Maniacs

by Lee Wise

  “Then shoot the leader!” Christian shouted.

  “That’s my daughter!” Cathy cried.

  “Yes and we need her alive.” Liz said. “She’s the key to all of this.”

  “But what about Alex?” Christian whined.

  “He should have come in with us.” Liz answered. I saw a tear run down her cheek. “I really don’t want to watch this but I need to know what happens.”

  “We can tell you.” Luis said. Liz turned around and so did I. I didn’t want to see it either.

  “I need to do something!” Christian cried and tried to leave the room but Ben and John stopped him.

  “There’s nothing that you can do.” Ben said.

  Christian began to cry. “He saved me…he saved me!” Jill hugged him as he cried into her arms.

  “What the hell?” Maya exclaimed.

  “Is he one of them?” Angela asked.

  My curiosity got the best of me, so I turned around. So did Liz. Alex was walking with them. They stopped near a tree. Alex made a noose out of the rope that had been around Jenny’s hands. He looped it around his neck and tossed the other end around a branch above himself. Alex stood there while Jenny pulled on the rope. Somehow she pulled him up enough and tied off the other end. He didn’t struggle at all. She giggled and then the group went down the driveway.

  “Let’s get him down!” Luis yelled. The guys ran outside and got Alex down and the noose off his throat. Luckily, we could see he was still alive. They brought him into the house. Jeremy checked him over, but he seemed fine.

  “What were you thinking?” Maya demanded.

  “I… I don’t remember anything!” Alex said.

  “What do you mean?” Liz asked.

  “I was helping guard Jenny. I looked into her eyes and the next thing I know you were taking a noose off my neck.” Alex replied.

  “Wait! You weren’t out there on purpose?” Luis asked. “You don’t remember anything that you just did?”

  “So, that’s why you didn’t fight them.” Liz said.

  “Exactly! You don’t think that there would be a few dead bodies out there? I mean I still have my gun on me!” Alex exclaimed.

  “So you were just looking at her and…” I began.

  “I was looking at her and wondering why we’re keeping a threat like her around and that’s the last thing I remember.” Alex sighed.

  “So she did some sort of mind control. I wonder if that’s what we have been seeing with the people who are using weapons and starting fires. They aren’t actually groupies or maniacs but people in some sort of a trance. Like the ones who ambushed us on our way here. I actually called them punks. Hmm, I will have to look into this more! ” Liz thought out loud.

  “That’s a good theory.” I agreed.

  “Also, were you thinking of killing Jenny?” Liz asked.

  “Of course! We need to keep everyone safe!” Alex announced.

  “You son-of-a-bitch! That’s my daughter!” Cathy cried.

  “I need her to figure out how to reverse this, so no one can kill her! We need a leader and a groupie.” Liz said.

  “So,maybe she could sense what you were thinking.” I said.

  “That’s an idea!” Liz said. “I could use someone like you to help me in the lab.”

  “She’s probably better in a lab then at fighting anyways!” John explained. I elbowed him but agreed.

  “So my daughter is now a leader of some sort?” Cathy asked.

  “Yes. And we will get her back safely.” Luis said. “We just need a plan.”

  “Why didn’t they come in and attack us?” I asked.

  “That’s a damn good question.” Ben responded.

  “I agree. Let’s not give them another chance though. We need to be ready.” Luis said.

  “What happens if someone else changes?” John asked.

  “We need a few people around the kids at all times.” Ben said. “Aleisha, if you work with Liz and Christian in the lab, maybe your kids can help until we get the maniacs in there. Jill, you can also help in there with your children if you want. We need protection in the lab anyways and that would just be a good common area instead of guarding two places.”

  “I don’t know.” Liz said.” “I can’t really have kids running around in there.”

  “I agree.” Luis said. “I think that Mrs. Ford and Naomi do a good job in there with the kids. If Aleisha is helping in the lab, she can have her kids in there, it just can’t become the day care. We need Jill to help out with guarding the front of the house.”

  “Okay.” Ben agreed. “Cathy, I… how are you?”

