But the Children Survived (2 page)

The young mother was holding her son in her arms.  The teenagers were fighting verbally, and the biker was asleep in his saddle.  Jeff was just about to take his arm out of the jacket sleeve when the mother and son fell to the ground. 

What the hell, Jeff thought. 

The teenagers were also down, and the biker had fallen off his bike.  Jeff looked around and noticed anyone who’d been standing seconds ago was now lying on the pavement.  His first reaction was to open the door to see if he could help and when he did, he died instantly, a small trickle of blood rolling out of his nose.

In the back seat, Horace Bagley never woke up but he, too, had a small trickle of blood rolling silently over his lips, down his chin, and onto his last crisp, white shirt.

PART ONE

MINDY LANE

Chapter 1

Largo, Florida

Mindy grabbed the little dog and ran to the back of the house.  She ran into the master bedroom, where there was a small escape “door” in the side of the mobile home.  She put Baby Girl down and slid the bolt over to open the door.  The door hadn’t been opened in many years, and she had to push it hard.  It gave and opened.  Mindy slipped onto the ground.  She turned and looked at Baby Girl.

“Come on” she whispered impatiently.  Baby Girl looked at her and then turned her head toward the inside of the house.  Baby Girl knew she should not go out without her leash.  “It’s okay, you can come out.”  Still, Baby Girl just stared at her with her big bug eyes. 

Then Baby Girl heard the people enter the house.  She started to bark, and in a split second Mindy grabbed her mouth, put another arm around her body, and pulled her out.  Mindy pushed the door closed with her rear end and went to the back of the mobile home.  She crouched behind some bushes and held the dog tightly. 

She could hear the people inside ransacking the house.  She knew they wouldn’t find anything.  Grammy had seen to that.  All the food that was left and the guns were well hidden.  Mindy could feel the small pistol she had in her pocket.  She knew that if they found her, she would shoot them all until all the bullets were gone.  She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

The people inside had slowed down.  She could hear them talk to each other, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.  Baby Girl was being very good.  She just sat next to Mindy awaiting her cues.  Mindy stroked her and whispered, “Good girl.” 

Mindy heard the side door open.  She heard the people going down the long metal ramp that led to the street from the house.  She could hear them approaching the back of the house.  They were going into the shed. 

Mindy peeked around the corner so she could see the shed.  The shed was dark and Mindy could see them turn on flashlights.  There was nothing there but an old washing machine, dryer, and Opa's tools.  The flashlights moved inside the shed. 

“Empty, just like the house,” a male voice said.  “What the hell was Gerry talking about?  There's no kid here.” 

Another male voice mumbled in response.  Mindy heard them move down the driveway and turn onto the sidewalk.  She heard them approaching her from the other side of the home.  They were going into the mobile home next door.

Mindy lifted Baby Girl and moved to the other side of her house.  She moved slowly in case anyone had stayed behind.  There were no lights showing inside her home.  She and Baby Girl crouched down under the metal ramp to wait it out a little longer.

  There was a big, old dog bed under the ramp.  Grammy had stored it there.  Mindy and Baby Girl lay down on the bed and listened.  She felt safe under the ramp.  No one would see her there unless they really looked.  Then Mindy heard voices. 

“Gerry must have gotten the address wrong,” the man said.  “It's too dark now to find anything.  I'm heading back.” 

“It's your call, Andrew,” the other man responded.

She heard their footsteps walk down the street.  She heard a door open on a vehicle.  It then closed and the engine started up.  It was a truck.  The truck drove away, and it was so quiet that Mindy could hear its engine roaring for a long time as it went down the highway.

*****

Mindy didn’t know how long she’d been under the ramp.  She must have dozed off for a little while.   Baby Girl was asleep next to her.  Mindy felt the terrier’s warm little body huddled next to her and felt sad.  Baby Girl was the only one she’d hugged in a long time, and Baby Girl was getting older. 

