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The end of the world came at a questionable time.
Of all the things we the human race have experienced, of all the dreadful things we’ve done to others, and this is what wipes us out? I would reckon we all should’ve died several millennia ago or several more from now. Not now. Not because of this.
We’ve dealt with bloodborne pathogens before and come up with treatments, if not cures. Yes, lots of lives were lost in the process, and God rest their souls, but this? Maybe this is how it all begins. Some strange disease no one understands and before you know it you’ve caught it or died from it.
That’s where I’m at in all of this. In the backseat of my sister’s Subaru sitting next to Sierra, my niece. My brother-in-law sits shotgun giving directions. Maybe it would have been better for him to drive but Jana was already behind the wheel when she scooped us all up and who would want to waste thirty seconds switching seats? We didn’t have thirty seconds.
Sierra tries to distract herself with her Etch A Sketch but I can see her little hands shake as she turns the knobs.
“What are you drawing?” I lean over to see a rough sketch of some animal.
“A puppy. Mommy and Daddy said they’d get me one for my birthday. I’ll finally be old enough.”
Right. Her eighth birthday is next month.
“What theme are you going to do? I want to dress accordingly.”
“Princesses and fairies.”
“Awesome sauce. I’ll be a princess.”
She giggles. “Uncle Theo, don’t be silly.”
“What? I’m not being silly. What’s silly about being a princess? You chose the theme!”
“But you’re a boy!” She laughs more.
“So? I can be a pretty princess and still be a boy. Don’t you think I can be pretty?”
“Mmm, no!” She laughs harder as I feign offense and clutch my chest.
“That’s not very nice. That really makes me sad, Sier.”
“I’m sorry. You can be a fairy if you want.”
“But I want to be a princess. I can wear a tiara.”
“But there are boy fairies!”
“Says who?”
“Says Tinkerbell! She has boy friends that are fairies. Boys can’t be princesses.”
“Says who?”
“Says me!”
I notice Jana and Justin have fallen silent and instead have small smiles on their faces. Good. I made the entire family smile. I hope Sierra doesn’t realize she won’t be getting that puppy or party any time soon.
I let our debate go, accepting my unavoidable loss.
We eventually make it to our new home for the foreseeable future. It used to belong to Justin’s parents before they passed. I’ve never been, but I’ve seen pictures from when Jana and Sierra visited. It’ll be nice to stay in. Jana and Sierra alike will enjoy the countryside. Too bad they don’t have the horses I’d heard about anymore.
They allow Sierra to run around the second floor of the house as the adults talk. We rearrange the bottom half by moving unnecessary furniture to block the doors and windows.
“What do we do about food? We have the well for water and eventually we’ll lose power, but the pantry isn’t as stocked as it was growing up.” Justin runs a hand through his shiny black hair.
“We’ll have to do supply runs. Hopefully in a few days when everything calms down.” I suggest.
“I don’t think things are going to calm down, not in a few days.” He turns to me.
“So would it be better for us to try to find food now or later? I don’t have a problem going on my own so you guys can stay with Sier. You just gotta trust me with your car.” I turn to my sister.
The couple seems to ponder the thought.
“You’re my little brother. I’m supposed to protect you.” She chews her thumbnail like she’s done since we were kids.
“I’m twenty-two. It’s my job as her uncle to make sure she doesn’t become an orphan at worst case scenario. I’ll be fine! Any special requests? I’ll grab as many menstrual products as I can carry and some reusables.”
She facepalms. “You’re too kind.” Her tone is sarcastic, but I know she’s being truthful.
“Non-perishables. Cans and jars. Protein bars and cookies. They have chips too, those taste better. Sierra will like them best.”
“Got it. Anything special for you, Jan?”
“No. Maybe something for Sierra? We weren’t able to get her present yet.”
Right. The puppy.
“I’ll look around. I’ll even get some party supplies and we can decorate.”
“Don’t get too happy with it. This is about survival.”
“But what’s surviving if you’re not living? Get the keys for me, I’ll go tell her I’m leaving.”
“Maybe don’t. She’ll wonder why we’re not all going and she’ll want to go with you.”
I don’t like the sound of that very much. Anything can happen. But I respect Justin’s words with a nod.
“Okay. Alright. I’ll see you guys when I see you. I’ll be careful.”
“Do you need instructions?”
I shake my head. “I paid attention.”
“Be careful.” She squeezes the life out of me.
“I just said I would. I love you guys.”
“We love you too.”
