DEAD_Suffer The Children

by TW Brown

“I have to put it to the group, but I think we have plenty of room,” I replied. “Either way, the river is free. Fill up.”

  “Much appreciated,” the man said with a nod that was almost a bow.

  When his head came back up, I was almost certain I’d seen that he’d been looking over at Alex. I berated myself for letting my mind get the best of me.

  My shame was increased when I looked over to the people that made up his group. Of the eight people, three of them were women. One of the males was a boy no older than fifteen…if that.

  They all looked exhausted. It could’ve been from the battle we all had just fought against the horde, but this fatigue looked like it went to the core of their souls. A few of them wore blank expressions that could simply be a shut down after all the killing. There were more dead zombie children than I think I’d ever seen. I doubted that anybody could’ve gotten through this fight without having to take down at least one. If it was weighing on them even a fraction of what I felt, then they had every reason to have those blank expressions.

  “I’ll let my people know,” Griffin said as he excused himself and headed over to his group.

  I watched as he reached them, a part of me still sharing in Marshawn’s gut feeling. I needed to see how his people interacted with him. Did they flinch or all start staring at the ground? My eyes were specifically focused on the women.

  He reached them and there was nothing that stood out. At least until the young boy started talking. He was being very animated with his arm gestures. I noticed a couple of the other members in the group step back. Now expressions were looking anxious.

  The kid started becoming more agitated, and a few of the group went so far as to reach for him. It looked like they were trying to calm him down. He jerked away each time, and once, he shoved one of the members of his group away with enough force to knock the person over.

  The moment that happened, Griffin jerked the kid toward him by the shoulders and put his face right in the kid’s. I couldn’t hear anything, but I saw the kid sort of go limp. His face went pale enough that I was able to see that change from where I stood.

  I thought it was over, but then the kid jerked away suddenly. Now it was his turn to lean into the face of Griffin Alistair Marshall. He said something with enough venom that I caught the low rumble.

  In a flash, Griffin brought his fist up into the kid’s chin. I had no problem hearing the crack of the blow. It obviously landed right on the button, because the kid dropped like a sack of potatoes.

  Griffin stood, brushed himself off as if he’d gotten dusty during the little confrontation, and turned back to me. He glanced over his shoulder, obviously giving the word to collect the kid, before returning to where I still stood with Marshawn.

  “What you must be thinking,” he said with a laugh that sounded very fake. “It seems that one of our people lost a loved one in the fight.”

  That would explain the scream, I thought.

  “He insists that one of your people just stood by and watched it happen.”

  Now I was more than a little curious. That seemed like a pretty serious accusation.

  “That man there…if I’m being totally forthcoming.” Griffin’s arm extended, and he pointed at Marshawn.

  “Say what?” the big man growled, taking a menacing step forward.

  I turned and put an arm up to stop Marshawn’s advance. It was like using rice paper to stop a charging bull. He barged past and stepped right into Griffin’s space, despite being at least six inches shorter, it ended up being the taller man looking up at the shorter when Marshawn bowled the man down.

  “Whoa!” Griffin barked from the ground.

  I glanced up to see that his people hadn’t moved to come to their supposed leader’s rescue. They only appeared to cluster tighter together.

  “That’s enough!” I snapped, moving around Marshawn to install myself between the two.

  After I was certain that things weren’t going to escalate, I extended a hand to help the man off the ground. I was absolutely re-thinking my position of having this group join ours.

  “I didn’t say I believed him,” Griffin began, his voice sounding frighteningly calm considering the situation. “I was only relating what was said. I made it very clear that accusations like that can’t be tossed out so carelessly. There was a lot going on in the heat of the battle. I doubt anybody would simply sit idly by and let another person be mauled by those monsters. That was probably just his grief talking.”

  As I listened to this man speak, I got a dirty, oily feeling like I was talking to a televangelical used car salesman. Yes, he was saying all the right things, but I was constantly drawn back to his eyes where I saw that coldness that never seemed to thaw in the slightest.

  “Maybe we need to take a step back and consider things a little more,” I said. Only, it was more of a blurt, and I know my face reddened when everybody turned my direction.

  I’m not a shy person by nature. I’ve never really had that much of a problem speaking my mind, but at the moment, I felt totally off balance. There was something here. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but I was drowning in the creepy vibe this guy was putting off in waves.

  “I totally understand, Evan,” Griffin said, turning to me with what I am sure he thought was an expression of understanding. All I saw was the jackal circling the downed wildebeest…waiting for its chance to pounce on the weakened creature and feast. “And I will get my people gathered up in the meantime. Maybe you should meet with them and see what you think. And I will abide by any decision you make. If ejecting Mister Romanowski is what will make this work, we will respect your decision.”

  My mouth dropped open as I was about to protest. I wasn’t advocating throwing anybody out on their own. Before I could utter a word, though, the tall, lanky man was already striding away.

  “They gotta go, man,” Marshawn whispered as he stepped up beside me.

  A very big part of me agreed. The problem that I had was that we needed to add to our numbers. This group would almost double our population in one fell swoop.

