The Orphans (Book 2): Surviving the Turned (11 page)

Greg said, “So it’s gone, like, forever.”

Ellie looked at Shaun, smiling. “Well, if it wasn’t dead forever, it is now after Shaun blew the damn thing up.”

“Holy shit, Shaun! You pyro. You blew up the van? Why?”

“You know, at the time it seemed like a really good way to get rid of some of those things, but then once it went up in a ball of fire, the reality set in that they come to noise pretty quick. We had to hide out in Bynum’s Hardware Store.”

              “Did they lose interest in you?”

              Ellie cut in. “Hardly; those things were insane. They busted in and we made a break for the roof and then jumped across all of the buildings until we were able to get down on the opposite side. We broke into the car dealership and almost got shot by the owner, and then Shaun stepped in and took the gun away from the guy. Oh, and Shaun used an axe to split the owner of Bynum’s Hardware’s head open. He was trying to eat us though, in Shaun’s defense.”

              “Look at you, Billie Badass.” Greg smirked at him, punching him lightly on the shoulder.              

              Kristy laughed at this and said, “I thought you were the degenerate of the group.”

Greg shrugged. “Yeah, I thought I was, but apparently these three are trying to give me a run for my money.”

Shaun asked, “How are things going here? Is Patrick doing all right?”

Kristy said, “Yeah, he was looking a little better. We got a little stir-crazy in the house, but Greg and I went through and made a list of the supplies that we picked up from Andy yesterday. Then we hiked up the hill and wanted to see if there is any news from the outside.”             

Ellie just stared for a moment, pointing at Greg. “Wait, Greg was productive on purpose?”

Greg shook his head no and said, “Well, actually, I fully blame it on Kristy here.”

Tina saw the blanket and the radio. “What else were you two doing?”

Greg said, “Trying to see if the world is still alive and kicking further than this hillside.”

Ellie said, “Well, is it?”

Kristy nodded. “It’s still going, but the heads of the Center for Disease Control said that almost 85% of the surrounding population is infected with it. They said that anyone who looks infected should not be approached and that if we see any of them, we are to call any government agency. They said they would be helping to round up the infected until they are able to come up with a cure. Also, it’s in all the surrounding states. They know it started in the Des Moines area and need to know how.”

Shaun nodded. “So it sounds like maybe staying up here is probably a good idea. I would hate to be the group that has to try and catch those things and contain them.”

Tina said, “What should we do now?”

Everyone looked to Shaun, who shrugged and said, “Honestly, I’m clueless. I’m taking a nap and you can do whatever you want. I’m not a leader. I’m just the owner of the house.”

Greg said, “I think we’re going to have a lot of free time going forward.”

Shaun said over his shoulder, “I think we should start collecting firewood. I think free time is something we have when we sleep. When the winter comes, we are going to need every last piece we can get. There is no furnace; all we have is that giant stove oven in there.”

              Ellie said, “So what you’re really saying is maybe you don’t need a nap?”

              Shaun thought about the cold cabin in the winter and thought really hard about how little he wanted to freeze to death after surviving so much already. “Let’s eat, stow this stuff away, and get Patrick set up with his insulin, and then I say we start cutting down trees.”

              Greg pointed to a giant oak tree and said, “Hey, how about that one? It’s giant; it would heat this place for the entire winter.

              Shaun took it in and said, “How about we get that skinny one over there instead?”

              Greg didn’t know anything about working smarter not harder yet. Shaun walked over to the skinny one and pointed out to Greg. “Greg, look at the trunk. Going all the way up, there are almost no branches on it. Also, it will fit right into the stove we have. “

              Greg said, “Yeah, but the big one will too, once we cut it down, cut it into chunks, and break them in half, right?”

              Shaun said, “Would you rather do one day’s work and get an entire tree or do four days’ work and get a little thicker of a tree?”

