42 months ago:
As I came to from being knocked unconscious, I felt
like part of my head was missing I’d been hit so hard. The blood wasn’t new though,
blood was everywhere. The smell, the sight, even the taste…but there was
something new though. In my mind, in my memories, there was something
different. Something I wish had never come back.
On the other end of that phone call, on that now familiar rainy night, all I heard was my mother’s sweet serenade turn into a high pitched 5 letter word: Jacob! They were so close to our house that I could hear the brakes screech. I could hear the crash barely a mile away. I called 911 to tell them there was a crash near my place, however I don’t think the words actually came out; then, before I could say another word, the sirens were getting louder and louder. I dropped the phone and ran. I ran for what seemed like forever, using the red and blue lights to guide me. I was crying so hard that my vision was blurred and the flashing red and blue lights then blended into purple. When I got there, our SUV was completely flipped over, car parts were everywhere. Everything started to slow down as Jacob ran toward me with blood all over him saying, “I just looked away for a second!” As I ran to the car, calling out mom’s name, and my daughter…my Raina, there was glass everywhere. When I looked into the car, my family was still inside, with mom still holding onto her tightly. Gone forever. The people who knocked me out kept questioning me while I tried to remember what happened after the crash. I knew that when my dad came to take me away with him, I stayed with him for over a year and Jacob, Raina, and mom got a house. I knew I eventually left dad again to meet up with them; but, why was there nothing in the house indicating that I even had a daughter? The reason that I forgot I had a child still didn’t make sense to me but Jacob did this. He killed them. He took their light away. I clenched my hands tightly at the sight of him after that. “Who the fuck are you, and give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you, after killing one of ours?” A man dressed in overalls called out to me. “My name is Cadence, and there is no reason.” Jacob shot a mean look at me. “You can’t seriously kill her! It was dark and she was protecting herself, you assholes!” “Don’t defend me Jacob, I can speak for myself.” I wanted to rip his throat out right there in front of everyone. I couldn’t believe I had been beside that asshole the whole time, and he knew. He knew what he took away from me and he still had the nerve to speak on my behalf. “Look, can I at least go over there to look at her head wound? You hit her pretty damn hard,” Jacob said to the guy threatening to kill me. I shouted instantly, “No! Don’t touch me.” He looked pretty confused after that, but he wouldn’t be for long. The hillbilly then said, “You killed Sara. You shot her to death and we will never forgive you for that. So, I guess we’re in a bit of a bad situation here.” There were about 12 people in that group, trying to survive each day and I just made it harder for them. What seemed to be Sara’s kids were whimpering in fear of me. I looked at them and said, “I won’t hurt you. I’m sorry… you can take what you want,” I told the leader of the group. “We’re going to bury Sara first. Then, we’ll talk about what I get to take from you.” The group took Sara’s body and argued about how to get rid of it. They kept loudly bickering about not wanting to leave her on the ground for the Ferals to get her as leftovers, but that they had no shovels. They then thought of setting her aflame, but they had no lighter. Jacob then offered them his lighter. After the body was burned, they began to ransack our supplies, even took our tents. They left us with nothing.
