The Real Housewives of the Apocalypse: Chapter Two: Secrets

Chapter 2: secrets

Thank god that damn book club was over. Scarlett loved books, but she hated the book they were reading. It was mushy love sick bullcrap she could not stand in the least. A small yawn escaped her as she entered her home, formerly, her Father’s home, before the epidemic.

Scarlett’s home was mostly white with little glimmers of black red, and Gold scattered about. Her home wasn’t too big, a spacious living room, a cozy kitchen, a decently sized bathroom and a nice bedroom. All the rooms besides the bathroom had beautiful bay windows, letting in lots of welcoming sunglight during the day, and gentle moonlight during the night. She walked over to her refrigerator, opening it up and pulling out two steaks. After searing one and seasoning it lightly, she plated the cooked steak and took the raw one with her into her bedroom.

Scarlett entered her bedroom and looked around; a queen sized bed with a fluffy white blanket topping several sheets and red pillows, black curtains pulled back to let in the moonlight, a small TV set and a tall lamp. Scarlett slowly closed the door behind her and locked it. She closed the curtains and looked to her closet. She entered the small closet, feeling around until she felt the doorknob. A long, swirling staircase greeted her in this strange place, the dim light as she desended the stairs, her heel clicks echoed in the hall. A low grumbling just barely audible came from below. Scarlett made it to the bottom of the stairs and turned on a single lightbulb, to which a groan of pain sounded across the large room.

The cage was large, thick iron bars separating Scarlett and her captive creature, but the animal inside was no animal.

His clothes were tattered, Scarlett managed to sedate him at least once every few months to change his clothing. Blood stains were permanent on his teeth, and dripped off his arms from scratching himself so much. What was left of his hair was matted and grey, his beady, bloodshot eyes would dart about the room quickly. A large, iron collar and chain around his neck connected him to the wall at all times. Scarlett aproached the cage, in front of it, a small table and chair with a candle. She set down the cooked steak on the table and lit the Candle before speaking to this monster before her.

“Hello,Father. Dinner’s ready.”

Scarlett’s father was turned when she was 18. This was the second outbreak of the disease and the cure was yet to be found at the time, so all the women could do was lock up their husbands, brothers, sons, grandfathers, anyone with a y chromosome.

That was the bizzare thing about the disease; It only affected men. If an infected man bit another man, he would be turned within the hour, but if an infected man bit a woman, she would simply bleed and have feverish symptoms.  

Some women had to kill their loved ones of the opposite sex, simply to put them out of their misery. But others, Like Scarlett, kept holding onto hope that the cure would be found; so they just kept their loved one in a cage and fed them raw meat.

Scarlett unwrapped the raw steak and threw it into the cage, her father scrambled over and began to tear the steak to pieces. She sat down and slowly began to eat her steak. The sounds of her father grunting and chewing made her shudder slightly.

“Aric wanted to go on a date again today. Maybe I shall have him meet you before he asks me on another date.” She chuckled to herself. Another grunt came from him. She knew he could understand her, it had been proven in some tests run in the last few years, but due to the disease, the understanding was warped.

“Lucinda thinks we should just skip dating and get married...but as you know...I have something better to do.”

Suddenly, a weird noise escaped her convict. “...Scah...let…”

Scarlett dropped her silverware at this.

“Dad...you said my name…?”

“Scah...let.”

Scarlett couldn’t help but smile, another test said that name recognition was a sign of the infected’s understanding becoming less warped.

“Dad this is wonderful!” she aproached the cage and knelt down about 5 feet away. He suddenly lunged at her, the collar holding him back, but he nearly cut her cheek with his claw-like nails. She swerved just in time, holding her cheek.

“Good Lord man!” She sighed softly, staring at her father’s disfigured, bloodied form.

“At least we’re getting somewhere...right?”

“Scah...let.”

“I’m Scarlett. You’re Scott. Mom’s Susana. Scott, Susana, and Scarlett blackwell. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

“...Scaht.”

Her smile returned at this remark. “Try saying ‘Susana’, Dad!”

“Scu...scana”

“You really like the ‘s-c’ don’t you?”

“Scahlet”

“Scarlett.” She stood from her kneeling position and held a hand towards the ceiling.

“Scarlett Blackwell, Daughter of the CEO of Blackwell firearms. Protector of humanity from the virus.”

She slowly turned back towards her father.

“...And hopefully, creator of the vaccination, so the CEO can make a return to his chair.”

She slowly got up and blew out the candle. She then walked farther back towards the stairs, the light of her bedroom, barely illuminating the stairs. She looked at the lightbulb, then at her father.

“Good Night, Dad. I love you.”

“Scahlet.”

Scarlett lay in bed for a long time that night in the darkness, her father’s single, broken word worked into her mind, ‘Scahlet’. That night, she dreamt her father was okay, and that the disease was just a hoax.