“You passed out in the security room. We were taking you to Manson’s bathroom to see if there was anything in there I could use to help you.”
“No! What happened? What happened after I passed out?! Where’s that kid? Did they lock him up? Where the hell are Baker and Ben? Is Karen back in here? We can’t let her back in here with her infected son!”
“Eric calm down! I’m afraid all this stress is going to give you a heart attack!” Chakrabarti tried reasoning with the bigger man.
“Martyn, those idiots are going to get us all killed! She’s with those boys somehow, I know it! This was all a distraction! It was all so they can slowly start breaking in here--” Carver stopped and clutched his chest as he wheezed, dropping to the floor on one knee.
“Eric! You have to calm down! Look at yourself! You’re driving yourself insane with all this madness!” Chakrabarti started backing away and told one of the men to come with him as he rushed into Manson’s bathroom.
Carver grit his teeth and stood up. When the other man tried to help him, the major lashed out and turned around, stumbling away in the opposite direction and holding his chest.
Antonio was in the security room, starting to dance and pose and strut with his gold gun. He was feeling too fresh with the new haircut, the new J’s and the new sweat suit to match. He wished he could find a full-length mirror. If he could he’d take a selfie. But when he spun around again, he saw Nadine trying to roll her chair to the table where a radio was waiting.
“Ah! Don’t do it!” Antonio pointed his gold gun at her and went to grab the radio. “I don’t want to kill you if I don’t have to.”
“Damn it!” Carver growled when he entered the room, looking exhausted just standing at the doorway.
Antonio spun his gun around to the major and went back across the room to the table with the rest of his things. “Don’t move!”
“So, this your plan… to tie us up and have your people come in and steal everything we have? Is Karen a distraction?” Carver was breathing hard and coughing harder.
“I don’t know that lady and I don’t need nothin’ from y’all! Never did!” Antonio grabbed his other backpack and stuffed it with Miles’ extra ammo and his two pistols. Then he remembered the file cabinet against the wall, “Give me the keys to that cabinet too.”
“And I thought you didn’t need anything from us.” Carver was pale under the fluorescent lights and he rested against the doorframe.
“Just give me the keys!” Antonio raised the gun higher, aiming it Carver’s head.
The major sighed and threw him the keys from his pocket. Antonio wore the second backpack over his front and grabbed Miles’ bag from the table. He bent down to pick up the keys from the floor and went to the cabinet, not taking his eyes or the gun off Carver for even a second.
“What are you trying to find?” Nadine asked, watching him fumble with the keys to unlock the drawers.
“I don’t know. Miles told me to look through these stupid cabinets and if I didn’t, he’d never shut up.” Antonio pulled open the first drawer then went to the middle and opened it too, only to find old file papers and cassette tapes.
“There’s nothing in there.” Nadine said.
“Yeah, you would say that. Yall might be hiding a gun in here or somethin’!” Antonio opened the bottom drawer and pulled it out, all the way. There were just more tapes and papers. “Damn it Miles.” He said under his breath.
“Happy now?” Carver wheezed and coughed.
“Yeah. I’m gone then. I’ma go out that back door and be gone. These keys open the door in the back?”
Carver coughed and nodded.
“And what about our people with your brother?” Nadine asked.
“If they was smart they just let him leave and didn’t try to follow him or some shit.” Antonio started inching towards the door to the docks. “He ain’t gon do nothin’ but sneak away from them and they can come back here. We’ll never see y’all again.”
“Good.” Carver narrowed his dark eyes on the boy and nodded his head towards the exit. “Now go.”
Antonio took one last look at them and turned to run. Carver walked across the room slowly and started helping Nadine get free.
“Should we call someone to go after him?” Nadine asked, pulling the tape off herself when her hands were free.
“No. Fuck him.” Carver coughed and covered his mouth. “Let him go. And since Baker and Ben are so hell bent on letting Karen in here, we’ll use her as a hostage if that kid comes back.”
