Brandon was sitting not far from them, looking damn near catatonic. He was just staring off with his mouth hanging open. Johnathan looked left then right and didn’t see Rachel. Did she ever get out of the van? Did she get caught on the way to the BART station? He couldn’t say either scenario wasn’t possible. She wasn’t here and it was one more person lost in this madness.
Grant’s wild hairdo came into view and Johnathan saw him standing at the train door looking out at the rooftops. He wrapped his finger with his string and unwrapped it. “I have to… home now.” He paused and thought for a moment, blinking his eyes with his mouth hanging open, “I have to go home now. I have to go.”
Chapter 4
Present day—
Miles woke up first, wrapped in a blanket on the floor near the pull-out sofa bed. He could still hear the constant banging from the shutter doors in the docks, only a short hallway away. The infected hive outside seemed to be buzzing louder today. The sound had only grown in intensity from the first day the brothers arrived at the Costco store. The slamming and howling and screaming outside would continue until the monsters all killed themselves or were driven away. Or worse, if they finally managed to break in and attack the people inside. The thought kept Miles up through the brothers’ two-night stay at the store.
The second thing that kept him awake and even woke Miles now was the nagging feeling of his phone missing. It was hard enough that he couldn’t go through his usual routine at the hideaway before bed, but not having his phone too was like missing a part of himself. He’d reach for his pants pocket and find it empty and the realization would only make him sadder than he already was. Not to mention trying to go to sleep without checking the old man’s room was a choking distress that made it difficult to act like nothing was bothering him when the soldiers watched him.
He tried to fight it but his eyes were already welling up and tears were rolling down the sides of his face and into his ears. He clenched his teeth and tried to keep from sobbing but still sniffled before wiping his face with his hands. A deep sigh could be heard from the pull-out bed above Miles and he knew his brother was awake too.
“You still cryin’?” Antonio moaned as he turned over on his back.
“No,” Miles sniffled again.
“Oh my god! You gotta stop that cryin’ shit. They gon think somethin’ wrong wit you.”
“Nothing’s wrong with me!”
“Coulda fooled me.” Antonio sat up and scratched the back of his matted hair. “The old man woulda beat yo ass wit all this cryin’ shit.”
“Shut up!” Miles sniffled again and sat up too. “I’m not crying.” He pushed off the multi-colored blanket he found in the office.
Antonio got up from the thin pull out mattress, kicking the sheets off and on to the floor. He walked over Miles, pushing him as he did, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, which were starting to turn beige. Miles folded his blanket and draped it over the arm of the couch. He was wearing a pair of underoos that fit his slim frame, but Miles didn’t like Antonio always teasing him and making fun of the Spider-Man eyes on the front.
Antonio did a quick stretch and Miles joined him. They stretched their arms above their heads, then reached down to touch their toes. Then they spread their legs a part and leaned as far as they could to the left then the right. When they finished, the brothers pushed the bed back into the couch, the mattress folding away, and opened up the office for more space to continue their workout. They did twenty up-downs, running in place before dropping to the floor, then pushing back up and back to their feet. Then they got down and did three kinds of push-ups, twenty reps each. They did wide push-ups, diamond push-ups and military style like the old man taught them.
Then the brothers got up and did twenty squats on their own before doing another set, now weighted when they switched between climbing on each other’s back. Antonio blew through his squats, Miles not adding much weight to his already heavier figure. Miles struggled to complete his set and Antonio, as per usual, didn’t make it easy for him. The full set of ten deep squats took at least fifteen minutes and when he was done, Miles fell against the couch and Antonio laughed at him.
“Spider-Man, Spider-Man! Does whatever a spider can!” Antonio laughed and pushed Miles up before standing up himself. “Good job. You could probably carry me for a mile if you had to.”
