by David Tyne
17 | Parents
I pretended to be asleep. I'm not proud of it, but as I lay beside my mum and Beth, I faced the wall and kept my head down as it happened. Not from fearing my own safety, but concerning my family, my friends and everyone else in the room who could hear the struggling.
A booming voice echoed over dozens of sleeping bodies. “Just fucking admit what you did. I saw you sneaking around.”
His victim seemed to be a rather distressed male, still attempting to clear his name.“I-I never stole anything, officer! You've got it all wrong!” Another swift kick seemed to bring him to his knees.
“Is that right? We take you in, give you protection, a place to sleep, food to eat—”
The winded man let out an involuntary laugh, although the dread in his voice was apparent. “Food? Ha, what food? We're starving in here, and if I was going to be treated like shit anyway, I would've stolen some so that my son could have an actual meal!”
More agonised grunts and scuffles filled the community centre’s air, as more policemen came to restrain the lone man. They called him a thief, barking that he was ungrateful while they beat him mercilessly.
I tilted my head to face the scene, but not enough to draw their attention. All I could see was the man's son crying silently in his bed, too petrified to look up at the assault. The officer motioned over two more faceless uniforms, and the beaten man was then dragged by the hair towards the front entrance.
One of the pigs actually had the audacity to howl with laughter, resonating throughout into the hall. “You want food, huh? There’s plenty more where you came from!” Exile, I thought as I pictured the Lost waiting outside those gates, ready to tear that man limb from bloody limb.
So this was what it came to, when everyone blindly followed an authority without question. A room full of bystanders, including myself — now I understood the urgency behind Millie’s plea to leave.
This was much more macabre than a handful of power-hungry coppers, and I didn't want to be around when they started tightening the noose around the community centre’s neck.
Mils wanted us both to escape during the night, but I saw matters differently. I couldn't abandon my mum, Beth and Ian like that; they would surely die at the mercy of men whose pride outweighed their capabilities.
Things had to change around here, no more blind eyes. Sure, I pretended to be asleep... but pretty soon, I was going to wake up.
----
That morning, which had yielded a little under fifteen minutes of rest, my mum requested some alone time with Beth. “She's lost her parents, her entire world! Poor thing... If she's bottling it all up, that can’t be healthy for any child. We need to have some girl talk, just for a little while. Okay, sweetie?"
Being separated from Beth made me anxious, but I knew it had to happen sooner or later. That kid went through hell and back, and she’d barely cried once. If anyone in that moment knew what it was like to lose a loved one to the Lost, it would be my mum.
Leaving the small child in the caring-yet-intrusive hands of my Christian mother, I decided it would be best for me to rehash the community centre's issues with Ian.
Even though we’d long since arrived at our destination, I believed that we had become good friends along the way. He deserved a heads-up at least, especially after Millie revealed that she was packing some serious heat.
Ian was all alone, leaning against the doorway to the sports hall as he stared into the ocean of survivors. Everyone around us miserably went about their limited tasks for the day, their minds probably still in grim reminder of the starving man who had been thrown out.
“...Chocolate pennies for your thoughts?” I chimed, offering him half of the bag that my mum had confiscated from Beth’s hoard. He simply shook his head, with heavily-bagged dark circles where his eyes should’ve been.
It took a while, but I shared with him a detailed explanation about Millie and the community centre’s policemen. Even through his fatigue, I could see the injustice rekindling his usual angst and bitterness.
“Your friend Millie, she’s wrong. Why should we be the ones to leave, after everything we've been through to get here?! There has to be another way!” Ian agreed with my view, but his voice seemed distracted and hollow.
