The World We Once Knew Read online

  Addie followed suit with Dane but instead fell to her own knees in front of Quinta, “I'm Addie, you kind of passed out and my brother, Dane, hauled you in here and we've been trying to wake you up. You're really pretty you know?”

  Quinta still felt a bit dizzy as she scanned Addie's body in front of her. At the mention of Dane's name, she looked over to him to connect it with his face before she returned her attention to Addie who rambled on. She placed the vitamins in her mouth and began to chew.

  She paused as Addie complimented her, “Tank yuh...” she muttered under her breath.

  So, this is what fate had in store for her. She always believed in signs and that things happened for a reason. Now it became quite clear that she was meant to live and that she was meant to meet these odd strangers. Quinta wasn't really keen on outsiders, not even back home in Jamaica, but these two she felt as though they were different.

  Dane listened faintly to the short conversation before he came back with a box of Wheat thins, more water, and jerky. He set them down all by Quinta, who grabbed a packet of jerky, and paused to really look at her. His sister wasn't far off though he had to admit she looked like she had been through a lot. Hell even. Still she was inherently attractive.

  Quinta peeled the wrapper and nibbled on the salted meat to finally nourish herself. She never wanted to feel like this again.

  Dane's eyes met hers as he nodded his head, “You were acting strange.” There was a long pause as Addie kept quiet while he went ahead and spoke in a relaxed manner, “Are you coming with us?” he questioned simply in a sincere tone.

  Addie's eyes lit up as Quinta's gaze bounced between their faces. She was weak, lonely, and irreparably broken but what caught her heart was that without hesitation these two offered her to join them. If there was God, in which she felt there no longer was, this would be her sign to live. She didn't want to say too much because her she was oddly self-conscious now of her accent compared to their lack thereof. She simply nodded her head to them as a way to agree. When they were ready, she would head out with them.

  “This is great! I'll finally have someone to talk to, hang out with, and go on hunts with. I'm SO damn happy.” Addie paused in order to give her brother a candid look. He really wasn't much of a talker and didn't have anything in common with a seventeen year old girl, “I love you Dane but you know...” She finished.

  Dane cast a knowing, sharp glance at her before returning his eyes to Quinta. He had a rather hard time reading the expression she wore right before she accepted their proposal. It wasn't of rejection, denial, or unease but it wasn't exactly relief either. With a shake of his head, he knew that he pondered too long on this. He instead began to get things together in the candlelight that was dotted around the store.

  “So, what's your name?” he asked at that same moment.

  Stopping mid-chew, Quinta rolled the meat around in her mouth before she swallowed and cleared her throat, “Quinta.” She replied in a decently heavy, but understandable, accent.

  Dane couldn't help but notice the way she said her name was odd to say the least. Hell, her name itself was different to him and it was the first time he'd ever heard it. Though her accent was familiar. She sounded alike to a nurse he had in the hospital who had a loud voice and a penchant for humor. God rest her soul. He hummed under his breath before he handed a few things off to Addie. There was a bundle in his hand before he nodded his head towards the back of the door. Addie caught the message and proceeded to make her way to where he gestured. Quinta watched Addie disappear into the back room in which there was soon the distant sound of water from the sink. Dane closed in towards Quinta where he took the rag that had been on her head and handed it to her with a small block of soap.

  “You also might want to wash up. It seems like you've been out there for a while. You can go after Addie, or with Addie, whichever is your preference.” He said as he shrugged in a laid-back manner.

  Quinta looked down at her tattered and bloodied clothes, she took his words as a quiet hint that she needed to bathe, and she had to agree.

  Dane then stood up as Quinta hauled her bag over her shoulder, “I'm going to make us something to sleep on.” he stated as he made his way in the same direction as she.

