“Them? Whose them? The teens?” Ashley questioned.
“No. I mean, Warren, Shaun, Scarlet, and Sarah.”
“Sarah? She was with Warren too?”
“Yeah, they said—”
I stopped talking as we passed instructors and waited until we had some distance between us.
“They said it’ll be a while until the instructors will teach the stuff that’ll actually help us if we run into trouble.”
“For real? Well shit, sign us up for the deal!” Carrie expressed excitedly.
“Hold on, are we sure we want to do this? Is there a downside to this?” Jess cautioned.
“The only downside I can think of is we lose a couple of point cards, but for some solid self-defense moves on demand? That sounds like a fair deal,” Patch stated.
“So, are we all in this?” I asked.
“I’m in,” Carrie answered right away.
“Me, too,” Molly followed.
“Same,” Patch and Jess said simultaneously.
I looked at Ashley.
She thought for a moment and then answered, “Well . . . I think we can trust them on this. I’m in too.”
“Alright, let’s find Warren after school and he’ll hook us up,” I said.
We waited until gym was over and tried to meet up with Warren before our last two classes of the day, but something else caught our attention.
“Hey, freakshows! Where are you going? Huh?” a boy said as he and his friends approached some littler kids.
We recognized them; they were domestic kids. I can’t remember if they were yellow or green belts. There were five of them. They were talking to three younger kids, they looked like outsider kids – one of them had a small knife scar on his face.
“What do you think, Jimmy? Which one would he be on the cover of Ripley’s Believe it or Not? Scarface? Blockhead? Or Annoying Orange?” the boy asked.
Jimmy thought for a moment, “Hmm . . . I’m definitely thinking . . . Annoying Orange!”
They chuckled, but the younger kids didn’t laugh. Instead they glared.
“Nobody asked you, McKenzie, and we told you to leave us alone,” the redhead said.
McKenzie smirked, “That’s no way to show gratitude to the people that are letting you stay. I mean, if you want to go back out there and live like animals, that’s fine. Even though we saved your lives, you don’t want to have all this? That’s fine, I guess. What about you Michael? You good with that?”
“Nope,” Michael replied.
“What about you, Troy?”
“Hell nope,” Troy answered.
“Peter?”
Peter walked up to the kids, “Not—” he punched one kid in the gut, “—on—” punched another, “—their lives.”
The kids groaned in pain.
“Be grateful shitheads,” Peter said, before they all shoved them aside.
As they walked away, my friends and I approached them.
“Are you alright?” Ashley asked.
“Not really. Those assholes have been on us for fucking days,” the redhead answered.
“Have you told anyone about this?” I asked.
“Like what? A teacher? We already have . . . and clearly they didn’t make it stop,” he said before the three of them walked away.
My friends and I watched them as they walked away before Warren showed up.
“You see what kids like us have to put up with?” Warren asked, from behind us.
“Why do they treat outsiders like us like that?” Molly asked.
“Why do some white people in the deep south not like Yankees or anyone that’s black? Or, the Greeks and the Turks? Or the Muslims and Christians? People don’t like things that are outside their comfort zone. They condemn what they don’t understand and bullies look for anyone they see as weak to make themselves feel strong.”
“Yeah right . . . anyway we’re in. When can we meet these black belts?” I asked.
“I’ll talk to them and get back to you. They trust me, so when I put in a good word, it’ll work out. Just keep quiet about this, capisce?”
I nodded.
As he walked away, I suddenly realized River and her brothers were going through the same thing. If their class is anything like ours, they’ll need what we’re being offered.
“Warren!” I called.
He stopped and I spoke, “We got three other friends, can you include them on this?”
“Do you trust them to keep a secret?” Warren asked.
“Yes, I do.”
“Are they in our class?”
“No, they’re teenagers.”
“Alright, I’ll get back to you guys tomorrow.”
When school was over Ashley, Carrie and I went to the high school next door to our middle school and waited for River and her brothers to show. It didn’t take long for the bell to ring and all the students began exiting the school. We were able to spot River and her brothers, she kept them close as she stayed in between them. They saw us as and we waved them to come over. River was the first to speak when they came over.
“Nathan? Girls? What’s going on? You okay?” River spoke first.
“Everything’s fine, we just wanted to see you. Do you have self-defense class, too?” I asked.
“Yeah, they’re making us learn Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, and a couple others,” Clark answered.
“Are you learning just the basics?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Listen, a friend of ours hooked us up with some black belt teens. For some point cards, they’ll teach us some serious moves that can protect us – stuff that the instructors won’t teach us right away,” I started.
“Whoa, really?” Cody asked, surprised.
“Yeah and he asked if we could include you guys too and he said yes,” Ashley said.
“Are you serious? For real?” River asked, wide-eyed.
“Yeah, so are you in?” Carrie asked.
“Hell yeah! Absolutely!” River answered instantly.
“Whoa hold on, River, are you sure about this? Cause this sounds kinda sketchy,” Clark warned.
“Yeah, River, what if we get into trouble with this?” Cody asked.
