The Second Death.

“Quiet. If they find us, they’ll kill us. Or worse.” Whispered Lisa’s older brother Dean. The siblings were crouched in a messy wardrobe that had been abandoned long ago.

Or worse? What could possibly be worse? Lisa thought to herself.

Dean shifted his weight and raised a rusty hunting rifle, poking the barrel out of the door. Silence. Nothing stirred.

“Dean…” Lisa began.

“Shh!” He replied.

Five minutes pass, then ten. Dean does not stir. The butt of his rifle pressed firmly into his shoulder.

“Ok.” Dean said, finally breaking the silence. They must be gone.

“Who is gone?” Lisa asked. “I didn’t hear anyone.”

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we be careful, if we don’t we die. Or worse.” Dean replied.

“What do you mean or worse?” Lisa asked.

Dean considered his sister for a moment. At thirteen Lisa was not naïve, but too innocent for the world she had grown up in. She had long dirty blonde hair and a sweet impish face that made her look far younger than the teenager she now was.

“Lisa, we’ve had it pretty lucky living in the camp up until now. But not everyone has been quite so fortunate. Out here, past our borders there is very little food. Some of these people hunt other humans for food.” As he finished talking Dean stared into his sisters face, trying to gauge a reaction.

“So cannibals?” She asked.

“Yes. Wait, how do you know about cannibals?” Dean replied.

“Oh, Sarah told me last week at dinner.” Lisa smiled at the fact that she had shocked her big brother. He was always being too serious.

“Did Sarah say anything else?” Dean pried.

“Just that we taste like pork.” With that Lisa pushed the wardrobe door open, looked around and stepped out. Dean was flabbergasted. How could she be so nonchalant about something like this? He stepped out of the wardrobe, following her.

“You do know it’s wrong to kill and eat people, right Lisa?”

“Duh.” She replied. “You’ll get brain worms.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Sarah?”

Lisa nodded.

“Do you think we’ll ever see anyone from camp again?” Lisa asked.

Dean paused. Once again not sure how much information to divulge to his young sister. He looked up and caught his reflection in the mirror for the first time in many days. His brown hair was shaggy, his face scruffy. Bright pink scar tissue dominated the two inches above his right eye. At twenty-one Dean hadn’t been as fortunate as his sister when it came to having his innocence protected.

“I don’t know. I hope so though.” He finally replied.

“I hope they don’t get eaten.” Lisa said.

Trying to supress a sick laugh, Dean replied: “Me too.”

*

The two sibling walked through the rest of the abandoned house. Looking under beds for valuables: Tools, supplies and ammunition. Their findings were scarce as they made their way into the kitchen, praying they’d find some manner of unspoiled canned goods. Lisa pulled open the doors of the cupboard revealing a massacre of packeted goods. The rats, it seemed, had beaten them to all but two cans of beans.

“It’s better than nothing.” Dean said.

“Is it?” Lisa replied.

“Don’t sass me.” Dean shot back.

Dean pulled his pack off his shoulders and removed a small gas cooker. He sat on the ground with his legs crossed and began to heat up the food.

“When was the last time we ate more than a mouthful?” He asked.

“Day before we left camp.” Lisa replied. “Harry caught those rabbits, remember?”

“Oh yeah, seems like a long time ago” Dean replied. He paused for a moment, trying to think how best to phrase his next question.

“Lisa. You know there are other reasons not to eat people other than brain worms, right?”

“Yeah I know that, silly.” She replied.

“Why then?” He asked.

“Because we’re all special and unique. Everybody has somebody who loves them. I wouldn’t want somebody to eat you. So I shouldn’t eat somebody else.”

Dean looked at his sister proudly, finding her empathy touching.

“I bet even people who eat people have someone that loves them.” She finished.

“I think you’re right sis.”

Lisa cringed. She hated it when he called her that.

“I love you, you know that don’t you Lisa?”

“Gross, Dean.”