Miles got up and flexed, trying to intimidate his older brother. Antonio flexed back, showing off the solid bicep of his right arm. The two boys were fit and the exercises the old man taught them were meant to keep them that way. He wanted them strong enough to carry themselves and strong enough to carry each other if they needed to. After all the horseplay was done, the brothers got down on the floor to do one hundred sit-ups each. They’d race each other to see who could finish them first but Antonio always managed to get through his faster.
Whether he did the full hundred or not, Miles could never tell, but he did notice that every time Antonio reached seventy or eighty, he’d skip numbers. Miles was sure he heard Antonio say seventy-two then seventy-nine. Then eighty-one turned to eighty-four, then to eighty-eight.
Miles called out his cheating multiple times now and in the past, but eventually he would just let it go to keep track of his own count. He’d often get to fifty and lose count or start counting backwards or even say the same number as his brother. It usually meant Miles would do more than a hundred sit-ups.
“One hundred.” Miles finished and laid out on the floor exhausted.
“You hella slow.” Antonio was standing over his brother with a cocky grin. He turned to go grab their water bottles on the office table a few feet away. They were nearly empty after two days staying at this store. But the boys were rationing fairly well.
The first morning at Costco, the brothers watched from the office as Major Carver almost physically fought Ben when he tried to give the boys a whole case of water bottles. The two men eventually settled on a bottle a day but neither seemed pleased by that decision. But it didn’t matter. Antonio and Miles only wanted their bottles from their backpacks. The brothers only trusted their own supplies.
They also learned some crucial information in Ben’s kind gesture. If the store didn’t have rations to spare, then they shouldn’t have water to spare either. Food was precious after the world went to shit, but water was priceless. People gave up food before they gave up water. Water was liquid gold. If they had cases to spare for kids they didn’t even know, Miles and Antonio were sure they must’ve had gallons.
Antonio handed Miles his bottle, “You good?”
“Yeah.” Miles took a swig of his water, only enough to fill a quarter of his mouth.
“Aite, this time we gon just wait until that major nigga leave the--”
“Antonio!” Miles stood up and got in his brother’s face, “Watch your mouth!”
“Aite, aite, my bad. We wait ‘til that major guy leaves the room outside and bust this door open and run into the store. We can run down one of the aisles and hide then find a way out and get back to the hideaway. And we can take whatever we find in the store and leave.”
Miles had his lip poked out, still upset with Antonio about using the n-word. But he slowly started to back down and consider his brother’s plan. “We don’t know what the store looks like. We don’t know what’s in there. We don’t know what’s in there. We don’t even know if there’s a way out that way.”
“So.”
Miles rolled his eyes, “Oh my goooddd. How we gon get out if we can’t find a way out? How we gon get out?”
“We’ll just find a way. It’s gotta be a way out other than the doors in the back. Otherwise they fucked.” Antonio went to the office door and tried listening through the wood frame. “We gotta get the fuck outta here!”
On the other side of the door, Antonio could only hear Nadine’s creaking chair and muffled whispers. Even though the relentless howls of creatures screaming from outside the building could be heard almost with ease, Anto
nio couldn’t hear what was being said in the security room. The first day Antonio was able to hear damn near everything because they would talk so loud.
Someone would say something about the hive outside still being there and someone else would ask what they should do. Someone else would bring up the two brothers in the office and Carver, always Carver, would close the subject about anything being said he didn’t agree with. The major must’ve realized they were talking too loudly and since what felt like midday yesterday, all the conversations were now whispers and hushed remarks about subjects Antonio couldn’t make out.
It made the office feel even smaller, almost isolated, with monsters so loud outside the store it felt like they surrounded the ten by twelve-foot room. The first day, Carver had the windows outside the office covered with newspapers so the brothers couldn’t look out into the security room. However, it also worked for the boys because no one could peer into the office and watch the brothers when they started searching the room.