On the other end of that phone call, on that now familiar rainy night, all I heard was my mother’s sweet serenade turn into a high pitched 5 letter word: Jacob! They were so close to our house that I could hear the brakes screech. I could hear the crash barely a mile away. I called 911 to tell them there was a crash near my place, however I don’t think the words actually came out; then, before I could say another word, the sirens were getting louder and louder. I dropped the phone and ran. I ran for what seemed like forever, using the red and blue lights to guide me. I was crying so hard that my vision was blurred and the flashing red and blue lights then blended into purple. When I got there, our SUV was completely flipped over, car parts were everywhere. Everything started to slow down as Jacob ran toward me with blood all over him saying, “I just looked away for a second!” As I ran to the car, calling out mom’s name, and my daughter…my Raina, there was glass everywhere. When I looked into the car, my family was still inside, with mom still holding onto her tightly. Gone forever. The people who knocked me out kept questioning me while I tried to remember what happened after the crash. I knew that when my dad came to take me away with him, I stayed with him for over a year and Jacob, Raina, and mom got a house. I knew I eventually left dad again to meet up with them; but, why was there nothing in the house indicating that I even had a daughter? The reason that I forgot I had a child still didn’t make sense to me but Jacob did this. He killed them. He took their light away. I clenched my hands tightly at the sight of him after that. “Who the fuck are you, and give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you, after killing one of ours?” A man dressed in overalls called out to me. “My name is Cadence, and there is no reason.” Jacob shot a mean look at me. “You can’t seriously kill her! It was dark and she was protecting herself, you assholes!” “Don’t defend me Jacob, I can speak for myself.” I wanted to rip his throat out right there in front of everyone. I couldn’t believe I had been beside that asshole the whole time, and he knew. He knew what he took away from me and he still had the nerve to speak on my behalf. “Look, can I at least go over there to look at her head wound? You hit her pretty damn hard,” Jacob said to the guy threatening to kill me. I shouted instantly, “No! Don’t touch me.” He looked pretty confused after that, but he wouldn’t be for long. The hillbilly then said, “You killed Sara. You shot her to death and we will never forgive you for that. So, I guess we’re in a bit of a bad situation here.” There were about 12 people in that group, trying to survive each day and I just made it harder for them. What seemed to be Sara’s kids were whimpering in fear of me. I looked at them and said, “I won’t hurt you. I’m sorry… you can take what you want,” I told the leader of the group. “We’re going to bury Sara first. Then, we’ll talk about what I get to take from you.” The group took Sara’s body and argued about how to get rid of it. They kept loudly bickering about not wanting to leave her on the ground for the Ferals to get her as leftovers, but that they had no shovels. They then thought of setting her aflame, but they had no lighter. Jacob then offered them his lighter. After the body was burned, they began to ransack our supplies, even took our tents. They left us with nothing.
They didn’t compromise at all, and planned on taking
everything from the start. While they were leaving, I overheard the leader of
the group say, “This part is always fun, and burning that bitch was the
highlight of my night. She was perfect bait.” Sara obviously meant nothing to
them, if that was even the poor girl’s name. It was all a show. Too bad I didn’t
care either way about what they took, nothing was really ours anyway.
36 months ago:
It took 6 months as to when I finally decided to
confront Jacob about Raina and mom. We were constantly on the move but I
couldn’t control my anger any longer. I woke him in the middle of the night. “You
bastard. What did you do to me? Why couldn’t I remember what happened until
recently? You killed them!” I started shaking uncontrollably with anger.
“Cadence, calm down baby, I have no idea what you’re talking about!” I looked
at him with disbelief. “You can’t lie to me anymore, Jacob; I got my fucking
memory back. I know everything now. Raina, mom, the car crash. EVERYTHING. Why,
Jacob? Why couldn’t I remember?!” “Cadence you...will you sit down please? Sit
down and I’ll tell you everything.” I sat down, still clenching my fists,
wanting to lunge at him. “Cady, you have PTSD. You lost your memory of them
BECAUSE of that moment…the guilt consumed you. You were in that car with them,
you were driving. You’re still getting it mixed up. I hid the photos and any
sign of their existence so that you wouldn’t be reminded of them. I hoped this
day wouldn’t come. I’m so….so sorry.” I looked at him with amazement. “No,
you’re lying about me killing them. I saw you. You ran to me apologizing for
crashing the car. I was at home working! You’re lying. You’re lying…” “Baby, no
I’m not. The doctors said that if you ever regained your memory, that you might
still replace some images with more accepting ones. You’re confusing fiction
with reality. Putting me at the wheel, instead of yourself, literally! You
still can’t accept it. But it’s okay...it’s okay now, Cadence. It was a while
ago and I’m sorry I lied to you, but it’s all going to be okay.” I then started
laughing and laughing. To think that he could actually lie to me...again, and that
I believed him for even a second! “Just a web of lies, Jacob.” It took less
than a second for me to raise my gun and pull the trigger. I shot him right
there in the woods, with no hesitation. The Ferals had to have heard that shot
ring out, and they’d come very soon. All of their yellow sunken eyes, looking
up in unison, following the sound of the gunshot to find fresh food. I packed up the new stuff we looted from
stores and houses and left, leaving Jacob’s body to be ripped apart, giving him
the “proper burial” he deserved.
