“I’m uh, Teddy,” he cleared his throat and looked around the apartment. “Where’s your mother? She’s not around, is she?”
“She went shopping,” the boy said. He pointed at the busted front door. “She’s going to be mad at you when she sees what you did.”
Teddy frowned and scratched the back of his head.
“Yeah… I reckon she will be,” Teddy said. “What’s your name?”
“Daniel, but everyone calls me Danny.”
“How old are you, Danny?” Teddy asked, cocking a brow.
“Almost six in…” He paused to count off the months on his fingers. He held up four fingers proudly. “This many months. How old are you, mister?”
Teddy smiled and leaned against the table to rest his foot.
“I don’t have enough fingers for that, kid,” Teddy said. He lost his frown and looked around the apartment again. “Tell me, Danny, is your pop around?”
Danny frowned and shook his head.
“No, daddy and mama live in different houses now. I see daddy on the weekends. Daddy called and mama said that he had to go the hospital, but she said the doctors are making him better so he’ll be back at his own home soon.”
Teddy’s stomach knotted. He knew that the kid’s father was most likely lying half-buried in a field somewhere covered in slacked lime.
“What about big brothers? Do you have any around?”
Danny shook his head vigorously.
“Sisters?” Teddy asked.
Danny recoiled and made a face.
“No way!” Danny protested. “Girls are gross!”
“So it’s just you in here right now?” Teddy asked as he kept a cautious eye towards the hallway.
“Not just me,” Danny said. “My friend is here with me!”
Teddy’s face sunk.
“Let me go get him!” Danny shouted. He ran off down the dark hallway towards the bedrooms. “Lenny! Come out, boy!”
Teddy gripped the iron bar tightly and got ready to swing at whatever dog was going to come running towards him.
A few seconds later, Danny returned with a stuffed lion.
Teddy relaxed and lowered the bar.
Danny held the stuffed animal up at Teddy.
The velvet lion was overstuffed and had two black buttons sewed on for eyes. Its mane was made out of fluffy cotton.
“This is Lenny the Lion,” Danny announced proudly.
“Uh, nice to meet you, Lenny,” Teddy said awkwardly.
Danny lowered the lion and stared at the bar that Teddy was carrying.
“Mister, where’s your gun?” Danny asked.
Teddy glanced down at the bar and shrugged.
“I… lost it,” Teddy said.
“Did you lose your shoes too?” Danny asked as he pointed down at Teddy’s soaked socks.
“I guess I did,” Teddy said with embarrassment.
Danny grinned and pointed up at Teddy’s bandaged head.
“And your helmet?” Danny asked.
“Yep…”
Danny covered his mouth and giggled.
“You’re not a very good army man are you, mister?”
Teddy grinned and shook his head.
“No, I guess I’m not,” Teddy admitted. He looked around the apartment and honestly felt bad for the kid. “So what do you do all day?”
“I play with my toys until Mama comes back with groceries…”
“Doesn’t that get boring?”
“Yeah... But Mama said I’m not allowed to go outside or else I’ll get sick like Daddy did.”
Teddy frowned.
“Danny, how long has it been since you’ve been outside?” Teddy asked.
“Since they sent us home from school,” Danny said. He paused and started counting off his fingers. He held up five fingers. “This long ago.”
Teddy pitied the kid, but in a way he was envious; the kid still thought life was normal outside.
“Is it true what Mama said? Are there really bad men outside?”
“Yeah,” Teddy regretfully admitted.
Danny tilted his head and stared up at Teddy.
“Is that your job, to fight the bad men, mister?”
Teddy frowned, dropped his bar, and turned towards the table without answering. He limped towards the trash can and pulled out the plastic sack. He emptied the bag inside the plastic can and went back to the table. He didn’t look at Danny as he started grabbing cans of food and throwing them inside the garbage bag.
Danny kept staring at him and rocked back and forth on his heels as he hugged the lion against his chest. He kept staring down at the blood-soaked bandage wrapped around Teddy’s ankle.
“What happened to your foot?” Danny asked.
