The Orphans (Book 4): White Lie

by Evans, Mike

  Clary said, “They are the closest thing to soldiers we got and nine months can seriously make someone adapt to their surroundings and their new life ahead of them. Hell, think how long boot camp lasts in the Army. These kids are months beyond that. There isn’t anything that makes a soldier want to do his job better than fear and hate. Well looking at what they got themselves up against when the shit hits the fan, I'd happily have to say that they have both of those things going for them and they have it in a big way.”

  Aslin nodded, slowly thinking about it and after they set the muffins in the oven they started to head towards the other kids to wake them up to get ready for morning workouts, as well as the breakfast they had prepared. When they entered it was deadly quiet except for the light sound of snoring echoing through the massively big building. They had fortified a building even beyond Army standards and made sure that the place where the teens slept couldn’t be locked down tighter from the dead.

  They had made their home co-ed with the strictest of commands that it was not a love nest but a place where they could rest and not have to keep an eye open for the Turned. There had been no attacks on the facility since they had made their way through it originally clearing out the Turned soldiers. They had ramped up the training regimen quite heavily once month six passed and they were informed that there would be no cure. The only way to put these monsters down would be to send a round through their head or to blow them up. Which was not always a guarantee to be successful.

  The kids had all looked like a piece had died inside of them when news that there would be nothing they could do to save these people was announced. Clary and Aslin being loners weren’t quite as affected. Most of the children, with the exception of Shaun and his friends who’d already lost everything in their life on the first day of the outbreak, were thinking they had brothers, sisters, parents that would roam the earth for however long these monsters lived while wanting to kill anything that was available to them, including the loved ones whom they no longer recognized.

  Clary walked down the middle of the two long rows of bunk beds feeling almost guilty about waking them. Many of the kids stirred in their sleep and knew that they were plagued with the dreams of loss and death and there was little that could be done to make them feel better about it.

  When Clary got to the end of the row he saw that two of the beds were empty and had not been slept in. He ran his flashlight over and saw that it was Shaun and Greg’s bunks. Clary looked back to Aslin who whispered, “Where the hell are those two at?”

  Clary scanned the bunks, thinking that almost no good could come out of Greg being on his own on the base at night. He knew that regardless of how much training he had, Greg was still just a teenager and prayed that he hadn’t taken any joy rides with any Army vehicles. When he saw Shaun’s bed empty, Aslin asked, “What is going on, are they seriously both missing?”

  A light voice came from the dark, it was Joey, the boy they’d picked up on day two of the outbreak. He was one of the only two alive from the group; the rest had all been taken by the Turned on day three. Joey said, “Greg and Shaun are on guard duty sir. They’ve been gone all night long.”

  Aslin knew that there were only a handful of kids that were trusted with the duty to guard at night. The partner to those kids was usually anyone that needed to learn by example and anyone else that was being a pain in the ass was usually the first to get assigned to it. He could see Greg was on it but asked, “Why is Shaun out there Joey, did he get in some sort of trouble that we didn’t know about? I didn't think that he was on the roster tonight to make rounds.”

  Joey said, “No, he volunteered, he always does.”

  Clary knew Shaun better than any of the kids. He knew that regardless of the number of times he’d been told not to blame himself for what happened and how there was absolutely no way that he could have predicted that his dad was going to start the world on fire, he still couldn’t let it go. Clary wasn’t sure if he ever would be able to get over it, which wasn’t something that he could blame the young man for. Clary had heard the story a hundred times from Ellie and Greg simply saying that all he was trying to do was go to class, and when he saw that someone, which of course was Ellie, needed help, he stepped up and did so much like he has done with anyone needing help since they arrived here.

  “You think that you could walk down and relieve them of duty and see if they want to eat breakfast?” Clary asked.

  Joey was quiet for a moment and Clary shone the light over to him and saw the young boy was smiling enthusiastically but was nodding his head in the dark making it somewhat difficult to see him. Aslin said, “Alright buddy we got plenty of food down there, don’t wait too long though or you are going to miss out on the hot grub.”

  Joey looked enthusiastic for a moment and then raised his hand. “Uh, can I ask a question Mr. Clary?”

  Clary nodded, knowing he could tell the kid a million times to just call him Clary and it wouldn’t do any good. “Sure bud, we need to get back and make sure everything isn’t burning after we get everyone up and moving.”

  “Did Mr. Aslin make the muffins? I mean did he put them together?” Joey asked.

  Aslin stepped up and said, “Yeah, and so what if I did?”

  Joey looked to Aslin and then put up a hand up trying to keep Aslin from seeing his mouth. He said, “He uh gets eggshells in the muffins. When my mom made muffins they never were crunchy and Mr. Aslin’s always crunch when I eat them. I think I might stick to Mr. Clary’s eggs and toast, they always taste good.”

  Aslin said, “You know if you keep talking like that you aren’t going to get any offers for seconds on any of my cooking.”

  Joey popped down off his bunk, clapped Clary on the shoulder and gave Aslin a hug, lifting him off of the ground. He said, “That is great, thank you so much Aslin. I really appreciate it.”

