“Calm down Eric,” Ben said, holding Carver back.
“As far as I can tell he’s telling the truth.” Julia addressed the other committee members. “This kid seems to know a lot about the infected. He’s classified them, named them based on personality traits and doesn’t even seemed bothered by the large number outside, while we’re all scared half to death.”
Martyn shivered and looked back at the monitors. “You got that right.”
“It’s really quite fascinating.” Manson was fixated on the teen.
“So Antonio and, his brother…” She gestured again to the closet but Miles only looked up for a second then looked away. “They’re the ones who know how to best handle these infected.”
“So what do we do? How do we get them to go away?” Lesly looked among the other committee members, searching for answers.
“Well… what do we do?” Julia turned the question to Antonio.
The boy licked his lips and smiled a wicked smile. “They like a hive and like you said the hive need a queen to follow. The siren calls to them but with no siren they need something hella loud. Y’all got somethin’ like that?”
“We might.” Ben thought for a moment.
Carver shook his head and stepped away from the table and back out of the light. But as he withdrew, a small figure stepped forward.
“And you can get rid of them? You can get rid of the strikers?” Alana made her way over and leaned on the table, staring Antonio down.
Miles, inside the closet, looked up to see Alana when he heard her voice. Her hazel eyes found him in his corner but went back to Antonio.
“Why would I do that?” Antonio blinked slowly.
“We’ll do it.” Miles came out of the closet and the room all turned to him. “We can… we can do it. We can get rid of the hive outside if you give us food. We can get… we can get rid of the hive and you give us food.”
He snuck a glance at Alana but when their eyes met, he turned away.
***
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Antonio asked his brother as he paced back and forth with Anderson and another soldier standing only a few feet away. They were back in the docking area now while the other adults were talking in the monitor room. “Really, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“We had to nego-SHE-ate. We had to nego-SHE-ate.” Miles was sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth. The steel door was only a few feet behind him, but every time the banging started up, no matter how violent, he didn’t flinch. “They was gonna kill us cuz you keep attacking them.”
Antonio scoffed at him and continued pacing. “Now you got us takin’ care of a hive for them. What the fuck!”
Another loud bang startled the soldiers and the brothers looked at them. “You-- you two guys quit all that talking!” The nameless soldier lifted his assault rifle and pointed it at the boys.
The boys didn’t seem bothered by the action, but Antonio sat down with a sigh.
In the other room, Carver leaned against the table in the center of the room with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Really… what the fuck is wrong with all of you? How is this even a discussion?” Carver looked from Julia, to Martyn, to Lesly. “The fact that we’re still taking so long to figure out what to do next is just giving any bastards outside time to prepare and attack this place.”
“Eric, please.” Julia peered at the major on her left and leaned back in her chair. She brought her attention back to Lesly and Martyn. “Look, I barely know any more than you two. But this is the situation we’re facing. We got two boys who have lived out on the road for who knows how long. They may or may not have allies who are waiting to hear back from them or waiting for an opportunity to get in here. And we also got a shitload of infected gathered outside because they chased those boys here. One of them, Antonio, put a knife to my neck before you guys even came back here…”
“That’s his name? Antonio?” Alana was standing next to her father on the other side of the table, her arms folded. “That fucking prick!”
Ben shushed her and again tried to get her to leave the room. She refused.
Julia continued. “So I don’t exactly have a hundred percent trust in them. But if they know how to handle these strikers… why not have them clean up the mess they caused us.”
Carver coughed. “Then what? Then we give them some of our food as payment and they go out and show their people what we have?”
“Why are you so hell bent on distrusting them?” Ben asked.
“Why are you so quick to trust them?” was Carver’s come back.
Martyn and Lesly were sitting opposite Julia. Martyn had his head down, deep in thought, and Lesly was rapidly tapping her foot on the floor. “What are we going to do?” Lesly had chewed at her bottom lip so much she was starting to smear her lipstick.
“What are our options?” Martyn sat up straight and tried to look less hesitant and uncertain.
“We trust two random kids to get rid of those infected before things get worse, or we wait and see if the hive leaves on its own and decide what to do with the boys,” Julia replied.
“Baker, where are your men? They can’t go out there and just kill the freaks outside?” Lesly was now biting her manicured thumbnail, which was the same color as her lips.
Baker stood behind Carver only a few feet away. “I sent them to check other sides of the building for any more infected. We don’t have enough fire power to take on something like that. And frankly, none of them want to. They’re all scared shitless. We have to do something about those freaks.”
“So, you think the kids can do it?” Martyn licked his lips and leaned forward in his chair.
“Hell no.” Baker said, “I don’t trust those kids at all.”
“So we have to decide what to do. Something that can appease everyone here.” Ben eyed the major, who looked indifferent.
“Well, things sure seem to be getting more interesting every day now, after we let that other family in a few days ago. What were their names, Karen and Joshua?” Manson was cleaning his glasses with his shirt and lifted them above his head in the light. “Coincidence, or no?”
Everyone in the room turned to Manson. “Do you think this is connected?” Martyn asked.
