The Orphans Series Vol. 1: The Orphans (38 page)

             
Shaun beat her to it. "Basement. Exactly."

             
Ellie ran to the steel doors and tried opening them. Both were locked. "Shocker. The million dollar fire station is locked up. Now what?"

             
Shaun looked around and, pulling out his pistol, fired three shots into the lock. He holstered it and twisted the handle ... nothing happened. He scratched his head and looked at Ellie. "Works in the movies."

             
He looked at the pull winch on his dad's ATV. He went to it and hooked the heavy cable around the handles. He jumped on it by himself and started backing up. The door frames started cracking and buckling under the stress. Finally, they popped open, swinging freely in the warm wind. He got off, unhooked the chain and wheeled it back in. They ran into the fire station quickly, never knowing when or if someone was going to be coming, and thinking it would be hard to explain to someone why they were on an ATV in town and both carrying weapons.

             
Shaun found the office and went to the computer console. There was a simple red button labeled 'Tornado Siren' which he punched. He grabbed Ellie by the hand and they raced for the doorway. If the Turned were capable of hunting in packs and were drawn by noise, then the two of them would not want to be here for long.

****

              Frank finally found the two racing down Main Street. He had been driving in circles trying to find them, worried sick they had been killed, or worse--that they'd been turned. He pulled up beside them and signaled for Shaun to follow him. He drove, looking in his rearview mirror to make sure they didn't deviate again. To the three boys and teenage girl in the back, he enquired, "So ... pretty horrible day, huh kids? Is everybody alright? Nobody got bit or hurt? Nobody needs a doctor?"

             
The teens stared back in shock, all stunned by the events which had transpired. They mumbled yesses and nos, and Frank wasn't sure they understood the questions. He pulled up in front of Andy's Army Surplus and Bait Store. "Did any of you go to the school by yourselves today?"

             
Albert, a fifteen-year-old with a short cut haircut, was starting to cry just thinking about it. "My dad took me to pick my sister up! He got up early so he could still make the third shift start time at the plant! When he saw the bus flip and catch on fire, he ran to help save them! He didn't last two minutes from the time the first firemen entered the bus! They ripped him apart! I saw everything! I slid out of the truck and ran for the school gym!" He bit hard on his knuckles, just short of drawing blood.

             
Frank patted his shoulder. "That's enough, son. You don't need to say anything else." He didn't want to hear any more. He couldn't see any good from the boy having to repeat events of the day. He didn't want to hear the stories from the rest, so he asked, "Does anyone have anywhere I can take them? Do you have somewhere you can go that's safe?"

             
Tina looked at her phone and realized she had a missed text from her dad. It must have come in the morning, before everyone lost signal. She showed the text to Lucas and started crying. It read, "
Hey kids, I got back from trapping early, meet you at school. Love dad, PS Lucas be good lol.
"

             
Lucas stared for a moment, then mumbled, "We got nowhere to go, either."

             
Frank turned his head and saw the ATV coming to a stop behind them.

             
Tina and Lucas huddled together on the back of the car. Tina wasn't dealing with it well and wept on her brother's shoulder. She couldn't stop the images of what she'd seen today, and what her dad might be encountering at this very moment ... that he might become one of
them
.

             
Ellie got off of the ATV. Coming up to Tina, she gave her a hug. "It's going to be alright, Tina. We're all going to have a rough time for a while." She gave Tina a hand down from the car and Lucas put his arm around his sister while they walked into the store.

             
Frank patted Albert on the shoulder. "It's okay, Albert. I'll have Greg get two of everything you'll need yourself. If you want to come in, we'll be buying enough for a small army."

             
Albert nodded, wiping his nose on his sleeve, and staring down at the dashboard. "Thanks."

             
Frank walked over to Shaun, putting some light pressure on his neck with his finger and thumb. He leaned in. "
We
are going to be having a little 'Come to Jesus' meeting very soon about your shitty listening."

             
Shaun winced, tightening up his shoulders. "Save the neck, Francis."

             
Frank squeezed a little harder. "Not a good time to use the eff-word, Shaun."             

             
The nine of them funneled through the gated door. Andy, the owner, peered up from his urban warrior magazine, taking in the large group of teens accompanied by only one adult--half of them were covered with blood and grime.

             
Andy knew Frank by sight. "Franky! How y'all doing today?" Andy was old enough and crazy enough to not worry about what people thought about him, nor if they liked him or not. "What in the hell happened to you!?"

             
Frank realized he probably didn't have a clue about what was going on. Why would he? Frank figured anyone who went to the school and was lucky enough to escape probably went home or drove straight out of town. Some unfortunate few probably figured going to Des Moines would be the safest of bets. "Andy ... this will sound completely insane."

             
Andy cut him off. "Frank, quit blowing smoke, will yuh? Hell, yuh look like you're wearin' half the proof I'd need, and I ain't see this many teens looking so scared since the draft for 'Nam."

             
Frank took a deep breath, realizing that mentioning how he created this problem wouldn't help. "There was a mass outbreak. It started in Des Moines and now--somehow--it's here already."

             
Andy sat back, flipping up a gold lighter. The US Marine Corps crest and logo was engraved on it. Lighting an unfiltered cigarette from an old yellow pack, the old man sat under a red sign which read, 'If you like fresh air, there's plenty of it outside.' He nodded towards Frank. "Yep, I figured I'd be busy today. All these damn yuppies 'round here ... they went and forgot a good ol' gun in dangerous times can save yer backside!"

