The Broken and the Dead (Book 1) (44 page)

The doors were open by the time I got there, I saw Mrs. Driscol leaning into the back and Karen was helping her.

“Elaine? Elaine?”

I called for her then ran around to the other side, frantically looking for her. I ran into Mrs. West, her head was wrapped in a bloody bandage and her upper arm was dressed the same way.

“Johnny.” She said quietly.

“NO!” I screamed I tried to get past her to find my sister I pushed Mrs. West out of the way.

“Elaine?”

I heard Mrs. West, her voice was quiet and strong but not unkind.

”She isn’t here John, she didn’t make it.”

“You are a liar!” I yelled.

She put her hands on my shoulders,

“John, we three are all that is left.”

I tried to get away, I hit her again and again until she pulled me to her and held me and didn’t let me go, she was saying something but I don’t recall what it was. She ran her fingers through my hair. I don’t know how long I stayed like that but it was long enough to get Deputy Weir inside and for Mrs. Driscol to find the field surgery kit and for her and Karen get to the roof.

How long she held me I don’t know but it was long enough that I didn’t think I had any tears left. Somehow we ended up on the front steps, and Mrs. West was still holding me, not speaking just humming a song that sounded sweet and a little like a lullaby.

“You ready to go inside?” she asked.

I nodded; she took a bandana from a pocket, wet it with her mouth and started to wipe the tear stained dust from my face. I was so much in shock I just let her do it. She helped me up and we went inside.

To my surprise Tucker was on one of the couches. How they got him downstairs I don’t know. Gina and Lucy were on another with Amy, they were awake but had their heads in her lap and Amy was gently running her fingers through their hair just like Mrs. West had done for me. . I could tell they all had been crying, except for Tucker of course, who was unconscious. We sat on a third couch even though its stuffing was poking out of a dozen bullet holes. Karen was in the kitchen, so Mrs. West went to help her, Deputy Weir was on the roof. So Amy, Lucy, Gina, West, Weir, Tucker, Karen and I were all that was left. I didn’t think I could bear it. I shut my eyes and went to sleep.

It was early afternoon when I awoke I looked around, Mrs. West was gone but had been replaced in the chair opposite me by Deputy Weir, fast asleep. He had a huge bandage on his left cheek and another above the left eye. He was asleep and I could see a scratch on the eyelid connecting the two bandages. A millimeter from losing an eye or worse, I shook my head.

“Morning.” Mrs. Driscol said from behind me.

I sat up and saw her finishing up something on a still sleeping Tucker.

“Hi Mom” I said, it wasn’t until I said it did I cringe. She just smiled as she dropped a bloody bandage into a pail.

“Has he been asleep the whole time?” I asked.

“For the most part.” She answered. “He did wake up long enough to tell me he would be dead if not for you.”

I shrugged.

She sat there a minute more then asked

“Were you the one that treated his wounds?”

I shook my head no then said that it had been all Tucker. She sighed

“I thought not, I didn’t think you would be stupid enough to try and super glue a 6 inch cut like that.”

She had a strange smile and it made me smile too. She had just called Tucker stupid. The wounds on his thigh were not so bad though, shotgun pellets?” I shrugged again. She kind of laughed,

“Apparently he tried to get them out with a pair of needle nose pliers and made a total mess of things. I finished them up, and put some stitches in for him.”

I looked at Tucker he was still pale but his breathing was more regular.

I asked about the ambush, she sighed and looked away then said

“We decided that when we could we would all sit down and trade stories, no one wants to tell them more than once I suspect.”

I nodded.

“Looks like you had a tough time too.” she added.

I nodded again. Amy changed the subject.

“Tucker nearly bled to death because he was too proud or too stupid to ask for help.”

I didn’t say anything so she asked

“How did he get stabbed?” she asked.

“I don’t know, the kitchen?” I guessed.

“Ahh, the kitchen. It was pretty bad in there it seems.”

I looked at her strangely then asked

“Why do you say that?”

“All the blood; even the grout is a rusty brown, the wrecked cabinets and island, the bullet holes, stuff like that.” She said.

“He wouldn’t tell me what happened in there.” I added.

After a bit I got up and went towards the kitchen; I saw Lucy and Gina in the dining area, they were on their knees on the floor working really hard on something. I walked over to them;

“What are you guys doing?” I asked.

Neither looked up, Gina said “Important work.”

Lucy added “Yep important work. THE most of all.”

Gina said “Yep. THE most of all.”

As if I was supposed to know what that meant, I moved around to see what exactly what it was.  There were crayons all over the place and on a piece of poster board they were drawing most detailed portraits of our dead. I almost broke into tears, they were all there. Everyone we lost, I could easily recognize them, they were standing in two rows, one above the other, holding hands like paper dolls, and they all were smiling. Mom and Dad, Mrs. Hartly, a man I somehow knew was Gina’s father, Jordan, Billy, Elaine, Kyle, the Livingstons, Rico, Lieutenant Klein, Janey, and on and on. The girls were drawing flowers all around the outside edge. I saw that Lucy’s tongue was poking out the side of her mouth and Gina’s eyes were nearly crossed with the effort.

“This is THE important ‘I LOVE YOU’ picture.” Gina said.

“Yep, that is what it is, we can say ‘I love you’ every day.” Lucy added.

“Yep, every day.” Gina stated with conviction.

“Gina, who told you about THE important ‘
I love you’
picture?” I asked.

“Lucy tolded me” she answered.

“Lucy? Lucy who told you?” I asked.

She sighed then said as if I was an idiot

“Karen tolded me, but everyone knows about THE important.”

