Bastille

The glass shattered upon impact. A shard pierced through the skin of her shoulder causing her to cry out directing more attention of the dead bodies below them.

“Val, are you alright?” Cassie said studying the blood that was dripping down her sister’s arm down to her elbow in a crimson wave. Valeria just nodded and climbed through the broken window. Her stomach turned suddenly at the dripping of blood that fell to the window sill, “Val?”

“I’m okay, just start handing the kids over.” She spoke, reaching for the first tow haeaded boy Cassandra handed through the gap in the wall. As they came through they lined up on the wall silently. Except for Susan who decided bawling loudly was better than the quiet game. Valeria’s head was pounding by the time she helped Cassie through the window. Valeria looked around and studied the room they were in and immediately recognized it as the classroom she had taken Health in her senior year. She led the way down the stairs to the gymnasium watching the children cry in their parents arms as they were reunited. As much as she had hated the whining of Susan she smiled as she was embraced and lovingly picked up by her father. She almost wanted to run to her parents when she saw them in the corner but refrained, approaching the group of three from behind.

“Mommy.”

Valeria looked over to see Cassandra’s lip quivering. As their mother turned she flew to her arms to be embraced, Lisa running a hand over her youngest child’s hair. Valeria watched as her mother closed her eyes and mouthed, “Thank you, God.”

She was not prepared for the hug her father pulled her into and it brought tears to her eyes; big, fat, salty tears trickled down her face as she sobbed into his shoulder. He cried silently into her hair and rubbed at her back, kissing the curtain of curls on her head. Wesley joined the pair and wrapped one arm around Valeria’s shoulders and the other around Cassie dragging the whole family together in a circle.

“Daddy, what are we going to do? What is wrong with all of those people?” Casie said looking up to her father for answers. He just stared at her for a second before letting out a sigh that made his whole body slump in effort. He looked older than Valeria had ever seen him in that moment. He looked sad, stressed, and overall just tired. He was busy not only looking out for his family, but the entire town as well. His town needed him and there was nothing he could do to help it. It was out of his hands.

“There is an infection going around,’ he started drawing the attention of some around him. He talked louder to the croud of citizens that stood in the busy auditorium, “this infection is spreading like wildfire through not only Haven, but Atlanta. It is spreading to all of Georgia, all of America, all the way to Antarctica and back. No where is safe. It started as a series of cannibalistic attacks. The government scientists could not find the origin of the disease but they did share the symptoms. Fever, aches, chills. It starts like the flu and ends with death, but what happens is the infected are not staying dead. They are coming back, and eating any person that gets in their path. They are cannibals. If you get bitten, you will suffer the same fate as they.”

The auditorium was silent before it erupted in wailing and yelling, a lot of questions being thrown at David Olson that he couldn’t answer. He shook his head and raised his hands in defense, “That is all I know, folks. You don’t see me in any better a predicament than you all.”

Valeria was kind of shocked by the anger of those around them. Like it was her father’s fault they were in this situation. She left the small pack her family had made to look through the first aid kit by her things on the floor. She sat down cross legged on the mat directing her mother’s attention.

“Oh my god, Valeria!” she crouched down to grab her daughter’s arm and wiped the blood away with a tissue from the box near their things. It was bleeding more steadily now, staining her whole arm red. Lisa wiped at the blood that poured from her wound before standing up to speak over the crowd, “Is there a doctor in here? A medic? A nurse?”

Nobody spoke up until one man stepped forward in a cowboy hat and boots, “I’m not a doctor, but I know how to stitch up a wound.”

“Good enough for me!” Valeria sproke from the ground feeling a little unsteady as blood soaked the shirt she was pressing to the wound. She took it away to let the man crouch down and see it. He let out a low whistle, “Yup, that needs stitches all right.”

“I have needle and thread.” Her mother said rushing to her sewing basket. She threw balls of yarn to the floor as she searched, coming back with a thin needle and a spool of white thread. Valeria’s eyes widened at the sight of the heavy set man wielding the needle. He took a long lighter to the needle warming the metal in order to sterilize it. He got close and lined the needle up with her arm peering up at her from beneath his cowboy hat, “Alright little lady, this isn’t going to be pleasant fair warning.” She passed out with the first poke of the needle.



She dreamt of the last family vacation they had went on. Cassie and Wes had been no more than 12 at the time when they went to Disney World. The one in Florida, not California. She could oddly remember the taste of Dole Whip on her lips. Smooth, tangy, and slightly tart but delicious. She woke to the smell of pineapple which was odd in a sense but explained why she dreamt of the frozen pineapple flavored treat. Valeria sat upright and hissed at the pain in her upper arm which now sported 5 crooked stitches that stood out against her caramel skin. She looked to her left to see Cassandra sitting indian style with a large can of pineapple chunks.

“Where the hell did you get pineapples?” she said through gritted teeth, rubbing her shoulder. Cassandra shrugged, “The cafeteria has like 20 big cans.”

“Good to know.”

She looked around to see everyone around them sleeping. Wesley was passed out with his arms under his head by Cassie’s feet, their mother only a few inches away, “Where’s Daddy?”

“He’s on watch with a few other men, making sure the freaks don’t get into the building while we sleep.” Cassie answered over a spoonful of pineapple. She wiped the juice from the car on her shorts and offered the spoon to Valeria who took it without a word. The first spoonful was delicious and she felt that tang like the Dole Whip from her dream. Her stomach rumbled with want. She settled for another spoonful of pineapple.

“How long was I out?” Valeria asked softly as to not disturb her brother and mother’s slumber. She felt like she had been sleeping for hours, if not days. There was a dull ache in the base of her skull and her shoulder still steadily throbbed. Cassandra pondered the question for a second and checked her watch that she always wore on her right wrist, “Well I think it was like 4 when we got in here, and it’s morning now, so more than 13 hours.”

“You lost a lot of blood apparently.” Wesley piped up with a groan, rolling onto his back and stretching out to his full five feet, eleven inches in height. Valeria smiled at how lanky the teenage boy had become over the last year. It seemed like every time she turned around he was growing another inch and towering over both his sisters. Wesley looked a lot like his mother, fine boned and lithe with the same piercing hazel eyes as both Lisa and Valeria. His skin was more on the lighter side than Cassandra’s but they both had the same dark hair and wide smiles. Wesley was like most teenage boys Valeria had seen. He was all about skateboarding and bmx and wearing baseball caps. He liked to read comics and watch old cartoons on the television, but he exceled in school unlike Cassie who was average at best when it came to test taking. Wesley was never mediocre in anything he did.

“I think I’m gonna go help dad out.” He said as he got to his feet. He grabbed the baseball cap sitting near his backpack and put it on his head before walking off. Valeria sat the near empty pineapple can down near her feet and groaned, laying back down on the blue plastic covered mat. She nuzzled her nose in her grey sweater smelling the sweet smell of the detergent hr mother used. She was just about asleep again when she heard the squeaking of shoes on the waxed floor.

“Alright gang, get your stuff together.” Her dad said chipperly, smacking his palms to his thighs. He bent down and lifted the sweater from Valeria’s face which caused her nose to wrinkle and eyes to re open. He smiled at her expression, “Well hello, sleepy head.”

“Where are we going Daddy?” Cassie asked, cocking her head in question. David shrugged his broad shoulders, “Whereever the wind takes us, honey. For now we are just trying to find somewhere safe.”

Valeria started putting what little clothing she had brought into the gymnasium into her black nylon backpack and sat it on shoulder while she waited for the rest of her family. She took a moment to close her eyes and do something she rarely did, prayed to God.