000. the life of elizabeth miller

2003
JOEL'S BIRTHDAY

ELIZABETH has grown rather tired of late night shifts at the hospital, the overwhelming exhaustion beginning to catch up with her. It had always been her dream to be a nurse, to help people, yet with each passing day the dream is starting to fade away. Her reality is not what she'd imagined, not what she had hoped — nothing has ever worked out for her the way she envisioned.

When she was a little girl, she had her heart set on a massive wedding where she would walk down the aisle to meet the love of her life. Elizabeth saw a night full of dancing and laughter, happiness radiating from her as she experienced a kiss of true love. After getting married, she would have a few children and they'd live in a house with a white picket fence and a dog.

Instead, she lives in the spare room of her older brother's home with no husband and an two year old child, working long shifts to help make ends meet. She didn't have true love or even a husband, she simply had just her.

Aurora Mae was one of the only reasons Elizabeth stayed motivated to keep going, the sound of the little girl's giggles making her face light up. Some nights she will simply hold her baby and cry, begging Aurora to forgive her for the life she'd been given. She would never know her father, the man having fled months before the girl was born and making it known that he didn't want anything to do with the two of them.

However, she would have Joel and Tommy — who Elizabeth will be forever thankful for. They'd stepped up since Aurora had arrived, the oldest of the two even offering up his guest bedroom so that Elizabeth didn't have to pay astronomical amounts of rent and would have more money for her child.

Yet, she still finds herself spending more time at work that at home with her child.

Thankfully her boss has been a little kinder to her today, when she explained it is her brother's birthday, and decided she could have a break. Elizabeth has always been one of the more diligent workers in the crew, so the woman saw no harm in letting her go early.

"Do you have the picture you drew for Uncle Joel?" Elizabeth gently asks the girl, Aurora very fond of scribbling pictures onto paper. Sarah would often sit with her and draw as well, the cousins bonding over brightly colored images and shared giggles. Elizabeth is glad that Sarah is around, her niece is somewhat a lifesaver, always happy to babysit Aurora when need be.

Aurora's picture is on the table, lines morphed together to make shapes that Elizabeth can't quite figure out, but she's sure Joel will love it anyway. The little girl is always making drawings for everybody, the fridge has them stuck all over them. Elizabeth hadn't even been the one to put them up, the girl's uncle more inclined to put them up.

"Made it blue," Aurora replies quietly, more focused on the piece of art she's currently making. Elizabeth kisses her forehead and grabs the drawing made for Joel and then leaves her to what she's doing.

Walking down the stairs, she can see Joel and Sarah sitting on the couch watching a movie. He looks as if he's struggling to keep his eyes open, whilst his daughter has already crashed. Joel looks at his sister as she walks down the stairs with a small bag in her hands, raising his eyebrows when she hands it over.

"This is from me and Rory," Elizabeth speaks, sitting on the armchair of the couch. Joel takes the present and opens it up, smiling when he pulls out the piece of paper that Aurora had scribbled on hours before. "She made sure it was blue,"

"Kid knows me well," Joel responds, before pulling out a gift card and a beautifully woven bracelet that Elizabeth had made herself. The brown bracket has several pictures intertwined with in it. A giraffe for Sarah who owns so many stuffed animals that are similar, and a star for Elizabeth who was once obsessed with space — so much so she demanded for a month that Joel and Tommy call her Star instead of her actual name when she was five.

For Tommy, she simply added an image of a car because he's rather fond of them.

"Thank you," Joel says and Elizabeth smiles, wrapping her arm over his shoulder and giving him a side hug. She watches as he wraps the bracelet around his wrist and ties it up.

Elizabeth opens her mouth to speak when Joel's phone rings loudly, the name Tommy flashes up on the screen. If he's calling this late, it must be something important. Her brother answers the phone and curses several times before hanging up. "I have to go bail the idiot out. Can you watch Sarah for me?"

"Of course. I'll just go put Rory to bed," Elizabeth pushes herself off the couch and quietly heads back upstairs to see that her daughter has already put herself to bed. She's snoring lightly, hair wildly spread out around her as she lays there. A soft smile makes its way onto the mother's face as she walks over to the table to see what Aurora had drawn.

