The Orphans (Book 5): Civil War

by mike Evans

  Doug was walking slowly hands away from his side to get Joe off the ground. “So where do you expect us to go?”

  “To hell, but between now and then, I don’t care what you do. You just get the fuck off this base and stay off it.”

  Doug said, “We aren’t going to make it, we aren’t clever people.”

  Clary walked straight for him and dragged Joe by one hand, and gripped Doug by the back of the neck with everything he had. The man winced immediately ducking down and he forced him to walk out the door using his head to open it. When he made it out he saw there was a crowd. He looked to Patrick and Kya and said, “Patrick, I want two rifles, two pistols, and a can of ammo for each. Kya, run over to the motor pool and get something for these two to take. Make sure it isn’t anything that we are going to miss and I’m talking civilian not Humvees.”

  She opened her mouth to say something not realizing how bad of a day Clary was having and he snapped, “Now, Kya, move!”

  Doug, who for some reason still thought he had bargaining chips, pleaded, “Hey, we can change, we can do better. We just need one more chance, Clary, and we’ll turn around and make it to classes. We’re pretty good with shooting those rifles in training class.”

  Clary said, “You two have made it to what, two classes so far out of twenty? I don’t know why the two of you are hoarding things that you probably don’t know how to use anyways. Don't beg, have a little respect for yourself.”

  Doug turned around now knowing that he was gone and there was nothing that he could do about it. He said, “Aslin, really come on, there’s dead out there, fucking thousands of them. We aren’t going to make it, brother. Come on, are you going to let Clary make all the decisions for you?”

  Aslin stepped forward ready to brawl. “Doug, you wouldn’t know this of course, but it was my idea to kick you out today. You guys are gone. Like he said, if you come back you’ll have crosshairs on you. But I promise you if it is my scope on you that you’ll never make it close enough to be a threat. You guys should leave now before you make it worse. We have no responsibilities saying we need to send you out of this place with anything. We could send you without any guns, hell, we could send you out walking. Would you feel good about that, or do you think that you’d much rather have a car?”

  Doug thought about the two of them walking with no weapons and no car and the thought instantly made him sick. He walked towards the crowd who all took a step back. “You don’t have to live like this. You don’t have to be toy soldiers; you can kick these two out of here and we can make it a community, a safe place where everyone can just do what they want.”

  Lou stepped out of the crowd and he was big enough that he didn’t have anything to worry about if the man wanted to rush him. “Before these guys came and got us, we didn’t know if we would make it to the next day. We lived in an apartment complex not more than a few miles from here, but from there to here seems like an entirely different world. I couldn’t be happier to have my girls learning how to use guns and having the supplies that they need. We didn’t know if there would be a tomorrow when we were there, each day we could hear the dead and we walked on pins and needles praying to god himself that they wouldn’t hear us and burst through the door and kill everyone. If you think that this is a prison then you must have had a very easy first year. I can only imagine that you’ve been screwing people over the entire time. Aslin and Clary ask for little in exchange for a safe haven. They could have stayed here with the kids they found on day two and done nothing. They would have had enough supplies to last them to the end, or damn close. Unfortunately for you, the government is no longer operating, at least in any way that I know of that affects us.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Doug asked.

  “It means that welfare is over. If you can’t take care of yourself and contribute then it means you don’t have a right to survival. If you are a thief and a liar on top of that, then the other side of those gates is absolutely where I want you both.”

  Doug looked at the rest of the bystanders and screamed, “Is that what all of you want? Huh, is it? You want us gone and you want to stay in this fucking regime?”

  The heads of everyone were nodding yes and hadn’t taken long to do so. Doug turned around to say something else and Aslin was already standing there. He gripped his shoulder and brought up a right hook into the man's gut freeing him of any air in his lungs. Doug’s eyes crossed and he dropped to one knee holding his gut and trying to hold onto Aslin’s leg who brushed him off. Kya pulled up with a car and Aslin actually had to fight to keep a straight face. She got out pointing to it and said, “Sorry, it was the only one I could find keys for quickly. I didn’t think either of you would miss a Prius. Is this alright?”

  Clary said, “It’s better than alright, it is perfect. Thanks, Kya.”

  Patrick came through a minute later setting the items he’d been requested to get on the hood. Doug said, “Just one of each, why don’t you just put one in the back of our heads and save us the trouble?

  Joe was pushing off the ground and could feel a pulsating in his head that he was going to be bothered by for a few days. “Shut up, Doug, take what they offer and we leave. It is obvious everyone else is just an ant here following the leader. Let them have the stupid base. I have a feeling it's going to fall at some point. Others are going to come for this stuff and when they don’t want to share they’re going to have more than just the dead that are coming for them.”

  Clary said, “We don’t have any problems sharing, but so far we’ve went on five trips, and found three groups, one of which tried to take Fox. Sorry if we aren’t jumping up and down to give away a stockpile to insane people.”

  Clary walked to the rifles releasing the bolt for the upper receiver and removing the charging handle from both rifles. He took the slide off each pistol and then popped the trunk throwing everything into the back of it.”

