Survival of the Fittest

The sound of Andrew’s footfalls echoed through the rafters as he came down the hallway. With a bag of kill clasped in his hand, Andrew took a right turn and entered what would have been the living room, if the house was still intact. Most of the houses in the area were like that now – dusty and covered with debris. The war had ruined most of the country. What once used to be a beautiful, vibrant, bustling way of life was now dull and lonely. The sun hardly rose above the tops of the trees. If they did, Andrew didn’t know. The skies were so cloudy now he could hardly see much of anything anymore.

Andrew threw his bag of kill onto a table cluttered with books that had been collected during his stay. This was the only room in the house that wasn’t covered in dust or debris. Carefully, Andrew pulled out a chair and sat down, his aching feet relieved almost instantly. The bag sat in a lump before him. For the first time he noticed a small splotch of blood had leaked through the tough, coarse fabric. He stared at it for a moment, wondering how long it had been there. He always made sure to make clean kills because he didn’t want other rabid or nuclear animals following him back home. He must’ve overlooked one of the wounds that the animal received when he stabbed it.

Andrew twitched when he heard a quiet thud. He held as his breath and listened with his hand poised over the small dagger that hung from his belt in a leather sheath.

“Andy?” came a hoarse whisper.

He let out a heavy sigh of relief and stood up from his chair. The voice belonged to Kat, a girl his age who he had met only a year ago. Together the two of them had managed to survive and, although Andrew would never admit it aloud, Kat was the only reason that he kept going.

“What did you find?” Andrew asked as the small girl circled the table and threw her bag beside his. The bags were exactly the same, except for the drawstrings. Kat had swapped the string of rope threaded through the top of the bag for a dark red ribbon she found on a doll that had been left behind. The ribbon had been tied into a careless, hurried knot, loose in the center.

“Not much,” Kat replied, frowning. “The nuclear waste is pretty bad in this area.” She looked at Andrew and even in the dim light he could see the icy blue color of her eyes. “Although, I did manage to catch a rabbit. I’m pretty sure it isn’t infected.” Kat opened the bag. Her long, thin fingers gently undid the knot of the drawstring. “I have a feeling that we’re going to have to find another place to stay pretty soon.” She glanced up at Andrew curiously. “What did you find?”

Andrew opened his bag and grimaced at the smell of decay that suddenly filled the room. With a sigh, he said, “Nothing we can eat, obviously.” In the two years since the war, Andrew had learned two very important things: never trust strangers, even if they seem to be respectable, and never eat an infected animal. He had learned these lessons the hard way, and always kept them in mind when he went out scavenging. The night that he had unknowingly consumed an infected rabbit, he had vomited up all the contents of his stomach and lied in crippling pain for days. That had been the night that Kat had found him, and he would never be able to repay her for helping him. Nowadays, people didn't do that, which was quite a shame. Andrew closed the bag with hopes to smother the odor. “I don’t think there’s anything left for us to eat in this area. Everything’s getting infected.”

He shoved the bag into his backpack. Maybe he could use the bones for tools. Trudging over to the window, Andrew sat down on the sill and sighed. All of the windows in the house were broken or cracked, leaving the two of them susceptible to rain and cold. The most that they could ever do was put more clothes on, but they were running out of those, too.

An eerie silence fell over the room, and Andrew looked over his shoulder at Kat. His heart tugged gently, a strange ache he wasn't sure he'd ever felt before. “We should get moving,” said Andrew, “before it gets too dark.” Kat heaved a sigh and pushed her hair out of her face. The two of them had moved so many times in the last few months that Andrew had started to lose count of all the places they had slept. Andrew crossed the room and began to pack up his belongings. He didn't have much, just a couple of pairs of pants and some shirts. The weather in that area was not consistent with the seasons. That was the war's fault.

Andrew reached for the goggles buried in his dark hair, and pulled them down over his shiny green eyes. The goggles fit snugly on his face. The soft pads that encircled his eyes protected them from any form of radiation in the air. Although the sun never made an appearance, human eyes were highly sensitive to the radiation that was left over. He had been able to get away with sunglassed for a while, but after an incident with the fumes, he invested in a pair of goggles from a trader.

The two of them packed up quietly, listening carefully for any outside noises that might alert them of anything unwelcome.

*

Kat heaved a sigh as the truck rumbled down the road. She held a newspaper over her lap, reading recent articles that reported on neighboring towns. Andrew drove with his hands wrapped firmly around the steering wheel. He stared straight ahead and listened to the hum of the tires. His eyelids were beginning to feel heavy, like weights were pulling them down over his eyes. “Do you want me to drive?” Kat asked quietly. Her voice was gentle, like a mother. Andrew loved that about her – she was such a caring soul, but wasn't afraid to get mean and dirty if she had to. He blinked and gave her a sideways look.

