We Who Remain

by Jacqueline Druga

  Was it only his parking lot? His building or was it elsewhere?

  His apartment building and lot was on a corner and it wouldn’t take much to go look and see if the entire area was infected or maybe they were cordoned off.

  Frightened, Ollie backed up, moving quickly in a half walk, half run move, barely taking his eyes off the multitudes of mounds in his lot.

  He nearly tripped when his feet crossed each other. He looked back once to see he was at the corner and then, backwards he stepped off the curb.

  Screech.

  The tires screeched loudly.

  Ollie turned, looked and tried to get out of the way of the oncoming vehicle, but he just wasn’t fast enough.

  <><><><>

  ‘Okay,’ Liv thought as she pulled out of the Bilko parking lot. ‘Aren’t you there to help Donna?’ she wondered when another text popped up.

  Mitch had asked why she left.

  “Jesus,” she cussed, then replied. “I wanted a candy bar. And I’ll text when I’m home. I’m driving.”

  “Good,” Mitch replied. “You shouldn’t text and drive.”

  She read the text. “Not that it makes a difference now.”

  But it did.

  As soon as she read that text and looked up, he was there.

  A man in the middle of the street, looking elsewhere.

  Liv slammed on the brakes, jerked the wheel, but it was too late. The right side of the bumper caught him and sent him off to the side of the road.

  Without hesitating, she put the car in park and opened the door. “Oh my God,” she spoke rapidly, running her words together as she got out. “Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead.”

  She raced around to the front of her car, he lay on his side near the curb.

  “Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead,” she repeated as she made her way over.

  “I’m not,” he replied.

  Liv screamed. She didn’t expect a reply.

  Slowly he rolled to his back with a groan, then extended his arms to sit up.

  “Don’t move!” she said, hurrying to him. “Unless, you know, you think you can.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think you were going that fast.”

  “I wasn’t,” Liv replied. “Are you alright?”

  He stood up and shook out his arms. He was a big guy, younger. His age and size playing into his resilience. “I’m fine. I think. Yep.” he nodded. “I’ll be sore tomorrow. But I’m alive today.”

  Liv exhaled heavily. “I am so sorry I hit you. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone and I didn’t see you until the last second.”

  “How’d you miss me? I’m a big guy.”

  “I was uh … texting.”

  “So, there’s others alive?” he asked. “I was beginning to worry that something big happened. That everyone was dead.”

  Liv didn’t say anything.

  “Did something big happen?” he asked.

  “You don’t know?”

  He shook his head. “I passed out drunk outside my apartment door.”

  Liv walked to the car and opened the passenger’s door. “Come with me, I’ll explain it all.”

  “Can you drop me at work?” he asked. “I’m gonna be late.”

  “Sure,” Liv replied. “But no one’s there. No one is anywhere. While you passed out drunk,” she said. “The world pretty much ... ended.”

  15 - REST

  Liv stood with her arms crossed in front of her body, leaning against the car, staring at the small, two story, frame house.

  She had been staring at the door for at least twenty minutes. Admiring the front garden yet finding a sort of sadness about it.

  The front door finally opened and Ollie stepped out on to the porch. He had items in his arms, they looked like pictures, an album and a crocheted blanket. He limped down the two stairs and the front walkway.

  “You okay?” Liv asked, standing up straight.

  “No, but you know how it is,” Ollie replied. “I can’t believe my parents are gone. They were in bed. Do you think they suffered?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “I appreciate you doing this.”

  “As odd as it sounds, it’s keeping my mind off of things.” Liv opened the car door. “Do you need help getting in?”

  “No, just getting out makes my hip and leg hurt.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” Liv said with a slight cringe.

  “I guess it was because of the adrenaline I didn’t feel it at first.” He walked around to his side.

  “Where to next?” Liv asked.

  “Are you sure? I mean you already took me to my friend’s house, my parents …”

  “Ollie, I don’t mind. Where to next?”

  “I have a sister.”

  “Then that’s where we go.” Liv got in the car. “You okay?” she asked once more as Ollie slipped into the car.

  “Yeah. Yeah.” Ollie placed on his seatbelt. “Again, you know, I appreciate this. I know this is a difficult day for you, too.”

  “It’s the hardest day of my life,” Liv replied.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry about your husband and daughter.”

  “Thank you. I’m sorry for your losses, too.”

  “Have you thought about what’s next?” Ollie asked. “I mean, you said you guys are meeting up with the military people.”

  “I said the others are,” Liv pulled from the parking spot.

  “You’re not?’

  “No.”

  “Can I ask why?”

  “There’s no reason to. To start building life? I had my life. I don’t want to build another one,” Liv said. “I’m pretty much done. But you’re young. You should go with them, plus they have doctors and I am betting that leg is broken.”

  “It could be.” Ollie shrugged. “Hurts like the dickens.”

  Liv snickered. “The dickens? Boy that’s an old saying.”

  “I try to bring them back, you know. I had everyone saying ‘make like a tree and leave’, that lasted like a week. I heard ‘hurts like the dickens’ in a video game. I liked it.”