  Doug saw this and yelled, “What are we supposed to do with broken guns? You want us to club those things to death?”

  He shrugged closing the trunk and said “I tell you two what. You get at least a mile away from here before you stop and get this shit out of the trunk. You do anything before that distance, and I promise you I’ll be sitting with a grenade launcher ready to send hell straight towards you and dipshit.”

  Joe shrugged climbing into the passenger seat. He said, “There aren’t many of those things around here, it's not a big deal. I really hope that we see each other again, Clary, Aslin.”

  “Just remember you try coming back and it's going to go badly for you. I don’t care what assholes you end up with we aren’t putting up with any of it,” Aslin said.

  Doug wanted to say something but could tell from the body language and peoples looks that their stay was over. He climbed in starting the small car up and the two headed towards the gates. Clary walked alongside the car, rifle raised, until they got to the gates. He made circles with his hand letting the two on duty know to let down the metal cylinders that came up and down from the ground. One of the two ran inside and the cylinders slowly began to lower. Clary knelt down and said, “I'm really not fucking around here, guys. If I have to make examples, I'm going to do my damnedest to make sure that people get the point. I honestly think that we’re getting rid of the cream of the crop when it comes to pieces of shit. Those left that aren’t trying right now are going to have a brand new motivation to keep them moving. You head out and you take a right, you get the fuck out of here and do it now.”

  Doug pulled out of the base. He checked his rearview seeing that they were already putting the gates back up from the ground. Doug looked to Joe and said, “So where do we go now?”

  Joe pulled out a pack of smokes wincing from his split lip when it touched the filter. “I got an idea.”

  Chapter 6

  Supply run

  Shaun swung back and forth bringing his leg up and getting it on the edge of the platform. He took a deep breath and pul
led himself back up on the platform. He felt cold fingers brush against his leg as he pulled it just out of reach. The feeling sent chills through his body as it reminded him that he could be that close to death at any moment.

  McQuaig screamed when she saw the dead coming. She knelt down trying to be ready for the impact and saw the top of the building and realized she was falling backwards off the platform. She kept hold of her machine gun and when she hit the safety strap she held tight and the jerk of her momentum stopped her dead where she was. McQuaig looked down seeing the Turned less than five feet below her.

  She looked over to Shaun for help but could see his feet dangling in the air and was doing his best to try and get himself back to the platform. She brought her legs up holding them as high as she could out of their reach. She watched as Shaun finished hauling himself up and waited to hear gunshots knowing they would be her saving grace. Shaun instead started raising the platform to heights that made her stomach turn. She screamed, “Fox, how fucking high are you going?”

  “High enough that those things can’t reach you. I’m not strong enough to pull you back up and they aren’t going to stop trying to get you.”

  The dead were slamming into the lift over and over again with everything they had. Shaun watched Hammond, knowing it was too late. Those that hadn’t been trying to knock the lift over were solely focused on what was left of him. They had him pinned to the mower, now crippled from a broken back. Two of the Turned were ripping at his arms trying their best to remove them from their home. Hammond was screaming from his injuries. The words would haunt Shaun as he screamed, “Fox, Fox, help me, I need you to help me!”

  Shaun tried taking aim but there was nothing that he could do for Hammond. One of the dead gripped the boy's jaw with both hands and separated them until it snapped and tore off his lower jaw. It picked the teeth off that were in its way and started to gnaw on the flesh hanging from it. Shaun’s stomach turned from his sky rise seat to the horror below. Hammond’s screams faded as he passed out from the pain and blood loss.

  Shaun raised his pistol uncaring about saving bullets at the moment or head shots and sprayed the five dead on the tractor with an entire magazine. He left them crippled on the ground where they lay. They were still reaching for Hammond. Shaun was unsure if he would have enough left to turn and aimed, firing two shots dead center into the teen’s skull decimating it. He thought not even the boy’s own mother would recognize him after that.

  McQuaig screamed next and Shaun scanned the floor praying that Aslin and Greg would be on scene in a very short time. He knew that if they were here that they’d be firing already and the two of them, for the time being, were on their own. The only thing that he currently felt thankful for was that he saw no more dead coming. He was hoping that these were the only threats in the building. Shaun dropped his magazine and slid home a new one releasing the slide and started firing down at the dead. McQuaig was trying to as well but could not shoulder her rifle in a way that she could aim with it. When Shaun saw this he screamed to her, “McQuaig, McQuaig, sling your fucking rifle, shoot them with your pistol. I can’t do this on my own!”

  McQuaig slung her rifle and pulled her nine millimeter. She switched off the safety and the two of them began firing just as quickly as they could. When they’d run out of the dead Shaun realized the reason there’d been no help is that gunfire was erupting on the opposite end of the building. He looked over the side of the platform at McQuaig swinging. “McQuaig, did they bite you? Are you alright?”

  She shook her head no scaring him to death thinking that she had gotten bitten. She screamed back up, “Of course I’m not alright, you idiot! Get me down from here. I’m dangling like fucking bait. What are those gunshots, do you think it‘s Aslin and Greg?”

