The Aliveagainers

4 - Night

One of them cold fall nights. The boy's sleepin' in the bed and I'm sittin' here by the window lookin' out. A mist hangs in the air and it reflects the dull, orange glow of a single light. The buildin' must be hooked up with solar panels up top for this light's been burnin' since we got here. When the daylight fades it comes on, slowly and faintly at first. I wonder how long this light will keep burnin' with no one round to tend to it.

Every night I spend some time starin' out. Ain't not much else to do. But I don't mind. Inside, I got fairly used to just starin' and thinkin'. Least here it's better. Got a view.

Some nights have been clear and I've sat and looked up at the empty sky above.

The thought makes me smile and I find myself surprised. Been a while I'm sure since I've smiled. I try to keep my spirits up with the boy.

I found him a few days back. Or he found me, to say the truth. I'd been runnin' through a park. It was evening and the sun was fadin'. I'd split off from some folks who were startin' to get a little too edgy. Guns and fear don't mix good.

I'd come runnin' along a bend in the park and that's when I ran into one. An Aliveagainer just floatin' there in the middle of the path beside a big ol' lamp. It was a lady, all dressed up fancy and she had been playin' with her hair. I'd seen a few by then but was usually runnin' for my life while people howled and went wild around me.

Her whispers were faint and the wind tore them up so I couldn't hear nothin' she was sayin'.

Then I saw the boy. He'd walked up beside me and just stood there. He was barely half my height and he looked cold and dirty. He had a Ben 10 backpack and I remember seein' a key tag hangin' from it. I knew it'd have his name and maybe his mom's phone number and it made me sick.

Then he just spoke aloud. "Are you lost?"

I flinched and hissed, "No, quiet!"

He didn't even look up at me. He just spoke again.

"I wasn't talking to you."

The Aliveagainer had heard him and she started movin' towards us. She began to look all crazy like, the eyes turnin' dark and the mouth openin' and shuttin' as she muttered and rambled away. She came towards us, a cold and angry look on her face.

"He's gone," said the boy.

Some kinda fire seemed to sparkle on her and I smelt ozone in the air. She chattered her teeth together and the boy spoke again.

"I'm sorry, but you're not going to find him here."

I was ready to bolt but somethin' kept me standin' there. I didn't know what I'd do when she got to us, but I figured I might be able to knock a few hits onto her before she got me.

"It's time to go, Tara. He's waiting," said the boy.

At the mention of the name, the Aliveagainer stopped approachin'. She hovered a few feet away from us. She had stopped mutterin', well, mostly. She had a strange look on her face and kept glancin' to her hands that she wrung up against her.

Suddenly, she burst into flames and I fell back, grabbin' the boy and pullin' him away. The Aliveagainer shrieked loudly and I saw her face as it seemed to glow and burn from within. She stared right in my eyes and I shuddered and then threw up, fallin' to the ground.

I could hear the boy wailin' next to me, like he was in a different room. 

And then... and then, I was... away

I heard the tick tock of a clock and smelt... A strange roast dinner kinda smell. I was waiting, trying to read, looking up at the door. He was late. Really late. I got up and walked outside and saw the chaos unfolding. I heard the screams of those around me. I knew he was out there, somewhere, rushing back to us. But I knew he wouldn't make it back. I knew he was dead.

"Are you two insane? She just about got you."

The voice was muffled. Distant. I had to get out of the house. I looked at the window and saw a small boy and a girl standing next to him. Someone lay on the ground between them.

"You shouldn't have done that." says the boy.

"Some thanks! I just saved your asses."

I watched them argue at an angle. I was on my side. Slowly I sat up. My head felt full of noise. That's when I first saw the girl, Priya. She stood there with a spray can and a BBQ lighter. She looked at me like I was an idiot.

"We have to go. NOW. More will come."

That day we found the hotel. We'd broken in and taken refuge in this very room. We found some food and stayed hidden. We felt safe.

That was four days ago.

Outside the solar light glow shimmers. A breeze must be out there. Hopefully it'll blow away this fog. I was thinkin' it might be time to make a move and I want to have a clear view when we leave.

Then there's somethin' that makes me sit up and get low, lookin' out the window. I think I see somethin' dash across the grass near the parkin' lot.

A scream cuts through the night, torn and high and filled with fear. It's a man, I think and he's hollerin' "No!" And then I see an Aliveagainer swoopin' across the grass. Even from way up here I feel a chill and I turn away not wantin' to see.

"Help! Help anyone!"

I squeeze my hands and shut my eyes, tryin' to hide the sound out of his desperate cries.

The boy. Gotta stay for him.

I look up and in the dim light I see him sleepin' soundly but I know that I ain't going to be able to rest like that, won't let myself.

The screams keep on and I punch at the floor as I find myself just wishin' it'd get him so it'd all stop and how everything could just stop and how I wish she was...

I take a deep breath and wipe a tear from my face. His screams are done. Maybe he got away I think but I know most likely he didn't.

Somethin' moves and I flinch, then realise it was just the boy rollin' over in the bed. He whimpers a little in his sleep. One odd duck he is. Name is Késhaun.

He is seven and a half. He lost his mom durin' that first day. I tried to talk to him about it but he don't want to. Somehow he seems mostly able to cope with everythin'. He'd have nightmares when he slept of course and I had to stay close. Sometimes he'd call out real loud, shriekin' lots of names and strange stuff. I could never really wake him, but had to lie close and cuddle up. It felt weird, lyin' so close. I was never really great with kids, even though I had so many nephews and nieces.

Momma had always laughed at that. Four boys had eleven kids between 'em and there was me, the baby sister with no kids of my own.

Family hasn't had much to do with me lately. Well, for a while now. I didn't lead the right lifestyle, wasn't followin' the right path.

Lookin' out the window I wonder if they're out there. If they made it somewhere safe. What are they thinkin'? Do they ... talk about me?

The boy shouts out. I put down the spray can and get into the bed, slippin' in under the covers. The room is cold but he's made a little patch of the bed warm. 

I feel all tingly and nervous snugglin' up to him. Every bit of me wants to be close to him, all curled up against him. Feelin' him all snuck up in me, keepin' him all warm and safe. My heart all jumps and skitters, and I think of a stone all flippin' and dancin' on the slate of a lake.

"My little hot water bottle," I whisper and kiss him then hold him tight, wishin' the shakes away.

I try to shake the sounds that echo in my mind. It all hurts and burns. There's a gap inside me, a blank space all unfilled and empty. 

I ain't wishin' for somethin' I know I can't have, I just wish for a few hours of peace.

The sound of his frantic breathin' begins to slow. I watch his face in the half light, see the barest of movements as he breathes in all quiet and peaceful like. 

I feel the rise and fall of his chest under my hand. 

He carries me away.