“I had an accident,” Teddy grumbled as he finished loading the last of the canned goods. “That’s all.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No,” Teddy lied.
“Did the bad men hurt your foot, mister?” Danny persisted. “Is that why you’re here? To help protect Mama from the bad men?”
“No,” Teddy finally said.
“Then why are you here, mister? Did you come to fix the electricity and the TV so I can watch cartoons again?”
“No,” Teddy said quietly as he kept filling his bag with soda. “I came here to collect some of your mother’s groceries so I can help the other army men.”
Danny frowned and looked down at the floor, thinking.
“What will we have for dinner then if you take all of our food, mister?” he asked.
Teddy’s stomach knotted. He slung the sack of supplies over his shoulder and turned to walk out of the apartment.
“It’ll be alright, kid,” Teddy said as he limped towards the front door. “Your mother will be back soon enough with more food. Make sure you tell her thank you for all of her help for me, okay?”
Danny followed behind him and held onto his lion tightly.
“Before you go, can you play cars with me?” Danny asked.
Teddy stopped and looked over his shoulder.
“Maybe next time,” Teddy said. “Make sure you stay inside. Tell your mother I’m sorry about the door.”
Teddy hurried out of the apartment and walked out into the hallway. The bag felt awkward and heavy over his shoulder, but he kept limping and lugging it towards the elevator atrium.
As he walked, he noticed one of the other apartments had its door kicked in.
He peeked his head inside and frowned.
Brass shell casings covered the floor and two decaying bullet-riddled corpses sat slouched against the blood-splattered living room wall. The apartment looked like it had been picked clean by looters and bandits.
Teddy turned and kept walking, but then suddenly stopped as his mind wandered towards Danny.
How long would it take before some desperate fool walked inside Jane’s open apartment and shoot him dead, or worse? Without any police or semblance of social order, the opportunists were running free and God only knew how many perverted, twisted souls were still lurking in the shadows.
How long would it take before Danny’s curiosity led him outside into unknown territory?
If something bad happened, would Jane make it home in time?
Was Jane even alive still?
After all, Teddy knew that in this new world there were no certainties.
That apartment, once sealed, was now wide open to the dangers that lurked outside, and Teddy only had himself to blame.
Guilt ate at his insides like an insidious cancer.
He tried to ignore the feeling, to keep pushing forward, but even after the years he spent inside, his heart wasn’t cold enough to go through with it.
“Goddammit,” Teddy said with shame and disgust.
He let out a hefty sigh, turned, and lumbered back to Jane’s apartment.
As soon as he stood in the doorway, he spotted Danny sitting in the middle of the hallway poking his stuffed lion, sulking.
Danny l
ooked up at him, surprised.
Teddy forced a smile and stepped inside.
“Hey, uh, Danny,” Teddy said as he sat the sack of food back on the table. “I was thinking… How about we go ahead and play cars after all?”
Danny hopped up grinning ear to ear. He ran over and grabbed Teddy’s calloused hand.
“Come on! I’ll let you be the fire truck!” Danny exclaimed. He started to lead Teddy to his bedroom, but stopped. He looked up at Teddy and frowned. “I know you’re an army man… but I don’t have any tanks… Is that okay?”
Teddy smiled, and it was genuine.
“That’s fine, kid. I’ll be the fire truck.”
Relieved and ecstatic, Danny continue to pull Teddy’s arm down the hall.
Teddy glanced back down the hall at the front door and narrowed his eyes. If anybody wants to fuck with this kid, they’ll have to get through me, he thought.
CHAPTER 18
Danny’s simple room reminded Teddy a lot of his own when he was a child.
The bedroom didn’t have a fancy gaming system or a chest full of toys, but it was clean, tidy, and had a comfy-looking bed. Crayola doodles of cartoonish sunsets and smiling stick figure families were proudly hung on the wall as if they were master works of art. A few stuffed animals lay on the floor.
However, the semblance to Teddy’s barebones childhood ended with the reminders of life’s harsh realities outside. Half-melted candles lined the nightstands and car air fresheners hung off the dresser’s knobs to hide the musky scent of death that wafted in from the bedroom’s open window.
