Survival of the Fittest

Chapter 6

Present Day

They say most accidents happen within a mile of your home. I hope they're proud of being right. We could see the door. That's how close we were. So close, but so far away. There's a song for that somewhere.

As we near the hideout, we see figures looming in front of the entrance. They walk slow, shaky steps; almost in a trance, not seeming to notice us. I look to Kyla to see her reaction but her expression is stony. She makes eye contact with me and motions to an alcove off to the right. We quietly make our way over there and hide behind the wall.

"What do we do?" I frantically whisper.

"There's a back entrance half a block up," her voice barely audible, "we'll have to sneak across to the other side though. We should wait until it gets darker. There's more of them out at night but at least they're less likely to see us."

I peek around the corner and see the silhouettes hovering menacingly in the fading light.

"We don't really have another choice do we?" The words come out as more of a statement than a question. I turn back to face Kyla and Raegan, both of whom have settled down against the wall behind a variety of odorous trash cans. Sitting beside them, the emotions of the day sweep over me and I realize just how exhausted I am. We sit in silence for what feels like an eternity, not risking giving our hiding spot away. My eyelids are heavy with sleep, weighing me down like sandbags. I rest my head against the wall behind me and succumb to darkness. What feels like moments later, I am rudely shaken awake by gruff hands. Bolting awake, I see that night has come and even the moon is hiding from these unnatural creatures behind a set of thick clouds. Raegan offers me a hand up, which I graciously accept, my legs stiff with fatigue. Kyla has taken a predators stance near the mouth of the cave.

"Follow me," Kyla breathes, her voice barely audible. She begins to lead us silently out of the alley, stopping every few seconds to listen for the undead. We make it a half block without a hint of trouble. Hidden in the shadows, we come across a wall where vines snake lazily up its surface. Kyla begins ripping through the tangles until we are face to face with a rusty steel door adorned by a large valve, not unlike the ones on a submarine. With a forceful tug, Kyla unlocks the door and heaves it open with a loud creak that echoes all around us, signaling the undead. Immediately, we hear their shrieks coming from all around. We run inside and slam the door shut behind us, twisting the handle shut until we hear the satisfying click of the lock. Several seconds later we are met with the pounding of the undead, each blow sending a chill down my spine. How easily we become lifeless, nothing but empty shells.

We hurriedly turn and head down the hall, closing every possible bunker door behind us, trying to comfort our nerves. We make it back to the weapons room, sliding all of the ones we took back in place. I notice Kyla keeps a handgun and knife on her, the first sign of any real emotion I've seen from her

"I didn't think you could feel fear," I watch as Kyla tenses, refusing to make eye contact. Without a word, she turns her back to me and starts distractedly taking inventory. Clearly avoiding a heart-to-heart, I continue, "You know it's okay to feel things. You don't have to act tough all the time. I'm scared, too."

"Well, I'm not you, now am I?" Kyla answers shortly, continuing to keep her eyes on the weapons in front of her. A dull silence fills the space between them.

"Thank you!" I say, breaking the silence, "I couldn't have saved Raegan without you."

"Don't mention it." She hardly looks up as she starts polishing her pristine weapons.

"I'm surprised we didn't run into more trouble than what we did." I try again, determined to get a full conversation out of her.

"We got lucky, don't expect it to happen again." Seeing that this isn't going anywhere, I nudge Raegan in the direction of the hall and head back to the room I had woken up in. Now that my mind was clearer, I notice that the room looks similar to barracks. Great. Even more proof that we have become soldiers to a war we didn't sign up for.

"We should sleep, it's been a long day," I say to Raegan, who doesn't argue. Without bothering to find clean clothes, we climb our bodies into two of the beds and after a short time, am met with Raegan's soft snores. My mind races, keeping me awake until I see small slivers of light begin to fill the room as dawn awakens. The light dances before me until my eyelids grow heavy and I doze off into a fitful sleep.

~

I wake up to a flood of light, small rays of sunlight peeking through the blinds, the light barely illuminating the small room. As I rub the sleep out of my eyes, I see that it's not blinds at all but bars, probably to keep the beasts out. My mind races with the events of the past few months. How I wish I could turn back time to when things were easier. I close my eyes tight and pinch myself to see if I'll awake from this nightmare. The painful pang that follows tells me all I need to know.

With a huge sigh, I roll myself out of bed and look to find Raegan's bed empty.

Not again. I bolt up in bed, my eyes frantically searching the room. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and am met with the cold floor. With quick strides, I make it to the door, flinging it open and step out into the hall. My heart pounds as I try to convince myself to not overreact. I take a deep breath and let logic kick in, she was probably just hungry. She wouldn't be idiotic enough to step foot out in the real world right now.

I make my way to the kitchen and am met with the pleasant smell of pancakes and bacon. I must be dreaming. I round the corner and find Kyla gently showing Raegan how to not burn the pancakes. They both look up as I walk closer and take a seat at the counter.

"She finally emerges," Kyla watches as Raegan trips to flip one of the pancakes, wincing as it almost falls onto the floor, "I've been saving this mix for a special occasion."

"Oh, really? And what's the occasion?" My curiosity peaks at her noticeable excitement.

"You and your sister are hopeless with weapons," My glare is met with a chuckle, "Just stating the obvious. In any case, I'm going to train the two of you. If you're to stick around, I can't watch my own back, so that'll be your job."