II. though I can't recall your face
one year before.
Mia used memories to distract her from the world. Now the world was taking away her memories. The life she had before was slipping away, between her fingers, vanished in the wind. Now, the knot thing she could think of was her father and sister. What used to be them. She couldn't stop smelling the sickening odor of blood. Their blood. Couldn't stop hearing the sound of tearing flesh. The moans of the undead. She was no longer Amelia Jones, the girl from Texas. She was Mia. Fourteen years old. Girl who lived in the woods. Girl who's life completely changed for the worse.
But she still had Lucas.
She spent a year in agony. Her innocence was washed away. Stripped from her body. She spent most nights awake, eyes glued to the sky, while Lucas slept. She didn't sleep as she was afraid of the nightmares that would come. Lucas didn't deserve to die from her stupid decisions. He was the one keeping them alive.
Her skin was slathered with Earth. Dirt, blood, sweat, grime. Her hair was tangled. Brown curls that barely reached her shoulders. For almost two years, Mia had yet to see herself. She was nearing the age of fourteen, however long that would be. But she figured her growing chest was a sign that she had become a teenager.
Lucas's voice had dropped sometime in the year they spent on the move. He was growing taller. Their father was tall. He surely would be, too. He's seen things over the long year. Done things no kid his age should have to do. It latched itself onto his skin, slathering itself on him like the dirt and blood he'd never be able to wash away. It made him grow up. The world was becoming cold but he wouldn't turn cold. He had a sister to take care of.
Lucas did his best to keep Mia from falling off the deep end. But he could only do so much. They were running low of supplies. Food. Water. He did everything he could to find anything local. To keep her spirits up. But Mia was afraid and he didn't blame her. They were just kids.
Mia followed behind Lucas, her feet dragging against the hot pavement road. It was always hot. Day and night. Even when the sun went away, the heat stayed. Sweat dripped from her forehead and ran down her face, streaking her dirt covered cheeks. She wiped it away with the sleeve of her torn flannel. Dirt caked under her chewed finger nails. Blood stained her palms. It was a part of her now. Her knife was tucked in the waistband of her pants. Her backpack felt like deadweight on her shoulders. She was deadweight. She felt guilty for dragging Lucas down with her.
"How far do you think the next town is?"
They hadn't spoken in what seemed like hours. Mia flinched. Lucas's voice was raspy and broken. Dry from dehydration. It made her uncomfortable. Since the car crash, her ears had been sensitive. Hearing her own voice made her want to cry. It scared Mia when he actually spoke. "I'm not sure."
Lucas sighed. "It can't be too far. We haven't passed anything in hours."
She didn't respond. The twins continued walking until they got over a small hill. There was a twin ahead of them. Small. Abandoned. But it was a time. "Mia, look!" Lucas said out loud.
Mia had half the mind to thank God.
"Okay. Remember what we talked about? Stay behind me and always look around."
She nodded again and held her knife tightly in her hand. She followed her brother through the empty town. He gripped his gun until his hands turned white. It was a scary sight to witness. Their dad always kept them away from the guns. Now Lucas was forced to use it to stay alive.
The twins entered one of the rundown markets. Lucas turned to his sister. "Okay, grab whatever you need and meet me back up front. Try to make it quick, okay?" He spoke with one quick breath.
Mia nodded again. The two went their separate ways. Her russet eyes shifted across the isles. They were nearly all empty with boxes scattered on the floor. Dried blood stained the tiles. She found few candy bars and canned foods and stuffed them in her backpack. She could tell the store used to be nice. Lights were ripped from the walls along and there were holes, indicating that there used to be picture frames hanging up. She didn't want to think about all the people that died here.
Lucas wasted no time stuffing bottles of water into his backpack. They were warm but it was water. He tucked his gun back into his waistband. He grabbed whatever he could from off the shelf. A jewelry rack stood in the corner of the shop. The silver still left caught his eye. When he got closer, Lucas saw it was initial necklaces. There was no M but an L caught his eye. A grin formed on his lips and he took it off the rack. His lips parted and he prepared to call his sister's name, but it was replaced with an excruciating scream when he felt jagged teeth tear into his neck.
When Mia heard the scream, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her. All the way across the store. She shouted her brother's name over and over again, each time getting louder. "Lucas!" Her heart lodged itself into her throat. Nearly collapsing, her eyes widened in horror when she saw two corpses over her twin brother, tearing into his skin like a piece of meat. Lucas laid under them, his screams loud and piercing. "LUCAS!" There was a break on her voice.
