If he’d let it happen, he wouldn’t be a hero. He’d be no better than Jared. Or worse.
David wanted to set the SPLICER! up near the door—a last defence, in case any mudmen got past the barricades and the SMASHER! As a safety precaution, he made an adjustment when he was building it, so the blade swung well over their own heads. Unless the members of their group had a growth spurt in the time they stayed there, they’d be fine. Plus, like David’s other contraptions, it was sprayed with neon warning signs, including one in big bold letters that read “DUCK”.
Examining their handiwork, Alex noticed that the SMASHER! was back up on the roof, ready to do more damage should the need arise. It looked considerably more threatening than before: some of the weapons on it were bent in jagged directions, with blood and other fluids smeared all over it. It clearly meant trouble for anyone who triggered it.
“How’d that get back up?”
David looked up with a smile. “Me and Jared pulled it back up. He even went up and reset the grill himself. He wasn’t scared or anything.”
“Yeah, good for him,” Alex said, as he untied Shadow from the door and headed back inside. He was pretty scared when—
“Hey,” Jared said, halting Alex in the doorway with a hand on his shoulder, “I wanna talk to you a minute.”
“Whatever,” Alex said, shrugging the boy’s hand off.
“No, seriously. I need to talk to you.”
“Well, I don’t want to talk to you.” Alex tried to walk past him.
“Look, Alex, I’m sorry.”
That stopped him in his tracks. Jared never apologized; or if he did, he didn’t mean it. Alex turned. Jared actually looked sincere. “Sorry about what?”
Jared looked to his feet with something resembling shame. “I’m sorry for yelling at that Kyle kid. And I’m sorry for pushing him and stuff.”
“Okay,” Alex said, as he turned away again.
“And I’m sorry for treating you like shit,” Jared said. “Alex ... you ... thank ... thank you.”
If Alex was surprised by the apology, he was shocked by this. Jared was thanking him? He even looked like he was about to cry. Alex had no idea what to say, but Jared continued.
“You ... you saved my life.” He wiped his nose on his sleeve. Jared’s eyes kept darting over Alex into the parking lot; at the barricade and the pile of mudmen. The one that had almost killed him earlier that day. Alex noticed that Jared hadn’t stepped out of the building yet. “I ... I owe you. I owe you big.”
“Um ...” Alex was incredibly uncomfortable about this turn of events. His most hated enemy was practically begging him to accept his thanks. He probably could have asked for anything just then—even for the boy to just leave and never come back—but instead he just nodded. “Yeah. No problem.” He walked past Jared and headed up the stairs. “I guess that’s just my job, huh?”
He left Jared in the lobby as David followed him.
“See?” David whispered to him, “I told you he’s not bad!”
“Uh-huh,” Alex replied. He looked back down the stairs. Jared stared up at him and closed the door. Before he got lost in the shadowy darkness, Alex thought he saw a strange look on the older boy’s face. A look of gratitude.
Whatever it was, it didn’t look right on Jared Flemming.
For the rest of the day, whenever Alex turned around, there was Jared, asking if he could help him with whatever he was working on; or if he needed something to eat or drink; or if he wanted to play a game; or if he just wanted to be left alone. He even tried being friendly with Shadow. At first the dog, ever loyal to Alex, would have none of it; she growled each time Jared went near her. As the day went on, however, she relented and allowed him to pat her. He seemed good with her.
Alex wondered if he had a dog of his own. Maybe his dog was lost out there somewhere. Just like Jared had been until he found them.
Just like Alex had been, only a few days before that.
As much as he hated to admit it, Alex soon found that even he was beginning to pity Jared. In a few short, stupid seconds that day, he had gone from egotistical, cocky jerk, to a lowly, helpless, kid. Just like the rest of them.
The thought that he might end up being friends with Jared Flemming kept Alex up for most of the night. Exhaustion from the day’s events, however, won out, and the thoughts were soon replaced by the darkness of sleep.