The calendars and posters on the wall were evidence that whoever once worked in this office was organized and kept track of everything on multiple notes and different agendas. Planners were stacked on the desk and papers were scattered on the floor where Miles had knocked them over when he was checking the drawers. Nothing in the desk other than sticky notes and a few pens and paper clips. Antonio took the pens earlier and was eager to use them as stabbing weapons if the right opportunity presented itself. A water cooler was against the wall adjacent to the door but the five-gallon jug had long since been taken. The florescent lights above them didn’t work when you flipped the switch the wall during the day, but at night the brothers could turn them on and they were dim like the bulbs were burning out.
“We should just get rid of that hive outside for them and they’ll give us some food. If we do that for them they’ll give us food. They said they would.” Miles’ lip was still hanging out as he talked to his brother.
Antonio had his ear pressed against the door and put up a hand to quiet his younger brother. “I think I… I thought I heard ‘em say somethin’. I think they gon come in here.” He backed away from the door and went to get two pens from the office desk. He held them in a reverse grip as though they were knives. He saw the expression on Miles’ face and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “They ain’t gon give us no food. They ain’t gon tell us to take care of them strikers outside. They don’t even know what to do. They gon try and kill us. Watch.”
Miles sighed and got down, kneeling on the floor. Antonio rolled his eyes again, more exaggerated this time and went to take a knee near his brother.
Then Miles started, “Lord God… thank you for…waking us up. Thank you for keeping us alive through yesterday and… and hopefully today these people will let us go and give us some food. We wanna go back to the hideaway so, help these people let us go. And bless them to stay alive too I guess… God. Help us through one more--”
The office door came open and interrupted the boy’s prayer. Antonio and Miles both stood to their feet as Ben came in with Burrows, toting his pump action twelve-gauge shotgun. Antonio and Burrows locked eyes and the soldier raised his weapon, cautious from previous encounters with the child. Antonio dropped the pens in his hands and raised his empty palms. Then Lesly entered and covered her nose when the smell of the office hit her. After two days of being locked in this small room and the boys still doing their workouts, it didn’t take long for the small space to grow funky with the brothers’ odor. Not to mention the bucket that the boys were given to do their “business” was in the far corner and was almost full. To put it bluntly, the room stank, but Miles and Antonio hadn’t noticed.
Lesly turned her head when she saw the boys wearing only boxers and fought the urge to gag when the smell of the room hit her. “Oh my god.” She whined, trying not to gag.
“It stank in here huh?” Antonio said with a sly smile. “It’s probably cuz y’all don’t let us out of here and it’s hella hot.”
“I get it.” Ben wanted to cover his nose too but also didn’t want to offend the boys.
“Damn. Stinks to high heaven in here.” Burrows wasn’t as courteous.
“I convinced the major to let us take your clothes and wash them and to give you two a shower.” Ben gave them a soft smile.
“Yeah! We gotta wash our clothes.” Miles added, “We don’t got nothin’ to wear. We gotta do laundry.” He pointed at the pile of clothes that the brothers made in the corner, “Those clothes stink. We gotta do laundry.”
“Is that everything you want to clean?” Lesly pinched her nose with one hand.
Miles and Antonio, without hesitation, both took off their underwear and were standing naked as they held out their undergarments. Lesly was floored and turned away again. Burrows was surprised, just like Ben, but both the men just avoided eye contact with the boys as they all stood in the awkward predicament.
“Uh, ok.” Ben chuckled.
“You can just put those with your other clothes.” Burrows shook his head and tried not to laugh. He was a large man with a spotty beard framing the square jawline of his pale face.
“Could you put all that in a bag, Nathan?” Lesly shook out a garbage bag and held it out, still holding her nose.
“What? I just came to make sure they didn’t attack y’all. I ain’t the cleanin’ lady.” Nathan Burrows complained but still took the bag and went to gather the clothes in the far corner.
“Lesly, could you go get some towels for them.” Before Ben could finish the sentence, Lesly was already rushing out, eager to escape the reeking room.