Emily echoed “Yep, everyone knows about THE important.”

I smiled and just said “Yep.”

And with a heavy heart but a real smile on my face I walked away and silently vowed to kiss Karen the instant I next saw her.

The kitchen was empty but it was apparent someone had tried to clean it up, Amy or Karen I thought, maybe both. I found some scraps in a pail, picking it up I went out the back and up the hill to the
Before
. It was still there, this time it was pacing, circling the perimeter of its cage. When I entered the clearing it started to charge but it seemed to draw itself up short when it recognized me. It seemed confused then it walked on its all fours over to its food bowl and knelt there on its knuckles, knees and toe claws.

“Hey there.” I said.

“Whirrr*click*” it responded.

I pushed the pieces of chicken, steak fries, and cabbage leaves through the chain link and into its bowl.

“Whirr*buzz*click”

I stepped away and sat down in my usual place it started to eat. As it ate I swear it was purring, well purring the way a giant cockroach would but purring never the less. I told the
Before
about the battle and the deaths. It took me a second to realize that it was finished eating and that it was sitting and listening to my tale of agony and loss. It blinked at me, twice. Those weird four part, boney eyelids moving in and out; clicking eerily, like the lens of a camera each time. I know it didn’t understand the words but maybe, just maybe it understood pain.

I smiled at it, it rose and went inside the back of the trash truck, and I heard the click and the splash as it emptied its bowels out of my sight
. What the Hell
? It hopped back down and wandered over to its water bucket and drank. When it did I gasped, its exoskeleton was nearly healed, new shiny material stood out sharply against the slightly duller stuff surrounding it. I told the
Before
that I would be back and went back down the hill to the lodge.

Once back in the kitchen, I saw Mrs. West and Karen were putting a bunch of edible things on a tray, lots of things from the fridge and several cans and an opener.

Mrs. West said “A bullet must have clipped a Freon line, the fridge is gone.”

I didn’t answer her yet, I was on a mission. I set my rifle down, crossed the room and spun Karen to me and kissed her. Her arms slowly went around me and her hands ended in my hair. God I loved her.

“Ah, uh hum.” Mrs. West let us know she was still there.

Karen was blushing furiously and it darkened the bruise on her face.

“What was that for?” Karen asked.

I went back picked up my rifle and said

“Two reasons. First, for THE ‘I love you’ picture for Gina and Lucy.”

I started to leave when Karen said

“Wait you said there was a second reason.”

I turned back to her.

“Because we might die any moment and I need you to know that I love you.”

I got the Hell out of there before they could see the color flee from my face and to make sure I didn’t throw up in front of them.

I took a two hour turn on over watch; Amy, Mrs. West, and Karen started to sort through the things in the school bus. They put the things in three piles as they took each one out of the bus. They were pretty clever entering through the folding door at the front then exiting the rear emergency exit. In the pile that contained a couple of cases of MREs I noticed what appeared to be a radio that was an exact copy of the one we left at the post office. I realized that it probably was the one from the Post Office.

Amy and Karen started to carry things from the two of the piles inside while Mrs. West started to carry the things from the last to the trash ravine. Mrs. West was just finishing when Deputy Weir relieved me, he said that everyone was going to be in the great room; he said he had already heard about our battle from Tucker and sure didn’t need to hear about it again. I nodded and headed downstairs. I was the last one to arrive, and everyone else was sitting in chairs and couches that made a rough circle around the fireplace. I sat next to Karen who smiled at me then promptly stood and spoke;

“Everyone, before we start I would like to thank Lucy and Gina who have worked all day with only one short cookie break to finish a very important project”

Lucy nodded her head seriously “THE important project!”

Gina added “Yep, THE important picture project.”

Both girls nodded vigorously and stepped forward the picture held between them like a banner. Karen took and shook both their hands very officially. Everyone was silent as she placed the poster board on the mantle over the fireplace. The trinkets that had been there had been moved. Nothing would distract from THE important project. We stared at it for a minute then I jumped a bit when Tucker started to clap, slowly at first then faster and soon we all were applauding the two little girls, for their courage, for their effort and for the sweet memories we now had in front of us. Amy wrapped them up in her arms and kissed them both, both girls were silent and blushing furiously. For once Lucy didn’t have to say anything. She patted them on the bottom and they ran off towards the dining room where snacks had been prepared in advance for them. They did not need to hear what was to come next.

Karen sat down, there was no leader after that, and Mrs. West asked if we would tell our story first. We started with their early morning departure and included every detail we could about how their friends had died. Karen told them how we had made it to the blind and the fight between Mr. Livingston and Mr. Lowe and the bikers.  I told them about us being chased and how we ended returning back to the side of the building after the explosions that Tucker had made. Tucker admitted that two of the first six were not dead when he got to them, he said he used his knife to cut their throats. It was just me, Karen, and Tucker so there were things that we could only guess about, like how Mrs. Boudreaux and Mrs. King died in the kitchen. Tucker said that they were dead when he shot the first man coming out of the kitchen. He spoke in a way that seemed as if he were talking to himself, as if he were just confessing to a priest or something. He held his forehead in his right hand, veiling his eyes, as he told us what happened.

“The man I shot wasn’t dead, but he was pretty bad off. When I followed him in I saw Mrs. Boudreaux was dead and the meat cleaver in her hand said she didn’t just give up.”

He paused and swallowed hard but when he continued his voice was flat and all facts again;

“Mrs. King was on the table, one of them was stabbing her over and over, I don’t know how many times but he had to be crazy because she had been dead a long time. He looked at me…”,