“Do you really think they’re connected?”
“I don’t know. But I do know that Karen’s son was bit, and we can’t let her back in here.”
Carver coughed again and went to the monitors. He covered his mouth and when he took his hand away, he saw blood. Then he looked at the screens, watching Baker have the gates opened and let Karen in with her son. The major grit his teeth through another cough, feeling betrayed by Captain Baker. But then the major paused with dread when he saw on another screen, Antonio was in the back on the docks, trying keys to open the lone trailer sitting back there. The major backed away from the table and started shuffling to the back as quickly as he could. Nadine called after him, but he was blind with panic.
At the front of the store, Baker was having his men close the shutters and there were people starting to gather near the registers to see what was going on. Karen looked around flustered and grabbed her son’s hand, pulling him close to her as more people started to creep out into view.
“Are you ok Karen? Did you run out of food? Did you run into any trouble?” Ben tried to approach the mother and she backed away.
“It’s alright, take it easy.” Captain Baker stepped up to the woman. “Everything is ok now.”
“Why’d you let her in here?” Someone shouted out from the people starting to gather.
“We shouldn’t let anyone in here.” A woman’s voice rang out next.
“It’s alright. It’s a woman and her son. We couldn’t leave them out there with those freaks.” Baker tried calming everyone down.
“Where’s Major Carver? He should be here for this!” Another voice called out.
“Everyone please, try and relax.” Baker felt his cheeks starting to burn. “Everything… everything is ok. There’s nothing to worry about.” There were so many people coming out now and Baker was having trouble addressing the throng of fifteen plus people. The major always made it look so easy.
She’s the woman with the infected child! Her kid was bit!
Her son is infected!
Send them back outside!
We can’t let them in here!
“Everyone please!” Baker tried shouting over the intensifying crowd.
“My son isn’t infected! He was bit a long time ago and he didn’t change!” Karen held her son, trying to cover his ears as he squirmed and looked around frantic. “Please!” She looked at Ben and he looked back, frozen.
“This doesn’t need to get out of hand! Everyone calm down!” Baker looked to Rico and Bryant but the two were useless dealing with the mob. Ben was there but he may as well have been a spectator.
Her son’s infected!
Kick them out of here!
Kill them before they kill us!
“Please, you’re upsetting my son!” Karen tried to keep him close, but her boy broke away and started shaking and throwing his arm up and down, biting at the air.
He’s infected!
Bang. A flash and a pop and the boy was hit in the neck and dropped to the floor. Karen went wailing to gather up her son and hold him while he convulsed. Blood gushed from the bullet wound and the boy gurgled as he drowned in his own blood. Captain Baker looked around to see where the shot had come from and when he found the smoking barrel, he was surprised to see it was the big man, Lincoln aiming down his sights.
“It was just like yesterday sir. Like Bates.” Lincoln lowered his weapon, swallowing back grief and trying to stand firm in
his split-second decision. “It was just like with Miles and Antonio.
“He had autism!” Karen moaned; her eyes wet with tears as she looked up at Lincoln. “He gets excited around loud noises.” She looked out at the mournful audience. “He was bit… he was. But he didn’t turn. Joshua tried to tell you. There are people who are immune to the infection. Some people get bit and don’t turn. Stevie didn’t turn. He didn’t turn.” Karen sobbed and rocked with her son, watching him fade in her arms.
The mood sank and everyone felt the ocean of sadness that was brought on by the collective misjudgment. Many people were even starting to cry. One of those people was Ben, who went to Karen and knelt beside her; trying not to step in the puddle of blood.
“I’m so sorry Karen. I shouldn’t have let Carver kick you out the first time. We shouldn’t have sent you out there.” Ben swallowed back his tears and looked away from her. Then he stared back into her pale gray eyes, “I’m sorry for what happened with Joshua. You can sta-- you can stay here now. We’ll bury Stevie and you can stay.”
Karen smiled and closed her eyes. Then she looked at Ben, “Thank you, Ben. But it’s too late now.” A pin popped and she dropped something to the floor.
