Chapter Fifteen
Survivor's Guilt
Kimberly felt something was wrong, somewhere deep down inside of her, she knew that something wasn't right. She worried that the feelings had something to do with Altessa, or at least one of the survivors; it was the same feeling she had gotten right before someone was about to die and she was getting it now. The brunette picked up her black cell phone and prepared to dial the number of the identical one when the phone rang, startling her and causing her to drop the phone.
Thomas looked over at Kimberly, startled as well but slightly amused by her skittishness. Without a word to him, Kimberly snatched the phone off the floor and hit the "talk" button knowing exactly who was going to be on the other line. "Altessa, what's up?" She questioned, knowing now was no time for pleasantries.
"Someone just died." Altessa informed the brunette, who was slightly shocked but not as much as she should have been. She knew something bad was about to happen, but it appeared that it already have. She was, however, was a little surprised at how calm Altessa sounded.
"Are you all right?" Kimberly asked before adding the nagging question, "Who died?" It could only be one of three people, assuming that Altessa was indeed at school. She was beginning to believe that it was the teenager's old teacher whom had been the first to go, judging by how mellow Altessa was.
There was a short pause before Altessa answered both of her questions. "I'm fine, well, as fine as you can be after seeing your old science teacher blown into a whole bunch of pieces right in front of you." The words were spoken snappishly, but the tone wasn't directed to Kimberly. She was finally buckling under the event, feeling fear and tears spring unbidden upon her; one she could blink away, the other would be with her for a while.
Kimberly reeled slightly, mentally, blinking her eyes and letting out a deep breath. She wasn't quite sure of what to say in terms of sympathy, so she simply said, "I'm sorry." knowing that it wasn't the right thing.
Altessa didn't seem to mind, knowing that the brunette's heart was in the right place; Kimberly didn't need to say any words of comfort, at least not right now. She knew that the brunette understood what was going on and how she felt and that was enough for her. "What bothers me is that I could have saved her! I should have known...I should have read the Signs clearer. If I had been smarter...I could have saved her." She was upset at herself, feeling guilty for the loss of Miss McAnderson.
"It's not your fault Altessa, you tried. The Signs will be clearer next time, we'll save however is next." Kimberly assured her, remembering her own feelings of guilt. Guilt at not being able to save her friends or Tim Carpenter or Clear Rivers. It was survivor's guilt that often drove her to continue to fight the Design, the desire to prove that because she survived she wouldn't use her time in vain.
"But we don't know who's going to be next; I really didn't know that Miss McAnderson was going to die until she lit that match. What if you're next? Or Thomas, or Morgan or my mother? I can't take a chance like that Kimberly, we have to know." Altessa cried, stating out loud the question that had been running around in Kimberly's head every since Saturday afternoon.
What if she was next to die? Or worse, what if it was Thomas' turn next and she wouldn't be able to save him because she wouldn't know until it was too late. "We'll figure something out...watch the Signs, that's all we can do. We have to figure out Signs that could only appeal to one person, something that we'll recognize when we see it." Kimberly suggested, the idea suddenly dawning upon her. If they knew more about the survivors, it would be easier to sort out the Signs.
Another pause, Altessa was thinking about an answer to her question. "Well, Morgan likes to act, she has drama class now and Shane likes football. My mother likes gardening and she lights candles a lot." The teenager answer, speaking about the people that she knew the best and loved the most. For the complete lack of affection her mother showed her, she still couldn't bare to think of anything happening to her, and the thought of her mother dying was even worse.
Kimberly checked these thoughts into her memory, promising that she'd call Altessa back if she saw a Sign, or in the next thirty minutes to check in. Altessa promised to do the same, leaving her cell phone on in preparation for Kimberly's phone call.
The connection was broken and Kimberly was silent for a minute, leaning against the back of the couch and staring blankly ahead, vaguely registering that Thomas was watching her, waiting for her to speak. Finally she said, "Altessa's science teacher is dead, she got killed in a lab explosion." It was detail that Altessa hadn't given her, but she felt like she knew anyway.
Thomas let out a sigh, as though he hadn't really believed that the Design had started up again until someone had died. But now, there was no way out of it, no amount of logic could push away the fact that they could possibly die, very soon. "Kimberly, we don't have to help her you know; she knows enough now, she could look for the Signs. Helping could only get us killed." He didn't want to say those words, but the thought of something happened to Kimberly forced them out of his mouth.
