Authors: R. G. Richards
At the top of the room were two soldiers and then I saw him, Doctor Blake. Something within me burned, he was evil incarnate. It had nothing to do with him being black. I knew evil when I saw it. He called the first child forward, a boy. Simon was behind him and stepped in front of him. He yelled he was first. The younger boy gave him his position. Doctor Blake smiled. The old man was like a proud parent and I again questioned his relationship with my brother. Why on earth would my brother want to make this man proud of him?
One of the guards opened the door between him and his comrade by pushing a button. The door opened and a zombie came out of it. My heart dropped. Zombies, here in the complex? Zombies in the heart of the securest building here. My knuckles turned white, gripping the door. Normally, I would run into the room and save my brother, I didn’t, I needed to know what was going on. My breathing picked up and I kept watching. Unless Simon was in immediate danger, I would stand down.
Railings were on either side of the door. The zombie couldn’t get to the machine gun-toting guards. They didn’t even look worried, if anything, they looked disgusted. Maybe they knew that person previously. The zombie howled and moved forward. It ran toward Simon with its arms outstretched, drool running down its chin. Before I could move, Simon did. My brother grabbed a machete off the table and with a deadly howl of his own, charged the running zombie. Simon leaped in the air and with one whack, the zombies head rolled across the floor.
Simon stood proud as he faced Blake. He held up his weapon and Blake nodded. At the same time, the children screamed and jumped for joy. Simon went over and picked up the head and threw it in a metal bin and stepped to the side. I looked at his face. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t go to him and hug him and tell him it would be all right. I stood glued to the door watching while my mind raced.
A growl brought me out of it. Another zombie came through the door. The boy who gave Simon his turn was running low at the zombie. He wasn’t as tall as Simon and chose a tactic of taking out the enemy’s height. His machete sliced the zombie’s leg and it fell forward, groaning. The boy came back around and stood over the zombie and with another whack, he beheaded his enemy. More roars went up from the crowd.
The doctor calmed them down and then my hand moved. The door creaked and they heard it. I ran for the exit. As I reached the exit I heard gunfire behind me. I leaped on the crate and pushed myself through and took off running. More gunfire sounded behind me, but I was long gone.
I didn’t stop running until I made it back to the garden’s door. At the door, I came to a screeching halt and lightly turned the doorknob. Sandy stood glaring at me.
“I had to use the bathroom.”
I had no idea how long I had been gone and used the best excuse I could think of. My chest heaved and sweat ran down the side of my face. Sandy looked at me, not buying one word of what I was selling. “Next time, go to the back of the garden, the bathrooms there work nicely.”
“I will. Thank you.”
She scoffed and walked off. I went back to where I had been working and picked up my hoe. I spotted blood on my hand and wiped it off. I assume it came from the window. I worked hard while thinking of the children. Once in a while, Sandy would come by and disappear again. She would not find me missing again. I greeted her with a warm smile on each occasion.
The day went faster than I thought it would and then Sandy led me to my living quarters. Sandy opened the door to a camper and motioned for me to enter. Inside, I found a couch and table, nothing more.
“Does it meet with your approval?” Sandy’s condescending tone was to remind me of my earlier transgression.
“Where will Simon sleep?”
“The Children’s Center. It’s on the bottom floor of the castle. Oh, that’s what we call the central tower. The children live there. You can see him from now until when you go on guard duty tonight.”
“I want him here with me.” I squared my shoulders and looked as menacing as I could.
Sandy grinned and then chuckled. “I’m scared. The children stay there.” I looked harsher at her. “Even if you cut my throat, he stays where he is. You are only a sister. There are mothers and fathers who have no choice but to accept the arrangement. The children are our future and must be protected. If we fall, they have a chance to survive. Don’t you want to give your brother those extra minutes of precious life? Or would you rather he be exposed in here?” Sandy was on a roll and she knew it. She stepped closer to me, to twist the knife. “Do you really love him, enough to let him live, if you should die?”
She had me. “Of course, I do.” She won and her grin reflected the victory. Round one to Miss Sandy. “May I see him, now?”
“Yes. On the south wall is a giant clock, you have two hours until guard duty. Spend it well.”
“I will.”
Sandy turned and left. I walked through my little home to look it over and then I was out the door. This is a big place and I was anxious, so I broke into a light sprint to get there faster. I didn’t need help finding the castle, it stood in front of me, a beacon for humanity’s safety. I stopped when I came near people, didn’t want them to think an insane person ran amok within their walls or something worse. While walking, I happened to look at the high wall and saw the clock Sandy referred to. According to the clock, the time was 4:30. I have two hours for my visit. That would make my guard duty start around six or seven tonight. I could live with that.
Chapter 22
I stopped in front of the tower, two guards stood at the entry double doors. Calling it a castle was no joke, it was. True, I had never been inside an actual castle, but the feel of it seemed right. The building was solid brick on the outside with huge double entry doors made of steel, standing ten feet tall. The outside guards wore exquisite uniforms with bright colors and fancy hats, an honored position.
I glanced at the side before advancing to the main doors. Two soldiers stood guard by the window I had used. They don’t know it was me, if they did, I would be arrested by now. My mind flashed to Simon and then to the stupid thing I had done. They can throw me out.
There was no time to linger on it. I had to get to Simon. I moved forward to go inside and the first guard blocked my path, stepping in front of me. His height and weight dwarfed mine, so fighting my way through would not work. Charm might. “Hello, I’m Zora Baker. I’m here to visit my brother, Simon Baker.” I smiled my best seductive smile.
He looked me up and down carefully. If I could read his mind, I might cringe, but I began the game so it wasn’t his fault. “Are you armed?”