Mindy didn’t want to think about the day Baby Girl wouldn’t wake up next to her.  Mindy stroked the little dog’s head.  She couldn’t see Baby Girl’s eyes in the dark, but she knew the little dog was looking at her.  Baby Girl would be giving her a solemn stare, always looking to see what they would do next.  It was all up to Mindy now.

Mindy longed for adult company.  She wanted someone else to make the decisions, to take the weight off her shoulders.  She missed her mom and dad.  She knew they were on a trip.  They should have been home by now. 

Mindy had been crossing the days off Grammy's calendar to keep track of time.  She knew her parents were supposed to be back in one week.  It had been nine days since they left, and seven since Grammy disappeared.  They should have been back by now, but Grammy should have been back by now, too.

Grammy had gone to the store to buy supplies.  A hurricane was coming and they would have to evacuate.  Grammy was going to get food, and then take Mindy and Baby Girl to her parent’s house where they would be safe.  Everyone but the man across the street had left the park.

Grammy had asked Mindy if she wanted to come with her to the store, but Mindy wanted to watch TV.  Grammy told her to keep the door locked and to take care of Baby Girl. Then she walked out the door. 

The hurricane came and went, knocking out the power and the water.  The old man across the street had sat on the porch throughout the entire storm and sat there still, his eyes staring into space.  His skin looked really bad, too.  Mindy waited for Grammy.

Mindy dozed off again.  When she woke up, it was getting light.  She sat up and yawned.  She crawled out from under the ramp and stretched.  Baby Girl stretched her doggie stretch and shook her whole body as if she had gotten wet. 

“Let's go in and see what they did to our house.”

Mindy and Baby Girl walked to the little door in the side of the house that she had escaped from the night before.  Mindy pushed Baby Girl into the house and then she climbed in after her.  The bedroom looked the same as it did when she ran through it the night before.  Mindy closed and bolted the little door. 

Baby Girl was sniffing around, smelling all the new smells of the strangers.  Mindy went to the door of the bedroom and peeked into the hallway.  She could see the inside of her bedroom.   It was relatively untouched. 

There wasn’t much in there, and what was there was only worth something to a scared 9-year-old girl: pictures of her with her parents; a twin bed and some books; curtains on the windows and a chair.  The closet door was open.  She looked inside, but nothing had been taken.

She moved onto the kitchen.  She looked in the cabinets.  Everything looked the same. They had not been looking for food, but even if they had been, Grammy had a special place for the emergency food so Mindy would not go hungry.  Grammy also had a special place for guns if necessary.

As she stood there, she suddenly felt all the energy drain from her body.  She had been so scared last night, and every night since Grammy left.  She'd had to be strong and brave.  An overwhelming sadness overtook her, and she just fell to the floor and cried. 

Baby Girl came over and sat next to her.  Mindy wanted to believe that Baby Girl was trying to comfort her, but she was probably only hungry.  It was morning, and neither of them had eaten yet.  Mindy couldn’t stop crying.  Her body heaved with the sobs.  She wanted her mother so terribly much.  She just didn't know if she could go on anymore. 

But Baby Girl needed her, and she believed her parents would come to find her soon.  Mindy tried to stop crying.  Soon the sobs lightened and she got up off the floor.  She looked in the cabinets for dog food and remembered she had given Baby Girl the last can yesterday.

“Come on Baby” Mindy said.  “Let’s get some food.” 

Mindy quietly opened the front door.  She couldn’t see or hear anyone.  She put Baby Girl’s leash on and they left the house by the side door and walked onto the metal ramp.  It was impossible to be quiet on the metal ramp, but it was the shortest way to the shed.  Mindy jumped through the railings on the ramp and so did Baby Girl.  They walked to the shed that was connected to the house. 

Mindy opened the door and checked the floor.  The men didn’t see the door in the floor in the dark.  Even in the daytime, it was hard to see that door.  Grammy had done that.  She had made it hard to see.  Mindy closed the shed door.  She lit the candle on the shelf.  Then she opened the door in the floor.

