But the Children Survived (8 page)

"You okay?”  Mindy asked her.

"Yes, I’m fine.  I was just thinking that my birthday is next week.  It'll be the first one I've had without my parents,” Maria Elena said and she looked sad.  Mindy sighed.

"How old will you be?”  Mindy asked.

Maria Elena smiled.  “I'll be 11.  I think I’m the oldest one here.” 

Mindy smiled too.

"Well, movie night is Friday.  Maybe Christie would let us make a party,” Mindy said, as she stood up and took her tray to the tray station.  She looked up and saw Mark emptying his tray into the garbage.  He'd eaten at his house and had brought the tray back to the cafeteria.

"Hi,” she said.  Mark nodded, and turned to leave. 

"What did he say?” Maria Elena asked when she got near Mindy.

"Nothing.  He’s so snobby.” Mindy was mad, but as usual, she didn't know what to do with her anger.  “He thinks he's better than the rest of us.”

"Maybe he's just shy,” Maria Elena said. 

"No, he's just plain mean.” 

Mindy grabbed Maria Elena’s arm and pulled her out of the cafeteria just in time to see where Mark had gone. 

"Looks like he is going to the library,” Maria Elena said.

"I don’t care where he goes,” Mindy said.  She strained to see if he did go into the library. 

"Well, we can go there and look at the DVDs,” Maria Elena said, and began to walk toward the library. 

"Wait,” Mindy said.  “I, I'm not ready Maria Elena.  Let’s go to your house instead.” 

Maria Elena put her arm around Mindy and they walked to her house. 

"Why don’t you go get Baby Girl and bring her over?”  Maria Elena said as she opened door to her house. 

"Good idea.  She's been stuck inside all morning.” 

So, as Mindy walked towards her little house, she noticed Mark walking on the other side of the street.  He walked as far as she did, to house number 200.  He lived just across the street from her.  Mindy's heart gave a little tug as she opened the door and Baby Girl greeted her. 

"Come on girl.  We’re going out to play.” 

Mindy and Baby Girl walked side by side to Maria Elena’s house.  From behind the window at number 200, a lonesome boy watched the bossy little blond girl walk with her little dog down the street, and he thought she could be the one who would help him get out of this place and go home.

Chapter 10

Christie entered the farm zone and went down the stairs.  She walked towards Calvin, a tall middle-aged African-American man, who was watering the plants and she stopped to look over the crops.

"I finished the other end, and I’m almost finished with this side,” Calvin said.  “You don’t look happy.”

"I’m concerned.  These plants should be growing faster,” she said.  Christie had developed a fertilizer that should have accelerated the growth of the plants so there would be less time between harvests.  The plants were hardier, but the growth rate was not spectacular. 

"I can just imagine if Wilmer were here.”  She squatted down and touched the leaves of the tomato plant in front of her.  It was a beautiful shade of green, and the tomatoes had a nice shape.  Christie stood up and looked at Calvin. 

"You shouldn't still be watering that way.  I’m going to talk to Simon and find out how much longer it’ll be.”  Christie touched Calvin’s shoulder and turned to head to the other side of the field.  Calvin gathered up the hose and put it to the side.  As he turned to follow Christie, he noticed two kids standing by the rail turn and walk out the door. 

Calvin caught up with Christie halfway down the field. 

"You know why Simon hasn't finished don’t you?” 

"Yeah, I know.”  Christie sighed in frustration.  “And I know what he'll say if I ask him about it.  And he'll be right.  With moving cars and bodies out of the way so they can hunt for food, he doesn't have time to supervise the sprinkler system, especially when his only plumber is helping him out there.”  They continued to walk along the edge of the field. 

"The kids found a ton of DVDs today in some secret panels in the library.  I wonder what other Easter eggs Wilmer planted around here.  If you have some spare time...,” Christie said and looked at Calvin.  Calvin raised an eyebrow. 

“Okay, I know, but if you do, please look around and see if you can find anything we could use.  You know, like food.” Christie smiled at Calvin.

Calvin nodded.  He was a good man and she didn't want to push him too hard, but he was the only one minding the store, so to speak, and she needed his help.

