“We have to go with them! We should go!” Alana was shouting at her father.
Ben winced and lowered his head, “Sweetheart we ca--” He looked up at Julia, realizing they were standing at the front of the store.
“Ben, did you change your mind?” Julia was surprised to see him. “I meant to find you this morning after Lesly finished up, but I got into it with Carver. You know how he can be.” Julia chuckled.
She welcomed the idea of Ben coming along. In fact, she expected him to be spearheading this outing, since he was the one who fought so hard for the boys to be let inside the store. But his mood had changed since yesterday’s incident with the hive and Ryan Bates, the soldier Miles killed after he got infected. Ben seemed stiff around Miles and Julia noticed it even now when the boy made his way over to greet Alana.
“Hi! Good morning.” Miles had a goofy smile and got close to the young girl. Very close.
Alana took a step back and looked at the kid, decked out in all black with heavy-duty combat gear. “This is what we should be wearing out there. Did you find this in the store?” she asked, starting to second guess her own outfit.
“No. I found it. I found it a long time ago. You find it, it’s yours. And I found it.” Miles was giddy, posing and flexing, trying to impress Alana.
“Can we go find some stuff like that and go with them, dad?” Alana’s eyes were pleading.
Ben cleared his throat and sighed deeply. He addressed Julia, answering his daughter’s question. “Uh… no. We’re not going out.” He looked down at Alana. “It’s dangerous out there. Even with gear like that, you could still end up getting hurt, or infected, or worse. You heard what happened to those soldiers yesterday, honey, and they were trained military.”
“They weren’t very good though,” Miles broke in. “They weren’t very good. They just didn’t study good enough.” The boy pointed at Torrez with his thumb. “He studied good.”
Torrez’s thin moustache turned up as he smiled at the compliment. He checked the strings on his sweatpants and brushed some lint from his jacket.
Ben swallowed hard. “I think it’s best that I stay here and smooth things over anyway. After yesterday, Carver has things pretty hectic here.”
Julia was confused. “Smooth things over?”
“Yeah. With everything that went down yesterday, I think someone with a more level head should stay back and work with Carver to ease everyone’s tensions.” Ben cleared his throat again.
“I told him that’s bullshit!” Alana threw in.
Miles giggled.
“Alana.” Ben gave his daughter a look.
Alana kept on, “I said we have to go with Julia and find our people and bring them back!”
“Ben, what are you talking about?” Julia spoke over the angsty teen. “Things will be fine here. Carver’s only going to do his usual propaganda talk.”
“You know that this can’t keep going on.” Ben clinched his jaw. “Carver’s controlling the people here, more and more, like a cult. Don’t leave the store. Everything outside will kill you. We can’t stay in this store forever.”
Alana scoffed and crossed her arms, “You say all that, but you don’t want to go out there with Julia.”
“Alana, please.” Ben looked down at his daughter. “It’s still not safe enough for a kid out there!”
“What about this kid?!” Alana pointed at Miles. “He’s younger than me! If he can survive out there, I can too!”
“I can protect her.” Miles puffed out his chest and tried to sound courageous. But when she eyed him, he tensed up. “I can… I can watch you. I can keep you safe. I’m the map. It’s my responsibility.”
Alana raised an eyebrow, a little confused. Miles tried not to look like a weirdo as he gave her a once over. She looked cute but if she wanted to leave she’d have to change her outfit. She had too much skin showing. She’d have to do something with her hair too. Tie it up or wear a hat to avoid getting it caught on a branch or something. Miles would hate to see a lurker grab a handful of her curls.
Julia put her hands on her hips and continued with Ben. “What is it? What’s making you stay? You stepped down as a committee member, but you keep wanting to pick and choose what decisions you have a part in. You started this when you let these boys in here, Ben. Even before that when you let in Joshua and Karen. Now, you’re too scared to finish it?”
