Jane stood in the kitchen doorway and watched as Jon fixed Lilacs hand, her face throbbing in the places that Lilac hit her. She walked to the bathroom to wash her face and get rid of the blood, but when she walked into the room she saw the shower curtains move. She pushed her back up to the wall and threw her knife towards the curtain, the knife sliced the curtain open and hit whatever was in the shower. She heard a loud scream and pushed the curtain open and was happy to see that it was a racoon.
“Guys I got dinner for us!” she yelled beginning to skin the fur off. She held the racoon up by the tail and walked out to the kitchen to show everyone her prize but when she walked in she saw Jon and Lilac kissing, she dropped the racoon and crossed her arms across her chest.
“Um, I’d hate to break this little kiss fest up but I just killed a raccoon and I’m pretty sure we are all hungry.” Jane walked into the kitchen and pushed Lilac out of the way and handed Jon the raccoon.
“Here you go, I caught it just for you.” she said smiling and standing on her toes to get just about the same height with him.
“Thanks, I’ll start cooking then.” he put two finger on his forehead and saluted, then walked to the backyard to start cooking.
“Jane, what do you think you’re doing” Lilac said holding her hand on Janes shoulder and turning her around so that they face each other.
“What do you mean, I’m not doing anything.” Jane said, then she skipped to the backyard.
Lilac knew what was going on, this had happened before, but she was hoping that it was just a coincidence.
When Jane got to the backyard she saw Jon sitting up in the lookout in the tree and thought it was a good idea to keep him company. She climbed the tree very quietly hoping to sneak up on him, but he was sitting on the floor, facing the entrance.
“Hey Jane” he said
“Dang, you saw me, I was going to sneak up on you.” she said
“Oh, well you’re gonna have to try harder next time.” He said cocking a half smile
“So, what are you doing up here, alone?” She said, taking a seat next to him
“Just standing watch, why are you out here?” he said, turning his body to face her
“Lilac is driving me up a wall, she’s crazy.” she said while holding her hands to her head making it look as if she was trying to hold her ears so she wouldn’t have to hear anything.
“Well, I don’t think she’s crazy, she’s just different.” he said.
“No Jon, she is crazy.” she said placing her hand on his knee.
“How do you know, you don’t even know her?” He said.
“Poor, naive little Jon, she must not have told you yet” she said.
“What do you mean?” His eyebrows narrowing.
“My mom and dad adopted her when she was just a kid, but the orphanage told us some things about her” she said,
“Like what” he said
“Well, she talks to herself, well wait no she actually talks to ‘people’ when in reality no one is there.’’ she said
“What happened to her real parents, why was she up for adoption?” he asked
“The orphanage owner said that she was a main suspect for the murder of her family, but they arrested the neighbor who was doing crack, but I know she did it, she killed her parents” she said. Jon looked to the sliding glass window and noticed Lilac standing, watching. Jane stood up to look over the watchtower wall but instantly sat back down. “Don’t stand up” she whispered, pulling on Jon’s shirt and moving closer to him.
“Why?” Jon said while standing up.
“Jon, sit down know!” she whisper yelled. When Jon was on his feet he noticed a large hoard of creatures, limping and biting. Jon began to lift his pistol and aim, he shot one, two, three.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Lilac said while grabbing his arm and pulling him down.
“What do you mean, I’m killing them?” he said
“No you’re not, noise draws them in you idiot!” she said
“Okay chill out” he said. They both stood up slowly and started for the ladder leading to the backyard, but the watch tower started tipping and moving closer to the hoard that was directly under them. Jon motioned for Jane to go but she just shook her head and grabbed onto his hand.
“Jane, go, I will be alright” he said, detaching his hand for hers. She just stood there, staring at Jon.
“No, I’m not letting you die.” She said
“I’m going to be fine, trust me.” he said, Jane nodded and jumped to the backyard and watched as the tower tipped into the wave of creatures. Jon sat on the floor of the watch tower and closed his eyes, the tower of wood broke from under him and he was now exposed to the hoard. Jane stood and listened for any signs that he might still be alive, but she heard nothing. Lilac came running out, crying and screaming
“Why, why did you let him die?” she said turning to Jane, she just stood there watching as her sister fell to the ground. Jane knew that Lilac was broken, and that’s what she wanted, a small smile came from the side of her face as she stood above Lilac.
