Days Are Gone - Haim

Days Are Gone

"FUCK! FUCK! FUUUCCKKKK!" Este screams are she drives the van erratically through the streets. "This can not be fucking happening."

She looks in the review mirror at the figure tied up in the back writhing around on the van's floor. Alana curled up on the front passenger floor whimpers softly to herself. 

Este focuses her gaze back on the road ahead. Her mind is a complete blank, so she just concentrates on driving as far away from everything as fast as she can.

Alana quietly asks "What are we going to do Este? What about Danielle?…Este I'm scared," the girl starts crying again, 

Este tries to console her "Shhhhh Lonz it's going to be ok, we'll figure something out." Este can't help but think that the world they used to know does not exist anymore, those days are gone.

48hours earlier.

It takes 26 mins for Este to drive from college to home and it feels like a life time. She has no idea what she's going to find when she gets there. She just keeps praying that everything will be fine, but the more she drives the more she sees that everywhere is really fucked up! What the hell is going on? People appear to have gone crazy and were attacking each other, the streets are filled with people screaming and being chased by others who are trying to drag them to the ground.

Finally she turns into her own street and floors it towards her house.

"FUCK!" She slams on the brakes as her 80 year old neighbour Mrs. Jensen wanders out into the street in front of her. The old lady looks up and gives Este the middle finger then continues to wander off down the road.

"Oh well fuck you TOO!" Este yells starting the car again, she hits the gutter, driving straight up onto her front lawn and sprints out of her car. She breathes a sigh of relief as she notices there is no damage to her house. She opens the front door,

 "Mom?…Dad?…Alana?" Este yells but nobody answered back. Suddenly not liking the eerie silence she yells out again,

"HELLO?…MOM?…Where are you guys?" still the house remains quiet.

Este slowly starts moving through the house,  she can hear a dull thudding sound that becomes louder as she moves closer to the kitchen, the hairs at the back of her neck begin to bristle and she stops moving. Este racks her brains trying to work out what could be making the sound, but she is unable to figure it out. She now hears a low deep growling also coming from the kitchen. She looks around trying to locate anything that she might be able to use to protect herself with, the hallway has bookcases full of books and picture frames which are no good. One of Danielle's guitars is leaning against a bookcase but Este doesn't even think about using it, not even for a second. 

"Oh this will do" Este grabs the menorah from the shelf but stops. "Fuck if l break this mom will kill me," she puts the candlestick holder back on the shelf and keeps looking around, her eyes land on the door of the small closet back near the front door and she suddenly remembers that her dad kept a baseball bat in there in case of intruders. She quietly but quickly rushes back to the closet opening it and grabs hold of the bat. With both hands grasped tightly around the handle she again proceeds forward towards the kitchen. The thudding sound and growling gets louder as she nears the kitchen. Este slowly pokes her head around the doorway and looks into the kitchen, she gasps at the sight of a bloody figure on the floor that once was human, now it is just ripped pieces of flesh, bone and bloodied clothing. Este's brain slowly registers the clothing and she suddenly feels sick to her stomach as she realises that what is lying on the floor used to be her mother. She starts dry-retching and slides down the wall of the hallway.

"This isn't happening, it can't be real," she thinks to herself as she squeezes her eyes tightly shut trying to prevent the tears from overflowing. The thudding and growling in the kitchen continues.

Este doesn't know how long she sat there but eventually she knows she needs to move and find the rest of her family. She wipes her eyes and picks up the baseball bat and enters the kitchen trying to avoid looking at her mother's remains. She steps around them and locates the source of the noises. There in front of her banging his head against the pantry door is her father, and he is the one also making the growling noise. Este confused walks over to him.

"Dad" She says, her father stops head butting the pantry door and turns to stare at her, Este's eyes open wide in shock, her father's face and chest is covered in blood and what looks like bits of flesh, his eyes are a pale yellow/white in colour. "Dad?" Este cries, her father opens his mouth in a snarl, growling he lunges at her. Estes's instincts kick in and she swings the baseball bat hard at her father connecting with his head. His head snaps back and his body slumps to the ground. Este stands there holding the bat looking down at her father's now lifeless body.

"OMG! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry Daddy…I…I…didn't…Fuck! Oh god…Fuck!" She sobs.

"Este?"

"Alana," Este rushes over to open the pantry door but it won't open, "Alana it's me sweetie, unlock the door, come on Lanzo your safe now, let me in," Este heres the lock click and she opens the pantry door, Alana flings herself at her older sister crying. Este catches her and they sit down on the floor together. "Shhhh Lonz I've got you," she says as she gently strokes the girls hair. Alana is crying so hard she has given herself the hiccups. Este doesn't even want to imagine what her sister just went through, she just holds her tight and continues to console her. Eventually Alana has calmed down enough to finally speak.

"S T Dad he just, he just…mom she…she…OMG!...D.da.dad he, he a…ah…attac…attacked mom." Alana sobs, "We…we…OMG! We…we…need to go.…go help mom!" Alana starts to get up but Este holds her tight not wanting her to go out into the kitchen and see their parents.

"Shhhhh there's nothing we can do to help mom now Lonz,"Este whipsers, trying to keep her own tears at bay.

"Noooo! Don't…don't…say that…I want my mom…I want my mom" Alana sobs becoming more hysterical, "Where's Dad? Why di…did he do that Este why?" Alana asks.

Este still doesn't understand fully what has been going on and has no answer that will help her sister.

"I don't know sweetie, something has happened right across the city, at college people where attacking each other and I just knew I had to get home to you guys," She loosens her grip on her younger sister and tilts Alana's face upwards so the girl is looking at her. Este gently wipes the tears from her cheeks.

"Lonz I need you to trust me right now ok?" Alana nods her head, "Ok good! We have to go find Danielle," Este helps her sister to stand. Once they are up she puts her arm around Alana's shoulders. "I need you to close you eyes for me sweetie and keep them closed until I tell you, you can open them again ok?" Este looks at Alana to make sure she has heard what Este said, Alana again just nods her head. Este is dreading having to go back out into the kitchen, she takes a deep breath to prepare herself and once she is certain Alana's eyes are shut tight she leads her sister out past her dad and mom and into the hallway.

"Ok Lonz you can open your eyes," Alana opens them and looks at Este expectantly, "I need you to head down and wait at the front door for me ok," Alana shakes her head and grabs hold of Este's arm refusing to let go. "Come on Lonz I'm going to be right behind you, I just want to grab some food and drinks," Este explains gently removing Alana's tight grip from her arm. Alana reluctantly heads towards the front door whilst Este grabs a back pack and goes back into the kitchen. She keeps her focus on the pantry door but has to look down at her father so as to not trip over his body, she quickly grabs some bread, crisps, chocolate and fruit and shoves them in the bag, as she exits the pantry she picks up the baseball bat and heads over to the fridge and grabs some bottles of water and juice throwing them into a plastic bag that was on the bench. Just before she is about to leave she notices a picture of her family on the fridge door, looking at the happy snap her vision begins to blur, she quickly removes the picture and puts it in the front pocket of the back pack before throwing the bag onto her back. With Baseball bat and plastic bag of drinks in tow she heads back to Alana at the front door.

Este slowly opens the front door and after making sure the coast is clear she takes Alana's hand and they make a dash for Este's car. Once inside Este yells, "lock your door," Alana didn't need to be told twice, she had locked the door and was already putting her seatbelt on as Este started the car. 

"Ok Lonz lets go find D!"