caused his head to rock back, whilst his jaw and his eyes dropped open the same vast amount – the victim was Reed…
There was a knock at the trailer door; though this one wasn’t violent. Whoever it was tried several times. “Elliot, please open up. Believe it or not, I’m actually not here to flame you.” It was the welcome voice of Reed coming from behind the door.
The two sat in silence, before Reed broke the ice. “Elliot listen. When we first met, God knows I hated you lot. For a brief time, that was nothing but the truth. Seriously, I hated you all. But then, after everything with Olivia, and Vincent… It just made me realise what brought us all together. Our humanity. That was the truth, Elliot. We met evil people, no doubt. But they weren’t human as such. Or at least, they weren’t human in the sense that we’ve come to know. Because you see Elliot, we’re all family now. More than just friends. For you, that literally is the case. I’ve heard you refer to Gwen as ‘mother’ before, even. Heck, Annabelle is her biological daughter even. It just goes to show, that even in these dark times, we’re all united. Everyone here, an ecosystem of people caring for each other; that’s the definition of family. Not related by blood, but related by love…”
Reed’s words had touched Elliot’s soft spot. “Vanessa and Miguel can’t see that…” He clearly cared about them despite how stern he had been.
“They will realise it one day Elliot. It may take months; it may even take years; but we’re not going anywhere. They’ll have their baby, and it’ll turn out just fine. By the time that baby is a toddler, they’ll be grateful for all that you’ve done. They will realise that being stern was all for their betterment. The question is Elliot; can you learn to love yourself? Can you love yourself in the way you love everyone else here? Of course you can, I know you can.” Reed smiled at him; but of course, the ability to smile in return is something Elliot had very much lost at this point…
“This isn’t fair! You can’t do this to me! Reed! Please!” Elliot vigourously shook Reed, watching as blood spewed out of his mouth. His arms were twitching violently, as were his feet.
And then, there were no words…
Reed had ceased moving entirely. His chest contracted one final time, then a gasp of air escaped, as he deflated again.
Elliot didn’t know how to react. His eyes emitted all kinds of expressions: grief, regret, sadness, hurt, confusion, even an element of joy in a weird way.
Despite his eyes’ confusing messages, he looked over at Tina, desperate for some sort of emotional sanctuary.
She slowly looked up, and turned to face him. Remorsefully and tearfully, Tina shook her head.
Elliot breathed in deeply, letting out a tremendous, yet silent, sigh. He fell back against the ground, throwing his left arm over his eyes, covering them from the outside world.
Tina looked back down at Reed, her eyes now unmoving from him. With her right hand, she gently placed two fingers over his eyelids, drawing them shut. She then nudged his jaw closed, whilst blood still spilled down his cheeks. She glanced around, looking in all directions; She could see Bertie and Celeste in the distance searching for the shooter, but behind her there was only a grieving Elliot on the floor, and a frozen Annabelle in the scout SUV.
“Ok, now take your blindfolds off!” Elliot had prepared a surprise for Vanessa and Miguel.
Vanessa immediately covered her mouth with her hands; she was in complete shock from the surprise.
In front of them was what appeared to be a manger, in the middle of a wooden hut, with two rather comfortable looking beds either side.
“It’s starting to feel a lot like Winter. Therefore, Christmas is coming up at some point. The best part? We’ve got literally no clue when!” Elliot joked with them, “Your baby might not be the Lord Jesus as such, but he can have a similar birth at least. The only real difference is there’s no hay around it. Oh, and you guys have silk pillows too. I made sure to get the comfiest beds possible. I kind of owe a few favours to the locals now. But, I hope this is a start for reparations.” As Elliot prepared to leave the couple to it, they both jolted to stand in front of him.
“Elliot…” Miguel began. He looked at Vanessa, and she looked back at him. They both turned to face Elliot, “Thank you,” they said in unison.
“You are welcome, always…” He smirked a little bit, but it still wasn’t enough to make him smile – It was as though he had a sinister feeling in the back of his mind that things would eventually go wrong…
Miguel pulled him in for a hug, and was joined by his wife. Whilst hugging them, Elliot noticed Reed watching from a distance; Reed and his unnecessarily existent beard, that is.
