DEAD_Suffer The Children

by TW Brown

  No such luck, though. “C’mon, Evan,” Darya hissed as she reached the top of the hill.

  I gave one last look, and felt all my joy seep out through my pores as the .50 cal cut a path for the bus to push forward. My last sighting of it as I reached the top of the slope was seeing it roll out onto the road. A team of at least ten people had pushed the cars blocking that particular gate aside, and the bus blew through it like it was paper.

  I ducked into the woods and caught up to where everybody had basically collapsed onto the ground. Everybody, that is, with the exception of Alex. I decided to go over to her and put an end to whatever it was that was rubbing her the wrong way about me. If she was going to stay with us, we couldn’t have this degree of animosity. Of course, I was putting the cart before the horse when it came to her really joining our group.

  “Not now, buddy,” Marshawn whispered as he caught me by the arm as I started to pass him.

  “I can’t have a bunch of attitude right now in the group,” I insisted.

  “No, you don’t like that she is torqued at you specifically. She hasn’t said a cross word to anybody else.”

  I opened my mouth to protest and just as promptly shut it. I glanced back at the woman who now sat under a tall pine as she dug through the small field pack she carried. She seemed absolutely oblivious that I was staring at her.

  “I don’t have any idea what you are trying to say…” I started to deny, and again shut my mouth. He raised an eyebrow at me and then shot a look back over my shoulder, presumably in Alex’s direction. “I don’t…I couldn’t…” The protests were hitting the tip of my tongue and then falling like lead balloons.

  What he was suggesting was simply not something that could be possible. As if to prove it to myself, I pictured my beloved Stephanie. I squeezed my eyes shut and brought her face to mind. The only problem was that it took a moment, and the first image that took hold was the one I had of her coming for me in the hospital. I shook that one off and tried to picture the image that had been captured in that photograph I’d had for the first several days, until…

  That only served to piss me off. Again, my thoughts had to return to Don Evans. That picture had been in my bag that he and his people had taken from me. Nobody seemed to recall that I’d had it and I was willing to bet they had tossed it away without so much as a thought. After all, it wasn’t theirs, so why should it matter.

  But why couldn’t I bring Stephanie’s face to mind? Certainly, I couldn’t already be forgetting her.

  At last, a fuzzy image came to me. It wasn’t very defined, but I knew it was her and I clung to that for all I was worth.

  “You okay?” Marshawn asked, an uneasy look on his face.

  I scrubbed at my eyes and felt the slightest bit of a suspicious moisture. Oh, hell no, I scolded myself. This was absolutely not the time, nor the place, for some sort of emotional outpouring. I quickly shoved all of those feelings aside and swallowed hard to clear the tightness in my throat.

  “Fine.” I could hear my lie, but I was counting on this guy not knowing me well enough yet to detect it.

  I moved past him, but instead of confronting Alex, I walked over to where Darya and Tracy were fussing over the boy, Toby. I noticed that neither of them were even glancing in Michael’s direction. Of course, unlike Toby, who was sniffling and acting like he was about to die, Michael sat next to Chewie and seemed no worse for the wear.

  “Ladies,” I said, and then wondered what else there was to say to them.

  That thought was driven home when they both looked up at me with exasperated glares on their faces for all of maybe two seconds before returning their focus to Toby. I have no idea why, but I had a nasty feeling that the young man was not long for this world. As harsh as that thought was, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. It was clear that he was terrified, and there simply was no relief in sight. Not in the near or distant future.

  “Hey, I was thinking that maybe we could hang here for a few. We can catch our breath, and then try to find someplace to hide out for the night.” I tried to smile, but it was a wasted effort since neither of the women glanced my way.

  “I want my bed and my safe basement,” Toby whimpered.

  “I know, baby,” Darya soothed.

  I shrugged, unsure of what else I could say to these women. So, I turned and sought Michael. I walked over and plopped down beside him, my hands instantly drifting into Chewie’s fur. Part of it might’ve just been habit, but I am also sure a good part had to deal with just getting that dose of comfort from her that I always gained from the simple act of petting her.

  “How you doing, Michael?” I asked casually.

  “Hungry,” he whispered in response.

  It struck me that we hadn’t eaten since the previous evening. Everybody carried a canteen—even the two children. While adults might be able push themselves and stretch their water out, we had filled the boys’ canteens and made it clear they were to tell us if they were empty. I’d simply forgotten food.

  “I think I have a few things in my pack,” I offered.

  I looked inside and saw a few cans of soup that didn’t need water. That had been the staple of our camp diet. It was easy to fix and was probably the most well-rounded of our quick meals. Wanting to at least give him a variety, I asked, “What did you have last night?”

  “Nothing.” The answer was not spoken with any emotion. Michael was merely relating a fact.

  “You didn’t eat last night?” I said, just a little shocked. “How come?”

  “Nobody offered to give me anything.”

  I felt my heart sink. The thought never occurred to me that not only would he not say anything if we were eating and nobody had given him a bowl; but it also hit me even harder that nobody had made that offer…including me.

  I grabbed a can of basil and tomato soup. “I wish I could warm it up for you,” I apologized as I opened the can and handed it to him.