“I’m sorry, but he told me to leave him” she said kneeling down for a hug, Lilac rejected her sister’s affection and got up off the floor. She walked over to the gate with a knife in hand and kicked the gate open, she ran out to the fallen tower and started stabbing everything in sight, she stepped over bodies and began to stab some that were already dead. Her face now covered in blood, her hands and lungs sore from gripping the handle of the knife and from screaming. She started moving bodies looking for Jon’s remains but couldn’t find anything, he was gone, nothing was left, no clothing pieces, no bones, nothing. Jane came running out after Lilac and saw what exactly was going on, her jaw dropped down as she saw the hundreds of bodies on the ground.
“Lilac, are you okay?” she said running over to her.
“I’m leaving” Lilac said, looking up at Jane. Lilac stood up and wiped her knife off on her shirt and began to walk towards the gas station just down the street, Jane came running after her.
“Wait, why are you leaving?” She was now face to face with a blood spattered Lilac.
“Because of you, you always doing this crap, you find me when I leave and then you kill my loved ones, you did this with Danny, and Mark, and my freaking parents! Take a hint, I HATE YOU!” she yelled, her hands were in a fist again and her eyes were full of tears. Jane was looking at her feet then back at Lilac, then to her feet again.
“Is it bad that I just want you to myself, is it really that bad that I want keep you for myself, is it wrong that I love my dear sister?” She said.
“Yes, it’s wrong if you go out and kill people just to get to me, you are crazy” Lilac said. Jane’s eye started twitching and she let out a loud laugh.
“I’m not the crazy one, you are the one who killed your parents, you are the one who killed Mark and Danny, you are the one who killed Jon.” Jane said, Lilac punched Jane in the face causing her to become unconscious, Lilac stepped over the unconscious girl and went back to the house to grab her stuff. She filled her bag with the med box and some water, she also wrapped the raccoon in a towel and stuffed that in the bag as well. She walked for a solid four miles until she came across another hoard of creatures, she was tired and hungry and didn’t have the energy to actually take them out so she placed herself under a broken down car and stayed there till they passed. When she knew the coast was clear she got back up and decided to set up camp in the woods. She found a clearing in between some trees and set her bag down, she grabbed a bottle of water and began to wash her face. She set up the bloody sheet as a tent on some branches and then took the raccoon out of the towel and began to eat. As she ate she had realized that this raccoon tasted like crap, but she couldn’t stop eating, she was to hungry. When she was done with her meal she made her way into the tent and and pulled out a blanket, she laid her down on a pile of leaves and shut her eyes, the sound of the birds and bugs soothed her, the sound of the leaves rustling in the trees helped her fall asleep.
When she was finally asleep she felt a something nudge her arm and call her name, she rolled over to meet the face of Jon. His warm smile and his grey eyes gave Lilac a giggly feeling.
“You’re alive?” she asked, but there was no answer. So she asked again, and still no answer was given, then Jon turned morphed into her old boyfriend Mark. Lilac sat up and let out a quiet yelp, she was shaking uncontrollably, rubbing her eyes to see if she was dreaming. She closed her eyes thinking that when she opened them Jon would be laying next to her, sleeping. Lilac opened her eyes slowly, she saw a face, but it was not Jon’s or Mark’s, it was yet another old boyfriend. “What is going on, Danny please help me?” she whispered reaching her hand to his arm, but when she came in contact with the boy his face turned to a horrifying demon, he was screaming and biting. His teeth sharper than her knife, Lilac was now out of the tent and running as far away from the sight as she could. As she ran she was hit by limbs of trees and dead, thorny bushes, when she stopped she was about a mile from the tent and out of breath. She sat down and began to cry, her tears were cold as they ran down her red, steamy face, “What is going on, first Jane and now this, someone please help me?” she whimpered. She felt a hand on her shoulder that slowly turned her around, she was now face to face with a man and a woman. The woman was standing with her golden hair in a tight bun and she wore diamond studs that sparkled in the pale moonlight, her loose black blouse was swaying in the wind and her necklace hung delicately on her neck. The man had his black hair slicked back and a mustache that was sharply trimmed, and just below that was a stirn smile, his black vest blended with the dark but the white collar helped Lilac relax. She pulled the old photo out of her pocket and brought it up to the two people that stood before her, it was the same family that was in the photo, and just behind the two parents stood a shy little girl, who looked just like Lilac. “Who are you?” she asked
“We are your parents” the lady said.
