Chapter 5
Before he had a chance to move away, the creatures came out of the grass, screaming and swinging their arms. They searched around until they saw John and th
e
thin
g
who had attacked him. Then they jumped on the bodies and began tearing them apart.
Scooter couldn't get himself to look away. Part of him wanted to rush back and stop them. He could use his axe to fight them off
.
Slam it into each and every one of their faces
!
But he also knew that it wouldn't be possible. He couldn't fight them all at once. They would easily kill him.
Emily moved in his arms and he worried for a moment that she had been looking at the scene unfold. Luckily, she was only pressing her face closer into his neck. She was frightened. He was too.
"Come on!" a voice called to him. He turned to see Marianne staring at him. She was standing a little ways down the road with the others. "Let's go!"
Scooter hurried to them.
"What was it?" Julie asked when he got closer. "Was i
t
the
m
?"
Scooter wasn't sure of what to say. He wanted to tell them that he had seen the creatures and that they weren't going to be a problem. But to do so he'd have to tell the
m
wh
y
. He'd have to say that thos
e
thing
s
were too busy eating John, ripping him to pieces. He couldn't see how that would help.
"What's wrong?" Julie continued . "What did you see?"
"I saw them come out onto the road."
"And?"
"And…nothing. They were searching around. I don't think they knew that we were there."
Julie looked relieved. Marianne didn't. She knew that there was more to the story than Scooter was letting on, though she didn't ask him about it.
"We should go," she said, instead.
They all agreed. None of them wanted to be there chatting on the side of the road. They wanted to get out of there
.
No
w
.
Once more, Scooter led.
Chapter 6
They stopped when they found a few benches alongside the road. They were in a small town now. Far away from where John was killed.The creatures hadn't followed them. And there didn't appear to be any nearby.
"We should take a rest," Marianne suggested. It was the first time any of them had spoken in a while. They had all been too distraught by all that had happened. "We should have something to eat too."
Julie and Emily sat down on either side of Alice. Marianne took to the other bench. Buster at her feet.
Scooter couldn't get himself to join them. He didn't want to sit. He wanted to keep moving…and to stop thinking. He couldn't get John's death out of his mind.
"I'm going to go for a walk," he said
Julie looked up from the bag she was digging through. "A walk? Shouldn't you stay here with us?"
"I'm not going to go far. I'll just take a quick look around. Maybe find some more food or something."
Julie pulled out a can of vegetables. "We have enough food."
"We'll always need to find more. It's better if…" He didn't finish his argument. It was more of an excuse than anything else and he didn't have the energy to go through with it. "I just want to go for a walk."
"I think you should stay."
Scooter decided to ignore her.
"Do you want me to come with you?" This time it was Marianne that spoke. She had placed her purse on the bench and her knife in her lap. "It'll give us a chance to talk about things."
He didn't want a chance to talk about things. He wanted to be alone.
"Stay here and eat," he said. "I won't be long."
As he started to walk away Marianne got up from the bench and followed him. He wanted to tell her to sit and leave him be, but he stopped himself. She came up and placed her hand on his arm. He no longer felt any revulsion to her touch. He had gotten past the dream. And even if he hadn't, there were bigger things on his mind at the moment.
"Hold up," she said.
"What is it?" he asked. "I"m just going to go for a bit."
"I know. I wanted to talk to you about something first."
Scooter started to walk away again. "I don't want to talk about anything right now."
Marianne followed. "I know. And I'll keep it short."
He turned to face her. "What is it?"
"It's about John."
"I don't want to talk about him."
Marianne grabbed his arm again. "Just give me a second to explain."
Scooter waited.
"It wasn't your fault," she said.
"What wasn't my fault? That John died?"
"Yes, that wasn't your fault."
"Then whose fault was it?"
"No one's. We're all doing the best that we can."
"That's not wha
t
sh
e
thinks." He looked at Alice. The old woman didn't look back. She was too far away to hear that he was talking about her.
"Give her time," Marianne said. "That's all she needs."
"Maybe that's al
lI
need." Scooter knew that his voice was bordering on childish, but he didn't really care. He wanted to stop this conversation with Marianne and find somewhere to be on his own.
Marianne took her hand off of his arm. "You're right," she said. "But if you ever need to talk, I'm here."
He doubted that he would ever take her up on the offer and started to walk away.
"Remember," she called to him, "it wasn't your fault."
Chapter 7
Scooter walked until was out of sight of the others. He had turned a corner and went a few blocks to a small intersection. There was the usual car crash he had come to expect. Bodies and blood spread out around them. However, he focused very little on those and instead continued to think about John.
Since the old man's death, he couldn't stop imagining the attack. He pictured John on the ground with the creature on top of him. He could hear everyone screaming as the creature bit into his neck. Then there was the flesh that hung from its mouth.
He also remembered his reaction…and how he hadn't been fast enough.
He slammed his fist against a wall. A pain ran up the length of his arm as his knuckles connected with the brick. His skin tore.
Why hadn't he been quicker?
Scooter stopped himself from punching it again and sat down down on the curb. He placed his axe beside him. The creature's blood glistened on the blade.
He took a deep breath. Then another.
John…
Although he had only known him for a short time, Scooter had liked the old man a lot. He always tried to make the best out of every situation. Adding a joke here and there. And even though things were difficult for him, he never gave up. He pushed himself to keep walking when it was obvious that all he wanted to do was stop.
Scooter also liked that the John usually came to his defence. More than that, he would encourage him and say that he was on the right path, doing a good job. It was more than anyone else had ever said to him before. Even his own father barely spared a word beyond some type of insult or punishment.
