Trying to Survive (Part 2) (4 page)

Chapter 6

   The house was so large that it offered a fully furnished room for each one of us. When I fell back onto the massive, snow-white bed, I was instantly met with a level of comfort I’d never experienced before. Even the pillows were perfect. The purposely aged wood flooring, elegantly designed bathroom and medieval style, bronze light fixtures made me feel like I’d won a lavish vacation.

   It only lasted for a few seconds before I laughed and thought to myself –
Vacation to where?.. Hell?

   The sun had only gone down a few hours ago, but we were all so exhausted that everyone turned in early. Based on my own feelings, I suspected that everyone really just wanted some time to be alone with their own thoughts.

   Tomorrow, we’d have to start searching the neighborhood for food and water... I was already pissed off because I knew I’d be left behind due to my leg.

   Melanie and I were starting to run low on painkillers so I was rationing. Really being able to feel the pain was finally making me understand just how long it was going to take for my leg to heal – and that all I’ve been doing by using it so much is prolonging the process.

   I kept telling myself that I needed to sleep – that it’s when the body truly gets to heal. My eye was heavy and every muscle was begging for rest, but I soon found trying to be a waste of time. My mind was doing too good of a job keeping me wide awake.

  The moon was clearly visible through the sliding-glass door leading out to a small, but welcoming balcony. The air in the room was hot and stale, so I eased myself out of bed, opened it all the way and stepped outside…
Still hot as shit…

   I pulled out the pack of cigarettes Jessie gave me and dug around for my lighter. There was a rather large pond in the backyard directly across from me. It was producing a headache-inspiring amount of different noises from all the frogs and bugs chirping away. They so were high pitched and annoyingly loud that it wasn’t long before they drove me back inside.

 
Can’t even leave the damn door open…

   Knowing it was a waste of my time to try and fall asleep, I left the room and headed down the hallway. When I walked past Melanie’s door I heard the light squeal of hinges. It was cracked open and I barely noticed the gleam of an eye staring out at me.

   I came to a stop and the door eased its way open – revealing Anthony. He whispered “Where are you going?”

   “I was just going to hang out downstairs for a while.”

   “I can’t sleep.”

   “Why not? What’s the matter?”
They did spend most of their time sleeping on the way here…

   “I saw a dog outside and I know those things are gonna get it.”

   Shit… I’m all about helping animals – just not at a time like this. What the hell should I say
?... I sighed and leaned down as far as I could without hurting my leg. “We’re goin out there tomorrow to look for food. I promise I’ll save the dog if I come across it – it can come along with us… Now go back to bed and get some rest.”

   My lie didn’t seem to comfort him. He still held onto the wrinkled expression of being close to tears as he slowly nodded and closed the door.

   I felt so terrible. For a moment I actually considered heading outside to try and make friends with the dog so we could take it with us…
It would really make them happy, but we just can’t… Or maybe we can? Would it really that big of a deal?

   As I walked down the stairs, I noticed that my bandages were feeling old and soggy again. To kill time, I found the duffle bag, gathered up everything I’d need and headed to the bathroom…
it’s time for me to see what they did…
Along the way, I grabbed two large candles that were sitting atop decorative stands on a small table placed under a painting in the hall.

   After I lit both candles and rested them on the sink, I stood in front the mirror and looked myself over. My clothes were filthy and riddled with random blood stains. My hair was wild and greasy, the stubble on face was turning into a beard and I’d been scratching at it so much that my neck was raw…
I look like a crazy person..
.
Do I even need all this shit wrapped around my head anymore?

   First I peeled the bandage from my cheek, taking some hair with it. The gashes were fully scabbed up and noticeably smaller in size. I could tell they were going to leave substantial scarring, but there was no point in keeping them covered any longer. If anything, they were at the stage where a little fresh air and dryness would do them some good.

   I opened the small white box with the red cross on it and located the scissors and a pair of tweezers so I could remove the stitches Walt had put in. There were only a few for each cut, and they were all loose and clearly ready to be removed. It took nothing more than a series of cautious snips and gentle tugs with the tweezers to slide them all out.

   I unwrapped the lengthy bandage, put my hands on the sink and leaned closer to the mirror. The only thing left to remove was the square of gauze and tape that held my eye shut.

   I took a deep breath and peeled it away.

   Just as before, the moment air hit my eye and the lid became mobile again, the pain shot through the roof. I stared just long enough to get a good look before I covered it with my hand…
I really do look like a monster…

   Part of my eyelid had been ripped away. There were more gashes on my brow and directly underneath my eye that linked up to the ones on my cheek. My eye no longer looked like an eye. The iris and pupil were horribly damaged and barely even visible – it was just a mangled blob of white and red.

   I soon regretted not having someone there to help me. I had to take my hand away for what seemed like fifteen long seconds as I cut a new square of gauze and got the pieces of tape ready.

   For the sake of appearance, I made the square a little smaller and tried to place the tape neatly.

   I didn’t do anything else except attempt to fix my hair a little before I left the bathroom. There was no need for me to be all wrapped up anymore…
Just have to get ready for all the stares I’ll be getting for the next few days…

   When we first broke into the house, I noticed some books and magazines had been placed on the tables in the living-room for decoration. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but I also needed to rest my leg so I headed for the big couch with the reclining seats.

   While passing through the kitchen, my head suddenly jerked left when I heard a faint yell come from outside. I rounded the corner – I came to a stop and my eye widened… The front door was just hanging open.

