Two Summers Ago, the World Went to Shit

Chapter 15: Stranded

Chapter 15: Stranded

     I stood there in front of a man I'd presumed dead in my mind after leaving a war with so many deaths. We'd been separated for so long that I forgot what it felt like to have him in my life. Up until the end, what we had was everything to me, despite our differences. Remembering all of the bad experiences with Sophie, it made me feel angry that he could ever rekindle things with her—he'd once told me he'd never go back to her, even if she was the last woman on earth. Ironic, isn't it?
     Caleb frowned as I looked at Jackson and Sophie then back to him. The expression on my face showed pain, confusion, and betrayal. Jackson pursed his lips, and Sophie scoffed; she knew what this was doing to me mentally. And all of this time, when I was thinking about what happened to Jackson and Caleb or what they were doing, finding Sophie in this middle of this shit show apocalypse never crossed my mind. This—I did not expect this at all.
I ignored the two of them after the fact, and instead chose to appreciate that my brother was alive; he was here. This was the antidote to the sadness and fear I felt with leaving the hospital community not knowing whether I was leaving him behind, in danger, or scared. This was a good thing, despite Jackson and Sophie. I needed to embrace it. So, I tried.
It was such a surreal moment. What were the odds we'd bump into each other just by the slim chance I decided to pull over right here to feed Grace? I just wondered where had they been this whole time? Did they jump from place to place or had they found a community too? I had so many questions to ask them.
"I can't believe you're here," I said happily.
"We've been stumbling from place to place lately trying to find somewhere safe and also looking for places you might had gone. We were down by the river resting when we heard a baby cry. I thought, that can't be—but what if it is. And it was," he said smiling from ear to ear admiring how healthy and strong I looked since the last time he'd seen me.
I couldn't help but share the excitement.
"Do you want to meet your niece," I asked Caleb sweetly.
He grinned excitedly and said, "Oh my god, yes!"
     I took his hand, and we hurried back up towards the van where Ryan was finishing up with Grace's bottle. Bailey was standing close to Ryan, staring blankly past me at Jackson as if he were waiting on us to hug and dramatically reunite. He'd be waiting a while for that. I guess I expected him to be happier that we'd found my brother, but a part of me felt like he was hoping Jackson wouldn't be with him when the day came.
     Once my brother, Jackson, and Sophie were beside the van, I could immediately sense the awkward alpha male shit brewing between Bailey and Jackson. Part of me felt the need to say or do something affectionate to defend his honor or prove something to Jackson, but I didn't need to. Bailey should've known how I felt without fabricating it for the purpose of making Jackson jealous. I didn't need to stoop down to that level of desperation, not yet anyways.
Caleb reached for Grace, and Ryan gently handed her over. Everything within him displayed love and happiness from his smile to his glow. He cradled her in his arms and admired every perfect detail about her, softly rubbing her cheeks to keep her calm. This was a moment I'd cherish forever. Caleb just had this nurturing nature to him that made it so easy to feel the love he had to offer. Grace hit the lottery with having Caleb as her uncle. There was no doubt about that.
"What's her name," he asked.
"Grace," I replied after a few seconds, trying to avoid tears.
He looked over at me sadly as if he knew I was still a wreck over the loss of Greyson.
"Grace," he quietly repeated.
Lola stepped out of the van and joined the rest of us circled around the back door. It was silent for several moments before anyone spoke again. I saw Sophie and Jackson looking around at the unfamiliar faces.
"I know we talked a few times at Opfer. I guess I never put two and two together that you were the Bailey. Nice to meet you," Jackson said extending a hand out to him as he took it.
I got a weird feeling with both of them here at the same time. I don't know how to explain it. I was almost embarrassed. Maybe I was the one making it weird, but if you'd seen the looks they'd given each other when they locked eyes, you'd know what I mean.
Bailey shook his hand and gave him the driest smile ever, but I guess that was civil enough. I pursed my lips and awkwardly tried to transition from my two love interests interacting.
"I don't think you guys ever got the chance to meet Ryan, but he was the doctor I was seeing at Opfer. Ryan and Bailey saved my life—Grace's too," I said appreciatively.
Caleb looked over at Ryan and then to Bailey before giving them a nod of approval.
"Thank y'all for taking care of her," Caleb said.
Ryan patted Caleb on the shoulder gently to acknowledge his gratitude.
"This is Lola," I said walking over to her as she smiled shyly.
"We were apart of a bigger group pretty much right after we were separated. Her brother took us in and took care of us," I said sweetly.