I grab the cans and protein foods and menstrual products. Maybe I should just leave. I got in without any fuss. It’d be smart for me to get out while I still can, but I really don’t want Sierra to be let down when she realizes her birthday will come and go like any other day.
It could be better, but I like my odds.
I ride my cart a short distance to the toy aisle and scour the shelves for things I think will interest her and that won’t require batteries that’ll die.
I get her a couple of the most expensive Barbies I see that are really meant to be collected and a few cute Squishmallows. What’s this? A friendship bracelet maker with thread included? Perfect. DIY hair accessory kit? She’ll love it. I nab a couple Lego kits and board and card games to teach her to play.
Next stop, party decorations. This part is easy. I see princesses and/or fairies? I grab it.
Now my cart is significantly heavier but I force it through the automatic doors I pulled open priorly.
I load up the car and shut the trunk. Out of instinct I begin pushing the cart toward the nearest corral but stop short. Oh. I leave it where I stand and begin running back to the Subaru. I reach for the handle when a man grabs my hand with a wicked grin on his face.
“Hi. Can you help me? I’m very hungry.”
Fuck. It’s one of them. The infected. He has a grip on me I can’t jerk away from.
But I do still have Jan’s keychain in my hand including the attached pocket knife Justin gave her for protection. I flick it open with one hand just like it’s intended and jab it right in his temple.
He screams and releases me to claw at his own face. I yank it out and shove him to the side and hit him with the car door as I swing it open.
I hit the lock buttons and jam the key in the ignition ready to plow him over if necessary; but it isn’t because he stays out of my way.
“Fuck.” I breathe and I wince at the shake in my voice.
“Fuck.” I force myself to take deep breaths as I switch on the radio to calm my nerves out of habit. I switch it off just as quickly when bouts of dead air peak through the repeated warning messages.
My eyes trail to my forearm.
“Fuck!” I scream as I see the gaping hole from where he must have ripped my skin open, blood oozing down my arm toward my bicep.
I pull off to the side of the road to take stock of my situation. I realize I didn’t think to grab any first aid supplies so I rip open the packaging for the largest night time pad and try to wrap it as tightly as possible around the wound. It doesn’t do much good but at least I won’t get blood all over Jan’s car. Fuck. I have to get the supplies back to them.
I feel fine. Maybe he only hurt me, not infected?
Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’ll get the supplies back to the house and if I start feeling ill I’ll just leave. No harm, no foul. They need this food and Sierra needs her birthday.
When I pull up to the house, relief floods my body. The door hasn’t been kicked in and the windows haven’t been smashed. They’re safe.
I grab the heavier food bags on my way out and trudge to the door, waiting to be let in.
When the door opens, Marc is there but Jan pushes him aside and wraps her arms around me. She sobs.
“Thank God. I was so worried.”
“I was too. I have more bags in the car. Wanna take these so I can go get them real quick?”
She nods and takes them before I run back to the car. It takes me a few trips, but I do accomplish getting everything in the mudroom. It would have been faster if Marc had helped me, but he’s probably helping Jan put the food away while she hides the birthday paraphernalia.
I lock the car up and hussle back inside to be met by Justin.
“Here you go. Is Jan hiding the stuff? Where’s Sier? She didn’t see, did she?”
“No, she didn’t see.”
“Okay, great!” I try to sidestep him but he blocks me.
“Um. Excuse me? I got us all a surprise. Hope you like Honey Buns!” I grin and he frowns.
“Oh, you don’t? Sorry, man. I did get all sorts of protein stuff like you said, though.”
“Come with me to the basement.” He walks backwards keeping me in sight, never turning his back on me.
“Oh, okay... Is that where the party stuff’s at? I can’t wait to show you what I got. She’s gonna love it. I almost don’t want to wait for her actual birthday, you know? Maybe we can do things a little early. I really want a friendship bracelet from her, to be honest.”
He just hums.
“Hey, did something happen while I was gone? You guys didn’t, like, fight or anything, right? Oh shit. Don’t tell me Sierra’s changed her party theme. Damn. That’s okay, her presents will still work, just need new decor.”
“We didn’t fight and the princess/fairy party is still on.”
“Then what’s wrong?” I walk in front of him as he gestures and follows behind me.
We hit the floor and I look around the room. It looks like any other countryside basement save for a wooden chair placed conspicuously in the middle.
“What’s with the ominous look? This looks like the set of Samara’s videotape. Heck, we even have the well.” I crack a joke with a smile, but it does nothing to ease the tension set into his shoulders.
I barely see an indiscernible nod to someone over my shoulder before I’m struck.