“No,” Andrew replied firmly. “I'm all right.”

They drove for hours. The quiet music that played from the old radio formed the only background noise. This was how most of their nights were, but Andrew didn't mind. He liked to sit in silence and think about everything like places he wanted to go, if they still existed. Andrew had never been to the Grand Canyon.

The truck made a loud popping noise, and began to make an annoyed grumble. Anxiously, Andrew glanced down at the dashboard in front of him. The gas gauge rested below the E. Andrew clenched his jaw, angry at himself that he hadn't refilled before leaving the house. He steered the truck over to the side of the road and turned killed the engine. “Well,” he said, looking at Kat. “We have no gas.”

Kat chewed on her lip. “What are we gonna do?” she asked. “It's too dark to walk anywhere.”

Andrew looked through the windows. Kat was right – the sky was completely black now. He realized that they only had two options – stay and sleep in the crowded pick-up truck, or walk to the nearest town. Neither one of those options were very safe. Andrew turned his attention back to Kat, and said, “Let's wait until tomorrow. Being inside of the truck would give us somewhat of an advantage if we're ambushed.”

The small girl nodded at him, and let her head fall against the window. “Sounds like a plan.”

*

“How long have we been walking?” Kat's voice felt like pins against his skin, sharp and pointy. She had asked that question many times since they began their trek. Andrew had hoped and prayed the night before that there was some type of civilization nearby. So far his luck had been thin.

“I don't know,” Andrew responded as they trudged down the long narrow road. “Too long.” His backpack was starting to feel heavy on his shoulders and his feet were starting to hurt, but Andrew knew better than to complain.

They walked silently for another half mile. Andrew knew that he needed water, but he only had a little left in his bottle and that had to last him until they found some more. He stopped walking, taking deep breaths and listening intently to what was going on around them.

“Do you hear that?” Kat asked suddenly. She met his gaze, her icy blue eyes staring right through him as if he were transparent. “It sounds like -”

“Motorcycles?” Andrew finished, suddenly very attentive. His heart rate rose slightly. “Do you have your gun?” He asked quickly as his stomach dropped. Kat pressed her lips together, and nodded down to her boot. Tentatively, Andrew began to walk again, keeping Kat close to him. Her presence comforted him in a way that he wasn't sure he could explain. With Kat around, Andrew felt like everything was a little better.

It didn't take long for the motorcycles to come into view. They sped toward the two of them, leaving large dust clouds behind them. From what Andrew could see, there were six. As they came even closer, Andrew suddenly felt very protective of Kat and resisted the urge to put his arm around her. The motorcycles created a loud roar now. Andrew came to a sudden stop, causing Kat to bump into him. She grabbed his elbow, which sent shivers down Andrew's spine. “I've got a bad feeling about this,” she said loudly, over the rumble of engines.

“Me too!” Andrew adjusted his goggles and watched as the motorcycles drove straight towards them, the roar of their engines growing so loud that he couldn't hear anything else. Andrew's heart pounded into his rib cage. The men on the bikes were menacing, and as each one of them killed their engines, Andrew sensed danger.

“Well, look what we have here, fellas!” One of them bellowed. The speaker dismounted his bike and ran a gloved hand over his shaved head. His tanned skin was covered in an arrangement of scars. He was very robust and as he approached them, Andrew couldn't help but notice the arrogant way the man walked. “Good afternoon, folks,” the man voiced as he neared them. He nodded at Kat, eying her in a way that Andrew didn't like. The man's presence was even more menacing than the others, a dangerous entity that would have Satan running back to Hell. Andrew crossed his arms and held his hands in tight fists. “Beautiful day for a stroll, ain't it?”

“Sure is.” Andrew's voice was firm. Kat held on to his elbow more tightly now and even stepped behind him slightly. Kat knew how to fight and Andrew had seen her do it, but both of them knew that the two of them together couldn't take these men.

“Now, don't tell me,” the man said, raising his hands into the air with his elbows bent, “but I'm just going to guess that you ran out of gas down a ways and you're on your way to find some.” He looked at Andrew expectantly, and Andrew nodded sharply. The man shook his head, laughing quietly to himself. “We can give you two some gasoline, if you give us something in return. I scratch your back, you scratch my back, eh?” His expression suddenly went very dark, and Andrew's stomach twisted into a painful knot.

“And what would that be?” Andrew voiced. The words felt like sand in his mouth, dry and coarse.

The man smirked devilishly. “See, my men and I provide for a small community. Not only is food scarce in this area, but so is our water supply. If you spare some water, we might be able to help you out. There is an old gasoline pump near here we can take you to, if you want.”