Present day:
The only
beautiful thing remaining is the sunset now. Being alone on this boat has given
me a lot of time to think about what beauty is left in the world now. The
streets are littered with trash and death. The supermarkets are all broken
into. Plants and animals, all dead and forgotten. There is barely any
indication of life now. Still, on this
peaceful boat, I almost don’t want to find land. I could just drift and die of
starvation. It’s better than being ripped apart by my ravenous, grave walking
enemies. I used to hate oceans, vast and deep. The idea of being the only one
out here would have scared the shit out of me at one point. Mysterious sea monsters
and sharks underwater, and being placed above sunken cruise ships miles below
my feet would never fail to creep me out immensely. Now, I love being out here,
to breathe and to think for once. The ocean’s vastness feels like home now,
peaceful. Days pass by and I’m already running low on the snacks I found on
this boat. It’s time find land and gather supplies. Hopefully I can set sail
again soon without running into another altercation…with the living. There’s an
island ahead where I can look for fruit, and maybe find fresh water. If anyone
else is on this island, I don’t want them to see my boat, so I’ve decided to
anchor it and swim the rest of the way. I get to the island just as the sun
begins to rise, exhausted from the pounding waves. I start leaving some sticks
in the sand, pointing the way out to find my boat. If there is anyone on this
island, they may still be asleep. As I walk through the woods, I listen
carefully to everything around me. I look up at the trees to look for fruit
when I spot a grapefruit tree, large with dark green leaves, with the fruit
hanging in clusters.
This is like Christmas to me. The tree is so
beautiful, representing life in its entirety. I climbed the tall tree and
picked off some of its beauty. I’m surprised no one has found this tree yet.
There is a lot of fruit on it. Maybe I’m the only one here... or at least on
this side of the island. The sunset is approaching and I’m pretty exhausted.
I’ve decided to sleep in the woods. I’ll sleep here for the night, then head
back to my boat tomorrow morning. As I
wake up, I look out at the beach, and get up to start walking back. WHAM!
Everything around me is spinning, like I’d had one too many drinks or
something. My eyes could barely stay open. What the fuck? I look around, and there’s
men all around me, carrying me like a stack of logs. Shit, I’m tired of being
hit on the head and knocked unconscious. They better not have taken my gun.
They haven’t seen me open my eyes yet. This is it, time to make a scene. I grab
onto their shirts and pull myself out of their arms and run. I turn around to
make sure they’re far behind when a man comes out from a tree and tackles me
down. “What the fuck! Who are you! Get the hell off of me!” I punched him in
the face several times but I got so distracted that the people who were chasing
me eventually caught up and pulled me off of the guy, holding me back. The guy
then got up and said, “You got a nice arm for a girl.” He spit blood onto the
ground and brought out his knife. “Be a good girl and do as we say or I’ll cut
your pretty little face up. Now, with all the noise you’ve made, there’s
probably some Gunks heading our way right now.” I shot him a confused look.
“You call them Gunks?” “What, you gotta’ better name for em’, sweetie? Look,
girl. We need to leave NOW. The boss is expecting us back soon.” Yeah, right. Like I’m going back with a bunch
of guys to a man they call ‘the boss.’ “You’re shit crazy if you think I’m
going back with you.” “LISTEN! Your name is Cadence right? He’s expecting you.
We’ve been looking for you during our raids. We come back to this island a lot,
usually to steal shit and take people, and he keeps telling us to search for
you. So, it’s time to go back.” “Go back
where asshole!” “The Hyperion.” One
of the other raiders said, “Look, he wants you to be in one piece. We can’t
exactly hurt you, but we can use force if you don’t oblige to come back with
us. We never thought we’d actually find you here of all places, but I guess
it’s our lucky day. Like it or not, you’re coming with us.” Just then, a Feral
came up and bit the guy who just threatened me. “Ahhhh! Fuck!” He cried out and immediately shot
himself in the head to avoid re-birth. The men around me grabbed their weapons
and began firing. These idiots just made it worse by using guns. I started
running and came across a few jet skis pulled up on the shore. Must be theirs… well, don’t mind if do!