Taking out her knife, Mia plunged the weapon into the back of the corpse's head. As if fell, as dead as it already was before, the other corpse let go of Lucas and flung its arm at her. With no hesitation, Mia slashed it's arm, breaking it from its body, and she stabbed it dead in its skull.
Lucas's gurgling screams of pain tore apart her ears. Mia dropped to his side. "Lucas? Luke, can you hear me?"
The side of his neck had been ripped out. Blood poured out of him like thick water. It slipped from his lips each time he tried to breath. The skin of his arm was stripped off, his bones on display. His stomach had been torn open. His insides sprawled out.
"Lucas." She said again and grabbed his shoulders. She grunted as she pulled him up and she slid under him. His back rested against her front and she held him ad tightly ad she could. His blood stained her clothes. "It's okay, baby. It's okay."
"Mia." He choked. More blood come out of his mouth.
"No. No. No. it's okay. It's okay, Luke. It's not that bad. It's not that bad." She rambled through tears. She didn't know what to do. She looked around in panic. "Baby, I don't know what to do. What do I do?"
"You know what you have to do." He managed to say. He grunted again in pain, causing the blood coming from his neck to come out even faster.
Mia brushed the hair off his forehead. "No, Luke, I can't."
"Mia—"
"I can't, Lucas. I can't do that. I won't!" She cried and started to rock him. "It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay."
As she rambled on through her tears, Lucas cried in pain again. He used whatever strength he could to find her hand and he squeezed it. "Look at me." He uttered painfully.
Their eyes were the same shade of honey. Russet brown. Made from the Earth. Their father's eyes. "You have to do it, Mia."
Mia let out another choked sob. She squeezed him tighter in her arms. "Lucas, I can't. I can't do this without you."
"It hurts, Mia. Please do it for me." He cried as well.
She felt selfish. She held him like he was going to disappear. He was hurting. He was dying. But she didn't want to let him go. Not him.
"Don't let go, Amelia." He whimpered snd coughed, blood spewing from his mouth.
He didn't look like a person anymore. His body was wilting like the flowers that would die in their backyard when Summer was over. Lucas was a flower. That's what their mom called him. Him a flower. Her a sun. Mia clutched onto him even tighter and she cried until her chest hurt. "I'm afraid, Luke."
She watched him lift his hand, the bone in his arm fully in sight, and he unclenched his fist, revealing s necklaces. "I got this for you." He uttered weakly. His breath was running out. He was growing more tired. More lifeless.
Her lip trembled and she took the necklace in her bloody hand, the silver L shining. "I love it." She whimpered.
"Mia." She looked down and he was looking at her. The light he always had in his eyes was dimmed, the honey now appearing dull. Tears streamed down his bloody face. His hand was still grasping hers. "Don't be afraid, Mimi."
"But I am. I can't do this without you, Luke." She cried like the child she was.
"Yes, you can. You're strong, Amelia. You've always been there for me. You'll beat this, Mimi. You're going to find someone. Find a group. Make it out of her alive. I know it. But you have to live for me."
The tears in her eyes fell and dropped onto his face. "I don't want any of that without you."
He released a small chuckle, his teeth covered and blood as well as his chin. "I'll always be with you. You just won't see me. Bur I'll see you again some day. I'll be waiting for you with open arms. I just hope it's a long time from now. As long as you're alive, and you live, I'll be here. But you have to promise me."
She held him tighter and she leaned her head down, her forehead touching his. "I'll live for you, Luke. I promise."
Lucas smiled up at her, but it was out of focus. Distant. Like he was slipping away. "I get to be with our family again. We'll be waiting for you, Mimi."
Their grasped hands intertwined, their blood combining together, and Mia held her twin brother in her arms. Her shaky hand lifted her knife. She pressed her forehead to his again and squeezed her eyes shut. "I love you, brother."
The blade slid into his skull and Lucas released his last breath. The brightness of his eyes were gone. His mouth remained open. He was frozen. Forever thirteen. A beautiful boy who the world destroyed.
When her eyes opened, Mia stared at her blood coated hands and she cried again. A strained, painful cry ripped apart her throat and she rocked her brother's lifeless body with hers.