Then there was the love that John had had for his wife. That continued to play on Scooter's mind. He had never seen anything close to that before. That type of commitment. That type of affection.
He had never thought much about love before, but seeing it between John and Alice it made him wonder
.
Was such a thing possible for him
?
It made him a bit uncomfortable to ask that question. Yet there is was.
His thoughts flickered to Julie. Though just as quickly her image disappeared.
John came back into his mind. As did his wife.
Scooter couldn't imagine what Alice must have felt watching her husband get killed. Especially in the way that he had. They had been together for such a long time. To have it taken away from them would've been the worst thing that could have happened. She must have felt powerless, useless. She had to have been racked with fear and sadness. And, on top of all of that, she would have felt alone. Like a part of her had died.
He balled his fist and slammed in down on the sidewalk. It didn't stop the images passing through his mind. They bombarded him. Confused him.
He thought of John and Alice. And his failed promise to them.
He thought of Julie. And how she looked in that tight T-shirt.
He thought of Marianne. And his dream.
He thought of Emily. And how he had found her in the elevator with her dead father. He had tried his best to take care of her ever since.
He thought of Buster.
Their faces danced through his head. He couldn't stop them. He wanted to. He put the palms of his hands against his eyes and pressed. But, no, they wouldn't stop.
He wasn't sure when he had started to cry. His tears covered his hands and spilled onto his jeans and boots, darkening the blood that was just beginning to dry. He could barely breathe.
Crying wasn't something that he was used to. He usually did his best to keep those types of emotions at bay. Though this time he didn't care.
He also didn't think he'd be able to stop them even if he wanted to. There was too much going through him. And this was the only way it seemed to want to come out.
*
It took a while for Scooter to stop crying. There was simply nothing left in him. Well, no
t
nothin
g
. He still felt sadness. Emptiness. But there were no more tears.
He raised his head and looked around. He didn't want to be here anymore. Sitting on this street. Alone.
He stood up, axe in hand, and turned in the direction where the others were waiting.
He started to walk back to them.
Chapter 8
They were still sitting on the benches when Scooter returned. He walked straight up to Alice, his head lowered. The axe didn't give him any strength for what he was about to do. It dropped out of his hands as soon as he reached her.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice cracking. A fresh new wave of tears threatened to return, but he fought to hold them back.
Alice looked at him, but didn't speak. Her eyes were red. Her nose runny.
"I never meant for any of this to happen," he continued.
Still, she remained silent.
Scooter could finally no longer hold back his tears. They rushed out of his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. "I tried," he said. "I really did. I'm so sorry."
Alice kept her eyes on his. Tears had started to build in hers as well. Yet she kept her mouth closed.
It was her arms that opened, instead. Scooter fell into her embrace.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered into the crook of her neck. She rubbed up and down his back. "I'm so so sorry."
"I know," Alice replied. "It's okay."
"He meant so much to me."
"I know he did. You meant a lot to him too."
It was the first time that he had heard that anyone really cared about him. He pressed himself further into Alice's grasp and continued to cry.
Chapter 9
When Scooter eventually lifted his head off of Alice's shoulder, several emotions ran through him. Sadness. Regret. Fear. He even felt somewhat uncomfortable that he had broken down in front of everyone. He had never done anything like that before. Not even after his father had beaten him.
But through it all he also felt a sense of happiness and comfort. He would never forget the words Alice had said to him about her husband
.
Scooter had meant a lot to him.
"My husband was right," Alice said. "You’re a good man.”
Scooter’s lips curled upward. “Thank you.”
“And I want apologize for what I said to you back there. About you being responsible. It wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault. I know that. It just all came as a shock."
Shock
?
Scooter thought
.
The last time Alice had been shocked, she hadn't spoken to anyone for days. She hadn't even been able to take care of herself
.
This whole time Scooter had never even considered that that might happen again. He had been too busy dealing with his own stuff.
"I'm…uh…you…" He stammered over his words.
"What is it?" she asked kindly.
"I…uh…I'm worried about you."
"It's not going to be easy," she admitted. "But I'll get through it. Somehow."
"I don't mean that," Scooter explained. "I was thinking about what you said about shock."
Alice took some time to figure out what he was saying. "You're worried about me changing back to the way I was in my basement?"
Scooter nodded.
"I won't lie. When I saw my husband out there, I wanted to die right along with him."
"Don't say that!" Emily cried, squirming in her seat.
"Oh, darling." She pinched the little girl's cheek. "I don't feel that way now. But it was hard for me. Still is. The thing is that I know my John wouldn't have wanted me to give up."
"And the shock?" Scooter asked.
"I don't know. I have no idea why it even happened the first time. I'm not sure if my John told you, but I'm usually a pretty strong cookie."
Joh
n
ha
d
told him that his wife could be strong. Except the word he had actually used wa
s
stubbor
n
. Though he had said it in a way that let Scooter know that John loved the woman regardless of it…or maybe because of if
.
How he missed him.
"Let's not worry about all of that right now," Alice concluded. "We should figure out what we're going to do next."
*
It didn't take them long to decide to keep moving. The sun was still high above them, but it would come down soon enough. They wanted to try to find a safe place to stay before that happened.
Scooter stood and helped Alice get to her feet. Julie took hold of Emily and raised her into her arms. Marianne placed her purse over her arm and scratched behind Buster's ear.
"Everyone ready?" Scooter asked.
They were.