The Aftermath

Ever woken up in a completely boarded off house in the morning?

Because when I woke up the next morning, I had no idea it was morning. The air was darker than before, seeing that every candle’s wax had faded in the night hours. It was probably wasteful to use so many candles at once. What if we needed to stay another night?

“I’ll find some flashlights just in case.” Ryant grumbled. He must have read my mind because he awaked a few seconds after me. He sounded kind of sick which was normal for him in the morning.

The door creaked as he made his way out. His hand reached for his head as he groaned even more.

“Oh God, shouldn’t have drank that rum last night…”

I rolled my eyes, giggling. So, that’s why he was messed up this morning.

“What are you laughing about?”

I gasped, jumping up from my sheets. “Alex! You’re awake!”

He gave me a dazzling smile, dark hair brushing aside as he shook his head. “And I’m shirtless. Did you try anything last night?”

I giggled, an earth shattering smile crossing my face. “I should have. You were all innocent and lonely. I heard you talking in your sleep.”

He sat up from the table now.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” I chose to toy with him. “You were saying, Oh Jasmine. I’m so not manly for you saving me. Take me now.”

That’s when jumped at me in a hug, both of us laughing uncontrollably and hearts leaping. He didn’t even have to say anything for me to know what this meant. My heart jumped and tugged as he just held me.

“I’m really glad you’re okay.” I muttered into his shoulder.

“I’m glad I’m here for you.”

Another body tilted off of the floor on a bit. It was Ryant with a satisfied grin on his face. “I see that he’s awake.”

We both pulled from the hug.

“Where’s Lion?” I noticed that his body was gone from the sheets Ryant had wrapped him in.

“He’s preparing breakfast. We might not be able to use the electricity, but milk and cereal will be good right about now.”

Slowly, but surely everyone else began to stir away. Kyle was muttering even as he lifted himself up, stretching as he did so. Ashley cursed under her breath about how early it was even though there was no clock or any signal to tell what time of day it was. And Max did a little whine as Ryant shook his shoulder.

Alex tugged on his shirt and I smiled. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Want me to join?”

I smiled flirtatiously. “Maybe some other time.”

I slipped my way out the room and found my way downstairs. Lion was searching through the cabinets, lugging out bowls of different sizes.

“Feeling good, Lion?” My shoulder pressed against a wall.

His head jerked around and a smile widened on his lips. He still held the caramel toned skin that I had remembered. Now, he was only a bit more muscular. I sort of missed talking to him. I still had never asked him what exactly he’d done while he was away from Ryant.

“Yeah. That car crash really knocked me around. Can’t really handle much head injuries anymore now that I’m getting older.”

“Older? You look young to me.”

A bowl clanked as he moved it down on the counter. “I’m 36. Ryant was born when I was 20.”

I rolled my eyes, walking over and grabbed a cereal box from the counter. “So, my dad is like 40. That’s not even old.”

He nodded understandably.

“Well, time happens to wither away some things.”

I looked to him now. His house was magnificent, not too large, but a marvel in its own way with comfy hardwood floors and small hallways. The kitchen was one filled with gray granite and white appliances. The cabinets held frosted glass.

Although I loved my uncle’s house. It was something about Lion’s home that just set me in place, made me feel at home.

And I was thinking, a thousand things at once and more.

“Try not to fret about things, Jasmine. It’ll only make you go insane.”

He must have seen the pained expression caving into my face.

“But, how can I not? The future’s just dark, like I can’t see anything ahead of any of us.” I swallowed. “And that’s bad, right?”

He untwisted the cap to the gallon sized milk carton and sighed.

“The future’s always a mystery. All we really have is the moment.”

My lips pressed together and I didn’t want to say anything more. If all we had was this moment, then life seemed pretty damn dim. I exhaled as I walked away, going to Ryant’s room for the drawer that I happened to have clothes in. I told you I spent the night over his house a lot, didn’t I?

Then, I made it to the bathroom, closing the door behind me and savoring the silence in the small space. In the shower, the water rushed and drowned over my skin. I just thought of my little brother.

We were outside school. Fall had arrived beautifully. Leaves of varying brilliant colors fell from the trees in sheets. Students rode bicycles on by. Dogs barked as well.

