The Orphans (Book 3): Strangers (32 page)
“I don’t know, I came out last night. I’ve been waiting for that horde to come through. Is greg with you?”
He shook his head no, “He went with Clary and Ellie on a suriviors run. THey’d gotten message that there were some people in Huxley that had surivied, they went after them for a afternoon pickup. Did you realize its kind of morbid out here killing these things on your birthday?”
Shaun grabbed his rifle scanning the countryside surrounding the base one more time and shrugged, “Better than having to worry about them coming for me in my sleep.”
“Since when did you start sleeping?”
“Its just a figure of speech. What are you doing all the way out here anyways? Did you need something is something wrong?”
Patrick laughed, “You mean besides the zombie apocalypse going on full force around us and in our backyard? Yeah the CDC said that they were going to be making a special announcement in a hour.”
“Why a hour, they usually just come out with the information?”
“You know what let me call and check with them. I’ll come back and let you know what they say.”
Shaun smiled patting Patrick on the back. He said, “Hey you know what the hold up is, today is the day.”
“What day is that Shaun?”
“The day that they come up with the cure the day that they tell us this nightmare is over, that eventually things will get back to normal, sleep, school, rules that don’t involve guns, and dates.”
Patrick nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. “Oh I am sure that you have had plenty of dates lately.”
“Sneaking around on the army base isn’t quite what I was thinking of when it comes to dates. I was thinking movies, pizza, and sneaking in late. Having the opportunity to do stupid shit like any fourteen year old should be allowed to do.”
Patrick smiled and said, “I’d like to go on a date.”
Shaun said, “Well just because the zombie apocalypse is going to be ending doesn’t mean that miracles are going to happen. I mean only so much in life is possible man.”
When they walked into the communications center for the base everyone had already gathered around. They were all looking as hopeful as Shaun. Aslin nodded to them when he entered. Aslin made his way over and asked Shaun. “Hey how goes the east perimeter? Did you see anything?”
Shaun nodded affirmative and Aslin said, “Is there a reason that you didn’t call for help?”
“I didn’t need any, there were like a dozen of them at best. I took care of them we are good. They never got within a thousand yards of me.”
Aslin whistled, “Really you are going a thousand now?”
Shaun said, “No.”
Aslin said, “Well i’m sure over -
“I’m going at thirteen hundred now. But the ones today were at a thousand when they came out of the woods.”
“Damn son, you’ve found your calling haven’t you?”
Shaun nodded and said, “You know I think it suits me. I work bette alone anyways.”
“Why do you think that is?” Aslin asked.
“Because I don’t have to keep one eye on the dead and one on the living at all times. I can get into a zone a little bit better.”
Aslin smiled and the door behind him open and Clary, Greg, and Ellie came in with a group of ten faces that looked like they had seen better days. There clothes were torn, there faces dirty and they looked like regular meals weren’t something they were seeing on a daily basis. Ellie saw everyone around and said, “What’s going on in here?”
Shaun walked up to her and said, “They have a announcement coming. We are going to finally get the good news that we have been waiting for so damn long for.”
Greg said, “What if its just another hang in there survivor's message. You know the kind that we’ve gotten at least once a month for the last six months.”
Shaun said, “Hey we gotta be optimistic or we won’t make it, there’s a end to all of this.”
Greg repeated the same thing he’d been saying for months. “But what if there isn’t a cure?”
Shaun said, “Well either way they need to be gone. Its either going to be from science or gun powder but either way they need to be gone. We need to reclaim our cities and homes.”
Greg nodded and said, “We can hope, that is something those things can’t take from us at least.”
The radio started a countdown and when it came to life a deep voice came over the speaker system. The same one that they’d been listening to for months. “Good evening America. This message is one that we need you to spread. Those that are not able to listen to it will need someone to break it to them softly. Man hope will be difficult to keep up, our plans have changed, our goals and ways of thinking will need altered. There is hope, there is just as much hope as before. But I plead to you to think before acting. What army we have left which is in the thousands at best and that is worldwide is spread thin. America is one of the strongest and the most well armed countries in the world. Please use that to your advantage. Please take full advantage of it. If there is something that you think you can do to help with the threat please do so.
