The Orphans (Book 4): White Lie (22 page)

Clary said, “Are they all in place? We can drive over there if they are.”

Aslin said, ‘Well when we had two buses we sure as hell were ready to go, but as of now, we have half of the room that we did have. Did we want to make second trips back for their gear and supplies or do we want to try and just get everything knocked out at one time?”

“We could still have a few months left of shit weather from what the kids say, so I think that the more we get now, that if we don’t need to come back, the better off we are going to be. Don’t you think?” asked Clary.

Aslin said, “I don’t know what to say, are you kidding me? There’s no use in denying the fact that there are more people out there and that they more than likely will want taken to the base. If we are going to come back looking around, I’d prefer it’s for survivors and not worry that the new people have all of their favorite belongings. If we can’t fit everyone in the bus though, someone is going to have to worry about going on a second trip or they can drive.”

“So they drive, put the kids in the cars that need to, we go back to the original plan where we have cars and we put guns in as many of them as possible.”

Aslin looked at the apartment complex and hit the radio. He said, “Greg, there’s a change of plans here.”

“Let me guess things didn’t go as planned?” asked Greg.

Clary stole the radio from him, where Aslin had hours to deal with Shelman being lost; Phillip had only had time to process it for less than twenty minutes. Clary said, “Greg we wouldn’t fucking be here if you would have done what we told you to earlier. God forbid you think you are just one of them, that you aren’t a god that can handle anything he wants to. We were going to promote you up to one of the shooters, something that probably didn’t have time to sit in your head for more than an hour before you talked everyone into taking a joyride and getting a shit ton of people killed. Am I happy that you found people? Hell yes I am, but we can do things like this smarter, it’s called planning.’

Greg cut him off, feeling more pissed by the minute about how his day had turned out and yelled, “Look, I know that this wasn’t the way that you wanted me to go about this. I know that I lied to my friends, it wasn’t because they wanted to leave to break the rules, it’s because they thought that it was what you asked them to do. I flat out lied, but waiting forever just means that there are going to be so many less of the living to find. I don’t know what you expect from us, but hiding is only going to last for so long until they come to our door and knock the fucking thing down.”

“Watch your mouth Greg, you are borrowing from points that you do absolutely not have!”

“Just get us out of here. These people need to live, they are going to bring hope to kids that think everyone in the world is either dead or Turned. It will do them good to see some fresh faces in the base. What do you want me to do? If you want to yell at me, you are more than free to do it later, after we get back to the damn base.”

Clary looked at Aslin and said, “Do we need to actually take him back? I mean we got Shaun, he’s a pain in the ass the way it is, do we really need to add to it? This could be our one chance to get rid of him.”

Patrick walked from behind the truck and threw in his two cents, “He might be a pain in the ass, and yes he sure as hell gets into too much trouble, but at the exact same time, he has done a lot. Even though you hadn’t promoted him yet, there are a lot of kids who have learned a lot from him and there are even more that look up to him, which is the way it should be. There’s nothing that you will ever be able to do to be the same age as us, so that is one thing that Greg has on you, they respect him. You need to get over the fact that he left. I know that you are pissed, and I sure as hell aren’t happy about it either, but think about this, you aren’t our fathers, you aren’t our relatives, and you aren’t our keepers. We do as much for you as you do for us. You wouldn’t be able to sleep at night without us on that base, and you probably would have never found the base had we not brought you to it. Think about that for a few minutes before you let a God complex take you over.”

Aslin said, “Christ, did someone just sprout a chest full of hair?”

“You know, its speeches like that, that make me wonder if I like you or not Patrick. We might not be your keepers but we can’t have people leaving and coming as they want,” Clary said.

“Why is that?”

“Because if one of you leaves and makes it back not thinking and you got taken by one of the Turned, that is all that we need is for you to wake up in the middle of the night ripping a chunk of your skin off and then moving onto your bunkmate and ripping them apart.”