“No,” a bigger smile this time.
“The children are our future and must be protected. Submit to a search and you may pass.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, if it got me to Simon, I would submit. “Okay.” I held my arms out to my sides and looked him squarely in the eyes. If my look said anything, it said, no funny business, mister.
The second guard came behind me and carefully searched while the other held eye contact with me. I stared into hazel eyes and remained as rigid as possible. This is nothing, I’ve been through worse. When satisfied, the first guard stepped aside and I entered the building.
Inside, light filtered in through small high windows. I stood in a wide hallway with three doors twenty feet in front of me.
It was quiet and I felt as if I were in a library as I slowly walked forward to the tall doors ahead of me. I stopped and read the writing. The center door’s sign warned of no entry by unauthorized persons, I assumed that meant me. To my left, the girls’ dormitory and to my right, the boys’, I excitedly turned the boys’ doorknob, doing my best to stop the shaking in my hand. A jumble of emotions soared through me.
I entered into another hallway and all joy squelched from inside me. In the center of the hallway hung a body, a zombie corpse strung up from the ceiling rafters. Someone had placed a pan below it to catch its drippings. I instinctively put my hand to my nose to keep away the smell. How could this be?
The door at the end of the room opened and sound filtered to me, happy sounds of children laughing, screaming, and playing. I looked to the door with my hand over my nose and saw a young girl waving at me. “Hey.”
I walked around the zombie and went to her. “Hey.”
“Remember me, Hannah Mutton?”
How could she stand there like that? All smiles without her hand over her nose. Her bewildered look gave way to ridicule as she glanced behind me at the hanging zombie. She shook her head and opened the door wider, motioning me forward. I went through the door.
I stopped her. “Hannah?” I can’t say I smelled the corpse; I didn’t want to give myself that thrill. Now with the door shut, I breathed in the surrounding air with exuberance. “Isn’t this the boys’ dormitory?”
“Yes,” said Hannah, giving me a strange look.
“Shouldn’t you be next door?”
“Yes, but we can come over during the day. Dorm curfew isn’t for another hour. Do you remember me?”
Hannah wore a simple blue dress with pants. She had on a pair of black boots that had a silver tip on them. I can only assume she wore steel-toed boots. Her hair was dark brown and pulled back behind her with a white scrunchy. Her small round face beamed at me, wanting recognition.
“You sat with Simon during lunch.”
“Yes.”
I searched my mind, wondering if she had been one of the children in the room with the zombies. I believe she was, but I couldn’t question her about it or I would give myself away. They might be looking for me.
“Hannah? Why is there a zombie hanging in the hallway?”
“That’s Peter Kelly.”
“You know it, I mean him?”
Hannah’s expression altered to wide-eyed amazement. “He was bad. They warned him not to be out after curfew and he left.”
“He left?”
“Yes! He sneaked out to meet with his fiancee Rhonda Hillson. They were lovers.”
Her cavalier attitude took me by surprise. I appraised her and believed her to be roughly twelve years old. What did she know about lovers? Maybe they were stealing kisses.
Hannah continued with both dread and excitement etched into her face. “It happened last week. They didn’t like it here and Rhonda’s mom was leaving and taking her away. Peter sneaked out to go with them. They were hiding in this old house surrounded by zombies. When the guards found them a day later, Silvia, that’s Rhonda’s mother, she had bitten this huge chunk out of Peter and was eating Rhonda’s leg. Poor thing, they had to shoot her in the head.”
“Oh my god!”
“It’s all true. They killed four zombies in the basement of the house. Peter turned the next day and they killed him.”
“Wh-wh-why would they hang him in the hall like that?”
Hannah’s shocked face was for me, not Peter. “You can’t leave here, zombies will get you. This is our home now, not out there with zombies.”
“You’re children, Hannah, how could they do that to children?”
She puffed up her chest and stared at me. “I’m not a child. I’m the world’s future.”
This wasn’t going anywhere. She may not be old enough to understand the concept of a dead zombie hanging in a boys’ dormitory, dripping into a pan. How could they pass by that every day?
“That is not a good lesson to teach children. Zombies are everywhere. They could have just said that.”
The little girl puffed up again. “We’re not children, we’re the future. I killed a zombie, more than one.”
“What?”
“My brother, he was a zombie. I killed him.”
“What!” I knew my voice went high and cracked, I couldn’t help it. Her words floored me.
“It’s okay,” she tried comforting me. “He wasn’t my brother anymore. He was trying to eat me.”
Hannah said it with attitude, like I had no sense of why she would kill her own brother. There was also a mixture of pride in her tale. She had accomplished something extraordinary in her short life. Her face made it clear she was gearing up for another tale of horror. I sprang into action. I couldn’t tell if she truly was one of the children I had seen earlier and frankly didn’t want to know. “Where can I find Simon?”
“Follow me.”
“Okey dokey.”
She ogled me. I thought I might lighten the mood, I was wrong. Her small hazel eyes flicked back and forth, scanning my face. She turned back around and continued walking without further comment. It was strange, this place was strange. She led me and never dropped the confused expression she held. We went around a corner, down a hall, and around another corner before coming to a door. Hannah knocked in rhythmic fashion. The door flew open and Simon came into view.
“Hey, Zee.”
“Hey, Simon. You up for a visit?”
“Yeah, come on in.”
“I’ll see you later, Simon.”
“See you, Hannah. Thanks for bringing Zee.”
“Un-huh,” she waved bye to Simon and gawked at me before leaving.
“Nice girl.”
“Yeah, she is.”
Now that we were alone, I hugged him again. “Sorry, I can’t help it. I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”