They left the house and all its horrors behind, but the memory would be burned into James’s mind forever. On the way back, they stopped and informed the people in the small house that it was time to get up. Connor split off to collect the other groups.
Fifteen minutes later, all the adults and kids were gathered around the buses like the night before except they were missing seventeen. James looked to Emmett, but he shook his head.
“I asked last night if anyone had been bitten,” James said. “I was ignored and lied to, and now seventeen are dead because of someone’s poor choice.”
“What happened?” Peter asked, walking over to him.
“Sandy and the kids are dead—massacred,” James said harshly. “Because she didn’t listen.”
“No,” Margaret said, covering her mouth.
“How?” Peter asked.
“Sandy had been bitten,” James said, “but she hid it and turned last night. She slaughtered the rest of them.”
“How do we know ya ain’t the ones who did it?” Randy said, pointing a finger at him.
James was in no mood to argue with the ignorant man. “If I wanted you dead, we would’ve left you in the school, but we didn’t. I endangered myself and my group to help you. Go look in the house. There’ll be no doubt in your mind. Now, if you have a problem, step up or shut up.”
Staring daggers at Randy, who was at the front of the crowd, James realized he might have to fight the man. He cherished the thought. After a few seconds, Randy looked away.
“Things are going to change now. I don’t care who you are, everyone will be checked for bites and scratches or we will leave now and you can fend for yourselves,” James said, Emmett and Connor standing on either side of him.
Everyone grumbled, but no one spoke up. James caught Mila’s eye and motioned her over as Ana and Alexis came up from the back of the crowd.
“You three check the women and girls. We need to be thorough while still leaving everyone their dignity. Mainly check their legs, arms and necks. We can use the post office building. Let’s get this over with and get out of here,” James said.
“Oh, I’ll be thorough,” Ana said.
“What should we do if we find something?” Alexis asked.
“Let me know and we’ll figure it out,” James said.
Ana and Alexis walked to the apartment building, entering separate rooms.
“I trust you haven’t been bitten?” James asked Mila.
“No, but you can check me if you like,” she said with a wink and a smile, however the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Before James could formulate a response, she walked off to the apartment building.
“We’ll go set up in the other two rooms,” Emmett said as he left.
“Make sure we get everyone, Romeo,” Connor said, smiling as he walked after Emmett.
“Okay, everyone line up. Women and girls, the first three doors. Men and boys, the last two. Everyone must be checked or we’ll leave you here.”
“James,” Peter said, “that’s rather harsh.”
James looked him dead in the eye. “If you want our help, it isn’t given freely anymore.”
“Fine,” Peter said, “but these are my people.”
“Suit yourself. But if I’m not happy with a decision, we walk. Now, let’s go, people!”
Everyone milled over to the long building. James counted them as they passed. Ninety-four, not including Mila or Peter. They were missing one. Oh, right. Olive was still asleep in the back seat of his truck. Walking over, he opened the door and Olive sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
“Morning, Olive,” James said. “You want to come with me? Mila needs to check to make sure you don’t have any booboos.”
“You mean to make sure I haven’t been bit?” she asked as she climbed out of the truck.
“Guess I can’t get anything past you,” James said, smiling.
“I like to listen to the adults. They say some funny things.”
“That’s for sure.”
Together they walked to the long apartment building as people formed five lines outside the doors. James dropped Olive off at the line for Mila’s room and stood back, watching as Peter came out of the far room, pulling his shirt on. He walked over and joined James.
“This is a lot to take in,” Peter said, watching as people entered and exited the rooms.
“The sooner you get used to it, the easier it’ll be,” James said, watching a little boy about five years old standing in the back of Connor’s line. His black hair contrasted with pale skin sheen with sweat. Wanting to check the kid himself, he held back, knowing Connor would get him. He needed to keep an eye out and make sure everyone was checked.
“You guys seem pretty prepared. What’s your story?” Peter asked.
“Emmett spent years in the Marines. My brother and I have always been into the outdoors, hunting, and guns. Turns out that makes for a good combination to survive the end of the world.”
“What about the girls? They seem to know how to handle themselves as well.”
“Alexis is Emmett’s daughter and he trained her well. I’m not sure about Ana. But mainly, they adapted quickly.”
“I hope we can do the same.”
“Me too.”
Everyone was done but a little blonde girl, Margaret, and the pale boy he’d noticed earlier. Emmett came out of his room and joined them, along with Alexis. Soon, Ana and Mila walked out with Margaret and the little girl. The only one left was the black-haired boy. The door opened and Connor looked out. Finding James, he shook his head.
James cursed, going over to his brother. Connor stepped out and closed the door behind him. “How bad?”
“Bad,” Connor said. “I’m surprised he hasn’t turned yet.”
“How did it happen?”
“I don’t know. He just started crying and it took awhile before he’d show me his leg. It only had a small scratch on it, but it’s bad now.”
“What’s going on?” Peter asked, coming over with Margaret.
“The boy's been bitten,” James said, turning to them.
“Then we have to help him,” Margaret said, trying to go in, but Connor blocked the way to the room.