  “How am I?” Cathy glared at Ben and shook her head. “Are you serious?”

  “I’m sorry. Stupid question.” Ben sighed.

  “We want our daughter back and we will do what needs to be done to get her back.” Robert explained.

  “Okay.” Luis said. “How many of us are there now? We lost a lot of people.” He looked outside to where Jason’s body was.

  “There’s John and Aleisha and their two kids. Cathy and Robert and well…” Ben began.

  “Just those who… who are around right now.” Luis said quietly.

  “Okay. We have Jacob and Gary, myself and Rose. Mrs. Ford, Mike, Jill and their two kids. Caleb, Angela, Naomi, Ryan, Allison, Luke and his daughter Piper. Also, Ethan and Dr. Michaels, for our group.”

  “Well, we are all together now, so there’s no our group or your group. So we also have Emma, Chase, Maya, Liz, Christian, Alex, and… I guess myself and that’s it now.” Luis sighed. Molly came into the room panting.

  “Yes and two dogs, a horse, cats and chickens!” Angela said.

  “Chickens?” Liz said.

  “Yes, didn’t you see them outside?” Angela asked.

  “I did but you said you saw a pile of dead animals, right?” Liz asked.

  “We did. They’re still out there. We have to clean them up soon.” Angela responded.

  “Were there any chickens in the pile?” Liz asked.

  “No.”

  “And they’re free roaming?”

  “They are.”

  “Have they ever been killed by a maniac?”

  “No.”

  “Why?” Liz asked.

  “I… I don’t know.”

  “And have your chickens ever acted afraid of them?”

  “No.”

  “Now, has Molly reacted to Jenny or was she reacting to Sammie?”

  “No. But she does bark when the maniacs arrive.” Ben said.

  “Does she bark like she’s telling you someone is here or like she’s afraid and showing her teeth to attack?”

  “I guess she just warns us that someone’s here.”

  “Strange.” Liz said.

  “They killed my dog when this first began.” Jacob said.

  “But…” Cathy said.

  “What?” Liz asked.

  “I remember that day. The dog was barking like it does when it sees a stranger. I didn’t hear growling.” Cathy replied. “I wonder if he was killed because he was barking and the maniac didn’t want us to know she was there?”

  “Exactly. I wonder if he would have been killed if he would have hid?” Liz said.

  “What are you thinking?” Luis asked.

  “Well, it’s just a thought. But Alex was the only one who wanted to kill Jenny…” Liz began.

  “I didn’t say it out loud that I was going to, it was just a thought.” Alex said looking at Cathy and blushing.

  “They left all of us alone except the one person who wanted to attack her.” Liz said.

  “But we have had some come in and attack us out of nowhere.” Angela said.

  “Maybe it has to do with their personality before they change?” I said.

  “I wish I knew.” Cathy cried.

  “But… Brandon killed his dad!” Jill announced.

  Maya and Chase looked at each other.

  “What was that look?” Ben asked.
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  “Well!” Maya sighed.

  “Enlighten us.” Luis said.

  “When the first change happened and that guy Bruce was with us with his brother Bob, well Bob changed and Bruce refused to kill his brother when we thought that he would attack…” Maya began.

  “Yeah?” Luis urged them on.

  “Well, Jason said to his son to kill him if he changed and Brandon said gladly as a joke and told his father to kill him if he changed. Well, Jason didn’t say one way or the other if he would honor his son’s wishes, so I wonder if Jason said something while they were alone together?” Maya said.

  Luis whistled. “Wow!”

  “Mama?” We heard from the top of the stairs. We all panicked thinking that it had happened again. Mike went to the foot of the stairs and got ready to go upstairs since it was Mary.

  “What is it honey?” Jill asked.

  “I’m hungry!” Mary said.

  We all laughed, relieved. I looked at the time. Was it really already 2:00. Where had the time gone?

  “I’ll make lunch.” Cathy said. “I just need to get my mind off of…” Tears ran down her face.

  “I’ll help.” I responded.