Kimberly looked at him, slightly shocked, a little upset, yet she appeared to believe him to some extent. "We can't just look the other way, we can't do that; we have to help her. Clear risked her life to help us...she died helping us. If not for her, we might not be alive right now." It was the survivor's guilt speaking once again, as much as she wanted to admit that Thomas was right, that helping Altessa might only get them killed. But she couldn't just abandon Altessa, the girl needed her help and they needed hers; she felt a strong connection to the teenager, like someone who finally found someone will all of the same interested. Only, Kimberly felt that this ran slightly deeper, their shared connection was formed because of the heavy burden they both carried. The burden of Death.
Thomas stood up and joined her on the couch, locking eyes with her. "She died, Kimberly, and you could too. I don't want anything to happen to you...we've come too far to die now because we made a stupid mistake." He said, holding her gaze until she was the one that dropped her eyes.
Kimberly pulled him into a tight embrace, burying her face against his shoulder, taking a deep breath. "We won't do anything stupid...nothing is going to happen, to either of us." She pulled back slightly, until they were making eye contact again.
Before either one of them could say anything more, there was a loud popping noise and the flimsy, hollow metal rod that held up a set of heavy beige curtain snapped in half, bending in the middle and dropping its burden down upon the couple. Kimberly tossed the curtain aside, uncovering her head and sneezing softly because of the dust that coated the fabric.
She stared up at the remaining metal rod trying to figure out exactly what had caused it to break. Perhaps the curtains had finally grown to heavy for it to hold (it was, after all, a $1.99 rod from Wal-Mart) and it had finally snapped. Or maybe there was something more to its sudden break.
As if to confirm Kimberly's suspicions, a reflection appeared in the window, much like the image of the pigeons a year before or like the vision of the bus that her predecessor had seen. This vision was neither of pigeons or a bus but of what appeared to be a row of large lights, bolted into a metal shaft, swinging down toward her. The image disappeared quickly and Kimberly blinked, frowning, trying to make heads or tails of the whole thing.
Suddenly, it became clear to her. "Did you see that? It was a Sign!" She exclaimed, tossing the rest of the thick curtain aside, jumping up and grabbing the black cell phone off the coffee table in front of them.
Thomas looked at her, surprised even though he knew he shouldn't be, watching the brunette punch numbers into the key pad. He looked over at the window, saw nothing but the world outside and then back at Kimberly, shaking his head slightly. "Just don't do anything stupid." He mumbled under his breath.
But he knew that she hadn't heard him.
Survivor's Guilt
Kimberly felt something was wrong, somewhere deep down inside of her, she knew that something wasn't right. She worried that the feelings had something to do with Altessa, or at least one of the survivors; it was the same feeling she had gotten right before someone was about to die and she was getting it now. The brunette picked up her black cell phone and prepared to dial the number of the identical one when the phone rang, startling her and causing her to drop the phone.
Thomas looked over at Kimberly, startled as well but slightly amused by her skittishness. Without a word to him, Kimberly snatched the phone off the floor and hit the "talk" button knowing exactly who was going to be on the other line. "Altessa, what's up?" She questioned, knowing now was no time for pleasantries.
"Someone just died." Altessa informed the brunette, who was slightly shocked but not as much as she should have been. She knew something bad was about to happen, but it appeared that it already have. She was, however, was a little surprised at how calm Altessa sounded.
"Are you all right?" Kimberly asked before adding the nagging question, "Who died?" It could only be one of three people, assuming that Altessa was indeed at school. She was beginning to believe that it was the teenager's old teacher whom had been the first to go, judging by how mellow Altessa was.
There was a short pause before Altessa answered both of her questions. "I'm fine, well, as fine as you can be after seeing your old science teacher blown into a whole bunch of pieces right in front of you." The words were spoken snappishly, but the tone wasn't directed to Kimberly. She was finally buckling under the event, feeling fear and tears spring unbidden upon her; one she could blink away, the other would be with her for a while.
Kimberly reeled slightly, mentally, blinking her eyes and letting out a deep breath. She wasn't quite sure of what to say in terms of sympathy, so she simply said, "I'm sorry." knowing that it wasn't the right thing.
Altessa didn't seem to mind, knowing that the brunette's heart was in the right place; Kimberly didn't need to say any words of comfort, at least not right now. She knew that the brunette understood what was going on and how she felt and that was enough for her. "What bothers me is that I could have saved her! I should have known...I should have read the Signs clearer. If I had been smarter...I could have saved her." She was upset at herself, feeling guilty for the loss of Miss McAnderson.
"It's not your fault Altessa, you tried. The Signs will be clearer next time, we'll save however is next." Kimberly assured her, remembering her own feelings of guilt. Guilt at not being able to save her friends or Tim Carpenter or Clear Rivers. It was survivor's guilt that often drove her to continue to fight the Design, the desire to prove that because she survived she wouldn't use her time in vain.