“Hmuh? I don’t know. There’s no way to tell, really.” Manson’s half smile wasn’t full enough to really be considered a smile. “But it is interesting that we let in that family and now we’re dealing with another, family, so to speak, coming into the compound. The boys, Antonio and Miles, showed up only a few days after Karen and Joshua.”
“That’s enough, Manson! We get it.” Martyn looked at Ben, concerned. “There’s no reason to even bring this up right now.”
“Do you always have to be an asshole?” Lesly snapped at the scientist.
Manson shrugged his shoulders and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I can’t help pointing out the obvious. Or at the very least, coincidental.”
“Manson has a point.” Carver continued to aim the discussion towards anything that would convince everyone the boys couldn’t be trusted. “This could be a giant conspiracy to infiltrate the compound. And let’s not forget who decided to let Karen and Joshua in.”
The room now couldn’t help but turn their attention to Ben, though some more subtle than others. Ben shook his head and sighed. “Alright. I know. I know ok. This all is on me; I won’t deny that. But I’m also not going to deny my own humanity. We shouldn’t turn people away when they need help. We can’t stay locked in this store forever! And let’s not forget what happened after I let them in! You worked everyone up into an uproar and drove them out!” Ben pointed his finger at Carver as though he was throwing a knife at the major.
Carver sneered at him and closed his eyes. “Julia and I both tried to calm the community down, but it couldn’t be helped. And then I agreed to send out people to find them even after the accident. So don’t start pointing fingers when I’ve done nothing but try to protect
everyone in here, including you, from what’s out there.”
“At any price, right?”
“You’re goddamn right!” The major was fuming with his teeth gritted and his right fist balled at his side.
Julia threw her head back and cursed in Spanish. “Can the both of you, please, stop fucking going back and forth. We’ve got enough to deal with right now.”
“Understatement of the year.” Martyn was shaking his head.
“Accident?” Alana was looking around the room quizzical and wanting to add to the conversation. “You mean what happened with that boy? He was sick right? That’s why we kicked them out.”
Ben shushed his daughter and tried again to ask her to leave. She was becoming too privy to what was going on.
“So what are we doing? Are we kicking these new boys out? Are we dealing with the freaks outside? I’m just so confused.” Lesly’s eyes darted around the room as she whined in her high octave voice. “Let’s just vote on something to do.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Carver shot down her idea. “This isn’t picking a movie for movie night. We can’t vote on something like this.”
“Why not? We do it all the time for everything else.” Lesly whined some more.
“It’s not that simple now, Ms. Cooper. Things are a bit more complicated,” Manson said with a sigh.
“Well then, what do you think we should do, Bob?” she fired back.
Manson shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe go out and shoot ‘em all up like you suggested.” He looked up at the ceiling. “My mind’s a bit preoccupied at the moment, so I can’t really call it.” The scientist was too busy wondering when this meeting would be over, and he’d be able to return to his lab and examine the infected corpse he had Castle and Burrows move.
Lesly sat back in her seat and folded her arms, pouting.
In the docking area, Antonio was sitting near his brother with his eyes glued on the two striker corpses nearby, covered with sheets. Miles was rocking back and forth and stopped periodically, only to start again. The two soldiers stood watching them, from time to time looking at the steel door and knowing what was on the other side.
“We’re too close to them,” Antonio said to the two men.
“What?” Anderson asked.
“He said we’re too close.” The other soldier wiped sweat from his forehead. A dark bandana was wrapped around his blond hair, but his brow was still wet. “I don’t blame him. Those things are right on the other side of that door. This is way too close for comfort.”
“No. I’m talking about those dead infected.” Antonio pointed his still-bound hands at the bodies under the sheet. “We’re too close to them. You could get infected if you’re not careful.”
Anderson looked down at the bodies. The other soldier pointed his gun at the corpses. “They’re dead. We don’t have to worry about them.”
“Maybe we’re like, inhaling the virus.” Anderson pulled at the collar of his shirt and put it over his nose.
“Don’t be an idiot. The LRS-10 virus isn’t airborne. It’s a bloodborne pathogen. Don’t you remember the news reports? The pamphlets are still all over the store. The virus can only be passed through the blood.”
“And through suh-lie-vuh,” Miles said under his breath, but the men still heard him.
“And scratches and bites,” Antonio added.
“That’s cuz there’s blood or saliva under the fingernails or in the teeth,” Miles added.
“Or like if you get stabbed wit like a knife wit infected blood on it,” Antonio remarked.
“It’s the blood and the saliva. It’s both.”
“I know that, Miles.”
“I wasn’t tellin’ you. I was tellin’ them. They don’t know. They don’t know.” Miles was shaking his head.
“Duh,” Antonio scoffed and threw his head back.
“What?” Anderson was confused.
Bandana was irritated. “Hey shut up huh. We know enough alright.”
“Y’all don’t even know you keep the bodies this close to you. Blood leakin’ out and shit, getting’ everywhere. Somebody step in it, don’t even realize it, walk around yo store wit it on they foot…”
Antonio went on, explaining an elaborate scenario about transferring the blood, while Anderson looked at the small burgundy spot pooling under the two bodies. The sheets were starting to turn the same color from sticking to the ravaged skin underneath. Anderson could smell the odor coming from it and it made him swallow back bile in his throat. The stench was pungent, like sour meat and vinegar.
