Josh shoved the little girl into some of the prisoners on the bench, and strutted back towards Caleo. Great time to get my ass kicked again for having a big mouth. The crowd hushed as Josh stormed past them. Caleo stepped off the bench and backed himself against the back wall of the trailer.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Josh yelled, slamming the butt of his gun into Caleo’s stomach. As Caleo bent over gasping for air Josh raised the gun up to place another blow on the back of his skull, but before the blow hit, Josh stopped.
“Let go of me!” Josh yelled. Caleo looked up to investigate and saw that Nolan had grabbed Josh by the foot.
“Nate, I need the juice!” Josh yelled.
Another soldier emerged from the darkness of the front of the trailer, carrying a stick in one hand and his gun in the other.
Josh had managed to get his foot free and was repeatedly kicking Nolan when Nate passed the stick to Josh.
“Watch this,” he said to Nate, pressing a button on the side of the stick. Nolan began to convulse uncontrollably on the floor.
“Stop it!” Caleo screamed, jumping over Nolan and grabbing for the stick.
Josh dodged sideways, sending Caleo head first into Nate who threw him to the ground. Caleo climbed to his feet and charged at Nate who quickly grabbed his arm and swung it behind his back, wrapping his other arm around Caleo’s neck and holding him in place. Josh turned to Caleo, pulling a knife out of its sheath that hung around his waist.
“You know a slave would be better if he didn't talk,” Josh said, pointing the tip of the knife at Caleo’s face.
With his other hand, Josh squeezed Caleo’s cheeks trying to pry Caleo’s mouth open. They’re going to kill me. Caleo struggled to be free, kicking madly at anything he could, but was unable to make contact with anything. He let his body go limp, deciding that it might be his only hope of escape to play opossum and act defeated. Although, Nate was still applying pressure to his arm and it felt like it was going to be pulled out of its socket at any moment, Nate slowly leaned forward, allowing Caleo to fall to the ground. When he was in a crouched position Caleo pushed off the ground as hard as he could with his feet, ramming the top of his head into Nate’s chin. Nate let go of Caleo, as blood erupted from his mouth. As Caleo recovered, Josh kicked him back down to the floor. Caleo rolled back to his feet and stood ready to fight whoever came at him first. His eyes darting between Nate and Josh and he smiled when he saw their breath fogging out in front of their mouths.
“You think you can get my gun? Well I got news for you, boy,” Josh said, holding the knife towards Caleo.
“Nope, I have something better,” Caleo said, his breath visible like cigarette smoke as it floated up.
“And what the hell is that?” Josh made a swiping motion towards Caleo to distract him. Nate jumped Caleo from behind.
Nate screamed in pain while Caleo watched as Josh took a step back in shock, dropping his knife to the floor. When the screaming stopped Caleo glanced over his shoulder to see Nate’s face frozen in a scream, his skin covered in frost crystals.
“Turn it off!” Caleo said trying to sound as intimidating as he could while he pointed to Nolan still convulsing on the floor.
Josh backed away from Caleo, holding his hands up defensively. “And why should I do that?”
Caleo took a step forward shrugging off the frozen statue of Nate, which fell to the floor. His hand hit first, then snapped off and skidded across the floor and under a bench, everyone in the seats slid further down the row.
“You want it? Here!” Josh said, throwing the stick to Caleo. “Just don’t touch me.”
Caleo caught the stick in mid-air only to hear a loud pop as a sharp pain stabbed into his chest just above his right nipple. Caleo let the stick fall to the ground as he fell to the floor and curled up into a ball convulsing at the electrical pulses passing through his body.
“Not so tough now are you,” Josh kicked Caleo. “We're the Blessed, we know how to deal with Leeches.” Josh kicked him again.
When Josh’s foot made contact with Caleo the second time, Caleo quickly grabbed it and wrapped his whole body around it. Josh struggled to free himself, but soon lost the use of his leg as a line of frost worked its way up his pants. Screaming in pain he fell backward trying to get away, but it was too late. The frost was now up to his waist. Josh wailed and thrashed violently on the ground, but Caleo didn’t let go. Seconds later the screaming stopped.
