Our Undead (54 page)

Mr. Alomar:
Tebious... Tebious Kingston Jameriquoi Alomar
Jr…

A long pause after those
few words have Billy and the older man with an American accent
staring at each other. Neither seems to know how to react to the
other, but the older man takes initiative.

Mr. Alomar:
Son, we thought we would never see you
again.

He embraces Billy in a less
intense hug, much more masculine than the previous one he'd
received from the woman, but just as loving. It takes a moment for
Billy to reciprocate the love, but he eventually returns the hug to
his foster father.

Margaret:
Son?

Billy and his father
release each other. The woman, who Margaret now discerns to be
Billy's foster mother, stands close by. The tears have finally
started flowing freely down her cheeks. Billy rubs the side of his
head, still in a mild state of shock. He thought he would never see
these people again. He turns to address Margaret's
inquiry.

Billy:
Margaret,… these are my foster parents. Guys, this is my
friend Margaret Sinclair.

All members of Billy's
introduction greet each other politely. Neither side is quite sure
of what to make of the other. Margaret hadn't heard much about
them, but from what Billy had told her, she knows they don't have
the most tight-knit relationship. Being the charmer she is, she
tries to make them feel as comfortable as possible.

Margaret:
Billy has told me so much about you. He thought he had lost
you. It's incredible to see that you're both still in good
health.

Mr. Alomar:
We've been through so much. It is incredible. But what is
even more incredible is that we have found our boy. It's a
miracle.

Billy's father rubs the top
of Billy's head proudly, and the boy tries his best not to roll his
eyes. He opts for an awkward smile. All of this is happening so
fast, and he doesn't really know how to take it. His mother seems
to be getting more emotional by the minute. The tears continue to
roll, and both her hands cover her mouth. She looks like she is
either about to have an emotional breakdown or a marvelous
awakening.

Erika:
What am I, chopped liver? Hi, I'm Erika
Blaze.

Mr. Alomar:
Pleasure to meet you. Please don't take offence, but you look
dangerous.

Erika:
None taken. I can be
very
dangerous. Special
Ops.

Mr. Alomar:
I see. My son is being escorted around by a special
operations agent. You must have been through so much,
yourself.

Billy responds with a
random half-hearted noise. No one really knows what he means, but
Margaret gets it.

Margaret:
We've been through a lot. The two of us only arrived here
last night.

Mr. Alomar:
By yourselves?!

Margaret:
We were saved… by two members of Erika's team. Before that,
yea, we were pretty much by ourselves out there.

Listening to Margaret speak
seems to agitate a heavier flow of tears from Mrs. Alomar's eyes.
She tries her best to hold them back, but it's useless. She looks
more and more like a red-faced kettle about to blow it's top. Mr.
Alomar notices this and tries to make things easier for
her.

Mr. Alomar:
Hey, we're just sitting over there, son. When you and your
friends are finished in line, come over and sit with us. There is
so much we need to talk about. I can't believe how blessed we are
to have been reunited. It truly is nothing short of a
miracle.

He leans over and kisses
his adopted son on his forehead.

Mr. Alomar:
We'll see you at the table. Come on, honey.

Mr. Alomar takes his wife
delicately by the arm and leads her away from Billy, back to their
table. The boy can't take his eyes off of them.

Margaret:
Billy? Are you okay?

Margaret's voice brings him
out of his own head. He turns around and rejoins the two young
women.

Billy:
Yea, I'm fine. It's just uh,.. it's just…

Erika:
Amazingly fortunate. What are the chances? How long were you
separated from each other?

Billy:
A
few days before I met up with Margaret. I thought they were
dead.

Erika:
You.. don't look too happy about them
not
being
dead.

Billy:
I
am. Believe me. It's just.. I'd already come to terms with it all.
I had let it all go. I was okay with it, but now everything has
flipped again. I guess I'm not going to see California after
all.

Margaret:
Why not?

Billy:
Well, I have to stay with them now, don't
I?

Erika:
But
sweetie, why wouldn't you want to? I can see you definitely look
like an interesting family. I imagine you all must have a very
dynamic life style. I'm sure being adopted is not all ice cream and
cakes, but your parents are
alive
.

Billy:
My
foster
parents. Actually, there was a lot of cake
and
ice cream.
You're right. Everything you said is right. I guess it just goes a
little deeper than that.

Margaret:
You guys are an interesting looking family, I'll tell you
that much.

Billy:
We
get that a lot.

Margaret:
Yea, but something else is even
more
interesting than
thaaat
.

Billy:
What?

Margaret:
Tebious Kingston Jameriquoi Alomar Jr?

Billy:
Ugh... Go easy on me.

Margaret:
HA! Billy, that is
soo
bad. Op! I mean, Tebious. Tebious. Teb-Eye-Us.
Ugh. Nope. I can't. It's weird. I don't know if I can call you
that.

Billy:
Don't
call me that.
Please
, don't…
And you know what? When we get our food let me go sit with my
parents by myself. It's nothing personal. For the comfort of
everybody.