Aslin said, “It isn’t that big of a request really that you want to leave, but if we are going to set up rules on this it’s going to have to be certain days of the week and it’s going to have to have a checkpoint that people go out and come back. If they want that freedom they have to show us that they didn’t get bit and that they aren’t going to be a liability coming back to the base. If that is something that you can live with then when this shit thaws, maybe we can start talking about it. It isn’t going to be overnight but it can be talked about.”

Patrick nodded and said, “So what do we want to do about getting these people out of here? Do you want to get the teenagers out first or do you want to get Ellie out and then you guys get somewhere safe where we can lay down cover fire if it is going to be needed?”

Aslin looked at the balconies covered with snow and ice and figured they’d be useless. As much as he wanted to make sure that they brought everyone back, he knew that Ellie was passed out and she didn’t deserve to have to be taken in her sleep. He hit the radio and said, “Greg, I want you guys to start carrying Ellie down, you can get her to the truck then get a handful of cars. Explain to them that there is only so much room and if they want to bring their things that is fine but it isn’t necessary. We can try and get them clothes once they are here, but the important thing is getting out of here before those on the second floor try and bust through and ….well you don’t need a further explanation of what is going to happen if we have to worry about that.”

Greg was already yelling towards Joey and Lou to get her on the sled and within seconds Greg was writing down garage numbers and the keys that went with each. He hoped that they weren’t frozen shut but knew that there wasn’t anything he could do if they were. They could pack everyone into the buses if they needed to and comfort didn’t have to be the most important thing. If they fit, they lived. They would have another day to live and hopefully be going to somewhere safer. Greg hit his radio and said, “We are on our way down now, get crossing the road. I have keys we need to get the garages open. I have keys for locks and the cars. We will see you in a minute.”

Aslin didn’t say anything, he simply climbed into the pickup truck and went back across the street trying to let the truck coast as much as possible and being sure not to rev up the large, heavy duty engine. Greg went down the stairs slowly and when they passed the second set of stairs, the door was bouncing almost off of its hinges. They stopped moving when they went past the door, there was a clawing and pounding that would not stop. Greg said, “Once we start having all of these people come down here they are going to do anything they can to take the door off of its hinges.”

Lou asked, “Well what if we are just real tired, you think we will be able to move past them?”

Greg said, “I guess we don’t have much choice but to try and do that, huh?”

Joey said, “We can do it, they can be quiet, it’s ok.”

They made it to the front door and saw Aslin idling in the drive. They came out slowly, kicking at the snow so that they could push the door open. When Joey put his weight into it there was no problem, it opened just fine, but when it slid close behind them, there was nothing but a screeching sound from the door that echoed on the now still day and filled the dead air. Greg cringed when he looked back, seeing the door and wanting to grab it to keep it from closing but there wasn’t anything at that point which they could do. Patrick moved out of the truck with his rifle up while Maryann stood up in the rear bed leaning on the cab’s roof, ready for anything from anywhere. Greg held his rifle carefully and took the rear position letting Joey and Lou ahead of him. When they opened the rear door and Lou saw Shaun and his bluish lips that were finally beginning to get some color back in them he asked, “What have you done for this boy?”

Aslin said, “We covered him up, McQuaig is helping with some extra body heat and we have the heater blazing in this thing, hence the sweat. What else should we be doing?”

Lou lifted the coats off of Shaun seeing they had been smart enough to strip off the wet ones that were keeping him frozen and said, “Ok, you are doing just fine, but you need to make sure this kid doesn’t get cold again, he’d be best at the base under a shit ton of blankets. You did right by him having the girl lay with him. I got a girl right here that is passed out that can do the same job if you need her to do something for you.”

Aslin said, “Sorry McQuaig, looks like Ellie is going to take over your job for a while. There’s a slim chance of her waking up anytime soon.”

Lou said, “Hey you don’t know, comas are weird, it could be a short term, it could be long, but the quicker that she comes out of it of course the better. All we need to do is keep them comfortable for now. Shaun there looks like he is a pretty fit kid, that’s going to help. His heart can take a beating and keep ticking. She just needs to rest and we can pray for good luck on her side. Smells and comfort can be really important in helping them come out of it.”