"Thank you, Calvin,” she said. 

"It’s better than being outside, Christie.  If I weren't in here, I'd be dead.  So I’m glad to help you.  It’s also better than moving bodies.” 

When they reached the end of the field, Calvin turned back and Christie walked the length of the field until she reached the other side.  She found these walks therapeutic.  She needed the time alone to get her bearings.  She had a job she couldn't quit.  All her colleagues were men, so she had no female to talk to over the age of 11.  And now she had a real problem.

She’d argued with Gerald that morning.  She told Gerald that the food supplies were getting low and something had to be done.  Gerald had proclaimed himself the leader of their group when the mass destruction happened.  He was Senior Scientist, he said.  Mr. Wilmer had put him in charge when he hired him, and there was no reason to change things now.

When the first child, Maria Elena, was found, Gerald was delighted.  He saw it as a great opportunity to research the cause of the destruction, and to find out why it wasn’t lethal to the little girl.  Gerald was absolutely salivating at the thought of taking her blood and cell samples. 

Christie stepped in to tell him that under no circumstances would his research hurt this little girl.  He could take her blood and study her cells, but she drew the line at any kind of “harvesting.”  She feared the argument they had this morning was the first of many.  Somehow she had to get the crew to move faster, to find more stores with canned foods and supplies.

When Christie came back to “base,” a small office next to Gerald’s where she coordinated the trips the crew made outside, she noticed that the hazmat suits were hanging on the hooks behind the door between the corridor and the “last room.”  She heard voices coming from Gerald’s office.  Christie stood outside the door and listened before entering the office.

"Gerry, if you find a kid and tell us where to go, we go and pick them up,” Andrew said.  “I can’t waste time looking for an elusive child when I have 200 to feed right here.  We didn’t have a lot of luck today.  We found a Granger's Supermarket that was pretty full, and we took what we could hold.  If I could leave some of the guys here, we could get more in the truck.”

"But that would impede your progress, Andrew.  It takes all four of you to get the bodies out of the way,” Gerald said.

Christie could tell by the sound of Gerald’s voice that he was straining to be patient.  His only goal was clearing the street so the crew could get farther down Highway 19.  He was determined to find all the children who might be left, at the expense of losing the ones he had.  Christie had been concerned for a while about the state of Gerald’s mental health.  He was so focused and single-minded that it was almost impossible to reason with him.

“Maybe you should focus on just moving the bodies for a while.  Then, when the road is clear, you can fill the truck several times a day.  Now, doesn’t that sound better than the way you're doing it?”  Gerald said.

Christie could hear Andrew sigh.  She opened the door and walked in. 

"I wasn’t invited to the party,” she said with a smile.  “You guys got back early.”

"Yeah, well, we worked as fast as we could, but Pat got sick again and we had to turn back.  He’s still out there washing out the inside of his suit.”  Andrew’s mouth turned up just a little.  “We did find some good stuff, lots of soup and veggies, tuna fish.  The store still has plenty.  I was telling our boy Gerald here that if I could leave Pat and George here next time, I could bring a lot more back.”

"And I told them they should concentrate on moving bodies and clearing the road.”  Gerald was turning red trying not to lose his temper.

"And I told you this morning that we needed supplies and that food is a priority,” Christie said, her eyes narrowing in anger.  Gerald always backed down when she looked at him like that. 

"Well, maybe for one day.  Do it for one day and we'll see.  But if one child dies because we didn't get to them, it will be on your head.”  Gerald walked over to his desk and sat down with his back to them.

"There's plenty of food out there,” Andrew said.  “Anybody living within a mile of a supermarket or big box store will be fine.  And that's pretty near everybody.  Simon and I will go out alone tomorrow.” 

Andrew left the office to check on Pat.  Christie stuck her tongue out at Gerald’s back and left the office too.  She noticed Simon standing by the corridor door and went over to him. 

"Simon, I know you've been busy, but is there any way you can get those sprinklers working?  Calvin is watering, but the plants would grow so much better with sprinklers.  If Pat stays behind tomorrow, could he work on them?” 

