Death's Little Angels (28 page)

Sergeant Brinkley, with a sly grin, raised
his 9 Millimeter at Grace with a steady hand and pulled the
trigger. An earsplitting pop sounded off like a brutal
firecracker.

“
NO!” Jessie shrieked as
she jumped in front of Grace knocking her down to the ground.
Jessie rolled over on top of Grace and shielded her daughter’s
body.

Sergeant Brinkley narrowed his eyes and
raised his hand again. This time he aimed the weapon at Drew. Drew
fell back and scooted backwards on the ground towards Sue Ellen. He
held his hands up in a defensive mode as to protect himself from
what was to come.

The loud pop sounded again but this time the
bullet hit a tree. Sergeant Brinkley stood still momentarily with
unseeing eyes that stared straight ahead. It looked like Sergeant
Brinkley had tried to catch his breath because his mouth was frozen
into a solid O. After seconds, the sergeant fell forward into the
earth like a tree that had been cut down with an axe. Behind the
fallen soldier stood Mater in an offensive combat stance. She held
the first hatchet in her left hand while the second hatchet was
buried deeply into the back of Sergeant Brinkley’s neck.

Mater walked over slowly and without a care,
yanked the hatchet out of the soldier’s uninhabited body. She
swiftly placed the hatchets in a makeshift holster that she made
out of belts. Mater, followed by Tarynn, went quickly over to
Drew.

“
How bad is she?” Mater
gently asked as she knelt down besides Sue Ellen.

“
Very bad…” Drew replied
as he wiped away a tear that fell from Sue Ellen’s eye. “Thank you
for saving my life.”

“
Anything for you…. My
good friend,” Mater replied. She wanted to say more but held
back.

“
You stay with her… I need
to check on Grace and Jessie.”

Drew got up quickly to rush by his mother
and Grace’s side. He felt a pang of dread as he walked near the two
and did not see any movement.

“
Oh no… Please no!” Drew
yelled out loud as reached down to turn over his mother. Grace
squiggled free and slowly stood to her feet. Drew wiped away a golf
ball size amount of blood from Grace’s face. He looked Grace over
to see where she was injured.

“
It’s not her blood,”
Jessie delicately said as she lay on the ground motionless, “It’s
mine.”

Jessie removed her hand away from her heart.
The red halter-top continued to fill with deep crimson liquid. The
bullet had entered deep into the one organ that could never be
repaired. Trickles of blood dripped from Jessie’s nose. Drew stood
there in shock until his mother motioned for him to come near. He
fell to his knees and crawled like a baby to his mother. Drew felt
at any moment he would lose his mind but he held it together for
Grace. Jessie fumbled as she reached into her halter-top and pulled
out her life savings. Her blood had touched the edges of some of
the money.

“
Take this…. And hide it,”
she gasped and swallowed hard, “this will get you and Grace to
Washington D. C. I know you will make it. I know you will…. Please
do what I never did…. Take care of your sister.”

“
Jess— Mom, please don’t
go. You are all I have left!” Drew began to sob. Mater and Tarynn
looked on and wept not only for Drew but their own familial
situations and recent losses.

Jessie began to cough up
blood. “Drew Jacks….
My
son. I am proud of you. I have always been proud.
I am sorry I was so selfish…. I love you, Maryann, and Grace.
Please…forgive me. Do. You. Forgive. Me?”

Drew nodded and buried his
head into his mother’s toned abdomen, “yes mom, I
forgive
you. I forgive
you.”

Jessie reached out to Grace and grasped her
tiny, delicate hand. She smiled as she envisioned Grace dancing in
a field of lilies along with her sister Maryann. She then took one
last look at Drew and imagined him playing in the Major Leagues
doing what he did best, hitting home runs. She took her last deep
breath and slowly closed her eyes. Drew wept bitterly until his
head felt like he would split open. Grace bent down and hugged her
brother as they cried together. After what seemed hours, a soft
touch on the back of Drew’s neck brought him back to his senses.
Mater stood over him.

“
Sue Ellen… She is calling
for you,” Mater said with a somber voice.

