The First 400 Days (Book 1): We Are What Remain

by Taja Kartio

  Suddenly, out of the blue, Hayden spoke up, "You haven't taken a bite of your PB&J yet."

  I glanced down, "I guess not."

  "Are you going to eat it?" Hayden asked. I noted he had just finished off his own sandwich.

  I shook my head and slid my plate towards him. For a second, he looked a bit surprised that I gave him my food and he hesitated to grab it, "Are you sure?"

  "It's okay. You can have it."

  Another moment of uncertainty followed before he took my word for it. He gladly took a large bite. I should have been hungry, but I had no urge to eat.

  Turning to the clock on the wall, it was slowly falling into the late afternoon. My day had been mostly been spent in the upstairs bedroom while Hayden's was watching any and all movies on the landing. I never told him he had stay on the same level as me but he tried to stay within the same area as me. I wondered what was going through his mind about our missing house members. He obviously wasn't as distressed as I was. In fact, he almost seemed more worried about me than my brothers and Alex. Where I went, he had some reason to follow.

  "Dani," Hayden spoke once more and I focused on him, "What are we going to do?"

  "About what?" Hayden gave me a look. Ya, I guess I wasn't sure why I decided to play dumb on that one, "I don't know yet."

  "Are you gonna go look for them?"

  I took a second to look out of the kitchen, through the living room towards the large window that viewed the cul-de-sac. I'd thought about trekking out more than a few a times, "I'm not sure if that will do any good."

  "Why not?"

  For whatever reason, his persistency was beginning to irritate me, "Because I have no idea where I would even start looking. I don't have a car. I don't really have much of any weapon. And I have you."

  Hayden's brows furrowed, "What about me?"

  "I don't want to bring you out there with me. It's too dangerous."

  "You could leave me here?" He suggested it and I felt a small guilty spark ignite in me. I'd thought about that more than a few times as well.

  "It's just not going to work out. Okay?"

  Hayden accepted this with a frown before taking another bite of his sandwich.

  I hadn't lied. I'd thought about a lot of options, all really rounding down to the idea of physically leaving the house to go find them. That wasn't possible with Hayden in the equation. I mean, it was possible but I couldn't leave him here alone. Not unless I locked him in a room. Then what if something happened to me? I wasn't going to abandon him.

  I could bring him with me like I'd been thinking about the most and honestly, it was the best decision of I truly had to leave but then a thought always came to mind, what if I left in search of them and they ended coming back while I was gone? What if something happened to us?

  I rubbed my hands over my face distressfully. What the hell am I going to do?

  "Uh... Dani?"

  I uncovered my eyes and saw Hayden turned toward the living room. I followed his eyes and through the living room window, were several pairs of headlights within the cul-de-sac.

  My heart only skipped a half beat, "Stay there."

  I rounded into the living room and was suddenly thankful that the kitchen lights hadn't been on. There were three cars as far as I could see outside but none of them was a black suburban. None of these cars belonged to my brothers and as people began to pile out of the vehicles, I realized that none of them were anyone I could place a familiar face with. There was dread that tightly compressed in my heart but I tried to keep a hopeful outlook. These were living people, not Infected. The first I'd seen in a long while.

  Then I felt a spark. Could they be...?

  "Hayden, come here!" I said softly. There was soon a small figure coming up beside me, "Do you know any of them?"

  I waited, watching as more people piled out of cars. A large red truck and a white van was parked beside each other just down the driveway while a silver mini van was parked farther away. As men began piling out, I noted the rather large assault rifles in their hands. I felt an inner sense of caution rising. Maybe that was instinctive.

  Hayden caught me by surprise when he turned to me suddenly, one hand taking a tight hold of my wrist while the other holding his stuffed lion was pressed against the window glass in a pointing gesture, "Yes! I know them Dani! I know them! That's Val! And that's Dayna! And that's Riley!"

  I sighed a soft relief, "I guess you better go out and say hello."