“I’m hungry. When y’all gon feed us?” Antonio griped.
“Yeah, I’m hungry. I’m so hungry.” Miles rubbed his stomach to emphasize the feeling.
“I know guys. I know. But Carver isn’t making this easy. You’d be surprised how much it took to convince him to let me give you guys your water.” Ben put his hands in the pockets of his shorts.
Lesly didn’t take long to return with two beach towels and a can of air freshener. She started spraying as soon as she entered the room and sprayed with the intention of emptying the can. Ben waited for the boys to wrap themselves in the towels and walked them out of the office and out to the security room, where a disagreeable mood took over the space. The vibe seemed to be coming from the major who was standing near Nadine, talking privately with Captain Baker. Baker had his assault rifle slung over his shoulder and was covered in dirt with leaves stuck to the bottom of his boots. He must’ve just came back in from searching the woods. Not much could be made out between the two of them but words like, “couldn’t find anyone” and “keep looking” could be heard.
“I see that hive still out there.” Antonio said, and was loud enough to get the major’s attention. “Y’all still waiting for them to leave?” The teen made his way over to the table to look at the monitors, not intimidated by Carver’s looming presence.
The major stopped him when he put his hand on the boy’s naked chest and pushed him back. “They’ve started to thin out, so our options are still open.” Carver glared down at the teenager and his nose wrinkled when he noticed the brothers were both only wearing towels.
Antonio scoffed at him. “They ain’t thinnin’ out! We can still hear hella them out there.”
“It sound like it’s more out there.” Miles looked towards the doorway to the dock room, clutching his towel around his waist.
“It looks like more out there.” Nadine whispered and quickly regretted doing so when the major’s cold stare found her. She went back to moving the camera around.
“Regardless, the situation is still under control.” Carver watched Burrows make his way through the doorway to the inner store, carrying a bag. “Oh good. Finally cleaning up the dogs. You were starting to stink so bad we could smell it in here.” Carver grinned and the spraying in the office could still be heard.
Antonio took a deep breath, inhaling through his nose, “This ain’t nothin’. We once wen
t like a month without takin’ a bath and had lurker guts all over us and shit. We stanked hella bad.”
Nadine snorted with laughter but quickly stifled her amusement.
The major scoffed and went back to viewing the displays. “Well we don’t want to have to smell you, stankin’ hella bad. Captain Baker, take them to the hose in the docks.”
“Wait, wait,” Ben cut in, “Hose? What are you saying, Carver? You want them to get cleaned up with a water hose?”
“Yes.” Carver glanced up at Ben and registered his frustration but the major just went back to the monitors.
“You can’t be serious! They’re not animals!” Ben shouted.
“We can’t parade them through the store to the staff room for a bubble bath Ben. They can either use the hose or…” Carver looked up again but this time the boys were already heading out the doorway to the dock with Baker walking behind them. It took a minute for Ben to stop in the middle of his rant to notice them.
Ben watched them leave and decided to head the other way back into the store, but before heading out he flashed Carver a sneer of disapproval. The major just shook his head. In the dock, Antonio, Miles and Captain Baker made their way to the hose waiting against the back wall. The boys ignored the continued banging at the steel door to their left and paid little mind to the five soldiers watching the door on the right. Miles saw the long-legged Castle and remembered him from when he helped Burrows move the dead infected body that Manson was hovering over.
“Y’all been watchin’ the door every day?” Antonio picked up the water hose when he reached the long green coil then took off his towel and threw it on the ground.
Baker didn’t respond. He just sighed and crossed his arms like he always did when one of the brother’s tried talking to him.
“Y’all don’t need these many people back here. It ain’t like if them strikers bust the door in y’all gon stop ‘em.” Antonio went to the nozzle on the wall and turned it on full blast. The spray coming from the hose came out in a burst that nearly caught Baker, who moved when he saw Antonio didn’t have control over it.
Two Alive Page 13
