The Last Legacy (Season 1): Episodes 1-10 (49 page)

“You tricked me,” Jim said as he ran his hands down his face.

“I knew you were tired.” I pulled Marcus onto my lap and used him as a shield. Jim came towards us, tickling Marcus to get to me.
 

“Jimmy, no!” Marcus yelled as he squirmed on my lap. I laughed as his tiny little bones dug into my stomach. I pushed him off and stood, stepping back near Gabe.
 

“We goin’ looting?” Jim asked Gabe.
 

“Ready when you are.” Gabe saluted which made Jim roll his eyes.

“Let me grab my shit. I’ll be right back.”

“Jimmy said the ’S’ word,” Marcus teased as he stole my seat, kicking his feet up on the table and pulling his puzzle book on his lap. I wrinkled my nose at him in mock anger.
 

“Jimmy doesn’t follow the rules,” I said.

“She’s right.” Gabe swung his thumb to me, nodding.
 

“Marcus, let’s go inside and see how everyone else is doing. Leave the looting to the old guys.”
 

“Good idea.” Marcus and I high-fived. I stuck out my tongue at Gabe as we left him in the backyard. As I pulled open the door, Jim pushed, and we ran into each other. Marcus burst into laughter as I stepped back to let Jim through. He spanked my butt as we passed him in the doorway.
 

It was a good day.
 

Marcus and I decided to make dinner for the night and set the outside table on the patio for everyone to eat together. It had already started to get dark. The temperature turned cool, if not a bit humid and wet—but comfortable. I figured we might as well enjoy the night while we had it.
 

“Go ask Miss Sandra where the forks are.” Marcus nodded and ran away, his overgrown dark hair flopping with each step. He let go of the back door, and it slammed closed, way too loud for my liking. I made a mental note to get rid of the hinge so it stopped banging.

Jim and Gabriel hadn’t come back from looting yet. I didn’t like that the sun had faded away and they were still out. I pulled a metal chair around the table and unfolded it, placing it next to the five patio chairs.
 

“Miss Lana, I got eight forks!” He had his hands full of the forks, four in each fist. I waved my hand to slow him down so he didn’t fall and get a fork to the face.
 

“Do we need all eight?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

“I don’t know…”

“Well, count by name,” I told him as he placed a fork in front of each chair.
 

“You, me, Jimmy, Scarlet and her sister, Mr. Gavin, and Gabriel.” When the forks were all on the table, he used his fingers to add up everyone. “Seven?”

“Yep. But you can leave the extra fork in case someone’s gets dirty.”

“What are we going to eat?” he asked. I took his hand and led him back into the house. The ground had a navy blue casting of light on it, making it fuzzy and hazy. It was lantern time.
 

“I heated some baked beans. We can eat peaches or cherries. And one more thing. What do you think that’ll be?” I wiggled my eyebrows down at Marcus.

“The chocolate bars?!” he yelled in question. I nodded as I held open the back door for him. He ran off to God knows where as I went into the living room to check in on the fire and windows.
 

The cardboard did a great job of blocking light from getting in and out of the room. But it also made the room dingy and unwelcoming. The colors and dark furniture were the opposite of what I had in my house. Instead of brightening a day, this room darkened mine. The fire glowed low, but warm, heating the entire room and probably most of the lower level.
 

Someone cleared her throat from behind me as I bent down in front of the flames. I jumped and spun around. Scarlet lay on the couch, her hands tucked under her head.
 

“You scared me,” I told her as I turned back to the fire.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“How are you feeling?” I asked as I pulled some new wood from the corner of the room. We had a decent stack now, about a dozen average-sized logs. I tucked one neatly in the fire and tried to make a teepee shape with the new sticks.
 

“Much better.” I looked over my shoulder as she sat up, pulling the blanket around her body. “I never got a chance to say thank you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to.” I shook my head.
 

“I do. I would’ve never got here if it weren’t for you. And if we didn’t get here, she’d probably be dead.” Her words rang true, but I didn’t need to tell her that.
 

“Where’s Sandra, anyway?” I glanced around the room searching for her sister. They hadn’t left each other’s sides since we got here.
 

“She went upstairs for a walk. Wanted to change into new clothes or something.” Scarlet sounded dejected, her voice low and cracking.

“She looks much better already.”
 

Scarlet nodded. “I thought once I had my sister, I’d get over Kev’s death. But I’m not. I miss him. And I can’t help but feel like more death is coming.”

I flinched. “Why do you say that?” I sat back on my heels as I stared at her.

“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.” She shrugged her shoulders, not realizing how deeply her words affected me. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but I knew more death was coming, too. She had no idea who raped her, but I did. And the fact that she could feel the future looming around us made my nerves skyrocket.

“Can you watch Marcus? I’m going to go find Jim and Gabe.” They still weren’t back, and I prayed her words didn’t have to do with them. They should’ve been here by now. I had to find them before they got hurt.

“No problem,” she said as I left the room. I found Gavin and Marcus in the kitchen, rummaging through cabinets and bags. I could’ve told them that I already went through it, but I decided that it would keep them busy, so I shut my mouth.
 

“I’m going to find Jim and Gabe. You guys good to make dinner?” I asked as I hung in the doorway.
 

“Need me to come with you?” Gavin asked as he stacked our cans on the kitchen table. It made me uneasy not to have them ready to go. If we needed to leave the house, we’d have to spend time getting the cans. But we’d secured the house. It was just my paranoia running wild.
 

“All set. Marcus, you know the menu, right?”