  There was no way that I, or anybody else for that matter, could expect to like every single person we met. Our chances at survival were better if we added able bodies to our numbers. It was simple math. More hands make easy work…or however that saying went.

  “They seemed nice enough to me,” Tracy said.

  I turned to see her, Darya, Alex, Drew, and a handful of others gathered up and standing just a few feet away. Chewie was sprawled at their feet, and I could hear her soft snores as her side rose and fell. Michael’s head peeked around Tracy’s legs and as soon as he spotted my dog, he pushed through and went to sit beside her.

  “I think we need to get everybody together,” I said after I realized that all eyes were on me and waiting for something. “I am not going to be the one to decide who joins us and who doesn’t.”

  “Actually,” Drew stepped forward, “I think this is exactly the sort of thing we need a leader to decide.”

  All eyes, including my own, turned in the direction of this soft-spoken man. I hadn’t learned too much about Drew’s past before the zombies, but I had discovered he’d been a personal trainer. I tried to reconcile that image of a man so calm and laid back as a trainer. All the ones I’d ever encountered were either total muscle heads, high-strung pep rally types, or the sleazy salesman sort that really only cared until you signed the contract that they knew you’d only use for the first month.

  “I think this is more of a group decision,” I countered.

  “Sure, and the group can have their say, but the ultimate choice needs to be yours, Evan.”

  “And why is that exactly?” I cocked an eyebrow at the man and gave a rolling gesture with one hand, inviting him to elaborate.

  “The bottom line is that there needs to be somebody making the tough choices. We, as a group, need to understand that we won’t always agree, but that we want what is ultimately best for us. If we try to pretend tha
t this is some big picture-perfect democracy, then we are going to fall apart.”

  “Are you saying we need a dictatorship?” I scoffed, hardly able to believe what I was hearing.

  “Nope, not at all. But if you adopt this idea that everybody can just do his or her thing, pretty soon, you’ll have people opting out of important functions. They’ll want to come along for the ride and live off the sweat and blood of everybody else without doing any of the work or taking any of the risks.”

  This was quickly getting outside of my comfort range. Maybe I wasn’t the right choice for this leader they sought. What I was hearing sounded much too dictator-y for me. I’ve always been more of a live and let live kind of guy. It wasn’t that all I could do was follow, I just didn’t ever feel the need to be the one telling others what to do.

  “Everybody cool off for a minute.” Marshawn stepped forward, raising his hands to silence the group. “Give me and Evan a minute.”

  He didn’t wait for the others as he took me by the arm and led me over to a copse of ferns and trees. As soon as he deemed that we were out of earshot—at least that was my assumption based on what was happening—he turned to face me.

  “Listen, man, I get it. You don’t wanna be the one making waves or looking like the hard ass, but here is the honest-to-God truth…” He paused and took a deep breath. “You have a level head. You don’t act on a whim. You have had so many things happen that would’ve sent me over the edge. This new group is one example. I just don’t like the guy, but you are actually entertaining the idea of letting his group join. You could’ve dumped Neil any time you wanted and I doubt that anybody would’ve batted an eye.”

  I wasn’t sure he was making a very good case for me being a leader. After all, Neil had betrayed us to Don Evans despite how things ended, and I was having the same bad feelings in my gut that he apparently had in regard to this new batch of survivors.

  “People like you, man,” Marshawn said simply. “You got something that just makes people open up…trust. We will all have your back. And there’s gonna be some bad shit ahead, but it’s okay. We can get through it…but not if we don’t have somebody at the helm.”

  “Why not you?” I asked, genuinely curious.

  Marshawn was an imposing figure. I certainly wouldn’t want to tangle with him. Also, he was medically trained. That was a very important skill. We certainly needed that more than we needed a high school music teacher—one that never even made it through his first day on the job.

  “I’m a hot head.”

  I had to bite back a laugh. He’d been anything but since I’d known him. Granted, that hadn’t been very long, but still…

  “Just take my word for it,” he said when my skepticism obviously bled through to my face.

  “What if your gut is right and these people are bad news?” I asked.

  “I don’t think it’s all of them.” Marshawn glanced over his shoulder in the direction Griffin and his people had gone. “I just don’t like the guy in charge.”

  “This sucks,” I said to myself more than to Marshawn.

  “We’ll get through this,” Marshawn comforted. “We just need to keep an eye on each other’s backs.”

  “So do we let them join?”

  That question hung in the air for several seconds. I was starting to believe that Marshawn was going to leave it all in my hands. When he spoke, I breathed an inward sigh of relief.

  “I think it is the best choice. Maybe we pair up his people with one of ours for all work details. Leave Griffin to me. I’ll be his shadow.” The big man cocked his head at me for a moment and then shook it sadly. “Wow, I gave you a perfect set up and…nothing.”

  “Jokes? Now? Sorry, man.” I shrugged. “Just not feeling in a joking mood.”

  We both headed back to the main group. Everybody seemed to be in animated conversation when we walked up. As soon as we arrived, all mouths shut and eyes turned to us with varied expressions that ranged from concern to apprehension to confusion.

  “So, are we adding this group to ours or what?” Drew asked, stepping forward.

