Part 9 (1/2)

”Well we've talked about it while you two were out. If you don't mind we would like to get the h.e.l.l out of this place. Sometimes it's nice to change things up a bit.”

”I have no problem with you coming with us,” Guillermo stated as he looked around at the others.

Bradley agreed. There was power in numbers, and he knew they needed all the power they could find. Roger remained silent as usual. He just listened, giving no sign of what he was thinking about.

The group settled in for the night. There was no need to discuss plans anymore. All they had to do was make it from where they were now to the boy's ”safe house” and everything would be fine. This boy was just a short distance from here, and he had better food and running water.

Early the next morning, Bradley was awoken by Deacon, who seemed concerned. Bradley looked around the attic as his eyes adjusted. Still half asleep, he wasn't entirely sure of what was happening. His arm was asleep from where Emalynn had slept on it. He gently moved her off of him, hoping not to wake her.

”What's the problem?” Bradley asked, looking up at Deacon.

”Your boy Rod'jah seems to have gone downstairs. The attic door is open and he seems to be the only one of us that is no longer here.”

”Ok. Did you go looking for him downstairs? Maybe he is just getting some fresh air.”

”No, I just noticed the door was open. Figured I'd wake you first. Everything seems quiet down below right now though.”

”I'll go look for him. Get some rest,” Bradley climbed up to his feet, rotated his arm to circulate some blood, pulled his shoes on, and quietly made his way down the stairs leading out of the attic. The house below was as quiet as death. No sound could be heard.

The front door was wide open. The sun had not come up yet, but its light could be seen in the sky. Bradley stepped through confidently and looked around. There was no sign of anything. The neighborhood was empty. Roger couldn't be seen from the front yard, so he walked through the house and out to the back. It still felt great to just walk through the gra.s.s again.

Peeking over the fence, he could see there was nothing in the streets to the south of them either. Bradley began to think that this would be the perfect time to move out. He continued to watch, it would be nice to lie in the gra.s.s and watch the sun come up. That would have to wait, however, as he felt now was the time to leave. Looking around one last time for Roger, he turned and walked back into the house. Pulling the attic door shut behind once he made it back.

”I think now is the time. Get everyone up and ready,” he said to Deacon as he pulled the door shut.

The group took several minutes to wake up. Bradley debated on whether or not they should eat before deciding that a very light breakfast would be fine. He knew there was a chance they would need as much energy as possible.

”Excuse me, sir,” Andy said as he tugged on Deacon's pant leg. ”I can't find Herbert, and he was really excited about coming with us.”

”What happened to Herbert, honey?” Sophia asked Deacon rhetorically. The look she gave him could make even the toughest man cry.

Deacon only responded by picking up a piece of shredded meat with his fingers and stuffing it in his mouth. By the time everyone was packed up and ready the sun was coming up over the hills to the east. They were all glad to be outside once again.

With the town being this clear, it was time to move. Bradley nodded as if to say, ”Time to go,” and they set out into the street. Sophia turned back to see her home one last time. They had cleaned a couple rabbits , and a few cats, to bring with them, the rest were set free before setting out. Even Amie let Princess s.h.i.+rley go so she could be with her friends.

Bradley felt bad about leaving Roger even though he knew that Roger had left them. They were so close to making it somewhere safe. A small victory. Perhaps that isn't what Roger wanted. There was no time to wait around hoping for his return. If he wants to find them he will know where they went. He knew the plan.

The sky was becoming brighter as they crossed into the yards on the other side of the street. The lack of fiends almost made Bradley more nervous. He had been watching them move around in the streets for long enough to know that there was always one or two out there, but today there was nothing. Perhaps Roger had led them away, whether intentionally or not.

He could not allow the thoughts to linger. Images of Roger flooded into his mind. The man lay in the street, bones broken, back torn open to reveal his mangled spine. What remained of the fiends wandering off with fresh blood down the front of them, chewing on a kidney, or perhaps a lung.

