Vagrant Youth

by Eleanor Merry

  “Okay, guys, listen up,” she began as four sets of eyes focused on her, “ya’ll know there’s been a virus goin’ around. Since Ike has a bit of a fever, he is going to be staying in the spare room for a few days so no one else gets sick.” The arguments picked up immediately.

  “But we need to take care of him!” Benny cried.

  “What if we are sick already?” Tara exclaimed as she inched away from the others.

  “How bad is the virus, Abs?” Joshua asked.

  Olive just stared, a severe look on her face. Abby sighed as the three continued talking over one another, asking questions and raising concerns over Ike and themselves. Putting two fingers to her temple she held her hand up. After a moment the chatter died down again.

  “You guys put me and Ike in charge for a reason,” Abby started, “And you all agreed that the two of us would make big decisions on behalf of the group, right?”

  No one commented.

  “Well, this virus isn’t good, you guys,” she hesitated, “Ike should be fine, but just in case, we can’t afford more than one of us sick. Since I’ve been outside already, I’ll take care of him until he’s better. Tara, you’re in charge of meal prep until this blows over. NONE OF YOU are to go near that room or outside. I’ll grab water if you guys need it and Tara, you are in charge of boiling it like usual. Understood?” With reluctance, they all nodded their heads one at a time. Benny’s lower lip quivered slightly, making Abby’s heart crack. She opened her arms, and the young boy jumped into them.

  “He’s gonna be okay, right?” he asked, crying into her sweater. Abby murmured placations in his ear that she didn’t quite believe. The others sat in silence.

  Chapter 3

  Following that, only Abby went into Ike’s new room. She put a cloth over her face and washed her hands in a bucket of water with soap followed by hand sanitizer every time she left. It was far from a real quarantine, but it was the best she could do with what they had. Luckily, they had some aspirin, and Abby diligently gave it to Ike every 4 to 6 hours, like it said on the bottle, to keep his fever down. Although she didn’t have a thermometer, it felt like Ike was getting hotter, and he had begun to vomit now too. Although she tried to keep up a brave face for everyone else, she was getting more and more concerned that Ike wouldn’t recover.

  On the afternoon of the second day of Ike’s illness, when Abby was walking down the hallway, she happened to look out one of their few uncovered windows and saw a commotion down the street. They had heard a few shouts the night before and the occasional car, but for the most part, it had been very quiet. That, in itself, was unusual for the area, which was usually filled with drunken shouts and other noises of the night. She approached the window and looked down and realized it was someone in a house down the street pushing another person out of the house and onto the lawn in front. The shouts didn’t carry clearly enough for her to hear individual words, but the animated postures and angry faces said it all. The person on the lawn looked pale even from afar, and she could tell he was crying. She watched as the door to the house slammed shut, and the lone man dropped to his knees. Without a word, she pulled the blinds shut and went to check on the other kids.

  “How’s Ike?” Benny asked excitedly when she entered the room. Abby gave a small smile, “He’s doing fine, buddy.”

  Tara stormed in holding something in her hands, her eyes filled with fury. Abby paled when she saw the edges of a furled newspaper. Her heart jumped in her chest at seeing Tara’s anger and disappointment. How would she explain? Noticing that the paper didn’t look as old as the one she had, she grabbed the paper out of Tara’s hand, looking at the date. It was different than the one she had. Her own anger flared.

  “What the fuck? You went outside!” Abby shrieked, her hands shaking.

  Tara sneered. “You knew about this!” she accused. “The fatality of this disease is fucking insane! You knew all along. Ike is probably fucking dying, and you didn’t tell us!”

  Silence filled the room at Tara’s outburst. Tears welled in Abby’s eyes in hearing it, knowing that despite her denial, it was probably true. Sniffling, she reached out and grabbed the newspaper. At first Tara held on, glaring back at her friend until she saw the wetness on Abby’s cheeks. Tara’s face softened, and she handed over the newspaper before going over to Benny whose mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, no words coming out.

