The Aftermath

I dabbed the wet rag into the pan, squeezing the warm liquid out between my fingers. Alex lay to the table before me, shirt stripped off and just his jeans on.

I wiped the rag along the scratches of his face. He still seemed very out of it and distant, he hadn’t really talked since we’d boarded up the house. I ran the rag along his cheeks and lower jaw. I’d already picked the stray pecks of glass from his hair. They lay in a bucket near my feet.

I guess I was crying, just crying. No one turned on the lights in the house. People could be heard screaming outside, terrible and blood curdled screams. Candles flickered around the house, just illuminating.

The rag soaked up the dried blood on his chest and I squeezed it back into the pan. I was in a spare bedroom on the second floor.

“Jasmine.” Ashley stepped into the room, holding a cup handle with a candle alit inside of it.

I set the rag into its pan and sighed. “How’s Lion doing?”

“Hasn’t woken up yet.”

Silent completely filled the room, the candle illuminated room.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I should be asking you the same thing.”

Ashley moved in the room, her long locks of golden hair sinking past her shoulders as she sat to the bed. My stomach turned as Alex’s hand on the table moved indirectly to mine.

“Is he awake?”

I looked to Alex, answering her question. “No. I guess he can hear us or maybe he’s in there.” I got up, feeling my back ache and burn.

What do we do now? What the hell do we do when the virus breaks out twice? What do you do when the bridge snaps and the clammy water comes to carry you away?

I can see the waterfall coming, but how do I stop it?

“It ends with us dead.”

“What?”

“This all ends with us dead. Every part of it. It’s the reason they let us escape.” I said.

“Jasmine, no one let us escape.”

“Then, why are we here? Why did we make it?”

“Look.” She stood, letting the candle illuminate her eyes as she was before me. “Ashton died. He got shot, the bullet tore through a vital artery and I watched him die in the hospital. Do you think I’m anywhere near being over that? Even after 5 months?”

I shook my head.

“Then, don’t make it worse. We’re here. Let’s fight it, okay?”

All I could possibly do was nod, who was I to disrupt her healing process.

White noise came from the hallway and soon Kyle came walking in.

“I found a radio. A lot of the stations are off, but there’s one that’s still up.” He set the radio down only a few inches from Alex’s abdomen.

“Where’s Ryant and Max and Lion?” I asked.

“Ryant’s looking for walkie talkies his father told him he had. Lion’s still out of it like Alex is and Max is out in the hallway reading a book.”

The white noise faded in and out until a craggy voice became clear.

“Exits out of the city have been closed off; heavy military action is taking place. The virus has seemed spread rampantly across the United States. The death tolls seem to be unrecorded due to the strange nature of this virus. We must urge people to stay inside and kill these things by their heads.” The man in the speakers swallowed. “And stay alive. If you are hearing this, you may be the last of what’s left. You’re the human race.”

White noise crowded back into the airwaves and Kyle smacked the red radio on its side. “Stupid piece of crap!”

The radio toppled over and it’s back popped open.

“Well, that helps us a whole lot.” Ashley said.

Kyle glared at her. “What’s your problem?”

“You just broke our only form on communication! The televisions don’t work! Our cell phones are out-“

“Well, now you’ll get what you want!” He heaved the radio into the air and slammed it into the ground. The plastic and wires shattered to pieces.

They went on screaming and I turned to Alex, just focusing on his hand on mine.
I could feel the boards holding my sanity together loosening.

Rest in peace. Rest in peace.

The person that I used to be.

“How could you be so unbelievably inconsiderate?! We needed that radio!”

Never die. Never die.

The blood pours from my eyes.

Kyle snickered. “Do you think I honestly care?! We’re almost as good as dead! It’s happening all over again!”

“Well, my brother died. If anyone should be upset, it’s me!”

“My sister died, you moron!”

“JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!” I shrieked. My hand tore from Alex’s as I shoved my way out the room. My feet tore down the steps and before I knew it my hands were causing destruction.

