Surviving ELE (ELE Series #4) (23 page)

His mom sings happy birthday in the most beautiful voice. His dad adds, “And many more,” at the end of the song. They place the chocolate cake in front of him. It’s his favorite flavor.

Tony’s little brown eyes are lit with excitement as he closes them and blows out the candles. I hear his wish as if he said it aloud. He wishes for a bright red fire engine truck. My heart warms as I think of such an innocent request. He opens his eyes, and there sitting in front of him is a large present wrapped in red paper that’s decorated with Dalmatians in fire hats. He lets out a squeal as he looks from the present to his parents.

They give him a nod, letting him know that he can open it.

He grabs the paper and quickly tears it to shreds. Inside sits a brand new, red fire truck equipped with buttons that make siren sounds, ladders that pull out, and a small fire hose that reaches down to a fake fire hydrant. He thinks that this is the best birthday he’s ever had.

.....

We fast-forward a few years. Tony looks to be about ten years old. He’s sitting on the couch with his mom, who is reading him Alice in Wonderland. Dinner is on the table but they haven’t touched it yet. Tony’s stomach growls, but he knows that they need to wait for his father to return.

The lock on the front door jiggles. It opens and in comes his father. Young Tony feels scared when he sees his dad’s tear-stained face.

His mom jumps up from the couch and runs to her husband. “Oh no,” she says sadly as she throws her hands around her husband.

“He was so young. Tony’s age.” His dad cries into his mom’s shoulder.

She hugs him tighter. “I know, honey, I know.” With the last word, she loses it too and both of them drop to their knees crying.

Tony feels confused, scared, and sad. His eyes tear up as he walks cautiously over to his parents. He sits down next to them and they pull him into their embrace.

“We love you so much, Tony,” his dad tells him. His dad sits back on his heels and wipes the tears from his face. He looks into Tony’s little eyes. “We lost your cousin Joshua today.”

Tony’s heart drops. Joshua was his best friend. Because of the virus, they rarely get to see each other except for during the holidays. Tony tries to tell himself that his dad means that Joshua got lost, like the time he got separated from his mom at the grocery store and couldn’t find her for several minutes. In his heart, he knows that he’s fooling himself. Joshua is dead, just like his grandparents are dead, just like his teacher died last year, just like the nice old lady next door who always made him chocolate chip cookies died. They are gone. Tony wonders when his time will come.

.....

I’m whooshed into another memory. This time Tony looks to be the same age he is now. I notice the shelter in the background. Tony watches his parents as they freak out about what they are going to do. They aren’t going into the shelter and it’s so hot outside. The officials shoo them away from the area. They walk along with throngs of other rejects, towards the forest.

Tony sees his dad speaking to an old, grumpy man in a white tank top and boxer shorts, Lee. He overhears Lee complain about the government as they begin talking about a plan to set up a safe house.

Tony joins in on the conversation and offers to be of assistance in any way he can. His dad looks at him with pride. His mom looks at him with scared eyes. She only wants her family to be safe. That’s all she ever wanted. But Tony wants to be a man. He wants to step up and help in any way he can. These people will need him to be strong.

They walk for a ways in the stifling heat. At least a hundred people have joined together. As they walk, more and more run after them. Nobody wants to be left alone.

They find a Holiday Inn. A strong man finds a crowbar in an abandoned car and jimmies the door open. They start filing into the hot hotel.

Everyone finds their rooms. His parents pick one on the first floor. “Heat rises,” his dad said, when they opened the door.

Tony’s mom sits on the bed looking scared. She pulls out the small black box that the official gave her. “We need to take the yellow shot,” she says quietly. Her hands are shaking.

His dad sits next to his wife on the bed. He puts his arm around her. “We will all be okay, babe,” he tells her.

His mom tries to smile but she can’t.

Tony sits on the bed adjacent from his parents. “Don’t worry, Mom. Dad and I will take care of you.”

His mom looks up at him with love. He knows that she is seeing the ten-year-old that she used to read to every night, instead of the nineteen-year-old man that he’s become. He doesn’t mind though. He knows that his parents love him and that’s all that matters.

Tony pulls out his black box from his pocket. Without thinking about it, he grabs the yellow shot and injects himself with it. His parents seem stunned at first, but they quickly follow suit.

.....

Tony sits in a room by himself. Things have been changing around the hotel. People have been dying. Several people’s eyes have turned red. They’ve injected themself with the red shot. He shivers as he thinks of his parents newly red eyes. They want him to take the shot but he doesn’t want to.

The door busts open and Tony looks up. His dad is standing in the doorway, looking angry. “I told you to take the shot, son.” His mom comes up behind her husband and stares at her son with her red eyes.

“And I told you that I won’t take it. I’m your son, but I’m also an adult and I’ve made my decision,” he says.

“He has to take it,” Tony’s mom says to her husband.

His dad nods his head and starts advancing. Tony jumps from his bed and darts across the bed, faster than lightning. He sees the red shot in his mom’s hand.

“This is for the best, Tony. We can all be together,” she tells him.

His stomach rolls with nausea as he thinks about the changes he’s seen in his parents. The quick flashes of anger, the loss of emotion, and the disconnect they seem to have from humanity.

Tony’s dad backs him into a corner. Tony knows he’s going to have to fight. He doesn’t anticipate his father punching him first. Tony’s head jerks back at the impact. Stars cross his eyes. His dad tackles him to the ground as his mom grabs the needle.

“Stop!” a woman’s voice calls from the other side of the bed. I can’t see her.

His mom hesitates and then lifts her lip in a snarl. Tony struggles under his dad’s grip. “No!” he yells to his mom when she turns back to him and stabs him in the arm with the needle. Before she gets a chance to inject the fluid into his bloodstream, a gunshot rings out.