“That’s not possible because if you were my parents than where is the other girl, also when we were clearing the house we saw two people in the closet” she said whilst standing and wiping her face.
“See George, she is smart” the mother said.
“The other girl that you saw in the closet was a friend of mine, she was staying the night and then the outbreak started” the little girl said. The Lilac woke up in a pool of sweat, her heart racing and her body was shaking. She pulled herself out of the tent and started packing the remaining contents of her bag, she was still so shocked about how real the dream felt and how the house she was in was her old one. When she finished her packing she began walking again, she didn’t know where she was going to go or where she wanted to go, but she was going to find it. As she walked she would pull the picture out of her pocket and look at the little girl, she was just now realizing that she was the little girl, this was her family. She walked about another hour and then stumbled upon a little town called Gardner, it was a closed off community where everyone lived a normal life.
“Hi, you must be new, follow me.” A perky teen came running up to Lilac, she had short brown hair and had braces, her eyes were a beautiful shade of brown and her smile was probably bigger than the town. “So what’s your name stranger?” she asked
“My name is Lilac, Lilac Amber.” she replied
“Well Lilac Amber, my name is Keelyn Aubrey Keehn, an honor to meet me.” she said skipping along the pavement.
“So, where are you taking me?” She asked
“To a house, all the new teens go to a certain house, but I guess you wouldn’t know that.” Keelyn shrugged her shoulders and took Lilacs hand, “Come on now Lilac Amber.” She said dragging Lilac behind her. They walked past an old bank, a church, and then over a bridge. They walked into a neighborhood that was in the process of being built and went to the end of the street. They finally approached a green house, with teens filling the porch and laying in the yard.
“Everyone, this is Lilac Amber, she is new so be nice.” Keelyn said pushing Lilac towards everyone. “Lilac, this is everyone” she said.
“Hi” she said waving nervously.
“Let’s go inside and get you situated.” She said. Keelyn took Lilacs hand once more and led her to the girls room that was on the top floor of the house. She swung the door open and all in a circle sat two girls and one boy, they all looked up and smiled and also waved. “Ladies, this is Lilac Amber, she is new to town.” Keelyn said, once again pushing Lilac towards the crowd.
“Um Keelyn, it’s not just all ladies.” A short boy stood up, he had and orange shirt on and also orange pants.
“Oh sit down Patrick, you are a girl” a black girl said, pulling at Patrick’s shirt
“Hey be nice you butt.” Another girl said, she had long blond hair and wore red glasses, she wore a black choker and a blue shirt.
“Hi, I’m Kenzie” the black girl said.
“I’m Patrick”
“I’m Lily”
“And I’m Keelyn, but you already know that.” she said laughing. Lilac just smiled and went to her bunk. She kicked her shoes off and lyed on the mattress. Lilac was never into sharing rooms with people, or people who will stare at her until she isn’t a “new arrival” anymore. At five O’clock everyone went to the kitchen for dinner, but Lilac didn’t like the idea of eating with everyone, as if it was a normal day and the world wasn’t falling apart.
“Lilac, come down and eat with us.” Keelyn said
“I’m not hungry.” she said rolling over to face the opposite of her.
“But you can meet everyone properly.” keelyn said.
“Fine, ten minutes’, that’s it.” she said, Keelyn began clapping her hands and jumping around. She lead Lilac to the dinner table and sitting around it was Kenzie, Lily, and Patrick. Keelyn sat herself next to Lily and then patted the chair that Lilac was supposed to sit in.
“So everyone, you know how this works, go around the table and introduce yourself.” Keelyn said. Lily was the first to start, she stood up and took a deep breathe
“Hi, I’m Lily LaRue, I’m 14 and that’s all you need to know.” She slumped back in her chair and began eating. Next was Kenzie, she stood up and adjusted her hair to lay across her left eye and pushed the other side of hair behind her other ear.
“Hi, I’m Kenzie and I’m also 14, and I think this is really stupid.” she sat back in her seat and like Lily began to eat. Next was Patrick, and he looked really excited to introduce himself.
“Hi, I’m Patrick and I just so happen to be 14 and I really like when we do this because sometimes I forget people’s names.” He said plopping himself back in his seat. Then all eyes were on Lilac, her face getting red and warm, she slowly pushed herself up out of her chair and began to speak.
“Hello, my name is Lilac Amber, I’m 18 years old and I just want to go to sleep.” And with that she pushed her chair and walked back to the room. Everyone was silent as she walked back to the room.