When The Light Goes Out

by Jack Thompson

  "I was afraid you guys were dead," I whispered. I was afraid I was going to start crying again, but the man rubbed my back, quite obviously used to caring for emotional children, and I calmed down a bit. Not enough for the tears in my eyes to go away completely, but enough so that I didn't make a total ass of myself.

  "Hush, Excel. It's okay. I was worried you guys were dead," the man confessed, sounding almost as tired as he looked. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly it was he'd been stuck doing while he was away from us. Something unpleasant I was sure, but the thought vanished when his hand touched a particularly sore spot and I winced, causing his hands to stop moving.

  "We had Malachi," was my quick response, because I didn't want to explain to him why I winced. "I didn't know that."

  I thought back, "Oh yeah." And simply hugged the man tighter. "I'm damn happy you're okay." "We had help."

  "Help?" "Yeah." "Yeah?"

  "Okay guys," Dustin began. "I'd like to introduce you to some people!" And everyone looked at him, pausing in their gushing over Pixie to do so. "These fine people are Luke, Jared, Serena, and Billy," Dustin pointed at each respectively. "They managed to save Pixie and myself from a group of zombies down in a shopping center one place or another."

  "The mall on the strip?" Lila asked, sounding honestly curious. "That's the one!" Came from a rather chipper sounding Serena.

  Boy, I couldn't help but think, she's rather pretty, that one. And she was, with the prettiest black hair I'd ever seen. Eyes that just seemed to twinkle. Especially when they rested on wait. Why was she looking at Malachi like that? I felt my eyes widen at the thought that Serena might have a crush on the boy. It was entirely possible. Really it was if she knew him that was. Or she could simply have found him rather attractive, which I found far more convincing than the crush bit.

  "It's nice to meet you Sere"

  "Oh, Malachi!" And suddenly I didn't like her so much, the way she ignored me and threw herself at the young man. Oh yes. She definitely knew him. "I'm so glad you're okay! And you got them to the clinic safe too! I'm proud of you." Even Blaz raised an eyebrow at the dreamy sigh she let out, pushing her face into his neck. "So proud."

  "Thanks..?" To my amusement, Malachi seemed a bit weirded out, if his cinched eyebrows, and wide eyes said anything. And, if they didn't, his gentle motion, pushing the girl away from him did. "It's good to see you too, Serena. Guess I'm flattered you were worried."

  "Just," and eyelashes fluttered in an exceedingly girly way, "Flattered?" "Yes. Flattered. Why?"

  "Malachi!" And the boy, who almost appeared to have red hair, grabbed Malachi's shoulder and patted his back. It was an incredibly friendly gesture that Malachi barely flinched away from. There seemed to be something making him nervous, and I decided to press him about it later. Much later. When the group wasn't around to pry, but in the meantime the other man was talking again, "Damn good to see you made it! Glad you got your friends back, you were quite worried."

  "Aww.." I simply couldn't help it. "You were worried about us?"

  "That's Excel," Malachi said, glaring a bit at me. "The one I should have left behind."

  "Could'a, should'a, would'a, but you didn't," and I really couldn't stop the grin. "You know you're happy that I'm hear, so shut up man." "Yeah, you keep believing that."

  "Well," and I could swear Serena glared at me. "Why were you sitting on this.. Excel?" "Back's wounded."

  "How bad?"

  "Apparently, meat cleaver bad," was what I snapped, not liking the way she said my name. "Come on, we'll take care of you."

  "Sorry kid, I don't need to be taken care of."

  "Not what the blood coming through your shirt says." "Well tell the blood it can"

  "Come on!" "Whoa!"

  And I was being pulled into one room or another by the oldest man of the new group joining us that one man named "Billy." I found it kind of amusing he was named so, but didn't express it as I was practically pushed onto the floor. The man was surprisingly strong for one so old looking and I couldn't help but be a little intimidated. Not that I'd admit such a thing. I supported myself on my elbows a bit, noting that the entire group, old and new, and followed into the room, and the old man was lifting up the back of my shirt.

  "Meat cleaver is right." Jesus, how bad was it?!

  "Come on guys," I groaned, as I dropped back down to my face down position. It was kind of embarrassing for them to keep going on about me, not knowing what exactly they were going on about. I'd never seen a meat cleaver go at anything outside of horror movies, and by now I'm sure we all know exactly how trustworthy Hollywood is. "Stop exaggerating. It does not look like someone came at me with a meat cleaver."

  "Actually, Excel, ye don't know the 'alf of it."

  And that wasn't nearly as reassuring as the man may have thought it was. "Yeah, well, can you guys fix me up, or not?"

  There was some murmuring, and some chuckling, before a hand extended to be shaken. I didn't know why a hand needed to be shaken, but if the old guy was going to fix me up, I wasn't going to argue. I extended my own hand, and shook his, if rather confused. The moment I pulled back my pants were lowered slightly and I was promptly stuck with something. Right in my rump. The string of curse words that flew from my mouth actually brought color to Blaz's face, and Malachi burst into laughter right as I saw Serena smirk. I had a rapidly growing dislike for the girl, but refused to say so directly. Instead, I wanted to go for something subtle.

