Surge (31 page)

After we’ve finished stacking the dead, the six of us climb back upstairs. Now that the hallway is cleared out, the destruction that was hidden underneath can be seen. The walls are smeared with blood and bullet holes, while the carpet is stained with dark patches of brownish-red. It’s a mess that shows only a small portion of the carnage that took place here, one of which I will not feel sorry to be leaving behind.

Yeah, it was my home for seventeen of my twenty-three years, but those times have long since passed. Any trace of the little boy who ran excitedly through the two thousand square feet of space, has been buried for nearly two years. Any remnant of my mother’s perfume that might have been left behind, has since been covered by the scent of the current inhabitants. Whitney’s soft rose scented soap, Chelsea’s cherry lip gloss, Marissa’s hairspray, Kelly’s acidic perfume, Mike’s cigar, Tommy’s pine scent, Leonard’s vapor rub, Akio’s disinfectant, the twin’s gun residue, Danny’s Axe, Sarah’s lilies, John’s citrus, and my own sandalwood soap. A variety of smells all mixed in an interesting way to make a new smell equivalent to the word
‘home.’

But that combined smell is being masked by day old rot from the corpses, so it’s time to start anew. Something that all of the others have done, but not Sarah, John or I. Sure, we had to learn how to get things to survive from the outside world, but in here? In here it was still the same as before. The same furniture that is now ruined, the same rooms that we grew up; which are less welcoming without a mother’s touch, and the overall dreary moral of the group is making the house cold and uninviting.

Shaking off the chill that my old home now gives me, I leave the men to sort out who will take first watch, and head down to Sarah’s room to see if she’s patched up. Knocking on her door, I wait for Sarah to poke her head out. She peers up at me with childish eyes, like she knows she’s in trouble. As if, I’m just coming to congratulate her. In a rare display of physical affection, I grab a shocked Sarah and give her a bear hug. She awkwardly pats my back like I’ve lost it, but eventually returns the hug just as tightly.

“Thanks Sarah,” I say with a smile when I pull back. She looks at me curiously, so I explain. “You saved me from breaking my promise to Mom about not hitting a woman.”

Sarah bursts out giggling. She’s clutching her stomach and wiping tears away from laughing so hard. It’s a nice bonus, because I haven’t seen Sarah so happy in a while. When she’s calmed down a little, she stands straight to her 5’7” height and meets my eyes.

“I think that Mom would have forgiven you for hitting this particular woman.” She holds up her hand to stop me from voicing my argument, that it would never be right for me to hit a woman. “Trust me, she deserved much worse than she got.”

“Oh, I believe it,” I agree. I take up her right hand and check the pointer finger with the splint. “Are you alright?”

“Puh-leaze, I’ve never been better,” she answers with a smile. “This is just a sprain, small price for the pleasure I got out of it.”

“Alright, Ali, simmer down,” I order as I smirk and she cocks her head.

“Who’s Ali?” Sarah asks.

I shake my head, kids these days. I pat Sarah’s head like she’s simple, before walking away. She continues asking, so I wave her off and hear her door slam shut when she gets that I’m not going to answer.

Continuing past the pit of hell that was my room, I approach the office door. I knock and wait to see if she’ll answer, hoping that whatever ground I’ve made with her, is still there. It’s quiet for a few seconds before I hear footsteps approach. I’m guessing it’s Cory coming to get the door, since Olivia’s footsteps are always silent. And I’m proved right when the door unlocks and a brown eye peers out at me.

Cory looks back toward the corner where the bed is, but I can’t see it from this angle. Once he’s satisfied, he steps out into the hallway and pulls the door shut quietly to the point that it holds, but isn’t latched. Cory points for us to take a seat against the wall opposite the door, so I do, and he follows. Once we’re settled, he remains silent for a few seconds, which I know from experience is to collect his thoughts. Cory doesn’t mince words, he thinks them through and analyzes them before opening his mouth to speak, just like now.

“How much did she tell you?” Cory asks. I look at him to see which one he’s referring to. “The red head.”

