by Evans, Mike
Phillip said, “But they really did say that you couldn’t eat until after they spoke to you.”
Greg said, “I’ll go eat my damn breakfast with them for God sakes. Fill up my plate and leave me alone. Good God, I could use a day away from here, call it a vacation.”
They looked at each other and Shelman said, “You know, I'm not that old kid.”
Joey, who had been sitting there looking nervous at the back and forth banter between the two of them, asked, “But I thought you were like eighty?”
“Oh that just hurts kid,” said Shelman
Greg laughed and took his tray then headed at a slow pace straight over to Aslin and Clary. Joey yelled, “Hey Greg, you want me to come with you?”
Greg shook his head no and said, “Nah, I got a feeling there’s gonna be an ass chewing coming my way. You go eat with Patrick and Kya if you want. I’ll catch up with you later buddy.”
Joey saluted and headed off to find himself a place to sit.
Chapter Four
Greg saw Clary and Aslin sitting in the corner eating and shook his head. When they saw him coming they scrunched up their faces at the fact he had a full plate of steaming food. Aslin asked, “How’d you get that? We wanted to have your full attention.”
Greg sat down, keeping his tray far out of their reach and said, “I don’t think putting me in front of the two of you is ever going to get you my full attention. I mean, do you really think that the two of you talking while I watch and see your hot food is gonna do anything for me? Just talk would ya, I'm tired and I want to go to sleep for a couple hours.”
Clary said, “Well, despite your insubordination you've done a good job lately holding down the perimeter at night. Of course, I think half of that has to do with Shaun being there and keeping you out of trouble. And, of course you are still finding new ways to get into trouble during the day, but nothing too horrible.”
Greg smiled and asked, “So does that mean that I'm able to start sleeping at night again?”
Aslin said, “Well, starting tomorrow we want to try and have you start working with some of the kids that are still having issues with firearms.”
“I’m not a babysitter man.”
“No, no you aren’t, you are one of the ones that has kept them alive. You are the same age, or in most cases, a bit older. As well you are someone that they look up to. Besides that, you speak a language which while we don’t understand it seems to be a native tongue called teen, which much like Spanish and French, I've got absolutely no interest in learning….ever!” replied Aslin.
“Yeah I can understand that. You want me to start tomorrow though, so does that mean that I can take the rest of today off?”
“It depends on what you are going to do with your free time. I mean, will there be any cleanup needed, or any burned buildings?” Clary asked.
Greg said, “You know I was thinking that I could take a group out on my own. I mean if you want me to be in charge, why not start with something small. I can drive, and we can head to town and have a look around.”
Aslin said, “Well let me think about it, both the idea of you guys going out on your own, and you said, that you were going to drive? Because that does a lot for me you know. I’ve seen you drive, I mean anyone can drive Greg, now what it boils down to after that is that if you are a good or a shitty driver, well we kind of know that you are a shitty driver and that regardless of even if you took it slow, I think you know damn well that no one leaves the base.”
Greg leaned in, showing the intensity for how he felt about what he wanted to do which wasn’t something the laid back teenager usually did. They watched him, appreciating it but couldn’t justify letting anyone leave. Greg said, “Guys, there aren’t that many people here, it is a serious facility. I know it's been nine months since this started but think about it, there is bound to be survivors, people that have been hiding in fear. I think that if they were given the opportunity and chance to go somewhere safe that they would take it and we could help them. If one of you guys even want to go then I'm fine with it, but I've been thinking seriously for a long time about it and I'm not screwing around here.”
“Well there’s a first time for everything isn't there?” Clary asked.
Greg replied, “I can understand that statement but let me take four or five people out, and I won’t let you down.”
Clary said, “Hey let us talk about it, and we will see ok? Just hang out today and go catch yourself a nap. Mid-winter in a frozen tundra isn't the smartest time to spontaneously do something. We need to think it out and make plans. A couple months from now when everything thaws would be a smarter time to do it.”
Greg slammed his hands down, not thinking about it, making the trays on the row of tables jump. “Damn it, there’s no reason to wait, there’s no reason that we don’t explore, that we don’t go out there. We aren’t surviving, we are hiding! There are people that need our goddamn help and if we don’t go out there with the armory equipment that we have, what is the point of having all of these great tools at our disposal? There’s going to be a war eventually and if we aren’t ready for it and if we wait till they come to us, we are going to be screwed!”
Clary said, “I’m glad that you are thinking long term, it proves that you can. But let's just step back a bit and take a little time to think about it. You can’t just drop this on us and then expect us to grant you permission to head out without knowing more details. Besides, if you haven’t noticed, the snow that is just beginning to fall looks like it could go all day long. If it does, you could easily get stranded somewhere out in the town and then you would be stuck and we wouldn’t have any way of getting back to help you. The radios only stretch so far, and with bad weather the distance reach could be even less. I don’t think being stranded on a help mission is something which you want to have to worry about is it?”
Greg smiled and gave them a thumbs up. “I’ve listened in class, those radios could care less about the weather and we could talk to someone in another state with the technology they have in them. But hey, it’s cool, I'll start with the day off and then move over to the indoor range tomorrow, does that sound like a plan?”