   As I brought my rifle around and stepped outside, I heard another yell that was suddenly cut short. It was dark and too far away for me to see any real details, but I could tell a shredder had someone pinned to the ground. I could see the white of their sneakers flailing around underneath it.

   I raised my rifle, but I didn’t have sight of its head so I aimed for the middle of its back. When the bullet struck, it fell to the side, immediately jumped back to its feet and starting running toward me at full speed. I fired again and hit it in the neck, only staggering it for a second.

   I nervously slid another bullet into the chamber with a shaky hand, held my breath and then pulled back on the trigger – this time getting the headshot because the last bullet actually slowed it down a little.

   Before I even took my first step, I could see that whoever it had gotten to wasn’t moving…
It only takes them a few seconds to kill someone…
I assumed one of the guys stepped outside for a smoke, or to take a piss. I selfishly thought –
Please, don’t let it be Walt…

   I quickly limped forward a few feet and something caught my eye. When I looked to my right and saw the gutted dog nearby, I knew exactly who it was…
Anthony…

   The pain in my leg disappeared and I suddenly found myself half-way running. It was dark, but I could see the blood all over his neck and torso. When I picked him up, his arm was almost completely detached from his body and only hanging on by some skin. I had to find a way to hold it up before I headed back to the house so it didn’t tear away.

   I knew the gunshots had woken everyone up, and that they were all probably on their way downstairs, so I began to yell out to them. “Get the medical supplies! Get the medical supplies ready!”

   The adrenaline and panic made Anthony’s frail body seem as light as a feather. When I was no more than five feet away from the door, Jessie ran out, came to a dead stop, aimed just to the right of me and fired a single shot. I glanced back to see that another shredder was running up behind me.

   I moved past Jessie as he fired again, making it so all could hear is a high pitched ringing. When I made it through the front door they were all there waiting. Melanie and I practically ran into each other.

   The lack of light in the house made it even more difficult to see exactly what had happened to Anthony… but Melanie saw enough to make her start sobbing and crying out hysterically as she tried to take him away from me.

   Brian had to hold her back so I could get Anthony over to the couch.

   I yelled out “There’re candles all over the place – gather up as many as you can so we can see!”

   I could feel that my hands, arms and shirt were wet with his blood. There was so much of it that I found myself assuming he was already dead.

   Just as I was about to check his breathing, a hand grabbed the back of shirt and pulled me away. Jenny took my place and yelled out “Hurry up with those candles!”

   I backed away…
That’s right. Jenny mentioned that she had medical experience…

   As Walt and I surrounded Jenny and Anthony with candles she continued to give him CPR, and the others had all gathered. Melanie dropped to her knees next to the couch and was tightly grasping Anthony’s hand. She buried her face into one of the cushions to drown out her heavy sobbing.

   The candle light only revealed Anthony’s imminent death… The shredder had almost completely eaten away his right shoulder. His arm was out of the socket and only hanging on by a single chunk of skin. He wasn’t breathing.

   When I heard the short, delicate footsteps behind us I knew it was Clara. I turned to Walt “Make sure she doesn’t see. GO!”

   Jenny pushed on his chest several more times and then leaned down to try and breathe the life back into him. Just as a look of despair spread across her face, Anthony started coughing and moving around.

   At first, I was happy and relieved. When he began to panic and scream out in agony, I realized what we’d done… He was going to die – it was just a fact. But instead of dying without having to feel any more pain, Jenny brought him back so he could experience several minutes of torture before he took his last breath.

   My eyes began to water as the tears streamed down his face and I saw how terrified and confused he was…
It must have happened so fast…

   I felt myself stop breathing when I thought –
Is this my fault? Should I have known he would try and go get that dog?

   After another few moments he began to quiet down and tried to speak, but all he could do was let out a series of groans and a few chopped up words. He was shaking as though he’d caught a chill and rapidly blinking from the shock setting in.

   Brian’s shallow voice came from beside me. “I think he’s asking for Clara.”

   Jenny and I glanced at each other. She said “What should we do?”

   Jessie reached in the duffle bag and pulled out a towel. I could see all the muscles in his face trying to fight off the tears starting to collect in his eyes. He stood mournfully over Anthony, then leaned down and covered his shoulder and arm with the towel.

   “They deserve to say goodbye to each other. Clara will never forgive us if we hide her away and she misses her chance… I know I wouldn’t.”

   Melanie took a deep breath and wiped her face dry. Her legs trembled as she rose to her feet. Jenny looked up at her and said “Hurry, he doesn’t have long.”

   I knew it was foolish to ask, but I didn’t care. “There’s nothing you can do?”

   Jenny avoided any eye contact as she shook her head. “If we were in a room prepped for surgery right now – maybe… I just don’t have what I need and he’ll be dead before we could drive to a hospital.”

   Brian remarked “And it could just be full of shredders.”

   “The bleeding has slowed down quite a bit, but he’s going into shock, which means he’s lost too much blood. Even if I could keep him alive” I interrupted her. “We have alcohol, antibiotics and painkillers.”

   “I’m aware of that.” Jenny bit down on her bottom lip and tightly shut her eyes. “I can’t help him – he’s just too badly injured.”

   When I glanced down at Anthony he was slowly looking around the room, but he wasn’t focusing on us, or anything else in particular. I took his hand and squeezed down, but he didn’t really react. He just kept looking off into nothing with his mouth hanging open – he was somewhere far away.

   When I heard Melanie and Clara approaching, I lowered my head and muttered “What is she even going to be saying goodbye to? Anthony’s conscious but he’s not really here. He won’t even know and it’ll just traumatize her even more.”