Messily written are the words mum and me, accompanied by two stick figure drawings with long hair and triangle dresses. It's moments like these ones where she is glad she'd had Aurora, her heart swelling with love and care.

She kisses the girl on the forehead like she had earlier. "Love you Rory,"

"Aunt Liz! Wake up," Sarah shakes the woman, her voice desperate as the woman slowly comes too. There's obvious fright in the eyes of her niece, the young girl looking as if she may be about to burst into tears at any moment. "There's something wrong with the Adlers!"

Elizabeth is the one confused now, gently grabbing Sarah's hands to help calm her down. "What are you talking about? Honey—"

Sarah rushes outside, practically dragging her Aunt along behind her, just as Joel's car pulls up. "Get in the car!"

"Joel–" Elizabeth starts to speak.

"Go and get Rory. We have to go now,"

Elizabeth doesn't question him any further, rushing back inside and up the stairs. She scoops her daughter up in her arms and moves back to her family as fast as she possibly can. "Are one of you going to tell me what the fuck is going on!?"

"I'll explain in a moment. Just get in the car," Joel ushers the woman and her child into the vehicle.

Elizabeth does as she's told, eyes widening in horror as one of their neighbours rushes towards them with a snarl. What's even worse is the actions that follow, her brother swinging one of his work tools at the woman and knocking her to the ground with a sickening thud. Tommy walks up behind him, still aiming his gun, the older man trying to comfort his now distraught daughter.

Within a matter of mere moments, they're all zooming off down the road. "They're saying it's a virus," Tommy speaks to the small group in the car. "Some kind of parasite,"

"Are we sick?" Sarah asks from beside Elizabeth, who is trying her hardest to keep a now awake Aurora calm.

"Of course not," Joel assures. "They're saying it's mostly in the city,"

Elizabeth isn't assured by his words, knowing that there probably isn't an ounce of truth in it. Viruses don't discriminate, she's seen that first hand. It would explain the enormous amounts of sick people flooding into the hospitals the past few days.

She watches in horror as they drive straight by a young family who need at help, at Joel's instruction, leaving them stranded. She couldn't imagine what it would be like, Elizabeth would never leave her child in danger and those parents must be desperate just like she would be.

The traffic is backed up, every single person having seemingly the same idea. The army is everywhere, blocking off highways and making it extremely difficult to get through. Tommy is driving on the grass now before veering off onto a basically empty road. They're heading into town, and now they've got a major issue — people all over the streets.

People are dying before their eyes, Elizabeth trying to shield Aurora by positioning her so she can't see out any windows. The little girl is completely oblivious to what's happening around her, playing with the ends of her mother's hair in an attempt to braid.

Joel and Tommy are arguing in the front as Elizabeth grabs Sarah's hand for comfort.

Then comes the explosion.

"Elizabeth! We need to go now!"

She can hardly feel her body, it's almost as if she's floating. Elizabeth can, however, feel the blood flowing down the side of her face. Tommy is still shaking her, desperate to wake her so they can go and find safety somewhere.

"Elizabeth!"

"R-Rory?" Elizabeth manages to choke out.

"She's okay, Liz but we need to get out of here," Tommy speaks, his voice trembling as she finally manages to open her eyes and look at him. "Liz.."

Elizabeth looks down to see her stomach impaled by debris, a large piece of the car having stabbed through her. "G-going to die. T-too much blood,"

"Hey! No, we're going to get out of here. You hear me? You cannot leave your daughter,"

"S-save her. G-go!"

"Liz—"

"Go! F-find Joel and Sarah,"

Tommy gives his sister one final look, the light beginning to drain from her eyes as she lays there. The blood is still being soaked up by her clothes, the once white pajama shirt now a crimson colour instead. He then picks his niece up and rushes away, leaving the woman on her lonesome.

Elizabeth listens to the sounds of the world around her as her life begins to fade away. They're rather terrifying sounds — crashes and sirens. The noise of people around her dying, suffering a worse fate than she probably is. But there is a hint of smile on her face, knowing her daughter is okay, is safe.

And in the end, that's all that ever mattered to her.