"What happened? Are y'all still with that group," Caleb asked.
I darted my eyes suspiciously to Ryan and Bailey as I thought of what I should even say. I almost told him immediately that we were going up north, but then I remembered why we were going up north. I wasn't sure if this was the right time to lay this news on him when he'd just got me back, but at the same time, when would be the right time? I was sure he'd ask why anyways if I just vaguely said up north. Why else would we leave a safe group to venture out on our own? So, I side-eyed Bailey to see if I could read his expression, see if I could tell what he thought I should do. He gave me a sympathetic head nod before I spoke.
"We have a lot to catch up on big brother," I said.
"What do you mean? What's wrong," he asked as his face dropped.
Everyone turned their attention to me to hear what I was preparing to say, anxiously watching my lips move with each word.
"The injection—Lola's brother got it before the soldiers could kill him. He escaped, but the injection killed him way after he'd received it. Caleb, they were giving this injection to people way before they were murdering them."
He scrunched his brows.
"What are you saying, Sammi?"
"I'm saying the injection was intended to kill people, not the soldiers, but the injection wasn't killing people as fast as they anticipated. So, in order to activate the infection quicker, they needed to kill everyone to begin the apocalypse instead of having sporadic zombie transformations. Anyone who got the injection before they sent soldiers will die from the infection, there's just not a way to know when."
     I paused with Caleb still nervously waiting for me to explain the significance of the story. I glanced over at Sophie who seemed annoyed as if she thought I was wasting their time or seeking attention, and then I looked over at Jackson who seemed like he wanted to show interest. I don't think he could with Sophie present. I guess he wanted to be faithful now. Sigh.
"Sammi," Caleb said worriedly.
"I have the infection too, Caleb."
     I could see his heart shatter solely from the look in his eyes. I'm sure all of this was overwhelming, confusing, and just fucked up to him, because it was, it was a fucked up situation. Bailey had a similar look in his eyes when he'd found out, and even still, it lingered each time I'd mentioned the infection. I tried to avoid looking in Jackson's direction, but a piece of me wanted to see if he was affected by the news. I cared if he cared, as much as I hated to admit that.
"What," Jackson choked out.
"I was given the injection sometime while I was in the hospital after my attack. The group we were with was living in the hospital, so while I was there, I went digging through my medical records—and there it was," I said hanging my head down, watching my feet move from the anxiety consuming me.
"So, we left the group at the hospital, and now we're headed up north to see if we can find a cure," I said to him.
"Is there room for us to tag along?"
"Uh, yeah, we can move some stuff around. It'll be a tight squeeze, but we can make it work," Bailey interjected supportively as I half smiled at him.
I walked off, and Bailey showed Caleb to Grace's car seat where they strapped her back in. Ryan and Lola sat the back row seats up maneuvering the luggage onto the far left side, leaving two seats open. I took my seat back in the front passenger side, and Bailey took the driver's seat again. Grace was in her car seat with Ryan sitting across from her. Lola was in the third row next to Caleb, and Sophie and Jackson were tightly packed into the fourth row to the right of our luggage.
     Bailey buckled in and started driving again after we'd settled in and prepared to continue our journey. I peered out of the windshield as the sun began to set behind the clouds slowly moving across the sky. Everyone was silent, even Grace, who had a pacifier in her mouth keeping her relaxed. We drove silently like this for a while, only our thoughts to keep us company, and with every minute that passed, the sky grew darker, making it difficult to relax, for me at least.
We needed to be thinking of somewhere we could sleep for the night; the last thing I wanted was to get caught in some kind of mess in the middle of the night. I looked out of the window at what we were passing to see if there was a safe place to sleep, but we weren't in an area with anything more than maybe a gas station here and there. I didn't feel comfortable; I felt on edge, and I typically knew my gut was trying to tell me something when I felt this way.
"We should stop soon," I said, turning towards Bailey.
"We will. I just want to drive a little bit further. I think there's a town coming up with some better options," he said.
I pursed my lips because I knew we should stop before it got any later, but I didn't feel like pressing the issue. I just sat back as he continued to drive for what felt like another hour or so. The sky was now black with a foggy haze and a few stars that were scattered around. I knew Bailey thought reaching the next town would be the best route for us to go, but I couldn't help but think a bigger town would have way more zombies.
We were on a two lane road surrounded by half dead trees and faded road signs; with each one we passed, my eyes felt heavier. I remember dozing off for a second but was quickly woken up when Bailey slammed on the brakes, causing my body to jolt towards the dashboard. After clearing my focus, I looked through the windshield expecting to see abandoned cars blocking the road, but instead, I saw zombies herded ahead as far as our eyes could see, with the help of the van's headlights.
