"What's the matter bro? Want me to share Beverly with you?" Pete joked. He had no intention of sharing Beverly. It had taken him too long to make her his, but he did love teasing his brother Marine. Beverly slapped his hand, knocking it away from her breast but not before Pete saw Josh look away. He laughed again and took a sip of his fresh beer.
"Fucker! It's totally unfair she goes on the rag today," Josh fumed. This morning he had tried to get some morning goodies but Alayna had pushed him away. She’d started bleeding during the night and was cranky.
"Yeah. Bitch for you. Beverly has almost two weeks before she starts." Pete grinned evilly at him again, as Josh flipped him off, then became serious.
"In the morning we're going to make a sign out back. A big one!" Josh said emphatically.
"A sign? Saying what?"
"HELP!" Josh smiled with satisfaction at his buddy and Pete nodded thoughtfully.
"I hope we don't get screwed over this."
"Well we have to do something. We're getting too many refugees. We're overloaded, dude."
"Yeah, I know." Both men sipped their beers in silence.
*****
DAY 9: 1700 ET SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12TH
Once more, Johnny was walking along the wall, making sure there were enough bodies to show a presence and to ensure nobody was fucking off. Some of the disabled found it very hard to stay focused on any one single task, and it was Johnny's job to make sure they did. Eventually he arrived at Chester's position. Chester was a work of art and Johnny loved his enthusiasm.
Severely mentally disabled from birth, with Down's syndrome and a few other things, he was a happy six-year-old in a large thirty-year-old man's body. His happiness was also contagious. You could not be around him and frown. For one thing, he would want to know why you were unhappy, and then possibly cry; you seriously did not want him unhappy as he had a large temper to match his large body. His happy mode in the here and now meant he was jumping up and down and clapping while having a great time sling-shooting rocks at the guppies.
Chester took over for the autistic kids in the evening, and he loved making the rocks go all the way across the street to hit a guppy on the far side. He was also quite strong and he could pull the rubber exerciser bands back far enough to make each chunk of marble a lethal cannon ball.
Under his left arm, Chester carried his 'toy'. Almost all of the mentally disabled had a favorite toy, and Chester was no exception. His toy was a bright red shiny fire truck complete with a white extension ladder. It was very large as toys went, but Tonka made some very large toys, and Chester was a very large 'boy'. The fire truck was a bit smudged with dirt and grime, but still he held it possessively and only set it down to draw the sling back all the way, aim, and fire. Then he would immediately pick his toy up and tuck it under his arm. Johnny figured that Chester thought someone might take it if he let go of it for any length of time. Maybe a guppy, who knew with Chester.
"How's it going Chester?" asked Johnny as he climbed up beside him in the back of the pickup truck.
"Good, Johnny. Fun! Be careful Johnny, some of these rocks will cut you. Look!" and he held out his large hands. Multiple Looney Tunes bandages adorned both, in crisscrossing patterns. Johnny smiled while nodding at him.
"You bet Chester. I'll be careful. How's your aim tonight?"
"It's not night yet Johnny. They have not turned on the lights you know," Chester admonished him. He was right, each evening they rerouted power to temporary flood lights around the center and kept them on all night. Johnny had no idea what the guppies thought about the lights because they did not seem to react either way when the floods were turned on and off, though he did know the guppies moved less at night. They became very still and just stood there, whereas right now they were shifting back and forth, jostling each other.
"Yeah I know Chester. It's not dark yet. How's your aim today?"
"Oh, Johnny watch, pretty please?" Chester smiled with glee, and snatching up a large chunk of marble, he placed it in the cup while stretching the multiple bands back further than Johnny thought they could go. Chester took his time once the makeshift slingshot was pulled back, and Johnny wondered if he was doing orbital math in his head because he shifted the cup this way and that, then lowered it a bit more before shouting.
"Away we go!" Chester then started jumping up and down as the rock arced out over the sea of heads to impact one across the street in the office building’s parking lot.
Johnny saw a bright flash of red spray from the impact and a guppy collapsed.