  Shaun hit the lift to slowly begin taking it back down. When they got within a few feet of the ground, he slowed it down letting McQuaig get her feet under her and then the strap off and out of the way of the forks that were holding the platform on. When she was freed from dangling the two rushed towards the gunshots. They did their best not to think about Hammond lying on the mower ripped to pieces.

  *****

  Greg and Aslin were walking the perimeter of the building. Greg was keeping watch while Aslin was marking down exactly where the things were that they needed when they had deemed the place temporarily safe. Greg said, “You doing okay after seeing that….that, whatever it was that you saw, Aslin?”

  “No, Greg, I'm not doing all that great, to tell you the truth. It depletes what small amount of sanity I still have left when I have to witness and then partake in things like that. Those things are soulless. It makes me wonder how God could possibly let those things continue living, or whatever it is that they are. You think that even as busy as he is that he would still come down and do something to rid the world of them.”

  “Aslin, that is only assuming that he is watching over us. You don’t think that he has something more important that he is dealing with?”

  “You realize this isn’t just Iowa, it isn’t just the Midwest, right? What I mean is that this thing, this….this plague is everywhere. There is nothing keeping it from spreading. So what I’m saying Greg, is that there is no way at all that even God himself almighty could continue on daily without seeing one of the dead. I just don’t see how it could be possible. The only thing that could be worse than that is if there really isn’t a god, but for as many lucky breaks as we have had I'm not going to make any conclusions, yet.”

  Greg started to say something when a snarling came from around the corner. He knelt down looking through the rafters and could see more than one pair of legs through them. Aslin, who didn’t have the angle that Greg did, had to ask, “What is it, are we looking at dog or dead?”

  Greg said, “Dead, and there are plenty of them over there.”

  “How many is plenty?”

  “Probably at least twenty of them, I can’t say for sure. What do you want to do? They just seem to be sitting there and swaying right now. They must not smell us yet.”

  “We back away, Greg, and get somewhere that we can have a vantage point to fire on them. We need to find out where the other three are. They should have been back by now. I don’t know what is taking them so long. I don’t want to fire off randomly and pray that they aren’t in the firing zone”

  Greg said, “You know Shaun, he probably got a lift and started gathering the crap that we need to get. He doesn’t need anyone babysitting him or holding his hand. You give that kid something to do and he gets it done. It is as simple as that.”

  When they started to back away for a safer position, a yell erupted from what seemed to not be far away, followed by a hail of gunfire. The Turned that had been comatose sprinted in that direction. They very quickly came for Aslin and Greg who were just trying to find a safe spot to shoot from. The two knelt using a box to steady their rifles. They knew there were too many of them to try and take them all out at once. Greg figured this out quicker knowing he wasn’t as strong of a shot as Aslin. He brought the trigger down spraying a slew of bullets directly into the approaching dead. Knee caps, spines, and hips exploded as they made their way towards them.

  Aslin started picking them off after Greg laid them out for him. Greg looked over smiling. He said, “I thought we were screwed!”

  Aslin dropped his magazine slamming in a new one. “This might have been a bad idea; of course, I don’t know when it would have gotten any better.”

  Something cold and wet hit the back of Greg’s neck and when he looked at it he saw that it was blood. He looked up slowly only to see two of the dead, three rafters up staring down at him. One looked like it was smiling. He tried to adjust his rifle but it leapt down before he could do anything. Greg screamed, “Aslin, watch out!”

  Aslin looked up just in time to see their feet as they were coming down, growling as they did. He gripped Greg’s collar, throwing him out of the way. Greg screamed no as he slid backwards on the smoo
th floor. The two Turned landed on Aslin who didn’t have time to raise his rifle after throwing Greg free of danger. The two dead came down in a blur, one landing on his shoulders knocking him to the ground and the second landing on his abdomen. Aslin lost his rifle in the fall and the world began to spin when his head slammed into the cement floor.

  He blinked away the tears knowing he had no chance of surviving if he didn’t do something quickly. Greg sat up taking a knee and fired off three shots into the first one’s head. The force of the shot sent it off Aslin leaving a single diner. It screamed at Greg as it watched its brother fall to the side not moving. It dived in towards Aslin’s neck, mouth open and ready.

  Aslin brought up a hand as quickly as possible. He missed gripping its face and stuck his thumb in its eye socket and pushed it back away from himself. He brought a knife up and spun it to the side. It tried reaching back up but Aslin slammed its head down on the ground as he removed his thumb and buried the knife up to the handle in its skull and twisted. The anger and death in its eyes faded and it let out its last breath.

  Aslin fell off the side of it breathing heavy. Greg was still trying to debate if he could have taken out Aslin if he had gotten bitten. Greg pushed up from the ground walking over slowly to make sure that he had not gotten him. “Hey, hey Aslin, are you okay?”

  Aslin who was usually calm as long as he was not being aggravated, pushed up from the dead on the ground ripping his knife out in one pull. He started to kick the dead, yelling, “No, Greg, I’m not fucking okay, do you understand me? I’m fucking pissed, these mother fuckers keep coming from everywhere and I swear to god that I want to kill every one of them more so each time I step out of those damn gates.”