Antonio was reaching the end of his story now. “Then somebody get it on they food or a open wound then boom, everybody’s infected!”
At the climax of the boy’s story, a bang against the door caused the two soldiers to jump, especially Anderson.
Bandana turned up his lip. “Well that ain’t gonna happen ok, you little shit. We’re gonna be able to stay here forever until somebody fixes that shit out there.” He looked to the door.
“Ryan… maybe we should do something about those bodies.” Anderson looked at the dead infected, then at the other soldier.
Ryan wiped at his bandana again. “Man we don’t gotta do shit. They tryna mess with our heads.”
Both the soldiers spun around, startled, as they heard boots coming from the doorway behind them. When Major Carver and Captain Baker both came out with Ben, Julia and the others, Anderson and Ryan visibly relaxed.
“Major Carver… should we do something about these bodies?” Anderson asked when the major made his way over.
Carver towered over the children sitting on the floor. He stopped in front of them, looked over his shoulder at the bodies under the sheet and then leered down at the boys. “I’m not sure what your plan is here or what you expect to achieve. But here we are, caught in a predicament where there’s too many unanswered questions. Who’s out there waiting for you to come back? Because someone taught you how to use those weapons and I doubt that you two are just living off the land by yourselves. And those weapons you have aren’t yours, so you got them from our people somehow. There’s just too much shit that makes all this difficult to swallow.
“Those freaks outside are here because of you. So, you should be the ones to get rid of them.” Carver sighed and shook his head.
“Strikers,” both brothers said in unison.
Carver just glared down at them. “But we’re not going to let you just have your way. We’re going to wait. We’ll wait to see if those infected outside leave on their own, and we’ll wait and see if you really do have someone waiting on you out there. Until then we’ll keep you locked up, which will give us time to find out how full of shit you really are.”
“That’s bullshit!” Antonio jumped to his feet and stood nose to chest with the major. “You not gon lock us up in that closet!”
Carver didn’t flinch at the boy’s erratic movements as Antonio flailed his arms when he spoke.
Miles jumped up next. “No!” He grabbed his brother and pulled him back.
“You’re right. We’re not going to lock you in the closet.” Ben stepped forward and the boys looked at him. “You can stay in the office. There’s a foldout couch. And while you’re here we can give you some food.”
Carver sucked at the back of his teeth before covering his mouth to cough. His apathy was enough to give Ben pause before he continued.
“We’re not keeping you prisoners. We just want you to stay long enough so that we can sort through all this.” Ben moved closer.
Antonio and Miles exchanged glances and then looked back at the major. Antonio scoffed and lowered his eyes.
“Ok. Ok.” Miles spoke for the both of them. “We’ll go with that. We can go with that.”
Ben smiled and Julia stepped forward next. “But if there’s anything that makes us regret keeping you here, anything at all like putting a knife to someone’s neck or actually having people waiting out there…we won’t hesitate to deal with it appropriately.�
��
“In other words, kill us. You can just say that, lady.” Antonio shook his head after he finished.
Julia’s eyebrow went up. “Fair enough.”
“Anderson, Bates, get rid of those bodies.” Carver ordered the two soldiers in the room to move and they did, although reluctantly. “Baker, take these boys to the office.”
“Escort them.” Ben attempted to soften the major’s words.
“Can I get my phone back?” Miles asked Julia.
Julia looked at Ben then at Carver.
“No.” Carver said curtly. “We can’t take the chance that phone still works and they’ll try calling their people outside.”
“You cannot be serious.” Ben looked at the major, almost outraged. Carver just closed his eyes to him and to Miles, who was softly sobbing to himself. Antonio nudged him and told his brother to stop.
Manson turned around and took off for the security room. “I’ll go back to the office and make sure Burrows and Castle got that body out of there. They can get rid of it with Anderson and Bates.” He was moving faster than he had been through this whole ordeal. He reached the office in a rush and grabbed the radio on the table next to Nadine. With delicate fingers, he pressed the call button and began to speak. “Castle and Burrows, could you please return to the security room. Over.” Manson was almost whispering into the receiver.
“We’re right here, doc.” Burrows came backing out of the office with the infected corpse in hand, still wrapped in a blanket. Burrows was holding the head and Castle came out soon after, carrying the feet of the corpse with his nose turned up.
“Oh good.” Manson put the radio down and Nadine shook her head at him. The doctor didn’t notice and went over to the men to talk privately with them. “Hide the body,” he said with hushed words.
“What?” Burrows looked at him, irritated and confused.
“Take the body and hide it in my lab. There’s still more I can learn about it. Perhaps even discover some way to combat the virus.”
“Your lab?” Burrows was shushed by the scientist because of his speaking too loudly.
“We’re not trying to carry this thing all over the place.” Castle looked down at the body in his hands and was repulsed at the thought of touching even the blanket wrapped around it.
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