by mike Evans
“Why east?”
“Why west? I just figured the White House is east, right? If things go all to shit on the coast maybe we can get a boat. We surely have enough supplies here to make that trip ten times over and never go hungry.”
“And where are we going to go on the boat there, sailor?” Aslin asked.
“I don’t know everything, Aslin, but if I haven’t beaten the subject into the ground it is time to take these damn things out. We have the knowledge to show people how to do these things that can get rid of the dead. Imagine if others knew how to do it then we’d have a chance. We won’t gain any numbers but I’m sure as hell confident we can put a dent in theirs.”
Greg, who didn’t sugar coat anything, said, “I’m sorry but this conversation is making my brain hurt. Are you really serious about driving across America because you want to show people how to take out the Turned? I mean is that what is really happening right now, like you are saying these words and genius Shaun doesn’t have any bells and whistles going off saying how stupid this is?”
“Is that the nicest way you can say that it is a bad idea, Greg?”
“When it is my best friend, yeah I think that it is. But really that idea is genius. But we don’t have that kind of time to waste. God knows how much time we wasted on this base over the last year and how many thousands or hundreds of thousands of people have died across the world,” Greg said.
Aslin cut in and said, “Oh Jesus, would you just spit it out, Greg. My mood right now isn’t one that I would mess with, son.”
Greg said, “Oh my God, you're dumb too, you were the reason I had the idea in the first place.”
Aslin placed a hand on Greg and realized he had to lift his hand higher, the fact that he had gone through a growth spurt had passed him by.
He said, “Okay, smartass, out with it. What genius did you figure out because of me?”
Greg looked around smiling devilishly. He said, “The web, dude, we can make like a video of it and then we can put it on the web. Billions of people, or however many are left, can watch it and see how we’re killing them. It is the smartest and fastest way to get the word out there. We can put it online everywhere possible. Hell, we could stick someone behind a bank of the computers on base to send out messages to every country in every language. It doesn’t take a genius to see a blood bag, plus the dead, plus a bullet to the head, right? It shouldn’t be too hard with the exception of them getting said blood. I’m sure if they think hard enough that they’ll be able to figure something out.”
Shaun rubbed his hands through his hair annoyed that he hadn’t thought of it. “Really, how did you think of that before me? Oh, that sucks. I mean it is a great idea, which is really annoying the hell out of me.”
Aslin leaned over as Greg walked off and said, “You didn’t have the heart to tell him we already talked about it, did you?”
Shaun said, “No, there wasn’t any reason I needed to shoot his puppy.”
Clary who’d been sitting impatiently while they discussed all this interjected and said, “Don’t worry about the blind man that is waiting to get looked at in a real medical facility. I’m sure none of this conversation could be taking place while we’re letting Lou get to his work, while we have him at least.”
Lou gripped his bicep. “Come on, Clary, I can go ahead and take you in there. That place was locked down tight when we left, there isn’t going to be any dead in there as long as those kids listened and didn’t open back up again once they were secured.”
Aslin watched as they left and the rest of the group sat there hashing out plans quickly trying to go with the momentum while they had the opportunity to do so.
Clary said, “So, I know you haven’t had much time to think about what I said, but do you think that you might consider staying, Lou? It really won’t be the same here without you. There’s so much you could teach these kids. I know it's all kill the dead, but saving the living is something that we need to know about too. I know it sounds ironic coming from a Seal but these things are going to be lost eventually. We’ll be little better off than cavemen but there’s going to be an expiration date on the shit you know. If you don’t show these kids, when you are gone, it is gone with you. You think that we want a trained army of our own? Hell no! What I want is these kids to be able to make it, I’m not immortal and I’m aware of that. I’m reminded every fucking day when I wake up and feel injuries combined over a lifetime. Even more so today after almost going blind, which is still yet to be seen…literally.”
Lou actually laughed a bit at this. He was thinking that smiling was going to be something that would take effort for a good time to come. He was having issues trying to tell himself to keep going. The thought of giving up to the dead and letting all his pain and suffering be taken away all at once was almost as enticing he thought as a drug addict to what they used to get their fix.
“I can understand and appreciate what you are saying, Clary. I have to agree that the more we can teach these kids the better off they’re going to be, and who knows, they might even be able to use some of that information they learn to help us one day. I know that I sleep a hell of a lot better knowing that Shaun, Greg, Ellie, and all the others were walking the grounds while we took time to rest. There’s a lot to worry about right now with all these things. The fact that the gates are all fucked up again isn’t doing anything to make me feel at ease. I will stay for a bit unless I change my mind, Clary. Honestly though, the first thing that I want to do is kill those bastards!”
Clary said, “Let’s check on my eyes, please, and the kids that are in the fallout bunker. What is the second thing you want to do, Lou?”
“I want to bury my daughters. It is one of the things that I don’t think very many people are afforded the luxury to do nowadays. I want them to have a proper grave and casket. I want them to be put to rest in the way before all this shit started, before hell came to our front doors.”