“Jazzy, I’m scared.”

It was just me and him. I kneeled before his figure and held his book bag with me. His creamy skin glowed in the sun and soft tufts of dark hair moved down his forehead.

“Preschool’s no big deal.” I smiled affectionately back at him. “I went through it.”

“What if I get bullied?”

Kids ran up the cement steps rushing, but our moment seemed frozen.

“You won’t. I promise you won’t.”

I planted the softest kiss on his forehead then, walked him in. Once outside, the cold air rushed me and I was pleased to know that Ricky would be okay.

Gladis honked the horn and I ran to the car.

Life was so perfect.

I grimaced at my past ignorance.

Perfection. It seemed so beyond the possible means of life now and I was sure now that it never even existed before. Maybe evil just breed in the dirt underneath our feet and crawled its way up after time, pulling down anyone who wasn’t strong enough to fight. It was miracle I’d made this far, right? Look at everyone’s who died at my side.

I sighed, turning off the water and wrapping myself in a towel. In no time, I got changed and left out the door. I wore cargo shorts and black tee shirt. Nothing spectacular.

I got down to the kitchen with the sound of laughter above all things.

Kyle was using the pots as drums while Ashley and Alex danced the beat of everything. Ryant was cackling and ended up snorting an enormous amount of milk from his nose.

That put the hugest smile on my face.

“Bowl.” Max handed me on and I ruffled his head.

“Thanks Maxie.”

He twitched his nose in disgust at that nickname, but I chose not to care. He had to tolerate it. I was Ryant’s friend.

Ryant seemed blush as I took seat next to him, wiping the liquid leaking from his nose. I chose to just giggle as I shoveled as much food down as possible. I had’t eaten in at least 12 hours and I just guessing the time was midday, if not later.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today Lion Man?” Kyle smiled smarmily. He liked to give weird nicknames and he had a natural joking rapport with Ryant’s father.

Lion leaned back against the granite space before the kitchen counter and ate his Frosted Flakes.

“Well, first, we have to wait for any news of anyone else. I’d say we can wait a day or two.”

“A day or two?” The color drained from Ashley’s face. “What about leaving? Going somewhere more safe?”

Ryant responded. “We have the place boarded up and those things are crawling all around outside. Our best bet might be to stay put for a while.”

Kyle nodded understandably when Alex spoke next.

“What about those people on the show? The Carter twins, they were saying something about a cure needing to be found.”

“You’re actually trusting those lunatics?” I gaped.

“You’re the one who tried to choke the girl to death. You may be crazier that her.”

I would laughed if It wasn’t so weird to hear him say that. “Haha. Very funny.”

“Okay. I’m sorry.” He threw his hands up. “But, I suggest we think ahead. Food won’t last here forever and with electricity not working, things can spoil. We’d have to go out and scavenge and that sounds like a pretty horrible idea to me.”

“So, what would you suggest otherwise?”

Alex shrugged. “I can’t say. I don’t have many ideas.”

Ryant stepped in now. “Well, if food is an issue, Dad has a stash in the basement, don’t you?”

Lion looked a bit uneasy at this.

“It’s mostly canned stuff, enough to last us six months or so, but not the most appetizing.”

A breath escaped me. Six months in this hell hole? Maybe I was being hypocritical, but I couldn’t spend six months pent up in a house. I had to see the world, gore and all.

“So, is that a good plan?” Kyle called out. “Stay put until we’re safe.”

“But, we’ll never be safe!” Ashley snapped. “That’s a complete assumption!”

Silence filled the room at Ashley’s argument and I had to say I agreed completely.

“Ashley, we can’t fly off the handle in times like this. We have to stay calm.” Lion soothed her and she nearly rolled her eyes.

“But, Lion, she’s right. If we stay pent up in here afraid. Those things win.” I said simply.

No one answered me. We just all finished eating our food. I couldn’t really say I was disappointed, more self-explanatory to my exact words.

If they weren’t afraid, then why couldn’t they answer my words and combat with their bravery?

Breakfast ended and Lion found a clock to tell us all the time. It was 2:58 pm.

Everyone eventually drifted off to their own things.