It only took a few seconds for the zombies to completely surround the van, banging on the doors and windows fighting for a way to come in. The loud hits to the van startled Grace. She spit out the pacifier and began crying which only made them want in even more. My heart was racing as anxiety controlled my mind and body. It was like I was in a constant state of panic these days—always.
"What do we do," I asked, my voice shaking.
"I-I don't know," Bailey responded, seemingly in shock.
A few seconds later, he turned to look back towards Jackson and Sophie who were sitting nervously in the very back of the van. I could tell he was thinking intensely, as if he regretted his decision to stay on the road. Nothing we could do about it now. We just knew we needed to come up with a plan fast.
"Jackson, there are guns in a red duffel bag. Do you see it," Bailey yelled back to him.
Jackson fumbled around the packed left side of the back row he and Sophie were sitting on trying to uncover the red duffel bag that was slightly visible underneath the pile of luggage. After rearranging and moving some items, he was able to access the bag. He took the zipper and pulled it around to reveal the guns.
I wasn't sure how many guns and bullets Bailey had packed, but I'd hoped it was enough to save us from this, this very situation I was afraid of to begin with. The amount of guns and ammo originally intended to protect four people was now being distributed amongst seven of us. It wouldn't take long to blow through all we had. That scared me.
Jackson began passing out the guns among everyone in the van, even Sophie who admitted she had no idea how to use one. There was no time for a crash course; she'd just have to make do. Then, Ryan eventually handed one to me, and we all checked to see if our gun was loaded, except Sophie of course. I'm sure she was anticipating Jackson and Caleb's protection once we exited the van, but she needed to mentally prepare on not having it. I knew we'd need to open the doors and make a run for it, but it'd probably be difficult for Jackson and Sophie considering they would need to escape through the third row doors since they didn't have any except the doors behind the seat.
     I kept imagining scenarios in my head seeing how each situation could play out, but I didn't have a solid solution. We were running out of time, and the zombies would only continue to multiply and pile around us, complicating our exit strategy. These were mostly young and middle aged zombies which meant their speed, stamina, and strength reflected on that. We were essentially fucked.
"Caleb," I said with my panic-filled voice, relying on him to come up with a way to save us.
He looked around in any every direction as if trying to figure out what to do.
"Jackson, how many magazines are in the duffel bag," Caleb asked.
"Um, six, no seven, there's seven," he said fumbling around nervously.
"Give one to everyone, hurry. We'll need as much ammo as possible, but we need to be smart and conserve when we can. After this, we have nothing but knives and creativity."
Jackson began frantically passing them to each passenger as Caleb took a deep breath.
"Ryan, give me Grace," Bailey said as he turned to face him.
     Ryan nodded and hurriedly began to unbuckle the straps on the car seat. He handed Grace, who was still crying, over to Bailey. He put her back into the kangaroo carrier while Caleb rolled down his window. He pulled a knife from his pocket and tried to drive it into the skull of as many zombies as he could, but it was a lot harder to stab and remove a blade from a body than it seemed, plus a pile of bodies in front of the door would cause more problems than solving them.
The zombies were only fighting harder, reaching through the open window trying to grab onto his arm. He tried rolling the window back up, but their arms were preventing it from completely closing. He was able to remove his arm from their grasp, but they'd grabbed the glass of the window and broken it off, exposing the opening for them once again.
"Okay, were going to have to make a run for it. We need to split up so the herd does too. Plan to meet back at the van as soon as it's clear. Conserve your bullets as much as you can, but be safe. They're fast," Caleb said.
"Jackson, I'm scared," Sophie admitted.
He placed his hand on her cheek and said, "I know. It's gonna be okay."
It'd been the first time he really acted affectionate or sympathetic since I'd seen them. It actually seemed genuine. Yuck.
"Okay, let's go," Caleb said opening his door.
     Bailey, Ryan, Lola, and I all followed his lead running, no, sprinting as fast as we possibly could through heavily wooded terrain on either side of the road, all of us slightly scattered. Jackson and Sophie exited last. When I glanced back, I could see Jackson, Caleb, Lola, and Bailey, who was carrying Grace, running in the opposite direction. Ryan, Sophie, and I were running in the same direction. I turned back to see where the two of them were, and they were beginning to get caught in the middle of the zombies. I stopped to go back to help when Sophie bumped into Ryan who'd lost his balance and fallen into the arms of a zombie as Sophie peeled her way through. I watched him fight and plead for someone to help him. I remember his screams so clearly as I watched him collapse to the ground with the zombies piling on top of him, ripping his skin and tendons apart.