  “I believe it is for the best,” I announced.

  Again, the reaction was mixed. I noticed that more appeared to be for it than opposed or concerned.

  “However, until we get a better read, I am going to insist that everybody be paired with one of the newbies.” This announcement was met with a murmur that rippled through my little group.

  “So…we are letting them in, but we don’t really trust them?” somebody called out.

  “I think that will be the way of things for at least the foreseeable future.” That was greeted with a lot of nods. Everybody was starting to see things more clearly. This was a new reality.

  As this conversation went on, I couldn’t help but notice Maggie and Darya huddled close together, set just a bit apart from the rest of the group. Was I going to need to have them shadowed as well?

  “We got more incoming!” a voice shouted in the direction of where Griffin and his people had withdrawn.

  Our conversations ended abruptly as everybody went for weapons on instinct. As a group, we advanced, prepared for whatever awaited.

  15

  Last Straws

  I slid down the against the trunk of the tree where I’d just dropped the last zombie. A part of me wanted to laugh at that thought. It would be kinda nice if that was really the last of the undead. I shoved those wishful thoughts away to consider this most recent skirmish.

  The problem with this newest group of undead had been apparent. Many of them were freshly turned. Not that I would consider myself an authority, but I’d started noticing that older turns were a bit dried out. I hesitate to say mummified, but they were certainly more like beef jerky than a slab of steak fresh from the butcher’s block.

  “So, where do you think this bunch came from?” a voice said, snapping me out of my moment of relaxation as I caught my breath.

  I’d never realized that killing zombies was so tiring. Again, the Hollywood icon was proving to be much more problematic in ways not considered. After all, I don’t imagine it would’ve looked cool to have some handsome hunk or stunning starlet bend over and rest their hands on their knees as they sucked in great gulps of air. All the nasty, sweaty people around me wouldn’t even make it as background extras. We were soaked in sweat and rotten blood. Many of us had bits and chunks of rancid flesh and brain clinging to our clothes.

  I looked up to see Griffin, of all people, standing there with a massive blade that had all manner of vile fluids dripping from it. He also had a good deal splattered all over his clothing. If nothing else, it told me that he’d rolled up his sleeves, so to speak, and joined in on the battle with everybody else.

  “Only lost the one,” he said, taking an uninvited seat beside me. “Always a shame to lose somebody, but I guess it solves one problem.”

  I shot a look over at the man, my eyebrow raised. I hoped he saw it as a gesture for him to elaborate. Honestly, I was too tired to ask a question that I wasn’t certain I wanted the answer.

  “Oh, yeah. I guess you were on the other side of the camp from most of my people.”

  Griffin made that statement almost sound like an accusation. Again…too tired to get into it. I waited for him to continue, which he did after only a brief pause to drink from his canteen.

  “Adrian went down under a few and none of us could reach him in time.” My blank look was enough to cause him to elaborate. “The young man who was so worked up at losing his family member. The one who went off half-cocked and blamed one of your people for the death?”

  As he spoke, a few things began to percolate in my brain. The first was an unfortunate sense of relief that the person who’d made such a ridiculous statement about Marshawn being a casualty. That thought was followed by a torrent of others not nearly as comforting. For one, things just don’t work out that conveniently in my experience. The other was the more disturbing. It was this thought that raised concerns
to a flashing yellow light in my brain.

  I hadn’t heard the scream.

  That might seem mundane if you’ve never heard it before. It is very significant. It is the sound of unimaginable agony. That is the sound a person makes as they are being ripped apart and eaten alive. Nobody alive this deep into the zombie apocalypse could possibly be in existence and not have heard that sound. I have yet to witness somebody fall to the undead that does not make that sound…that pure scream unlike any other.

  “Poor bastard went under a handful of the things. One of them had his throat in its teeth as it damn near seemed to ride him to the ground.” Griffin pulled a dirty rag from his back pocket and wiped off the worst of the gore from his blade as he spoke. “Can’t say I’m glad to lose one of ours, but if anybody had to fall…maybe it’s for the best.” He gave a half-hearted shrug.

  For somebody professing to be at least marginally upset about the death of one of his people, he sure didn’t sound very upset. I had to wonder if anybody else witnessed the fall of this Adrian person.

  “Do you guys want to have any sort of service or anything?” I offered. Despite my inner warning bells, I felt I should at least offer the right thing. “We have a policy about burning the bodies, but we can certainly get everybody together and observe your loss.”

  “Does that mean we will be allowed to stay?” Griffin said with a degree of enthusiasm that held no signs of his former display of remorse.

  I glanced at him and then leaned back against the tree. I was really too tired for any of this at the moment. “We will give it a trial run. There will be some conditions, but we can deal with that a little later. Why don’t you get your people together and break the news? As soon as we get the camp cleared, we can build the bonfire in the softball field, have a service for your guy, and then burn all the bodies.”

  “That sounds like a Jim Dandy idea to me,” Griffin exclaimed as he hopped to his feet. “I’m sure my people will be thrilled to hear the good news. I don’t think any of us looked forward to going back out there. You just don’t know the terrible things you will run into. And the zombies seem to be the least of the problems.”