  "Wipe that smile from your face brat." Yay for subtly.

  "I'm not the one about to be out cold." "What?"

  But my eyes were growing heavy, and I wanted to know what she knew, that I didn't. What had the man stuck me with? Why was it making me tired? What was he going to do that was so terrible I needed to be asleep during it? I'd had gravel and stuff picked from wounds before, I wasn't so sure I needed to be passed out for such a task, even if said gravel was in a little deeper than usual.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  My ears began working long before my eyes ever opened as it seemed. There might have been someone crying, but I wasn't entirely sure because my head felt like it was filled with lint. My mouth felt like it was filled with lint as well, so I just laid there for a long moment, trying to regain myself. I didn't know where I was, or why I was there. I just knew that there was a progressively growing pain all along my back, and yes there was someone crying. I just wasn't sure who, or where. Was my brother crying? I couldn't be sure, because my brother didn't cry often. It wasn't a noise I'd memorized, because it wasn't worth memorizing. Maybe he was crying because I got hurt.

  Yeah.

  Oh shit, he must have hurt me. My brother must have done something stupid, that hurt me, and that was why he was crying. Mom and dad were going to be so pissed at him, I knew. He knew. That was probably the reason he was so upset, more than anything else. Unless I'd really gotten hurt this time. What was the last thing I remembered? Hmm. The last thing I remember was some chick smiling at me like she was so much better than I was. I'd been on the floor when she was smiling. She was bigger than me. Older than me. Was the big kid smiling because I'd fallen down? Because I'd gotten pushed down?

  Maybe.

  I didn't know.

  I opened my mouth to tell my brother to calm down. I tried to tell him there was nothing to cry about, because I'd tell mom and dad it was my own fault I got hurt. I wouldn't get him in trouble. I really didn't want to get him in trouble, because he covered for me more often than not. When something broke, when something was misplaced (or missing altogether.) It was my turn to protect him and his sorry ass for once, but of course I wouldn't say it like that. Because if my parents heard me talking like that we'd both be in trouble and there'd be no protecting him.

  "Ddon't cry," was all I got out before I realized that my tongue must have been swollen or something. Maybe I'd bitten it. It just hurt to talk. Everything hurt, but I tried to move a hand toward the crying boy anyway. He was a boy. He had to have been
a boy, it didn't sound like a girl at all. One can tell when ones own kind is crying, and it was definitely a boy crying. Which meant it was my brother, because no one other than him would cry for me. Parents don't cry, so they don't count. "Dodon't cry, bro."

  Unfortunately, the sobbing grew louder after that. But my hand was grabbed. The grabbing felt kind of desperate, and the hands felt weird. Small. My brother had bigger hands than me, he always had. It had something to do with him being older, and eating his vegetables. The face that pushed up close to my neck was too small to be my brothers as well, and

  I was beginning to get kind of worried. Someone other than my brother was crying for me, and he was very small. Like a little kid. Like a little, little kid. Unless I'd gotten bigger somehow.

  Where was I?

  I managed to crack one eye open, and laying right before my face were a bunch of bloodied surgical instruments. A scalpel. A suture. Tweezers. I felt sick to my stomach, but didn't have enough in me to throw up, so I just started shaking a bit, glancing down to see exactly what was hugging onto me. A small boy. He couldn't have been any older than ten, and as I pulled him closer to me, with all my strength, everything seemed to come flooding back.

  My dead brother.

  My dead classmates, and friends.

  My new friends. My hurt friends.

  The blood, lots of blood. Lots of coagulated blood. The Rvirus.

  Zombies.

  His name was George, the little boy pressed up to me. We'd found him wounded in the clinic, and he wouldn't tell us what wounded him. He'd been extremely hurt, and extremely scared, and now he was pressing himself to me for dear life. I didn't understand it, but I wrapped an arm around him as securely as I could. Whispering things in a hoarse voice that didn't want to cooperate. I was trying to calm him down, and after a couple of moments it actually seemed to be working.

  "What's wrong?" I managed to ask once his breathing was calm again, and he'd stopped shaking quite so violently, but I had to ask a second time before I got an answer from him. "I'm scared."

  "I'm scared too, George." "No. You don't get it. They" "Who?"

  "That group that brought Dustin, and the kid back in." "She's not that much younger than you."

  "I'm twelve."

  "You are not twelve."

  "I'm twelve. They've just messed me up so bad" "They?"

  "The people who brought Dustin and the kid back."

  "They" I swear the room started spinning at ludicrous speed right then, so I was forced to lay my head back down. "They're the ones who..?" and I barely ghosted my hand over the boys stomach, because I couldn't say it. When he started sobbing, I hugged him tightly and tried to shush him, because I needed to get the story out of him. "Are you sure it was them?"

  "I think."

  "So you're not sure?"

  "I was sedated most of the time. When they left there was no one there to keep me on the drugs, so I was able to get to you guys." "Good thing you did, or you would've been left, and eaten."

  "They scare me."

  "You're probably going to be scared of doctors forever, because of what was done to you George. And I don't blame you. I'd be terrified as well. Absolutely terrified. But you can't go around saying bad things about people that aren't true. I'll ask them to get out of their lab coats if that'll make you feel better. Will that make you feel better?"