"But we don't know who's going to be next; I really didn't know that Miss McAnderson was going to die until she lit that match. What if you're next? Or Thomas, or Morgan or my mother? I can't take a chance like that Kimberly, we have to know." Altessa cried, stating out loud the question that had been running around in Kimberly's head every since Saturday afternoon.
What if she was next to die? Or worse, what if it was Thomas' turn next and she wouldn't be able to save him because she wouldn't know until it was too late. "We'll figure something out...watch the Signs, that's all we can do. We have to figure out Signs that could only appeal to one person, something that we'll recognize when we see it." Kimberly suggested, the idea suddenly dawning upon her. If they knew more about the survivors, it would be easier to sort out the Signs.
Another pause, Altessa was thinking about an answer to her question. "Well, Morgan likes to act, she has drama class now and Shane likes football. My mother likes gardening and she lights candles a lot." The teenager answer, speaking about the people that she knew the best and loved the most. For the complete lack of affection her mother showed her, she still couldn't bare to think of anything happening to her, and the thought of her mother dying was even worse.
Kimberly checked these thoughts into her memory, promising that she'd call Altessa back if she saw a Sign, or in the next thirty minutes to check in. Altessa promised to do the same, leaving her cell phone on in preparation for Kimberly's phone call.
The connection was broken and Kimberly was silent for a minute, leaning against the back of the couch and staring blankly ahead, vaguely registering that Thomas was watching her, waiting for her to speak. Finally she said, "Altessa's science teacher is dead, she got killed in a lab explosion." It was detail that Altessa hadn't given her, but she felt like she knew anyway.
Thomas let out a sigh, as though he hadn't really believed that the Design had started up again until someone had died. But now, there was no way out of it, no amount of logic could push away the fact that they could possibly die, very soon. "Kimberly, we don't have to help her you know; she knows enough now, she could look for the Signs. Helping could only get us killed." He didn't want to say those words, but the thought of something happened to Kimberly forced them out of his mouth.
Kimberly looked at him, slightly shocked, a little upset, yet she appeared to believe him to some extent. "We can't just look the other way, we can't do that; we have to help her. Clear risked her life to help us...she died helping us. If not for her, we might not be alive right now." It was the survivor's guilt speaking once again, as much as she wanted to admit that Thomas was right, that helping Altessa might only get them killed. But she couldn't just abandon Altessa, the girl needed her help and they needed hers; she felt a strong connection to the teenager, like someone who finally found someone will all of the same interested. Only, Kimberly felt that this ran slightly deeper, their shared connection was formed because of the heavy burden they both carried. The burden of Death.
Thomas stood up and joined her on the couch, locking eyes with her. "She died, Kimberly, and you could too. I don't want anything to happen to you...we've come too far to die now because we made a stupid mistake." He said, holding her gaze until she was the one that dropped her eyes.
Kimberly pulled him into a tight embrace, burying her face against his shoulder, taking a deep breath. "We won't do anything stupid...nothing is going to happen, to either of us." She pulled back slightly, until they were making eye contact again.
Before either one of them could say anything more, there was a loud popping noise and the flimsy, hollow metal rod that held up a set of heavy beige curtain snapped in half, bending in the middle and dropping its burden down upon the couple. Kimberly tossed the curtain aside, uncovering her head and sneezing softly because of the dust that coated the fabric.
She stared up at the remaining metal rod trying to figure out exactly what had caused it to break. Perhaps the curtains had finally grown to heavy for it to hold (it was, after all, a $1.99 rod from Wal-Mart) and it had finally snapped. Or maybe there was something more to its sudden break.
As if to confirm Kimberly's suspicions, a reflection appeared in the window, much like the image of the pigeons a year before or like the vision of the bus that her predecessor had seen. This vision was neither of pigeons or a bus but of what appeared to be a row of large lights, bolted into a metal shaft, swinging down toward her. The image disappeared quickly and Kimberly blinked, frowning, trying to make heads or tails of the whole thing.
Suddenly, it became clear to her. "Did you see that? It was a Sign!" She exclaimed, tossing the rest of the thick curtain aside, jumping up and grabbing the black cell phone off the coffee table in front of them.
Thomas looked at her, surprised even though he knew he shouldn't be, watching the brunette punch numbers into the key pad. He looked over at the window, saw nothing but the world outside and then back at Kimberly, shaking his head slightly. "Just don't do anything stupid." He mumbled under his breath.
But he knew that she hadn't heard him.