Ben flinched under her green gaze and stared at the floor. “I’m responsible for what happened to those people, Julia. I’m the one who said we should send them out to search for Karen and her kid. I sent our people out there and no matter what shape they’re in, I’m responsible.” He started shaking and couldn’t lift his head. “I can’t go out there and see them… and see that I sent them out there to die.”
“They made their own choice.” Lance spoke up. “But it was your fault they had to make that choice at all. You and Carver and all this committee bullshit.” His teeth were grit and bared as he stared daggers at Manson, then he went to Ben and finally landed on Julia. “Can we go and find my wife now?”
Julia sighed, “Sorry Miles. We should get going,” She told Castle and Burrows to start pulling the chains to open the shutter doors
“But I can’t leave without my rifle. I can’t go that deep in the woods without my weapon.” Miles tapped his foot.
“I know but, we have to--”
“There he is!” Miles blurted out.
Captain Baker was making his way down the large center aisle that led straight to the entrance of the store, the dragunov rifle slung over his shoulder. Miles looked at the weapon like a gift on Christmas morning.
“Miles.” Captain Baker held out the rifle and the small boy lit up.
Miles took the gun and immediately went to work, taking it apart and checking to make sure it was operating with no issue. He was so fast and proficient that Captain Baker was even more impressed with the young boy. Miles disassembled his rifle with the skill of a veteran sniper. After all the clicking and cocking and pulling, the weapon was in pieces on the floor that Miles individually inspected.
“That’s quite the skill, Miles. You took that apart so quick.” Baker laughed and put his hands on the belt around his waist.
“Yeah, you always gotta check your weapon. Cuz you always gotta check it to make sure it works.” Miles pulled out parts and springs and laid them out on the floor in meticulous fashion. Then began reassembling the weapon.
Miles was a child on the floor, talking to himself and humming as he played with the separate parts like action figures with names he had made up. After he cleaned Mr. Receiver with his shirt, then loaded back in Spring Man, he assembled his weapon with quick light hands. He pointed the barrel at the floor and looked down the iron sights, smiling from ear to ear.
“Your old man, Johnathan… he teach you all that?” Baker asked.
Miles went tight-lipped and nodded.
Manson took his glasses off and raised them above his head, grimacing sarcastically. “Oh good, the boy has his rifle. Now we can go and feel safe.”
Julia side-eyed Manson. Then she addressed the captain. “Thanks for getting his gun. Is this as far as you go?” She put her hands on her hips.
Baker sighed. “Yeah, something like that. Look I didn’t know Carver was going to make me stay behind.”
“Esta bien. Don’t worry about it. I know Carver likes to keep his lap dog close.” Julia crossed her arms.
Baker sighed again. “If you guys run into any trouble, just call on the radio. You did bring a radio, right?”
Julia sneered at him, “Of course I brought a radio.”
Baker chuckled. “Right… of course. I just want you to be safe out there and come back in one piece.”
“You could still choose to come with us. I know you want to.” Julia nodded towards the exit.
“Then I’ll come back to the major chewing me out about the safety of the compound being compromised.”
Julia locked eyes
with the captain and for a minute, the two of them acted like they were the only ones standing there. They lingered without saying anything.
“Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?” Miles asked abruptly, and the two adults were flustered.
Baker turned to leave and noticed Ben and his daughter and stopped. “Ben, you decided to go with them?”
“Uh… no.” Ben was sheepish and trying to go unnoticed.
“I wanna go!” Alana piped up. “I can handle myself! I’m strong! I’m fast! I wanna help you guys find our people.”
“I know sweetheart, but your dad’s right.” Julia put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You should stay here.”
“It’s because I’m a girl, right?”
Julia chuckled. “I don’t know if you noticed or not, honey, but I’m the one leading this group and I’m a girl. As much as I know how fast and strong you are though… those freaks outside are faster and stronger.” She looked up at Ben, “Your dad knows what he’s talking about.”
Miles asked the captain, “Do you guys have rifle ammanition?”