They both nodded slowly. Clary waited until Greg was out of earshot and said, “So you think he’s going to do something stupid with his day off today?”
“Oh hell yes I do. We can hope that he pisses most the day away sleeping and then from there hangs out with Shaun and Ellie the rest of the day. Maybe one of them will try to keep him from doing anything too ignorant.”
Clary watched him walking away and saw a much, much, younger, raw version of himself.
Chapter Five
Greg walked through the mess hall gripping his rifle in one hand and the tray in the other. He looked around trying to find Joey and saw he’d not been able to find any of the group and was sitting by himself. Greg saw a few boys standing behind Joey. Joey did not look the least bit happy and had his head bowed and looked like his shoulders might have been going up and down.
When Greg walked over he saw the two boys mimicking how Joey spoke, just a little slower and with his own tone. Greg had so many conversations with Joey over the last few months and thought of Joey as a brother. Any pain that he went through, Greg would be there for him in a heartbeat.
Greg sat his gear down at an empty table and walked behind the boys. He put a hand on the back of each of their necks and leaned in. Greg said, “Charlie, Chris, I think you ought to take a walk now!”
Chris said, “We are just kidding around Greg, no need to make this out to be anything that it isn’t. Besides he doesn’t get it anyway.”
Greg not being the type to let something go, especially when it came down to messing around with Joey, who he knew very well could break these two in half but was too sensitive to do so. The fact that they were picking on anyone lucky enough to be alive, coupled with the fact they picked a kid with special needs, got under Greg’s skin in a bad way.
Greg look
ed down at Joey and could see tear drops hitting the table. Greg squeezed harder on their necks and said, “It sure as hell doesn’t look or sound like that to me. Now why don’t the two of you apologize to him and tell him that you are sorry.”
Chris said, “I’m not apologizing to him, why are you so hard up on him?”
“Just think of this, how many of the Turned have you taken out? Do you remember the day you were one of the ones hiding on the bus and he was one of the ones that made sure you didn’t die? He helped save you, and this is how you are repaying that, this is the respect that you show him?”
Charlie laughed and said, “But he’s slow dude, besides you guys with the guns did all of the shooting that day. I mean, I know he bashed one of their heads in and all but I mean there isn’t anything more than that. It was you and Shaun like always that was in charge.”
Greg let go of Chris and put a foot behind Charlie then gripped his chest and pushed backwards, sending him off balance and slamming him down onto the table. Everyone in the cafeteria stopped eating to see what was happening and saw the rare display of aggression as Greg had fire in his eyes.
When the boy tried to get back up, immediately he was rewarded with a punch to the face. Greg lifted and slammed him into the table again.
Greg looked up and saw both Charlie and Chris’ dads coming towards him and their sons. Clary stood up the second that he heard the first slam on the table and Aslin wasn’t far behind. Clary stood between the two father’s paths and said, “You leave them alone.”
Charlie’s dad said, “That’s my son, you better get out of my way now or-”
Clary, who was unintimidated, took a step further to make his point. “He isn’t going to kill them so don’t worry, but if he’s doing this then they did something and they deserve it. Your kid needs to learn about being part of a team and being respectful.”
When Chris’ dad tried pushing past, Clary said, “I swear you really need to stop right there. Like I said, there’s something that we don’t know that is going on and I feel that Greg probably knows what he is doing. He doesn’t fly off the handle on a regular basis.”
When the two dads looked like they were both ready to protest they stopped immediately when they saw Joey turning around off of the bench seat and wiping tears from his eyes. Charlie’s dad said, “Oh great they must have been making fun of the ret-”
Aslin, now already sitting on edge, gripped him and he stopped what he was saying and said, “The special needs kid, sorry old habits are hard to break.”
Aslin said, “Just remember he’s contributed more around here than any of you put together. There’s two sides to the fence here, literally. If you and your kids are going to start trouble and you aren’t going to be useful around here, it’s going to be a bad time of the year during winter to be out and on your own.”
“You’d throw us out during the middle of winter in Iowa? I mean there’s a lot of them and I don’t know what to do with them.”
Aslin said, “Well then make yourselves useful and try to be a little more sympathetic to other people’s needs. There are training classes and plenty of things that could be done. Freeloading isn’t going to be a long term thing. I can promise you this.”
The two dads both nodded slowly and watched the rest of the scene taking place.
*****
Greg saw that the dads were intercepted then noticed that Chris went to walk forward and attempted to grip his shoulder. Chris was rewarded with Greg’s elbow to his gut. Joey turned around, saw this and wiped off his tears with his sleeve. Chris dropped to the ground on a knee and Charlie lay back on the table breathing heavy. Greg gave him his full attention when Chris was guaranteed to not get back up immediately. Charlie said, “I’m sorry, Greg, I'm sorry!”
Greg grabbed him, lifting him off of the table. “You don’t apologize to me.”