  Quinta sat outside of the small bathroom and waited for Addie to be done with her chin resting on her shoulder. Dane looked around for what he could find. There was a dusty, dirtied mattress in the back closet for night shifts it seemed. At least that was the thought he reasoned with himself as to why one would be there in the first place. Dane dragged it out into the open space to be with the two pillows and blanket he and Addie had. He gathered up a few jerseys and sweaters that the owners tried to sell off and piled them up as a makeshift chair.

  Addie was soon out of the bathroom and Quinta entered behind her with a lock of the door. Dane disappeared into the men's bathroom once he was finished and in sequence they all washed themselves.

  After having gotten cleaned to the best of her abilities decently so, Quinta returned to the main portion of the building. She pinned her hair up with her back turned towards them before she pulled out a long t-shirt. Changing into that one, she folded her tattered jeans and placed them on top of her bag.

  Addie had not stopped drying her hair as she knelt on the bed while Dane sat on the pile of clothes. He felt refreshed and always loved the feeling of damp hair added to the mix of a “crisp” sensation of being clean. Or as clean as one could get with a sink shower.

  Before Quinta could turn around, Addie's hands reached out to grab her arm and pulled her playfully onto the mattress with a bounce. This brought back far away memories of sleepovers and friends now lost. Addie cuddled in against Quinta while she laid there and it was rather apparent that she was still young at heart no matter her age. Quinta's eyes went wide as this oddly reminded her of how her youngest sister, Sasha, used to do with her. She stayed there for that purpose of remembrance even if Addie was still a mere stranger.

  Dane grinned at Addie for a moment because he was glad that she was able to forget, if even a little while, about the harshness of their lifestyle. He propped his back up against the wall near them with his knee bent while he rested his elbow.

  The dim flickers of the candles tossed shadows along the walls of the room before he explained to Quinta, “I'll stay up first for three hours. Then I'll wake Addie up and join you. She'll be up three hours and then you. You'll get a good amount of morning light so don't worry.” He said.

  Quinta rolled her head back at Dane who sat there and explained how they'd be sleeping. She couldn't really argue because six hours of sleep was a hell of a lot more than she had acquired over the last few nights. Plus, she got to see the sunrise.

  Thinking back on it, he huffed out a chuckle and shook his head with a scratch of his brow, “We used to go for four hours each and only got four hours of sleep. I'm going to love this new set up.” He added as he dragged his bag over and pulled out a puzzle book.

  Setting it on his knee, he placed the candle from the floor to a shelf next to him. He flicked and twirled the pen between his fingers as he thought on where to start. He flicked his gaze upwards at Quinta and met with those light brown eyes.

  A soft smile crossed over his features as he spoke to announce the start of their nine hours, “Goodnight Addie and goodnight Quinta.”

  Nodding her head silently to him, Quinta rolled over onto her side in order to face Addie once again. Addie's eyelids were already shut and she was halfway to la-la land which for her was a first to fall asleep so quickly.

  Quinta just blinked at her face before chimed up for the both of them, “Gudnite.” she responded before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep again.

  Chapter 2

  Before long Addie was pushing her palm against Quinta's back in order to wake her up. Her eyes were blurred in delirium as she realized the little sister stared down at her while Dane slept away beside her. Quinta inhaled a deep breath before she rol
led up and took her stance for the morning “shift” while Addie proceeded to flop on the mattress. Quinta took the chance to change back into her normal attire and actually wandered around the darkened aisles. She was pleasantly surprised that there weren't any diseased vermin that had stumbled in on them.

  In her boredom, she began to rummage through the fridges along the wall and paused at the sight of a can of Arizona Tea. Quinta's eyes widened before she pulled it out and felt that it had a very slight chill to it. Cracking it open, she sipped the oddly sweet flavor of this rendition of Southern Sweet Tea and sighed out happily. This was a luxury. Wandering into the back to see more of the store, she kept an eye out for movement. They were pretty well guarded in this little sliver of sanctuary and it seemed that Dane had barricaded them in pretty well. This personally made her wonder just how long he and Addie had been out there surviving.