  "A little."

  "Good. So when they come back in here, I'll ask." "Okay."

  "Now, why don't you get some sleep. You can stay right here next to me, okay? I won't let any bad doctors get you." "Okay."

  It wasn't that long before the boys breathing evened out, and I figured he'd been absolutely exhausted. I wasn't though, however in great pain, and needed something to occupy myself with. I moved my arm from the boy, and tried to find my notebook. I searched my pockets as best I could, but it was useless, because the thing wasn't there, and I almost cursed. Until I saw it lying on the floor a little bits away from my head.

  Going through it I noticed that someone took Dustin and Pixie off of my missing list. Someone had read my journal.

  I tried to push the thought aside as I started writing, wincing at how sloppy it looked. I wrote about how for a minute I'd been able to imagine that none of this was real. That my brother was all alive, and the zombie invasion was just a dream because he was okay. One sedative or another, whatever the old man had pumped into my ass, allowed me to think so. And I was almost grateful. I certainly wanted another dose of whatever the hell the thing was, because the pain in my back was growing, and spreading, and becoming a tad overwhelming.

  "Hey!" I tried to call out, but not wake the boy next to me up. "Hey! Is anyone out there?" "Excel?"

  "Jeremy."

  "Hey, you're okay. And you got the kid to go to sleep."

  "The lab coats that the new group was wearing scared him. Some doctors messed with him you know, his stomach and he's kind of scared of them now." "I'll pass on the message."

  "We got some water? And something to dull this throbbing pain I have?" "I don't know. I'll go ask."

  "Please do, Jeremy. And come back quick, I need to be distracted by something." "Alright."

  I was quite glad that Jeremy wasn't gone for too long, because maybe five minute later, he came back in with two of the people from the new group. Serena and Luke, I assumed it was. At the very least I thought it was Luke. Was he the one with the blond hair? I couldn't remember. I decided I'd ask, because I'd just been heavily drugged for God knows how long, they couldn't possibly expect my brain to be functioning properly.

  "So," looking dead at the boy again. "Which one are you?" "Jared."

  "I thought you were Luke."

  "Luke's the one with the brownishredishstupid hair that doesn't do what he says." "If you say so. Got anything to kill the pain?"

  "Can you swallow pills?" "Dry, if I have to."

  "We have water, don't worry."

  Moments later I was drinking down two Advil, and simply couldn't wait for the pain to go away. Distantly, I heard something about, "It might make you drowsy, because of the sedative you were given before." But I didn't care. Because the peaceful oblivion was exactly what I wanted. No pain. Nothing. Nothing at all, and I just laid there until there was nothing but the pictures my brain created. The fact that I remembered fine details of the dream when I awoke told me exactly how powerful it had been.

  It had been a dream about a beautiful young man, with short brown hair, and sparkling brown eyes that looked a surprising bit like Malachi in my mind. but he wasn't Malachi, this I

  could be sure of. I didn't know who he was, or what he was doing most of the time, except he seemed very smart. Intelligent. And loved. He seemed to have many friends, including the people who were with my group in reality. The strange ones. He was in a well lit room, working on one thing or another when he suddenly screamed.

  I woke up with a start, my eyes flying open, but I didn't move much further than that. My entire body felt stiff. And there was whispering.

  I tried to listen.

  "But I miss him, Jared."

  "I know. I know. I miss him too, 'Rena. He didn't deserve to die."

  "No he didn't. He didn't deserve it at all. And he's never coming back." "I know, I know. Shush. Don't cry."

  "I don't want to live without Criss."

  There was some shifting of material, and quiet sobbing a moment later. I took that moment to make myself noticed, groaning a bit as I shifted in my spot. I could easily say that I woke up because of the girls crying. I could claim I hadn't been listening. But now I had a bit of blackmail, so to speak. I knew about this.. Criss person. Whoever he was. I didn't know. I didn't care much, but I could, and would use it against the smug girl mercilessly if I had to.

  "Ev'rythin' ok'y?" my speech was slurred, and I shook my head to get my mind back into some semblance of working order. "Why's she cryin'?" "Bad memories is all. Don't worry, Excel."

  "Mmhmm. Okay." And I decided to more or le
ss 'play along' and not worry. Of course I wasn't going to worry. Everyone lost someone the past few days, since the zombies invaded

  I figured. This girl was absolutely nothing special. So she lost someone named Criss. I lost my brother. Lila lost a fiancé. Pixie lost a boy named Louie. Everyone lost Cathy. It was nothing new to me. "Where's everyone else? Where's George?"

  "In the other room. They wanted to let you rest." "Can I see them?"

  "Can you move?" "I dunno."

  "Let me help."

  Jared was extremely gentle with the way he helped me to my feet. He was even patient enough to help me hobble to the other room, where everyone there was willing to help me get used to walking again. It was Malachi who finally helped me to the bathroom when I needed to go. It was truly the perfect opportunity to press him for information on the new comers, so I decided to.

  "Malachi?" "Excel?"

  "Stop that. I've got a question." "I've got an answer."