The Last Orphans

by N.W. Harris

  “What should we do now?” Kelly asked after they returned to the gym.

  The older kids used wrestling mats to make beds for the little ones, including Nat, on the other end of the basketball court, and the lights were turned down. Shane could tell that at least half of the younger kids were asleep, but could hear some of them whimpering, torn up over the loss of their parents. Several of the teenagers were moving from child to child, soothing them and trying to get them to rest.

  Aaron and Kelly both looked at Shane, waiting for an answer. He couldn’t imagine why they thought he’d have a clue as to what they should do, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Their expressions demanded he take the lead, seeming fully confident he’d have the answers.

  “Gather everyone together,” Shane said tentatively, trying to formulate a plan. “We need to huddle up and figure out what to do.”

  Aaron and Kelly nodded, their worried expressions relaxing as if they were relieved to have an assignment. They herded the teenagers over to Shane. Almost everyone had the same need in their eyes that Kelly and Aaron did—they just wanted to be told everything would be all right. The burden of protecting Kelly, her sister, and the four kids they’d picked up behind the Piggly Wiggly was unnerving. Taking on the responsibility for all the kids in the gym felt overwhelming. When Shane asked for a huddle, he didn’t expect they’d all end up staring at him, wanting him to give a speech. It quickly became obvious he had to say something, because no one else was going to start the meeting.

  “Okay guys,” he began with a shaky voice, trying to think of what Coach Rice would say. “We’ve all lost a lot today, and we’re feeling like total crap right now. But we have to try to pull it together and make sure we’re doing the right thing for those kids down there.” He pointed toward the dark end of the gym, where the children slept. “They can’t survive without us.”

  What he said sounded embarrassingly cliché to Shane, but a wave of agreeing nods and sounds passed through the small group of teens and they kept their eyes glued on him, their faces begging him to continue.

  “Has anyone seen an adult alive since this started?” Shane asked to get some of the attention off himself.

  They gave each other hopeful glances, but no one answered.

  “Then we have to be the adults now.” He looked around the group with his eyebrows raised, encouraging someone else to chime in. “We need to come up with some ideas. We need to make a plan.”

  “We could stay here and wait for someone to come for us,” Aaron offered with uncertainty in his voice, glancing around like he expected an objection.

  “Nobody is going to help us,” Matt said drearily. Matt and Shane had been close friends in elementary school, but had grown apart over the last couple of years as Shane became more athletic and Matt brainier. “I checked the internet, and the same thing is happening all over the world. Animals are attacking adults and, in the cities, adults are killing each other. No one seems to know why.”

  “And there isn’t much food left in the cafeteria. Soon, the electricity will go out if there is no one at the power plants to keep it going.” This came from Billy, a nervous, short, red-haired sophomore who helped serve sandwiches in the cafeteria earlier. His family was one of the poorest in town, and he wore stained and outdated clothing that clearly came from donations or the Goodwill store. When they were in the first and second grade, Billy was the kid who always smelled like pee, and everyone used to call him Willie Wee Wee. He’d never been able to shake the reputation and was still one of the least popular kids in school.

  “I saw this program on TV where they showed what would happen if all the people disappeared,” Billy continued. “Things are gonna fall apart pretty quickly.”

  “What’s gonna happen?” Shane asked, glad to have some other people giving input. He’d always thought that Billy was a nice enough guy and had made an effort to talk to him whenever he had a chance.

  “Well, first the electricity will go out. Then nuclear power plants and nuclear waste storage facilities will melt down, and it’ll be like Chernobyl times a hundred, with nuclear waste spreading all over the place. Oh yeah, and chemical plants that use refrigeration to keep toxic chemicals in a liquid form will explode, and toxic gas will be blown everywhere.” Billy’s voice got pitched and panicky, his shoulders rising defensively and his head dropping like he wasn’t accustomed to having people look at him, much less listen to him for more than a second. “And the animals that are used to people taking care of them will start killing each other. And the rotting corpses of those that died will cause disease. And—”

  “Okay, okay.” Shane cut the excited boy off. “I think we get the point. The world is going to go to hell in a hurry. So that brings us back to our problem—what should we do?”