I start the engine and then turn it off…Fuck. Right then, I see another jet ski
approaching the beach. I freeze up again, like I did when I left that group
back in the city. He rides up on the sand right next to me and says, “Cadence,
hop on.” He looks ahead and sees more Ferals approaching us. “Now would be
good!” “Does everyone know my name? Was there some apocalyptic advertisement I
don’t know about?” “Get on and I’ll explain everything.” I reluctantly get on
the Jet Ski with him and we ride out toward The
Hyperion. “Who are you people? And who is this ‘boss’ of yours I keep
hearing about?” “Cadence, he’s your father. He has a picture of you when you
were younger on his desk. Your looks haven’t changed much thankfully. He’s been
looking for you for a very long time. We were just about to go back to the
mainland when he told us to keep searching the island.” My father? That bastard
never gives up. I then get a sudden flashback of telling my dad to leave when
he came to my doorstep a long while back, begging me to go with him, as the
news just started spilling information about the dead starting to rise. He kept
babbling about him finding a way off the mainland. I guess he did…that asshole
is in charge of The Hyperion. He
sends raiders out to steal survivors’ stuff and then they take those poor
people back as slaves, and god knows what else. I grind my teeth in preparation
for seeing this son of a bitch again. I mutter under my breath, “Alright then…
let’s go see Daddy.”
We get to the ship and use a wooden lift to get on
board. Before we are in sight of everyone, I ask the guy who brought me here
how to find my dad. He says, “There are guards up top, but they’re already
expecting you, as they’ve all seen your picture. Admiral Moore will be to the
left of us when we get off this lift. His office is down that hall, the last
one on the right. I’ll take you there.” Just as we’re getting to the top,
there’s a huge boom and the ship rocks back and forth, causing us to fall off
the lift. The guy next to me fell into the water and three of my fingers barely
held onto the platform’s edge. As the boat steadied a little, I pulled myself
up and onto the wooden lift again. I then reach up again to pull myself up over
the edge of the ship when a hand grabs my arm. I’m pulled up by a guy who
frantically tells me I have to get off the ship. A bomb went off and it’s
sinking. I tell the seemingly nice man, “I DON’T CARE! There’s still time. Is
Moore in his office?” He looks at me with confusion and just points down the
hall to my left. I tell him thanks and he looks at me with sadness in his eyes
and simply says, “Be careful, Miss.” “Wait!
You did save me, what’s your name?” “Spades.” He then jumps off the
sinking ship, making his escape. I run down the hall and water and fire is
everywhere now. There’s still time…there’s still time. I get to his office door
and knock, demanding to be let it. “It’s me, we need to talk.” I hear shuffling
and talking inside his office and then ‘Admiral Fucking Moore’ opens the door
with a slight grin on his face, he looks like he’s completely lost his mind. He
walks back behind his desk and motions for me to take a seat. “Cady, I’ve been
looking for you everywhere, sweetie.” I walk over to his desk to sit down,
reaching for the half empty glass of scotch on his desk. “No, Cadence. You
don’t want to drink that.” I’m not even going to ask why he just said that. I
stand up and push the chair to the ground in anger. “You already know why I’m
really here, don’t you?” He looked down as if I actually offended him. He stood
up to say, “Can’t we just sit here and talk, honey?” I raised my gun, and shot
him in the head. “No more talking dad.” I knew I saved that last bullet for a
reason. The ship rocked back and forth again, causing everything on my father’s
desk to go flying off, shit sliding all around on the floor. I stepped out of
the room as the fire started to rise. I slowly walked away while everyone just
ran by me in a rush to abandon ship. Who am I now? I’m a murderous monster. I
don’t even recognize myself anymore. No more bullets left. I jump off the ship,
hoping to just drown and never reach the surface again. Dying in an abyss that
I was once afraid of seems like a good end. As soon as I hit the water, someone
jumps in to save me, just as I’m finally ready for whatever is under the
surface to consume me. Damn it. I struggle and kick him away but he’s too
strong, and he grabs me and swims to the top. We take big breaths of air and I
yell at him to let me go. “Geez! I’m trying to save you, lady! We all need to
get out of here now!” He tries pulling me up onto his life boat and I see he
has a gun on him. I instantly pull the gun out, put it up to my head, and begin
to fire. Raina being the last thought on my mind. BLAM.
“What the hell was wrong with that chick?”
Two men started conversing on the lifeboat, pushing Cadence’s body back in the
water. “Who knows?”
Das
Ende
Special Guest Writer- Celeste
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