KAITLYN
Kaitlyn woke up when she heard whispering. The past few nights she had slept soundly—the sleep of the exhausted—but now her guard was up again. Something was wrong, though for the briefest moment she couldn’t put her finger on it. Once she did figure it out she almost jumped to her feet.
Hannah wasn’t with her.
Hannah hadn’t left her side for the past week ... or more. She couldn’t remember how many days it had been since the little girl was in her life, but now that she wasn’t there a deep sense of loss crept over her. Hannah’s name was just about to bellow forth from her throat when a whispered voice made her catch it.
“What do you do?” it asked.
Hannah’s voice. She was sobbing—or rather, she was just coming out of sobbing.
Who is she talking to? Her question, and Hannah’s, were answered at the same time.
“I just have hope,” the voice said.
Alex.
It didn’t sound all that strong either; she could tell, even though he was hidden by the darkness, that he was trying to put on a brave face.
“But ... how?” Hannah asked.
Alex took a deep breath. Kaitlyn could hear his discomfort. Even before he put it into words, she could guess what they were talking about.
“I just ... I know he’s out there,” he continued, whispering. “I know he’s out there, because he would never give up on me. Even when there’s a whole bunch of those ...”
“Mudmen?” Hannah said.
“Yeah,” Alex said, with a little laugh. “Yeah—even with a bunch of mudmen on his trail, between him and me—I know that he’s still out there, and he won’t rest until he finds me. He’s my dad. That’s what dads do. That’s what your dad is doing, too.”
For a while, there was silence. Dark, empty silence. Kaitlyn didn’t know if she should call Hannah over, or if that would make it clear that she had been eavesdropping on their private conversation. She wished it wasn’t private. She wished they could talk about this stuff with everyone. Everyone was missing someone, everyone in the same boat. The only difference was that Hannah and Alex had lost someone before. If anything, they were more used to it than any of them! They were being selfish to only comfort each other; to not bring in the rest of them. Why did Alex have to be so selfish? So self-absorbed! So—
Their dads are all they have, Kaitlyn thought, suddenly ashamed that she had thought they were being selfish. The rest of them had both parents out there, somewhere. Her own dad, though he was hundreds of miles away, might not even be a part of this! For all she knew, things outside of Cape Breton were fine. He would be fine, and waiting for her. She at least had that.
She missed her mom.
“But ...” Hannah started again as Kaitlyn wiped a tear from her eye. “How do you know ... for sure?”
Alex took a deep breath. “The last time I talked to my dad—” He stopped short and took another long, slow breath. Kaitlyn could imagine his eyes starting to well up, even as hers did the same. “The last time I talked to my dad, he told me that he was scared, but that everything would be okay. That he was coming to find me. That he would find me. I know that he will. That’s all.”
Kaitlyn tried to keep back her tears. Her own mother had said pretty much the same thing the last time they had spoken—only she was supposed to have been back in just one hour. That was so many hours and days ago. Kaitlyn had no idea where her mom was, or what had happened to her, or if she was even still alive or—
No, she caught herself, steeling her resolve. She’s out there. She’s trying to help, she’s trying
to find me, and she will find me.
She heard a slight ruffling and then the sounds of a big hug between Alex and Hannah. She wished she was part of that hug.
Her wish was soon granted when Hannah crawled back over to her. She lifted her arm, and wrapped it around the girl’s tiny frame once again. As Kaitlyn relaxed back into the hug, into the warmth that the little girl—her new little sister—was giving off, she heard a whisper once again.
“It’ll be okay,” Hannah said, though this time Hannah was speaking to her. “My daddy will be okay. And so will your mom. And so will we. Alex said so.”
Kaitlyn squeezed the girl tighter, and Hannah squeezed right back. “Thanks. I needed that.” She said it loud enough to hope that Hannah wasn’t the only one to hear it.
DAY 10
ALEX
For a while the next day, Alex thought things might have gone back to normal. Jared no longer lurked behind every corner, waiting to tell him how thankful he was, which was a relief. He didn’t know how to handle that version of the kid he’d thought he knew better than anyone else living in the community centre.
