AncilChapter 2: The Dumpster Surprise
I awoke to a soft, gentle kiss from the sun on my cheeks. I had no idea what the new day had in store, but at least I had the opportunity to see another sunrise. It took me a few minutes to process the night before and my current predicament. A little bit of me thought that it was just a dream and when I woke up, things were going to be normal again. I thought I’d wake to the sound of my father yelling at me to get off the bed and get ready for Monday morning school right before he set off to work. I thought I’d go downstairs and make some cereal while watching my favorite show. I thought I’d wake up to a lot of what I was used to. I leaped up from the van floor and looked outside, hoping that everything that had happened the day before was just in my head. It wasn’t. The corpses still littered the town floor and the stalls still dishelved.
Nothing had changed much from the night before except for the bodies that began to look less human as all the signs of decay showed itself. The smell was so much worse than it was the other day, and it was only destined to get worse as time went on. There was something quite odd though that I couldn’t figure out. The flies were gone, and so were the corbeaux. Where were they? By now, the sound of heavy buzzing should have been deafening. The bodies also didn’t seem to have been touched by any scavengers as they lay there rotting. That was weird. I still couldn’t look at the scene without tearing up a little. I tried to hold it in, but it was useless. The only reason my face wasn’t completely drenched was because of dehydration. I hadn’t drunk or eaten anything since the previous morning. Besides the heavy feeling of grief inside me, my gut was also knotted up with hunger and thirst. I could have stayed in the car and died of thirst and hunger or, I could go look for something to eat. My body’s survival instincts were beginning to kick in but leaving the van seemed like the worst idea ever. I looked around the vehicle to see if the area was clear. I didn’t see anyone, but I was still a bit cautious about leaving the vehicle.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
My stomach needed something in it and it wasn’t very quiet about it.
I needed some time.
After about twenty minutes of summoning all the courage I could find, I took a deep breath and then decided to take a huge life-threatening risk. I opened the door.
Creeeeeek!
The car door made a drawn-out creaking sound as I opened it. It was loud enough to wake the dead. I slowly crept out of the van on all fours, attempting to remain as quiet as possible. I then stood up. I looked up to see if there were any corbeaux circling around above, but there weren’t any. Not a single scavenger dawned the bright blue sky. There were a few flies but not as many as the day before. I was a bit confused that the scavengers were gone, but I didn’t dwell on that for too long. My brain was turning to mush with all the things to figure out. At that moment, I just needed food and water.
The key to the van was in my father’s pocket. Getting the key for the van seemed like a good idea. But I’d have to take the keys off of my father’s lifeless body. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that. “Nah, I don’t need the key.” I said to myself before walking in the direction away from my father’s body. Then logic hit me. The key to the van would be a really good thing to have. I tried my best to avoid having to face seeing my father on the floor. Maybe if I didn’t see him, I could convince myself that he was still here. Still breathing. But I needed the key. I stood for a while, my head down. Despite my body’s low water supply, tears dripped down on the hard floor below.
“What are you doing?” I heard my father’s voice in my head. “Are you just going to stand there and be a leaf in the wind? Or are you going to be the wind. Get your shit together! You have a mission to accomplish soldier! Survive or die!”
I knew the voice was just in my head—a construct of my father and what he would have said in a situation like this.
“But..but..” I argued.
“But what?!! I don’t see any butts here. All I see is a mission to accomplish. What do you have to do now?” My father’s voice in my head said.
I looked around in hopes that some magic revelation would present itself.
“What do you have to do now?” My father asked, this time louder.
“Umm…” I hesitated.
“Get the damn key!! Do I have to do everything around here!” My father said.
My father was right.
“Now!” My father yelled.
My father was dead and he still was bossing me around.
I acted.
I marched towards my father’s body on the ground and dug through his pockets until I found the keys. He looked still and peaceful and I thought to myself, “lucky you!”