Danny didn’t seem aware of the smell as he sat cross-legged in the middle of the room. He was pushing a small blue car back and forth as he mimicked the sound of an engine.
Lenny the Lion sat next to Danny, observing.
Teddy sat in front of him awkwardly holding an old matchbox-sized firetruck. He sat straight and kept his head turned towards the doorway, listening. The iron bar that he had been using as a weapon sat propped against the wall next to him just in case it was needed.
Danny made the sound of a crash and dramatically twilled the car in the air before slamming it on its back into the shaggy carpet. He paused and looked at Teddy, waiting.
Teddy didn’t notice and kept his head turned towards the door.
“It’s your turn,” Danny said, annoyed. “The people are on fire!”
Teddy looked at him and shook his head.
“Oh, sorry,” Teddy muttered. He started pushing the firetruck towards the car.
Danny frowned and looked at him with disappointment.
“You’re doing it wrong,” Danny persisted. He pointed at the fire truck.
“You have to make the siren sound…”
Flustered, Teddy cleared his throat.
“Whoooooo… Whooooo….” Teddy said.
“No, no, no,” Danny quickly corrected. “That sounds like a wham-bu-ance. Fire trucks go Wheeeeewwwwww and Honkkkkk.”
“Oh yeah…” Teddy said with a stiff smile. “Of course.” He cleared his throat and started moving the toy firetruck again. “Weeeeeewwww…”
Danny giggled and shook his head.
“You’re not very good at playing cars, are you mister?” Danny asked.
“No, I guess it’s been a while,” Teddy admitted.
To think that he’d end up playing pretend with a five-year-old when just days ago he was left to die inside a maximum security penitentiary was pretty astounding, all things considered.
“Let’s try it again,” Danny decided.
Teddy chuckled and nodded.
“Sure, kid, I’ll get it right eventually.”
Danny beamed a smile.
Teddy smiled back.
He heard a noise coming from the front door.
Bandits, he thought.
Teddy lost his smile, snatched the bar, and quickly got up despite the pain in his foot.
“What’s wrong?” Danny asked, concerned.
“Stay in here and keep quiet!” Teddy barked. He gripped the bar tightly and lunged out into the hallway. He froze and his expression sank.
Jane stood in the middle of the hall with her pistol drawn and pointed at Teddy. Her burlap tarp lay at her feet and her eyes were full of rage. She cocked the Beretta’s hammer back and lined her shot, hands shaking.
Teddy’s eyes widened. He dropped the bar and held his hands out, palms up.
“Easy now,” Teddy said gently. “I know what you’re thinking–”
“Danny!” Jane interrupted. She kept her eyes and her pistol on Teddy. “Are you okay?”
Danny came running out of the room and stared at her with his mouth open.
“I’m fine, Mama,” Danny said. “We were just playing cars.”
A look of relief washed over Jane’s face as soon as she spotted him. She narrowed her eyes and refocused her attention on Teddy.
“That’s good, sweetheart, real good,” Jane said. “Now I need you to go inside your room, lock your door, and wait for me to tell you it’s safe to come out, okay?”
Danny frowned and stared at the gun.
“Mama, please don’t be mad about the door… He didn’t mean to do it,” he said. He reached over and tugged on Teddy’s pant leg. “He’s an army man and he’s my friend. He’s here to fight the bad men.”
“Danny, sweetheart, I need you to listen to me right now!” Jane insisted. “Step away from the man, go inside your room, and lock your door. Mommy and the man need to have a big-people discussion.”
“Look,” Teddy said. “I–”
“Shut up!” Jane snarled, baring her teeth. “Keep your hands up where I can see them!”
Teddy frowned and raised his hands higher.
Danny looked at Teddy and then at Jane. A large frown formed over his face.
“Mama, he’s–
“Go in your room right now!” Jane shouted. “I mean it!”
Danny’s eyes started to water. He let go of Teddy’s pant leg and looked up at him with big eyes.
