Only The Living (Lost Survival Series Book 1) (8 page)

As the school-bell rang to signal that the last day of term was over, I stepped out into the summer heat with my head full of possibilities; I could only imagine what my university life away from this dump would have in store for me. The dark-brown shadow of Millie's beautiful, silky hair caught my eye as she waited for me at the gates of our high school.

"So..." I amped listlessly, swaying on my tip-toes and heels.

"Sooo..." Millie repeated. We stared at each other for a second, before bursting into a merry cheer as we hugged and leapt into the air.

Spinning her around, fellow students gave us funny looks while we chuckled to ourselves and bounced restlessly. "I can't believe it!! We're free!" I finally beamed. She didn’t return my excitement this time, staring off at the nearby playground’s swings. We used to goof around there every day, which told me that she was lost in nostalgia.

We eventually wandered into the park, where our fellow students were laughed and played; enjoying those rich, dawning minutes of their everlasting summer break.

"I wanted to ask you, about... something important." Millie glanced into the dirt, kicking dry rocks into dust with her sandshoes.

She seemed really nervous, and the pause was a little too intense to match our surroundings. I nodded hesitantly, and listened for that usual sigh of hers.

"S-Since it's summer and all, I was just thinking... What if we went somewhere, for the day? Just the two of us, like... Well, not like a, umm..."

I tried a coy smile, but she kept her face firmly bent in the other direction out of embarrassment. With that kind of adverse reaction, the only word that she could’ve been desperately dodging was 'date'.

"I-I didn't want to say it like... Y'know, I just..." She kept stammering on her words, which I always found really cute. There was a pit in my stomach though, knowing full-well where this was going.

I’d guessed at how she felt about me many times, wondering whether I felt as strongly for her. Our parents often joked about the amount of time we spent together, but up until that point, we had been inseparable as best mates…

"Danny, I know what it sounds like, but it's not that... Damn, just forget it. It's stupid anyway, and you've probably got stuff for uni to sort out—"

I placed my hand on her arm, if only to stop her from rattling on to herself. With a lingering look, she seemed to recognise that I understood what she meant. After all, we'd practically grown up observing each other's behaviour and mannerisms... It'd be a crime to misinterpret one of her rash rants.

"I like you too, Mils... It’s just not the best time, y’know? You’ll be moving out soon, and I don’t know where the hell I’m gonna end up. We'll always be best friends, right?" That was all I said, but Millie ended up pushing herself away from me, her face pulsing a vibrant-red.

"I can’t be your ‘friend’ anymore… God, I thought I was being too obvious. If I have to move anywhere, I can just go wherever you go, right?" After another painful silence, she lunged forwards and slammed her hands into my chest, knocking me back against the swings. "What’s this really about, then? You don't want me around, is that it?!"

Everyone in the playground turned towards us at that point, while I closed my eyes to try and filter out the gossiping voices. What she said wasn't true, I did like Millie. A lot, actually. It just wasn’t enough for me to demand that she warps her entire life around my half-baked career choices.

Not that it was the only reason keeping me from reciprocating her feelings; I'd known Millie since primary school, and couldn’t risk losing her as a friend. Unfortunately, nothing was ever the same after we had that fight.

Despite living right next door to each other, I avoided her like the plague for the following months... Now that the real infection had arrived, fate decided to throw me under the bus. And guess who was driving...

----

I was finally snapped back to the present by two tiny hands, shaking my air-filled head around on my shoulders. "Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, Daniel..." Beth repeated in an annoying fashion.

"S-Sorry... What were you saying?" I held onto the wall beside my mother's work station, trying to stop my brain from spinning like a top.

"Who was that pretty lady? Is she your girlfriend?"

I narrowed my eyes at Beth, almost thinking that she had glimpsed into my past episode for a second. I also had a hard time associating Millie with the word 'lady' — her thorny attitude was something to be feared in our school, even by the vilest of bullies and bitchy divas.

"...Well, um... Something like that. She's right to be mad at me, though. I wasn't very nice to her, the last time we talked."

The sleeping bag in the corner suddenly moved, reacting to my voice. Just barely awake, the shrouded figure jutted upwards with a strange urgency. "Hmm... mm? Daniel? Daniel?!"

I thought my ears were deceiving me at first, but there was no mistaking that light tone. The same one that used to ask me how my day was each time I came home, the one that called me downstairs for dinner every night. I almost welled up right there, but I decided to save the tears for when she rose out of her bed.

Feeling like I was five years old, I ran over to my shocked mum and threw my arms around her. "Mum!! I'm... I'm so glad you're okay..."

She started crying almost immediately, laughing at the same time. "Oh, thank you Jesus..." After she’d successfully squeezed all the air out of my lungs, I sat myself down as she asked what I knew she would. "Where... Where have you been?! I was worried sick! What took you so long to get here?"