  Gary sighed. “Okay, so what now?”

  “Well, there’s 24 adults, right?” Luis asked.

  “Give or take a few!” Gary joked.

  “And seven kids and a baby.” Luis looked at Cathy and Robert. “I’m not trying to be insensitive, I’m just counting who we can work with here.”

  Cathy nodded and looked away pulling food out of the pantry.

  “Out of the seven kids, we have Emma who can help with the kids and her name’s Piper right?” Luis asked.

  “Yes.” Chase responded. Luke gave him a look and a few of us laughed. Chase blushed.

  “So, really it is five kids under what, 12? And a baby.”

  “Yes.” Jill said.

  “Do you think that Mrs. Ford and Naomi are enough to protect the children?” Luis asked. A few of us made unsure faces.

  “Christian is wonderful with kids. He was a daycare owner before this.” Liz announced.

  “You’re just trying to keep me out of the lab!” Christian joked.

  “You’re kind of klutzy!” Liz laughed. Alex agreed.

  “Christian, do you want to help with the kids?” Luis asked.

  “Definitely!” Christian exclaimed. “I wasn’t fond of being in the lab or fighting bad guys anyways!”

  “Great.” Luis said smiling. “Aleisha, you can be Liz’s assistant. If that’s okay with the two of you.” We both agreed. “Now for combat and all the other things you guys discussed that needs to be done!”

  “Is Alex going to be in charge of our protection at the lab?” Liz asked. Alex blushed. Clearly something was going on with the two of them and I was looking forward to gossiping with her about it once I was working with her.

  “Ah…” Luis began. “Since Alex has combat skills, we might put him in a position that we could use him better.”

  “But protecting the person who may find the cure to all of this is important.” Christian winked at Liz. Liz smiled.

  “I can go wherever.” Alex said. “But it’s getting late and I say we get moving because if that group comes back, we’re in trouble.”

  “Where’s the meat?” Cathy asked.

  “We used the rest yesterday.” Jill responded.

  “We need more food.” Cathy said.

  “We have a lot of vegetables!” Angela said. “But we do need meat. I can go hunting!”

  Luis sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “We have food that we can bring in from the truck, but no meat. Man, we could use more people.”

  “I think we can deal with stuff with the people we have for right now, we just need to prioritize things.” Ben said.

  Luis nodded. “Okay, so food and protection should come first. The lab should come second. We’re getting closer to nighttime now so we should make a plan for tonight. I think we can spare an hour for hunting. How does everyone feel about that?”

  We all agreed. “Okay, then we finish with the dead first. We have one more grave to do now and then send a few people hunting…” Ben began.

  “After eating, meat or no meat.” Rose said.

  “Of course. While the food’s being made, let’s go take care of the graves, come in and eat and then a few people will go hunting. While those are hunting, we’ll figure out a plan for tonight and work on the lab as much as possible. Sound good?” Ben asked.

  “Mama?” Mary called from the top of the stairs.

  “Yes honey?” Jill asked.

  “The bathroom up here is overflowing!”

  We all sighed. “I’ll take a look at that and rig something new up.” Gary said.

  “Do you need a hand?” Ethan asked.

  “Sure.” Gary replied. “Let’s go grab some tools in the shed and then we can get started.” They went outside and soon came back in and went upstairs.

  “All right. So, we need people at the end of the driveway.” Luis announced. “Maya, Jacob and Mike are you okay for that?” They agreed. “Okay. Someone will bring food down to you in a bit.” They nodded and left the house.

  “The rest of us who aren’t cooking can work on the graves. After lunch we will have a little service and then the hunters can go out.”

  “I’m just going to make egg salad or grilled cheese!” Cathy said. “So hurry!”

  Everyone, besides Cathy and I, went outside. Robert gave Cathy a look before he left. I hugged my sister. I couldn’t believe what had happened.

  “We need to find the cure!” Cathy cried.

  I agreed. “We will. I’ll do everything in my power to move Liz along!”

  “Jenny is in the lead of that whole group. What happens if… if someone wants to take out the leader?” She cried.

