The Other Life (20 page)

We gathered around a hole in the ground. The three cows that Joshua had mentioned were grazing in the background. They raised their heads to gaze at our little gathering in mild interest,
chewing unhurriedly. It was an odd sight for a funeral. None of us were dressed appropriately either, but when every day was a struggle for survival, you couldn’t worry about proper clothes.
Joshua had been right – manners didn’t matter any more.

Marie and Geoffrey were missing because someone needed to keep watch over Dad, Mia and Emma.

Dad would be upset that he’d missed Grandpa’s funeral.
If he survives
.

I forced those thoughts out of my head. Dad wouldn’t share Grandpa’s fate.
He
’d make it.

A prickling on my neck, as if someone or something was watching us, sent a shiver down my back. The vineyard looked like it always did, but it was easy to hide between the overgrown vines. Had
Weepers followed us? Or was it something else?

I looked away from the vine leaves swaying in the wind and the dark clouds throwing shadows on them.

Tyler and Joshua awkwardly lowered Grandpa’s body into the grave, careful not to drop him. He didn’t even get a coffin. Mom wrapped her arms around Grandma when they began to cover
the body with soil. Larry spoke a few words, but I barely listened. I stared at the grave, wondering why I wasn’t crying. I’d never been to a funeral before, but it was expected for
family members to cry.

I wasn’t even particularly sad. So many months had passed since Grandpa had died and I’d said goodbye to him when Dad had put him in the freezer. Back then I’d cried, but now I
just felt empty. It worried me. Maybe I was becoming numb.

My gaze swept over the others. Nobody was crying, not even Grandma.

Tyler put the last scoop of soil on the grave before stepping back. Larry’s words had long ended and an odd silence followed. The wind picked up, tousling my hair and making me shiver. My
T-shirt wasn’t enough to protect me. Slowly, everyone walked away from the grave until only my family was left. Then Mom led Grandma back to the house and Bobby followed. As I lingered for a
moment, a familiar buzzing drew my eyes to the sky, and I glimpsed a dot growing smaller in the distance. Again? I was really starting to feel like it was following me. What the heck was it?

No answers came to me as I stood there, my gaze wandering over the surrounding slopes, overgrown with vines. Suddenly there was a flash in the distance, as if something had moved. Weepers? Fear
gripped my throat.

I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look. But there was nothing. First the black dot, now this. Maybe I was beginning to imagine things. This wasn’t good. Not good at all.

I turned, then started when I noticed Joshua sitting on the wall, watching me. Rubbing my arms to warm myself, I went to him. If he hadn’t seen anything move, then there definitely
hadn’t been anything.

He pushed himself off the wall and landed on his feet with ease – I’d have broken my legs doing that.

Joshua walked up to me, hands in his pockets and his blond hair in disarray. He stopped in front of me, his eyes flitting over to the fresh grave.

“I wish I could have buried my mother.”

I blinked up at him, not sure what to say. “What happened to her?”

They’d totally ruined my hair.

Ugh.

I glared at my reflection. Teary eyes. Red nose. And what they called a haircut. I looked like a freak. A total mess. Layered cut – the heck it was.

I couldn’t go to school like this. What if Brittany saw me? She and her hyenas would taunt me for weeks. And Alex…

I blew my nose.

“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose…”

I whirled around. Bobby stood in the doorway, grinning. He always sang that song to tease me when my nose was red from crying.

“Rudolph the—”

I lunged at him, but the little rat was fast. He dashed down the hall and into his room. The door closed in front of my face. I hammered against it while he sang the stupid song. Over and
over and over again.

“Shut up!” The wood vibrated under my fists. “Bobby, I swear I’ll kill you if you don’t stop!”

He didn’t stop. His voice grew louder.

I sank to the ground. He’d have to leave his room sometime. And I’d be there to kick his ass.

Joshua took a step closer and clasped my hand, interlinking our fingers. He led me to an old wooden bench beside the wall and pulled me down with him. I listened to the howling
wind while Joshua tried to find words. I didn’t want to pressure him.

“We were still in the bunker. We’d been there over a year and the mood was getting worse every day.” He swallowed. “My sister Zoe was hungry and there was a group of men
in the bunker who kept an eye on the food. Zoe walked up to them. Maybe she told them that she was hungry. I don’t know.”

I waited for him to go on. He was obviously struggling with the memories of that day. His grasp on my hand tightened.

“The leader of the group pushed her away and she fell down. When Mom saw it, she ran towards them. She said something to the man, and then he and his friends began to hit and kick her. I
tried to stop them, but I was only fifteen and there were so many of them. Nobody came to help. Everyone was hungry and didn’t want to get into trouble. When the men had finally calmed down, I
was covered with bruises, but my mother was unconscious.”

A tear rolled down his cheek.

“She never woke up. Two days later she was dead.” He cleared his throat and ran a hand over his eyes. When he looked at me, his expression was collected, but his eyes couldn’t
hide his pain.

“What happened to…to her body?” I asked gently.

Joshua’s face darkened, anger replacing the sadness. “The men who killed her took her out of the bunker. They didn’t let me go with them and they never told me where
they’d put her.” His voice became oddly calm. “I would’ve searched for her body, but I had to take care of Zoe. She was only eight.”

Tears made my vision blurry.

