Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

 
    Rebecca left her room and crept down the hallway. Her sister’s door was closed, so Rebecca opened it a crack and peeked inside. Alexis was wide awake. “Come in,” she said.  
    “I’m so sorry,” Rebecca spaced the three words evenly to keep herself from crying.
    Alexis didn’t say anything for a while, then her teeth defied the darkness with a sudden flash of white. “It’s okay,” she said. “I get it. I used to be there, too.”
    “What do you mean?”  
    Alexis flicked the light on her nightstand and the dim bulb wrapped the room in its yellowy glow. “Mom’s not who you think she is,” Alexis said. “Though I totally get why you can’t see it now, but believe me, you will.”
    Rebecca didn’t say anything, so Alexis kept talking. “And there’s nothing wrong with Robbie. He’s a nice guy. You’d like him, too, if you got to know him. Everyone in his family smokes, that doesn’t make him a bad guy. He gets straight A’s, you know.”
    “Would Mother like him?”
    Alexis shook her head. “Mom wouldn’t like anyone except maybe Jesus, and even then she’d probably say I couldn't date him until I was 18, and only if he shaved. I haven’t done anything with Robbie, and he hasn’t even asked me to. We just danced, and had two kisses is all. But I really, really like him.”
    “Why do you like him so much?”
    “Because, when Robbie looks at me, I don’t feel like Alexis, the home-schooled freaky girl who has no friends, and who will live and die in this podunk town. For at least a few minutes, I’m special. Like there’s a whole world out there, waiting for me to find it. I feel free and happy. So happy, it almost feels weird. I feel guilty whenever I’m happy,but I know in my heart that’s not how I’m supposed to feel, despite what Mother says. It’s not what God would want.”
    Alexis pulled her sister’s hands into hers, then leaned forward so she could see her clearer through the flickering shadows. “Someday you’ll see Mother for who she is. I can’t make it happen faster than it’s supposed to happen, but I can promise you it will. I don’t know how or when, or even with who, but I know I’m getting out of here someday. The sooner the better. When I’m gone, I won’t be able to look out for you anymore. I need you to promise me you won’t let this town, or Mother, trap you.   Can you do that?”
    Rebecca was unsure but she nodded anyway.  
    “And I need you to promise me you’ll be careful with Mother, too. Can you do that?”
    Rebecca was unsure but she nodded anyway.
    “I forgive you,” Alexis said, squeezing Rebecca’s hands tighter. “And I love you. Everything will be okay.”
    Rebecca lay beside her sister. “I need to go,” she said. “I shouldn't be here in the morning when Mother comes to check.”
    Alexis pet the top of Rebecca’s head. “Sshhh...,” she said. “Mother only has the power you give her. Never any more than that.”
    Rebecca returned to her room. Though she still felt horrible, she now felt something else — a connection to her sister she’d never had before. And with that connection, she fell asleep with a faint smile, remembering how much she loved her.

    * * * *

CHARLIE WILKENS: PART 2

    Abrams, Georgia
    March 22
    1:14 p.m.

    Charlie leaned against the metal railing of the overpass, focussing the binoculars on the Walmart just off the highway. They were about an hour north of home, and from what he could tell, the parking lot looked empty of monsters and men.
    “I don’t see anything,” he said to Callie, Adam, and Vic, who stood behind him, each looking through their own set of binoculars, except Vic, who was staring through the scope on his rifle.
    “Me either,” Callie said. “Front doors and windows are intact, no signs of looting, and no monsters. Looks good. I think we hit the jackpot.”
    “Would like to hit your jackpot,” Vic said with a grin and a wink.
    Charlie turned to him, “What did you just say?”
    Vic looked at him, and chuckled, “You steppin’ up to me, boy? Might wanna reconsider, seeing as how Boricio ain’t here to watch your back.”
    “I don’t need anyone to watch shit,” Charlie said, stepping forward.
    Vic stepped forward, puffing his massive chest, standing almost a foot taller than Charlie and outweighing him by at least 80 pounds of muscle. His face was inches away, eyes boring into Charlie’s, hot alcohol-laced breath steaming his face.
    “You think you can take