"Ryan," I screamed as I started to run towards him to try and save him, but there was no saving him.
Sophie grabbed my arm as she'd caught up to me and said, "Let's go! We can't save him."
     My adrenaline was pumping at a rate I'd never felt before, so I hadn't fully reacted to the man who saved me and my child's life being eaten alive by dead, infected things. I would feel his death, and I knew it would kill me on the inside. I wanted to blame Sophie; she did this to him. She's the one who essentially placed him in the zombies hands by carelessly running into him. I felt like she could've helped, but instead, she chose to save only herself. I couldn't think about that right now; I just knew I needed to survive.
     We'd been running straight through the openings between the trees not stopping, even with the zombies lingering behind to feast on Ryan. We were safe, but that didn't mean it would stay that way. Hyper-vigilance—that's how I typically operated. If you expect danger, you likely won't be caught off guard when you find that there was danger.
I remember breathing in the cool air with a continuous smell of death. I remember hearing the twigs snap underneath my feet as I ran across them and the crunch of the leaves that lightly covered the ground. I remember adrenaline consuming my body to a capacity that disguised my exhaustion from running for my life, literally. And I ran until I found an old, abandoned house settled in the middle of the woods.
I stopped once I reached the concrete steps, observing the the evidence of a house fire. The house was severely damaged with vulnerable areas for zombies to come in, but I knew my body needed to rest. This was where we'd be seeking shelter tonight, at least until it was safe to return back to the van.
     I turned to see Sophie who'd finally caught up. I looked at her, like really looked at her, for the first time since she and Jackson originally were together. She still had the same green eyes and chestnut hair. She was wearing a pair of black athletic pants with a light blue jacket zipped up over a tee. Not much had changed about her, especially her selfishness.
"We're not staying here are we," she asked, still desperate to catch her breath.
"You got any better ideas?"
She didn't respond.
     I took the steps into the charred house desperate to find some part that survived the fire that'd once taken over. The house itself was relatively small, but it still had salvaged parts. I quietly moved from room to room assessing the situation. It wasn't ideal by any means, but there was a halfway decent leather couch positioned in the unrecognizable living room I could probably sleep on.
     The dry, ash and dust covered wood floor creaked beneath me with each step. I didn't suspect that we had company hiding out in this house that would hear me. There wasn't anywhere they really could've been except behind the door I'd spotted down the small hallway. I heard Sophie walk up behind me with similar sounds from the floor.
     I'm not gonna lie, my facial expression said exactly how I felt about her, and she noticed—there's no way she couldn't have. When she gave me a similar look back, it confirmed that. It made me wonder what she'd been told from Caleb and Jackson about me during their time together.
"What is your problem," she asked irritably.
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.
"My problem? God, where do I start," I asked angrily.
"Please, tell me, I'd love to hear!"
"Don't act like you didn't just get Ryan killed! You could've helped him, and now he's dead because of you!"
"Because of me? He got himself killed! This is surviving, Sammi! I'm surviving," she yelled.
"He was a doctor! He saved my daughter's life; he saved my life! And he could've saved it again," I said coming to the realization that this happened.
He was dead, and he could've played a role in figuring out a way to cure this infection housed within me. Ryan was there for me at Opfer and not once did I ever doubt his intentions. I owed him my life. I owed Sophie nothing. Of all of the people left in the world, I somehow got stranded with her. What could possibly go wrong?
"You don't have to like me, but you're going to have to live with me. I'm not going anywhere," she said crossing her arms.
     I rolled my eyes and proceeded to open the bedroom door we'd been standing outside of. To my surprise, the room was pretty intact despite what went down here to destroy majority of the house. They weren't lying when they said keeping your door shut could save your life in case of a fire; this was definitely evidence that it was true.
     The room once belonged to a young girl because it was decorated with colorful butterflies and flowers with lots of pink and neon green throughout. It had white wooden furniture with small picture frames filled with happy photographs of a girl and her friends and family settled on top of her dresser and bedside table. I walked over to each one to look at them up close, Sophie remaining silent in the doorway.
"I'm not a bad person," Sophie said after being silent for a couple of minutes.
"Are you trying to convince me or yourself," I said picking up one of the pictures to admire the happy girl inside of it.
"I've loved Jackson forever, but every time we broke up it wasn't because of me," she said calmly.
