The Infection

Chapter 9~Olivia May

I snuck down the dimly lit stairs to the basement and inhaled the faint aroma of smoke from the torches. The darkness lingered in each corner, making me feel like someone was watching me. A gun went off in the distance. Boom. I froze.

"Papa! Run!" I shout. He stays frozen in one spot, his eyes have a different look to them. They look evil.

"Papa." He is gone. Just like my dad. I see Dad come behind Papa. He takes a gun.  Boom. The gunshot echoes throughout the house as my papa falls to the floor. Dad looks up to me, with his vacant eyes.

He smiles, a wicked grin. He takes his gun and lifts it. I run upstairs.

"Owen, Leo!" I shout. I run into their room.

"Oll, I'm under here," Leo says in a whisper, underneath his bed. I lift up his covers and see my frightened little brother.

I hug him, glad that he is safe. "Where is Owen?" I whisper.

"He went downstairs to find you," Leo says, shaking.

Dread shoots through my bones. I glance behind me. "Leo, I'll be right back. If Dad comes looking for you, stay quiet. Don't come out unless I say you can. Okay?"

"Okay." He lifts up his pinky. "Promise you'll come back."

"I promise, Leo."

My breath hitched with suppressed pain. I closed my eyes and vowed to push that day, the worst day of my life, out of my mind.

I took a deep breath and continued down the steep stairwell that lead to the prisoners. I walked slowly, afraid of what lurked in the dark.

I heard crying. The kind that's so familiar to me, not sadness or being scared. The kind that only comes when you have lost all hope. I walked closer to the sound. There was a little boy, about Leo's age, and a girl who looked about the same age. They were hugging each other as if their lives depended on it. As if they were afraid to let go.

I cleared my throat and they looked up. "Hello," I said. I had planned this visit so well, but now that I was here, I didn't know what to say.

"Who are you?" the boy said bravely.

"I'm Olivia," I said with a smile. I knelt down beside them. The little boy stopped hugging the girl to shake my hand.

"I'm Sam," he said, shaking my hand. He pointed to the girl. "Her name is Lily."

The little girl, Lily, smiled shyly at me. I returned it.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"W-we are both eight," Lily said, her voice shaky and timid.

"Wow, I would've thought you guys were like ten or eleven." I feigned surprise. I remembered how my brother would become ecstatic when someone said he looked older. He would gain some confidence in himself and hold his head a little higher.

Sam grinned and Lily looked proud. "Are you guys friends?" I asked.

"We're twins," Sam responded simply, like he has done so millions of times before.

I smiled. "That's cool," I told them. "Listen, I'm going to go talk to some other kids. I'll be back, okay? I'll get you both out of here safely."

"Promise," Lily said quietly.

I blinked at her.

"What did you say?" I asked, fighting back tears.

"I said promise," Lily demanded in a whisper. She stood up.