Caleo continued convulsing on the floor, unable to let go of the frozen leg. Then suddenly the pain stopped. He uncoiled himself slowly as he gasped for air.
Did it run out of batteries? He looked around sheepishly, only to find the fat lady kneeling on the floor just feet away from him, holding the stick, her hands shaking violently.
“Thank you,” Caleo said, tenderly sitting up and facing the lady.
“No, thank you.” The lady nodded towards her daughter.
Caleo crawled over to Nolan and shook him. When there was no response, he put his ear to Nolan’s chest and collapsed with relief when he heard a strong heartbeat.
“So now, what do we do?” Caleo heard a man ask. “We're stuck in here and the moment they find out that their friends are dead they’ll kill us all.”
Caleo slowly climbed to his feet and staggered to the back of the trailer. He pushed on the door and it slowly creaked opened. He jumped aside expecting a soldier to be right at the door. When no one appeared or shouted, Caleo peeked out. Outside it was pitch black and nothing stirred. He turned back to face the crowd, hoping for help but they just stared at him. Caleo drew in a deep breath as he realized that he had been elected their leader through some unspoken consent.
“I'll be right back, wait here.” Caleo said as he jumped out of the trailer not expecting a response.
As soon as he hit the ground, he rolled under the trailer.
Where is everyone? He looked around, but the parking lot was deserted.
Carefully, Caleo crawled out from under the trailer and walked around the empty parking lot but found no one. After a few minutes he went back to the door of the trailer where a few people had gathered and were looking around like scared deer ready to bolt at the first sign of danger.
“They left about an hour ago. The guy on the radio said something about finding a group of rogue Leeches.” An older man in pajamas said to Caleo, a confused look on his face as he stressed out the words rogue Leeches. “They said they would be back in the morning.”
“When?” Caleo looked up at the man confused.
“It was shortly after your head was slammed into the floor. Five, maybe ten, minutes after,” the man explained, rubbing his own head.
“You know which way they went?” Caleo climbed into the trailer.
“Why, you going after them?” the fat woman asked, her daughter hugging her leg.
Caleo thought for a moment.
“No, I guess not.” Caleo walked towards the crowd of people who immediately parted, clearing a path for him to walk into the trailer. Caleo smiled, fighting every impulse to make a sly comment to stop their staring.
He realized the stares were warranted. He'd just killed two people. Caleo stopped in his tracks as it sank in.
This is worse than school. At least they weren’t terrified of me. Caleo looked over the crowd of people and he shook his head, then looked at the floor as he walked to the front of the trailer to Nolan.
I would be scared of me, too. He knelt down beside Nolan, who was still passed out where he’d left him. Slowly he leaned over and put his ear to Nolan’s chest and closed his eyes pretending to listen for a heartbeat, but what Caleo was really after, was the comfort of having someone close. He wanted to know he had done the right thing, and hear words of encouragement, anything to help him fight back the tears building.
Caleo jumped as he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, when he turned to look he saw the crowd of people jump back leaving the fat lady standing beside him her hand rubbing
Caleo’s back.
“I just want to thank you.”
Caleo, not knowing what to say, nodded as the emotions burst through and tears streamed down his face.
The woman wrapped her arms around him in a hug and held him like a mother holds a child, whispering softly, “It’s all right. Everything will be okay,” over and over until Caleo’s tears stopped.
“We need a plan,” a man said softly.
How the hell should I know? Caleo wanted to scream, but when he looked up and saw all the frightened faces waiting for him to lead the way he held his tongue.
Caleo gathered his thoughts and tried to channel his inner Nolan. He stood up and said, “Okay, I need everyone to go into the store and grab whatever you can carry. I have a spot we can all hide, but we need supplies, food, bedding, and warm clothes. We have a long walk so only take what you can carry.” Caleo met everyone’s eyes, trying to remember his public speaking class.
