The Grey Ones

by Candra Baguley

  Chapter 5

  When the mysterious creature knocks me to the ground, the taste of hair gets inside of my mouth. The thing is so fast that it has already circled back to my feet by the time my back slams into the cement. I groan when its jaw latches onto my ankle. With the sharp teeth digging into my leather boot I realize that this has to be a dog. But how would an animal find its way into here?

  “Cano. Release.” An old, familiar voice calls out. At the command, it releases my ankle from its mouth. “Come.” I hear the man’s voice again followed by one sharp whistle. Claws scrape against the cement, away from me.

  Travis’s flashlight cuts through the darkness, illuminating the man who is standing on the other side of the table. He’s a little under six feet with an average build. His brown and grey hair is pulled back up into a short ponytail. I stare past his greying beard and realize he looks familiar. It’s Rhett - the architect who helped us with building the tunnel and bunker.

  “Rhett? What’re you doing here?” Travis asks.

  After climbing through the small entrance he drops to the ground a few feet below. Ty follows close behind him while grasping his own flashlight. His knuckles have turned white from his tight grip. By his widened eyes, it’s obvious that he’s scared.

  “I’m so sorry about that. I hadn’t seen you guys in a while, and well I thought - you know what, never mind. We’ll leave.” Rhett stumbles over his words nervously.

  His hands tremble as he lifts a brown leather jacket off of the table. Cano stands beside his owner, watching everyone with his golden brown eyes. He’s a large dog with a muscular body, short muzzle, and strong bite. His ears that point straight up make him appear like a guard dog you want on your side. When Travis and Ty walk over to where I’m still sitting on the cement floor, Cano’s body tenses up revealing how strong he is.

  With his flashlight pointed at my bitten ankle, Ty leans in closer and asks, “Are you hurt mom?”

  “Ah,” I wince when he pushes a little too hard on it. My leg pulls away in reaction as I reply, “Yeah, it’s just sore. I’ll be fine.”

  Travis sits next me and places my hurt leg in his lap. I watch him anxiously as he unties my black combat boot before slipping it off. With a gentle touch he pulls my ankle up to his face. His eyes zone in on the sore spot while he exams it.

  “No blood, no wound, you’re okay.” Travis says.

  He smiles at me causing his deep dimples to sink into his cheeks. As he sits back up, light from the well shines in his eyes turning them a lighter shade of blue.

  “Still hurt.”

  Travis smirks before he lifts my ankle to his lips. His lips press against my sore ankle softly. “Better?” His voice is soft and sincere. When I nod, he stands up. With an arm stretched out to me, he says, “Time to get back up.”

  With his hand wrapped around mine, he pulls me to my feet. Pain shoots through my ankle when I place pressure on it. My teeth clench together as I walk through the pain.

  “I’m sorry Isabelle. He’s protective is all,” Rhett says. His voice sounds sympathetic, like he actually means it.

  I chew the inside of my cheek while staring quietly at him and his dog. Cano’s golden eyes stare into mine for a few seconds. As Travis clears his throat, Cano shifts his gaze.

  I force a small smile and respond, “It’s fine Rhett.”

  “Rhett, you can stay. Just help me get the generator box up and running.” Travis sets his backpack and weapons bag on the floor next to mine. When he begins to walk through the darkness, his light beaming on him, Rhett throws up a hand, stopping Travis with a confused look.

  “It’s okay. Billy already did that,” Rhett says. He spins around on his heel to look in the dark corner where the generator box sits.

  His voice calls loudly, “Billy, start that up, will ya? These are the owners. This is Travis, Isabelle, and their son, Ty.”

  With a loud roar, the generator box sounds like a lawn mower being started up. When the bunker lights flicker on I find a teenage boy standing behind it. His scrawny body is a little taller than mine, and the short brown hair on his round head looks freshly cut. I move my stare up and down his body, which appears to be pretty clean. The blue jeans he’s wearing hardly seem dirty; same with his black long-sleeved shirt. Through the round framed glasses sitting on the top of his narrow nose, he glances up from the floor long enough to mumble, “Hello”, before his brown-eyed gaze returns to the cement below.

  “I didn’t know you had a kid.” Travis says, confused. The wooden chair screeches across the cement when he pulls it out to sit down across from Rhett.

  I plop down in the steel chair on his side and spot Cano sitting in between Rhett and the empty chair beside him. His eyes shift from person to person. His nose twitching as he sniffs the air.

  “What? I don’t?” Rhett says shaking his head. “I met Billy a few days ago in town. He was at the pawn shop looking for a ham radio.”

  “A ham radio?” Travis asks, looking over at the shy teenager.

  Billy averts his eyes to the floor while walking over to Rhett in silence. As he sits down at the table he mumbles, “Yeah… I was thinking I could use one to try to find any other survivors.” His white teeth almost sparkle in the light when he grins, “And my family could find me.”

  “Were you able to find one?” Travis asks. He stares at him suspiciously, watching his expressions for any giveaways. Travis doesn’t trust any strangers, especially now. But Billy seems harmless.