Under the shed was a hole about six feet long and four feet wide.  The door was made of plywood that fitted over the hole.  Inside the hole were three plastic storage bins.  One bin contained guns and ammunition and the other two canned food for people and dogs. 

Mindy was careful how much food she took every day, but the stores were dwindling.  She was not sure what she would do when it ran out, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. 

Mindy opened the food bin and took out a can of soup and one can of dog food.  She replaced the storage bin lid and put the plywood door back in place.  She shuffled some dirt over the top and slowly opened the shed door.  She still didn’t see or hear anyone. 

She and Baby Girl left the shed and walked to the metal ramp.  Mindy climbed up the side of the ramp.  She put the cans down and reached for Baby Girl.  Baby Girl jumped up on her hind legs and Mindy grabbed her and pulled her up.  She then picked up the cans and they re-entered the house.

Mindy took a can opener out of the silverware drawer and opened the cans.  She filled Baby Girl’s bowl.  The refrigerator wasn’t working, so Baby Girl had to eat the whole thing so it wouldn’t go bad.  Most times she did.  Other times she would wait too long and vomit it up.  Mindy just let Baby Girl decide what she wanted to do. 

Mindy then opened her soup and put it in a bowl.  It was chicken noodle, the condensed kind.  Mindy didn’t have water to add to it.  She’d run out of bottled water two days ago.  The soup wasn’t too thick, but it was salty.  It filled her stomach so she didn’t mind too much.  It was gone too soon.  Now she would have to decide what to do the rest of the day. 

Mindy put Baby Girl’s leash on the little dog’s collar.  She got out the bicycle pump and went out the door.  She thought about closing the windows, but decided it was just too hot.  Besides, if someone wanted to get it, they’d just break down the door. 

Mindy locked the door behind her.  She and Baby Girl went down the ramp to the old three-wheel bicycle with the flat tires.  It had been Opa’s bike.  The tires didn’t hold air anymore, so when Mindy wanted to use it, she would pump up the tires.  She kept a bicycle pump in the basket attached to the rear of the bike. 

Mindy pumped the tires up.  There was a small chain with a hook on it attached to the basket.  Mindy hooked it onto Baby Girl’s leash so she wouldn’t jump out when they were moving.  Mindy attached the chain to Baby Girl’s collar and they rode out to the street.  Grammy had adjusted the bicycle seat for Mindy so she could easily reach the pedals.

Mindy rode past house after house.  She avoided looking at the house across the street.  She was headed for the clubhouse.  There was a pool table at the clubhouse.  Miraculously, the hurricane hadn’t damaged anything, and the pool table was still there and intact.  Mindy liked to play with it during the day when there was enough light in the clubhouse. 

There were also books and puzzles there.  Mindy could while away a whole day reading.  Baby Girl liked to roam around the rooms, delighting in seeing and smelling something new.  Mindy pulled into the drive that led to the clubhouse.  She opened the double doors, used a rock to hold each door open, and pulled the bike in behind her.  No one had been in the clubhouse since her last visit.

Mindy detached Baby Girl and helped her out of the basket.  Baby Girl trotted off towards the back of the clubhouse.  Then she did something she’d never done before while visiting the clubhouse.  She growled.

Chapter 2

Mindy stopped dead in her tracks.  She couldn’t see Baby Girl, but the terrier kept growling in a low, menacing tone.  Mindy slowly walked toward the sound at the back of the clubhouse.  She could see Baby Girl now.  The little dog’s hackles were raised and she stood very still.  Mindy started walking again until she could see what had Baby Girl’s attention. 

It was a rat, a very big rat, about the size of a small cat.  Mindy could see the rat was frightened and if Baby Girl didn’t back down, the rat would bite her. 

What is that called, the thing animals get that’s really bad?  Mindy thought.  They get shots for it - what, what?  Then she remembered - Rabies. What if the rat bit Baby Girl, or Mindy, and gave them rabies?         Where would I take her for help? 

As her mind worked, she felt the pistol in her pocket.  Mindy pushed the thought away.  What if she missed and hit Baby Girl?