Also, enough time had passed since the near-fatal attack outside, that Jared and David had begun telling slightly exaggerated versions of the events to anyone who would listen. Nicole was the most annoyed: mainly at David and Jared for being stupid and not watching out for themselves—an opinion she vocalized quite clearly. Alex thought she was also annoyed with herself for being completely oblivious to the whole situation, but she was much less vocal with that opinion.
The day was looking about the same as it had been: mostly overcast, with little bits of sun coming through every once in awhile, so Alex decided to take Shadow outside again—making sure David was with him to keep watch. Avoiding the parking lot entirely, they went to the side of the building and played there. David stayed at the corner where he could see both Alex and the door. After a few minutes, they switched so David could have a chance to run with the dog.
“Can we ... um ... can we talk?”
Alex looked to the door. Jared stood just outside the safety of the building; his eyes shifting between Alex and the parking lot.
“Uh, yeah,” Alex said. He had become considerably less defensive with Jared in just a day. He tried to hide that fact. “What do you want?”
Jared swallowed as he took a step forward. “I want to make this up to you.”
“Make what up to me?”
“Everything!” Jared burst out. “Treating you like shit—for years! And then ... then yesterday. I owe—”
“You owe me, yeah,” Alex said, cutting him off. “It’s okay. Really.”
For a moment, the two boys stood in silence. When David came back with Shadow, he said nothing. Alex knew he could just go back inside, but it seemed like Jared had more to say.
“I’m going to make a food run,” Jared said.
“What?” Alex certainly hadn’t expected that. “Why?”
“We have plenty of food here,” David said.
“For now,” Jared said. “But I know where there’s a lot more. Good stuff, too! I ... I just need to feel like I’m helping. I need to add to the group, you know?”
Alex sighed. “Fine. Whatever. Go.” This could still all end up okay for him.
“Do you trust me?” Jared asked.
“Not really.” Alex shrugged.
“I want you to come with me!” Jared said in a rush.
Alex let out a loud laugh that he quickly stifled. “You want me to go with you?” He laughed again. “Why?”
“Because I know you don’t trust me,” Jared said. “And you shouldn’t. I treated you like shit. Worse than shit. I was fucking awful.” He paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “You need to come to, you know, keep me on the up and up. Plus ...”
The silence hung heavily between them.
“Plus what?” David asked.
“Plus I’d feel safer if Alex was with me!” He blurted, almost angrily at David.
An uncomfortable, awkward silence followed. Alex had turned red, but not nearly as red as Jared. Oh my God, Alex thought. Jared needs me. Jared! I always knew he was all talk, but … wow. I never knew he was this weak! Now … I’m in charge.
“Can I come?” David asked.
More silence filled the air.
“No,” Alex finally answered with a forced sigh. This would be his chance to prove himself. I’m in charge of him. He’ll do whatever I say. I can prove to everyone that I’m a good leader. That I can do what’s necessary, even if it was Jared’s idea. No one else has to know that. “I’ll go with Jared. I need you to take Shadow upstairs for me, okay?”
“I can do that and then come right—”
“David,” Jared said. “Next time, all right? If I’m right,” he quickly looked at Alex, pleading, “and I know that I am, then this will be a regular thing, okay?” He flashed them both a smile.
Alex nodded to David as he handed him the leash. “Thanks.” When David said nothing, Alex felt another surge of confidence: he could command gently, but efficiently. He left David standing in the dark doorway.
Though Jared led the way, Alex knew he was in control.
“I gotta apologize about Kyle,” Jared said. It was the first thing he had said since they left the community centre. “I guess I got angry and stuff because I was scared out here, you know, all by myself? It’s awful out here. I saw all kinds of those—you call them mudmen, right? That makes sense, ‘cause they’re horrible, gross things, right? Anyway, I saw all kinds of them. A lot of them were little kids. Just like that Kyle kid. He just scared me. That’s all.