“Enough that I want to kill her myself,” I answer and he nods.

“So, you know about her throat?” Cory confirms and I nod again. “I noticed that she sounded different when I saw her after the raid, so she showed me the scars and said that some psycho cut her up.”

“That about sums it up,” I agree and Cory glares at me.

“I want to know what else the bitch told you,” he snaps. “What did she say about Liv? What happened to her after she disappeared? I know there’s more she won’t tell me about, but what I do know makes me sick.” Cory rubs a hand over his face. “She even screams about it when she sleeps.”

“When she sleeps?”

“Yeah, they’re called night terrors,” he replies. “I’ve seen guys suffer from them after bad days in the field.” I nod. “She’s always screaming for someone to stop touching her.”

I clench my fists and reply through clenched teeth. “Would his name happen to be Cole, by any chance?”

Cory’s head snaps in my direction. “That bastard is one in the same, so, what do you know about him?”

“I know that he’s the leader of the raiders from last night, and he kept Olivia chained in a basement,” I answer and Cory abruptly stands.

He paces a few steps before pulling back his fist and planting it into the wall. Cory repeatedly assaults the plaster until his hand is bloody and sinks to the floor, burying his head in his hands. I hear him start muttering something, so I scoot a few feet down to make it out.

“It’s all my fault,” he whispers and whacks himself on the head. “If I didn’t leave, none of this would have happened.”

“Hey, it isn’t your fault,” I say and awkwardly pat him on the back. Cory whips his head in my direction to glare at me.

“It
is
my fault,” he hisses before looking at the carpet. “I was pissed at them both. They found out Olivia was pregnant and didn’t tell me for weeks. The day that they finally told me, they were so freaking excited. Travis was walking around with his chest puffed up like a cocky rooster, and Olivia? I swear she was glowing.” He meets my eyes before continuing.

“You see, Olivia always dreamed of being one thing, ever since she was a little kid. Most girls want to be a firefighter, or an astronaut, or a doctor, but not Livi. She’d wheel her little wagon over to our house next door, filled to the fucking rim with dolls. And I’d ask her,
‘Hey Livi, what’re ya doing today?’
She always answered,
‘I’m being a mommy, ‘cuz it’s the bestest job in the whole wide world!’
”

“So, what do I do when Olivia finally finds out she’s going to be a mommy?” Cory’s voice is bitter with self-hatred. “Me being the asshole that I am, freaked the fuck out. How the hell were we going to take care of a baby in this shit?” Cory flings his arm out referring to the hell that we currently live in. “So, I left them at our house, that way I could go cool down. I ran for miles before I finally got tired, and wound up in front of a baby boutique. I took it as a sign that everything was going to be alright in the end, so, knowing that we were going to need stuff, I ran in and filled a carriage full of diapers, formula, clothes, and as much baby stuff that I could fit inside.” He smiles a little. “They even had this tiny little onesie that said,
‘My mom is hotter than yours.’
” Cory laughs and wipes his eyes. “Travis would have loved it.” He shakes his head at the memory.

“It was getting dark out, so I took my carriage full of goods and started wheeling it home. As soon as I got within three blocks, I knew something was wrong. Call it gut instincts, intuition, or whatever the fuck you want, but for some reason; I abandoned the carriage, and booked it home. There were a pack of wheezers eating something out front, so I ran around back and jumped the fence to get in.” Cory’s tone hardens.

“The inside was trashed. Livi
always
made sure our house was immaculate, so you can see why I started sprinting around the house like a madman, searching them out. I kicked open every door, before running to the roof to see if they were hanging up there like they usually did.” He swallows hard.

“That’s where I found two large pools of blood. They were still wet, one had teeth and fingers in it. The other looked like someone had just bled out.” Cory swipes at his eyes. “I guess it just so happened to be my niece or nephew I was looking at, but I didn’t know it, until that bitch told us upstairs. The same niece or nephew that I didn’t know how much I wanted until that moment. The same one that would be here in Livi’s arms, with Travis beside her, if it weren’t for me.” Cory grips his hair and pulls before he continues in a cold tone. “I don’t know what made me look, but I did. I followed the blood trail and looked over the side of the roof. The wheezers were eating my dead brother.”