“Wait a minute... You haven't been to see your parents yet, have you?!” I accused him, changing the subject entirely. It wasn't my place to weigh in, but the idea of them both living in the same place and not knowing was bordering on ridiculous. "For God's sake, grow up! You need to—"
Harry must’ve heard me raising my voice at Ian, because he came right up behind me and pushed defensively. “Why don't you back off, ya little shit?! You don't have any idea what it's really like—”
“...Harry, don't... He's right.” Ian narrowed his gaze towards the ground, obviously thinking it over. He had to recognise how foolish it was, all of this running and hiding while they were probably worried sick.
I finally regained my composure, after being thrust a good couple of paces away from the conversation. “Ian, I don't know what you did, but can it really be that bad? Hell, I don't think I'd be bothered if you were some kind of nazi, and I only met you this week!”
Harry kept me a firm distance away, sceptical as I tried to convince my friend. He never seemed to trust me, only tolerated my presence around Ian. I decided to press further, trying to convince both of them that I meant well.
“I know the 'you' now, and that’s all that matters to me, to Beth. As for your parents... All they know is that their son is probably dead in a ditch somewhere. Is that what you want? Go up to them right now, and stop being so fucking selfish!” This really struck a nerve, as he glared back at me with absolute fury in his eyes.
“Selfish? I'm the one being selfish?! I didn't ask for this!! I hate being...” Harry forcibly led Ian away, wanting to speak to him privately before he said anything else.
As they turned to enter the sports hall, the two boys crashed into a rather portly couple through the open door. The grown-ups were almost knocked off their feet, had they not been grounded by ten layers of fat.
The woman stopped in her tracks, digging her fingernails into her husband’s arm. “O-Oh... Oh my God, Ian!! You're here!!” Her voice projected relief, but something was missing. They both maintained their distance as the chubby man scrutinized Ian and Harry, sizing them both up.
His eyes drifted all over the fidgeting boy, as though he was looking at a complete stranger. The encounter bled awkwardness, even from where I was standing. These two are... Ian's parents?
His mum definitely sounded happy that he was alive, but... the tension between the group could slice metal. There were no hugs, no tears, not even from Ian himself.
I could tell just by looking, that he wasn't capable of raising his eyes to meet his father's at all. There was shame, guilt and pain swirling around his head, visible to anyone who passed.
The wide man spoke with a voice that added a slight tremor to the concealed doorway, much like a miniature earthquake. “So, you made it back? God must be watching over you.”
“T… Thanks. You too,” was all Ian could muster.
I wouldn't have thought that any of this was hostile, until Ian bluntly pushed Harry to the side in a desperate attempt to create some distance between them. Then, much like an anvil, it all started to fall into place. The torn photographs, being kicked out, even Harry’s unwelcome presence around them.
“I should have known,” Ian’s father sighed, shaking his head to disapprove of the thug, then me as I stood in the corner. “There’s two of them now?”
“That’s sick! They’re my friends, not…” Ian was quick to defend himself, a little too hasty. “We just looked out for each other, since I couldn’t come home.”
“Well, that’s for the Lord to judge. Not us.” The man braced his wife, who appeared rather mousy for her size. While she smiled and nodded every so often, her face returned to a more solemn, empty stare each time.
“Forgive her, lads. She'd always wanted a daughter… Just not like this. This is a cruel joke you’re playing, Ian.” The harsh words seemed to knock him down, his legs starting to shake with visible humiliation.
He must’ve opened himself up to his family the night before the Lost came, only to be faced with cold-hearted rejection. His entire world had ended twice, in the space of twenty-four hours.
I couldn't let the fat oaf leave on that note. Stepping into the space between Ian and his father, my fist snapped at his shoulder and provoked him. I yelled a lot louder than I expected to, nearly attracting the attention of everyone through the doorway to the main hall.
“What the hell is your problem? Your son is a great guy, he's saved my life more times than I can count! He's twice the man you are,” I nodded to his bulging gut, “and that's saying a fucking ton!!"
Ian's father looked at me unexpectedly, narrowing his eyes with disgust. He squinted another glare at Ian, who stood awkward and silent behind me. “Are these the people you choose to associate with now? How vulgar… The Pastor was right about you. Your kind are beyond saving.”