  The boy nodded quickly and took off for the front door. I was only a few feet behind him, following through the living room and through the garage to the side door. In the open, it was still lightly misting. Hayden cared less for the wetness and called out to the closest member of his group, "Dayna!"

  The woman had long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, now slightly damp. Her eyes widened at the sight of Hayden and she immediately dropped down to both knees to embrace the child, "Hayden! Oh my god!"

  Some stood on the sidelines while some came forward to greet Hayden in a chorus of questions on his well-being and sayings of a happy reunion. I noted two older boys, maybe a few years younger than I was, approach Hayden with cheerful yet somewhat apologetic looks. I guessed these were the troublemakers Hayden had been talking about, Ben and Toby, the ones who were playing some game of 'Break the Freaking Window' with a baseball the day Hayden was separated from his group.

  I felt a bit awkward standing by myself. I received a few looks but not one even gave a small wave in my direction. Oh you know, don't mind me. Just the girl who saved that kid and took care of him and all. No need to thank me or even ask who the hell I was.

  What I wanted to know was how they got here. There was no way they would have Hayden if…

  "Dani!"

  I turned. There was one, waving a couple hundred yards away beside the silver mini-van. My feet took off and my brother met me with a few steps of his own, encasing me in an embrace. My stomach overturned with happiness. Kale scruffed my hair and released me as around the corner of the van was the other. I broke off from the eldest and received the same greeting from Beckett.

  Alive. They're both alive. I could breathe now.

  "How're you doing?" Beckett asked. He looked over at me like I'd been the one out of the house for nearly two days.

  "How am I doing? How are you guys doing? I've been worried out of my freaking mind! What happened? Where have you guys been?"

  "Blame Alex," Kale had a beginning grin as the last missing form lumbered around the hood of the car. There was a nasty limp in every step he took.

  "It's not my fault I got shot you asshole," It sounded like Kale had been teasing Alex about this more than once by the annoyed tone ringing in his voice. There was stained bandaging wrapped overtop his jeans on his upper right leg.

  I stared at the blood in horror, "What happened?"

  "It's uh....long story," Kale scratched the back of his head.

  I crossed my arms, "Can you give me the short version?"

  Beckett shook his head, "Not right now."

  "Why not?"

  "This must be your sister," A voice from behind me said, “Dani?”

  Maybe a little taller than Kale but not quite Beckett's height, this man was trimmed. A nice figure with a buzzed head and very little facial hair around his mouth. I didn't remember seeing this particular individual greet with Hayden minutes earlier.

  "Yep," Kale answered behind me.

  The man nodded. There was a soft smile on his face, "I've heard quite a bit about you," He glanced over his shoulders to the large group of people still in a huddle around Hayden, "Everyone is... overwhelmed that Hayden is still alive. Your brothers said it was you who saved him in the first place so I'll be the first to formally thank you for that."

  I liked this guy already, "Who are you?"

  He stuck out a hand which I accepted, "Everett Scott."

  "Then Everett... you are welcome."

  After the brief handshake, Everett turned his atte
ntion to my brothers and Alex, "For now I think Riley, Dayna, Kent, and I are going to clear out one of the houses here and then start combing through the rest tomorrow. Val will stay in the back of the van with the kids for the next ten minutes or so."

  "Need any help?" Kale asked.

  Everett shook his head, another gentle smile crossed his face as he glanced at me, "No. I think the four of us can handle one house. Tomorrow we could probably use some more man power but for now, I'm sure Dani would like to be brought up to date on everything that's happened since you’ve been MIA.”

  "You have no idea," I muttered.

  "See you all tomorrow," Everett chuckled before turning and waving for who I assumed was the group of people he listed off moments earlier.

  "Alright Alex. You ready to get this over with?" Beckett breathed in questioning.

  Alex cringed, "Not really."

  "For what?" I asked, starting forward as the four of us began to slowly make our way to the house. Alex struggled to keep his footing and Kale ended up taking one of his arms and draping it over his own shoulder.