Sharing with Beth a look that only young people could recognise, the two of us spent the next couple of hours recounting our harrowing tale. From the crumbling skyscrapers of the city, down to the questionable safety of the community centre.

"Goodness, my poor baby! I'm so proud of you, but I wish that you didn’t have to see those horrible things... I prayed every second, for the Lord to keep you safe." I hugged her once again, feeling incredibly lucky that we were able to meet under such grim circumstances.

"I heard about Carlos, from the boy who brought us here... I'm really sorry, Mum. How are you holding up?" I flooded her with sympathy. She said that it was actually Millie who came into our house first, telling them both to turn on the news as the dead started attacking.

It wasn’t unusual for her to come and go as she pleased, since her parents were always away on business. She saw my mum as an unofficial aunt, and probably interacted with my step-dad way more than I ever did.

With the three of them in our house, there was a strange knock on the door. Thinking that it was one of the neighbours needing help, Carlos went to check. Instead, he got bitten by one of the roaming Lost and struggled to throw them back through the door…

Since there were no emergency services available, there was unfortunately nothing that my mother could do to stop the bleeding. He died within minutes, and that was all she was willing to tell me about the subject.

After engaging in yet another group hug with Beth and my mum, our eyes seemed to drift over towards Ian and Harry. Both of them were still brooding under the bleachers, picking up their angsty debate from where they left off earlier.

"That boy, on the left... that's Ian, isn't it? The one you and little Bethany were travelling with?"

I nodded with a sad smile, still feeling pressured to care about my step-father’s passing. I couldn’t tell whether he meant that little to me, or if I was becoming numb to the whole ‘death’ thing after the tragedies I’d seen.

"Yeah, that’s Ian. We wouldn't have made it all the way here without him... I think his mum and dad should be around somewhere—" I stopped in my tracks, and began to consider what Ian was doing.

He’s finally here, in the same room as his parents — why hasn't he visited them yet? Did something go wrong?

"Mum, can you watch Beth for a second? Show her your first aid kit, it's pretty, err... interesting."

The nurse was thrilled by the suggestion, and so Beth was left in her boringly-educational hands. I stuck my tongue out at the pouting girl, mocking as I made my escape... My mum used to lecture me endlessly about shift schedules and bedpan-changing, as though it was something that everyone was passionate about.

I made my way over to Ian and Harry, both of whom seemed to be getting rather intense in their private corner. Before I could reach them, an elbow locked my neck from behind, yanking me through an open doorway and into the adjoining sports hall — my only clue was a flourish of tangled brown hair.

Millie.

"Stay here, and don't you dare make a sound."

As she pinned me against the wall, I couldn't help but snort at how unhinged her face looked, especially during her stealthy little operation. "Woah, there… Got a problem, Miss Bond?"

Okay, I deserved that slap for sure.

Rubbing my throbbing cheek, I decided that it was in both of our best interests to take her seriously. She massaged her fist, scoffing at my indiscretion. "Honestly, you'd think this was all one big joke to you... I thought you were dead, Danny."

Letting this sink in for a moment, she pulled back with a softer exhale, clearly attempting to resist her violent urges. "First of all, I don't care about how much of an asshat you’ve been, and I'm not saying that I forgive you for it. I just need someone to believe me, that’s all...”

“Believe you about what?” I asked, still slightly dazed.

“C'mon, I'll show you."

She led me by the hand through the empty sports hall, straight towards the fire exit. She only seemed to remember half-way across why we’d fallen out, shifting to grab my wrist instead with a red-fumed grunt. Once we arrived at the door, she made a point of folding her arms and turning away from me.

"Go ahead, try it out."

Puzzled, I pushed the bar for a moment before realising it wouldn't open. “So? It’s locked, big whoop.”

"...It's not just locked. Look." She pointed along the edges of the door, making me feel dumb for not noticing the metal burn marks before.

"It's... welded shut? But it only opens from this side, why would they bother? It's not keeping anything from coming in, unless..."

"It's supposed to keep
us
from going
out
, right... Something fishy is going on with the police here, Danny. One by one, the exits are being made completely inaccessible, to such a degree as well. Pretty soon, the only way that people will be able to leave here is through the front gate... With the superintendent's permission, and that's obviously never going to happen."

Millie glanced awkwardly at her feet, clearly distressed by the situation which was starting to sound more like a police state than an evacuation shelter. "The men in charge, they constantly look down on us. Like we owe them, for their stupid protection. It’s getting real creepy in here, and not just because of what’s waiting outside.”

I had to hand it to Millie... No one else would've caught on to the strange behaviour that had been developing in the shadows. For such a hot-headed person, she always managed to see things as they stood.

"They keep calling our names for registration, taking people into the back office… A few of them still haven’t come back yet. Half of our neighbourhood has vanished, just like that.”