“I remember!” He glanced up and beamed at me. I smiled at him and went out the back door. My pack was just at the bottom of the stairs. I flipped on the flashlight as I grabbed my gun from the bag and tucked it in the waistband of my sweats.
 

As I walked around the side of the house and towards the street, I noticed things I hadn’t before. Like how the world felt more peaceful, when it was purely the opposite. Maybe it was the owls hooting, or the faint crickets in the background. Of course, just as I thought it, a moan broke the tranquility, and I shone my flashlight right into the face of a male eater, clawing to get through our log barricade.
 

“Not today, buddy.” I pulled out my knife and brought it right through his soft skull. The knife sliced through like a moldy banana. His head felt softer than others, more decayed. If it was true, that’d be great for us—easier to kill.
 

He fell down just like the logs. I waited for him to reanimate or something, but when he didn’t I hopped over the waist-high logs and sticks and branches.
 

Thick air fluttered deep into my lungs, filling me. It was strangely warm for the end of September. I had the sinking feeling that a storm was rolling in and going to knock us all around. Luckily, we had the house to protect us and a nice warm fire.
 

I knew Jim and Gabe had gone to the left so I went that way as well. Every house sat in pitch blackness and seemed to grow in size as I made my way down the road. They all had large wraparound porches, and the paint outside seemed to get lighter and more colorful, too.
 

When I got to the end of the street, I hit water. I thought it was just a large field or something since it appeared like the world just went on forever. I picked up a rock from the edge of the road and threw it. I couldn’t see how far it went, but I heard it skip at least six times.
 

I could either go left or right since the road forked. I tried to think of which way Jim would go, but honestly, it was a fifty-fifty chance I’d find them. I went with my gut and took a left.
 

The stars and the moon cast a white glow on the pavement. I flicked off my flashlight since I could see enough with the bright night alone. I kept my steps quiet so I could listen for any sounds.

The hair on the back of my neck prickled as I stopped at another street. I didn’t recognize where I had walked. It was too quiet for my liking, the noises from the animals before vanishing. I pulled my knife up towards my chest and held it outward.
 

I had to go back to Sandra’s house. A twig snapped, and my head darted towards the noise. I spun around, my eyes searching. But I didn’t see anything.
 

An eater shuffled beside me. I put some distance between us and walked alongside her. She groaned and all of a sudden, broke into a jog. I was so stunned by her rapid movement and quick pace that she knocked me to the side. I scrambled, pushing onto my knees as she lunged towards me, falling face first onto the pavement.
 

I jumped backwards so she couldn’t reach me. She didn’t even try to catch herself as she tumbled forward. I heard the crack, and it made my stomach recoil. But it wasn’t like the blow to the face deterred her.
 

She crawled right back up to her knees and got into a standing position relatively fast. Shit. This eater was much faster than normal. The cool night and darkness must have fueled her. Her red eyes glared at me as her hands reached for me. She clawed at me, her movement like a fisher cat.
 

A stream of blood trickled down the middle of her face from her hairline to her chin. Her cheek had a gash that looked like it went straight to bone. My stomach twisted as blood poured out of her mouth, coating her jaw and chin in a thick, gooey mess.

I couldn’t leave her like this. She screamed and I couldn’t wait another second. I stepped towards her and stuck the knife into the back of her fractured head. Her hair was sinewy, matted with sweat and what looked like black blood. When she stopped moving, I pulled out the knife and walked away.

A warm breeze made shivers crawl up my spine. I broke into a jog to get back to the house. My stomach knotted thinking about where Jim and Gabe could be. But more so I just didn’t want to be out on the streets alone. Every intuition I had screamed at me to get the hell away.

I stopped dead in my tracks as a group of eaters meandered around the road Sandra lived on. They walked with their shoulders back, their steps strong. Instead of staying in the street, I turned into the woods and remained in their cover. I figured eventually they’d just go away, so I crouched down and watched them. I could wait them out here, slowly moving towards the house.

A group of four men came out from a house across the street. When they opened the front door, a bright yellow light cast a beam onto the road, drawing the attention of the eaters. The men laughed as they walked, all with different weapons out and ready to kill.
 

“Let’s hurry this. I’m hungry,” one of the men said.

A large man with a long-handled axe came out swinging. He wielded the axe like a samurai sword and chopped the head off two eaters clean. The men behind him laughed and clapped hands, hooting and hollering. They drew the attention of more eaters.
 

Within seconds they had taken down the entire herd of about a dozen or so. They shook their blades clean and retreated back to their house. The light broke through as a woman opened the door, with a wide grin on her face. Her presence made me uneasy. A man grabbed her around the waist and kissed her hard, making her dip backwards from the force.

They shut the door behind them, making the road pitch black. I waited, listening for movement or cheers or something. But it was dead quiet. I moved in the tree line and stared at the house the men went into it.
 

It was similar to Sandra’s, but double in size and stature. It sat on a good chunk of land with a smaller guest house attached by a canopy that matched the periwinkle color of the exterior.
 

The road was the only thing separating the house and the water behind me. It sat at the intersection of two roads on the corner, the windows large and covered. The front window next to the door showed a little crack of light, like whatever they used to cover it was coming undone.
 

All of a sudden I was grabbed from behind, a hand clamping over my mouth. I wriggled in the hard grasp, trying to break free. Then his voice was at my ear, telling me to be quiet.

“It’s just me, Lana,” Jim said as he released me. Gabe appeared beside him, his finger to his mouth. I panted, my chest rising and falling fast.