A Life Worth Living
The house stood before them, stark against the large oaks, ominous yet seductive. Worn out wooden boards, white paint faded and peeling. The steps leading up to the front door looked like they would collapse under the smallest weight. The windows revealed only darkness, leaving the mind to wonder what ghastly things might reside within. The house contained three stories and was the only discernible landmark in miles of Louisiana woods. At least Axel thought they were in Louisiana. There was no way, of course, that he could be sure.
Kylie moved towards the steps, the barrel of her gun pointed forward. “Look alive,” she said in a commanding voice. Axel and the others continued forward. Axel did not want to enter this house. It gave him the creeps, made his hairs stand on end. The way it sat, embedded in overgrown vegetation reminded him of the horror films of his youth, the ones he could just barely remember. Signs of human civilization were so scarce now, the sight of this house, old and frayed, but otherwise unharmed, seemed unnatural. But he knew better than to question his leader. So Axel squeezed his hand tightly around the machete he was holding, and continued forward with the rest of the group.
Kylie placed a timid, tentative foot on the first step. It held her weight with a moaning creak. She continued up the first, then the second step and onto the porch. She glanced back, for just a moment, before planting her foot and kicking down the door with her boot. She entered.
Axel followed her through the threshold and into the landing. The air was damp within. Slightly cooler than outside. There was the scent of rotting wood and mold. It was dark, but there was just enough light streaming in through the windows to see. The shadows were thick in the corners and crevices, played tricks on his eyes, made him see things that weren’t really there.
“Eric and Marcus, check the second floor. Trish and Axel, follow them up, then continue on to the third level.”
Kylie and the rest of the group moved inward, their silhouettes like apparitions stalking through the shade.
Axel looked up at a particularly eerie staircase. Eric and Marcus started making their way up the steps. Axel turned to look at Trish. She gave him a slight smile and a nod before following their lead. Axel sighed, before placing his foot on the first step and moving up that eerie looking staircase.
Each step they took caused Axel to cringe. The creaking of the wood was relentless and if there was someone or something waiting for them on one of the upper levels, the noise would be more than enough to alert their approach.
They made it up the stairs to a landing, rounded a corner, and continued up another set of stairs to the second level. Eric and Marcus, went left to explore the second floor, while Axel followed Trish to the right, up another, equally eerie set of stairs.
There were fewer windows at the top level, and therefore significantly less light. Trish took the left corridor, leaving the right to Axel. He made his way through the hallways gradually and deliberately, his eyes adjusting slowly. He had to fight the urge to turn and look over his shoulder every few seconds, and despite his best efforts, he breathed heavily. His palms had grown sweaty from gripping the handle of his machete.
Something up ahead caught his eye. At the end of the hallway was a closed door, light seeping out from underneath. This was strange because up until this point all the doors he’d seen had been open, as if the house was vacant, had been abandoned. But a closed-door hinted at something different.
As he approached his heart rate quickened, he slowed his steps to create minimal sound. Axel thought about turning back and grabbing Trish, but he didn’t want to appear cowardly. When he came within ten feet of the door, he held his breath. He raised his machete, not sure what he would find behind, and launched his body forward, slamming his shoulder into the door.
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The old wood caved in easily and Axel found himself standing in an empty bathroom. He let out a huge breath of air as relief washed over him. The bathroom was small, a porcelain tub, a toilet, a faucet, and a small window which accounted for the light that he had seen. There was a mirror above the sink, covered with a slight film of dust. He wiped away the dust to reveal a skeletal reflection. A hollow face, with sunken eyes and protruding cheekbones. Slight stubble coerced his adolescent jaw. He was covered in grime and filth, so much so that attempting to clean himself would prove futile. A thought came to him. One that was painfully familiar. Was this really a life worth living? He quickly tore his eyes away from the mirror, unable to look any longer.
He checked the faucet, and the shower head for running water but to no avail. There was a small cabinet below the sink. Axel opened the doors to reveal a single item.
One roll of toilet paper.
He felt as if all the air had been torn from his lungs, he gasped as emotion ran through him. Warm tears streamed down his face, and a giddy, child-like feeling grew in his stomach.
This was the first time he’d seen toilet paper in months, years even, time was so hard to keep track of.
The sound of gunfire echoed suddenly.
Axel grabbed the roll, shoved it into his backpack, and headed towards the stairs. He sprinted down the stairs to the second level, then down to the first. He found Kylie standing there with her back turned to him.
“What happened?” he yelled.
She turned around to reveal two, large, dead raccoons, one gripped in each hand.
“Nothing much,” she said, a smile stretched across her face, “just grabbed some dinner.”
He laughed in response.
“What about you?” she asked. “Find anything upstairs?”
He looked into her blue eyes. Hard eyes. The eyes of a survivor. The eyes that had found him when he was starving to death on the side of a road. The eyes that had saved him, fed him, taken him in.
“No,” he replied. The weight of the toilet paper in his backpack baring down against him.
“There was nothing.”
