Survival Island

As the years passed by and the world became cold and grey all many of us had of the past were old photographs. Old school developed photos and not a compilation of your favorite moments on your Instagram page. You know the old school ones where Grandma couldn't aim and the top of sissys head was cut off? Or the 1000 times you reminded dad to always move his thumb out of the frame and there you are at your high school prom. You, James and dad's thumb. Oh how long ago that feels. How I long to have dad embarass me by taking 10 photos of me under the trees just so he can reminisce on rainy days about how much the world has changed. Dad, if only you were here you could hold my hand as the shivers begin and my fever commences.

Dad always smiled at me and told me how much I looked like Mom. She was a beautiful woman, her curly red hair blowing in the wind in many of his photos. These were all before me. They looked in love but you can see how that love transcended when you see photos of them with me and sissy.

I think Dad would be proud of me. I survived 15 years in this new world without him creating a safe haven for those who had no home. We took care of one another and made sure nobody went without. The Undead sure were a big enough threat so why make it more difficult than. Entire countries were zoned off and the sick were brought there. Unfortunately people still needed to survive and flee those places. Those were the types of people we took in. Men, women, children who were otherwise left for dead in their countries. We colonized an island and secured the necessities of survival through various dangerous missions. It was simply the right thing to do.

I didnt think about Mom and Dad during the early days as much as I should have. Over the years I have felt guilt for that because they sacrificed everything for me and sissy right up until they took their last breaths. I lost contact with sissy due to her studying abroad during the early stages of the collapse. I can only imagine her fear during that time. That is one more thing I felt guilty about. I never even tried to go and find her after Mom and Dad passed. Perhaps that was my karma to bear now dying alone instead of having my family close by. I was bitten when we went to intercept a new incoming family and while the threat was neutralized I was the only casualty from our community. I decided that no one needed to feel my burden and the community had enough guidelines in place over the last 15 years to make it without me. I was not important to the structure and survival of the community. The children were. The innocent ones. Like I was until Mom and Dad were taken.

Lately I have been thinking about Mom and Dad and the only thing I had left from my previous life with them. It was a heart shaped locket Dad had given me on my 14th birthday. The last one we all celebrated together before Sissy left for school. On one side there was a picture of Mom and Dad holding each other and the other was just Mom holding me as a Baby. Dad said he chose that one because he always knew I would one day be as kind and beautiful as she was.

As I press the cold barrell of the gun against my temple I smile and begin to cry as I look at my reflection in the mirror. Dad was right all those years. I looked exactly like my mother even though I denied it all my life. In my final moments of life I felt sadness and happiness at the same time. I felt sad because I could never tell Mom how beautiful she truly was both inside and out. I felt happy because I got to spend my time on this earth helping people find a home all the while looking like the kindest and most angelic person I had ever known.