“The murderers got what they deserved. A group of Weepers attacked them after everyone had left the bunker. I saw it, but I didn’t try to help them, even though I had a gun.
I’d stolen it from them just before.”

His voice turned cold. Vicious. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. What had happened to his mother was horrible, and I had a feeling that the story about his sister’s death
was just as bad. Maybe talking about it after all this time would help.

“What about your sister, Zoe?”

“I tried to protect her. There was no one left who could except for me. It was just the two of us. The other survivors were busy taking care of themselves. I wanted to be a good big
brother for her, but when the Weepers attacked the place where we spent the night, everyone panicked. I lost her in the chaos. I tried to find her. But there were so many people. And then I saw one
of the Weepers grab her.”

My chest tightened as he opened up to me. “The Weeper you tried to chase at the harbour?”

Joshua gave a nod. “I wanted to get to her, help her, but suddenly they were gone. Afterwards, when the Weepers had left, I looked for her, but I only found one of her shoes. There was
blood on it.” He shuddered before taking a deep breath and opening his eyes. “I thought she was dead. Then, on a hunt, I saw her. She was one of them. A Weeper.”

“Are you sure it was her?”

I couldn’t imagine seeing Mia as a Weeper – her blue eyes milky, her face twisted with a snarl. I thought about Dad. Was he already on his way to becoming one of them?

I’d never let that happen.

“It was her, there’s no doubt.”

“At least she’s alive.”

Joshua blanched. “Do you think? I think death is better than
that
.”

Maybe he was right.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing. I couldn’t help her and I couldn’t kill her. I should have.”

I wanted to hug him but I wasn’t sure if he’d want me to. “No, she’s still your sister.”

He looked so miserable. “
God
, I miss her. I want her back.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Joshua was silent for a long while, trying to compose himself. I wished I could console him. After Mom and Dad had fought in the bunker, consoling them had been easy. I’d just told them
that they would make up and everything would be okay. But nothing could bring Joshua his mother and sister back, or erase the horrible memories. I felt helpless.

“I don’t like to think about it. It’s bad enough that I dream about it,” he said, opening his eyes. He tilted his head to the side, his gaze becoming intense. Fidgeting
with my feet, I bit my lip and put my free hand in my pocket.

“Do you want me to show you around now? You probably don’t want to after everything…” He made a gesture at the freshly dug grave and stared at the ground.

It took me a moment to understand what he meant. “No, no. I think we both need a distraction.”

He grinned. Some of the darkness disappeared from his eyes. “Okay then, let’s go.”

There it was again: his sudden shift of mood. He wanted to forget. I was beginning to understand that. It’d been only a few days since I’d left the bunker and there were already
things I didn’t want to be reminded of. Ever.

“I just need to find a sweater or a jacket. It’s pretty cold,” I told him with a wave at my thin T-shirt as I got up from the bench. I could have sworn his gaze lingered on my
chest longer than necessary.

Joshua slipped out of his hoodie and held it out to me. He was only wearing a T-shirt beneath it himself, showing his muscled chest and arms. I frowned at the offered hoodie.

“Take it,” he urged.

I shook my head. “You’ll freeze.”

“No, I won’t. Here, take it.”

I took the hoodie with a mumbled thanks and pulled it on over my T-shirt. It was still warm from his body and smelled of him. Like an autumn forest. I smiled at him shyly. He reached for my hand
and clasped it in his again. It felt right. Perfect.

We strolled towards the small gate and walked through it into the garden. “Apple trees.” He pointed at a group of trees, then led me the other way. “And there’s the
vegetable patch. Marie takes care of it. She’s very protective of her vegetables, so we’d better stay away.”

I tried to pay attention as he went on about the different vegetables, but his closeness was distracting. A few chickens pecked the ground, searching for food in the grass. The rooster strutted
around them, his red comb wobbling with every step. He kept an eye on me, suspicious. Maybe he thought I’d kidnap his hens. His sudden crow made me jump and clutch at Joshua’s arm.

He snickered. “You’re jumpy.”

I scowled at him. “I didn’t expect the crow. I thought roosters only crow at sunrise.”

“Our rooster crows whenever he feels like it. He’s cocky like that.” A grin crept over his face.

I bumped my shoulder against his. “Like you.” I smiled, letting my gaze wander over the surrounding vineyard. “I’d really like to take a walk through the vineyard, if
that’s okay?” I peeked up at Joshua. The wind kept blowing his blond hair into his face.

He stared into the distance.

“Is it too dangerous?” I asked.

He lifted his T-shirt, revealing a gun in his waistband – and a slash of tanned, taut stomach. The sight of the gun should have calmed me, but it didn’t. Instead, I suddenly felt
sick at the thought of living in a world where we had to carry guns in our own garden. I sighed.

“When do you think all this will end?” I said. “What happens next?”

Joshua shook his head. “We can’t keep on living like this for ever. Searching for food and gas, hunting Weepers, it all seems so pointless after a while. There must be more we can
do, other places we can explore.”

“You mean, leave Safe-haven?”

“No, not really. For a while maybe, to find out more about the rest of the country.”

“Maybe we could try to contact other survivors again.”

“Yeah. That would be an option,
if
we could reach them.” He paused. “Don’t you think it’s strange that the radios suddenly stopped working?”