  Ellie rolled out of her bunk and trailed behind Joey with her rifle in hand. Clary was holding the laughter in as long as possible and finally lost his fight. He burst out laughing directly at Aslin who asked, “What in the hell is so funny ass?”

  Clary said, “As much as I love him, we both know that kid will eat damn near anything if it fills him up. You don’t find it a little offensive that for some magical reason your food isn’t good enough for him to be able to eat? I think that your food is the only stuff on base that he doesn’t want seconds of.”

  Aslin said, “Oh forget you Clary, it’s too damn early for this. I need to get back to my eggshell muffins before they burn.”

  Clary was fighting for air while giving him the waving motion to go ahead. He walked over, thinking of instructors shooting off rounds into the bunks where they were always one breath away from waking up. They never slept a true deep sleep; they were always on edge and ready to kill. They knew that anything could happen at any time and never knew what it was going to be because it seemed like the drill instructors had a never ending supply of hat tricks.

  Clary thought how these kids were lucky that he was handicapped at not being able to do anything loud whatsoever. It had been one of the first rules on the base to keep everything as quiet as possible. They had to use underground shooting ranges at all times and no firing above ground for fear that there would be Turned who would hear and attack, uncaring of what happened to them. He flipped the lights on and off a few times making sure that every one of the teens was up and moving. The base only stayed looking good because everyone had a task to do. Those chores he knew, would only get done once they had eaten and gotten a round of workouts that would kill a new recruit completed. Aslin and he knew very well that they’d never be able to outrun the monsters, but if they could move and hide and keep that up then they might have a chance. Best case scenario was that they could move enough until they had a chance to put one in their head.

  Chapter Three

  Ellie ran, catching up to Joey and putting a hand on his shoulder. Joey looked around, saw it was Ellie and gave her a hug. She patted him
with her free hand, trying not to lose her rifle in the other. Joey said, “Good morning Ellie, I didn’t know you were up.”

  “Hey Joey, I wanted to make sure that you didn’t get into any trouble on the way over to relieve the boys. Besides, I never sleep all that great, it always seems like there’s something waiting behind my eyes when I try to close them, if you know what I mean.”

  Joey said, “No, sorry I don’t know what you mean. Every time I sleep, I see my dad.”

  Ellie, who had heard more horror stories than she cared to, tried to recollect then asked, “You mean back when you and your family were happy? Like before day one hit?”

  Joey said, “No like when I woke up and Dad was eating my mom. I don’t like that memory.”

  Ellie nodded her head slowly, unsure what to say. She patted him on the arm and looked down at his baseball bat and knew that every time he swung it at something he was thinking of his sister and brother and how they’d both been lost just a few days into the new world. Ellie rubbed his shoulder and said, “Yeah I don’t like most of my dreams either Joey.”

  Ellie and Joey walked to the outskirts of the base. The towering lights were on in full blare and always were during the night. The Turned were not fearful of it but it gave those residents on the base a chance at seeing them before it was too late. Ellie was looking around, walking slowly, and keeping an eye open. Joey said, “Don’t worry Ellie, I don’t think there are any this morning.”

  “Well that is a relief.”

  The long shadows disappeared into the distance as they went across the base. When they made it to the edge of the field, the sun was just starting to tease the horizon. They walked until they all but stepped on Greg and Shaun who were sitting covered in grass and hay, camouflaging them to the point that they melted into the land. They knew if the snowfall came that the grass was going to be gone for a good amount of time and they’d be unable to stay overnight on frozen ground. Greg heard them coming and when he saw them he said, “Hey Shaun, looks like your girlfriend came to tell us that we can leave.”

  “Hey at least I have a girlfriend. You know if you ever learn how to talk to girls, you might just have a chance. Remember, there’s like a handful of girls at this base and a ton of guys, there is quite a bit of competition I'd think for their attention.”

  Greg smiled and said, “Yeah well we just need to pick up some more people.”

  Shaun looked at him and said, “We haven’t left these gates in a while, there might not be anyone to bring back. Besides, every time we bring up leaving Clary and Aslin shoot us down like nobody’s business man.”

  Greg said, “You know I'm getting better at driving right? We could take a crew out and see if they’ve learned anything over the last three months of training. I bet we could do it.”

  “You want that to be your pitch to them, that hey I think we can make it there and back without dying? I don’t see them going for it, but if they give you their blessing I'm good to get out of here. I’d like to know what it looks like in town, and there’s always more supplies we could use. I can only imagine being stuck here without food when the time comes. We are lucky to still have power at this point.”

  “Christ, you’ve seen the generators right? I think we are going to be running bright for quite a while. The rest of the junk they have on site doesn’t do a lot of good though. Think about it, there’s energy but how often do we get updates from anywhere? Once they told us about not needing to wait to see if there’d be a cure it seemed like that kind of crushed people,” Greg said.

  Shaun said, “It didn’t crush them, but it made them realize they couldn’t wait, they couldn’t rely on others; that they had to take care of themselves. Those that walked as the dead would always walk that way. I still pray that they have a shelf life, but it isn’t all that easy to figure out since we are stuck here.”

  Greg had not thought about it like that and had always just hoped that at some point they would starve to death when they ran out of humans to chew on. “I’m going to ask them today about a run; I can’t see how it’ll hurt anything.”