Drew hopped to his feet and brought Grace
along with him. Tarynn took Grace and held her tightly while Drew
walked over to Sue Ellen.

Drew bent down and brushed a tuft of hair
out of Sue Ellen’s face. “I wish you would have given me a chance.
I have always loved you. I will always love you, Sue Ellen,” Drew
said with a hoarse voice. The crying had begun to take a toll on
his body. “If you could just… Please…Let me carry you.”

“
I wish you could see what
you look like now…. A hot mess,” Sue Ellen weakly said in her
usually sarcastic tone. Sue Ellen took a deep breath followed by
several rapid pants. She winced at the pain and grabbed the area of
the stomach that was inflicted with the bullet. Drew tried his best
to make Sue Ellen comfortable by supporting her head on his
knee.

Sue Ellen gazed up at Drew
and smiled. A calming peace settled across her face.
“
I see her. My mother. She has on her
favorite yellow dress, the one with the lace. She promises the
place that is waiting for me is beautiful beyond human imagination,
”Sue Ellen inhaled deeply and stared up into the sky,
“I
t would have never worked, Drew. My
heart belonged to someone else…” Sue Ellen looked past Drew and on
to Mater. Her eyes stayed transfixed in one position as the last of
tears fell from her eyes and silently hit the ground.

Mater fell to her knees as she watched her
best friend’s spirit depart with her eyes opened. The group stood
there for what seemed like eternity basking in their own personal
sorrows. Drew trembled as he gently closed Sue Ellen’s eyes. He
decided, at that moment, to leave the feelings he carried for Sue
Ellen there with her. Forever sealed away.

The sound of a dump truck blaring down the
road brought the group back to reality. It slowed down as it
disappeared behind the Fairgrounds Center. A couple of more dump
trucks sailed down Airport Road followed by two brown Humvees. Drew
watched until all the vehicles disappeared from sight. He tried to
pull himself together before walking towards Grace.

“
I am going to take care
of you, Grace,” Drew promised as he hugged his little sister. He
pulled back and gazed into her deep blue eyes. “Do you trust
me?”

“
Yes, Drew. We trust you,”
Grace said as she held up the male doll.

“
Where is your other
doll?”

“
She died. Like everybody
else….” Grace sadly replied.

Mater whistled at Drew and threw him the
baseball bat and backpack in which he caught with one hand.

“
Thought you might be
needing that,” Mater pointed towards the bat.

Drew dropped the backpack to the ground and
carefully studied the bat. He rolled the soft wood through his
fingers and then back and forth between his hands. After turning
the bat over countless times, he finally came up with an idea. Drew
took the two knives that were in his pocket out and flipped them
open. The blades were as sharp as a razor.

“
Can you err…. Take care
of this handle on my pockets knives for me?” Drew asked of
Mater.

“
My pleasure,” Mater
quietly said as she walked over and took the handle clean off the
first pocket knife with one swift move of her hatchet. She repeated
the same quick and accurate move for the second knife.

Drew took Mater’s hatchet and beat each
blade into the opposite ends of the bat’s barrel, near the end cap.
Once he was finally done with his experimental project, Drew held
the bat up high. It looked like a barbaric cave man’s spiked club.
Drew stepped back and took one forceful swing.

“
I guess you will put your
swinging skills to use after all,” Mater said as she looked down at
the ground.

“
I will if you will put
your chopping skills to use,” Drew softly said with a pursed smile.
He nodded towards Mater’s hatchets. “Thanks for saving my
life.”

“
Anytime…” Mater blushed
as she stared at Drew. Even during a time like this Mater Butler
could not get enough of Drew Jacks.

“
Where do we go from here?
I have asked the Lord Almighty several times,” Tarynn
asked.

A rustle from the south
part of the woods startled everyone. Drew brought his fingers to
his pouty lips as to signal the word quiet. He lowered his hands to
alert everyone to lie down onto the ground quietly. Drew kept his
finger to his lips as he closed his eyes and prayed silently for
the group of
Eaters
to move on.

