Two Summers Ago, the World Went to Shit

Chapter 9: Opfer Temple

Chapter 9: Opfer Temple

I felt like going to this new community of people would change my life and not for the better. I was negative towards every gesture and conversation about it, and I was dismissive towards the guys being overly nice to me while we packed up our belongings. I knew that they believed they were doing the right thing, but it just felt so hypocritical when they shot me down with the radio broadcast all those months ago. It just seemed...weird. I don't know. It was like she hypnotized them. She painted such a great picture of this place—there was no way it was legit.
During the time Caleb and Jackson hung back to continue talking to Lucy, she'd given them directions to the camp in case they'd managed to convince me to go. We packed up the car in silence before saying goodbye to the motel we'd called home pretty much since the start of it all. Greyson held onto my hand while I took one last look at the outside. I frowned and the four of us got into the car and out of the cold winter air.
Caleb drove us silently down the road, following the directions she'd given until we reached a gate. There was a black metal fence, not too tall, surrounding what looked like a nursing home or assisted living type of facility. The gate had a driveway that led to a parking lot with bushes and a thin layer of snow covering each surface.
     Caleb eased up towards the gate code panel right outside of the fenced in area. I wanted to get a good look around, but I was protesting right now and didn't want to give them the slightest feeling that I was happy or into this idea. I'd held my head against the back passenger door staring straight ahead.
The windows in our car didn't roll up or down, so Caleb had to open the door and reach his arm around to the panel. Then, he pressed the cold, metal buttons that corresponded with whatever code Lucy had given them. Greyson was in the backseat next to me cuddled up under a blanket for extra warmth. He'd given up his booster seat on all of his recent car rides because he said he wanted to be big and strong just like Caleb and Jackson. I thought it was sweet that he looked up to them, and I think that influenced his decision in wanting to make this change. I didn't resent him for it, but I wish I had done more to help him make the decision.
I shivered at the cold air creeping in around the opened door. Jackson had sat up straighter in the front passenger seat as if he was a kid seeing Disney World for the first time. I could tell Greyson was excited, but I think he was holding back because of me. I felt guilty, I really did. If this really was some great new start, I would've came around. But, I'd always been hyper-vigilant, especially when I was in the right state of mind. I just had this gut feeling from the start, and my gut my always right—always.
     A few seconds after my brother pressed the last digit, the gate slowly opened ahead of the car. He shut the door and drove straight through down a long, paved entrance road that was becoming less visible as the snow flakes came down thicker onto the ground. After we'd approached the front of the building, we continued driving past it towards the first row of parking spots. The building was amazing. It was huge and looked like a lodge you'd stay at on vacation in the mountains. The exterior was stone, dark, and neutral colored with wooden details. It had a drop-off circle around the entrance and a sign out front that said Opfer Temple Assisted Living and Long Term Care Facility with a cross on the far right. The word Opfer was added on with what appeared to be hand carved wooden letters before the rest of the name that was in a black font across the sign. It seemed like the people here made this place their own and gave the name meaning for whatever the hell that meant. Seeing the cross beside it made me think that this was a faith-based facility, or at least it was before, not sure if it still was or if that meant anything these days.
We slowly turned to go down the other side of the lot to try and find an empty space. It was snowing heavier than the flurries we'd been getting the last few days that dusted over every surrounding. The parking lot was packed with cars. I wasn't sure if all of the vehicles belonged to the current residents here, but if that was the case, they had quite a bit of people here. Looking at the selection of cars, they all appeared to be new, clean cars as if they'd been used recently, so they had to belong to the people who were here now. Like seriously, every single car we passed looked brand new. Our car was pathetic compared to any of these. It just seemed stuck up and selfish to worry so much about appearances when people were hungry, cold, and dying out here in this mess of a world.
This place seemed stable, and I'm sure it was definitely an upgrade from the motel. I just couldn't help but think about what it would've been like at the Omni Hotel. It probably operated similarly to this with providing rooms, food, and other supplies, but I couldn't understand why this was any different, safer, or legit than the radio broadcast. I just kept coming back to wondering why.
     Eventually, we were able to find a parking spot between a black Cadillac SUV and a red Audi sedan in the row of spots furthest from the building. Caleb left the car running, and I remained silent. I was inside of my head again picturing how our future would be now that we were here. Would we feel normal again?
     From the coded gate to the nice cars to Lucy and her perfect everything, I was without a doubt self conscious about myself. I knew I wouldn't feel like I belonged here. I'd been sponge bathing for weeks because bottled water only went so far especially when you needed to save some for drinking. We hadn't exactly been putting ourselves out there either. I mean, we went scavenging when we had to, and we could no doubt hold our own and protect ourselves. But, we didn't like to go out more than we had to.
