The Orphans (Book 3): Strangers (15 page)

She stopped as she saw the list of cities going across the screen. She sat as she saw the names slowly going across. Ellie read the listings it was the proposed safety camps that were being set up in mass across the United States. She saw Des Moines, Iowa Wells Fargo Arena. She knew that they could be there in less than a half hour if they needed to it gave her a little bit of hope that if worse came to worse they might be able to make it to a safe zone if they needed to. The other message stated, do not travel if you have somewhere safe. There is nowhere to run outside of your state the spread has taken over the central states and has made it all the way to the west. The east is all that is left and is hanging on by a small line. Godspeed and goodluck.

Ellie wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact that she couldn’t dream of fleeing going anywhere. She understood that they were dead set in the middle of America and without the aid of flight there was very little chance they would have a was to bypass all of the states in between  and the east coast. When she went outside Kya and Jenn were waiting with small hand saws and hatchets that Andy had pointed out to them to make their job easier. Jenn said, “What’s wrong you look like you saw a ghost or something, what happened between you walking upstairs and back down.”

Ellie tried to speak but when she opened her mouth nothing came out. She walked down the steps and said, “They are setting up a shelter a safety place of some type over in Des Moines. It’s like a half hour from here probably, they didn’t have any details on it as far as what is there if we could make it, but yeah they said they are trying to set up something. I am not sure if they have it up and running but at least it is an option.”

Kya said, “Really they have somewhere where we could go if we needed to? God that is great news isn’t it?”   

Ellie shrugged as she chopped at the downed limbs, “You know it is and it isn’t I think. It is hard to say. We would have to be able to make it there, and if we did make it there how do we know that we would be safe. I think once we get there we are going to be stuck there. I can’t see going there and not liking it and just saying hey thanks for letting us try this place but you know it isn’t for me, I think I am going to go back out on my own. There is no way once we go in somewhere like that we are just kids again in their eyes.”

Jenn said, “We are teenagers though, what the hell do we know about surviving anything?”

“We’ve all survived for a few days on our own and that includes both of you and your brothers. It seems to me we are doing a good job of it so far. I don’t know kya’s story but I don’t think that any of us have had a easy last few days.”

Kya shook her head slowly thinking back to her day one shuddering at the thought of it. Kya said, “We were headed home to Colorado down by Colorado Springs. We had gotten a late start because my mom had lost her cell phone in the locker room. We were just one of the regular people who were leaving at that point. We had gotten stuck on the interstate trying to head west and when it wasn’t moving my dad decided to follow some of the other cars that he knew would be headed west.”

Ellie said, “Probably a dumb question but how is it that he would know where perfect strangers were headed?”

Kya smiled, “Lucky i’m not bitchy or I might have mentioned it could be considered a dumb question. It’s was their license plates. He followed a few of them that had Colorado, Utah, and I think there were a few that were from Nevada as well. Anyway as we headed back we thought we’d traded one pile up for another.”

Ellie said, “Oh no, was it just a few miles from town where there was a huge pile up?”

Kya shook her head, “It wasn’t a pile up to me it was like that old movie Constantine where the guy could go to hell and back except hell came to us. They were everywhere it was a massacre.”

Ellie didn’t want to ask but they had already opened a can of worms that wasn’t going to be able to be closed again. “The Turned were everywhere Kya?”

She nodded wiping tears, “Yes they were everywhere and when my dad tried to reverse he drove into the ditch and got stuck. There were to many cars and nowhere to go. It was a buffett for them. They ran through the cars smashing their faces and heads on the windows until it broke and they took without asking, never getting full. When we thought that it was safe to try and run my family slipped out of our SUV and made our way into the ditch trying to stay hidden in the grass but it didn’t do any good.”

Ellie said, “They smelled you didn’t they? They probably knew where you were better by your scent than they would have if they had actually seen you.”

“How did you know that? I mean I think you are right. I don’t think that they so much saw us because I know when dad got out and slid into the ditch he cut his arm on a glass beer bottle that was in the grass. He didn’t even scream when he did it he didn’t have anything to wipe at the wound with or to bandage it and within minutes the Turned or whatever you called them started coming towards us sniffing, walking slowly until they had figured out where dad was.”

Ellie was entranced, “What did you do, I mean obviously you got away, right?”

She nodded slowly her shoulders started to shake as she tried to put the thoughts out of her mind but it was too late there was no stopping now. “We had tried hiding but once they got the scent of blood it was all over, there was nothing we could do to try and hide it no longer mattered. My dad’s last act on Earth was to save me and my mom. When they came down into the ditch he’d slowed them down with a crowbar that he’d taken from his SUV. When they came at him he took out a few of them with the crowbar smashing in their skulls.”

Ellie said, “It wasn’t enough though was it?”

Kya said, “Not even close, it was the worse thing that i’ve ever seen. They didn’t have an ounce of humanity left in them. It seemed to only make them more angry and violent. When he had struck a few of them with the crowbar three of them leapt into the air landing on top of them and pummeling him with their bare hands. They clawed at his face until it was unrecognizeable. Just when I thought they were going to come at us they dug their faces into his skin each of them ripping pieces off. The more they bit the louder his screams grew. They didn’t let up ever when more came they acted like wild dogs ripping off limbs and running away with them feeding greedily on them. My mom and I sprinted away and when those that hadn’t been able to get a piece of him saw us we were public enemy number one.

Jenn said, “You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to Kya. I know how hard it is to think about it, it’s not doing you any good you are going to make things worse for you.”