  I went into my bag to fish out a spoon, but by the time I found it and offered it, he was drinking it straight from the can. I took the time to pour some water into a bowl for Chewie and then scooped out a handful of dog food. She gobbled it down in a hurry and then looked up at me expectantly.

  I briefly wondered if a day would come when I didn’t feel like an absolute dick. I looked into my bag and gauged how much kibble I had managed to take. I loved my big girl, but I was suddenly wishing she was more like a Chihuahua or some other tiny dog that didn’t eat five or six cups per day. What I was carrying would not last more than three days, and that was if I only gave her enough to keep her strength up.

  I knew she needed more. Looking around, I was certain that we all did. While we weren’t yet starving, we were certainly eating much less than we needed to keep our bodies going at the pace we had been setting. All the more reason to find a spot we could secure and hide out for a while.

  The next time I looked at Michael, the soup was gone and he was swiping his finger on the inside of the can to get every last drop. After he sipped some of his water, I got to my feet.

  “Okay, everybody,” I said, my voice naturally in a whisper considering everything going on. Between not wanting to be found by Don Evans or draw any of the undead, every sound seemed at least twice as loud as it probably was. “There is a condo complex just on the other side of these woods. If we can get into an upper floor of one and block the windows to keep any light from giving us away, I think we can take a couple of days to figure out a game plan.”

  “Game plan?” Darya squeaked. “There isn’t a game plan. We get away, we hide, and as soon as we can, we get the hell out of this city. Maybe head to the mountains or even some island.”

  That last part sounded promising. If we could secure an island, we would be golden. The problem being the serious lack of such land features in these parts. A thought came to me and I snapped my fingers and pointed at her so sharply that it made her jump.

  “An island…like Sauvie Island!” I almost shout
ed…at least it felt that way after working so hard to keep quiet. “Maybe not today or tomorrow…but that is not a bad idea.”

  Darya looked around at everybody else before returning her open-mouthed stare in my direction. “Do you have any idea how far away that place is from here?”

  “Yep. But if we can find a vehicle—” I started.

  “And have every single zombie for miles chasing us?” Darya shot back. “I’ve tried that little trick. We lost five people because somebody thought that it would be a good idea to try and raid a grocery store in a truck.”

  “And let me guess…” It was Marshawn who came to my aid. “You also left the engine running while you were inside?”

  “We didn’t want to tempt fate and have it not start when we came out.” Darya spun to Marshawn, her tone as defensive as her posture.

  “I’ve hooked up with a bunch of idiots,” Alex muttered.

  “Nobody asked you to come along,” Tracy jumped in, stepping up beside Darya.

  “Enough, for crying out loud!” I snapped. “Listen, everybody is hungry and tired and scared. We are all snapping at each other and acting like a bunch of assholes.”

  That made Toby gasp and cover his mouth, but I swear I heard Michael chuckle and mimic the word ‘asshole’ in what I guess was his impersonation of me.

  “We are going to need each and every one of us to start thinking straight and acting like we are all on the same side.” I made sure not to let my gaze linger on anybody too long lest they think I might be singling them out.

  “Then you have to understand that you aren’t out here by yourself anymore, Evan,” Tracy said calmly, obviously trying to make her point without sounding pushy. It was a start.

  “And as nice as this little come-to-Jesus moment must be for all of you, the reality is that there is nothing resembling the old ways anymore.” Alex stepped forward now and, like Tracy, she was doing her best not to sound confrontational. “The kids are going to have to grow up in a hurry if they are going to have any chance at survival. It isn’t pretty, but it is the way of the world now.”

  “I can help carry them,” Rickey offered. “I know they are tired little soldiers, and they barely weigh a thing, so I can help that way.”

  “Me too,” Marshawn offered.

  “Another thing.” I had to bring this up, there was no way I couldn’t. “Did anybody realize Michael hasn’t eaten since we found him?”

  “You mean he found us,” Darya sniffed.

  “Whatever. The fact remains that he is going to require a degree of attention that might make things even more difficult. Nobody thought to offer him anything when we ate last night…including myself.” I made sure to add that last bit to be sure they knew I shared in the culpability.

  “Why didn’t you guys feed him?” Alex asked. Again, she wasn’t challenging, she sounded more curious than anything else.

  “We think he might be autistic,” I answered, reflexively whispering that last word like folks used to do when they spoke about some serious illness that they were probably more ill-equipped to deal with than the person they were talking about. “I think people just tend to forget he’s here because he doesn’t make any fuss.”

  “You know that’s not really an acceptable answer,” she muttered. Now it was obvious she was trying to keep her comments in check.

  “It’s the only one I have right now,” I replied. “I’m brand new to this whole dealing with kids thing.”

  I realized the irony of my statement as it fell out of my mouth. I’d just been certified as a school teacher. Wasn’t dealing with kids part of my job description? I could dwell on that later, right now, we had much bigger problems.

  “Okay, the way I see it, we need to find a place to hide that is going to allow us some safety for at least the foreseeable future,” I started.

  “Good luck with that,” Darya sniffed. “We thought we had someplace like that until you and your people showed up.”