             
Frank looked at him curiously. "You've already seen them? Were you at the school?"

             
Andy barked, coughing up a lung from laughing. "Like I give a damn 'bout a bunch of schoolgirls at a rally! Hell, no I wasn’t there! One of my ol' Marine buddies came by. Pat works up at E&T in security. He came in here lookin' stark ravin' mad, waving his arms and tellin' me all kinds of damn stories!"

             
"Really? That old guy saw ... them? And survived? That's amazing!" 

             
"Hell, he's still a young buck! Pat spent his late teens mowin' down Charlie in the jungle--he can handle a couple of those things! He tol' me yuh got to put a bullet in their brain or they don't die. He said he shot one in the heart twice, but it jus' came runnin' for him, ready to eat. He wanted to buy one of my lever action rifles.... Now, don't get me wrong--it's a damn good rifle, but
lever action
in
this
day? You'd think an ex-Marine would be up for somethin' a bit more hard hittin'."

             
"Er ... what are you talking about, Andy?"

             
Andy shook his head, hopping off of his stool and limping over to the back counter. He came back with two very new-looking rifles. Setting the bipods of each up on the counter, he racked the magazine like any good Marine would do and released it to show he was presenting an empty rifle.

             
Frank took one up to his shoulder. Looking around the store, he knew the AR model platform like the back of his hand--except he was used to full auto models. "How many of these bad boys do you have?"

             
Andy smiled tapping the counter ... a few black holes were in his shining smile. "Well, I can stock yer army there, but do any of 'em know how to use one of these? Or am I just toolin' 'em with somethin' to blow their heads off?"

             
Frank looked around at the skinny teens, taking stock of his new family, looking at them one by one, and shaking his head. They'd need all the help God could give them or Andy could sell them. "No. Other than Shaun and Greg, I doubt the rest of them have been this close to a gun."

             
"So what're you plannin' on doin' with 'em, Franky?"

             
Frank's answer was short and hard. "Teach them."

             
He moved down the aisles filling a cart with everything they would need to survive. He had pocket knives, stiff military knives, socks, boxers, pants, jackets, sweatshirts, lined jackets ... he was stocking the carts with just about everything.

             
Kristy, a brunette who was a little shorter than Ellie and a freshman in their grade, started to cry as she tried on her coat. "How long do we have to stay up there? How will we know when it's safe to come back down from wherever you're planning on taking us?"

             
Frank shrugged, not yet having an answer. "Kristy, you're asking the impossible question. Those things were at the school for minutes and took it by storm. If they're in Des Moines, in a high populated urban area, then there's no telling what they'll do. It's better to live. I don't know what the Army will do, but if they move in, there's a good chance they'll assume everyone is infected and take no prisoners. There's an even better chance they'll be spending their time in big cities first."

             
Mike, a friend of Greg's with a cocky attitude, cut in. "So, what about our friends, man!? What are we going to do!?"

             
Frank was watching the clock, thinking about the spread of the   X-74. "They might be alive if they're lucky. Hell, if they're smart, they might even stay that way."

             
Mike rubbed his hands over his shaggy haircut, looking at the ground. "We could take all those guns and kill those things ourselves, you know...."

             
Frank took an AR off the table. He was losing patience. He handed it to him with a full magazine. "Lock and load, son!"

             
The boy stared at the gun like it was a metal jigsaw puzzle. Shoving it back at Frank, he retorted, "You're supposed to teach us, aren't you?"

             
Andy slapped the kid on the shoulder. "If yuh go out there and have to think about what you're doin', and if you get in a bad situation and jam up, those things'll tear yuh limb from limb! Now you've got a man here offerin' to take y'all somewhere safe, teach you to stay safe, and keep you alive. If yuh don't think that sounds like a good deal, then the door's behind yuh, and y'all know how to use it!"

             
Greg walked up, shoving him. "We don't have time for this! You guys need to get up in the hills with Frank and Shaun. It's going to be your only chance."

             
"What the hell are you going to do?"

             
"I'm catching up with my dad, stupid!"

             
Frank cringed as he thought he still had one more person's life to ruin for the day. He looked at Andy. "If you can get those kids a couple seasons' worth of clothes, it'd be appreciated."

             
Andy nodded, picking out winter and spring clothes and everything they would need they wouldn't have time to go home and pack. He was a firm believer if it wasn’t zombies who would ruin the world than it’d be the government. In any case Andy had everything you would need to survive.

             
Frank walked Greg to the back. Greg was already staring at him suspiciously and he leaned against the wall anticipating the bad news. "What's up, Dr. Fox?"

             
Frank broke the news to the boy. Shaun and Ellie watched Greg go from scared to insane with rage, beating on the wall with his fist until he had nothing left, and collapsed to the ground with his head against the wall, crying and still punching it with his bloody knuckles.

             
Greg whispered, "I want to kill them. I want to kill
all
of them."

             
Frank patted him on the shoulder. "Son, if we don't get out of town soon, we might not get the chance to."

             
Ellie watched Greg, feeling worse for him than for herself. She looked at Shaun. "There's going to be a lot of new orphans after today."

             
Shaun looked at the crew walking around getting gear. He looked outside. "Hey, dad. Where are we going to put all this stuff?"