Reed smiled, and mimed the word ‘Family!’ at Elliot.
Elliot nodded, and smirked one more time – But he knew the truth about the apocalypse: Something which seems good is always backed up by a reality which is bad…
Atop the peak from which she had killed Reed, Sonia now watched the chaos unfold with an even smile. “Meant to go for a headshot, but you were in a moving vehicle,” she excused herself for such a ‘messy’ kill.
“And now for the main course…” She looked back down her scope, adjusting her aim so that Kristina was now in her crosshair.
“Steady now…” she hardened her grip for the perfect shot.
“Don’t you dare,” a woman with a German accent warned her from behind, followed by the clicking of a pistol.
Sonia laughed lightly, as she played along. She took her hand off the rifle, and allowed it to drop on its’ side.
“Hands above your head,” the woman instructed, moving in closer to Sonia.
Sonia rolled her eyes, yet still played along. She placed her hands over her head. “What now? Simon says?” She mocked the woman.
“You are British, yes?” The German woman sounded surprised. “Don’t get many of you around these parts. Welcome to Germany.”
Clearly, the woman had not encountered, nor even seen, Elliot’s group; despite the fact that they were visible from this vantage point.
“The name’s Sonia, and I’m Australian actually,” she had come up with a plan within a matter of seconds, “Who might you be?”
“I… Am Frieda,” she loosened her grip on her pistol, but still pointed it at Sonia nonetheless.
“Well then, Frieda… I think today might be your lucky day…” Sonia nodded, envisioning the ideal future in her mind.
“What the hell are we gonna do now?” Annabelle relied on Elliot; who had now finally gotten up and returned to the passenger seat.
He was still stunned into silence, completely ignoring Annabelle’s question.
“Elliot! What do we do now?” She tried again, but still to no avail.
All that Elliot could hear was one sentence ringing out in his mind, “We’re all family now.” Reed’s words haunted Elliot, as though his deceased friend genuinely were a ghost.
Chapter 16: Two Steps Back
ELSEWHERE…
Gwen’s de-facto group of survivors had hit the jackpot in the time that had passed. Or at least, they had been far more fortunate than those stuck in Elliot and Annabelle’s situation.
Far away from any main roads, from any towns or cities, from any people altogether: There was a lone mansion. It overlooked a luscious green lawn, with the occasional, though not functional, sprinkler here and there.
Gwen leant back against the two large front wooden doors. She contemplated over her scenario while watching the clouds go by. As the sun rapidly set further and further down, she had to squint her eyes more
forcefully.
The large glass window to the dining room next to her was forced open; clearly it had been many years since anyone had done such a thing.
“Gwen!” It was Erica, “The soup’s ready. You coming in?” She spoke rather gently, as the look on Gwen’s face made it evident she was thinking about her family: Annabelle, and by post-apocalyptic extension, Elliot.
The two sat at an elongated wooden table; a material which most of this ‘vintage’ mansion was made out of. Gwen sat at one end of the table, while Erica sat at the other. There were three chairs on either side of the elongated table top.
They sipped their soup in silence, though something was clearly bothering Erica. She slammed her spoon back down into the bowl, “Goodness me, where is he?” She rose out of her chair, “Zach! Ellie! Come on already!” She shouted in the direction of the stairs as though she were their mother.
Everything was still for several moments, then deep and ‘rushed’ footsteps could be heard heading towards the stairs, and then coming down them.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Zach came trundling into the dining room. His voice had clearly broken in the time passed since Camp Hackley. He was 17-years-old now.
A second set of footsteps came rushing down, as Zach took a seat on Erica’s side of the table.
Upon reaching the table, Ellie did the opposite to Zach; she instead sat closer to Gwen. Erica watched her warily, with beady eyes.
“You’re twenty-two…” Erica broke the silence, directing a question at Ellie.
“I’m… sorry?” Ellie didn’t understand why this fact was relevant.
“He’s seventeen,” she nodded to Zach, with a look of disgust on her face.
“Mum!” Zach exclaimed; this remark made it clear Zach had taken a similar approach to Erica as Elliot had taken to Gwen – a post-apocalyptic maternal figure.
Human Nature (Book 2): Human Nature II Page 8