My vision fades to black.
I wake up tied to the chair in the middle of the room I saw earlier. My legs have some combination of bike chains and old jump rope wound around them, securing them to the chair legs. My arms have Jana’s old resistance bands looped around dangerously close to cutting off my blood circulation. There’s also the mismatched oven mitts duct taped to my bare skin. One’s Christmas and the other Easter, perhaps.
I only realize my mouth is gagged and duct taped when my cry is muffled. I’m completely incapacitated.
I look around as best as the mobility of my neck allows, but it isn’t much. Mom’s right. I should have never stopped doing my torticollis exercises.
I try to shimmy my limbs but it’s no use.
Are they okay? Did someone break in and tie them up too? Shit, I hope Sierra’s okay. I should have known it’d be like The Purge . They probably followed me home. Stupid, stupid. I try to do something nice and I only serve to cause problems. It’s always been like this.
God, how long have I been down here? I’m starving.
Maybe if I knock myself out of my chair I can have some leverage to break the arms of it enough to free my own? Yeah, that plan is as good as any; unless I can scoot myself to something sharp I can use to cut the bindings. But from my field of vision I think only the former is feasible.
In my haste of trying to break the chair I don’t hear the basement door open for someone to come down the stairs.
“Baby, he’s awake.”
My head shoots up to see Justin standing there unharmed.
What the hell?
Jana joins him soon after and comes closer to me, Justin just behind her.
“Oh, Theo…” Tears brim her lashes.
What are you guys doing? Let me out. I try in vain to mumble.
“I’m so sorry. It had to be done.”
What had to be done? Please, it hurts. I’m so hungry.
“I’m not ready to say bye yet, so you’re here until we can figure out what to do.” She reaches to set a hand on my knee and I jerk at her. She yanks her hand away with a gasp as Justin pulls her back even more out of reach. She begins to cry as they leave me here.
I wither away as time passes. I still feel the incessant drip drip dripping of blood from my head wound where I was knocked unconscious. Why hasn’t it stopped bleeding yet? Will it eventually heal on its own? Not likely. I’m trapped down here in the dark; the power went out soon after I was left, and I’m starving. I need iron, maybe vitamin D. I need something. I’m so hungry. The hunger is so strong I don’t even feel thirsty. When will they return? They wouldn’t leave me to starve, right?
Sometimes I hear them walking above me. I imagine the heavier steps are Justin’s, but the sporadic ones are Sierra’s as she runs around the cabin at play. How can they live while I suffer?
I’m unable to discern how many days and nights have passed, but after so so long the door unlocks. It creaks open and a small beam of light bounces down the stairs as someone walks down them.
The light momentarily blinds me before shifting to the floor beneath our feet, casting a dim light over the two of us.
An older child approaches me. Maybe she’s a tween. She’s eerily familiar.
Her hair is cropped short in a homemade pixie cut, but it’s ultimately the big brown eyes that give her away.
Sierra? I try to say through my bindings, but it’s as muffled as my other attempts at conversation.
“Uncle Theo!” She seems shocked at her discovery like she didn’t know I was down here all this time. How long has it been?
She struggles with my bindings but after what could only be years of use they’ve weakened allowing her to pull them off freeing me.
God, I want to hug her. It’s been so long.
She pulls off the duct tape and towel still lodged in my mouth, and I stand to my full height after endless sitting.
I see Sierra’s eyes shine with fresh tears. She’s long and lanky now and given the chance of a normal life I’d tease her about almost being taller than me. I’d offer to teach her basketball even though I’ve never been able to make a basket. I’d–
I hear a scream. It takes me embarrassingly too long before I realize it’s from her.
What’s wrong? I try to ask her but it comes out as a gurgle as she backs away.
The basement door opens to reveal Jana and Justin sprinting down the stairs as fast as they can without losing their balance.
God, has it really been all these years? Jana and Justin both wear streaks of gray in their hair with noticeably more wrinkles on their faces.
How bad must I look? That’s why my niece screamed when she saw me. She must not recognize me due to years of neglect.
I reach a hand up to touch my mouth. I feel around my lips but the surrounding skin feels raw as if it’s been ripped off and my fingers come back bloody. I also feel how my mouth is curled into a big smile no matter how hard I try to fight it.
Sierra runs to her parents and my sister pulls her behind her body protectively.
Please, I’m so hungry. Please feed me. I’m starving. It hurts. It all hurts so much. I plead but they don’t listen.
Then Justin draws a gun on me I’ve never seen before.
Justin?
The light goes out.