“I told you she’d be mad…” Danny whispered.
“Danny! Room! Now!” Jane shouted even louder.
Danny turned, ran inside his room, and slammed his door shut, crying.
“Lady, just let me go and you’ll never see me again,” Teddy said with his hands in the air.
“Really? Just let you go? You know where I live,” Jane said. “You know where my son lives! Do you honestly think I’m just going to let you walk out of here alive? Honestly, what would you do?”
Teddy didn’t answer; he knew exactly what he’d do if he was her.
“Exactly,” she said in response to his silence. “You know that there’s only one way for this to end if I want to have any peace of mind at night.” She paused and stepped backwards while keeping the gun pointed at him. “Now slowly make your way towards the front door and go back to the other apartment so we can finish this. I’d prefer not to shoot you in the hallway outside of my son’s room, but don’t think for a second that I won’t pull the trigger if you do anything stupid.”
“Go back to the other apartment for what? So you can murder me in cold blood?” Teddy asked gloomily.
“This is your fault,” Jane said. “If you were smart, you would’ve never stuck around after freeing yourself. Now walk.”
Teddy took slow, careful steps down the hall, limping as blood continued to soak through his bandaged foot. He kept his hands in the air and watched as Jane crept backwards with the gun pointed at him.
“You’re making a mistake,” Teddy said as he walked. “I didn’t want to hurt anybody and I sure as hell would never hurt a kid.”
“Is that why you kicked in my front door then?” Jane asked, unimpressed.
“I didn’t know he was in here,” Teddy said.
“That didn’t stop you from bagging up my supplies though, did it?”
Teddy frowned and kept moving. He stared ahead at the front door.
“Like I said, I didn�
�t know he was in here. I admit that I wanted some supplies to keep me on my way and I knew that you were gone,” Teddy explained. “I never would’ve come in here if I knew you had a little boy.”
“And yet you did,” Jane said. “Then you stayed. What was the plan? Wait till I come home and bash my head in with that stupid pipe?”
Teddy sighed.
“No, lady, I was worried someone might come in and hurt him. I stayed behind to protect him.”
Jane laughed.
“Oh sure… I know exactly how noble you military types have been lately,” Jane said with disgust. “You don’t fool me.”
“You don’t know shit,” Teddy snapped.
“If you say another word I swear to God I’ll pull the trigger,” Jane warned. “Now walk!”
Teddy made his way down the center of the hall with his hands just above his head.
Jane stepped aside and kept the weapon on him at all times.
As soon as Teddy walked past her, he spun around and grabbed the barrel of the pistol. He pushed it away from him while grabbing her wrist with his other hand.
Jane fired a wild shot into the ceiling.
“Mama?!” Danny shouted. His doorknob turned and the door started to open–
“Stay inside! Don’t open your door!” Jane cried as she fought to maintain control of the weapon.
Danny quickly pulled his door shut.
Teddy twisted her wrist while simultaneously shoving her in the chest with his shoulder.
Jane lost her grip and fell backwards to the floor. Panicking, she reached in her pocket, flipped open a knife, and started to get up and–
“Sit down!” Teddy ordered. He pointed the pistol at her and shuffled backwards to create some distance. “Drop the weapon!”
Hesitantly, Jane threw the knife down at Teddy’s feet and slowly sat back with her hands in the air. She glared daggers at him and narrowed her eyes.
Teddy breathed heavily and sweat rolled down his pale forehead.
“Just make it fast, you bastard,” Jane said quietly as a tear ran down her cheek.
“I’m not a soldier,” Teddy finally said.
Jane simply stared at him in silence.
“My name is Teddy Sanders. I was an inmate at USP Tucson when the virus spread.” He paused. “Most of us died, guards and inmates alike. Just like you and your boy, the government left us behind to die. Eventually, I guess someone higher up in the chain of command got tired of waiting and wanted the facility for some other purpose, so they sent some soldiers in to kill off whoever was left. There were more of us alive then they figured, I reckon, and in the commotion, I took some dead man’s uniform and escaped.”
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