Kyle enlisted Ryant and Alex in his search for anything music related. Max played with Lion with some toys he’d found. Ashley and I decided on a board game, Monopoly.

We sat to the living room floor, not too far from the boarded up front door. The dice jiggled in my hands and I let it drop to the board. My moving piece was the Racecar. Ashley’s was the Dog.

“It’s crazy how everyone is talking about being pent up in here.” She muttered.

Although Ashley and I didn’t talk much, we shared a lot of things: opinions, ideas, likes and dislikes.

“Yeah.” I ran my hands through my wet hair, trying to ignore the fact I hadn’t done my usual after shower ritual to it. “But, sometimes I understand it. I’m tired of running.”

She sort of scowled at me. “Are you serious?”

“I mean. No. Maybe.” I looked to her. “Don’t you ever get tired of fighting? Like I don’t mean in the ‘give up’ sense, but when you need some rest. Did you ever feel that way after Ashton?”

Her eyes flinched a little bit, than softened. Any mention of her brother usually had that effect on her. “I used to. But, he was brave and honest and good. And if I just lay me head down, rest even for one second, sometimes I forget that. Like I don’t feel his blood in my veins.”

I nodded, feeling grateful. This had to be the most she’d talked about Ashton in a while.

“It doesn’t make it any easier, but I want to be like him one day. All brave and stuff. I don’t want to just be the girl who sets up parties and cries a lot.

“Don’t we all wanna be brave.”

She laughed, genuinely laughed. “Are you serious? You’re the most kickass person I’ve ever met.”

I moved my token modestly after she rolled. “Well, I’ve almost died a lot of times, but...”

But, when I thought back on it, I had been brave. I had just been something I pulled from deep within me and threw to the surface. When in the face of Fear, you kick Fear’s ass.

At least, that’s what I tried to do.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” She smiled as she bought Boardwalk which made me cringe. She was good at this game.

The game went on for a while. I tried to buy all of the properties on one side of the board while Ashley went after all the high priced ones. We were pretty much neck in neck with silence until she spoke again.

“What if we had our own plan?”

My eyes darted to her, confused at her out of nowhere question. “Hm?”

“What if we had our own plan? A way to get out here? Find something else?”

I stared to her, the realization slowly sinking in. “You mean sneak away from everyone else?”

She nodded, holding her money in one hand and adjusting the ponytail over her shoulder.

“It’s not a bad idea. We could wait until your uncle and father come around, and then do a vote or something. If not a vote, we just leave.”

Goosebumps surged up and down my arms. “But, we can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have Alex and Ryant and my uncle and my father. It’s best if we all stick together, stay strong as a unit. If we go running off on our own, we’ll be dead before we even know it.”

I almost laughed bitterly. We wouldn't even be dead. We’d be undead.

Then, an ear splitting bang reached the door and shouting. The screams were muffled, ragged, but I heard them anyway.

“Dad!” I lunged for the front door, plying for all the wooden boards nailed there. “Somebody open the freaking door!”

Lion scrambled and almost tripped as he went looking for a hammer. Alex, Ryant, and Kyle all came running down the stairs.

“Whose at the door?!” Alex demanded.

“My dad and Uncle Trevor! Why the hell did you guys nail the door shut?!”

Ryant’s eyes widened as he ran off, looking for tools as well. Alex and Kyle both came over, trying to pull the sturdy wooden boards away as I was.

All the while, the banging on the other side never ceased.

“Hold on! We’re coming!” I shouted.

My heart was pounding in my chest and fingers clammy. Who knew what the hell was out there?

Ryant came speeding back, tool box with him as he dropped the thing to the floor with a clang. We all grabbed hammers and began working away.

“When you get the door open move out the way!” Lion was a few feet behind us, gun at the ready while we were working away.

Kyle pulled the last nail free and it hit the floor.

“MOVE!”

I flung the door open and jumped out the way. Two figures burst inside as well as the stinging, white sunlight.

“Close the door!” My uncle gasped.

Alex did as told and Ryant swiftly moved back to nailing the wooden boards back in place.

I smiled, seeing that the two last men in my family were alive and well. I forced my way to my father with a hug that Uncle Trevor joined in as well.

Even with my father’s arms around me, I still felt the vibration of his chest as he said the words,

“We have news.”