End of Humanity

S E V E N

Kaylee lays on the ground next to her brother, using hay as a pillow. I lean against the barn wall still eating my apple and salad. Kaylee ate hers as soon as I gave it to her, she must not have that much food stored in the barn. After I finish eating I pick up my water bottle and take a sip. I see that Kaylee's bottle is half full.

I have the first watch of the night. My trusty knife is next to me and I have an open book in my hands. I read my book and then I hear a noise. I drop my book and grasp my knife. I stand up and walk to where I heard the noise come from.

I head towards Alfred and Kaylee. I hear the noise again. I look down at Kaylee and realise she is making a weird noise in her sleep. It sounds like a muffled snort.

I begin to walk away and then something grabs my leg. I look down and see that Alfred's hand is holding my ankle. "Your awake." I whisper. My heart races, I thought for a second that one of the Lunatics crawled in here and was about to pull a Paranormal Activity and drag me by my legs.

"You must be hungry and thirsty." I say. Alfred lets go of my ankle and I quickly go and grab salad and my water bottle. I sit next to him and I help him up a bit so part of his back is leaning against a hay bale.

I'm about to feed him a forkful of lettuce, tomato and cucumber when he says "Who are you?" He speaks with a hoarse voice.

"I'm Carah. Your sister found me." I tell him.

"Kay-rah. That's a weird name."

"So is Alfred. Now, eat some food." I place the fork in his mouth and he scrapes the salad off the fork.

"You don't need to feed me."

"Go ahead." I hand him the fork and when he moves his hand up to grab the fork he winces. "Your back is ripped to shreds. It may be a while before you can feed yourself." I tell him. "So, Kay-rah. How did my sister find you?" Alfred asks. "Well, butler of Batman, I was in my house. I saw her run down the street towards my house. I stood by the front door and she tried to slam the door down. Once I opened it, I put a knife to her throat and then she told me about you." I tell him as I open the lid of the water bottle and pour water down his throat.

"Were you going to kill her?" He says as he swallows the water. "What?" Why would he say that? "Why would I kill her?"

"Why did you put a knife against her throat?"

"I didn't know if she was a Lunatic or not. I want making sure." Lunatic. I see him mouth. "I call the crazy cannibal things Lunatics." I explain.

Alfred nods "I guess that is a good reason to put a knife against someone's throat." I keep feeding him the salad. "We are leaving tomorrow morning and taking you back to my house." I state.

"How? I can't stand, let alone walk." He narrows his eyes. "I will have to carry you."

"I think you will have a hard time with that. I'm not saying that you aren't capable in carrying me, I'm saying that I'm probably heavy for anybody to carry."

"It's not like you're a sumo wrestler."

"I guess that is true. But what if you can't carry me, I sure as hell know that Kaylee can't carry me."

"We will throw your arms around our necks and drag you. I don't think your sister would leave you here."

"Yeah, she won't. But if you do get me out of this barn and something goes wrong. Promise me that you would do anything to save my sister, even if that means leaving me."

"You really love your sister." I look into his dark brown eyes. "Do you have a sister?" I get up with the empty salad container in hand and walk back to my nest. "I have nobody." I tell him.

Alfred shuts up after that and I continue reading my book.

+ + +

After a few hours I'm over half-way into the book. I think that it's Kaylee's shift at watch. I get up and nudge Kaylee in the arm. She moans but doesn't wake up. I poke her in the arm, softly at first and then hard. Kaylee's eyes dart open. "It's your shift." I tell her.

I go back and lay in my spot. In the corner of my eye I see Kaylee sit up. I wriggle around until I get comfortable, I close my eyes for a long time until I actually fall asleep.