  "The stupid bullet is still in my leg," Alex grimaced in pain.

  "Why is there still a bullet in your leg? Why is there a bullet in your leg at all? What the hell happened to you guys?"

  "Like I said earlier," Kale grunted, "It's a long story."

  "I got plenty of time," I gave back. I was starting to get a little frustrated. There were a lot of questions. Why and how did Alex manage to get a bullet in his leg? Who shot him? How did my brothers and Alex find Hayden's group? Where exactly have they been for the past two days? What happened to the suburban?

  "We'll tell you everything soon," Beckett said, "Let's just get Alex inside first."

  Alright. Alright. I'd wait.

  Hayden was still in the driveway. Ben and Toby were crouched beside him along with another girl who looked around the same age as the two boys, if not a year or two younger. Another woman was standing a few feet behind them and when she saw that my brothers, Alex, and myself were walking by, she waved.

  "Dani, right?"

  I stopped, "Ya?"

  "Hi. I'm Val," She met up with us in a couple steps. I noted Kale stopping alongside me but Beckett and Alex only gave her a subtle head nod before continuing on to the side garage door.

  "Hi," I said rather awkwardly.

  "Hayden was wondering if he could continue staying in the house with you. He says he'd like that."

  I looked up at Kale for approval who nodded easily, "I have no problem with it."

  "Me too," I seconded, "But if you don't mind me asking, is his mom still alive?"

  I was sure I could already guess. No older woman had enveloped Hayden with cries of happiness like a mother would after being reunited with her kid and by the look on Val's face, I knew the answer.

  "No. The day you found Hayden, was the day his mother died."

  Thirty Two

  The bullet didn't make it through the other side of Alex's leg so that meant that we, more meaning Beckett since he had the experience, had to go in and pull that little sucker out.

  "Are you sure you don't want to keep the bullet in your leg?" Kale rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, "Cause you know ladies love guys with... bullets in them."

  The corner of Alex's lip rose in a cringing manner, "Shut up Kale."

  "I would be all for that idea but I don't know if the bullet will cause damage in the long run. I think it's going to be easier for you if we get it out." Beckett said as he stood over the stove. He had a pot of water boiling with various tools he might need in an effort to sterilize them.

  "Sure. Sure," Alex seemed to already be preparing himself. He reorganized himself on the kitchen table, wincing in the process, "And uh... Do you know what you're doing?"

  Beckett almost looked offended, "I was a combat medic."

  Alex shifted, "Ya. I know that."

  "You've seen me treat Dani's injuries. Don't worry."

  "I'm worried."

  Kale turned around on the stool he sat on, "Aw come on, what's the worse that could happen?"

  "Well, think of it this way. If we screw up and he gets an infection, he could lose his entire leg." Beckett said nonchalantly.

  "Happy thoughts, happy thoughts..." Alex muttered to himself.

  I grimaced, "Geeze. No pressure Beck."

  "I've performed worse you guys! This isn't really that big of a deal!"

  Alex's jaw dropped a little, he stared at his injured leg and then back at Beckett, "There's a bullet in my leg! You can't act like this is spilled milk or something!"

  "But there isn't any spilled milk?" Hayden, who stood in the doorway, was looking around on the floor for where the metaphorical mess could be.

  "There's no actual milk that spilled, dude," Kale chuckled at the kid peeking around all corners of the kitchen.

  I stopped him by taking his small shoulder, "You probably shouldn't be in here for this Hayden."

  "Mom used to watch her old surgery movies all the time. They weren't so bad."

  I exchanged a confused look with Kale.

  "Was your mom a doctor Hayden?" Beckett asked.

  Hayden nodded, "Can I watch?"

  "Uh..." I traded an uncomfortable look with Kale. I didn't really care that Hayden had watched a bunch of sanguinary surgery videos with his mom but I hardly doubted they were anything like actually watching it happen in person.

  "I really don't think you should be in here," Beckett said slowly, "It's not going to be pretty."