  “The guys will do something. Maybe they can capture her and…”

  “Capture her? Did you see all of her followers? They would attack us!”

  I sighed. “We just have to keep thinking that Jenny will be okay.”

  “What are you going to tell the other kids?” Cathy asked.

  “I… I don’t know.” We finished making the food quietly. “I’ll talk to Megan and Sarah alone later.” I said finally. Cathy nodded. “Jill can tell her kids and we’ll have Mrs. Ford tell Caleb.”

  Everyone came in as we finished up. “That was quick!” I said.

  “There were a lot of us helping dig.” John answered.

  “We finished, but the shovel broke.” Ben sighed. “So, after breakfast tomorrow, a few of us will go get a new tractor and raid some places for more supplies as well as check to see if we can find where Jenny, Brandon and the group went.”

  We nodded. “Well lunch,” I looked at the clock “or should I say supper’s ready. We’ll just have to make a small meal later.”

  “We can wait for you guys to clean up.” I said.

  “Are you saying I’m dirty?” John asked trying to give me a hug.

  “Go wash your nasty self up.” I laughed and shoved him away. He also laughed and those who had dug and moved bodies went to clean up.

  “I’ll bring lunch down the driveway.” Angela said after they all came back into the house. “They all wanted egg salad.” She left with their food. The kids came down and we all ate. None of the kids asked about Jenny which surprised me. I’m pretty sure they knew what had happened though. I was kind of happy that they hadn’t brought it up. It made the meal a little less stressful and emotional.

  CHAPTER 16

  After lunch and the funeral, Ryan, Angela and Robert went hunting. Robert went to get his mind off of things. Cathy said that she needed a little nap and we all told her to go ahead. I took my girls aside and so did Jill to tell them about Jenny.

  “I need to talk to you girls.” I said to them.

  “About Jenny?” Sarah asked.

  “Yes honey.” I said.

  “Is she dead?” Megan asked.
Tears came to my eyes. My six-year-old was asking me this.

  “She’s not dead.” I said.

  “Where is she?” Sarah asked.

  “Well she…” I began.

  “Is she a maniac?” Megan interrupted.

  “You just interrupted mommy!” Sarah complained.

  “I was just asking a question!” Megan argued.

  “But mommy was talking to you. My teacher said that that is rude.” Sarah said.

  “I wasn’t…” Megan began.

  “Girls!” I lectured. “Just listen. Stop fighting.” They both looked at me. “Have you heard of the term ‘leaders’ when it comes to maniacs?”

  “They’re the people who are the leaders. They can’t talk, but all the maniacs follow them.” Sarah replied.

  “I was going to say that! You always get to answer!” Megan complained. Sarah stuck her tongue out at her sister. “Mama!”

  “Girls!” I shouted. John walked over to us.

  “How’s it going over here? Sounds like old times!” John joked.

  “Sarah’s being a poopy pants!” Megan teased.

  “You are!” Sarah shouted back.

  “Is mama trying to tell you something?” John asked.

  “Yes.” The girls answered.

  “What was mama telling you?”

  “About Jenny.” Sarah answered.

  “Did mama finish telling you about her?”

  “No! Megan keeps interrupting.”

  “No I don’t!”

  This reminded me of the old times! “Girls, so Jenny is a leader. The followers are called groupies.” I said quickly so they would stop fighting.

  “Oh!” Megan replied. “Where is she?”

  “Well, she left.” I responded.

  “Like Greg?” Sarah asked.

  “Well, not exactly.” I began. “But we’ll get her back.”

  “When?” Sarah asked.

  “I miss her.” Megan said.

  “Soon.” I responded.

  “Okay!” Sarah said.

  “Can we go play now?” Megan asked. She was staring at the other kids who were playing tag. Mary and Nate were already playing so I wondered if their conversation had gone any better.

  “Are we going to become guppies?” Sarah asked.

  “Groupies. No, you won’t.” I answered.

  “Why did all those people and Jenny become maniacs?” Megan asked.