  Abby scanned over the article. Shit. Over 90% fatality rate. She swallowed heavily and looked up. Around the room all eyes were on her, waiting for her to confirm Tara’s words, to say what they were dreading to hear. She couldn’t do it. Wordlessly, she turned around and walked down the hall to Ike.

  ✽✽✽

  Ike groaned as he opened his eyes. He had been sleeping a lot, mostly because his head hurt so much it was hard to keep his eyes open. Hot and cold flashes overtook him, and he was constantly damp from sweat, kicking off the blanket only to search for it blindly when his sweat-soaked clothes became too chilled by the air. Blinking, he noticed Abby was sitting beside him on the mattress, tears quietly running down her face. Despite his heavy and aching limbs, Ike reached out and grabbed her hand.

  Looking up, Abby’s big brown eyes implored Ike’s own deep grey ones. Recognition passed between them, and Abby immediately fell into his arms sobbing, not even thinking of the risk of infection by doing so. Numbness rather than fear filled Ike as he held his friend. He had only gotten sick a few days before, and already he knew the cold inevitable truth.

  That night, more screams could be heard from the streets. Abby told everyone to keep their flashlights off and to stay quiet. For the rest of the night, she sat at the upstairs window just outside of Ike’s room watching the street. Further down, a fight had broken out, and she could still see a lone figure hunched over a body. Swallowing hard, she closed the blind once more and went to her own bed.

  ✽✽✽

  The next day, both Olive and Benny started getting sick as well. Benny’s eyes were rimmed with redness and Olive’s lips pinched in pain. Both were hot to the touch, their faces flush with fever. With heavy hearts they moved their bedding into Ike’s room. Abby followed with water and aspirin to make them more comfortable, leaving Joshua and Tara on their own to wonder when they would get the virus too.

  Ike’s eyes sparkled upon seeing his little mini-me but dimmed when he realized what circumstances would have led Benny to be there in the first place. Ike had gotten steadily worse the last few days, and the thought of any of them, especially Benny, having to go through this was almost as bad as the experience itself. Despite how weak he felt, he snuggled up to the boy, selfishly grateful for the company.

  Abby spent part of the morning going through the rest of their supplies. They still had a decent amount of food, but they were running low on water, the stream out back couldn’t be drunk, unless boiled which was not easy to do for them. She also found she had used up almost all the painkillers on Ike the past few days.

  After reading through the newspaper Tara had gotten more thoroughly, she learned that there was a small percent of people who were totally immune and wondered if she was one of them. She had been outside more than the rest and had been the only one in close contact with Ike. More than the risk of infection to herself though, was the worry brought on by the glimpses of the things she had seen outside. Abby knew she would have to go out again if she was going to take care of her family, and she couldn’t help but be scared of what she might find.

  Walking into the ‘sick’ room, Abby smiled at the sight of young Benny and Ike curled up napping together. They both looked pale, especially Ike, but for the moment, they looked happy. Olive sat by herself, arms wrapped around her knees as she looked off into space.

  Abby looked around for the notebook they used to communicate with Olive. Olive had always been a bit of an enigma to the group. It was Tara and Joshua who had found her one evening the prior winter. It had been a cold and snowy night, and the streets were quiet as the du
o made their way home with their meagre daily loot. Things were always tougher in the winter, though the Christmas season tended to result in more generosity.

  As they walked down an alley they often used as a shortcut, they saw feet sticking out from behind a dumpster. At first Joshua had tried to convince Tara to walk away; they didn’t need to deal with dead bodies in their already hectic life. They were both still minors, and attention from the authorities inevitably meant foster care. Tara refused to go without taking a closer look first. As they approached, they saw Olive, who was barely breathing and turning blue, she was so cold. Picking her up between them, they rushed her the last few blocks to the house.