“Clark, Cody, I don’t feel safe in this school. You saw those guys, the way they stared at me. It felt like they were undressing me with their eyes. I get this terrible feeling that they might try to gang-rape me or something, so I need this and I would feel a lot safer if you knew this stuff as well,” River explained.
“Are you sure you’re not being paranoid?” Clark asked.
“Better to have something and not need it than need it and not have it,” I butted in.
River agreed, “Ha! Exactly! You see?”
“Nate, girls, do you trust this friend?” Clark asked.
“Yeah, he’s solid . . . he’s from outside the walls like us,” Ashley answered.
The brothers sighed and said fine. We took the monorail to go home. The clear sunset was making everything yellow, including the lighthouse. The bright yellow sunlight reflected brightly against the building windows of the city. What an interesting day: we’re required to know self-defense and Warren hooked us up with some black belts. However, I was still thinking about that girl that was staring at me. She wasn’t smiling like Molly did at Fort Denver. What was that about? I was also thinking about what Warren said about bullies. Bullies are no different than predators and they’re still out there. I started thinking about the future.
“Hey! Earth to Nathan!” Ashley said in my ear, and patted my chest.
“Huh?” I turned.
“Where’d you go? We called your name three times.”
“I was just thinking.”
“That’s dangerous,” Jess mocked.
“Shut up,” Molly said, nudging her shoulder.
“What were you thinking about?” Carrie asked.
“Oh, just today and tomorrow . . . and a whole mess of other things,” I said.
“Like what?�
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I left a long pause before speaking, “Do you guys think about the future?”
“What? Like the far future? With flying cars and teleporters? Like that? Sure, although I’m not real wild about the weird-ass fashion like the Hunger Games and Star Trek. I like to keep it simple and casual, nothing complicated,” Patch stated.
“Funny, but I was talking about our future – yours and mine. Where do you guys see yourself in five years from now?”
“Oh that . . . um I don’t really know. What about you guys?”
Everyone shrugged.
“What brought that up?” Jess asked.
I started, “We’re getting older, which means that someday we’re going to be adults. That also means, that the adults are gonna get old . . . including the soldiers that protect this place.”
“Oooh . . . I see where you’re going with this,” Ashley said.
“And where am I going with this?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
“We came all this to find a safe place to live . . . and now we gotta protect it.”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
“Wha-wha wait, what?” Jess asked.
“Hol-hold, hold up. What are you two talking about? What made you make that assumption?” Molly asked.
“Math,” Ashley answered.
They all turned to her as she explained, “Just as Nathan said, we’re all getting older which means one day the adults will be too old to protect us as we will be the adults.”
I added, “Which means, that their war with the undead and the dangers outside will become our war if we want to protect this place.”
“So, what are you saying? That we should enlist in the army?” Carrie asked.
“Well . . . it’s better to be prepared for something that might not happen than not ready for something that will happen. Am I saying that we should expect to join the military? No, but we all know nothing lasts forever.”
“Murphy’s law – anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Basically, sooner or later we won’t be picking daisies anymore. We’ll be picking enemies off with a rifle,” Ashley stated.
“That’s a blunt way to put it, but yeah you’re right. Look, I don’t know what’s gonna happen. All I’m saying is just . . . hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” I said.
Patch nodded, “He’s right . . . sooner or later our protectors aren’t gonna be around. There’s more than one outcome. Maybe the zombies will be all dead by then, or they’ll be knocking on our doorstep. Either way, I’m not losing this home . . . not by a long shot.”
“Alright,” Carrie said.
The rest agreed, but the cheer died down. Things got better once we got to Will and Kayley’s place. Kayley was changing her hairstyle; she had her hair tied in a half up half down style with a few braids tied in front of her ears and had some beads in the braids and feather hair bands at the ends of the braids – she was beautiful. We stopped and stared at her in awe.
“Kayley . . . your hair,” I spoke.
“You like it? I was always one that would try to stand out,” Kayley smiled.
Tracy walked in with a few thin braids as well, but no feathers or beads. She looked really attractive in her jean shorts and her sleeveless tank top. Kayley and Faith were in a similar fashion, but Jeff and Father Lawrence wore jean pants with a T-shirt – except Will who wore shorts as well. Looked like they went and bought stuff, food and clothes as they were sorting things out with where they go.
“How was your day, kids?” Tracy asked, as we sat down.
“It was alright, we’re learning martial arts,” Jess answered.
The adults stopped for a moment and looked at us before asking.
“Wha? Wait, martial arts?” Faith asked.
“Yep, we’re learning Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, and a couple of others whose names we either can’t remember or can’t pronounce,” Patch answered, as we pulled out our binders to do homework.
“Really?” Kayley asked.
“Yeah, it’s part of a mandatory thing to know how to defend ourselves,” Molly stated.
“Hmm . . . you know kids, I’m a black belt myself,” Will said.
“You are?” Tracy asked.
“Me, too,” Kayley added.
“You never told us that,” Jeff said.
“Yeah well, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about us. Like I used to be a graffiti artist.”