“Can’t we just load up the truck and drive it there?” a short fat man asked, looking around at the crowd.
“Okay, load up the truck, but make it quick.” Caleo looked around at the crowd. They didn’t seem as terrified of him, but everyone except the fat lady kept their distance as much as possible. “Does anyone have a watch?”
“It’s one thirty-seven,” a man in a red flannel shirt yelled from the crowd.
“Okay, I want to get out of here by two so we have time to put distance between us and this place before they get back.” He stood up and walked towards the exit. People in his path backed away and pressed themselves against the walls to avoid touching him.
“I also want these soldiers taken out back and hidden; last thing I want is to haul them back to the cave.” Caleo jumped down from the trailer and turned to face the people.
Caleo looked up at everyone, annoyed that no one had started moving. “Okay people, let’s go!”
Everyone climbed out of the truck and hurried into the store except for the fat lady and her daughter, who stayed in the truck kneeling over Nolan. When she noticed Caleo looking at her she waved him on. “I'll watch him, you go ahead.”
Caleo hesitated for a moment, then nodded and walked to the store. When he got there a man was already on his way out with a trashcan full of canned goods. Caleo held the door open for the man, but noticed he was deliberately avoiding eye contact as he rushed by.
“You’re welcome,” Caleo muttered as he entered the building. He smiled to himself as he saw flashlights running through the store.
It almost looks like a game of flashlight tag or something. A man coughed nearby, drawing Caleo’s attention. A tall, skinny man dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a gray t-shirt stood to his right.
“Here you go. Got a few more flashlights.” The man held out a flashlight for Caleo to grab, his hands shaking as he held the light out by the little wrist strap.
He’s afraid to touch me! Caleo shook his head annoyed and noticed that a few people nearby had stopped to watch. They all are. “Thank you.” He reached for the flashlight, but before his hand even touched it, it crashed to the floor.
“I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me.” The man was visibly shaking with fear as he took a step away from Caleo.
“It’s okay. I got it.” Caleo picked up the flashlight, but when he looked up, the man was gone. He looked around at all the people watching him for a reaction. What do I say? These people are terrified of me and who can blame them I just killed two guys. No, not just killed them, I froze them solid. An image of Jack’s face back at the lake flashed through his mind. I would have run, too. Caleo let out a sigh of defeat and went back to the men’s section where he gathered all the clothes he and Nolan had picked out before they were captured. He slowly went and grabbed a few pairs of khaki cargo pants and three packs of black t-shirts for him and Nolan. When his arms were full Caleo walked back to the girls’ section where he had left his cart and tossed everything into it.
Tired, Caleo pushed the cart back to the trailer where people were loading their stuff onto the truck. They had trash cans full of food, and carts full of blankets and clothes lined up ready to be loaded. A few men were loading the actual shopping carts full of stuff into the trailer while others were stuffing clothes and linens into trash bags.
Cool, this sure beats the idea of throwing the stuff in the dumpster for… Caleo paused in thought “Nick!” Caleo yelled. Not caring about the crowd of people who turned towards him he took off for the back of the store.
Caleo slid the dumpster door open and peered inside. He could barely make out the outline of bags that they had stashed, but Nick was nowhere to be seen. He must have started back. I hope he's safe. Caleo grabbed the first bag and tossed it on the ground, reaching in for another bag when he heard the bags rustle as something moved inside the dumpster.
“Nick, you in there? It’s me, Caleo.” He reached back into the dumpster for another bag. “Please don’t be a raccoon, please don’t be raccoon,”
The noise of something moving got louder and Caleo could see the bags moving as if something large was under them.
“Caleo,” Nick’s voice came from the back corner of the dumpster.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Caleo responded feeling relieved to have someone who wasn’t frightened of him near.
“Are the soldiers gone?” Nick pushed over a few bags as he clambered to get out.
“Yeah, for now. Let’s get out of here,” Caleo said, helping him out of the dumpster. “The rest of the people are loading the truck.”