Harry's fist slammed into the nearby wall, barely able to contain himself as he made everyone jump in surprise. "You piece of shit... 'beyond saving'?! You think he deserved to be stuck out there with those freaks? He could’ve died, all because of your bullcrap!"
Ian's father was barely listening. He just turned his back on his former son, and exhaled in complete dismissal.
"I think you’re mistaken. I lost my child, the second you turned him into a spineless filthy homosexual. God has responded, and made his will apparent.”
18 | In The Rain
Just a few more days, Ian assured himself. Barely a week left until his university interview, and then he’d be able to leave home forever. Knowing his luck though, a day trip into the city could only end in complete disaster.
The hapless student held on tight to his plastic bag full of groceries, sprinting home through the late spring’s unrelenting rain. It seemed that his father had waited until the thunderstorm outside was at its peak before sending him off to buy some bread and milk.
Eventually the lashings of water began to give him a brain-freeze, forcing him to hide underneath one of the nearby playground’s trees. “Just wait it out,” Ian sighed to himself, exposed in the isolated street. He almost found it funny — waiting was all he ever seemed to do, wishing that his problems would soon dissipate like those storm clouds.
His mindless state was interrupted when he saw a burly man legging it through the park, dragging his nearly-destroyed umbrella behind. He was soaked as well, with the droplets of rain pressing his white shirt into his stomach. Ian’s eyes darted away, startled as the man crashed straight into his sheltering tree without warning.
“O-Oww.” The newcomer rubbed his nose, trying to laugh off his clumsiness. “...Can’t fucking see—” He looked up as a shiver took hold, recognising Ian's pulled face. “Hey, don't I know you?”
Harry Burnside. Of all the neds he could’ve ran into, it had to be the hardest, most feared bully in his former high school. Ian tried to be polite, thinking of what he could possibly say that wouldn’t result in a stabbing.
They both chatted awkwardly about their school days for a while, gossiping about who was pregnant, who moved away, who was a total druggie... All of the idiots who actually had control over their lives, while Ian could only wait around and watch the clouds.
The rain slowly began to recede, and Ian figured it meant that there was no reason for Harry to force a conversation with him any longer. He stayed, however, insisting that Ian should stay and tell him about what he was doing now.
“Mechanical Engineering, bloody hell...” Harry repeated, dressing the words up with his gravelly voice. “You always fancied your books more than any girls in our class. Guess it finally paid off!” The thug gave a cheesy thumbs-up, making Ian snort with laughter. He’d never made a sound like that before, not ever.
Both of their attentions shifted to the side, following the noise of a speeding car on the nearby road. The tires splashed into a massive puddle, giving them no time to react.
“W-Watch out!” Harry spread his muscular arms wide, protecting Ian from the oncoming tsunami of ice-cold dirty water. Frozen for a few seconds after he was hit, he only had to turn before setting Ian off into another fit of giggles.
His entire face was muddied brown, letting the numbing rainwater drip from his nose which must’ve tickled slightly. The absurdness prompted a cold shudder, mixed with a low chuckle as he wiped the water off and splashed it towards Ian.
Harry playfully pushed his former schoolmate backwards into the wet tree, pressing him up against it as they laughed and wrestled with each other. Flicking his soaked hair into Ian's face, he restrained him until they were almost making contact... and they held themselves there.
The sparking electricity pulled them both closer, suspended in the air all around the two boys. Gazing into Harry’s eyes for an instant, time stood still as Ian considered the possibility, if only for that brief moment.
The thug didn’t seem as scary anymore. Not in the rain.
Pulling Harry's neck closer towards him with both hands, their drenched bodies barely touched as their lips connected.
----
“Ian... H-Hey, Ian!!” I shook his body from side to side, hoping that he would wake up. As he slowly opened his eyes from his dreamy stupor on the community centre floor, he was surprised to find myself, my mum, Beth, Harry and even Millie surrounding him.
