Surviving Confessions

Five

October 4th.
A woman, holding her baby in a towel, sat across from me. She kept her eyes locked on the baby and rocked gently back and forth. A man next to her had his face angled at the roof, eyes closed, lips silently muttering a prayer. The six of us were huddled on one side. I started counting the people.

22. Including me. 22 people all stuck in the back of a covered delivery truck. After what happened with James, we left the cave once Rebekah was ready to leave her husband. She didn't explain what happened exactly, actually she didn't explain anything and she didn't have to. She shuffled towards us, ghostly face and clothes splattered with blood, she didn't make a noise. She was in shock. She kept her eyes verted down, passed the gun to Daniel and just began walking. We followed her, in silence to mourn our friend.

Whilst we were wandering around, we came across a billboard, designed by the military to tell survivors about a safe haven. Arcanen. We stumbled onto a road and we flagged down a truck to take us there.

That was the truck the six of us were huddled on.

I don't really remember much of the ride. Bits and pieces.  The baby cried, every time we hit a bump in the road. The man prayed every second and Rebekah stayed in silence.

I remember the night was cold. I was sleeping on Daniel's shoulder, I kept banging my head gently on his shoulder after every bump, Alice was a sleep on his other. He woke me up with a kiss on my forehead. The situation we all found ourselves in was horrific and terrifying, me and Daniel had grown closer and closer.

"We've stopped. I think we're here. I think we've made it" he said smiling. We lost someone close to us and he could keep smiling for us.

Outside we could hear foreign voices. I kept trying to understand the language but it just wasn't clear enough. I heard the driver open the door, step on the gravel and then close the door. His voice joined the voices, them drawing closer and closer. The cover lifted up and two faces peered in. 

They started muttering in their foreign language. The driver looked frustrated but none of us understood his frustration.

"I speak the language" Laura whispered.

I leaned forward and whispered, "don't".

She stood up and spoke to them. They replied. We sat staring cluelessly, scares of what would happen. Laura sat back down and stared at the ground. 

" Laura what did they said?" Alice asked.

"They said there's too many people on the truck".

David stood up. Staring at the shorter solider. I felt sick watching all this happen. I just wanted to hide this away. Avoid the outcome.

"Tell him to let us through" he said. Laura translated. The solider smiled, he spoke staring only at David.

"He- he said one must go". Everyone looked at each other. If you listened carefully enough you could hear our hearts drops.

"One won't make a difference" Daniel spoke, in a tone I've never heard before. Laura translated. My eyes began to fill with tears. The solider replied curtly.

"He said one. Or we'll all die". The second the solider realised Daniel received the translation his smile grew. Daniel sat back down, he knew he was defeated. The truck fell silent, no sound: not even from the baby. We could tell the solider was being impatient because he had lit 3 cigarettes before anyone made a decision.

"I'll go".

My heart stopped. I lost one friend my three days before that. I could not lose another. Rebekah was stood, depriving us from the moonlight. The solider beamed. She began walking a few steps towards the edge of the truck but I grabbed her arm.

"Don't go please. We can't lose you" I pleaded. She pulled my arm and jumped off the truck. I could hear Laura and Alice crying. I could feel Daniel shaking next to me. The drivers door slammed shut. The solider stared at us, holding Rebekah in his arms. She couldn't even look at us. The truck moved. I didn't even hear the driver start the engine. I began screaming, I tried to jump out to her but Daniel took a tight hold of me, preventing me from risking my life too. All I could do was watch my friend shrink into the distance.

I felt empty.

I'm losing them, one by one, I thought, we can't survive. I did this to them. It's my fault I'm losing them.