  "Why don't you go watch a movie?" I suggested.

  Hayden shook his head once again, "No! I want to watch this!"

  His loud voice surprised me. I didn't recognize such a determined, persistent tone in him.

  "Okay," Kale said simply. I glared at him and he shrugged exceedingly, "What? He wants to watch so let him watch."

  "If he gets some traumatic nightmare from this, I'm blaming you!" I whispered harshly, jabbing my brother in the chest with my finger.

  "He'll be fine. Someone’s gotta have a loose stomach during this," Kale waved Hayden in the dining room. I mentally groaned.

  "He probably wants to watch me be in pain. His payback for me beating him in Crash Team Racing." Alex muttered.

  "I wish I had a camera," Kale grinned. Alex looked like he wanted to punch him.

  "You're helping too you know," Beck glared.

  "I am! I play the part of moral support and to possibly throw in a little manpower in case Alex goes all fish-floppy on the table but I'm not the one holding the balance of his limb in my hands. That's on you and Dani."

  I was sure I had an eye twitching, "Glad we can count on you."

  My brother winked in a way that he knew would get under my skin, "Always can."

  "So when was Alex shot?" I asked, trying to change the conversation.

  "Like, six hours after we left."

  I gave Kale a look, "Sooo... why is there still a bullet in his leg?"

  "Everetts group didn't really have much for medical supplies other than the exception of a few bandages, band-aids, and some over the counter painkillers," Beckett peered into the pot on the stove, "Alex decided to keep it in and wait until we got back here."

  "Oh okay, and do I get to hear the story on how Alex got shot?"

  "Later," Kale said, glancing at Hayden who had now perched himself on one of the high-chairs, sitting behind Alex's head at the food of the table.

  Beckett kept the tools in the boiling pot for nearly twenty minutes. Placing all tools on a clean towel alongside the other materials he had me set out for him. Fresh gauze, bandages, a small bottle of Doxycycline, a needle, suture thread, tweezers, and etc.

  Alex requested a rag to bite down on because he knew that the process wasn't going to be painless in the slightest since we, unfortunately, had no strong anesthetics. Kale had a hold of one his hands.

  After unbandaging Alex's leg, cleaning up the edges around the bullet's entry and applying the antibacter
ial substance in and around the wound, Beckett picked up the sterilized ten blade and held it inches from Alex's skin.

  Several moments went by and while the blade was still in Beckett's fingers, he made no motion to cut. Alex seemed to be holding his breath behind the rag that was wedged between his teeth.

  "What are you waiting for?" Kale asked.

  "Trying to figure out where to start," Beckett then set the knife down.

  "I thought you've seen worse as a combat medic," The eldest sounded like he was mocking him, "I think Alex wants that bullet out sometime this year."

  "Do you want to do it?" Beckett glared sourly, who shook his head disdainfully, "I think Alex wants the bullet out cleanly and proficiently with the slimmest chances of infections. This isn't a 'do-it-yourself' procedure, so shut up and let me think.

  Kale made a face, "Everyone is so touchy."

  Nobody replied to that in anything other than an eye roll.

  Beckett used his thumbs to gently spread the bullet entry. A little fresh blood pooled out and Alex shuttered. With a flashlight that I held up, the bullet was seen easily in between the carnage. A shiny little piece of silver metal. I was a bit surprised that it wasn't any deeper within the flesh.

  After another minute of mental planning, Beckett picked the blade back up again. The first couple of incisions were made around the bullet hole, making it easier to work our way to the bullet itself and give us a wider range of motion all around. I put both hands on Alex's leg and stretched his skin, spreading the wound as my brother went in with a needle nose plier and a steady hand.

  "Here she is." Beckett held up the bullet triumphantly. A little dented but the metal was one whole piece. Luckily for Alex, we didn't have to go digging for any small fragments.

  Alex gave it one look and his head dropped back on the table with eyes closed.

  "Did he just pass out?" I asked.