“Daniel? I... I passed out?” Ian gleaned as 'nurse Joanna' nodded. He didn't look terribly good — his face was swollen bright-red, and for the first few seconds of consciousness he had this strange, almost euphoric smile plastered across it.
Wherever his mind was, it seemed to be a much happier place than our harsh reality. That giddy expression of his collapsed as soon as the memory of his parents came flooding back. His swallowed hard, trying not to crack.
“Haa… Fainting. That's so embarrassing. Only girls do that.”
It sounded like his father’s words had really gotten to him... I shook my head, knowing how taxing the last 48 hours had been on all of us. “Don't be stupid. You haven't slept in days, it’s no wonder. We're... waiting, to do that thing. When you get better, at least.”
I subtly informed him that we had decided to hold off on confronting the police, despite Millie's protests that we should’ve left already. While my mum attempted to drag him back to her medical station, he threw Harry a peculiar look of wonder before the corner broke their line of sight.
The thug and I sat down to block the doorway, sighing restlessly as Beth dragged Millie off to show her some of the nursing skills she had just learned. Neither of us really knew what to say to each other — I still had no idea who Harry was, and frankly his razor-sharp attitude had tainted my impression of him already.
“I know what you're thinking,” he abruptly interjected. “I saw that look you gave me, the moment I showed up on Ian’s door. You think I'm some sort of ned, right?”
I couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh. Nothing gets past this guy. “I think… that if Ian trusts you, then that’s good enough for me. You two have been sneaking around this whole time, I guess you already knew about him being—”
Harry shot me a glare, instantly prompting my silence. If looks could kill. “I don't care what you think about me, but don't go having problems with Ian. He's a good lad, he—”
“That’s not what I meant.” This time, it was my turn to interrupt. “Ian trusted you with some kind of secret... Something he felt that he couldn't tell the rest of us. I know it wasn’t a priority, but look at what happened. These things still matter."
“What? He... really didn’t mention it at all?” T
his seemed to catch him off-guard. Feeling his inquisitive eyes on me, I still couldn't help but feel a little bitter.
"Now that I know what he was hiding, I'm just pissed that he thinks I won’t be okay with it. So what if he's gay? We're friends, or... at least I think we are.” I was still in a state of confusion as to whether someone could go from being a complete stranger to a best friend in less than three days, but that's what it felt like.
Harry let a rare smile spread across his lips, starting to play around with his switchblade again. “...Right answer. Ian thinks the world of you, y'know. For a moment, I guess I was a little jealous from the way he was talking—”
The thug froze, realising what he had just said. I raised my eyebrows with scepticism, although he must’ve seen that as something else.
“I-I mean, I didn't see you as competition... Wait, I mean, we're not— It wasn't like that! We only kissed once— Gah, fuck off!!”
Harry became flustered, obviously embarrassed about something that had now undoubtedly happened between him and Ian. I was barely capable of listening though, my intimidated eyes still trained on the knife that he effortlessly tossed from hand to hand.
That man was terrifying no matter what situation we were in; he always seemed on-edge with his leather jacket and spiked hair. I couldn’t risk defining him as either a friend or a foe. Friend, huh... Weirdest start to a friendship I've ever seen.
Abandoning Harry before he could ‘accidentally’ stab me, I checked into my mum’s medical corner and found Beth and Millie hovering over a sleeping Ian. Mils used the bottom of her shirt to clean her strange pistol, which I hoped had the safety on.
She could see my astonishment, and answered what I'd been meaning to ask for a while. “...It’s a BB gun. Figured it might help to scare the dead off, but nope. Still good for bashing heads in, though."
“Classy. Nearly gave me a heart attack before.”
Smiling a little, she nodded towards Ian who either pretended to be asleep, or was just an obnoxiously-heavy breather. “What exactly happened to him, anyway?”