              The girls already grew tired of watching this and went inside the house with all of the items. They handed off the insulin to Patrick and made a safe spot where they could keep it where nothing could fall and smash the precious vials, which were as good as gold to him. Patrick saw everything from his house and smiled saying, “I can’t believe you brought all this back for me.”

              Mike saw the collection and said, “You guys are awesome! I can’t believe you got stuff from all our houses.”

              Tina said, “Sorry; we didn’t get anywhere else.”

              “Well, why didn’t you stop at my place? You had a key, didn’t you?”

              Ellie said, “Had you been down there you might not be talking out your ass. We aren’t going back down for quite a while unless we have a good reason to do so.”

              Mike said, “Well, maybe I need to go have a talk with Shaun about things.”

*****

              Shaun and Greg were taking turns chopping when Mike came out of the cabin, looking around, and ready to pick a fight from the look on his face. Mike charged up to the two of them, pointing a finger in Shaun’s face. “What’s your problem, man? Is it just all about you, or what?”

              Shaun just stared at him, in no mood to take any crap from someone he barely knew and could care less if was a part of the group. “Mike, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why don’t you go back to the cabin with the girls? Greg and I are trying to cut firewood to keep everyone, including you, warm.”

              Mike shoved Shaun, knocking him up against the tree. “I can chop firewood too ass. I just didn’t know what you two were doing out here.”

              Greg said, “Mike, if you want to help, man, that’s cool, but you’re totally going about it the wrong way; there’s no reason to be an ass about it.”

              Mike shoved Shaun again. “Every time I say something, Shaun’s here to tell me why I can’t help, or that he doesn’t trust me, or that I don’t know how to do anything. I am sick of it already.”

              Shaun pushed off of the tree, rolling his shoulders. “It’s only been one day and I’m already sick of you Mike. Tell you what, you can go back inside, you can go down the hill, hell, you can go to town for all I care, but I just buried my dad and went through an entire day of hell again today, almost being killed multiple times. I can say pretty confidently the amount of shit I’m about to take from anyone else, especially you, is maxed out”

              Mike turned around and spun back with a sloppily thrown right hook, which caught Shaun by surprise. He connected with Shaun’s jaw, snapping his head around and spinning Shaun.

              Greg winced at the blow Shaun had taken and knew things were going to get ugly quick. Shaun wiped at his chin, where a fresh line of blood had traveled. Shaun used his tongue to go around where his lip was throbbing, feeling the warm blood, and knowing he’d had his lip split open.

              Shaun sent cold stares at Mike and handed Greg his axe. Mike, being overly cocky, smiled and said, “Sure you don’t want to keep that? You might need it.”

              Shaun raised his hands, saying nothing. Mike faked a left and then sent a right flying towards Shaun’s face. Shaun went to the side, catching Mike’s right arm with his left hand on his wrist and his right hand on the back of his shirt. He spun Mike in a forceful circle around and let go, sending him off balance and crashing hard into the ground. Mike pushed up off the ground and stared back at Shaun, ready to kill. He sprinted, head down toward Shaun. When Mike got to within a foot of him, Shaun crouched down a little, ducked to the side, and brought his foot up into Mike’s gut. Mike dropped to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. Shaun looked at Greg, who shrugged, and Shaun said, “I’m going for a walk to cool off. I can’t deal with this crap right now.”

              Mike pushed up as he saw Shaun walking away, feeling even more belittled. Greg yelled, “Shaun, watch out!”

              Mike was quick, but it was obvious that he had no clear plan once he accomplished his goal of tackling Shaun. Unfortunately for Mike, Shaun, being a wrestler and having no patience left for the day, was every bit ready for him. Mike tackled Shaun from behind and both boys went down on the ground. Shaun pushed up off of the ground, bringing a left elbow back and meeting Mike’s face twice. Shaun tried to push up further, but Mike stopped him from getting up and flipped Shaun to his back. Shaun got a knee up between himself and Mike; he pushed Mike up and back in the air, causing him to land on his ass. Shaun pushed up, scrambled to his feet, and ran towards Mike, who was trying to get back up to his feet. Shaun threw a hard right punch, knocking Mike back to the ground. Blood instantly flowed from Mike’s nose and poured down his face. Shaun, who was not even close to done after trying to leave, jumped on Mike, landing on his chest and punching lefts and rights in a blind rage as he cursed and screamed, “Is this what you wanted? Huh? Is this what you wanted, goddamn it? Goddamn you!”