*

Dean tossed in an uneasy sleep. He sat up and looked through cracked glass up at a waning crescent moon. He puts a hand into his pocket and pulls out an ornate heart shaped locket. Prying it open he sees two photos. A handsome looking man who could be Dean in ten years and a woman with dirty blonde hair and Lisa’s nose. He snaps it shut, and fingers sleepy eyes. Stirring in her sleep Lisa looks over at her brother, staring out the window at the street.

“Is everything ok?” She asked.

“Everything’s fine. Go back to sleep.” He replied.

Lisa rolled over, pulling her covers up to her throat.

“Dean?” she said, her youthful voice quivering .

“Yeah?”

“I miss Mum and Dad.” Lisa said, struggling to keep stop herself crying.

“Me too sis.” Dean replied.

Poor kid. Dean thinks to himself. With a groan Dean hoists himself and his bedding up and positions himself next to Lisa, pulling his sister into a warm embrace. They doze off and sleep until dawn.

*

“Deeean. I’m tired. Can we stop walking please? I’m tired.” Lisa begged.

“Do you see those clouds Lisa?” Dean asked. Pointing to a deadly looking black cloud. “Those are Cumulonimbus clouds. Do you know what that means?”

Lisa shook her head.

“They mean thunder, lightning and rain. If we stop walking now we’re going to get wet. Very wet.” Dean said.

“Fine.” Lisa replied. “Dean, would you forget about me if I died?”

“Where did that come from?” Dean asked in reply.

“Well Mum and Dad died ages ago, and we never talk about them. Sometimes I wonder if maybe you’d forgotten about them.” Lisa said with a hint of accusation in her voice.

“Lisa. I haven’t forgotten them. I will never forget about them and I would never forget about you.” Dean said.

Neither sibling spoke for a moment or two. Continuing a fast pace down the road. Up ahead a small town loomed, no more than a mile away. The rolling sound of thunder rumbled in the distance. Concerned Dean powered ahead, with Lisa trailing behind him. Suddenly Lisa’s voice piped up, causing him to stop.

“You know what. I think you die twice.” She said.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked.

“Well,” she said, “After you die you still have a family. Like Mum and Dad have us and as long as we’re alive, and as long as we remember Mum and Dad, then part of them is still alive. But if we die, and we don’t tell anyone about them, then they die with us. So I think we should stay alive and have families so that Mum and Dad never die.” Lisa looked at Dean expectantly.

“Jesus Christ Lisa. That’s intense.” He replied. “Come here”.

Pulling his sister into an awkward embrace, Dean wipes away a single tear. The thunder rumbles and rain begins to pour.

“Oh shit!” Lisa exclaimed, suddenly soaked.

“Language!” Dean said.

The two of them laugh and start to jog towards the next town.

*

Dean and Lisa huddle over a small smouldering fire in the corner of a garage. Their clothes steam and slowly begin to dry. Dean fumbles in his pocket, clasping in the locket in his hand while looking uncertainly at his sister.

“What?” Lisa asks, noticing her brothers discomfort.

“It’s nothing. Just, I have something for you, I was going to give it to you for you birthday.” Dean replied. “I guess now is as good a time as ever though.”

Dean hands the locket to Lisa who opens it and gasps.

“Dean, is this Mum and Dad?” She asked.

“Yeah. When they were younger.” Dean replied.

“You look so much like Dad it’s crazy.” Lisa said. “And Mum’s hair is just like mine!”

“It is.” Dean smiled sadly. “Lisa. We will never forget about Mum and Dad. If you ever want to talk about them we can. It just hurts sometimes.”

“I know it does.” Lisa said. “But if we talk about them then we know they’re still with us.

“You’re very clever you know that sis?” Dean said.

“Well someone has to be.” She replied. “I love you Dean. Thank you for this. It’s the best present I’ve ever gotten.”

“Gross, Lisa.”

The End.