  While in the backroom, she noticed a door that stated “Roof Access”. It was almost time for sunrise and personally she never missed it. Queenie would never allow her because every day that they were together they watched the sunrise in order to greet the new day with positive outlook. Before long she was walking up the narrow stairwell and pushing past the door to the roof. Stepping outside, the cool, Florida morning air hit against her face which caused her to lean her back with a soft sigh. She was able to see all of the decomposed bodies that littered the Earth for at least a mile and the pungent odor that had permeated throughout was hardly noticeable. Reaching the edge of the flat roof, she sat down, leaned back, took a sip of her tea, and waited.

  Dane woke up with a shocked, winded groan which was accompanied by a hard push in his rib cage. He reached around to feel that spot and found his grip on his sister's bony elbow. Rolling away from her abusive sleeping behavior, he rubbed that sore spot. She had gotten him with just enough pressure where the pain emanated without any damn reason. Huffing out, he gave his sister a sharp glance as he loathed how she could sleep like an animal. Finally, he got to his feet and fixed his clothes before he found that their new addition wasn't where he expected.

  He let out a slight sigh as he couldn't help but feel that perhaps she had changed her mind and took their supplies. Even as that thought crossed his mind, he realized that their travel bags were right on the counter where he'd left her. In fact, her bag was the next thing to enter his sights and honestly, he didn't understand why her things were here and she wasn't. He did a double check of the store and bathroom to make sure he wasn't going crazy before he took another glance at Addie as she slept away. Scoffing out with a chuckle, he couldn't believe the positions she had gotten herself into now that the mattress was all hers.

  With resolve to find Quinta, the sound of the nails from his bat while it scraped against the floor sounded before he picked up his bat mid-stride. He took down the portable shelving case and chairs away from the door and made his way out to take a quick look. If she was gone then that was that but he had to make sure she wasn't hurt—or stupid—if she had traveled out; somehow.

  The scenery around him was drowned in a blue, shadowed hue. Walking out into the middle of the street, any sounds that he heard were distant and far enough so that he wasn't spotted right away. He sure as hell wasn't dumb enough to call out so he kept a keen eye out as he looked for her.

  Meanwhile the small, redhead inside slowly woke up from her “lovely” boys and shopping spree bonanza dream at the sound of the bell.

  Addie rubbed her eyes and stretched before she whined out, “Nnng, come on Dane, five more.... minutes?” She muttered as she opened her eyes.

  She noticed that she was completely alone before she pushed herself to sit up. Rolling her shoulders, her eyebrows tucked in as she glanced around the room. Her stomach bubbled with a tense uneasiness before she leaned over to look into the back room. Getting up, Addie also went to look around and started to worry because her brother was, normally, never very far. Of course, her brother was never alone with a pretty girl either and... eww. Addie's face scrunched up as she thought about the possibilities of what she could walk into as she supposedly snoozed away. She treaded a bit more cautiously, keeping an ear out for those tell-tale signs of a possible sexual encounter all the while calling their names under her breath.

  Quinta took another sip of tea as the sky began to turn a soft pink and yellow. Her thumb ran along the metal edge as she lost herself in thought of how things shifted so suddenly. Out of all people in the world, she lost her entire family only to stumble upon another who simply welcomed her in without prejudice. It was like they had the common sense to know that in this day now, each and every survivor was in this together. Her thoughts then trailed to Addie and she smiled to herself. She had to admit the girl was a bit cute which said a lot because she did not take easily to strangers. Honestly, she didn't have much of a choice now. They saved her life technically speaking when they could have left her out there without so much as another care. This, in her mind, solidified the idea that she would help them get to an established sector she and her sisters heard about when they made it ashore.

  It was then that a dark, brown head caught her attention when Dane's tall, built frame appeared from beneath the building with bat in hand. Pulling herself forward, she glanced all around their surroundings to make sure there weren't any lurkers within ear shot. Without hesitating, she proceeded to speak to him normally although it was more of a warning than anything.