“What do you want me to do, write an angry letter to the council?” I mused sarcastically, but Millie sternly shook her head.

“You’re the only one I can ask, because you’ve been out there for the longest. You saw those... things. How bad was it, for real?”

Over the span of a few minutes, I told her everything I knew or at least understood about the Lost; their varying speeds, lack of proper co-ordination and seemingly-decreased activity during the daytime.

"I see... So it's settled then. Tomorrow afternoon, you're gonna help me bust out of here."

I raised my hand in protest, about to decline when her face suddenly darkened. She fumbled with her pocket, and the residual lighting glistened over a shimmering object. A very real pistol poked out from under her jacket, shaking in her grip.

My old friend threw me another icy stare, this time with such detached hostility. Given our recent history, that look was more than a little unnerving. "You're
going
to help me. I don't suppose your mum told you the whole story back there, did she?”

“She... What?”

“Hm, typical. I was the one who did it… I put your new daddy down for good, after he came back to life. Carlos would’ve eaten her alive, if I hadn’t stuck a bullet in his head first. Get the picture now? You owe me, Danny."

I pretended to be asleep. I'm not proud of it, but as I lay beside my mum and Beth, I faced the wall and kept my head down as it happened. Not from fearing my own safety, but concerning my family, my friends and everyone else in the room who could hear the struggling.

A booming voice echoed over dozens of sleeping bodies. “Just fucking admit what you did. I saw you sneaking around.”

His victim seemed to be a rather distressed male, still attempting to clear his name.“I-I never stole anything, officer! You've got it all wrong!” Another swift kick seemed to bring him to his knees.

“Is that right? We take you in, give you protection, a place to sleep, food to eat—”

The winded man let out an involuntary laugh, although the dread in his voice was apparent. “Food? Ha,
what
food? We're starving in here, and if I was going to be treated like shit anyway, I would've stolen some so that my son could have an actual meal!”

More agonised grunts and scuffles filled the community centre’s air, as more policemen came to restrain the lone man. They called him a thief, barking that he was ungrateful while they beat him mercilessly.

I tilted my head to face the scene, but not enough to draw their attention. All I could see was the man's son crying silently in his bed, too petrified to look up at the assault. The officer motioned over two more faceless uniforms, and the beaten man was then dragged by the hair towards the front entrance.

One of the pigs actually had the audacity to howl with laughter, resonating throughout into the hall. “You want food, huh? There’s plenty more where you came from!” Exile, I thought as I pictured the Lost waiting outside those gates, ready to tear that man limb from bloody limb.

So this was what it came to, when everyone blindly followed an authority without question. A room full of bystanders, including myself — now I understood the urgency behind Millie’s plea to leave.

This was much more macabre than a handful of power-hungry coppers, and I didn't want to be around when they started tightening the noose around the community centre’s neck.

Mils wanted us both to escape during the night, but I saw matters differently. I couldn't abandon my mum, Beth and Ian like that; they would surely die at the mercy of men whose pride outweighed their capabilities.

Things had to change around here, no more blind eyes. Sure, I pretended to be asleep... but pretty soon, I was going to wake up.

----

That morning, which had yielded a little under fifteen minutes of rest, my mum requested some alone time with Beth. “She's lost her parents, her entire world! Poor thing... If she's bottling it all up, that can’t be healthy for any child. We need to have some girl talk, just for a little while. Okay, sweetie?"

Being separated from Beth made me anxious, but I knew it had to happen sooner or later. That kid went through hell and back, and she’d barely cried once. If anyone in that moment knew what it was like to lose a loved one to the Lost, it would be my mum.

Leaving the small child in the caring-yet-intrusive hands of my Christian mother, I decided it would be best for me to rehash the community centre's issues with Ian.

Even though we’d long since arrived at our destination, I believed that we had become good friends along the way. He deserved a heads-up at least, especially after Millie revealed that she was packing some serious heat.

Ian was all alone, leaning against the doorway to the sports hall as he stared into the ocean of survivors. Everyone around us miserably went about their limited tasks for the day, their minds probably still in grim reminder of the starving man who had been thrown out.

“...Chocolate pennies for your thoughts?” I chimed, offering him half of the bag that my mum had confiscated from Beth’s hoard. He simply shook his head, with heavily-bagged dark circles where his eyes should’ve been.

It took a while, but I shared with him a detailed explanation about Millie and the community centre’s policemen. Even through his fatigue, I could see the injustice rekindling his usual angst and bitterness.

“Your friend Millie, she’s wrong. Why should we be the ones to leave, after everything we've been through to get here?! There has to be another way!” Ian agreed with my view, but his voice seemed distracted and hollow.

