Survive the Night

7

They sat on the veranda, quiet as the trees ten steps or ten miles away. The moon was hidden from view, casting an opaque silhouette on the purple clouds. A few minutes earlier, Victoria and Ashley had exploded into the corridor from their room, fearing the worst--that somebody had been killed again. Sasha's crying and shouting persisted for a long time, and wasn't stilled when Winston confirmed that he had indeed been in Kevin's room all night. Eventually, they got her to stay quiet while she blurted out snippets of what had happened, leaving out the more erotic details. She stuttered as she spoke, still trembling and sobbing sporadically between words. When she was done, Michael jerked his eyebrows up and whistled. "Christ," he said.

"You believe me, don't you?" Sasha's head twisted from person to person for a response.

Victoria was picking at the skin around her fingernail nervously, then made a sound to speak, but Ashley spoke first. "Of course we do, honey. After everything that's happened so far, why wouldn't there be a-man-sleeping with you."

Geo made a scoffing noise and dug his head in his hands. His fingers clenched his short, curly hair.

Now, they had all gone out to the veranda for fresh air.

"Are we all going crazy?" Kevin said in a droning voice as he watched the starry sky.

Nobody had an answer, and if they did, it was yes. Even Winston, who admitted to himself that he felt deranged pride in knowing that Sasha Perkins had fake sex with him, felt a harvest of fear ripen in his belly, as if he were waiting for insanity to recruit him to its psychotic army.

"Why are we still in this house?" Winston added to the endless list of unanswered questions. "Why can't we just walk off these steps? It's right there! We're honestly trapped here? Are we honestly going to die?" He stumbled back and tried hopelessly to clutch at the wall behind him. "I'm insane, aren't I? Aren't we?"

"Oh, shut up!" Mike said, kicking his chair to the ground. Everyone twitched as the chair crashed against the veranda rail.

"Stop this," Victoria said.

"Says the Almighty Voice of Reason," Kevin mocked.

"Jesus, Kevin," Ashley started. "What the hell's your problem?"

"What the hell's my problem?" he scoffed. "How about the fact that we're all going to die in this Hell Hole like Emily. That a big enough problem for you?"

"This is ridiculous!" Victoria shouted. "We can figure this out. We can survive-"

Kevin laughed. "How? Survive how, Victoria? Things don't always just 'get better', you know. We're starving to death and it's only going to get worse from here. That's reality. That's the truth. And there's nothing you or any of us can do to change that."

Ashley scowled at him. "Fuck you, Kevin. She's trying."

"Oh, she's trying! She's trying, everyone!" Kevin rose from his rocking chair and bowed to Vicky. "Thank you." He crossed over to the front door and turned at them again. "Thank you for excelling in the art of trying. Try or not, we're all dead." He slammed the front door shut.

Victoria felt her cheeks soften like churned milk as tears itched behind her eyes. She held them at bay.

She began to pick at her fingernails again.

***

They had their final sandwich several hours later. The pieces were cut in such miniscule sizes that the bread almost dissolved on their tongues immediately. It made Victoria's stomach turn to think that there was no more food left and she excused herself to use the restroom. She found it curious that although they were limited to one laughable food option, the group managed to eat together in the dining room. The community spirit wouldn't last much longer, she figured. Already the group was starting to fall apart. She could feel it like the seams of thick rope splitting. Sasha wouldn't speak to anyone, Bleak already scarcely spoke, and Kevin and his sidekicks seemed to be gradually rebelling against the group.