  “It’s a new world, I guess. No bringing anything back. Everything old will be new to the next generation.”

  “Will there be one?” Ollie asked.

  “I don’t know. But I do know one thing. You guys need to try like hell to make sure there is. Now …” Liv said. “How do we get to your sister’s house?”

  <><><><>

  With a heavy, audible sigh of exhaustion, Mitch sat in a chair in the waiting room. They had gone through fifty-three patients, nine of which died instantly … their choice.

  He sent a text to Liv, without getting a reply, that he would be a few more hours.

  Mitch hated the thought that she was alone, and it worried him more since she hadn’t gotten back to him in over an hour.

  “Hey” Bob called out with a slightly groggy voice.

  Mitch looked up from his phone. “Hey, how was your nap?”

  “It was actually really good. Slept like a baby. Saw that Donna is getting some sleep.”

  “Yeah, she said for a couple hours. Did you also see her hand?"

  “No, what about it?”

  “You can tell Mallory was right. The hand is dead. It’s starting to show signs of decomposing.”

  “Ah, man, I knew you should have cut that off.”

  Mitch did a double take. “I never would.”

  “Someone has to do it.”

  “She may have to wait until Mallory arrives.”

  “Maybe Liv will do it,” Bob suggested.

  “I don’t know that Liv has the physical strength to hack off a limb. I mean, I would think that’s a tough thing to do.”

  “Speaking of Liv …” Bob said. “How is she?”

  “I don’t know now. She hasn’t replied to my last couple messages. And yes, I tried calling. No answer.”

  “You worried?”

  “A little, yes. And I feel guilty. I mean she’s alo
ne. She’s grieving and alone. But …” Mitch looked at his phone. “I’ll be there in a few hours.”

  “Why a few hours?” Bob asked.

  “I figured once Donna got up, I would leave for the night.”

  “Go now,” Bob suggested “I can start with the other patients. I think I have the hang of giving them an injection. I’ll be fine.”

  “Are you sure?” Mitch asked. “I’d feel better if I went to check on her.”

  “Yeah, go. I’m sure.”

  “Thanks,” Mitch stood. “I’ll be back early to help finish things up.”

  “Then we leave, right?” Bob asked.

  “We have to. If we miss that convoy and the phones go down, we will never find that hidden site.”

  “Then we don’t go. We stay put. Go back to your bunker for Olympias. I’m okay with that.”

  “Me, too, sort of.”

  “Then again, if we don’t go, then one of us has to chop off Donna’s hand. That’s a must. Because she’s alive, she won’t be for long if she keeps that arm, and we can’t afford to lose any more people.”

  “You’re right, we have to protect life at all costs now.”

  “So, you’ll do the deed if need be?”

  “Hell no.” Mitch headed to the door. “See you in the morning.”

  It hit Mitch as he left that they really never asked Donna if she wanted to go. It was only discussed that she couldn’t leave until she helped the people. She never expressed if she wanted to join them. In fact, Mitch realized none of them ever discussed if joining the general and his military entourage was the way to go.

  They had to go under ground once more for the mother comet, and after that, they truly had everything they needed to survive on their own. The world, even screwed up, was at their disposal. Did they really need a survival complex?"

  If Liv was awake, that was something he would talk to her about when he got back to their street. If she even felt like talking.

  <><><><>

  “That really hit the spot, thank you.” Ollie tried to sit up. He was reclined back in the chair, leg elevated and splinted.

  “No, no, don’t move. I got it.” She walked to him and retrieved the plate. “So you liked my noodles?”

  “They were awesome. I was so hungry. Thank you so much.”

  Liv grabbed his empty glass. “I’ll get you more juice. I don’t want you drinking alcohol when you're taking pain medication.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate you stopping at the store for that and the contraption for my leg.”

  “We needed to immobilize it.”

  “Are you a nurse?"

  “Hardly. Just a mom.” A sudden sadness hit Liv.

  “Hey, you’re a good mom. I can tell.”

  “Thanks, Ollie. And thank you for talking to me today.”

  “I wish I could help.”

  “You did. You gave me answers.”

  “Oh, yeah, how so?”

  “Well …” Liv talked as she went into the kitchen, setting the plate on the counter. “After we left your best friend’s cousin’s house, you said there’s no right or wrong in what we need to do to get through our grief.” She poured a fresh glass of juice. “We do what we feel we need to do, right?” She walked back into the living room.

  “Yes. The way I see it,” Ollie said. “We are bound to no rules on anything, because everything is different.”

  “You’re a good kid, Ollie, your parents must be proud.” She set down his juice.

  “They would have been prouder if I went to college and had a degree.”

  “You know I don’t believe that,” Liv said. “There is more to being proud of your kid than them having a good job. I think them being a good decent human being tops that. Especially now in this world, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Okay, so, here is your juice. Take another pain pill in two hours. Video controller …” She lifted the game controller. “Try not to get up unless you have to. You know where the powder room is. Mitch should be by in a couple hours. I expect him to come in here. I left him a note. It’s on the table, can you tell him?”

