Through Glass(30)

I moved quickly as an invisible clock counted down behind me. The endless ticking in my ears was the warning that they would return for me. That I wasn’t safe yet.

I had searched for flashlights, battery operated clocks, candles. I didn’t know how much light was needed to keep them away, but if Cohen and I were going to make our escape, we needed anything we could find.

I didn’t find anything.

Not like I was surprised, I had looked two years ago for the exact same things. I found nothing then, as I found nothing now. Everything had been taken or destroyed. What little might have been spared two years ago had since been destroyed in the monthly raids when they brought food.

I had found a few things, but nothing was usable; broken pieces of a flashlight from our camping supplies, numerous battery casings, even a few batteries of the wrong size, the hand crank to an emergency light and half a candle. The candle I kept, even without a way to light it I had the hope that it may come in handy someday.

It wasn’t until I had scoured the half bath downstairs that I found one battery of the right size wedged between the toilet and the wall. I was amazed it wasn’t punctured or ripped apart like the others had been. It was a miracle I had found it, that it was there. I had searched that room so many times before.

One size D battery. I didn’t even know if it would work.

I held it in my hand as though it was made of gold. The cold metal pressed up against my cheek as I tried to keep myself awake. A few hours ago I had felt the exhaustion hit me, my body dragging as my eyes had tried to close. My body had been attempting to put me to sleep right where I sat, wedged between the metal remains of the washing machine.

It had taken all my strength to pull myself to standing, the battery stuffed in my pocket, and drag myself upstairs. I had pulled myself up the stairs, the exhaustion only growing with every step. I walked into my room, only to find Cohen leaned against the window, his eyes closed as his own exhaustion had taken him. There were two batteries set nicely on the sill in front of him.

I had fallen into bed, my body trying desperately to get me to slip, while my mind screamed at me not to give in. It begged me to stay awake and, for once, I didn’t doubt myself. After all, I had still broken the rules. I didn’t know what they would do to retaliate from that, but I wasn’t thinking they were going to throw me a parade.

I lay awake in the silence, everything inside of me jittery and uncomfortable in anticipation and in fear. It felt weird to be lying here when they may well come for me at any minute. I needed to get out of here. Even with what Cohen had found, we were still one battery short. I just needed Cohen to wake up and then we could get out of here. We could try. I only hoped the three that we found could produce enough light to keep us safe.

That was, of course, assuming that all the batteries were up to a full functioning standard. And we wouldn’t know until we got together. Assuming we could get together, I still couldn’t get the memory of what had happened to the Jones family as they attempted their escape. The screeches of the monsters, the screams…

They hadn’t even made it out of their homes. The circles of ash still sat untouched across the street where the once white door remained torn off its hinges. It was now only a dark rectangle; a wide, gaping mouth to the empty house behind it.

I never looked in that direction if I could help it. I didn’t want to see the circles of ash that littered the streets; the remains of the people that had fought, the dozens of failed escapes. I would only look forward. However now, as I lay awake, I wanted to look. I wanted to see what awaited us. What we were both fighting against.

If we could fight, we would need the light to be able to do that to them, to get away. The batteries were the only chance we had.

I stared at the battery in the darkness; the faint ticking from the clock buzzing underneath the pillow was the only sound in the room. I tried to keep myself awake through the relaxing sound, my eyes feeling heavy and warm as they tried to coax me to sleep. I needed to stay awake. Then tomorrow, after Cohen woke up, we would leave no matter what.

I was going to get to touch him, to kiss him, to hold him.

I was going to be held.

After years of dreaming of how it would feel, clinging to the fading memories of the one kiss we’d shared, I wouldn’t have to dream anymore. It would be real. I let my fingers flutter above the glossy texture of Cohen’s graduation picture, listening to the clock ticking. I wished the seconds would go faster.

Tick.

Tick.

Creaaaaak.

I jumped at the sound, the subtle groan of the front door opening sending a jolt through my entire body. My pulse picked up immediately, but I didn’t move, I didn’t dare.

Everything was quiet, still. Everything other than the sound of the door as it closed again.

I waited in the dark, my mind moving in a million directions. Everything tensed, my fingers clenching around the dirty sheet I lay on as I waited for more noise, for something to happen. It couldn’t be the Ulama, the screeching always came before they did.

There was no noise.

Only silence that filled my body like a heavy drug, it dragged through me as I listened, waited, and breathed. Had I imagined the noise? I clung to the battery, my ears on alert for what would come next. The silence too loud; the frantic sound of my heart too loud for me to hear…

Click. Click.

The sound of talons in the kitchen; long, golden claws climbing the stairs.