Page 14 of Before Their After

The man dropped with me. “Do you have a plan?” he asked.

He passed me a knife as we kicked back the dead that had fallen atop of us in their reach for our bodies to feast on. A glimmer of metal caught my eye near the couch.

“No plan except to survive.” Without hesitation, I scrambled for it, grabbing hold as the man fought off the advancing dead.

I held steady as I aimed and fired. The splintering sound of gunfire sang around the room as I fought to clear a path to the cries of my sister. London’s screams grew faint and hope soared through me. She only had to kill the first few and drop the body of the dead atop her to cover her scent.

The magazine emptied, and I cursed under my breath.

“Catch,” the man offered, throwing an extra mag toward me.

My reflexes failed me as it tumbled to the floor. I reached down, emptying the first one, then shoved the re-up in. Four shots rang out and then the room went silent. With a sickening finality, the dead that had surrounded her tumbled to the ground. Blood spurted. Crimson painting the room as the life of my sister faded away before my eyes. The bite mark on her leg went down to the bone, and blood pooled out in an impossibly large puddle.

London’s jaw was slack, a terrifying rattle releasing from her chest as the bursts of blood slowed to a dribble from the side of her neck. The last pumps of her heart were not strong enough to continue painting the walls the color my little sister bled.

In a cry of anguish, I fell to my knees, crawling to her as I fired round after round into the skulls of the dead, leaving all but one in the chamber. It didn’t matter. No amount of gunfire could bring her back. I took a deep, controlled breath. I was truly alone in this unforgiving world. As I stood amid the carnage of London’s corpse, it dawned on me that nothing would ever be the same again.

Eyes brimmed with tears, I turned to look at the man I’d extended a hand to moments before.This is not his fault, I attempted to reason with myself. It was mine. It was my sister. I was the one to protect her.

Except without him, none of this would have ever happened.

He raised his hands. His words of apology fell on deaf ears as I met his steely gaze. The apology was to keep his life, it would not bring her back. Nothing would. The only way my sister could live on is through me. Through living in her honor.

Without a word, I raised the gun, the weight of it now heavy in my trembling hand. There was no mercy to be found in this broken, screwed up world. I silenced his apologies forever. Nothing. I felt nothing as I watched his body crumple to the ground.

Another deep breath in. And out. I closed my eyes, willing myself to focus. I couldn’t change the past, but I could keep moving forward. For London. I would keep living for London. She would want that. My sister, who was so full of life, determined to survive no matter the cost. She was right; there was something to be said about sticking to the shadows, to being on our own.

I walked over to London’s lifeless body. Kneeling beside her, I gently brushed a dark brown curl from her face, the touch of it breaking off a piece of my heart. I pulled the blanket she’d been sleeping with over her body and tucked it in at her sides. An eternal slumber. The last time I’d ever tuck her in.

Whispering a solemn goodbye, I turned away from the only family I’d ever known and left my world behind. London had been my everything for the last sixteen years. I’d sworn to keep her safe.

I had failed.

The Quiet Ones

RILEY

*three months later*

The last sunrays of the day filtered into the cave, the glow elongating the shadows of the critters that accompanied me everywhere. I crouched over a small fire I managed to kindle from dry branches. This was the part I hated the most. When there were no fish and the ants found their way back to me empty-handed.

There was a short time where surviving had become easier. Fish had begun to repopulate the Pacific and streams. Depending on the luck of the day, I could catch enough to hold myself over for a day or two. In the moments when I’d come home empty, my ants brought me what they could. Small crumbs, occasional edible plants. Those were always trial and error.

My magic, while useful in life or death situations, had failed me when it came to food. The plants I grew were poisonous each and every time. I wasn’t sure if it was due to a lack of control, my less than ideal health, or just how the earth had punished mefor surviving. Bringing myself near death twice had deterred any further efforts in determining thewhy.

When times were desperate, when food had evaded me for days, they offered up themselves. Ants, crickets, grasshoppers, inch worms if it rained the night before. Protein was key. Though I wasn’t quite sure what the point of surviving was. If there was really nothing left in this fallen world, then what was I fighting for? It wasn’t giving up. Acceptance is perseverance in disguise.

A rock tumbled into the fire from behind me, my body tensing, trying to get a sense of the threat behind me. Whoever it was had been silent in their approach. A threat. Only predators sneak up on their prey. I turned, hand going to the ax strapped across my back. Her appearance caught me off guard. The innocence in her face didn’t match the lethal confidence of her demeanor.

“Pansies don’t scare me, but those little shits you have crawling up your arm are enough to send me in the other direction.” Her raspy voice bounced off the cold, stone walls of the cave as she stepped into the entrance. “Is it hard? Eating your friends?”

Drawing my weapon, I flipped it in my palm and shifted positions. With the sun streaming in at an angle, it put me at a disadvantage I wasn’t keen on keeping.

“Relax. If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve done that hours ago,” the woman remarked casually. The slight in her voice carried a hint of amusement.

Her boldness set me off kilter, unsure of how to respond. She stepped further into the cave, arms crossed over her tank top that was tucked into some black cargo pants. A small armory lined the belt of her pants, but her energy made me feel as though there was more to fear from her than the weapons at her side.

I scanned the rest of her as she set down a backpack at her feet. “You should really be more aware of your surroundings.” Her dark hair was pulled into a tight bun, everything about her was a bittooput together to be out here on her own.

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