“I wouldn’t actually hurt him, by the way. I wouldn’t hurt a little kid. That’s awful. We gotta stick together. That’s how we gotta survive. Like in ‘Lord of the Flies.’ You ever read that, Alex? There’s a bunch of kids on some island ‘cause of the war and they all have to, like, get along and stuff. And they survive because they get along. That’s the main idea, I think.”
In the silence that followed that speech, Alex looked to Jared. His head was down once again as if he was ashamed of something. He wrung his hands on the straps of his backpack. Looking at the bag, Alex wondered why he hadn’t thought to go into the centre to get a bag for himself. Or protective gear. Or why this was only a two-person job. Maybe it was just so that Jared could save face, just in case the food run ended up failing. Maybe—
Jared cut off his thoughts. “You know I failed, right? In school?”
“Yeah,” Alex said. “Grade 2?”
“Yeah,” Jared replied with a grin. “Pretty stupid, huh?”
“I guess.”
“How do you even fail Grade 2?” Jared asked, kicking a rock down the street.
Alex shrugged.
“I missed a lot of the year.” Jared said, slowing his steps.
Alex nodded, not sure where the conversation was going.
Jared sighed. “Like, two full months, almost at the end of the year. My little brother ... he got really sick. Some kind of blood thing. They weren’t sure what it was. Just that there was something wrong with his blood. They didn’t even know that much for a while. He just got sick all the time. Like, colds and flus and stuff. He had fever. He was ... I guess he was four. He didn’t grow that much and it was ... it was shitty.
“He had to go to the kid’s hospital in Halifax. Once a month for like a year. Then, way more. Then, they just kept him there. My mom lived there with him, at first. They made a room for the two of them and she stayed there. Then she got sick and they couldn’t let her stay in the wing with the sick little kids ‘cause that might make them sicker. Then my dad had to go up, and me and my sister stayed with my grandpa. Well, my grandpa stayed at our house with us ‘cause his house was small.
“After a week of that, Grandpa got a call and said we had to go to Halifax, too. I think he was crying when he was on the phone, but I don’t really remember. When we got there, we went straight to the hospital. I went there once
, the year before with my brother and my mom, but this time felt ... different? I think the first time I went, I was excited. Like it was a fun trip or something. This time, it felt bad. Really bad. My dad met us at the door and he looked really sad, but he tried to smile. I hate that. Like they think it’s going to fool you or something. But I smiled back at him anyway. He seemed like he needed it.
“He took us upstairs to some waiting room. All kinds of these weird blue-green chairs that looked like they were supposed to be comfortable, but they weren’t at all. You ever been to the children’s hospital in Halifax, Alex?”
Alex shook his head, now fixed on Jared’s story as they went.
“It’s not great. I guess it’s good for kids who are sick or whatever, but I don’t like it. I guess that makes sense, though.
“I asked when we were gonna go see my mom or Jason—that’s my brother—and he said that we were gonna go soon, but he just wanted to tell us to not be scared or anything when we saw him. That he was still Jason and that everything was okay.
“We went into this small room, and there was this little glass box, or plastic or whatever, and my mom was sitting next to it. Her eyes were so red, like she’d been crying for a long time. We went over to her, and my sister gave her a hug, and I wanted to, but I couldn’t. I stared into that glass box thing. Jason was in it and he had all these tubes and stuff going into him. He looked really weird and pale. Mom said that he was sleeping, and I guess he was, but I just thought he was dead.”
He paused and took a deep breath before continuing.
“He wasn’t. Not then.
“They set up this little house for us near the hospital. We were there for a while, and it was weird. Me and my sister kept asking when we were going home. We were little, right? So it made sense then. My dad said we’d go home soon. I didn’t know what we were waiting for. Not until it happened. We were waiting for my brother to die.
“By then I was out of school for, like, two months, and with all the time I missed before going to Halifax with Jason on other visits and staying at home with him and stuff, I wasn’t allowed to pass that year. It sucked, but you know, I got to see my little brother just before ... you know ... and I got to help my family. You know why I’m telling you all this, Alex?”
Rise of the Mudmen Page 28