  “Sure. You going to bed now?”

  “I am done now, Ollie. This has been the hardest, most painful day of my life. It has to end. And thank you for helping me through it. Again, I’m sorry I hit you with my car.”

  “You more than made up for it, Liv. Get some rest.”

  “I intend to. A long rest. Good luck, Ollie.”

  “Good night, Liv.”

  Liv gave Ollie a sad smile and headed up the stairs.

  Once she was in her bedroom, she shut the door and walked to the window, opening it.

  She pulled the thick comforter down on her bed, fluffed the pillows and then sat down. As she kicked off her shoes, she looked at the items she had set on her night stand earlier.

  One was a picture of her, Mark and Danni. Typical family picture. Taken at random at some event, they were all smiling and huddled together.

  They were a good family, a happy one.

  She and Mark didn’t have a bad marriage.

  There was nothing wrong with her life. Their problems were normal and never ever unsolvable.

  Losing them was beyond devastating.

  Liv didn’t cry as much as she should have nor wanted to, she was one of those people who always contended the tears weren’t for those who passed, they were for those who lived and lost. She wasn’t shocked because she had hours to prepare for it. It still crushed her.

  She made it through the day because she had a focus in helping the young man she found.

  Now the day was done and so was Liv.

  She had absolutely no reason to keep going nor did she want to.

  It wasn’t a hard decision, not at all. It was a private one she didn’t share.

  On her night stand next to her bed was also a bottle of water and a box of sleeping pills. She opened the box and pulled out a sleeve of pills, there were eight in a sleeve and that would do it.

  Slowly she popped out each pill and placed it on the nightstand.

  There was no guilt or remorse over what she was about to do. It was her decision. Her life, and that life meant nothing without her child.

  The pain was too great and Liv just didn’t have it in her to deal with that pain and loss everyday.

  She didn’t have to.

  She truly wasn’t needed, and no one depended on her. One more person gone wouldn’t make a difference in preserving mankind.

  Liv wanted to go. Whether she’d meet up with her child and husband again in some sort of afterlife paradise remained to be seen.

  She would find out soon enough.

  <><><><>

  There were many rows of townhouses in Mitch’s community. His particular row had eight units, all flush with the street, three bedrooms, ridiculously large townhouses.

  When he pulled up to his row, only one unit had any lights on … Liv’s.

  He pulled into his own driveway but decided to check on Liv first.

  After opening the screen door, he gave a single knock and walked in, calling out, “Hello, Liv.”

  What he didn’t expect was a male voice.

  “Hello.”

  He stepped from the small entranceway, pivoted right and looked in the living room. There was a guy reclined back in a chair, holding a game controller, while pretty much everything he needed was perched on the table next to him.

  “Hello,” Mitch said.

  “Hey.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Ollie. You must be Mitch.”

  “I am. Where is Liv?”

  “You just missed her. She just went to bed. She’s tired. She had a really horrible day.”

  “I know,” Mitch said. “And how did you come into this situation?”

  “Oh, she hit me with her car.”

  “She hit you with the car?’

  “Yeah, we think my leg’s broke.” He pointed to the brace.

  “She hit
you with the car and you only broke a leg?”

  “Yeah, I’m a big guy.”

  “I see that.”

  “Yeah make sure you see the note.” Ollie pointed. “She left one on the dining room table for you.”

  “Why did Liv leave me a note?”

  “Maybe she didn’t want you coming up there to ask her a million questions. You seem like the type to ask a lot of questions.”

  Mitch ignored his comment and walked through the living room to the dining room, grabbing the ‘in plain sight’ note folded in half and leaning against a stack of books.

  Only a few words into the note, he dropped it and raced toward the stairs.

  He didn’t need to be an analyst when he read the words, ‘I’m sorry to do this …’ to know what she as up to.

  Ollie hollered out, “She wants to sleep!” Mitch kept going and even though he was never in her house, he knew the townhouse set up. Without knocking he barged right into the master bedroom.

  Liv was drinking from a bottle of water.

  She looked at him with a shock at his intrusion and a quick shift of his eyes, he saw the box of sleeping pills.

  “Did you take them?” Mitch asked, charging toward her.

  “Go away.”

  “When did you take them!” Mitch asked with edge, grabbing her from the bed.

  “Doesn’t matter! Leave me alone.” Liv fought him, swinging out her arms.

  “It fucking matters! How long ago!”

  “Just now! I swallowed them! It’s too late.”

  Mitch grabbed the box, looked at how many came in a package, then looked at how many were missing. “Six?”

  “Mitch, please …”

  Without giving her a chance to fight him, he swept his arms under her legs and lifted her from the bed, carrying her to the bathroom.

  She kicked her feet.

  Barreling with her, despite her struggles, once inside the bathroom, Mitch shut and locked the door, then set her down.

  She raced to get out and he blocked her.

  “You have five seconds, Liv,” Mitch said. “Five seconds to stick your fingers down your throat and throw up or I do it for you. One …”

  “Mitch …”

  “Two.”

  “I don’t want to live!”

  “I don’t care! Three!” he screamed.