"Wow! Dead on Chester. Great shot." Johnny stepped back as he saw Chester frown at his words. You never knew with Chester, after all.
"Dead is not a good word Johnny. These are not people. They are already not alive. I have not missed once today. I am making them lie down. Daddy says when good people die they go to heaven, and their body will turn to dust and blow away." Then Chester was smiling again and reaching for another marble rock. Johnny laughed and patted him on one large shoulder.
"You bet Chester. Keep it up and your mommy and daddy will be very happy."
"Do you think Mommy and Daddy might be here tomorrow? I know they can't drive right now because they are sick."
Johnny sighed. With a lump in his throat he replied, "Yes Chester, I'm sure they will be here tomorrow." He had said the same thing for the last three evenings. Chester was worried about his parents and Johnny did not want to tell him they wouldn't be back. Chester's parents had dropped him off early in the morning on day one of the apocalypse and had expected to pick him up later in the evening after his therapy and group sessions. Johnny had been told they were both running fevers and had mentioned not feeling well. He just hoped they were not in the group surrounding the center. He was not sure they could handle Chester if he spotted his dead parents in this crowd of guppies. Patting him on the back, Johnny climbed down and started walking down the wall, his heart slightly heavier.
"Johnny! Come quick!" It was Chester again shouting for his attention.
*****
Chester waved bye to Johnny as his friend climbed down from the truck. Chester loved shooting rocks at them. Them was how he thought of the undead arrayed outside the wall because of what his dad had told him. They were not alive, and they used to be people, and people that were already in heaven. Therefore, they were them. Johnny called them guppies but they didn't look like fish at all to Chester.
Concentrating, he released his next rock, watching as it flew fast and hard, impacting on the head of another of them across the street. It was hard to miss as there were so many of them. He smiled happily as he picked his truck up between shots. He loved his truck. It even had a white extension ladder that really worked! A little spinning wheel would roll it in and out and he could pretend he was fighting fires with the firemen going to rescue people. He had shown everyone how the ladder worked. It was his best toy and he never ever let it out of his sight.
Sudden movement caught his eye. Looking over the wall he saw them pushing and shoving each other. Then he heard a tiny yelp. His eyes traveled downward looking for the sound, and then they grew wide, then even wider, as he spotted a small puppy running between the legs of them. He smiled, for he could see the puppy had one brown eye and one blue. He watched it circle and run between them while yelping. Then he frowned because he saw them reaching for the puppy. He had always wanted a puppy but his mother would not let him. She did not think he could take care of one but he knew he could. He could tie his own shoes and make his own breakfast of milk and cereal even if he made a mess most of the time. Of course he could take care of a puppy. But they were reaching for it. The puppy was scared because they were not people. The puppy needed him, Chester realized.
"No!" he murmured, and started climbing over the wall. The puppy needed him. "Johnny! Come quick!" he shouted as he dropped down on the other side of the wall and reached for the puppy. He knew he had done the right thing because the puppy ran to him right away but so did 't
hem'.
*****
Johnny looked back over his shoulder to catch a brief glimpse of Chester as he went over the wall.
"What the fuck? Chester!" he screamed as he struggled to climb back onto the truck bed quickly. Fucking body. Johnny grunted as he levered himself up, and looking over the wall saw Chester below him, surrounded by guppies and swinging his toy fire truck. Tucked under Chester's free arm was a tiny grey puppy, and it was obvious Chester was mad.
"Help. Man down. Help damn it to hel!" Johnny was shouting as loud as his voice would carry, then sighing as he saw others start to run in his direction, pulled his cane sword and levered himself over the wall to drop behind Chester, muttering, "I'm coming home, Loki!"