“The rest? The truck?” Nick smiled at Caleo. “I take a nap for five minutes and you hire a new crew?”
Caleo was grateful for the man’s humor and returned his smile. “There are quite a few of us now.” He quickly filled Nick in on what had happened as they carried all the bags to the truck.
When they got there, a short, fat man in his late forties yelled to Caleo from the back of the truck, “We're wrapping it up now. We put your stuff beside your friend inside.”
“Okay,” Caleo said, feeling awkward at the respect the group was showing.
As he neared the trailer doors the crowd stopped what they were doing and parted, making a clear path for Caleo to pass.
“Okay, what’s going on here?” Nick asked, confused by their reaction.
“They’re afraid of me,” Caleo said angrily, climbing up into the trailer.
Caleo turned and extended his hand to help Nick up. Nick looked around at the crowd that were all watching nervously. “He’s one of the good guys,” he said and took Caleo’s hand and climbed up onto the trailer.
“Wow, they sure have packed a lot,” Nick said, looking into the trailer to see mountains of stuff piled up on the left side leaving the bench on the right side as the only walkway. Caleo climbed over the stuff and onto the bench, which he followed to a small opening where a small group of people had gathered around Nolan. As Caleo approached, the group backed away except for the fat lady and her daughter who motioned for Caleo to come closer with a welcoming smile.
“We removed the things that were embedded in his chest and legs and dressed his wounds. I gave him some painkillers we got out of the pharmacy,” she said, readjusting a bandage on Nolan’s chest while her daughter held a flashlight over his chest. “It will take a while to heal, but he'll be fine.” Then she added as if it was an afterthought, “He sure did drink a lot of water though.”
“Thank you,” Caleo said, kneeling down next to Nolan. “I’m sorry, my name is Caleo Anima,” he told her, remembering his manners as if his grandmother had reminded him. “This is Nick, and the man you have been treating is Nolan,” Caleo finished with his hand on Nolan’s chest.
“My name is Rosie and this is my daughter, Brenda,” the woman said, looking around her. “My brother is around here somewhere, his name is Roy.”
Caleo turned when he heard a man cough behind him. “We're ready, we just need to get everyone aboard and we can head out. We need you up front to lead the way,”
the man said, then added quickly, “That is … whenever you're ready.”
“I'll show them where it is,” Nick said, following the guy down the bench and out of sight.
“Caleo,” Rosie said gently, trying to get his attention. “You should let me take that thing out of your chest.” She pointed to the cuff embedded in Caleo’s bare chest.
Caleo looked down for the first time and saw the cuff buried in his chest. A trail of dried blood had formed around the thing and down his belly where it smeared, looking like rust-colored flakes of paint on his pale white skin. As if seeing it somehow reminded his body to hurt, a throbbing pain racked through his chest. He swayed as he started to feel light headed and quickly sat down on the floor. “I think I'm going to be sick.” Rosie laid him back so his head was resting on the floor.
“Hold still, baby, this is going to hurt,” Rosie said, picking up a syringe she had ready beside her knee and quickly stuck Caleo with it in the arm.
Within minutes the drug took effect; Caleo felt nothing as the room was blurred in and out of focus. Rosie took a box cutter and went to work as Caleo’s glazed eyes stared around the room randomly talking about anything he saw. He could see people entering the trailer, but couldn't make out their faces and within moments the truck had started and Caleo found it amusing to watch all the people so edgy.
“All done. You did such a great job,” Rosie said, kissing Caleo’s forehead.
“I love you,” Caleo told her, drunkenly looking into Rosie’s eyes.
“I know. I bet you say that to all the pretty girls.” Caleo went to answer, but she put a finger to his lips. “Now sleep and when you wake it will be worse.” Rosie placed her hand on his face as if to check for a fever.
“Don’t you mean better?” Caleo asked, barely able to keep his eyes open.
“I’m sorry, my dear, things don’t work that way, it’s going to hurt till it’s healed.” Rosie kissed Caleo’s forehead again. “Now sleep, my hero, everything will be fine.”
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