Baker smiled and pulled two small ammo clips from his back pocket. “Yeah. Will this do?”
Miles did the math in his head and counted on his fingers. “Is they full clips?” The captain nodded and Miles continued counting his fingers. He stopped and started periodically and then finally got an accurate count. “Yeah twenty should be enough. That’ll be enough.”
“Ok, once this door is open, we’re out of here.” Julia turned her back on the captain.
Baker smiled. “Good luck out there.” Then he looked to the trained men nearby, “Torrez, Castle, Burrows. Make sure nothing happens to any of them.”
The men nodded and saluted in their own way.
“You too, kid.” Baker winked at Miles. The boy tried winking back but blinked both eyes.
Ben sighed. “C’mon Alana.” He turned to Julia, “Good luck you guys. Be safe.”
“Bye. Bye bye, Alana.” Miles waved, exaggerating. “Bye Mr. Ben, bye Mr. Captain Baker.”
They waved back and started to leave. Ben dragged his daughter, still trying to convince her to let it go, and Captain Baker followed behind them.
A gathering of the community was starting to build with people coming out from the aisles. They watched as the expedition party waited for the shutter doors to open. Many thought it was a lost cause and not worth possibly losing Julia and Dr. Manson, two essential members of the committee. There were some who were still hopeful for Lance’s wife, Nicole, Clint’s grandson, and Kayla’s husband Franklin, who led the first group that went looking for Karen and her son. Kayla was among the crowd with her clingy son who was almost always seen clutching his mother’s leg. Clint raised his hand to wave to her and Kayla waved back. He hoped he’d be able to give her some closure after all this.
“When we get out there, we’ll head to the Costco delivery van parked at the gas station across the lot.” Julia pulled keys from her back pocket.
“You guys have working cars? Wow!” Miles’ eyes lit up at the comment. “What kind of cars do you have? Do you have a Lexus or a BMW?”
“Sorry, just got the one van and a Humvee.”
“A hum-vee? What’s a hum-vee?”
“It’s a military truck.”
“Does it got guns on it like a machine gun on the top?”
“No, it’s just a truck.”
“Is it like… is it bulletproof? Do it got armor and bulletproof windows?”
Julia put her hands on her hips and giggled. “No, I don’t think it’s bulletproof. But it is a tough truck.”
“We should take that.” Miles was nodding his head repeatedly. “We should take it just to be safe. We should take it.”
“Sorry Miles. There’s too many of us to fit in the truck.”
“Awwwwwwaawww.” The boy moaned. “But the truck would be better. The truck would be better than a van.”
Lance watched the exchange, growing irritated. “Could this door go up any slower?”
Julia watched Castle pull the chains with Burrows’ help and the shutters rose to the level of her chest. “This should be good enough. Ok everyone, the gas station is right across the parking lot. The cameras this morning didn’t show too many infected people out there but be careful. Stay together and only shoot if you have to.”
“No,” Miles interrupted. “Don’t shoot your guns at all. If you have to kill something, kill it with a knife or blunt force traumas. No shooting. Nobody shoot their guns.”
“Why?” Clint asked Miles with a slack jawed expression.
“Because! If you shoot you could call more infected or call back that hive from yesterday. Loud noises attract the infected. They attract infected.”
“Oh yeah… right.” The man with the patch over his eye nodded and tried to look confident.
Everyone ducked under the shutter and stepped out in the daylight. This was the first time many of them had been outside in months or a year. Miles couldn’t imagine never going outside. The small boy took a minute to look around at everyone in the group. The nice psychology lady, Julia, was blinded by the light and closed her eyes. Castle and Torrez, who helped with the hive yesterday, walked out with their heads up and eyes open while Burrows looked around the parking lot with a hand shielding his eyes from the sun.
The strange Dr. Manson took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. The scrawny man, Lance, looked hesitant coming outside. But when he saw Miles watching him, he swallowed his fear and squared his shoulders. The older man with the patch, Clint, licked his lips and sweat was already trickling down his forehead and into his gray beard.