She looked hopefully at Simon, an old-school plumber who had taken this job because work was scarce and at 50, he thought it might be an easy gig.  Now he spent his days moving dead bodies and cars off the road, and loading supplies into an inadequate truck.  And now Christie wanted him to leave Pat to work unsupervised.  He loved Pat, but Pat never took anything very seriously, and he was a less than adequate plumber.  But Christie’s eyes were pleading with him. 

"I’ll see what I can do.  Maybe I can supervise him nights.”  That was it.  Simon had spoken.

Andrew and Pat came out of the last room and walked toward Christie.  Andrew smiled when he saw her.  Christie looked at that handsome face and felt her legs go a little weak. 

Pat, on the other hand, reminded her of a puppy.  He was short, cute, with black hair and black eyes, a Brooklyn-born Italian boy with a quick sense of humor and a light in his eyes.  And every time he went out with the crew, he threw up in his suit. 

"Miss Christie.  How are you?”  Andrew put his arms around her and Christie found herself in a big warm bear hug.  “I can see good ole Gerry has taken his toll on you.” 

"He really is an idiot.”  Christie surprised herself by saying it out loud.  “I mean, he just has his priorities screwed up.”

"No, he's an idiot.”  Andrew smiled again and put his arm around Christie’s shoulders. 

He led her out of the corridor and into the city.  They walked into the cafeteria and the kids yelled “Yay” when they saw Andrew.  Andrew loved to get down on the ground and play with the kids.  He let them ride his back, he wrestled with them, and he tossed them up in the air.  The kids loved every minute of it, but Christie kept seeing broken bones.

Then the kids saw Pat and all hell broke loose.  They came and stood around him while he told them jokes and stole their food off their plates.  All in all, when the crew got back, it was a good day.

Andrew was sitting with Pat and Christie after the kids left the cafeteria.  They were talking about the boy they had brought in a couple of days ago, Mark. 

"That kid was just fine,” Andrew said.  Andrew was rocking back and forth.  He did that when he was agitated, anxious, or thinking hard.  “There was no reason to bring him here.”   

"But, he's only 10 years old,” Christie said.

"You know, I've been wanting to ask you something,” Pat said.  “Why are they all 10 years old?”

"That is the million dollar question. We haven't determined the reason for that yet.”  Christie sounded genuinely discouraged. 

"Well, it's weird.”  Pat added. 

Andrew took Christie’s hand.  “You know, I really do believe you'll figure it out.”  He cupped her hand in his and looked at her.  She found herself momentarily speechless. 

"Shit,” said Pat.  “She's the only woman left on the planet and you score.”  He got up and took his tray to the tray station.  Pat was still scowling as he passed them on the way out.

Andrew was suddenly serious.  "I know that Gerald is not running on all cylinders.  Is he dangerous?”

"I'm starting to wonder.  I really don’t know.  He keeps talking about the kids, and he creeps me out.  I wonder sometimes if he wants to cut them up to find out why they're still alive.  Or use them to create some sort of antidote so he can leave the facility.” 

"Yeah, he does seem obsessed with finding them.  Keep me posted.  If he does anything off the charts, tell me immediately.  Immediately, capice?”  Andrew looked at her.

"You've been spending too much time with Pat.”  She smiled and took her hand away.  “I need to check the kids.  It’s time for bed.”

Christie got up and glanced at Andrew before leaving the cafeteria.  Andrew went to the offices to check the computer servers before turning in for the night.

*****

The next morning, Patrick Luca was standing over a sprinkler.  Simon was explaining how Pat should check each sprinkler before attempting to turn them on. 

"It’s like checking the bulbs on the strand of lights at Christmas.  As long as they're tight, they should be fine.  You have to check each one.  Make sure they're tight on the bottom where the water enters the sprinkler.”  Simon was looking at Pat, who was looking at the railing above him. 

"Are you listening to me?”  Simon was losing his patience.  “Listen goomba, this is important.”  Pat turned to him. 

"I know, I know.  I promise, check them like light bulbs.  Make sure they are tight before I turn on the water.”  Pat had been listening.