Ben looked down to see a green, bumpy, hard-shell ball roll around with the words GRENADE, FRAG, written across it. Ben took a breath in and saw Lincoln step up right next to him, shaking his head. The words “I’m sorry” were coming from his lips when a bright flash enveloped them and the little bomb went off, sending obliterating fragments in all directions. It shredded up the crowd and blew a hole in the shutters with a deafening bang that could be heard for miles in the quiet forest of trees. The quiet turned into grunting and the grunting turned to sprinting. The woods outside the Costco were once again filled with what remained of the once dispersed hive and they were aimed towards the sound.
***
Miles went after Alana when she chased Lance. He didn’t hear Julia tell the both of them to slow down because Jody Watley was belting out her wanting a new lover in his ears. Julia ran after them with Torrez following her and the other army men close behind. It didn’t take Lance long before he stopped running and found the bodies of five people. Four men and one woman. Lance could recognize them all and dropped to his knees when he saw Nicole with bullet wounds to her stomach. He cradled her head in his lap and looked at her with vacant eyes.
“Gatdamn it! Danny!” Clint sniffed and wiped his face. “I told you not to come out here. Now look at’cha.” He was rubbing his one eye and the patch over his other.
Julia looked at the bodies and put her hands on her hips trying to keep herself up. “Oh my god. Oh my god.”
“What the hell happened here?” Castle went to inspect Franklin’s body.
“The freaks got them or somethin’.” Alana said. “We shouldn’t have sent them out here.”
“They weren’t attacked. Freaks don’t use guns.” Castle was looking at the hole in Franklin’s cheek, under his eye.
“Somebody killed them and took their stuff.” Burrows said, spinning around to look out through the trees. “We walked right into a trap.”
“Stop it!” Julia raised her voice but not too loud. Then she went over to Miles and took his earbuds out, “Miles, what happened here?”
Miles was hesitant at first—and he avoided eye contact with Castle and Burrows when they glared his way—but the boy started to tell the story. “They were fighting. Something about that guy’s brother and that lady.” Miles pointed at Franklin and Nicole. “They were arguing and pointing their guns at each other. And that lady shot him. They all started shooting each other and everybody died.”
After a few beats Clint asked, “Who stabbed Danny? He’s got a stab behind the ear.”
Miles said back, “I did.”
“Wha… what?”
“He was parallel-eyzed. There was nothing I could do for him.”
Clint found it hard to swallow.
Lance jumped up to his feet, “And you and your brother just watched all this happen? You just watched?!”
Julia stood between them, “Lance, what would you expect him to do in a situation like that?”
“How do we know that this kid and his brother aren’t the ones who killed them?” Castle asked, still examining the other bodies.
“That’s a highly likely scenario.” Manson was pushing his glasses back on his face.
“Shut the fuck up Manson! We don’t know what the fuck happened out here! We don’t know because we weren’t here! But this boy was! He was!” Julia was pointing at the timid, small boy in his adult padding and armor and big clothes.
Miles put his earbuds back in and turned himself off from the world. He watched the adults continue talking and yelling and many of them kept pointing at Miles. But he was too busy listening to the start of What Do You Mean by Justin Bieber. Then he looked up and saw Alana jumping around when she saw someone crawling on the ground near her. Miles dropped down to one knee and pointed his rifle at the thing on the ground.
“Alana look out!” Miles shouted as he looked down the sights of his Dragunov.
But Torrez was grabbing his weapon and pointing it down. His lips were moving but Miles couldn’t hear what he was saying. Then Castle stomped his way over and snatched the earbuds from his ears.
“That’s one of our people!” Castle yelled at the small boy.
“It’s Tommy! Tommy!” Alana got down and took him in her arms.
“Alana! Thank god! Oh thank god!” The boy grabbed Alana and held her tight, squeezing her and crying. He was covered in dirt and mud and caked blood around his leg where a bear trap was once snapped on him.