              Mike stopped trying to put up a fight, and Greg watched for a second in awe. He snapped out of it and ran for Shaun; he gripped him under the armpits, lifted him off, and pulled him back. Shaun resisted and tried running back up at him but Greg held his arms around Shaun in a bear hug, trying to keep him from resisting. Shaun yelled, “Let go of me, goddamn it, Greg. Let go of me now!”

              Greg knew he needed to stay calm and needed to get Shaun to that point also. He whispered real lightly, “Shaun, it’s okay, man. Look at him; he’s done. He doesn’t need any more man. Really.”

              Mike tried to sit up but fell back down. Shaun stared at him, seeing what he had done and realizing that he had gone too far. He had messed the kid up pretty badly.

              Greg let go of Shaun once he stopped trying to break free, and Shaun dropped to the ground, tears coming from his eyes. “Goddamn those things. None of this would have happened if those freaks hadn’t come—if they hadn’t ruined everything!”

              Greg put a hand on Shaun’s shoulder. “They’re going to figure all this out. The government will make things right. They have to, right? I mean, it’s what they do.”

              Shaun said, “I kind of wonder how it all started. It seems too much of a coincidence that it broke out at the same hospital her mom was at—right after my dad was there.”

Greg said, “Your dad wouldn’t do anything like that on purpose, man. There’s no way he had anything to do with the outbreak, is there?”

Shaun shrugged, thinking of the note that he had put in the box on top of the fireplace. “You know, I’m not sure. I just don’t know. I don’t think he’d do something like that either, but at the same time, accidents happen, right?”

“Those people on the radio earlier said that any clues that could be given to them might be what saves everyone. That is, if they are able to develop a cure.”

              Mike came around and sat up. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiping at his tender nose. Shaun stared at him, seeing what he had done. Mike was going to look like he’d been in a war for days because of his doing.

              Mike started shaking in convulsions, his shoulders rising and falling. The two boys stared at him until they saw fresh tears running down his cheeks, making smooth pathways on his cheeks where the blood had been. Shaun raised a hand, ready to say something; he saw his knuckles and looked at his other hand. They were both covered with the kid’s blood.

Mike said, “I’m sorry. I just… I just wanted some things from my house. I wanted some pictures. I saw Ellie unpacking pictures you got from Patrick’s and I just… I don’t know, I guess I let it get the best of me. I’m sorry. Don’t make me leave. I know I need to stay here; I don’t know enough to make it on my own.”

He warily walked over to Mike, pulling him up to his feet. Greg and Shaun stared at the boy’s face, used the bottle of water that Greg had brought, and cleaned him up as best as they could with the handkerchief. Greg said, “Oh man, the girls are going to give you guys so much crap for fighting.”

Shaun nodded, seeing how Mike’s face was puffing up. If Greg hadn’t stopped him, he was unsure he would have had the willpower to have stopped himself. Shaun tried to recall when Greg had pulled him off; he couldn’t even remember that he had been hitting the kid. All he could see and remember was white.

Mike said, “Will you two show me how to help with firewood? I think I could help do that.”

Shaun nodded and said, “Yeah, let’s show you how to do that, but why don’t you go use the mirror inside and some soap and get your face cleaned up. See if there are any bandages inside that you can put on your face to help cover the cuts and keep them closed.

Mike walked down the hill to the cabin slowly. Shaun looked at Greg and said, “Sorry about that. Thank you for pulling me off him. I don’t know if I could have stopped.”