“I ran downstairs with an ax and went to town,” he says. “They were all distracted, so I chopped off their fucking heads, before they even noticed me.” Cory chokes on a sob. “He was missing half his stomach, but that wasn’t what killed him.” Cory motions to his throat. “Travis’s dead eyes were open, his throat was slit and he had a gunshot to the forehead. I looked around for Livi, but I didn’t find her. What I did find were tire treads, and her bloody shoe on the sidewalk.” Cory wipes his jacket sleeve across his face.

“I waited at the house for a month,” he continues. “Just hoping for a clue to help me find where Livi, and my brother’s baby were taken. I did sweeps in a five mile radius around our house. When I didn’t find anything, I spread out further. That’s when I found you and John.” Cory meets my eyes with his bloodshot ones. “At first, I thought you may have known something about Liv’s whereabouts, but when I saw that you were doomed to die, I couldn’t leave without showing you how to survive first. And when I saw Sarah, I couldn’t leave at all. She reminded me of Livi so much. All bark and no bite, and I just couldn’t let whatever happened to Livs, happen to Sarah too.”

“Thanks for that,” I reply and he waves me off. “We were pretty clueless without you.” Cory barks out a sharp laugh at that understatement. “So, how long did you look for her?”

“Two months before I met up with you, and a year since that,” he answers. “But it looks like she got tired of waiting for my sorry ass to show up, and saved herself.”

“I didn’t think you would come for me at all,” a raspy voice says for me behind me. Cory’s head snaps in her direction. “After all, I killed Travis, so, why would you want me?” Cory stomps over and shakes her.

“Don’t you ever say that again,” he hisses at Olivia. “You didn’t kill Travis.” Tears starts trailing down her cheeks as she nods furiously.

“I did,” she repeats. “I told him to bring her in. She sounded so scared, and he wanted to help; so I told him that I’d be fine, and for him to go and get her.” Olivia wipes her face with her elbow. “But she wasn’t alone at all. They kicked in the door, and dragged Travis inside. Ten men, and four women who I can’t wash from mind.” Olivia grips her hair by the roots and tugs. “One of which is upstairs right now, the same bitch who carved me up, and knocked Travis’s teeth out. And I can’t fucking look at her without wanting to stab her, or cry.” Olivia notices me and startles.

“Olivia, take it from someone who fell for the same trap,” I remind her. “They knew what they were doing, and we just acted according to our instincts. It’s not your fault.”

“No, you were different,” she counters. “When you were attacked, you defended. When I was attacked, I froze. I froze and it killed Travis and our baby.”

Olivia clutches her stomach and starts sobbing heavily. I want to run over and hug her, but Cory gets there first. I look away to let them share their grief, something long overdue and they never had the chance to do before. It’s just another thing that was stolen from her, and I’m beginning to wonder what else was left for them to take? When Olivia’s sobbing hiccups come to a close, Cory and her start whispering back and forth for a few minutes, and they nod before separating.

“Cory and I will guide your group halfway,” Olivia announces with an emotionless tone, probably in an attempt to distract me from the red blotches on her face. It doesn’t work, but I pretend not to notice them so that she won’t feel uncomfortable. “I’ll draw you a map for the rest of the way with a key for safe houses, and any hot spots to avoid.”

“But after that, you’re on your own,” Cory finishes.

<~~~<~~~
~~~>~~~>

“The fuck we are!” I shout. “We need you.”

I look imploringly at the stubborn couple in front of me. Olivia’s chin is raised, and Cory’s jaw is clenched. Game on, because they don’t call me a stubborn, sullen bastard for nothing. I cross my arms over my chest, and deliver a blow.

“Fine, then you may as well sign fourteen death warrants right now.” I see my first hit strike its mark, when Olivia’s mouth drops open, and Cory glares at me. “That’s right. You abandoning us, is the same as killing us yourselves.”