  That night the group had warmed up the poor frozen girl. It had been Abby and Tara who had taken off her freezing wet clothes, slowly rubbing her extremities to get the blood flowing. It was then they discovered the scars marring the girl’s body. Her entire back, from her neck to her knees, was covered with long scars and raised welts. Small circular scars covered her small breasts as well as the bottom of her feet. The girl looked to be no more than fourteen or fifteen, and they were horrified to think who could have done this to her.

  The next morning, Olive woke up, warm and comfortable, and for the first time in her life, she was surrounded by people who were concerned about her well-being. Young Benny had made her instant oatmeal while Abby and Tara helped her to the bathroom. Joshua and Ike could tell they both made her uneasy and had stayed away from her, respecting the obvious fear of boys and men the girl felt. After she had eaten and cleaned up further, she still hadn’t said anything, but she finally mimed pen and paper. Abby brought her both, curious to see what this unknown girl had to say. She scribbled for a moment then handed the notepad back to Abby.

  ‘My name is Olive. Thank you for saving me.’

  And thus, their group became six.

  Chapter 4

  Abby approached Olive and handed her a notepad and pen. Although Olive had taught them all a few signs, none of them knew quite enough to really converse that way.

  “Olive, I know you’re probably pretty freaked out right now.”

  Olive turned to her and gave her a look that said it all. (Duh!)

  Abby gave a small smile. “Yeah, understatement. Sorry.” For a moment, she remained silent, gathering her words in her head. “Listen, I have to go out again. We need more water and pain killers for you guys.”

  Olive looked her in the eyes steadily before scribbling something and handing it to her.

  ‘Be careful.’

  Abby nodded at her before leaving the room.

  Abby waited until evening to leave. She told Joshua and Tara to stay away from the sick room and took with her only two empty backpacks. She contemplated taking the baseball bat, which typically stayed beside their front door, but she didn’t want to leave the others with nothing to protect themselves. Steeling herself for whatever she might find, she crept out of the house under the cover of darkness.

  Staying in the shadows, Abby moved silently down the street. As she got a few blocks away, she began to notice an unpleasant odor in the air that got stronger as she walked. Hoping to avoid whatever was causing it, she adjusted her direction but quickly realized the stench was all over the neighborhood. It was a smell reminiscent of the dumpster behind the local butcher but much worse. Her entire body willed her to turn around, to go home, but her urge to help her family won out.

  Pulling her sweater up over her nose, she continued on.

  Another few blocks and she still hadn’t seen anyone, which in itself was unusual. Typically, this neighborhood was frequented by a lot of homeless people, many of which were their friends, and the lack of the usual faces was disturbing. Abby turned a corner, her stomach clenching at the cloying smell that only seemed to be getting stronger, and tripped over something in the darkness. Swearing under her breath, she picked herself up and turned to see what she had fallen over, letting out a small shriek and scrambling away when she realized it was a body.

  “What the fuck!” she exclaimed without thinking. Quickly she scanned the area to see if anyone was nearby, breathing a sigh of relief that she was still alone. Curiosity got the better of her, and she moved closer. Even in the darkness, she could see that it was a woman whose clothes were ripped to shreds. Large chunks had been taken out of her that looked almost like bite marks. Bile rose in her throat, and Abby struggled not to vomit.

  What the actual fuck is going on? That woman looked like she was ripped to shreds and fucking bitten. Who the hell would do something like this?

  Not needing to see any more, Abby ran the other way down the alley. After she had been running for a few blocks, she finally slowed down, all the while her eyes darted back and forth looking for movement. Luckily, in her mad dash, she had still gone in the right direction, towards the store they had raided only a few days before.

  Without further incident, Abby got back later that night exhausted and drained. She had seen several more bodies in varying places on the streets, but she hadn’t inspected them like she had the woman. She also narrowly avoided a fight like she had seen the night before but was able to get away without being seen.

  Abby tried to steady herself before seeing the others. She still shook with adrenaline. Resolved to put forth a calm demeanor, she relaxed her shoulders before she went into the sick room and handed out water and painkillers. Her hands only trembling slightly before curling up at her chair by the window and falling into a disturbed sleep.