  Ellie overheard and asked, “What run, is there something besides good old PT to look forward to today?”

  Shaun got up from the ground and wiped the light snow that had begun falling from his hands before picking her up and giving her a hug and a quick kiss. She felt his coat and said, “Christ, aren’t you freezing? I can’t believe you come out here on purpose. You are the only person I know that would ask to come sit watch.”

  Shaun shrugged while stretching his fingers, making sure they still had feeling in them. “Those blankets that they have on base keep you pretty warm. With Greg and my body heat in there it wasn’t too bad. The only thing I have sticking out of the blanket is the rifle so it’s pretty airtight. It could be worse is what I always tell myself.”

  Ellie not thinking about the answer said, “Yeah it’s February in Iowa, how could it be worse?”

  Shaun pointed to the gates and said, “Well we could be on the outside of those gates every day. That chain link is not so much a deterrent but at the least we have some forewarning to know that they are coming over. The fact that not many wander this far from town is a godsend.”

  Greg pushed him laughing and said, “Whatever killer, I know you love it when they get next to the fence. You’ve taken more of those freaks out than anyone on base.”

  Shaun knew that he was doing his group a service and at the same time thought that putting them down was also keeping them from being tortured and doing things that in life they would have chosen to shoot themselves before doing.

  Shaun also knew that until he took out the very last of them that he would still feel responsible for the Turned; regardless of how many times people told him that it was not his fault. He knew deep down that it wasn’t but without a better explanation for why it had happened, he couldn't make himself feel at ease. Most of the kids had been pretty understanding when they found out what had really happened and who his dad was.

  He had explained early on to everyone about his dad’s time in the military and that he obviously didn’t know what he was creating or he wouldn’t have done it. He read them parts of the private note from his dad telling them that there was a lab partner who had wronged him dearly and that was really the reason for the rising of the zombies. There was nothing that he could do about it now and that he wasn’t going to spend his entire life apologizing for actions that he wasn’t able to control.

  There were only a few of them out there that gave him a hard time, blaming him completely. Each of them, one at a time, ended up on their backs looking up at an angry clenched fist of Shaun’s, who had said in no way to be confused that if they ever told him that the world being set on fire was his fault, that he would knock them on their ass again and again. He told them that what has happened couldn’t be reversed and that there wasn’t anything they could do about it but put the Turned on their backs.

  Ellie said, “God guys, there’s more to talk about than those things out there. You’ve had him all night Greg, why don’t you meet us later for something to eat after he gets a chance to clean up?”

  “So what you are saying is that you want to get Shaun all to yourself?” Greg asked.

  Ellie smiled and said, “Hey Joey, why don’t you take Greg out for a walk, he needs to stretch his legs after getting to sit still all night long.” Then turning to Greg she replied, “Oh and yes, yes I do want him all for myself. If you can break your man crush for a few hours on my boyfriend here I am sure that we will see you after a bit.”

  Joey pulled on Greg’s coat. “Come on Greg, if we get to chow first we can get seconds.”

  Greg asked, “Are you sure that you want seconds of their cooking?”

  Joey nodded his head enthusiastically and said, “Yeah Greg, as long as I don’t have to make the seconds Aslin’s cooking.”

  Greg laughed while giving a quick wave to Shaun then the two headed for the mess hall. When they made thei
r way through the line everyone around seemed to be in a pleasant mood. None of them looked worried or scared and they smiled at Greg, knowing that he’d been placed on watch overnight shift, regardless of if it had been punishment for screwing around, he still was appreciated. Anyone that traded comfort and sleep for others was recognized and not taken for granted. They knew that if there wasn’t a finger on the trigger while they slept, their nightmares very well would and could come true very easily. At the very least, getting any warning they could when those things broke in was a godsend in itself.

  Joey, who’d been in his bunk sleeping all night, made his way through the line holding his tray in one hand and handing out hugs like there was no tomorrow with his other. Greg smiled and shook his head, there was no shortage of love for his friend and when they made it up to the serving line Phillip and Shelman were giving out the food. Phillip said, “Hey Greg, hey Joey. Clary and Aslin wanna see you before you get your food.”

  Greg looked up with tired and hungry eyes. “Just give me my breakfast, I've been freezing parts of my body off all night that you don’t want to think about, trust me!”

  Shelman smiled and pulled his tray away from him. Greg said, “I’m sorry, but unless you want to spend your overnights in the fields all night long waiting for something that might come in single one by one or in the hundreds or thousands, then I suggest you seriously reconsider taking my breakfast. All I want to do is eat, and go take a nap. If you want to keep that tray then I think there’s a pretty good chance that I'm going to be stuck with overnight for a long time to come.”

  Shelman asked, “Yeah and what’s that going to be for?”

  “Because I'm going to launch myself across this counter and beat your ass old man, I can promise you that and that it is something I am capable of. Remember, you only need to follow orders when they make sense. If someone is telling you not to feed another, you need to think about it and realize if that is a smart idea or not, especially when the one you don’t want to feed is the one that was watching out all night so that you could sleep,” Greg said.