by mike Evans
Greg held up a finger, saying, “It’ll take just one minute, swear to God, Joey.”
Chris saw him coming and tried to get out of the line but it was too late. Greg gripped him by the hoody half lifting half pushing him past the onlookers and into the bathroom. Kicking the door open he threw Chris to the ground and clicked the lock behind him. Greg yelled, “You call him a fucking retard and think you’re funny as shit, don’t you? That kid has more heart in him than ten of you assholes. I told you very clearly what would come about if you and Charlie gave him any more trouble. You can be thankful that you’re in the hospital already.”
Chris pushed up from the ground and said, “I'm not scared of you, Greg. I’ve been training too.”
Chris made the mistake of letting his training give him a false sense of confidence. He ran for Greg gripping him around the waist and slamming the two of them into the door. Greg let out a gasp of air bringing a knee up on impact and caught Chris in the sternum. When Chris started to fall to the ground Greg held him up by the hoody and brought his knee up into his gut. He knew that if he walked out and Chris was a bloody mess that he would get the third degree from Aslin and Clary. He also knew that the boy’s dads were on base, but was unconcerned about any tongue lashings that they would try and put forward.
Greg knelt down uncomfortably close to Chris. Chris tried backing up but Greg took a handful of his hair in one hand lifting his head to whisper in his ear, “You know, Chris, the only reason that I don’t beat the shit out of you, is because of Joey. It doesn’t matter how many times you dumbasses upset him, or call him names that you shouldn’t be using, he just keeps on loving everyone. I wanted to let you know he has been through a lot more than you. Unlike you, God didn’t grant him the gift of parents to watch over him. Which is actually more than most people on the base can say. One day he’s going to realize the piece of shit you are and when he loses his shit on you I’d hate to be in your position because I’ve seen that kid crack a zombie's head open with one single swing of his bat. If I were you, I would pray that you aren’t on the receiving end of it because I'm quite confident there would be little good about that. You got any questions, anything at all that you can’t wrap your little brain around? I'm really not kidding; every time I need to do this it is going to get worse. I mean it, you need to learn or you can be like the others and hit the road. I’m confident that my opinion weighed over yours getting to stay is not going to do very much for you.”
“You wouldn’t do that. I don’t get your infatuation with that kid, he isn’t special; he’s just another kid.”
Greg clicked the door open and looked back at the boy trying to hold his stomach in a way that didn’t hurt. “You realize that kid who you say isn’t special, has saved my life and yours more than once by now? Maybe you shouldn’t take things for granted when you don’t know what you are talking about. I’ll take twenty Joey’s on my side over a hundred of you. You just don’t get it, but I gotta feeling that somehow you’re still going to be one of the survivors long term.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?”
“That’s pretty simple, Chris. Cowards who choose to stay on base and hide without contributing usually have the best chance of surviving. I mean, when are you going to get hurt dropping your training rifle on your foot? You don’t go anywhere, you haven’t earned the trust and respect to leave, you aren’t on guard duty, and you are a waste of space. But keep it up because as we get less and less supplies those who aren’t workers and necessary to the continuation of our base are going to be on the road.”
Greg opened the door before he could say anything back. When he stepped back out into the hallway Joey was standing there and he looked more than a little concerned. “Greg… Greg, did you do something to him? Is he okay, you didn’t hurt him, did ya?”
“Nothing a day of taking it easy isn’t going to heal on its own, Joey. Don’t worry about it, kids like that can take a beating all day. They have to be able to or they wouldn’t ever survive this.”
Joey picked up Greg’s gear and handed it to him. “Greg you gotta stop hurting people just because they say something dumb. I got thick skin. They don’t hurt my feelings that bad. I've dealt with it for years. I'm special and I know that, it is okay to be special.”
Greg threw on his gear nodding and said, “No, you aren’t special, Joey, you aren’t different. You are just a survivor like me, like Patrick, Clary, and even Chris, but the difference between you and him is you treat every day with the respect that it deserves. You don’t take things for granted and that is just one of the reasons why everyone on this base loves you. You contribute, you fight, and in my book that is better than anything.”
*****
Shaun sat next to Ellie while the two of them were finishing their lunches. Ellie said, “I need to get out of this place, Shaun. I’m seriously going to lose it if I don’t get a day pass. It’s April, the frigid weather is over, and soon we can start doing fires at night and have a little piece of normalcy. But I can’t do any of those things if I don’t get out of here. I mean at some point someone’s going to start asking what I do to get a free ride. I heard the stories from visitors saying how a few people had to leave.”
“They left because they stole and were a waste of space, Ellie. If anyone has any issues with you not contributing while you were healing then they can talk to me. I promise you that there’s nothing you have to worry about. For God sakes we were the ones that knew about the base and did all the shit work trying to get it set up early on. By the time anyone that wasn’t one of our original group, plus the kids from the orphanage, came it was practically already safe and secured. We, unlike them, actually had losses after the start of this. We weren’t hiding like the rest. We were actually, from day two, trying to do something to end this hell.”
Ellie said, “Right, but we only left the cabin because of Patrick.”