Throwing things against walls, ripping cotton from pillows, punching walls, and shattering glass, all while I screamed my lungs out. Just screaming and sobbing and screaming, heaving pictures from frames just to hear the wood crash.

Then, all the energy left my body, forcing me to the ground amongst the wreckage. Tears sprang from my eyes, shaking my rib cage, and making my head pound.

Where the hell was God?! Where the hell was he when the Earth was literally burning with fire? Where the hell was God? How could he not be watching? How could he not care?

How could he just sit there?

“Thanks for trashing my house.”

It was Ryant this time. Just leaning against a wall and watching my weakest moment.

My lips quivered and hands shook as I tried to wipe the drool away. “I-I’m sorry. I j-just can’t take it anymore.”

He walked over. His sneakers crackled and crushed the sheets of glass on the floor. Then, he kneeled before me, eyes soft and tears in them as well.

“It’ll be okay.”

Then, I was crying all over again. “You don’t know that. I feel like I’m gonna go crazy.”

His hands grabbed for my shoulders and pulled me in so tight that I felt his heart against mine. Candles lit the air around us.

“You saved me last time. So, this time I’ll save you.” He whispered. “I’ll do whatever the hell it takes. You’ll make it.”

And I believed him, I swear on my future grave I did. If it had been any other way, I would have given up that night.

* * * *
“Max, you’ve gotta go to sleep.” Ryant said to his little brother.

We’d all camped out in the guest room that I’d put Alex in. Kyle and Ashley had gotten over their incessant bickering to help with something and they’d carried Lion over to the room.

We’d gathered water. Ryant had found the walkie talkies, having extra batteries as well in case the current ones ran out. The door was closed. Windows were boarded and all the weapons we could find were with us.

Our refugee was the blankets on the floor.

Max steered next to Ryant, his big brown eyes pouting in the dim light. “But, I heard people screaming outside. I’m gonna have nightmayes.”

Max was right, every now and then, you could hear horrid screams erupting through the floorboards. People changed outside, changed beyond the point of humanity.

Ryant smiled back, ruffling his little brother’s head. “I’ll be right here to protect you, okay? Just like I always said I would.”

Kyle and Ashley slept on both sides of me, a comforting sandwich of warmth.

“Is Daddy gonna be okay?”

Ryant sighed, obviously tired. “He’ll be okay. Just go to sleep.”

Max eventually nestled into his blankets and settled next to him. Lion and Alex’s breathing could be heard as well. Silence filled our ears until Kyle spoke.

“I’m sorry I broke the radio.” The last word cracked when he uttered it. “I was just upset that I couldn’t hear from Cece.”

I swallowed, resolving my arms under the blankets at my side. The ceiling was dark, but my vision turned blobs of color all around.

“I miss Ashton.” Ashley said.

Max was busy snoring softly as Ryant spoke. “I miss my mom. Haven’t talked to her since all this madness happened.”

“Your parents are divorced?” Ashley said. “Mine’s too. Was never really close to my mom though, even though I live with her, but…”

“At least you knew your parents.” Kyle muttered. “Never even seen my mom and dad. They’re this huge mystery.”

“Alex never met his real parents. Then, his foster parents died.”

I guess I’d never exactly told anyone in the room this news, neither had Alex.

“What are you gonna do about your mom?” Kyle turned his head in my direction from my right. His innocent eyes stared down on me.

“I don’t know.” I confessed. “It’s not like I know her anymore or anything.”

“What about you brother?”

A small smile pulled on my lips. Ricky had been my brother, the son of my step mother. He’d been sweet and kind and the cutest boy ever. He was probably about five or six years old now, the same age Eli would be.

“I guess I wouldn’t mind seeing him.” I answered Ashley. “I miss him.”

“What are we going to do tomorrow?” Kyle examined.

Ryant sounded the sleepiest of all. His words dragged sluggishly out his lips from across the room. “We’re going to listen for any news… and figure out how to find people.”

Soon, his snoring filled the air.

I dreamed of Ricky that night, just us moving through a park. I pushed him on the swings as he laughed and it was perfect.

There were no zombies.