  “Wut yuh doin down dere? Did yuh lose yuh way? Da safe 'ouse is be'ind yuh. Take yuhself back inside before yuh bring dem 'ere. Me lookin like yuh asked so yuh don't need to worry.”

  Hearing her voice, Dane slowly turned around to glance back at her. A mixture of relief and confusion as to why she was in there in the first place settled over his mindset. He, naturally, didn't let those feelings show as he stood there and quietly let her chide him. He took in that accent and he didn't truly understand what she said but he got the gist of it. He began to walk to her before she finished what she said and occupied himself to try and see how she got up there. He went around to inspect the side of the building before he made his way to the back.

  Quinta watched him pretty much ignore what she said and disappeared. She shrugged her shoulders and leaned back in order to relax again. Behind the building there was a long adjacent alleyway which led to a ladder that reached the roof top. Across from him he heard gurgles and shuffles that had begun to hone in on him. The thing, dressed in uniform for the shop, seemed to be in his own world. Half of his face was decayed; his eye socket was infested with maggots and the muscle tissue had collapsed within his skull. He figured out how to stand on his two feet before his head slowly tilted in Dane's direction. The “good” eye he had focused on Dane before he gained speed and approached closer and closer. His plight was short lived. Dane's motions were clearly practiced as though he had done this far too often. He pivoted around and sent an impacted crack across his skull. He practically “home ran” the thing straight to hell as its body tumbled to the side. The rotten flesh inside spilled from the cavity which only caused him to cringe and place a hand over his nose momentarily.

  Climbing up onto the roof, he dusted himself off before he strapped his weapon on his back. He strolled up beside her and could not see any logical reason as to why she was here.

  “Do you have a gun?” He asked in a curious manner.

  Quinta rocked her leg from side to side with her head tilted on her shoulder. She took another sip of tea before she held it up and out to him.

  She shook her head as the sun began its ascent and peeked over the horizon, “Me nah 'ave a gun.” She answered blankly while her gaze never left the sky.

  Taking her gesture of kindness, Dane sipped from the can before he set it down on the ledge between them. Her voice cut between any words of thanks he would have given her. He nodded his head and didn't ask her again because it was pretty much shown now why she was in there in the first place. The sky became a beautiful swirl of colors and intermingled laye
rs of light that pushed the edge of the skyline. Taking in the sight, it had been a long while since he'd had the opportunity to see the sunrise like this. Even before the apocalypse occurred. They sat there in silence and watched until the sun was high in the sky before he turned to move toward the staircase she had found.

  He glanced back at her as he held firmly on the doorknob, “Come on, we're going to eat, pack, and go.”

  Finding that he was inherently ordering Quinta around, he had unwittingly taken on the leader role. He had been so used to telling Addie what to do that he had taken Quinta under that wing as well. Pausing to himself to contemplate this, he then shook his head before he left her there to go inside.

  Quinta took these last few minutes of solace before it was time to go again. Feeling as those she had done Queenie a favor, she crushed the can in her hands before she left it there. Pushing herself off the ground, she dusted off her backside, and turned her attention to Dane as he left. Humming in a tone that made sure that he heard her, she followed after him into the building.

  Once in the back room, Dane felt a sudden impact on his body when Addie bull rushed him and threw her arms over his shoulders. She was glad to see him back and he proceeded to pat her side. She nagged him as Quinta followed behind and Dane simply ignored Addie. He then grabbed a bag of cereal and jerky to hand out for breakfast. Quinta took a moment to use the bathroom, re-pin her hair, and finish what she was doing before she met with them again. With nothing being said, Addie glanced between the two of them and couldn't help wonder just what in the world they were doing out there.

  Dane took the remainder of the dried meats and bottles of water and packed them away while Quinta split up what he did place out between the three of them. Each of them had a small bottle of juice to which Addie went ahead and saved half for herself. It wasn't very often she got to taste the sweet nectar of artificial corn syrup. Addie twirled a meat stick in her mouth as Quinta placed the cereal between her lips one by one.