Shaun’s head was spinning, he had to sit down. He slammed his fist down hard on the metal desk next to them. He felt like he was going to puke. Ellie put a hand on his shoulder but he brushed it off. He said, “What the hell is he trying to say? I don’t understand. He isn’t saying what I am thinking of right?”
No one in the room wanted to be the one who said what they were now all thinking. The man cleared his throat on the radio and continued. “We have found new information, information that breaks my heart, and tears at my soul to have to tell the American people. There is no cure, there is nothing that we are able to do to save them. They are gone, the changes are permanent and their only hope is to be put out of their misery, keeping them from spreading the pain to families of America, and of the world. But there is hope, there is hope in those of you left, smart enough to survive, looking to live a long life. I know that we have been waiting for the government to come forward and save everyone. Unfortunately the number of assets we have to offer those of you are limited at best. All that we may ask if that you try your best, that you be careful and we pray that you will be here tomorrow and the day after and so on. The land did not make this country great, the people did, its citizens coming to the aid of its land. Now is no different. They can be stopped, they will be exterminated but you will have to have precision and patience to make it. Good luck to all of you, may God extend his hand to your fight.”
Everyone in the room sat still, the tension could have been cut with a knife. Shaun stared around the room his rifle butt was sitting on the floor. He was bouncing the barrell back and forth in his hands, his breathing getting heavier and his heart rate increased. Ellie walked over gripping his shoulder trying to whisper that it would be ok in his ear. He exploded out of his seat sending it backwards he brought the rifle up over his head bringing it down fast and hard into a computer on a desk in the room. It crumpled under the heavy guns butt and shaun brought it up again and again until there was nothing left. Everyone in the room had a look of fear on their face. Greg said, “Dude that’s not helping. No one likes these answers, we are sorry there isn’t any hope left now.”
Shaun said, “We’ve wasted six months where we could have tried to kill them. Where we could have been taking out as many of them as we could. The only thing we have done is training for six months, there are what a few dozen that are now useful if we had to flea and take our guns with us in a tense situation. Well we need to grow that number, there are another fifty people that we need to train, we will trian and train until every god damn last one of us can kill those things from far enough away that we don’t have to worry about them as a threat.”
Clary leaned over towards Aslin whispering in his ear, “This kids a natural born fucking leader, look at him, he has got everyone of these kids attention. He is going to be a hero.”
Aslin just watched nodding his head. He said, “So what are you saying there General Fox?”
Shaun said, “Simple Aslin, every single last one of those things, needs to have a bullet placed through its skull. There are no good turned, there are oly the turned everyone of them has death on the mind and pain in their actions. We need to kill everyone of them. We need to take them out! We need to do it now!”
The orphans started nodding their heads getting pumped by the words new hope filling them with something new. Greg said, “So we go after them Shaun is that what you are saying?”
Shaun turned around shaking his head, “We are going to war we are going to do everything we have to do to kill every last one of them. We put them down, if we can’t do it with science then we do it with bullets. But we save everyone, we kill them, we take them out and we move on, and on until there aren’t any left to kill.”
Ellie said, “Shaun what about the base? What about us staying here and staying safe?”
Shaun said, “Simple we don’t. we move forward when we have cleared the state, we move to the next, and the next and we continue acquirng people who are ready to fight the fight.”
Aslin said, “You really think you can handle that Shaun? You are gonna get a lot of blood on your boots bud, its not going to be a quick fight.”
Shaun said, “I am not worried about the blood, I am worried about what I will see when I close my eyes. All I see when I sleep now are paing, but I understand that we are going to war, i’m well aware that it won’t be done fast but if we wait for someone to come after us then we wait for death. We aren’t going to have a chance if we try to rely on others outside of our group. Those that want to come in and help can, those that want to rely on us to save them, have my guarantee that i’ll give everything i’ve got to try and save everyone.”
The End