“You? A graffiti artist?” Tracy asked eyed-wide.
“Eh, you didn’t miss much.”
As they were chatting, I didn’t know how to tell Clara and Jonathan about our new classes. Knowing Clara, she’s either gonna be deeply concerned or she’s gonna be a total soccer mom about this – or she’s gonna be cool about it. For some reason, I didn’t talk to my people about those bullies. Maybe, I can finally bond with Jonathan by asking him.
When I got home and opened the front door, I heard Ellen talking with her parents.
“You see that? That’s a back kick! You just turn and pow!” Ellen said, demonstrating.
“Alright, alright Ellen, try not to break anything,” Clara said.
Jonathan saw me walk in, “There you are, so you’re in this self-defense class, too?”
“Yeah, I am,” I answered.
“And it’s required?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you gotta admit Jonathan, it is a good idea,” Clara said.
“I guess,” Jonathan replied.
“Ellen, why don’t we go to the backyard and you can show us all the moves that you learned,” Clara said.
“You got it!” Ellen said, confidently.
As they went outside, I sat on the couch, tired. Jonathan sat next to me on the couch with an expression that looked like he was studying what I was feeling. Judging from his face, he wasn’t too excited about all this like me. This would be a good time to talk.
“First time I’ve seen her smile in a long time. I just wish it wasn’t for something like this,” Jonathan said.
“Maybe, she thinks she can kick my teeth in,” I replied.
Jonathan chuckled, “Yeah, but you would fight back because you have skills too, right?”
“I’m not too wild about hitting girls.”
“Hold on to that kind of mindset, it means you’re a gentleman.”
I chuckled a smile.
After a few minutes of watching Ellen show off her moves and bond with Clara, I finally spoke.
“Did you ever do anything like this back when you were in school?” I asked.
“Martial arts? No, wasn’t my thing. I was more of a weight lifting, basketball, hacky sack, and book club kind of guy. Fighting however, I did a little bit of that in school,” Jonathan answered.
“Fighting? You get into fights?”
“Well, my friends and I . . . we really didn’t like bullies and I mean not at all. We used to go around looking for bullies and then beat the shit out of them.”
“Isn’t that like being a bully, but on bullies?”
“I prefer giving them a taste of their own medicine.”
I thought for a moment before asking, “Does it work?”
“Does what work?” Jonathan asked, turning to me.
“Does beating them up make them stop? The bullies.”
Jonathan left a pause before answering, “Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
“The thing about bullies is, they look for someone weak to pick on to make them feel strong and dominant. So, when you humiliate them, they’ll either stop or they’ll get angry and try to get revenge. Certain people can learn if they get a loud enough wakeup call or knock some sense into them. On the other hand, some people don’t change, they don’t get better – in fact, they get worse and continue to hurt more people because they’re fucked up. Why go, you ask?”
I sighed and spoke, “After class . . . I saw some . . . domestic kids picking on some outsider kids.”
“Domestic kids?”
“Kids that have never been out there like us. Anyway, they were picking on outsider kids and apparently even though the teachers know, they still bully. So . . . what can I do?”
“Well, a bully won’t stop until he’s been stopped. If telling a teacher isn’t going to do anything, then you may have to do something.”
Jonathan turned toward me and placed a hand on my shoulder, “You walk up to the bullies and tell them to leave everyone alone and if they don’t . . . then hurt them. Make them feel the pain you bring them and make them know the pain only gets worse and worse the more they don’t listen.”
Hurt them? He was making sense. Plus, he’s dealt with bullies before and I’d rather fight them than let them pick on those little kids, but I remembered what my real father said. Fight smart. I should get with Patch, Warren, and Shaun to have my back rather than make a rookie mistake of standing alone when you got friends. I slept peacefully that night.
****
The next day was normal as we had class, the self-defense class, but we met up with Warren and River with her brothers. Warren introduced us to the black belt teens – there were four of them, seniors. The cost was a little expensive – twenty-point cards per person. To my surprise they were actually really nice, as they explained, demonstrated, and taught us various effective self-defense moves – the shoulder throw, Uchi-Mata, Labai takedown, the leg sweep, how to escape some locks. They taught the real effective moves to River and her brothers, like the Kata-Guruma takedown or “shoulder wheel,” Labai, the Double-Leg takedown and some others. I have to say, it’s actually kinda fun. You get to realize how strong you can be, as we threw each other on the floor mats, we became competitive . . . and a little cocky. Patch and I were impressed how well the girls could floor us, no problem with that at all. We went home in the monorail late feeling sore, but somewhat happy.
River chuckled, “What’s the matter Clark? I didn’t kick your ass that hard, did I?”
“Where did you learn to count? We’re even,” Clark answered.
“I must say, you girls know how to leg sweep. My ass still hurts,” Patch said.
“See, this is why there needs to be more female badasses in the movies. We’re just so good at kicking ass and taking names,” Jess mocked.
Molly nudged my leg with a smile, “How are you feeling, tiger?”
The Dark Days Series | Book 2 | Sanctuary Page 11