Clary said, “I’ll help you make the graves, Lou. We all will, I’m sure. We can see about rounding up some caskets for them and for everyone that was one of ours. We’re going to need a fucking semi, sadly enough, to get enough back here, but there is no reason that they don’t deserve it. They died without having a chance to fight back. I tell you we are done going forward not having weapons on those kids at all time. If they know how to use them, then they’re walking around heavy and loaded from now on.”
Lou started walking Clary back wishing that rule already would have been in place a long time ago. He thought of Hammond and the fact that Shelman had had his brains blown out. He noticed that he wasn’t with Shaun or the others and said, “Hey, can I ask you a question, Clary?”
“I'm an open book, Lou. What’s up?”
“Where is Hammond? I thought that he went with the group earlier that went out to get Aslin’s supply list?”
“He was with them, but come to think of it I don’t remember hearing him when they came back. I don’t want to ask right now, I think that we both know the answer that we’re going to get. We can check later. There’s been far too many lost today though. We will not have a day like this again!”
When they entered the medic building Lou walked pistol up knowing he’d hit little but felt better than not having anything at all. He fought to put Clary in a wheelchair but he finally gave in and sat in it. Lou had told him that it was hard enough leading a blind man around so he didn’t walk into shit. When they made it up to the bunker Lou called on the radio and said, “Hey, open it up, we’re good to go.”
The lock gave and you could hear the pressure being let out with the air whooshing as it did. Lou knelt down lifting the door up the rest of the way and taking in the innocence of all the kids that had survived. He counted ten thinking of the five that were outside and the numbers made him sick. They had lost over three fourths of their people today and it was a horrific number to try and deal with. Lou looked at the innocence in their faces and felt guilty that they had been kep
t in there for that long. One of the boys, Jeff, pulled himself up and out of the hole. He said, “We thought that you guys were all dead. We were worried that we were going to be stuck in there for days. I’m glad that there are supplies in there but we were seriously thinking about freaking out. Not to mention the fact that Joey is down there and he was still asleep on the cot you guys carried him down on.”
Lou patted him on the shoulder not ready to really have a deep conversation with a teenager if he could forgo it happening. Lou ducked going down and saw the cot with Joey on it. He noticed the boy wasn’t sweating heavily or more so than normal.
When he checked the wound the blood had stopped and the staples he’d put them in were holding the way he had prayed that they would. He smiled, looking up, thinking that at least he had done something for the good of others that day.
The rest of the kids in the group were all around fourteen to fifteen, he noticed. He thought how Greg was probably the oldest person in the group now. A girl named Jessie stepped forward and asked, “Hey, Lou, did they get anyone else, did those crazy guys get anyone?”
Lou nodded slowly. He said, “They came straight for the bunk house. Fox saved your lives with his blood bank idea. If you would have been out on regular duty or in the bunkhouse you would more than likely be dead right now. Those men came straight in ready to kill and nothing else on their mind, including trying to talk or negotiate for whatever it is they wanted. Clary, Ellie, Kya, and Scott took out most of the men. The dead showed up pretty soon after and Ellie and Ricky did the majority of the chopping so don’t freak out when you go outside and see a lot of armless zombies laying around everywhere.”
Clary yelled from the top of the stairs and said, “You left a blind man on his own. Do you know how much trouble I can get in on my own up here, Lou? If I start randomly reaching out and grabbing things, it might get pretty awkward in here pretty damn quick.”
Lou said, “Hold your horses, I want to get Joey out of here and back where I can give him a better exam. This kid is going to make it, damn it. You are too, at least half of your vision, I hope can be saved.”
The kids gasped when they saw Clary in the chair with bandages over his eyes. The man had been the figure that didn’t get hurt, and that knew everything. They had relied on him to be the one going forward that was going to be able to make them into temporary Seals until the day that all of the hell was over and they could go about living normal lives…given that ever happened.
Clary said, “I know you are all sitting there staring at me making me feel like an asshole. Now get your asses moving, carefully please, and run over to the armory, if you aren’t carrying then you should be. If you don’t know how to shoot then make sure that you still grab a rifle. Worst case scenario they come back and see you with guns and decided there’s too many of us to make an attempt on the base again.”
Jessie said, “Wait, you think that they’re going to come back? I don’t know how to shoot those freaking guns. We’ve only been here a month and we haven’t learned yet. What are we supposed to do?”
“You stay out of the way of those who do know how. Stupidly easy idea for you. If you tag yourself along to someone who knows what they’re doing you could think about being their back up. You take their rifle when it’s empty and have a new one ready for them. You think that you could learn how to load the guns for the shooter, you trade back and forth and that barrels going to be able to go a hell of a lot longer than if you are loading one after another.”
“Oh, I know all about clips.”
Clary tried not to squint his eyes when the girl said clips. He said, “You learn how to change the magazines not the clips and then you might have a chance. We’re going to be going on a little field trip here real soon, so I think another bit of time in the bunker, or if there is somewhere else we can stash anyone not going, might not be a horrible idea to think about.”
