The Strong Will Survive

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Lilith [EDITED]

 KC seemed...different when she came back in from checking on Reggie, on my request. She had also been checking on Daisy, who I had momentarily chained in a corner of the entrance area to go to the bathroom.

"Hey, KC," I greeted her as she came in, staring at her feet, lost in thought.

"Hey," she murmured, then glanced furtively up at me as if scared of looking at me - scared of me. Then she glanced back down at her shoes.

Okay. Something's wrong. "Jared had the idea to put together four beds and place them in a plus sign at one of the four-way intersections in here. Kind of - to keep us all closer when we sleep. You up for it?"

"Yes," KC responded immediately, seemingly glad to be given a task. Something was definitely up, but she had held it together for so long. I wasn't going to push it now. Maybe it was all starting to catch up with her - the past that she barely spoke of, the family that she must have lost.

"The boys have already started. I was waiting for..." Suddenly, a horrible thought hit me. "KC. Are Reggie and Daisy okay?"

KC slowly looked up at me and met my eyes with tears shining in hers. My heart skipped a beat.

"No," I breathed, and then I was dashing into the entrance area of the Costco. I heard shouts from Benji and Jared behind me, and felt KC grabbing at my sleeve. I ripped it out of her grip and stared at the chain that had previously been holding Daisy.

It was ripped apart, the metal bent and fractured. No normal dog could do that.

I shrieked and then moaned, putting all of my strength into remaining upright. As if I myself were the zombie, I shuffled lifelessly to my car, feeling I could bear no more bad news, that I would just break like Daisy's chain.

The car looked like a tornado had whipped through it, all of my meager possessions from home torn, twisted, and lying in ruins on the floor.

And Reggie was gone.

Before I could think better, I was dashing to the barricade. KC had obviously just covered up a hole that had been punched in the protection. I shoved aside her careful handiwork and ran outside.

"Daisy!" I screamed. "Reggie!"

Of course nobody responded. I sunk to my knees, sobbing as if my heart had been ripped in two. My little brother, the only piece left of my family, and my dog - they were both gone. Daisy...she must have been so scared...

I lay on the ground, shaking uncontrollably. My gaze was unfocused, making the world a grey blur, and I felt weightless, as if this terrible grief was affecting someone close to me and I was a ghost, simply watching from afar.

Take my family away from me and you are taking my life.

The others tried to speak to me. KC was crying, too - not shaking or making noise. Instead, tears ran silently down her face as she stroked my hair and fixed her earbuds in my ears, playing the same playlist she had when I was panicking. I couldn't focus on any part of the songs - the beat and lyrics were meaningless.

Jared shook my shoulder. Softly at first, then harder. He finally stood with a sigh, knowing full well that I would not move.

Benji was the last to lean down. His worried eyes peered into mine, the sight blurred through the tears. Faintly, I heard KC recounting the story of what had happened, although she knew just as much as I did.

"She looks so...lifeless," Benji whispered as Jared scooped me up to carry me inside, to safety. I didn't have the energy to tell him that I didn't want to be safe, that I wanted to die just as my family had. "She's not even moving or anything...just crying." He sounded deeply mournful.