THE CREATURE - A SHORT STORY

THE CREATURE : PART 2

We get to Joshua’s house. Well, what’s left of it. The windows are shattered and the roof caved in. All of the houses look this torn. Some even worse.

“We’ll have to be careful, you need to watch were you step so that you don’t get hurt.” I say, and he nods at me. He looks at the house once again, a new tear forming and rolling down his tiny red cheek. I feel so bad for this kid. I can’t imagine what’s going through his mind. Seeing the place he used to call home torn apart. A place he once felt safe in, a place that once would’ve made him happy. Now a place of loss and sorrow. I take his hand and give him one more smile before we enter the house.

“Mommy!” Joshua calls out once we step inside. “Are you here? I’m home.” He tries calling again. After realising that his mom isn't here he looks down, a sad look taking over the face that was just happy a moment ago in the forest. “Oh.” He says before leading me to the kitchen. “Mommy always kept canned food inside that cupboard.” He says as he points to a cupboard in the corner of the kitchen. "We also have bottles of water and snacks. Can we also take that?” I nod at him. “Take all the snacks you want kiddo.” Joshua smiles, but I can tell that he’s trying to hide the sadness that’s still in his heart. I smile back softly, holding out my arms to hug him. He falls into my arms instantly, sniffling again my chest. I rub my thumb against his back. “Everything will be okay kiddo. Your mommy might not be here, but you have me now okay?” I say, hoping to comfort him. I feel him nodding against my chest. I hug him tightly for a moment more before pulling away and wiping his tears with the back of my hand. “Let’s go get some food and snacks.” I say, giving him a warm smile.

We walk over to were Joshua pointed earlier and he opens the cupboard. We both fill the bag I brought with us with food, and snacks. I also grab the bottled water. The bag is already full, but I know it won’t even be enough for a week. Joshua looks at my concerned expression and I can see his eyes light up before disappearing into a different room for a moment and then reappearing with another bag. “Now we can take more at the next house so it will last longer.” I smile, he really is a smart kid. “Thanks kiddo.”

Joshua looks down for a moment in silence. After a minute he looks back up at me. “Can I take some of my clothes and toys? Please.” I smile at him and nod. A thankful smile appears on his face before he walks off to go get his clothes and toys. After a few minutes he’s back with a bag filled with everything he packed. He takes my hand and we head towards the door to go to the next house.

The house right next to Joshua’s is even worse than his. It would be way to dangerous to look for food in there. The same with the next few houses. So we walk a few blocks further until we finally find one that isn’t as bad. Luckily the door is open so we can easily get in. I lead Joshua inside, and together we look for the kitchen. We eventually find it. We open all the cupboards, but find that they’re empty. “Nothing here. Let’s go to the next house.” I sigh, turning to leave, but before we can a movement in the house startles us. Especially Joshua. He grabs my arm, screaming against my leg.

I pick him up and start running. We get to the door, but before we can get out I trip over a piece of wood and we both end up on the ground. Joshua screams in pain, and when I look over to him I see a puddle of blood forming around his arm. A piece of wood had cut him open. His screams are getting louder and louder. I push myself off of the ground and rush over next to Joshua. I grab the bag with his clothes. “I’m going to use one of your t-shirts as a bandage. Is that okay?” I ask and he nods, still screaming from the pain. I pull out a shirt and wrap it around his bleeding arm.

Once again I hear something moving around. It’s getting closer. I pull Joshua onto my lap while I look around. Suddenly a figure appears around the corner.

“Wait please don’t scream.” It’s a woman. My heart stops racing as relief flows over me. She looks at me and then at Joshua. “I’m not going to hurt you, I was just looking for food. I assume you were doing the same.” She says and I just nod. She moves closer to us, kneeling down in front of me. “I see the kid got hurt. Is he your brother?” She asks. I shake my head. “No, he’s also a survivor. He came across my camp, he was alone so I let him stay with me.” She looks at little Joshua with a sympathetic look. “I’m Alice, I’m a doctor. Let me help him. I have some supplies in my house.” I don’t know whether I should trust her or not. But Joshua does need help. He’s already almost bled through the makeshift bandage. I have no choice but to trust her. I pick Joshua up and nod to Alice, accepting her offer to help. She also gets up. “Let’s go.” She says with a smile, turning towards the door to leave. With Joshua in my arms I follow Alice, staying quiet for most of the trip.

“I’m Jamie by the way. This is Joshua.” I say. She smiles at us. “Nice to meet you. How old are you two?”

We get to Alice’s house, if you can even call it a house. There is almost nothing left of it. I give Alice a confused look. How would she find any medical supplies in this wreck? Alice gives me a soft smile before speaking. “I have an operating room in my basement. That’s where I used to work, and now live.” A wave of relief flows over me, for a moment I thought I was wrong to trust her. “I have some bandages and disinfectant down there. We have to hurry he’s losing quite a lot of blood.” She says as she walks around the corner to a cellar door. She opens it, revealing a flight of stairs that lead down into a dark hole. Alice pulls a box of matches from her pocket, and lights one up while bending down. She lights up three candles on each side of the top stairs, and starts walking down. I follow her down to where she lights up some more candles. The light reveals a well equipted medical room. A bed, some machines, medicine cabinets etc. “Why did you operate from home and not from a hospital?" I ask curiously. “Because hospitals charge people a lot of money, and I wanted to be able to help people for free.” She shrugs, opening a cabinet close to the bed. “All people deserve to be helped, not only the people with money.” She continues. Alice seems like a sweet lady, I wish I knew her before all this. But unfortunately it was always just my dad and I, and then since a year ago Adam, and a bit less than a year ago – only Adam. I never really had any friends, and my other family members lived far away. Now I have Joshua, and Alice.

Alice walks over to us with the bandages and disinfectant, pointing to the bed. “Put him down on there. I’ll clean his arm and then wrap the bandage around it. Just hold his hand tightly because it might sting a bit.” I nod and do as she says. And within a few minutes, Joshua’s arm is all bandaged and read to start healing.

“Thank you.” I say, and Alice just smiles at me for a moment before speaking. “It’s no problem at all. If I may ask, where do you stay?”

“I have the camping site that I mentioned earlier, right outside of town.” I tell her. “Would you like to come stay in here?” She asks with a soft, sympathetic smile. I don’t understand why she would want to help strangers, especially in current circumstances. I don’t know what to say, because I would feel bad saying yes, but also saying no. So I just nod, making Alice’s smile grow even bigger. “Then let’s go gather all your belongings at the site, and get you two kids settled in.” She says, and for the first time since losing my Adam, I’m able to form a genuine smile.