Patrick looked at her, shaking his head in disgust that it got to this point and gave Greg a look that he’d not before received from the teen. Greg started to say something as they were closing the door to the truck after getting Ellie good and secured next to Shaun, but that was when hell broke loose, literally. The windows from the second floor began to rattle in unison. The white window treatments that kept the light out of the living rooms turned red and within minutes had turned a true red. Seconds later the windows shattered and everyone knew what was coming. Greg screamed to Lou, “Get back inside and tell them to be ready, we are taking the bus and nothing else, leave your cars behind, go, go, go!”

Chapter Nineteen

Lou didn’t hesitate. He knew there was no time to waste arguing when the kid was right. The worry of if they were going to like the base or not was a second thought to his daughters’ safety. He sprinted to the doorway, swinging it open and for the second time, bringing a screeching sound. Lou ran up the stairs as fast as he could, breathless by the time that he reached the third floor. He didn’t worry about making noise; he knew that it didn’t matter at this point. When he opened the third floor door he saw faces filled with optimism and hope, all were holding luggage bags and some children in their arms. Lou screamed, “Leave everything, we can’t take it with us. We are riding with them, and we need to leave now!”

A man holding a three year old in his arms stepped forward and asked, “What changed within the last five minutes?”

Lou yelled, “Kevin we don’t have time for this, drop your shit and let's go.”

Kevin who was just fine staying in the apartment if it meant keeping his son Jack safe screamed, “What the hell happened? I'm not taking my kid anywhere dangerous!”

Lou said, “The second floor knows that there is something on the outside. They were busting at their deck patio doors trying to break their way out. If they aren’t already out, they are going to be very soon.”

Kevin dropped his stuff where he could and unzipped his coat and placed Jack inside of it, trying to give him that much more protection. He said, “Jacky you stay under my coat ok? We will be on a big Army base in a little bit and I'm going to take you to see real tanks.”

The young boy clung to his dad tightly, shaking because he knew what the Turned could do. He had seen his mother ripped to pieces feet from his face. “Are there bad things out there Daddy?”

Kevin patted the boy on the shoulder and said, “Yea there are, but we have the good guys with us this time and they are going to get us to the base safely.”

Lou held the door open and ushered the people out. He gave his daughters each a kiss on the head and said, “NO matter what, you get on that damn bus. If anything happens to anyone, you remember there isn’t anything that you can do to save them. But you let those men teach you whatever they are willing to so that you can help and you can take care of each other.”

Karen stopped and asked, “You are coming with us aren’t you Dad?”

Lou said, “I have every intention to but in this world now, most people don’t have a chance to say goodbyes. So in the worst of scenarios, I just want to make sure that you both know exactly how much I love you.”

The two girls squeezed their dad quickly and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a bone crushing hug. Lou yelled, “I love you two, now go!”

The girls unclenched from him and ran down the steps. The rest of the adults and children made their way past as well. When there was no one left he followed behind carrying a medical bag that he had a feeling was going to see quite its fair share of use.

Chapter Twenty

Greg watched, keeping an eye on the second floor until Lou disappeared inside of the apartment building. The windows above were now completely gone and the Turned were pouring out of the windows. Greg thought of the twenty to thirty people on the third floor and realized that people at the second floor landing, were trying to also make a stand and hold up on the second floor. They had just not been as successful. He thought back to day one when they had not known one of the kids in the police car that had ridden with them to Andy’s shop had been bitten and it was because of that they had lost Tina’s brother and nearly lost Shaun. Greg didn’t look to anyone for directions. They knew what to do. Patrick and Maryann were in the back of the pickup truck. Patrick flipped a switch, sliding out the scope and pocketing it, knowing that he’d never have time to get one of these things in his sights under the current circumstances and would do little to no good on full auto anyway.