“You sure your heads okay? We went right back down that hill once Greg and Kristy told us they were looking for any research that could have been helpful. In all honesty meeting the Seals was probably the best thing that could have happened to us. I mean, we never would have learned anything that we know now. These skills going forward are what keep us alive.”
Ellie watched his intensity in his facial features and knew that he always had a plan and that even while they were talking he was probably thinking of it. “Yeah, well I’m going to need to spend some serious time at the range after this. It’s been awhile since I’ve been behind the trigger of anything. I’m not going back out again until I can handle the gun. I don’t want to put anyone in a predicament where they need to save me because I can’t handle my own gear.”
“You aren’t going anywhere, Ellie, until you can run again. Lou still thinks that you need more time to heal. He said the only reason you are getting released early is because you’ve been okay in all the other checkups. He said you need to take it easy and-”
“Shaun, stop please, I get it, okay? I’ve been sitting here during all these conversations. He warned me, he told me about taking it easy and doing a little at a time. There’s no rush, but like I said if I don’t get out of this little room I’m going to lose my mind. I love you to death, but I need to get out of here and walk around.”
Shaun’s face crinkled up as he tried to hold a smile in but couldn’t manage it. The smile was infectious and Ellie couldn’t help but follow suit. “What are you smiling at, weirdo?”
“You just said that you loved me.”
Ellie never missing an opportunity to throw him off balance. “Yeah, like a brother, or a cousin, stupid.”
Shaun’s face went void of color and he looked at the ground awkwardly, unsure what to say. Ellie actually felt guilty for a second but still let it sink in deep before she reached down gripping his hand and squeezing tight. She said, “Shaun, of course I love you. Jesus after everything we’ve been through together over the last two years I don’t know how I couldn’t be in love with
you. You are the reason I’m still alive and that I haven’t lost my shit, Shaun. We’ve had so much happen and through everything, regardless of what is happening, it seems like you just soldier on. I don’t know if you're just hard headed or you have a shell a foot thick, but yeah you can handle anything, and yes I do love you very much.”
Shaun smiled again, his face started to regain the slightest hint of colors as his cheeks began to grow red. “You aren’t screwing with me are you, Ellie?”
She shook her head no and this time he believed her. “You think at some point, Shaun, you could keep up with my advanced sarcasm skills.”
Shaun rubbed his hands through his hair. “It isn’t easy sometimes. You are lucky that you are blessed with good looks.”
“Oh, Mr. Fox, you would love me regardless of how I looked, and you know it.”
Shaun pushed up off his seat leaning in for a much-needed kiss. When he closed his eyes and could feel the beginning of what was going to be a great kiss the unquestionable sound of Greg accompanied by Joey making gagging noises at the door was evident. Greg said, “God, would you slip her the tongue already, Fox. The two of you are going to be dead or old by the time you finally make a move.”
Shaun did as he was told and extended a very prominent middle finger to the two of them. He pushed up off the bed giving her one more kiss on the forehead and said, “I’ll be back later to help you take your stuff to the barracks. We have that meeting with Clary and Aslin. I’m pretty sure that we’re going to finally figure out what we’re going to do going forward.”
“Well, are you going to let me know what they said?”
“Yeah, of course,” Shaun said, “but you know there’s no chance they’re going to let you go anywhere. We need to take people with who are fit and able. I give you a couple months and you are going to be going out with us all the time just like we had been waiting for.”
Shaun grabbed his pack and rifle and Joey squeezed in running over and giving Ellie a quick hug. “I'm really glad you are getting out of here, Ellie. This room is nice and all but I hate hospitals. I asked a couple of the girls if they could make you some cookies. I thought that you might like them.”
Ellie smiled thinking that it would be hard for Joey to be any sweeter than he already was. She sat there awkwardly until it was uncomfortable to sit there any longer without saying anything. “So, what kind of cookies are they, Joey?”
“The best kind there is, Ellie. I had them make chocolate chip cookies. Oh, I love those, they’re so good.”
“So, are you going to give them to me later, or did you bring them with?”
“Oh, I got hungry helping with the blood drive, so I thought I’d just eat one, and then I got a little hungrier….I guess I ate them all. I’ll see if they can make you some new ones. Sorry about that, it’s just that I get so hungry sometimes and there’s no food around and those cookies were saying, hey, Joey come eat us cookies, and, Ellie, before I knew it they were gone.”
Ellie patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Joey. I don’t need them. Besides, maybe the next time we go out and get supplies you can make sure to pick some up for me.”
Joey said, “Oh, I'm not going out this time. I wanted to walk patrol with Patrick and the new girl. They get bored if I'm not with them, so I like to go with.”
“New girl?”
Greg cut in and said, “Yeah, her name is Bella and she was in one of the last groups to come, I think, in March. There was a pretty decent sized group hanging at the mall. They were so sick of greasy food that I think they were the first ones to be excited about having some of Aslin’s gruel. She seemed like she knew what she was doing and caught right on during class. After a few weeks Patrick vouched for her and has been showing her the ropes. We need all the fit people we can get to be able to walk the perimeter. Between the dead and those guys out in Johnston, we need to keep our guard up.”