Clint ran over to the boy, “Tommy! Are you alright?”
“Grandpa Clint! Oh my god! I thought I’d never see you again!” Tommy looked past them and saw Miles on the other side of the field. “It was him! He was there! He was there when all this happened, and he let it happen! Him and the other guy! They left me caught in a bear trap!”
“What?” Alana turned around, wiping tears from her eyes.
“They just left me here!” Tommy buried his face into Alana’s lap.
The army men aimed their weapons at Miles and he raised his hands. Julia stood in front of him and put her arms out to protect him. “No! Put your guns down!”
“Move out of the way Julia!” Castle said.
“It’s his fault my wife is dead!” Lance shouted from the sideline.
“Whatever you’re thinking, we still can’t jump to any conclusions!” Julia was talking to Lance and looking at Castle.
Miles started breathing hard and felt his chest pounding. He didn’t feel like he was making the right calls or right decisions. He was supposed to be the map and he was messing up at every turn. Everyone was mad at him and the army guys were even pointing their guns at him. Manson already had him charged as guilty and even Torrez looked worried about trusting Miles. Lance hated him even more and Clint had turned his back on the boy and was focused on Tommy. Julia was the only one trying to defend Miles. Even Alana was staring at Miles with anger in her eyes. This was another time where Miles was the map and he messed up. Like the time with the old man and when he died.
“Oh shit! Freaks!” Torrez screamed and pointed at the running infected, sprinting through the trees towards the group.
When everyone turned to look, more freaks came charging through the trees. The army men stepped forward and opened fire on the running monsters and took out the freaks with no issue.
“That was easy enough.” Burrows turned around grinning, looking to find Miles, but the boy was gone and nowhere to be seen. “Damn! Where’d he go?”
“Find him. We have to find him in case he has more people waiting for us.” Manson was signaling for Burrows to move.
“I got it!” Castle went running past Julia to go find Miles.
Julia sighed deeply and wiped her eyes, feeling all her emotions boiling over. “Miles…”
***
Antonio jumped up and pointed his gun at him, “Stay back major! It’s somethin’ in here huh?”
“Get the hell out of here already! You got what you wanted, now go!” Carver coughed and coughed, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Naw, we could use some more if we can get it.” Antonio licked his lips and looked at the container. “What’s in there? More supplies? Your personal stash in case shit goes bad in the store and you gotta get out of here?”
“Just go!”
“It ain’t like some shit like you keepin’ somebody infected in there, is you? If so, then you crazy.”
Carver stepped forward but Antonio tightened his finger on the trigger and the major back down.
“But naw. You ain’t that crazy.” Antonio pointed the gun down and fired at the lock and blew it off.
Carver growled and prepared to charge again, but Antonio turned his gun on him and pulled the trigger again. But nothing. The weapon was empty. The corner of Carver’s mouth went up and he ran at the young boy with newfound vigor.
Always check your ammo. The old man would be pissed. Antonio was pissed. Because of the overstuffed backpack on his back and the bag on his front, he couldn’t reach his knife and Carver was on him before he could do anything else. The weak front the major was putting on a second ago was gone and he was big veteran muscle as he grabbed Antonio by the throat and slammed him on the ground. Antonio fought to get Carver’s hand from around his neck and tried to overpower the bigger, older man, but couldn’t.
Don’t be greedy. The old man would’ve been pissed he stopped to check the truck trailer. But it was Miles’ fault for making him check the file cabinet. There was nothing in there but there’s definitely something in that trailer. Otherwise, why would Carver fight so hard to stop him. He was willing to kill Antonio to keep him from getting what was inside. It was Miles’ fault they were ever here to begin with. Miles was the one who was greedy. Miles chose to come to this store in the first place. Miles was going to be responsible for another death. Just like the old man. Antonio could feel himself starting to blackout as his windpipe was being squeezed close. He fumbled around with his hands trying to grab anything or punch Carver in his smiling face.
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