Andrew's heart sank. He hardly had any water himself. Perhaps the man would accept something else. He looked at Kat. Her eyes burned with something dangerous. Andrew said, “We don't -”

The man held up his hand. “You don't. Alrighty then. I suppose we'll be on our way then.” He turned and started back towards his motorcycle. Andrew felt frantic. He knew he had to do something, or else they'd be walking for days with no shelter and possibly no food. Looking to Kat, he pushed his disheveled dark hair out of his face and contemplated.

“What should we do?” He asked as motorcycles began to start up.

Kat squeezed her eyes shut, and shook her head. “We have to give them something. It's too dangerous to keep walking.” Andrew stared at her, this time really looking at her. He had always known she was a pretty girl, but he had never actually noticed how beautiful she actually was.

She stared back at him. “Ok,” Andrew said. “Ok.” He pivoted around and waved his arm at the man. The motorcycle engines died again, and the man approached him. “Can we give you something else?” Andrew asked quickly. He pulled his bag from his shoulder and opened it, rifling through it without really looking at anything. “We have money, uh... ammunition, medicine, spear heads...”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think we don't have any of those things?” He let out a low laugh. “I'm not interested in any of that. We need water, and if you can't give it to us, then I'm afraid we can't help you.”

“Cal, we need to go!” One of them yelled as an engine revved.

'Cal' held up his hand, and stared Andrew in the eye. “Listen, son. I'm fully aware of how hard surviving is out here, and without water, every single one of us will die. We have everything we need back there, though.”

Andrew was struck with an idea so suddenly that he could hardly speak. “We have food,” he stammered, reaching into his backpack and pulling out the sack of kill he had procured the night before. “It's fresh.”

Cal looked at the bag suspiciously, but took it anyway. He undid the knot and opened the bag. The smell was overwhelming, and Andrew felt a brief moment of victory as Cal peered into the now radioactive bag. As soon as Cal looked back up at him, though, his moment was replaced by fear. “What kind of idiot do you take me for, little boy?” Cal sneered. He turned away from Andrew and motioned at the others. The rest of them dismounted their bikes.

Andrew took the steps back toward Kat, his veins pumping adrenaline through his body. “Kat,” he said, “I think we're in trouble.”

“You think?” Kat snapped. “If we die because of this, Andrew Markovitz, I will kill you.” She grabbed the pistol from her boot just as a group of six men had encircled them. Andrew and Kat stood back to back. Andrew raised his fists up, his knife held firmly in his right hand.

One of the men came at him. Andrew swung, taking him down immediately. “You have guns!” He heard Cal yell over a revving engine. Another closed in and Andrew was able to dodge a few punches, but was hit square in the jaw after a few throws. Andrew stabbed, thrust, kicked, and twisted until there was one left. He didn't know when he and Kat had separated, but he watched as she kicked one of the men with such ferocity that he was knocked off of his feet. She aimed her gun at the man and fired three times, hitting him in the chest.

There was another loud bang, but it wasn't from Kat's gun.

Andrew was suddenly overcome with so much pain that he doubled over. He groaned loudly, and fell onto his hand. His spine felt like it was twisting and contorting. His lungs became restricted. Andrew fell to the ground, and tried to lay on his back, but the pain was too excruciating.

“Andrew!” Kat's voice was muddy. It hardly sounded like hers. He felt her hands on his body, trying to turn him over onto his stomach. “Andrew?” He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. Oh, God. So this is what death is going to feel like, he thought. “Can you hear me, Andrew?” Kat asked frantically.

“Yeah,” he whimpered. His body was growing numb.

“Please don't die, Andrew,” Kat cried. She curled her legs underneath her body and rested her hands on Andrew's side. “I need you.”

Andrew closed his eyes, and opened them again quickly. Her voice was getting softer. The sun was getting brighter, even through the goggles. “No, you don't,” he replied. “You'll be just fine.”

Kat leaned forward so that her forehead was against his cheek. “I never told you this, but I've always really admired you.” Her skin was so soft pressed against his. Andrew tried to touch her hair, but his arm wouldn't move. “You're so brave.”

“No, I'm not. Not really.” Andrew coughed. Liquid dribbled down his chin. He knew it was blood. “It was all just to impress you.”

Kat let out a quiet sob. “Andrew...”

He coughed again. It burned his throat. “You made these last two years worth trying to survive.” Andrew sighed. “I love you.” Something fell onto his face, but he couldn't tell what it was. Andrew had already lost most of the feeling in his body. He closed his eyes, letting himself succumb to nature. Please make it fast. I'm in so much pain, he begged.

Then a bright light flashed into his eyes, as if he had taken his goggles off. The light blinded him, and then just as quickly as it had come, the light was gone.