Kya laughed and wiped at the tears. “Are you kidding me Jenn? It’s going to make it worse for myself? Every waking moment i’ve had i’ve been trying to think of what I could do to try and save my dad and when I sleep the only thing I can think of is my dad and the blood. I have never seen anything like that before. I fear that there is a good chance that it won’t be the last time that I do see something like that though. My mom was even worse, imagine what you have to be going through when you see your husband being eaten in front of you and as bad as you want to try and save him to try and protect him you have but one thing you can do and that is getting your only child to safety. You know that if you don’t leave right then that you will have a even lesser chance of getting safe.”

Jenn said, “You don’t have to go on Kya really it is ok.”

“You worried i’m going to have nightmares? Because that is all I have had since that first day. My mom forced me to run she told me no matter what happened to run, to run until I couldn’t run any further and then to keep running. She knew that we didn’t stand a chance and that if we did’t get somewhere where we could hold up we wouldn’t last the night. Of course we thought that once we made it town we were going to be safe.”

Ellie said, “And that is how you lost your mother? You two made it to town probably thinking that you were going to find shelter and someone to take the two of you in right?”

Kya nodded, “Yeah we made it to town, but there wasn’t anyone friendly to be found. We ran to main street thinking that, that would be our best chance but when we got there, there was nothing but the Turned waiting for us growling and salivating for a taste of us. My mom got me somewhere safe and then used herself as bait. She refused to let anything happen to me. She sacrificed herself for me. By the time I knew what was happening it was to late. She had pushed me in the store building, it was the same one that I found Jenn and her brothers in. I watched her through the window and she didn’t make it half a block. They didn’t leave anything to Turn they just tore her apart her last sounds I will ever remember will be that of her in the worst pain in her life-I mean think about your dying moments after a good life, she didn’t do anything wrong, she didn’t ever hurt anyone and now-well now she’s just another victim.”

Ellie said, “You know I think that maybe we should stick to Shaun’s rule going forward.”

Jenn said, “What rule is that Ellie?”

“When we met Clary and Aslin yesterday and the rest of his team he came up with a rule that the past doesn’t matter.”

Jenn said, “Isn’t that a little harsh? We aren’t suppose to think about our loved ones anymore?”

“No it isn’t that we shouldn’t talk about our loved ones but I think it was more that he thinks that we shouldn’t talk about day one and those that we lost. Each time we meet someone new it isn’t making anyone feel better talking about who they lost and bringing up those feelings. He had a pretty rough day to and I think it’s eating at him.”

Jenn went to say something but thought of her dad and her mom and how telling the story didn’t make her feel any better either. The thought that no explanation needed to be told to people was hitting her hard. “I think I get it, what matters isn’t what happened to those that we loved because we all lost someone. What matters- is that we survived.”

Kya said, “And- we need to keep surviving,”

Ellie laughed a little and Jenn and Kya just stared at her wanting to join in but couldn’t figure out after that story what it was that she could possibly be laughing about. Jenn had to ask, “What is it that could possible be funny right now Ellie?”

Ellie shook her head picking back up her hatchet and started working. She said, “I don’t know it just seems like we sound like really serious right now. Less than a week ago I was laying around in my bedroom with Tina worrying about my mom and one of our biggest concerns were about the coming days was Tina thinking about Shaun and if he was going to like her new swimsuit.”

Jenn said, “I’m sorry don’t you mean Greg? I thought you and Shaun kind of had a thing going.”

Ellie said, “No, I most definitely didn’t mean Greg. With all the crap that was going on with my mom was happening, Shaun and I had a thing going on shortly and it was like as soon as it started I had found out about my mother and that put a stop to things. I knew it wouldn’t be fair to put Shaun through that.”

Kya said, “Shouldn’t have been his decision?”

Ellie shrugged, “Yeah maybe it should have been but at the same time the way I looked at it was he and his dad had both already lost his mother to cancer. I couldn’t make him be that close to me going through that it wasn’t fair to him.”

“So Tina and you both like Shaun?” Kya questioned.

Ellie shrugged, “Who knows at this point I mean she lost her dad and her brother on day one. Her brother Lucas was pretty brutal with what happened it really messed her up. She hates those things as much as anyone does. I think if she knew how to use one of those machine guns that there would be little keeping her from going on a Turned killing spree. So does she like Shaun? I don’t know she did, does she still, i’m not sure you’d have to ask her. But now that my mom and his dad are gone I think it’s important for everyone to have something to have someone to hope for. I think that is Shaun for me.”

They worked the rest of the morning in quiet into the early afternoon. Andy brought sandwiches and water down for them on his fourwheeler and they sat staring around the property each wondering about what would happen in the days and weeks to come. The boys worked hard all morning as well splitting the much needed firewood that would be invaluable once the electric turned off, given it did. The longer they worked the more Patrick began to warm up to Joey, he found Joey’s playful and sarcastic demeanor as a breath of fresh air. He was silently thanking Andy for being paired up with him.

*****

              The afternoon set was high and hot and they had been working all day long. The accomplishments seemed significant. The girls were bonding, each of them knowing that in times like these there was a good chance that they would need someone to speak to. The future being what it was, was a definite unpredictable thing. Ellie hoped secretly that when Tina got back she would be able to bond with them as well. She knew that she was hurting and was worried that things would become even more complicated when and if Shaun and her progressed in the way that she felt that they were going to.

Kya walked out into the field stripping off her long sleeve shirt and holding out her arms feeling the fresh cool breeze on her bare arms. The hard work that they were doing was all that they needed to keep from being cold on the semi gloomy day. Ellie stopped working momentarily staring deep into the distant. She squinted into the distance the only sun that was out was blinding her view. She said, “Hey does anyone else see that?”