When Charlie looked confused, Greg pulled him off of the table and dropped him down to the floor by Chris. Greg screamed, “You apologize to Joey. He doesn’t deserve any of this shit, especially from the two of you. You two haven’t contributed yet, you don’t do anything but take up space and food that we don't need to waste. Maybe you guys think that life would be easier on the other side of those gates. What do you say; Clary and Aslin are over eating breakfast just a few tables away, you want me to have a talk with them?”
Greg looked up just for a moment and could see both of them now standing but not charging their way for the four of them, at least not yet. He knew that he needed to get his apology for Joey to set things right, he didn’t need any confidence killers. Chris looked to Joey who was looking at Greg mesmerized. He hadn’t had anyone but his family and a few teachers in his life, all who were now gone, that had ever stuck up for him.
Chris said, “I’m sorry, we didn’t mean anything.”
Greg kicked him in the ass and Chris said, “Ok we did mean something, we won’t do it again, Greg’s right, you don’t deserve this.”
Chris looked at Charlie and slapped him on the shoulder. Charlie shook his head no and Greg squeezed the back of his neck just until he winced out loud and said, “Yeah what he said, I'm sorry too. We won’t do it again.”
“Anything else that you want to hear Joey?” Greg asked.
Joey, having probably the biggest heart on base, said, “No, thanks Greg, but can you do me a favor please?”
Greg nodded his head and Joey said, “Just don’t throw them out of the base ok, it’s scary out there, and I don’t think that they would make it outside. They need to stay and keep having Mr. Clary and Mr. Aslin teaching them how to handle themselves.”
Greg just stared and after only a second the shock wore off because regardless of the fact that the two had reduced him to tears, Joey still was willing to think of others first.
Greg said to the two bullies, “You see him? He still cares about you guys even after you broke him down. You need to think about that, you understand me? I promise the next time I see you talking to him, he better have a big ass smile on his face or if we aren’t inside somewhere with everyone around watching, I'll beat you both down and it’s going to be God damn difficult for you to get up.”
Greg then saw Aslin and Clary heading his way now so he stood up, raising his hands in the air and said, “We’re done, everything is cool. I think that they’ve got a good idea for what needs to be done around here now.”
Aslin looked at the kids and saw that there was a very good chance that they were ok. He realized that they, like their dads, might be hard to teach but that they looked like they were capable of learning over time. Aslin patted Joey on the back. “Hey, you ok Joey? You sure everything is alright?”
Joey nodded and shrugged. “Yep, I'll be ok Mr. Aslin. Greg is cool man, he is my brother.”
Greg knew what was coming and beat him to it, quickly putting his arm around Joey. It turned into a full on bear hug and Greg’s legs were now dangling off of the ground. Greg looked at Aslin and Clary and thought about what they had said and knew that if he didn’t, he would have a hard time dealing with this place. He needed to blow off some steam and the idea of people who were trapped on the outside was seriously starting to chew away at his insides. The way he thought of it was that they had too much space to just ignore it. They had stopped going out when they found out there was no chance for a cure and that was the last time they had been on the outside. That had marked day one on base of weapons training and intense cardio workout routines.
Greg said, “I’m going to skip breakfast, you finished Joey?”
Joey looked at his empty plate then at Greg’s full plate. He grabbed it and said, “Hey we can eat and walk right?”
Greg nodded, deciding he’d better take one of the pancakes after all as an afterthought and asked, “Neverfull are you buddy?”
Joey said, “Yeah as long as it isn’t Mr. Aslin’s food.”
“What are you talking about? My cooking is the best on base,” Aslin said.
“Yeah
, compared to what, a rotten MRE?” asked Clary
“Is there anything else we need to do here or are we good? You going to do anything else stupid today or can I go about my other normal mundane activities?” Aslin asked Greg.
Greg looked at the clock behind him and said, “Well I can’t promise that I'm going to be able to make the entire day, but guarantee at least until lunch.”
Aslin said, “At least until lunch huh, I'll take it.”
Joey laughed and asked, “Greg, I thought that you were going to take a nap this morning?”
Aslin said, “Great, I feel so much better now.”
Clary looked at Chris and Charlie on the ground and said to the boys, “I tell you what, why don’t you guys head down to the kitchen and clean dishes. Don’t forget about the pots and pans that are in the kitchen as well.”
Charlie said, “But that’s going to take like the entire day man.”
Clary knelt down in front of them and said, “Don’t call me man you little shit, you go ahead and get to work now because I promise you that I can get you a list so long that you’ll stay busy for the rest of the damn winter.”
Charlie opened his mouth to say something but Chris elbowed him in the side. “Shut up moron, we already got in enough trouble the way it is. Do you really need to make it worse?”
They pushed up from the ground then walked past their dads and both got a smack on the back of the head, deservingly so.
*****
Greg placed his arm around Joey, giving him a squeeze knowing he couldn’t give any back breaking hugs with the tray of food in his hands. They walked past a crowded room as everyone that wasn’t assigned to perimeter watch was standing there and taking in the show that the bullies and Greg put on. When they made it outside they headed for the sleeping quarters and Greg said, “You know Joey, I've been feeling kind of cramped up around here lately. How would you feel about a little field trip out buddy?”