Ellie smiled thinking of Patrick having to deal with a new girl and with Kya. “Well, I’ll bet Kya couldn’t be happier about that. Is Bella cute?”
Shaun said, “I don’t know anybody who is as cute as you.”
She smiled, brushing her hair that wasn’t covered with a bandage. “You know flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Fox.” She blew a kiss to him as he walked out the door.
Greg ran to catch up to Shaun. “You know damn well she’s hot, Shaun. You aren’t blind.”
“Yeah,” Shaun said, “but I'm not going out of my way to tell Ellie that. It isn’t like she has anything to worry about anyways.”
Greg put his arm around Shaun and said, “So we both know that I could stop giving you a hard time but-“
“But you are single and annoyed about it. I take it Lou still won’t let you take out either of his daughters?”
“Well, he did say that over his dead body I could. Wait, actually no, no he didn’t say that. I was waiting for the offer, figuring fifty-fifty chance worse-case scenario, you know with a bunch of zombies always running around. Not once did he say that though.”
“Keep out of trouble for more than a few months and maybe you’ll get a chance at it. There’s bound to be more girls that we run into right? I mean if this is what is left then there’s not going to be too many offspring running around, at least for a long time.”
Greg said, “You aren’t ready to be a dad just yet there, Shaun?”
“Hell no! I’d like to get to the point first where that is a problem to worry about, and then still not have babies for a long, long time to come. I can’t imagine trying to keep an eye on a kid in all of this. You can’t imagine the Turned would be at all sympathetic towards a child, right?”
“No way, those things are effing evil… they’d take it out.” Shaun said.
Joey said, “You guys got anything better we can talk about? Shaun having kids, and then his kids getting eaten by the dead doesn’t seem like a great talk.”
“Yeah, sure, Joey,” Greg said. “I got something, how about lover boy here can’t make it to his training assignments when he is supposed to.”
“What did I miss, Greg?”
“You missed range duty. There are enough people now that it takes the entire time just running up and down the range making sure that everyone is being safe. Some of those kids still make me nervous; they still think that it's a game, I think.”
Shaun said, “Well, the first time that those things make their way here and take out that joke of a fence they will-”
Joey cut in quickly, “Uh, guys, you really think those things are coming here? You don’t think this place is safe anymore?”
Shaun instantly felt like an ass. “Yeah, Joey, this place is still safe. Honestly, there are probably few places safer in the state. I doubt we ever would have lasted a year at Andy’s place. Not that I wouldn’t mind having my own room and the feel of a real house to sleep in.”
Greg said, “What, you don’t like sharing your personal space with however many kids we’re up to?”
“No, Greg, there’s definitely nights that I could use some privacy. God knows it wouldn’t break my heart not to hear you snoring at night.”
“I would like my own room too,” Joey added. “I don’t like hearing people’s moans when they have nightmares. When I can’t sleep at night and I’m looking around with flashlights people look like they’re in pain. They look scared to, and sometimes I go over and wake them up because I think they’d be happier not dreaming that.”
Greg said, “What happens then?”
Shaun answered before Joey could. “A lot of the time it isn’t any better and that's when they start balling their eyes out.”
Greg said, “And how do you know all that?”
“Because, I don’t like to sleep either,” Shaun said. “I do better catching a couple short naps in the day. Just another reason I’d rather have my own room.”
Greg whispered just before running off. “Hey, if you closed the deal with Ellie, maybe you wouldn’t need your own space so
bad at night there, Fox.”
Shaun prominently held up his middle finger for Greg and the three of them raced the rest of the way to the office to meet Aslin and Clary.
Chapter 2
Aslin stared out the window checking his watch. “It doesn’t matter what time I tell those kids to show up, they aren’t ever early. I mean you would think having a clock in every single damn building would be enough to make them be on time. There isn’t a lack of places that they can find out what time it is. Do we need to go rob a watch store so everyone on base will have one less excuse?”
Clary was leaning back and in no hurry for the kids to arrive. “I’m not in a hurry. It isn’t like Shaun hasn’t been preoccupied with Ellie lately. She gets out today, ya know.”
“Yeah, but she still needs to take it easy. I already spoke to Lou, so if we end up leaving today or tomorrow she’s not going with. Last thing we need is for her doing something she thinks she can and then she gets hurt or worse. You remember what happened with Shaun last time?” Aslin said.
“Well, it has been a whole two months, Aslin, but yeah, if what you are asking about is if I remember Shaun going off with a storage closet worth of blood bags and taking out an insane amount of the Turned by baiting them, then yes I have a small recollection of it.”
“It was still dangerous, Clary, and the last thing he needs is the motivation to go do something like that again.”
“Motivation? Are you kidding me? I’ve never met anyone who hates those things more than Shaun. He has always felt responsible for what his dad did, I’m pretty sure if we ever win this thing that he will be the one pulling the final trigger to put them down. He is a long term survivor; if he can refrain from doing anything else ignorant with grenades on ice then I’d say he’ll be around for some time to come.”