“No one can go in. We don’t know when he’ll turn,” James said as a crowd began to gather in front of them.
“You just want to leave him in there to die?” Margaret said, a little too loudly.
People in the crowd began to ask questions.
“What is it?”
“Who’s bitten?”
“What do we do?”
“Just calm down everyone,” Peter said. “No one’s saying we’re just going to leave him in there to die. Right?”
“No,” Connor said and everyone looked relieved. “We have to put him down.”
~~~
Well, that riled the crowd up, Connor thought.
James looked over at him and Connor shrugged. It may not be the easiest option, but it was the best.
His brother spoke up. “Look,” James said, “it may not be the easiest thing to accept, but he will turn, and if he’s not contained, he will infect others. We either leave him here to die slowly and painfully, or we help him in the only way we can—”
“Which is to kill ‘em?” Randy asked. “See, he wants us all dead, one by one!”
Connor had heard enough of the man. In a flash, he had his gun up and pointed at Randy’s head. The crowd gasped and took a step back.
“If I wanted you dead, I’d kill you right where you stand,” Connor said. He lowered his gun but continued to stare at Randy. “Don’t take us helping you to mean we have to stay here and take this bullshit. You can decide on whatever your little heart desires, but if you want us to help, things are going to change.”
Connor removed his gaze from Randy and looked around the crowd at all the scared and angry expressions on people’s faces. Some of the kids were crying and cowering behind adults, and some just looked confused and oblivious to what
was going on. Connor locked eyes with his brother and a look passed between them. James nodded.
“I’ll make this simple,” James said. “If you want our help and our protection, you’ll follow our lead, plain and simple. If anyone has a problem with that, fine. Leave. But if you want us to continue to risk our lives for yours, then you’ll have to compromise.”
“Ain’t no way I’mma go along with this,” Randy said, growing irate.
“Then I’m sorry, Randy, but you’ll have to leave,” Peter said.
Connor looked at the man, shocked. And here I thought Peter was a spineless coward, leading his people to death. Maybe he does have some balls after all.
“But Peter,” Margaret said, “they want to kill Henry.”
“I know,” Peter said, a sad expression on his face. “But if we’d listened to James last night, all those kids would still be alive. We have no idea what it takes to survive and we barely have anything that constitutes a weapon. What happens when we run across a group of men with guns who want to kill us? What do we do then?”
“We fight,” Randy said.
“With what? The four guns we have?” Peter asked.
“They ‘ave a whole pile of guns in the back of their truck,” Randy said, a dangerous edge to his voice. “We take ‘em.”
Connor’s trigger finger twitched. If things continue like this, it’ll get bad real quick, he thought.
“Oh come on, Randy,” Peter said. “Look around you. You want to get a lot of people killed? They helped us. Why do you hate them so much?”
Connor noticed Emmett slowly moving around to the side of the crowd so he’d be closer to Randy if things went down. With Randy so intent on the brothers standing in front of him, he didn’t even notice Emmett moving at the edge of his peripheral vision.
“They ain’t never wanted to help us!” Randy shouted furiously. “They just wanted to lure us out so they could kill us. There prolly ain’t even a thing as zombies!”
“Randy,” Peter said, voice growing hard. “Are you using again?”
Connor focused more closely on Randy’s face, noticing for the first time that the man was shaking. His pupils were extremely dilated, almost blotting out the rest of his eyes, and his skin was covered in sweat. He’s on drugs! Gripping his AR tighter, he watched the man closely, waiting for any sign that he needed to be put down.
“That’s none of yer damn business! We don’t need ‘em. We can survive on our own!”
A couple of the men and women in the crowd nodded, but everyone seemed to take a step away from Randy. More kids began to cry, sensing the adults’ anxiety.
“Randy, I’m only going to ask you once,” Peter said. “Leave.”
Something shifted in Randy’s eyes. Before Connor could think about getting a shot off, Randy raised his M16 and fired. Emmett fired just after Randy and blood sprayed from Randy’s chest. Connor also fired. The back of Randy’s head blew off as he crumpled to the ground. Lowering his AR, he quickly looked to his brother, thinking James had been hit. James stood there, AR to his shoulder, looking at Randy on the ground. Connor couldn’t see any blood or signs that James had been shot.
But if he’s not hit, did Randy miss?
Peter, standing next to James, pulled his hand away from his chest. It was covered in blood. Peter looked down at his hand as his knees began to shake. James moved in as Peter fell, catching him and lowering him gently to the ground. Connor stood there, AR still on the crowd, making sure no one tried anything else.
“He shot me,” Peter said, coughing up blood. “I didn’t think he’d actually do it.”
“All this stress breaks people,” James said, putting pressure on the wound.
Alexis ran over to Peter, kneeling down to examine him. Ana stood at the back of the crowd, watching them with her rifle at her shoulder, and Emmett stood off to the side.
“Is anyone else going to try anything?” Connor asked, eyeing the crowd.
No one moved or said a word. He glanced down at his brother and Alexis trying to stem the flow of blood, but they knew it wouldn’t help. Even if they had medical assistance, Peter wouldn’t survive. Randy had shot him right in the heart.