  “Can we do this later?” I snapped. “If we are going to pick each other apart every chance we get, then maybe we should all just go our own ways.”

  “Perhaps you and your kid think you could do better on your own?” Marshawn stepped up beside me. “Nobody’s making you stay with us. You’ve been bitchin’ up one side and down the other almost since you fell in with our group.”

  Darya opened her mouth and then shut it with an audible click. To her credit I didn’t see any tears welling up. But the red flush to her cheeks told me that she was probably pretty pissed off. Honestly, I didn’t have the energy to care. I was done with trying to make everybody happy. If I was, in fact, the leader of this little band, then it was time that I started acting like a leader and take control of things.

  “Here is the deal,” I said after it was clear that Darya wasn’t going to keep pressing her luck. “There is a nice condo complex just beyond these woods.” I saw Alex start to open her mouth, but I kept going. “Beyond that, there is a gated community. I’m not sure if it is still occupied. But that seems like the next best place to check. If we can find a defensible location, we can hold up there. If even only for a couple of weeks until we can make better plans that can perhaps be more permanent.”

  “Do you think such a place exists?” Alex asked quietly. “I saw that massive pack of zoms that were heading toward the overpass. I don’t know what made them change direction, but I was in the process of getting ready to run right before they just went and turned away.”

  “That was us,” Marshawn said.

  “What do you mean?” Alex turned to face the man. “You made them change course? Seems a bit far-fetched.”

  “Actually,” Rickey moved up beside Marshawn, “a few of our guys jacked a police car and led them away using noise. Lost one of our own on that run.”

  Now wasn’t the time to discuss what Neil may or may not have done. “Look, we can tell you all about it later.” I gave an apologetic nod to Darya. “But right now, we need to get on the move.”

  I slung my pack over my shoulder and reached down to get Chewie’s leash, but Michael already held it. It would only be a concern if she tried to charge after something, but something in my gut told me that wouldn’t be a problem.

  We started through the woods and emerged on the edge of the condo complex just as I remembered. The place looked like it was totally empty. Where we popped out, I didn’t see a single zombie. At least not one that was moving. There were quite a few corpses rotting on the pavement of the driveway as well as around a few of the covered parking spaces. A couple of the units had burned down, and I could see what I thought might be a basketball court. It was fenced, and somebody had tried to make a stand there. A few zombies were impaled on some sort of crude barricade made from what looked like sharpened table legs or something of that nature.

  “Somebody didn’t think things through,” Alex quipped.

  Looking at the scene, I understood her assessment. While it was true that the courts were completely fenced, and somebody had put up some tarps as cover, it was still much too exposed. Now, there were a few of the undead inside that had been trapped; likely survivors that learned the hard way of their folly.

  Then we saw them.

  On the far side of the courts was an open park area. There was a big, sandy rectangle-shaped playground complete with a climbing structure and a swing-set.

  If not for what I knew I was seeing, it could’ve been an absolutely ordinary scene. One child sat on a swing, gently swaying forward and back. A few were just standing around the play structure as if they were waiting for somebody to show them how to climb up on it.

  “No fucking way,” Alex breathed as she edged past me.

  They had not noticed us yet, and that allowed me to get in a quick count. Nine. Nine children between the ages of perhaps three and no older than twelve. I had no idea why, but I was now very certain this was important. There was something very different about these zombies. Despite what Alex had done earlier, as well as what she
’d said about them simply being the undead, the children were not like a regular zombie.

  I had to stifle a chuckle at that thought and the absurdity of it. Was there anything “regular” about any zombie? Absolutely not.

  I stepped up beside Alex and pointed out one of the children in particular. She was a little girl and might be the oldest of the bunch. She had red hair that still managed to stay in the braids on either side of her head. She was wearing a tattered pair of jeans and a tee shirt with a face on it.

  I didn’t have to look to know that it was that over-processed pop star, Shari. It had seemed in those last few days before it turned into “all zombies all the time” television, that you could not turn around without seeing her face on the screen. Something about a scandal involving her little sister and her manager was all the rage. I think that the manager had fled the country or something considering that he was like forty and the little sister was perhaps fifteen.

  The red-haired girl was walking in a circle around the play structure. Every so often, she would stop and look around as if she had some sort of realization as to where she was. It was creepy, but what added to the eerie scene were the dozen or so cats slinking around her ankles. Adding to my confusion was that she did not seem to mind. She made no attempt to grab one.

  I was puzzling over that when a dark shadow emerged from the nearby shrubs. After a moment, the shadow separated from the thick bushes that had once acted as a barrier between the playground and the driveway and parking area for this part of the complex.

  A Golden Retriever.

  There was a moment when I thought nothing would happen. The dog looked like it had been living in filth. It instantly dropped to its belly and even from across the distance that separated us, I could hear when it let loose with a pitiful whine. The cats reacted first, every one of them darting away and vanishing without a trace.

  The dog didn’t seem to notice that, and instead started to do that belly crawl dogs sometimes do. I could see its tail swishing in the grass every so often as it obviously hoped to find some form of human interaction. After all, it was a Golden Retriever. In my experience, they are almost glued to their people and bathe in the lavishing of affection they get.