“Wait, we just lost basically everyone who isn’t standing here and you think the best idea you can come up with is for us to learn how to load guns if the assholes come back. What are you talking about with going on a field trip, which I’d love more explanation of that, then we are to just hide until you get back?” Jessie asked.
“You could dig graves too but that is up to you, kid.”
“Could you at the very least tell me where it is that you want to go?”
Clary smiled and the blood that had crusted on his cheeks cracked leaving small amounts of light skin showing. He said, “We’re going to go to their base of operations and we’re going to raise hell until every single last one of them is dead. I don’t mean we’re going to go kick the shit out of them, I'm talking about taking ten thousand rounds with me and unloading on every last thing they have there. Their survival, if at all possible, is going to be harder because of the fact that they were ignorant and cocky enough to try and take the base.”
Jessie was nodding slowly and said, “You guys are all insane. Really, we could take everything, we could leave, and what choice do you want, you want retaliation.”
Lou put a hand on her shoulder and said, “Please stop talking; you don’t know what you are saying. Those men came in and took both my daughters. They took friends and loved ones. Any of those kids in there that had parents here with them from our apartments we saved don’t have them anymore. I can’t handle any more loss and if they think that they can go and take care of the threat then I’m all for it. This base was safe and a good place where good things were being taught. Those men came here and destroyed everything and all of our progression. We were going to be able to take a long stand here. We could have survived for a long time to come.”
She took a deep breath thinking of what he said for a second and gave him the first hug he’d gotten in a long while. Lou gripped her back and the girl practically disappeared inside of his giant forearms. She said, “I can’t breathe, Lou.”
“You’ll be okay, just let me enjoy this for a second.”
She started to say something else but when the tear drops started dripping onto the top of her head she shut her mouth. She knew that showing affection and caring for others was rarer now than it had ever been and she was thankful, in all honesty, to have someone giving her a hug as well.
She walked behind Lou as he helped carry Joey and she pushed Clary along to the examination room. When they made it there she helped him up to a table where he sat waiting and trying his best to be patient.
Clary hadn't realized that Aslin was in the room and thought that he could enjoy the quiet for a moment. The moment did not last long when he said, “What the fuck did I get myself into. God please don’t let me be blind, I don’t think I’m strong enough to deal with it.”
Aslin wanted to give him a hard time and thought how it would probably be wrong but quickly came to terms with being able to do that. He said, “Well, thank God for you, Clary, that you are lucky enough to have me in your life and to look out for you. Just let me ask you one thing.”
“I can’t take any more bad news, Aslin, if it is anything like that just wait till later. We still have a full day of shit ahead of us.”
“No, nothing that serious. I just wanted to ask if you get an eye patch if you’d like to be called Captain Clary, you know like a pirate.”
“You know how you always tell Greg how you never wanted kids and that he’s a hell of an example why that is?”
“Yeah, and what of it?”
“As much as I love you, Aslin, I’d have to say that I feel right about the same way for why I’m so happy that I got to be an only child. But I’m going to hold your ass to taking care of my gimpy ass if I really am blind. I’m pretty sure that they don’t have any schools for the blind that could help me out at this point. God, I can’t imagine trying to walk around anywhere blind in this shit. I would not go anywhere for anything.”
“Well, unfortunately for us, you know the chances of us staying here forever are pretty slim. So, when Lou checks you out you let him do what
he needs to or you are getting strapped down to this damn table. You got it?”
“Your bedside manner is something that all nursing schools should have taught back in the day.”
“You want me to get one of the rectal thermometers, make sure that you aren’t running a fever?”
“You do that and I promise you that you’re going to think the Daredevil walked in here.”
Aslin patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll go check on Lou. I want to make sure he’s doing okay. He kind of looks like his life got ripped out of him today.”
“He lost his daughters, Aslin. He did lose everything that he had. I hate to bring it up but I never heard Hammond when you guys came back home. Did he make it and I didn’t hear him or…”
“We split up at the store we went to. We got everything we needed but that wasn't until after we had found a small horde in there, man were they pissed. They came from everywhere, I almost didn’t come back. I don’t think they’re getting stronger, thank God, but they aren’t getting any dumber either. The ones that came here getting their arms chopped off didn’t seem too damn bright, but good luck having a crowd missing an asshole, right?”
Clary smiled unable to help himself, “You'd think between the two of us that we could have gotten that lucky, but alas we didn’t. You go check on Lou. I would really like to know how Joey is, it breaks my fucking heart that kid got shot but I’m glad he at least took care of that little bitch. Anyone who can follow the rules of being civil and helping out are welcome here and those fucks sent in a spy, a teenage girl on top of all of it. I had a conversation with one of the men who wasn’t killed. He didn’t want to talk very much at first but we saw eye to eye eventually.”
“What did he say?”
“That they came from that place in Johnston that we’d checked out a few months back. There is someone called Cade that planned for all of it, the kid was his and he was just as scared of what that man who was miles away was going to do as the man standing over him was. In his defense he had assumed that I, being temporarily blinded, was going to in some way help him.”