The sound is deafening. His face crumples as his mom falls slowly to the ground by his side.

“Noooooo!” his father roars. He jumps up and turns towards whoever just shot his wife. “I’ll kill you!” His voice and his face are contorted with rage. He runs forward, fists raised, and another gunshot sounds off in the room.

Tony looks down at the needle that is still sticking out of his arm. He pulls it out with a shaking hand.

The woman comes over to where he can see her. She places the gun on the bed. Her eyes are sad and horror-stricken. “I’m so sorry. They wouldn’t stop,” she whispers.

Tony can’t say anything. He just blinks. But I know this woman that killed Tony’s parents to save his life. Her name is Alice. She is my mother.

.....

I’m back in the clearing, the day I came out of the shelter. I can see myself through Tony’s eyes. I’m hovering over my mom, trying to heal her. He knows he shouldn’t let me be near her, but he instinctively trusts me against his own better judgment.

When he sees my mom wake up and me falling limp next to her, a fierce, protective quality reverberates within him. He runs to my side and pulls me into his arms. I’m passed out from exhaustion. He carries me back to the safe house.

.....

I see Tony teaching me to throw a knife. He notices how nice my hair smells and wishes that he could get to know me better. The memory of me in the vision whirls around on him and accuses him of trying to hit on me.

He can’t help but think how beautiful I am when I’m angry.

.....

I’m caught up in our first kiss on the canoe. I feel it as if I were inside Tony. His feelings of love for me fill every part of his mind and heart until the world goes red.

.....

I see him looking for me in the woods. The red and orange leaves are floating down like snowflakes that fall to the earth. He wants to find me, to see me, to kiss me, but he also doesn’t want to go near me because he knows that he’s dangerous. Zack hasn’t taken him over for days, but he has no idea how long it will last. He can only hope that he’s broken free of his grasp.

He sees me in the trees and his heart flutters with hope.

.....

I’m pulled to earlier today. When he told me that he loved me. He means every word of it. I make him feel whole. I am his family now. He will do anything for me. He loves me.

.....

I open my eyes. At first, I can see nothing. My senses are heightened. The world is dark, but I can hear Tony’s heavy breathing. I can feel his warm hand in mine. I can smell the mixture of soap and earth. Then slowly, my vision comes back. I see a blurry Tony in front of me and then my eyes focus.

His eyes are solid white, the only contrast are the pupils and the small dot of red. I try to look away because it’s so bizarre and strange. Then I see the colors flood back into his irises. He blinks a few times and then focuses his eyes on me.

He opens his mouth to say something but no words come out. I know in that instant that he has seen my memories just as I’ve seen his.

He pulls me to him and crushes his lips to mine. The kiss is as intense as it is filled with pure, unadulterated love. We hold on tightly, having a new understanding of the love we each feel for one another. To truly know how someone really feels, it’s indescribable. To know or to have experienced the most important events in their lives with them, it forms an unbreakable bond. It’s the biggest boost of confidence, of strength, of heart-feeling, warm goodness.

I know now that no matter what our future brings, we’ll be okay. Even if we are hunted forever, torn apart, murdered, sold for blood, whatever it may be, I know that I have lived my life. Love like this doesn’t come around often, and for me to find it at such a young age is a blessing. For this, I am truly grateful.

“I love you,” Tony says as he leans his forehead against mine.

“I love you too,” I whisper.

...To Be Continued.

Eye colors and the abilities they correlate to:

Dark Green
- Ability to read minds and hear thoughts. (Willow’s first gift. Willow’s original eye color: brown. Willow also absorbs other people’s gifts when she is around them for a certain period of time. They still don’t know how this is possible but some believe it’s because she has a bit of Reaper in her. However, there is one major difference between Willow and a Reaper: Willow is still in touch with her humanity.)

Dark Blue
- Ability to heal. (Alec’s gift. Alec’s original eye color: Emerald Green)

Hazel-yellow/green
- Ability to compel people and make them do or believe what you tell them. (Zack’s gift. Zack’s original eye color: light brown)

Purple
- Ability to turn invisible (Claire’s gift. Claire’s original eye color: icy blue)

Brown
- Ability to change molecular structure and walk or pass through objects. (Connor’s gift. Connor’s original eye color- black)

Light Blue
- Ability to see through people’s abilities or see when someone is using a gift. (Candy’s gift. Candy’s original eye color: light brown)

Neon Yellow
- Ability to possess great strength, speed, agility and immunity. Rarely, if ever, does someone with this ability get sick. (Willow’s mom, whose name is Alice, Sebastian and Tony’s gift. As well as everyone else in the first compound. Alice and Sebastian’s original eye color: Baby Blue. Tony’s original eye color: Hazel Green.

Copper Orange
- Ability to see visions of the near future. This is an ability that is new to everyone. Nobody knows how far in the future this ability will allow it’s possessor to see, but currently Willow’s dad has only been able to see a few minutes and no more than an hour ahead of time. In addition, with the knowledge of what lies ahead, they have been able to change the future outcome. For example, Willow didn’t die during the attack on the hotel like the dad foresaw. (Willow’s dad: Henry’s gift.)

Black
- Ability to read other people’s emotions and intentions. In addition this ability allows the possessor to control the emotions of others. (Erik’s gift.)

Red
- Reapers, steal other people’s abilities and drain their life from them. Not a lot is known about this power. Some believe that once a Reaper takes from someone that they only possess the ability for a limited period of time. This requires them to continually search for abilities to consume or in other words to help them power up. Because the process of reaping takes a lot of energy and a few minutes to completely drain a person, they don’t bother using their powers on the people with yellow eyes. After all, the Reapers currently possess this ability since it was their first gift before they took the red shot that was supposed to cause instant death. Instead that shot caused the death of their humanity.