“Wait a minute... You haven't been to see your parents yet, have you?!” I accused him, changing the subject entirely. It wasn't my place to weigh in, but the idea of them both living in the same place and not knowing was bordering on ridiculous. "For God's sake, grow up! You need to—"

Harry must’ve heard me raising my voice at Ian, because he came right up behind me and pushed defensively. “Why don't you back off, ya little shit?! You don't have any idea what it's really like—”

“...Harry, don't... He's right.” Ian narrowed his gaze towards the ground, obviously thinking it over. He had to recognise how foolish it was, all of this running and hiding while they were probably worried sick.

I finally regained my composure, after being thrust a good couple of paces away from the conversation. “Ian, I don't know what you did, but can it really be
that
bad? Hell, I don't think I'd be bothered if you were some kind of nazi, and I only met you this week!”

Harry kept me a firm distance away, sceptical as I tried to convince my friend. He never seemed to trust me, only tolerated my presence around Ian. I decided to press further, trying to convince both of them that I meant well.

“I know the 'you' now, and that’s all that matters to me, to Beth. As for your parents... All they know is that their son is probably dead in a ditch somewhere. Is that what you want? Go up to them right now, and stop being so fucking selfish!” This really struck a nerve, as he glared back at me with absolute fury in his eyes.

“Selfish?
I'm
the one being selfish?! I didn't ask for this!! I hate being...” Harry forcibly led Ian away, wanting to speak to him privately before he said anything else.

As they turned to enter the sports hall, the two boys crashed into a rather portly couple through the open door. The grown-ups were almost knocked off their feet, had they not been grounded by ten layers of fat.

The woman stopped in her tracks, digging her fingernails into her husband’s arm. “O-Oh... Oh my God, Ian!! You're here!!” Her voice projected relief, but something was missing. They both maintained their distance as the chubby man scrutinized Ian and Harry, sizing them both up.

His eyes drifted all over the fidgeting boy, as though he was looking at a complete stranger. The encounter bled awkwardness, even from where I was standing.
These two are... Ian's parents?

His mum definitely sounded happy that he was alive, but... the tension between the group could slice metal. There were no hugs, no tears, not even from Ian himself.

I could tell just by looking, that he wasn't capable of raising his eyes to meet his father's at all. There was shame, guilt and pain swirling around his head, visible to anyone who passed.

The wide man spoke with a voice that added a slight tremor to the concealed doorway, much like a miniature earthquake. “So, you made it back? God must be watching over you.”

“T… Thanks. You too,” was all Ian could muster.

I wouldn't have thought that any of this was hostile, until Ian bluntly pushed Harry to the side in a desperate attempt to create some distance between them. Then, much like an anvil, it all started to fall into place. The torn photographs, being kicked out, even Harry’s unwelcome presence around them.

“I should have known,” Ian’s father sighed, shaking his head to disapprove of the thug, then me as I stood in the corner. “There’s two of them now?”

“That’s sick! They’re my friends, not…” Ian was quick to defend himself, a little too hasty. “We just looked out for each other, since I couldn’t come
home
.”

“Well, that’s for the Lord to judge. Not us.” The man braced his wife, who appeared rather mousy for her size. While she smiled and nodded every so often, her face returned to a more solemn, empty stare each time.

“M… Mum?” Ian looked expectantly at her, but she still said nothing. I got the impression that she never spoke much, not with her husband to do the talking for her.

“Forgive her, lads. She'd always wanted a daughter… Just not like this. This is a cruel joke you’re playing, Ian.” The harsh words seemed to knock him down, his legs starting to shake with visible humiliation.

He must’ve opened himself up to his family the night before the Lost came, only to be faced with cold-hearted rejection. His entire world had ended twice, in the space of twenty-four hours.

I couldn't let the fat oaf leave on that note. Stepping into the space between Ian and his father, my fist snapped at his shoulder and provoked him. I yelled a lot louder than I expected to, nearly attracting the attention of everyone through the doorway to the main hall.

“What the hell is your problem? Your
son
is a great guy, he's saved my life more times than I can count! He's twice the man you are,” I nodded to his bulging gut, “and that's saying a fucking ton!!"

Ian's father looked at me unexpectedly, narrowing his eyes with disgust. He squinted another glare at Ian, who stood awkward and silent behind me. “Are these the people you choose to associate with now? How vulgar… The Pastor was right about you. Your kind are beyond saving.”

Harry's fist slammed into the nearby wall, barely able to contain himself as he made everyone jump in surprise. "You piece of shit... 'beyond saving'?! You think he deserved to be stuck out there with those freaks? He could’ve died, all because of your bullcrap!"

Ian's father was barely listening. He just turned his back on his former son, and exhaled in complete dismissal.

"I think you’re mistaken. I lost my child, the second you turned him into a spineless filthy homosexual. God has responded, and made his will apparent.”