  “No, not a working one anyway.” Billy replies. Looking away from Travis’s glare, he stares down at the black dog. Once he realizes that he is staring back at him, his eyes quickly shift to the other side.

  “That’s one hell of a guard dog you got yourself there Rhett.” I laugh nervously, focusing on the dog that still hasn’t taken his eyes off Billy.

  Rhett looks at him and laughs, “Yeah, he’s a very loyal dog. I’ve had him since he was just a pup.” Rhett replies. His tan arm extends out to the side, then pats Cano on the head.

  “How old is he?” Ty asks.

  His fingers dig in behind his bat ears. As he scratches gently Rhett replies, “Oh… about two, two and a half.”

  “Can I pet him?”

  With a crooked smile, he chuckles, “Yeah, walk over here and let him sniff your hand first.”

  Ty looks at me with wide eyes, pleading for the okay. When I hesitate to respond, Rhett chimes in, “He’ll be safe. Cano is one hell of a guard dog, but he’s also got a soft spot for kids. I used to take him to the hospitals to see sick children. You know, before all this happened.” His arms lift up to his sides.

  “Please?” Ty’s fingers lace together as he begs.

  Even though I’m still unsure I nod at him to go ahead. He excitedly skips over to them, with his right hand extended out. Cano doesn’t hesitate to sniff his hand before looking over at Rhett for permission. When he nods, the massive dog turns back to face Ty. His head bows as he pushes it into the center of his small palm. He skims his fingers through his short black hair, down the back of his neck, until finally reaching the sides. Cano’s body melts to the floor, allowing Ty to rub his dark belly.

  “So, how did you guys meet again?” Travis asks, focusing the conversation back on Billy and Rhett.

  “Well, he was in town looking for a ham radio when I happened to pass through. While I was on my way to the pharmacy in search of insulin I bumped into him. Billy was stepping out of the pawn shop when Cano tried to attack him. I stopped him and that’s when he told me his story.”

  “Were you able to find any more insulin?” He doesn’t hide the concern in his voice. Before today, we thought that everyone with illnesses or diseases had already died. Without medicine being manufactured, how could they survive?

  “Nah. There was none left in town that I could find. It’s okay though, I have enough in my backpack to last me until I can find more.” Rhett smiles wearily. His puffy eyes make him appear as if he hasn
’t slept in days. As he pats his hand on the dog’s head, he continues, “Until then, I have Cano to help keep me safe.”

  “How so?” I ask.

  “Cano has been trained to alert me before my blood sugar levels become dangerous.” Rhett runs his hand over Cano’s head and onto his strong back. “He’s also had advanced guard dog training since he was a puppy.”

  “That’s so cool!” Ty exclaims, revealing his missing front tooth.

  When he lost his tooth a few weeks ago, he tucked it under the pillow in case the tooth fairy was still coming. Travis saw no point in continuing with the tooth fairy so he told me to leave it. But once he fell asleep, I snuck a few candies from town underneath Ty’s pillow. The next morning, Ty was so excited that he literally jumped up and down. I thought Travis was going to lecture me but instead he laughed and said that the tooth fairy wouldn’t bring candy. But I didn’t care, and neither did Ty. It was his first tooth to fall out, and I wasn’t going to skip his childhood because of the invasion.

  “So what is your story?” Travis bluntly asks, staring at Billy.

  Billy fidgets with his hand as he stammers, “Um, well… I am from Portland. Born and raised. I was out at museum with some friends the night the Grey Ones came. I hid in the bathroom while everyone else was slaughtered outside. By the time I made it home the next day my family was gone. I’ve been searching for them ever since.” His voice sounds unsteady. When he opens his eyes I expect to see tears, but his eyes are dry.

  “We’re sorry to hear that.” I reply sincerely before reaching out for Ty’s hand. His hand feels small in the center of my palm. I glance down at him with a grateful smile formed on my lips. I’m so glad that we weren’t separated when this happened.

  “Thanks. That’s why I wanted the ham radio. My dad has one and when I went back to the house it was gone. So I think if I can fix the one I found today then I can get in touch with my family and they can find me.” He half smiles.

  “Well if you need anything let us know. Travis is good with electronics and should be able to help you fix it. There could be others out there that may be able to give us more useful information.” I reply.

  When I turn to Travis, he lets out a deep breath and closes his eyes. He hates having to talk to strangers. In high school, despite crushing on me, he barely spoke to me the entire time. While I was known by everyone for being on the gymnastics team, Travis was more of a shy loner. It took an injury senior year for him to gather the courage to speak to me. One day when I was leaving my final physical therapy appointment, we bumped into each other outside of the building. After a flirtatious debate on gymnasts’ strength he invited me to work out with him at the gym next door. That was the day I got into CrossFit. And after becoming gym buddies for a few months, we began dating.

  Enthusiastically, Billy replies, “That’d be great. I mean, if that’s okay with you Travis?”

  His shoulders shrug as he says, “Sure, why not? Maybe we will find out more information that we can use against these monsters.”