The Siren Outside Our Door

The Siren Outside our Door (Part 2)

The days following were about the same as usual, except both Mark and I were famished. The siren would sound around the same time per day and zombies had began to surround the shack, leaving us no means of escape. All we could do was sit, but for some reason, Mark remained optimistic.
"They'll leave us alone eventually!" He would chant every time I was down. The feeling of hopelessness began to consume me every minute. I could hardly hold back tears. My eyes began to water but through my blurred vision I could see Mark with a soft smile on his face. He was humming softly and inching towards me. I could hear a tune appear in his hums as he grabbed my hand. He pulled me up and began to sway about. I wiped the tears from my eyes, quite taken aback by his sudden actions. He continued to hum and dance as I slowly joined him. He was now smiling ear to ear, clearly trying to cheer me up. For once, time flew and our growling stomachs weren't relevant anymore. I had no idea how long it was before we were worn out and slumped back into the corner. The soft and amused smiles remained plastered on our faces until it was pitch black. Neither of us felt like sleeping that night. It was unsaid but obvious. The scratches on the wooden doors were an unsettling rhythm that sent chills down my spine. I had moved away from my small crack fearing that something might reach its hand in and grab me in the night.
It wasn't until Mark fell asleep when I realized what he was trying to distract me from that day. Something he had been thinking the whole time.
He truly was a caring guy, agonizingly so. He didn't even want me to think and he did a good job stopping me, but now that he drifted into sleep nothing but the somber scratches on the door could distract me. The thought was a powerful one, death itself. As we sat in there we refused to mention it, that we were gonna die. Instead, we distracted ourselves with dancing and wedding rings. I slammed my hand against my forehead, squeezing my eyes closed but my mind refused to lay at ease. Then, in the black of the night, the siren rung through the dusty air. This time, Mark did not budge but I sprung straight up. I couldn't tell where it was coming from but I knew for sure it wasn't outside. It rung for minutes upon minutes and showed no sign of stopping. Its when I, with tears flooding from my eyes, began to yell in an insane manner.
"Stop please! I don't want this!" I screamed my knees shaking as I collapsed, helplessness consuming my body. This was when Mark shot awake and stumbled towards me, tears welling at his brown eyes as he fell to his knees beside me. He wrapped his arms around my limp body. Tears continued to stream down my cheeks as I stared forward. The sirens stopped and all I could hear were the rhythmic breaths of Mark. For some reason they soothed me as the tears on my cheek dried. We sat, Mark's arms wrapped around me, directly in the middle of the shack. Our breathing synchronized and I looked at him finally. His eyes were closed and his head resting upon my shoulder.
"Did you hear it too?" I asked. His grip loosened as he leaned back, staring at me quizzically.
"Hear what?" His voice was genuine, his eyebrows curved slightly upward.
"The siren, it came on just now," I said, just as confused as him. He continued to stare, the same befuddled look on his face.
"I haven't heard the siren, at least not tonight," he said. Suspiciously, he shrugged it off and released his grasp in me.
"But-" I challenged but Mark interrupted me.
"You should go to sleep, Kate, it's been a long day," he said, looking at me with his wide brown eyes. He seemed intent on my well-being. At this point I had no other choice but to curl up and forget about the siren.
The night was an uncomfortable one. Mark was laying a strange distance away from me and yet he was still facing me. It took a while for me to push the siren to the back of my mind but I managed. Sleeping was a challenge now, especially with the lingering fear of death staring us right in the face every single day. The fear the one of us will not wake up the next morning. I could tell Mark was terrified as he sat, trying to keep his eyes open.
I looked at him but he didn't look back.
"I can tell you wanna talk about something," He said, continuing to stare at the concrete.
I looked to the side, a somber expression on my face.
"Did you ever think you would die like this?" I asked.
"I mean, with no hero's end... No fighting zombies until you die, no sacrificing yourself for your friends... Just fearing that every night you may just," I paused for a moment. My voice had became squeaky and high pitched. "Die?"
He looked at me, his brow furrowed but not in an angry manner.
"Not everyone gets this perfect ending, you know," he said. "Kate, I'm not gonna wake up tomorrow," he continued, looking up, the most genuine look on his face.
"Mark, you-" He stopped me.
"I want you to leave," he said as he began to scoot over to me. I couldn't find the audacity to say anything.
"I want you to leave right now. I want you to go I want you to run and find your hero's end." He said. My eyes began to water.
"I can't just leave you here," I stumbled but he was clearly determined.
"I've been in here for 2 weeks. This is not the place you want to be. This is worse torture than out there and I'm gonna die inside of it," he stood up and forcefully pulled me up with him.
He was weak now, his legs trembling and as I starred at him, he tugged the tip of his sweatpants to show a long, bruised and severe injury. It was hard to make out as a bite but by the urgency in his voice I could tell.
I chose not to ask about it.
"Why didn't you want me to think about the sirens?" I asked, facing the door. He paused.
"What? What do you mean?" He responded.
I repeated my question and he simply looked at me, confused.
I could tell I would get no response from him so I simply looked at him, one last time and smiled.
"Goodbye, Mark,"I said.
"Goodbye, Kate," he responded in a weak, wheezy voice. I pushed the door open. Everything happened too quickly. After so much time had passed it seemed like seconds. As if time sped up just for us. I looked around. No zombies. I hesitated, but stepped outside.
"Hey Kate," I heard Mark say.
"What?" I responded, almost relieved to hear his voice again.
"The siren," he said but paused. "Find it for me,"
"I will, Mark... I will,"

-end-