Silas had shaved away the hairs that had hidden his face. His dark hair washed. He put on one of my fathers white t shirts. I felt tempted to reach across the table and touch his face. I decided against it, bringing myself back to the moment. I picked up my cup and consumed the cool water. The water felt refreshing and quenched my thirst.
“Layla what are we going to do? I need to go home and check on my family. What if they are looking for me?”
“You can’t go to the city tonight. It is overrun with the screamers and there isn’t enough hours in the day to make it there and back,” I explained with more force than I intended.
“Do you plan on staying in the bunker for the rest of your life? We need to search for people and find out what is happening out there,” Silas snapped.
“Yes, I can stay here forever if need be. It is why my dad built this place, it is safe here. Are you forgetting the screamers attacked us. I don’t think they were trying to cuddle and kiss us. They would have killed us, we barely escaped,” I hissed.
Silas looked down at his plate defeated.
“I don’t know what has happened to everyone. I’m scared. Something odd has happened to me. Ever since I woke up in the jail cell I feel different.”
The air in the room seemed to fade away, I could feel his pain, worry and fears. My appetite dissipated as thoughts of the screamers and my parents filled my mind. I wanted to believe that everything would be ok but deep down I knew nothing was ok. I knew I was different now too. The question was how were we different?
Day 18:
A week had gone by since Silas came to the bunker. Things settled into a quiet but grave routine. There were so many words I wanted to say to him but I found them locked inside my head. The past few nights I felt restless. I wanted to go outside and breath in the night air. Knowing it wasn’t safe only made me want to do it more. I wrapped myself tightly under my blankets and drifted off to sleep. Sleep had become something I dreaded. My dreams were filled with ear piercing screams. There were people everywhere, they begged me to help them. They were telling me to go and find them, they needed me. I had to hurry. I felt terrified, I tried to get away from their reaching hands. I woke each time in a cold sweat with a desperate need for water each night I tiptoed out of the bedroom and hurriedly consumed a gallon of water. I felt like I was doing something sneaky. The water quenched my desperate need and was like a drug I couldn’t get enough of. I noticed Silas had the same need for water. We were consuming less food and more water as the days passed. I had no desire for the foods I once craved, my taste buds were happy with water but nothing else. I couldn’t taste the creamy milk chocolate bars I once adored. I wondered if it had something to do with the sickness.
I decided I would speak with Silas in the morning. We needed to make another trip into town for more water. At the rate we are consuming it, we would run out much sooner then I had calculated. We had water from the well but I worried it wouldn’t last. I climbed back into bed and tried not to think about anything else, at least not for a few more hours.
Day 19:
The sun was a joyful sight. I exited the house and entered the backyard. I followed Silas and watched him plop into a patio chair. I did the same and sat directly across from him. He glanced at me for a moment and then looked away at the open fields. Reverently I opened my mouth to speak but stopped when Silas beat me to the line.
“I have to go and search for my parents. Maybe I’ll find other survivors too. I’m grateful for everything you have done but I feel something inside me, pulling at me. It is powerful and I need to go find out what is happening. You could come with me, if you wanted to.”
“I understand you want to find your family. I want to find mine too but the screamers are out there. They are fast, strong and we can’t fight or outrun them. I don’t want to be anywhere near them again, you’ve seen the screamers! You know what they can do, what they want to do to us!” I sputtered off alarm in my voice.
“I felt an energy come over me in the truck and I let off some kind of light, it made them all go away. If I can figure out how to do it again then they won’t be able to get us. I can keep us safe, we won’t have to hide away in the bunker. We can leave and see if there are others out there,” Silas said warmly, hope edged around his words.
“We don’t know how you did the light thing or if it can be done again. I know we are different now. What I don’t know is how we are different. We aren’t like the night screamers and we aren’t like we used to be. I noticed we both have a strong desire for water. We aren’t eating much food anymore. I don’t think we need it,” I replied.
“We could leave at sun up,” Silas suggested.
“There aren’t enough daylight hours to get to the city, search, then find somewhere to hide for the night. It isn’t possible, we will be killed by the screamers,” I quaked.
“I understand you are scared,” Silas stated.
“No. I am not scared of the screamers. I am petrified of them. There is a big difference. I am scared of sharks and snakes. I am horrified that the screamers are going to tear me to shreds and eat me, all while I am alive and watching. They smell awful and look repulsive. I am perfectly safe in the bunker and have almost everything I need. If you want to go and get yourself killed, feel free to do so without me.”
I knew I was being a bit dramatic but the screamers were worse than any nightmare I could have imagined.
I watched Silas’ face change from determined to disappointed. I felt disappointed too, disappointed in myself for being weak and terrified. He was going to leave, go search for his family and here I was hiding away in the safety of my home. I wanted to make him stay with me because the only thing that truly scared me more then the screamers was the thought of being alone.
Silas stood and started to walk toward the field away from the house and away from me. I stood and followed behind him. We walked for what seemed to be quite some time. Every time the sun disappeared behind a cloud I found myself searching all around, making sure nothing was going to get us. I knew I was overreacting but I felt on edge, exposed in the open field. Something didn’t feel right about this place and then it hit me. My mind was flooded with memories or perhaps a dream. Everything felt mixed together. I had been in this field before. It was the field I stood in when the ground turned to fire and I sank into the flames of eternal hell. I felt a cold sweat cover my skin. I stood still and looked at the ground, waited for the fire. Waited for the pain, but nothing happened. It was then I realized Silas was shaking my arm and speaking to me. His words slowly gained access to my ears. I focused in on his face. His beautiful dark eyes were staring into mine. True concern for my well being spread across his face.
“Are you ok? You are crying? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said.
“I was here when I became sick. At least I think I was here or maybe it was a dream but it felt real,” I stated, feeling alarmed.
Silas put his hand on my cheek and wiped away a tear that froze in place halfway down my face. The moment his finger touched my skin I felt an electric shock. A bright light shot out of his hand, throwing me back many feet. I hit the ground hard. An incredible and astonishing energy ran through every ounce of my being. I was laying on my back, twenty to thirty feet from him. I got to my feet and noticed I was illuminating light from my hands, arms and chest. It was bright like the sun on an August afternoon. The light did not blind my eyes or hurt me. I felt incredible. It was the best feeling in the world. I inspected the light coming out of my hands and shook them fervently. It reminded me of the fourth of July my dad would let me use sparklers once the sun set. I moved my hands in little circles and then made bigger ones.