  “I think we should head south, toward Atlanta,” Steve Thompson said, running his big hand over his short-cropped brown hair and then crossing his thick arms over his chest. He was a linebacker and the youngest player on the varsity football team. “There are a lot more people than animals in the city. There has to be some adults still alive down there.”

  “Yeah, but there are also a lot more chemical plants and rotting bodies. Which means more disease and poisonous gas leaks,” Billy noted with a meek tone.

  “Well, quit being a naysayer and think of something better,” Steve replied, glaring at Billy with a look of disgust.

  Billy took a step back and lowered his head, as if he wanted to disappear into the shadows.

  “I think Steve is right,” Tracy Cyrus announced firmly. She was as tall as Shane was and had a short, blonde crew cut. Tracy never had a boyfriend, and rumor had it she liked girls, but she was so tough that no one dared to pick on her. “We should try to make it to Dobbins Air Force Base. My dad is on duty down there. The military will know what to do, and they can protect us.” Being the commander of the JROTC program at the school, Tracy had poise and confidence that Shane respected and knew would be helpful.

  “Okay,” Shane replied, feeling a little less like the burden of leadership was all on his shoulders. “Those are some good ideas. Anyone got anything else?”

  The kids glanced at each other for a moment, but none spoke up.

  “Well then, I guess we have two options. We stay here and wait for help, or we head south and try to go to the military base.” Shane asked the kids to raise their hands for a vote. Just over half wanted to head south.

  “So it’s settled.” Steve sounded tired of all the talking. “What should we use for transportation? I don’t think we want to be spread out in a bunch of different cars.”

  “School buses,” Matt answered. “There are plenty parked out back. And I bet anything the keys are in the office.” Being the shortest kid in the eleventh grade, Matt looked much younger than the others did. But having wrestled around with him a lot when they were little, Shane knew not to underestimate the nerdy boy who wore old school round-rimmed glasses.

  “We should probably make sure they’re fueled up, and maybe even put some extra fuel and water in tanks to carry along before the power goes out,” Billy said. He’d slipped around the group so a few people were between him and Steve, but he still sounded on edge and gave a nervous glance toward the big guy when he spoke. “The pumps won’t work without electricity, so it’ll be hard to get gas. And the water will quickly stop flowing and become too contaminated to drink.”

  “I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight anyway, so I’ll take one of the buses up to the gas station and get fuel,” Shane said.

  “I’ll drive another bus,” Aaron volunteered, looking a little excited about getting behind the wheel of such a large vehicle.

  “How many do we need?” Kelly asked.

  “Three should do it,” answered Tracy decisively. “Two will carry everybody here, and we can load the third with extra fuel and food. The hardware store should have some jerry cans we can use for fuel and water. I’ll drive the third one.”

/>   “You might want to grab all the weapons you see while you’re there,” Laura said, slipping out from behind the others like a dark ghost. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we ran into some trouble down closer to Atlanta. If there are no police around to keep criminals in check, things could get crazy.”

  “Good idea,” Shane said. “Thanks, Laura.” Because of her quiet nature and the fact that she’d moved to town from the city just a year ago, Shane guessed most kids didn’t realize she was one of the smartest kids in the school. He felt somewhat comforted knowing her brains were on their side.

  “Kelly will come with me. Matt, you go with Tracy, and Steve, you help Aaron. We’ll drive up to the hardware store and then get fuel.” Shane scanned the kids’ faces. They all seemed eager for an assignment. “Billy, go to the computer lab and search the internet to try and figure out what is going on. The rest of you gather all the food out of the cafeteria that doesn’t need to be in a fridge. When we return, we’ll load it into bus number three.”

  “Also, grab any blankets, jackets, first aid kits, and other supplies that might come in handy,” Tracy added.

  “Alright, let’s make it happen,” Steve said, clapping his hands like the team did when they broke huddle on the football field. The ritual felt awkward, and he got a few crinkled brow glances from the kids surrounding him, but then the group split up and everybody headed off to their assignments.