“Let’s hurry and get to the van and be on our merry way.” Manson clutched the strap to his duffle bag tightly.
Julia motioned for everyone to get moving and the shutter door started to close behind them. She blocked her eyes with her hands, blinded by the sunlight reflecting off the asphalt. She was also saving herself from the horror scene that was the Costco parking lot. Being out here, in person, gave the disaster a whole new feeling that was ten times worse than what Julia had watched in the security room. Bodies were thrashed everywhere, and red and black ooze covered everything. The smell was the most assaulting part of the parking lot. It was foul, like walking into a meat locker after everything went bad. The psychologist wished she had brought a face mask but just pulled up the collar to her shirt to cover her nose.
“This is disgusting.” Burrows was hunched over with his hands on his knees, dry heaving and spitting on the ground. “How the hell did you guys survive out here?” The military man dropped his M16A2 rifle on the ground in his sick fit.
The old man would have smacked Miles up side his head if he had been so careless with his weapon. If I see you drop your gun, that means you were being careless with it. And if I see you being careless with your gun, I’ll take it from you and tear yo ass up. Miles closed his eyes, remembering the old man’s words.
Miles took a deep breath and knelt on one knee as he began to pray. When the others noticed the small boy drop down, they stopped and watched him in silence. Torrez pulled his rosary from his shirt and kissed it as Miles spoke.
“Thank you, heavenly God… father. Thank you for another day. Thank you for the sun. Thank you for keeping us alive. Keep us safe on our way. Keep us… keep us safe and watch over us. Give us one more day.” Miles stood up.
Torrez crossed himself and said, “Amen.” Castle spat and turned around to continue across the lot. Manson looked at the young boy with low regard. Religion wasn’t something the doctor found relevant even before the world went to hell. Burrows was still trying to keep his breakfast down and was saying a prayer to himself to not throw up. Dr. Manson watched Burrows intently and wondered if the sample that he had injected in the soldier was reacting and making him feel sick. Burrows spat again.
“That was a nice prayer,” Julia said. “Do you guys pray every time you go out?” She remembered watching the boys on the monitor th
e day before.
Miles again went tight-lipped and just nodded.
“Let’s hurry the hell up.” Lance pointed at a monster leering at the group from no more than fifteen feet away. “These things are gonna get close if we don’t get moving.”
“Don’t worry. It’s only one.” Miles thought for a minute, “We can take our time and do a in-venna… in-venna… in-venna-tory check. We can check our ammo and check our supplies to make sure we have everything we need before we head out.”
“We got everything!” Lance snapped back.
Miles swung his JanSport backpack around and opened it. “I have my water and two granola bars you guys gave me. That’s a full day’s meal so when we run out, we should probably start heading back. But we absolutely, have to head back before it gets dark.”
“Two granola bars?” Clint was looking around at members of the group, hoping not to be judged as he opened his backpack. “I brought my breakfast and a bag of apples.” He was nervous in the parking lot with so many bodies all around and hoped the group would move soon. The freaks moaning nearby were making him uneasy.
“I got a few bottles of water.” Torrez was holding open his bag. “Though I honestly brought them all for me. But I can share.”
“That’s good. But we shouldn’t be greedy.” Miles noticed a lurker starting to make its way towards the group. They still had at least eight minutes before the lurker got close. There was no need for concern. “Don’t drink and eat everything if we don’t have to. Don’t be greedy.”
“Well, with the extra food and extra water, we won’t have to worry about rushing to come back.” Manson was inching towards the gas station to the far right, eyeing the freak approaching.
“No. We still have to get back before it gets dark. You guys wouldn’t make it if it gets dark. Too dangerous at night. I can protect you. I’m the map, it’s my responsibility so I can protect you. But it would be harder at night.”
Burrows stood up straight and wiped his mouth. “Holy shit!” He picked up his gun and pointed it at the infected creature stumbling towards the group.
Two Alive Page 25