The Rain

Chapter Six

The rain had stopped and the sun had begun to rise by the time we dragged Haley's body out onto the balcony. The huge black clouds of the night before had thinned out. Now, they were nothing more than a light, thin grey covering. Still with the potential to rain.

Haley was lying on her purple and white blanket. Kristy suggested we wrapped her in it since it was her favorite. Photographs of her family were laid out on her; her arms and chest and stomach all covered with smiling people.

It was a gruesome contradiction.

Kristy took the edge of the blanket and folded it over Haley's body, her yellow cleaning gloves stark against the purple. We tried calling nine-one-one again, I wasn't surprised the line was down.

We rolled Haley over until she was completely wrapped in the blanket. Then, with me at her head and Kristy at her feet, we carried her through the sliding glass doors and out onto the little balcony.

There were other bodies out there, too. On their own balconies. I could see them through the spaces in the metal railings. They were slumped against the walls of the building and sprawled across the concrete floors, not wrapped up like Haley was. Dark stains were splattered on the glass doors and windows.

And there was silence.

I may not have lived in Seattle, but I could tell the silence was wrong. It should have been booming with the sounds of cars and emergency vehicle sirens after last night, but the city seemed, well, dead. Just like the majority of the citizens who lived in it.

"Let's lay her in the corner," Kristy said. I guided Haley's top half toward the brick wall and, carefully, we placed her on the concrete floor. Blood was already starting to seep through the blanket's fabric.

Suddenly, I was aware of how humid the air was. It seemed to be suffocating me, the water molecules collecting and condensing in my throat. How much water was needed to kill you? I didn't know.

"We should start cleaning up," Kristy whispered somberly and stepped back through the doors. I followed into the blood soaked kitchen, shaking the thoughts from my mind. Dying was probably easier than what the future had in store, anyway.

"I'll be right back." Kristy took one of the candles from the vigil we'd set up for Haley and headed down the darkened hallway. I blew out the rest of the candles since the rising sun was beginning to fill the kitchen and living room with its light.

She returned with a bag full of baby wipes tucked under her arm and placed it on the table. "Using water to clean will be too risky, so we've got to use these. Still leave your gloves on, though. I don't think touching her blood would be good." She opened the top of the bag and pulled out a stack of the wipes. "Please be careful, Jackson."

"I will," I said, taking half the stack from her. I turned to face the mess.

Blood was pretty much everywhere except the ceiling. The wood cabinets, the sink, the tile floors, and the refrigerator all had the dark liquid on them- which looked even darker in the shadows.

I went to the sink, making sure to keep my knees from touching the bloodied cabinets, and set to work scrubbing at the blood. By now, most of it had dried and was stuck to the basin. I wrapped the wipe around the tip of my finger and scratched at the blood that had settled around the drain.

I faltered for a moment, wondering if we should have been cleaning up. Wasn't this a crime scene? If we messed with the blood couldn't we get in trouble for tampering with the evidence? Then I remembered that nine-one-one wasn't answering and that the news had said not to take anyone to a hospital. This wasn't a normal circumstance and we probably wouldn't be getting in trouble for anything anytime soon.