“Take care of them.”
Connor could barely hear Peter whisper to James.
“I will,” James said as Peter breathed his last.
Alexis stood, taking a step back with a sad look on her face. James stood up, wiping the blood from his hands on Peter’s pants. He shook his head, an angry light in his eyes.
Oh, this ought to be good, Connor thought.
“Last. Straw,” James said, looking at the crowd. “No more.” He looked to Connor. “Take care of the kid.”
Connor nodded. Some in the crowd stirred, but no one said anything or made a move to stop him. Emmett still stood to the side of the crowd, M4 up and ready. He wasn’t taking any chances either.
While Connor took no enjoyment in this—in fact, it pained him every time he had to do it—this had become his place. Actually, it had always been his place. Even when he was younger, he’d been the one to put down their family’s dog. He’d always had a way of compartmentalizing things like that. In his heart, he knew he’d been born for war, to be a warrior. Opening the door to the room the sick kid was in, he entered, shutting it behind him.
They’d waited too long. The boy lay on the ground, convulsing in a pool of his own blood. Moving swiftly, he let his AR fall to his side as he withdrew his KA-BAR knife. Connor knelt. The kid was still alive and he could see the agony on his face. In a swift move, he plunged the blade of his knife into the nook where the skull joined with the spine. The boy died instantly, saved from a long, torturous death.
Connor closed his eyes and knelt, dealing with the emotions that rose up inside him—sorrow, pain, anger, guilt. Allowing himself to feel those emotions for a few brief seconds, he then pushed them back down and locked them up deep inside. They had no place in this world. He stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes, and took a sheet off the bed to wrap the boy’s body in. Carrying the body to the door, he kicked it and a second later James was there, opening the door. Without a word, his brother moved aside and placed his hand on Connor’s shoulder as he walked out. Across from the building was a small patch of dirt.
That’ll work, Connor thought.
The crowd watched as he moved across the road. Laying the body down, he looked back to see that James had gotten another sheet and covered Peter. Connor walked back and helped his brother as they lifted the body and laid it next to the boy’s. They left Randy’s body where it lay.
“Someone get two shovels,” James said, not looking back at the crowd.
Connor watched as Mila moved first, followed by some of the other adults. The last few adults snapped out of their stupor, realizing there were still over fifty kids standing there with their mouths hanging open, fear in their eyes, and some with tears running down their cheeks. They began to usher the kids away to the buses. Two kids stayed—the girl Olive and an older boy. He looked to be of Hispanic descent, maybe ten years old, with long black hair and brown eyes. Emmett moved next to the brothers, watching the people return with shovels.
Ana and Alexis moved over to the two kids.
“You should go with the others,” Alexis said.
“I want to stay with James,” Olive said. “I’ve been to funerals before.”
“I’m staying too,” the boy said.
“What’s your name?” Ana asked.
“Felix.”
“Okay, Felix and Olive,” Alexis said. “You can stay with us.”
The girls and the two kids walked over as Mila and a man brought the shovels.
“What do you want us to do?” Mila asked, looking to James.
And just like that, we’re now responsible for over ninety people. Great, Conner thought.
James looked around and then back at Mila. “Leave some of the armed adults with the kids in the buses. Have someone who knows about the buses pick the
best two and move everything over to them. Gather up the rest of the adults, make sure they’re all armed, and start gathering all the food, bedding, and other supplies we might need.”
“Okay,” Mila answered. “But what ‘other supplies’ do we need?”
“I’ll go with them,” Ana said.
“Yeah, I’ll help too,” Alexis offered.
“Good. Have everyone ready to leave in thirty minutes,” James said. “If anyone has a problem, have them come to me. Those who don’t want to come with us can take the other bus with a fair share of supplies. I’ll even give them a couple guns.”
“Guns?” Connor asked, looking at his brother skeptically.
“Better to have everyone who even wants to think of leaving gone now. It’ll make it that much easier in the days to come.”
Connor realized he had a good point. The people who wanted to leave would be more willing to do so if they were armed.
“I’ll go tell them,” Mila said, turning to leave.
“And Mila,” James said as she turned around, “thanks. It’s nice to have someone on our side.”
She smiled at him. “You saved us, even risked your life for little Olivia here. A bad guy wouldn’t do that.” She turned and walked away.
“Ready?” James asked, handing him one of the two shovels.
“Let’s get it done and get the hell out of this town,” Connor said, plunging the shovel into the dirt.
7
Back in the Saddle
The ground was soft and the brothers had the graves dug in fifteen minutes. They weren’t six feet deep, but they’d work well enough. Looking down into the hole, James had trouble grasping this. Where had it all gone wrong? They’d saved a whole school of people and just like that they started dying, one after another. Why risk his life to save them in the first place if they were all going to end up dead?
“Did you take care of him?” Connor asked, motioning to Peter.
“Yeah,” James said, “after I covered him so the kids didn’t see.”
“That was wise,” Emmett said.
The Brother's Creed (Book 2): Battleborn Page 8