  Chapter 5

  Over the next few days, Ike, Olive, and Benny got steadily worse. Benny, being the youngest, seemed to have the worst of it. After only forty-eight hours, he looked even worse than Ike, who had been sick for nearly a week. Ike seemed to improve slightly as he took care of the boy, his body seemingly heedless of its own needs and weakness. No one had been outside since Abby’s foray into the madness, but they all were beginning to notice how things were changing in the outside world. The faint miasma of decay seemed to hang over the entire city, now permeating their home. Screams were a frequent occurrence. At one point, there had been someone in their yard, but they all remained as quiet as possible until whoever it was passed.

  Tara and Joshua stayed mostly alone on the opposite end of the house. Abby knew that during the summer prior they had become much closer. Both the same age, their relationship had wandered off the path of platonic, though they never said anything to the rest of the group. Abby and Ike spoke of it once and both decided they would bring it up when they were ready. Abby was happy for them both now that at least they had each other. Watching her friends waste away, day by day, was worse than anything she could imagine. Sometimes, she too wished she had the comfort of someone else’s arms to fall into at the end of the day.

  On the third day after Olive and Benny got sick, they couldn’t even keep water down. Both of their fevers seemed incredibly high, even compared to Ike. Mad at herself for not remembering a thermometer, all Abby could do was wash them with cool water from the stream behind the house and give them aspirin in hopes of getting their fevers down.

  Abby thought back to the year before when she had come down with a flu and the other children had cared for her. It had been the worst illness she ever had, and she remembered all too well the fever dreams and night terrors that had plagued her throughout.

  It was only a short time after Olive had joined them, and she recalled the girl sitting with her and applying cold compresses to her head, much like Abby was doing now. Benny had found some old crayons and made her a get-well card, which she still had. Tara and Joshua even got a slightly stale cake from a bakery nearby, the owners being fond of the ragged group. Abby smiled at the recollection, and despite the horrors of what they were going through, it felt good in a strange sort of way to be able to care for them, as they all had once for her.

  That evening, Ike read a story to Benny and Olive, his voice raspy but surprisingly strong. Olive, who looked like a ghost with her pale skin and secondhand,
off-white nightgown, refused to write on her notepad or sign, but listened with dull attention. Benny, head and back propped up against Ike’s chest, was a shadow of his former self. His once vibrant face was gaunt and pale, and his eyes, no longer innocent, seemed to have taken on the wizened knowledge of those about to die.

  Ike watched in fear as Benny began to heave despite nothing being in his stomach. Abby and him held the small boy as he coughed and sputtered, while Olive looked on from her corner, silent tears rolling down her face. Finally, around midnight, the small boy’s body couldn’t take anymore, and he took his last breath. Both Tara and Joshua, heedless of Abby’s warning, had come into the sick room for the boy’s last moments.

  Abby felt like a failure. Despite all of their efforts, sweet young Benedict passed only four days after contracting the virus. Ike was devastated, and his condition seemed to worsen almost immediately. The next morning, before the sun had even risen, Olive too, passed quietly in her sleep.

  The house had never been through such despair. They had all experienced horrors in their short lives, things no child should ever go through. Watching their small family wither and die, though, was worse.

  Abby and Joshua took Olive and Benny’s bodies from the room, placing them in a small mudroom near the back door. They intended to wait for night before digging graves. Tara stared out the window, even Joshua was unable to break her from whatever was going on in her head.

  Digging the two small graves was what finally made it real for Abby, and she ended up breaking down right there in the dirt. Joshua sat quietly beside her, holding her hand, there for her, but unable to do anything. After they finally finished, it was the middle of the night, but neither of them was tired. They began cleaning up and taking the ruined, fluid ridden sheets and blankets from the room. Ike slept alone, his shallow and raspy breaths an unpleasant reminder of what was to come. They had walked by Tara several times and the girl said nothing, didn’t even look towards them. It was on their third pass that Joshua got angry at seeing her complacency.