Margaret:
Uh heh, yea. No problem.

Erika:
Of
course, we will.

Billy:
Thanks.

Server:
Excuse me. Hello. May I take your orders,
please?

Margaret:
Five cheeseburgers!

About forty-five minutes go
by, and one beaten up half of a cheeseburger sits on a tray in
front of Margaret. Her and Erika are sitting together at the end of
one of the long tables of the cafeteria. Billy left them there to
meet with his foster parents on the opposite end of the room. Many
people are still inside, and every table is occupied for the most
part. The super soldier's plate has been cleaned. Her meal has been
transformed into a big pile of bones. Margaret is hunched over her
last bit of food, gripping her bulging stomach and groaning in
discomfort.

Erika
: I
told you you couldn't eat all of those burgers. Look at how small
you are.

Margaret:
Hey, I was pretty close, okay? Only… ugh, half of one left.
How were the chicken wings?

Erika:
De-vine. Heavenly honey garlic. Oh, how
heavenly.

Margaret:
Treacherous cheeseburgers… ugh.

Erika:
Ha
ha. Poor you. Hey, here comes your friend.

Margaret forces her body to
lift itself, and when she turns around, she sees Billy making his
way to them through the crowd. He walks past Margaret, and Erika
shifts her tray and body over to give him some room. He sits down
across from Margaret in the space Erika leaves
unoccupied.

Margaret:
Tebious…

He waits.

Margaret:
Okay, I'm sorry.
Billy….
how was
it?

Billy:
It
was… something. After my foster mom finally stopped crying, they
told me they were happy to see that I was still alive. Foster dad
was happy to see that I still have the bow he gave me. "Impressive"
he said.

Erika:
I
would say that sounds pretty accurate.

Margaret:
Oh, Billy never fails to impress, and I expect that to
continue, but let's not give him a big head. They
should
be
impressed with you, Billy, but what about them? What happened to
them?

Billy:
Foster dad told me that when he left the basement we were in
to find his wife, he actually wound up finding her. They were going
to come back for the others, and me, but on the way, they met up
with a convoy of military transport vehicles. My foster dad said
that they told the soldiers about our group of survivors… and how
we were heading to the hospital, but the soldiers said they
wouldn't deviate from their designated route. They told my foster
parents that they were free to join them on their way to this
compound, but if they were going to come looking for us, they would
be on their own. They said it was a hard decision, but they decided
to go with the convoy. That's… how they got here.

Margaret:
Aw, Billy. I don't know what to say.

Billy:
You
can say what's real. My foster parents abandoned
me.

Margaret:
They… It's a stressful time for everyone. People don't think
straight in times like these.

Billy:
You
don't have to make excuses for them, Margaret. They left me in that
basement. They didn't even try. It's fine. I get it. The convoy was
a Godsend. They probably saw it as their last chance at surviving.
To be honest, it probably was. But we're all still alive. It worked
out for the best.

Erika doesn't know Billy as
well as Margaret. No matter what kind of generic advice she could
think to give surely wouldn't help the situation, so she fiddles
with her used napkin. Even the talkative blonde girl who always has
a smart retort feels like there is nothing she can say.

Billy:
You
guys ready to go to the lab?

Margaret:
Ooo… heh, yea. I'm at capacity here, but I think I can
manage. We
are
driving there, right?

Erika:
Yes, sweetie. It's a couple of intersections away, but I
couldn't make you walk with a bad ankle, could I?

Margaret:
I don't think my ankle is my biggest handicap right
now.

She swings her legs out
from under the table and takes her crutches up from off the floor,
all the while rubbing her inflated belly with her free hand. She
connects them to her forearms and let's the others know that she is
ready. All three of them get up from the table and head for the
cafeteria exit. Erika takes Margaret's tray for her since both the
girl's hands are tied. They pass by the garbage containers to
dispose of their waste and see Billy's parents sitting at the table
as they walk for the door. Both groups exchange polite waves and
nodding heads as Billy and his group exits the
cafeteria.

In less than five minutes,
Erika and her passengers pull up in their cart to the entrance of
Laboratory A-1. When Erika parks, they all disembark and go inside.
The interior of the lab looks nothing like they expected. It's
empty. The only person inside is a woman of Spanish descent. She
doesn't notice them at first, busy fidgeting with and doing
whatever she is doing with some laid out medical equipment. She
only turns around when Erika blatantly clears her
throat.

Rosa:
Oh!
Hello, Ms. Blaze. How have you been keeping?

Erika:
Rosa, you're still awake, huh? I told you, call me Erika.
I've been fine. Really getting to know this place, but uh.. We were
looking for Gwen. Do you have any idea where we might be able to
find her?

Rosa:
Oh,
yes. You can find the professor and the rest of the doctors in
Laboratory D-9. They're all there with that special infected
one.

Rosa puts her work down for
a moment so she can walk over to Erika and speak with the group
face to face. She looks exhausted.

Margaret:
Special infected. That must be Abe.