*****
Chester was angry. Chester was really angry. As angry as he had ever been in his life. He had his puppy, but they wanted his puppy too. Now they also wanted Chester. They were growling at him, so he growled back. Then one of them bit him on the arm as he tried to hold it back. That made him really mad. He needed his slingshot but he didn't have it. He did have his toy though. It was big, and it was heavy. Briefly, and faster than he had thought in his entire life, because thinking was hard, he considered whether the puppy or his toy was more important. In that split second of illumination, he decided the puppy was more important, and with that decision, he grew up a tiny bit more. Then he became mad, with them, and at being bitten, and that they wanted his new puppy. Daddy and Mommy would have been upset at how angry Chester became. Chester broke things when he became angry. When he became mad...well...he usually had a lot of cleanup chores to do afterward.
Without thought, and having made his decision, he swung the heavy metal fire truck, watching as it crushed the skull of the one of them that had bitten him. Then he swung it sideways, feeling the necks break of two more of them that were reaching for his puppy. He was horrified that the white ladder had broken off and was sticking out of the head of the last one he hit.
"Nooo, you can't have my fire truck ladder!" he shouted while turning quickly to set the puppy down behind him. "Be good now puppy, and stay there," he whispered to the frightened pup, and feeling several of them pile on him from behind, he roared with fury, swinging around and flailing at them with both fist and toy. As they fell back from his onslaught, he reached down and pulled the white fire truck ladder from the head of the one it was stuck in and then buried it in the head of another that tried to bite him from the side and left it there. It was no longer white anyways, but red and yellow now, and he did not like the color red.
His left hand free, he picked up a metal pipe lying near his feet and started swinging both toy and pipe while continuing to shout at them in anger.
"Stay away. Stay away from my puppy. You're not alive. You're dead, dead, dead!" he screamed. They would not have his new puppy. He could always ask Daddy, when he came for Chester, to get him another fire truck. Daddy would buy him one because he had broken it before when he was angry. He loved his Daddy with all his heart and couldn't wait for him and Mommy to get better. He realized they were sick right now because Johnny had told him and Johnny never lied to Chester. Then he was startled for a moment as to his right he saw Johnny beside him, using his sword to help Chester keep them from his new puppy. Chester's heart filled with love for Johnny at that moment and he wanted to hug him tightly but couldn't because there were too many of them, trying to get to his puppy.
Then he saw more friends around him, all fighting them to protect his puppy. It was nice to have such good friends and he would give them all hugs when they got behind the wall again. Someone was shouting his name but he was having a hard time hearing over all the noise and shooting that had suddenly started. He was also still being bitten by them for they were crawling to him now, trying to get around him to his puppy. Then he felt hands grabbing him from behind and a rope went around his chest.
"Wait!" he screamed. "My puppy!" Then the puppy was shoved in his arms and he felt himself lifted. He knew he was heavy so it must be many friends lifting him. Then he was being pulled over the wall and scraping his back. He didn't care about that because he held his new puppy tightly, making sure it would not be hurt, and felt a warm tongue lick his face as he nuzzled it.
*****
Johnny grunted when both feet hit the ground, and instantly lost his balance. That was okay, because he was directly behind Chester and his fall was partially cushioned by the puppy that for some reason was now on the ground with him even though he had last seen it under Chester's arm. It licked his chin before he could get up, and he was a bit glad that it was okay as he saw how mad Chester was, and realized from Chester's shouts that he thought the guppies were after the puppy. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, and finally on his feet, he speared the first guppy through the eye, then the one next to it as he made damn sure he was far enough away from Chester to avoid that pipe he was suddenly swinging. Where in hell did he find a pipe? thought Johnny as he speared a third guppy through the eye as he watched Chester devastating the guppy ranks around them in amazement.
Then others were beside him, helping, and bashing zombies with makeshift clubs. Above him, he heard shooting, and lots of cussing. Briefly he hoped Chester did not hear the cussing because Chester really hated it when people swore.
"Get ready to be pulled up Johnny!" Bruce was shouting in his ear from behind and Johnny nodded as he speared another guppy before replying.
"Get Chester first!"