An
Eater,
around the age of fourteen,
staggered through the thicket of the pine trees. It was followed by
a group of smaller
Eaters
, ranging from the ages of
seven to thirteen. Some of the
Eaters
were horribly disfigured. The
fourteen-year-old, a blond haired male
Eater,
opened his mouth like he was
catching a fly. He raised his nose, towards the direction where
Drew was hiding, and sniffed the air like his favorite dessert was
gracing the wind. They shuffled aimlessly towards Drew and the
others until the voices behind the Fairgrounds Center ceased their
movements. The oldest of the
Eaters
whipped his neck towards the direction of the
voices.

“
Please, God… Please, Lord
Jesus have mercy…” Tarynn whispered through her prayers.

“
Go the other way…” Mater
whispered as she raised her head from the ground to see which
direction the
Eaters
were going.

The
Eaters
followed the lead of the
eldest and continued in the opposite direction of Drew and his
friends. The two younger zombies, around the age of seven and
eight, faltered behind the others.

Drew pointed in the
direction towards the back of the Fairgrounds Center where the dump
trucks and Humvees were parked. Everyone, right away, knew that
the
Eaters
were
headed towards the congregation of people that had just arrived.
Drew raised his arm slowly and then brought his finger to his
mouth. Each person rose quietly and gathered their things. Drew
geared up with his backpack, and gathered Grace. The newly
transformed bat swung freely in his left hand.

Drew pointed in the
direction of
Big Thunder.
They all began to slowly walk towards the truck
until Grace sneezed.

“
I am sorry, Drew,” she
said as she looked up at Drew with big watery eyes.

The sound from Grace’s
sneeze alerted the last two
Eaters
, who were the youngest and
fastest, of the group. The seven and eight-year-old undead boys
opened their mouths releasing the most horrid of wails. Both had
severe lacerations and bite wounds to their faces and necks. They
held out their hands and briskly walked, stumbling occasionally,
towards Drew and his crew. The sounds that erupted from the foul,
deathly bodies were that of agony and raging hunger. The cries of
the younger
Eaters
alerted the others as they quickly changed their pace. The
entire hoard of
Eaters
was now moving in the direction of Drew and fast.

Fight or Flight. Fight or Flight. Fight or
Flight

Fight!

“
Go! Go! Go!” Drew
directed at Tarynn. He gave Grace a quick hug and pushed her
towards Tarynn. “Take Grace to the truck and lock yourselves in!
Mater you stay with me!”

Mater nodded her head and assumed a fighting
stance. She flipped her long French braid over her shoulder. She
quickly pulled her hatchets from the holster and juggled them back
and forth between each hand.

“
No! Drew! You will die
like Mee-maw, Maryann, and Jessie!” Grace cried.

“
We will
all
die if you don’t
listen to me, Grace! Now, GO!” Drew yelled. He looked at Mater who
stood gracefully by his side.

“
These young ones move
fast!” Mater said as she stopped juggling her hatchets. She reached
back with one of the hatchets in her right hand and looked as if
she was about to throw a dart.

Grace cried as Tarynn
pulled her away. Drew took off his backpack and threw it up against
the tree. His wooden bat, with the knives sticking out of the end,
was firmly gripped in his right hand. He assumed the familiar
position that he knew all to well. Drew Jacks was ready to play
ball. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Tarynn pushing Grace
up into the truck. He turned back around in time to face the
youngest of the
Eaters
who had lunged at him with vicious force. The boy extended
his jaw to take a bite out of Drew’s face. The smell of rotten fish
and eggs flooded Drew’s senses as he swung the bat like he was
hitting a homerun. The bat impaled into the side of the
Eater’s
head. It
immediately went down taking Drew’s bat with it.

The second
Eater
clawed wildly in
the air at Drew as it got closer. Mater’s hand started trembling so
bad that she had to close her eyes briefly to meditate and refocus.
The eight-year-old
Eater’s
mangled jaw flapped as it gnashed its teeth.
The
Eater’s
jaw
bone could be visibly seen at it sprinted towards Drew. Mater threw
the hatchet with much precise with it landing almost in the center
of the
Eater’s
forehead. The zombie dropped like a fallen star.