     With me being pregnant and Greyson being so little, we just had more to lose now, and it wasn't worth the risk of running into a crowd of zombies or leaving the two of us at the motel alone when there were still so many unknowns—at least that's what Caleb and Jackson would use as their excuse. Yet, the first sign of Lucy and they're ready to risk it all. Call it jealousy, call it skepticism, or hyper-vigilance, but usually when your gut was trying to tell you something, you needed to listen to it.
"Sammi, please say something. You've been quiet since the motel," Caleb said sadly.
"I just want to be alone," I said as I grabbed the door handle.
I threw the blanket off of my legs and stepped out into the icy wind. I walked to the trunk of the car to retrieve the small bag of my belongings. Greyson scooted over and jumped out of the back of the car behind me. He was holding onto the blanket we'd been cuddled up under as he drug it across the asphalt. I wanted to lash out and tell him to leave me alone and quit following me, but I reminded myself that I wasn't mad at him. He didn't deserve for me to take it out on him.
He hurried over to me while I frowned, taking the blanket from his hands. I wrapped it around his back and over his arms as protection from the cold. I grabbed the backpack full of his toys and other things, throwing it over my shoulder. I held my bag down by my side and left the trunk open for them to retrieve their items. I could see Jackson and Caleb talking through the window, probably about me. She's going to spiral.
     Goosebumps covered my body as my bare legs were hit with the chilling breeze. The toes on my foot with no shoe were numb as well as the sole as it rested against the ice glazed parking lot. I was miserable. Snowflakes gathered on the surface of my hair while I studied the outside of the building. After a second, I began walking towards the entrance, waddling like a homeless, redneck penguin with Greyson trailing behind me. Eventually, the guys joined not too far behind us after taking their bags from the trunk and closing it. It was a decent distance from our car to the front doors of the massive building.
     When I reached the double doors, I grabbed the right handle and pulled it towards me. Inside the entryway was a clean wooden floor with minimalist white and neutral-colored painted walls. The aroma inside was from the cooking of a type of soup or something. My stomach had been growling all day because we'd eaten the last candy bar last night, and there were no other snacks for us to eat today. That's one reason we were getting ready to go back to another big store on a run. The smell inside of this place was inviting and took me back to one night that the three of us had made a homemade vegetable soup at their house in Pocola. What I would give to go back to those days.
     I hadn't had a real meal in such a long time, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about that. I was literally salivating over the smell coming from a kitchen somewhere close by. I looked around while walking slowly towards the end of the hallway, carrying the bags. Greyson studied each aspect of the interior of the facility. Then, Lucy appeared in the archway straight ahead. She perked up when she saw Caleb and Jackson following behind me after they'd entered. Her blonde hair flowed gracefully in the breeze from her purposeful walk. I avoided eye contact and instead just continued looking around. From the cross on the sign out front and the scriptures distributed in various places, I knew that this had been a religion-centered assisted living facility with the weird adapted name of Opfer Temple. It had to be Latin or something.
I'd never been a religious person; it just never became a thing in my life. I just didn't see the appeal of waking up every Sunday to sit for at least an hour and be preached to about something you could do on your own and in private—I don't know. Religions just always seemed so shady and democratic in the media, protesting outside of Planned Parenthood's or telling you that you were damned for hell if you were lustful or homosexual. And from the setup and formalities of this place, it definitely gave me cult-vibes. What did I know, though?
     We'd finally made it down to Lucy who stood beautifully in front of us, still dressed in her expensive looking clothing. I turned back to Caleb and Jackson who both smiled ear to ear at her. Once again, she stared past me like I was a ghost—invisible. What did she think of me?
"I'm so glad you guys decided to come live with us. You made the right decision," she said happily.
She never made eye contact with me; it was always directed towards the guys, and that didn't sit right with me. It was like she wanted them to come, but she didn't necessarily seem thrilled about me or Greyson coming as a package deal. I felt threatened by her in regards to Jackson; I'm not going to lie. I felt like she was attracted to him, and I could tell he was attracted to her which hurt me way more than it should've. I probably wouldn't have felt as bad if he and I were on better terms, but I didn't know where his mind was, honestly. This move made me worry about the future of my relationship.
     Greyson grabbed my hand and comforted me as we faced this new environment together. I could tell he was nervous, and I sensed that he felt guilty for wanting to come when he knew I'd felt so strongly against it. I was glad he wasn't immediately comfortable like Jackson and Caleb. I needed someone to be a little on edge with me because my boyfriend and my brother were making me feel shameful or wrong in being this way, and that hurt me. They always swore they had my best interest at heart, but no one had my best interest at heart more than I did.