"Don't worry, that's the plan man!" Bruce was a Private First Class in the National Guard. One of the few left of the soldiers they had brought back from Mercy. He was a great guy and had taken over as leader of their unit even though he ranked the least. Specialist McDonald, or Lisa as she told him to call her, really had the highest rank after Sergeant Patrick Conrad died a few days ago, but she didn't push the issue. She knew she was out of her element being a supply specialist and not infantry and was very happy to let Bruce take charge.
Suddenly a marble rock came crashing through the guppies, narrowly missing him as it took out the two directly ahead, and he staggered back as hands pulled at him. A rope went around his chest under his arms, then he was airborne and being pulled over the wall. Loki, that hurt like a bitch and Johnny knew he would have to have Celeste check his back later. Infections were death now and the scratches would have to be treated with peroxide and triple antibiotic ointment.
Beside him, he saw Chester, grinning happily as the small puppy licked his face. Johnny rolled his eyes, making damn sure Chester did not see him do it, and sat up.
"Who did we lose?" he shouted. There were two men and a woman being pulled over the wall, and he saw that both men were simply holding the rope and climbing over.
"No one, thank God," Samson replied, and helped him to his feet. Somehow, Samson had gotten himself and his wheelchair into the back of the truck. Johnny was impressed.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, fearless leader, seriously. You do realize you're a total dumb shit right?"
"It wasn't me. It was Chester. I couldn't let him die alone."
"Chester is fine. Let me guess. The puppy, right?"
"Yeah, I think."
"Find someone to watch over him. That was too close and the only reason we didn't lose anyone was because the zombies didn't expect it."
"Guppies."
"Whatever."
But Johnny smiled and felt vindicated in many ways. He couldn't let a fellow disabled die alone, and had been sure Loki would take him. Obviously Loki didn't want him yet. Hmmm. He thought for a couple minutes, then gave the air to the side of him the middle finger in a big Fuck You to Loki.
*****
DAY 9: 2205 ET SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12TH
"Yahtzee!" screamed Clarissa as she rolled two fours on her second attempt, after getting three in her first.
"Wow sweetheart, great job!" I exclaimed as I wrote another fifty on her scorecard. That was her second Yahtzee tonight. She was definitely on a roll and beatin
g Paul, Beverly, Eric and I handily.
"That's two Yahtzees tonight Dad."
"Yes baby, you're really beating the rest of us. You're the winner tonight!" I said proudly. Technically, Beverly had the last turn, but Clarissa was already beating her on points and we were down to the last roll. Even with a Yahtzee Beverly still would not have enough points to beat her. "I'm sorry, Beverly, but Clarissa won. Tomorrow night I'm sure you'll win. I have a good feeling about that." I told her.
"It's okay. I know she won and I feel good I'll win tomorrow night also." Beverly smiled at me as I winked at her. I would fudge the numbers as best I could to make it happen.
"Alrighty kids. Bed time was five minutes ago. Let's scoot. Everyone go brush their teeth." We had a small washbasin set up in the corner of the bedroom along with a Porta-Potty. A small curtain separated it from the rest of the room, and the kids were fine with it. I hadn't had time to plumb in a new bathroom and didn't want them walking down three flights of stairs by themselves, or even with guards late at night.
The kids ran over together. It was always a contest with them to see who would finish first even though they had to brush for a full two minutes. I looked over at Cara and Jean who were laying on the bed talking quietly while poring over something on Jean’s laptop. Both were already in their pajamas, Jean's pink and Cara's a pastel teal. I had to admit the teal really looked good against Cara's tanned skin, and pink always looked good on any girl regardless. They had been driving me crazy for the last hour after changing. They made sure to get up and stretch or bounce up and down frequently while also bending over whenever I was looking in their direction. Bunch of damn teases!
I missed LSS, but she was pulling night duty while working with Zeke. She did not want him fumbling with questions again when time was of the essence. I had also tapped that thing of hers thoroughly earlier, and knew she still had to be sore in all the wrong places. Besides, my understanding was that the girls were running the show as far as what I would receive in fringe benefits, with few exceptions apparently, because they seemed to be taking turns showing up at night, although I had two of them all to myself and was looking forward to that in a major way.
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