I turned to face her, sitting the frame back down.
"He was always the one to break it off. When I got with other guys, that was just to keep my mind occupied because I was broken; every time I was more broken than the last."
I squinted my eyes at her in suspicion, waiting for her to elaborate.
"I love Jackson, but he loves you. It's always been you," she admitted, pain blended in each word.
"Why would you think it was because of me," I asked curiously.
She walked over to the bed, climbing on top of it. She sat with her back against wall, crossing her legs in front of her.
"He told me he was in love with you, every time, but then something would happen. He'd change his mind or you were with Reece or something. I don't know," she said.
I walked over to the bed, finding a spot next to her.
"Why did you say he loves me and not loved me," I asked.
She swallowed a lump in her throat before admitting the truth behind Jackson's feelings.
"When he's sleeping at night, he cries out for you. Every day you were gone he'd slip away to try and find you. He always lied saying he was scavenging for food, but he never stopped looking for you. He never stopped loving you."
"Why are you telling me this? You two are together, and Bailey and I are together. What am I supposed to do with that?"
"I'm telling you because we could die. Every day we could die. This world is too cruel to not know who truly loves us. We should be with the person we love," she said sadly.
"Do you love Jackson," I asked.
"I do, but he doesn't love me—not the way he loves you. And he never will."
     I frowned. This was the most adult conversation I'd ever had with Sophie. Talking to her like this now, she seemed like a decent human being. She was almost someone I could be friends with, but could I really trust her? Was what she was telling me true?
"When the world started going to shit, I was out kayaking with some friends. We camped out for weeks, hunting for food and drinking from the river. We survived perfectly fine like that for a while until another group killed my friends. I'd been washing off in the water a little ways from our tents. I heard screams and then gunshots—lots of gunshots. I had no choice but to drag the kayak back in and get as far away as I could. One day, I stopped paddling. There were these two guys filling up some bottles in the river. When I got closer, I saw that it was Caleb and Jackson. I'd never felt more relief in my entire life. The three of us stuck together ever since, every day looking for you."
"I had no idea. I'm sorry that happened to you."
"I don't know what issues you and Jackson have, but it's time you really decide who you want to be with," she said looking over at me.
     I took a deep breath immediately thinking back to the day I'd walked in on Lucy and Jackson. I was second guessing every thought, decision, and feeling I'd had. Was it even real? It had to be. I wondered if he'd shared that with Sophie or if she'd known about Lucy. I wondered about a lot of things.
"Jackson cheated on me while I was pregnant. I walked in on it," I said.
She furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Sammi, Jackson is a lot of things, but a cheater isn't one of them. I swear that to you."
     I mean, when I tried to flirt with him before, he politely turned me down when he was with Sophie. Why wouldn't he give me the same respect? Should I have given him the benefit of the doubt? I just—I know what I saw. But, maybe I should hear him out, but what else could it possibly have been?
"We should try to get some sleep," I suggested.
She nodded agreeably as we'd both moved from the top of the bed. I walked over to the bedroom door to close it, and then I made my way back over to the bed. We were now both beneath the comforter of this full sized bed. She turned to face the wall, almost immediately falling asleep. I shut my eyes and tried to rest, but I'd been in and out of sleep all night from thinking about Bailey and Jackson or worrying that a zombie would wonder in. Eventually, my exhaustion caught up to me, and I was sound asleep.
When morning came, I could feel someone watching me. I know you know that feeling—the feeling that wakes you up, a presence joining you that you are subconsciously aware of. I was almost scared to open my eyes, but when I did, I felt relieved.
"I must be dreaming," Jackson said staring down at me and Sophie in the bed.
"Oh please," Sophie said as she sat up from the bed.
I slowly opened my eyes until I adjusted to the sunlight beaming in from the bedroom window.
"You two spent the night together, and you didn't kill each other? I'm impressed," Caleb said as he appeared in the doorway.
"The thought did cross my mind," I said, mostly, joking.
This was embarrassing for me to admit, but for a second, the slightest second, I forgot about Bailey and Grace. I was almost back to the beginning when it was just us three. But, I quickly began to worry when I didn't see anyone else with Caleb and Jackson. Had they lost track of Lola, Bailey, and Grace?
Sophie and I got out of bed and stood in front of the two of them.
"Where's everyone else," I asked worriedly.
"Lola and Bailey went to the van. We told them we'd meet them there after we found y'all," Caleb said.
"And Grace?"
"She's fine," Caleb said reaching over to rub my shoulder.
"Come on. We've got some driving to do," he said smiling.