Bradley shook the thoughts aside and focused on now. There were people relying on him to deliver them to safety. He can't let anything happen to them.

They moved along the sidewalk for a few blocks. Bradley, Guillermo, and the children walked along one side, while Deacon and Sophia walked the other. Guns were not usually the first weapon of choice for Bradley, as the noise attracted other fiends, but the calm streets did not sit well with him. Both handguns were out and ready to fire. Guillermo also had the handgun he received from Jonathan.

”That is it. Just up there,” Guillermo pointed to a house at the end of the street several blocks away. Across the street from the safe house sat a dirty blue station wagon. Guillermo knew most of this area pretty well.

Roger appeared down one of the side streets heading toward the west side of town. He was barely able to run, and he could hardly breathe. ”Help!” he yelled, waving his arms in the air.

”Guillermo, get the others to the safe house. I'll catch up,” Bradley ordered before running off to help Roger.

”Si. I'll come back for you when everyone else is safe,” Turning to Emalynn he said, ”Everything will be ok. Just stick with me, senorita, and I'll come back out for him. Now help me get the little ones to safety.”

Guillermo and the others sped up to a jog. The road in front of them was still clear, and they could see Jonathan at the top of the wall. He pushed the taller of the ladders over to the other side as they approached. It made a soft thud as it hit the small patch of gra.s.s between his ma.s.sive wall and the sidewalk.

After the long jog, Sophia climbed up the ladder as she made it to the wall first. Deacon stayed at the bottom to help the others. He stood ready as Guillermo approached with the children.

Guillermo pushed Amie and Andy up the ladder first. Sophia helped them make their way down the other side, and Jonathan helped them off the ladder. He turned around to wave Tyson along, but noticed that Tyson was not behind him. Instead, he was seen briefly before he turned the corner and ran toward Bradley and Roger.

”Tyson!” Guillermo yelled. ”I'll help them, you get back here and over the wall,” He tried to run after the kid who was already turning down the side street Roger was seen on. Before he could, however, he was grabbed by a fiend and dragged to the ground. He kicked his way free, only to stand up into another one.

Several blocks down and around the corner, Bradley reached Roger, who was limping; a horde of fiends was close behind. The shuffling of their feet, some with shoes, others bare, could be heard as loud as their mournful cries. The sight of them was horribly amazing. Roger had managed to attract every fiend for several blocks.

He lifted Roger's arm up over his shoulders to support the man and said, ”Let's get you to safety.” Their eyes met, Roger's hard panting slowed to a normal breath. Bradley could see something sinister in the man's face. A disturbing lack of humanity peered back at him with a fiery intensity.

Roger stopped moving and stood up straight, the horde closing in. With a quick motion he drove the carved hook of his desk leg through Bradley's left knee. The knee cap shattered with a gruesome cracking sound. The hook tore through the ligaments and stuck out form the back.

Bradley let out a scream as the pain in his knee exploded through his body. His knee wouldn't bend at first; Rogers hook prevented it from doing so. He fell to the ground hard on the other knee. His left leg stuck straight out behind him.

”I lost everything,” Roger calmly said as he looked down at Bradley who had sweat running down his face from the pain. ”I won't be the only one to lose it all and watch as everyone else finds new life in this desolation. You think I don't know that you want to rub it in MY face that YOU found love?” Roger's temper flared up the more he spoke.

The sound of shoes slapping the concrete caused Roger to turn in time to see Tyson running at him. The boy slammed into Roger with all his strength, knocking him to the ground a few feet from Bradley.

Tyson stepped over to Bradley, and without any warning he pulled the hooked end of the desk leg from his knee. For an instant, Bradley felt nothing. His ears rang loudly and the world spun before him for what seemed an eternity. When the pain finally rushed to his head, Bradley gritted his teeth and m.u.f.fled his scream.

The fiends were closing in on them quickly. Their moans and shuffles grew louder. ”If you get up now we can make it to the others,” Tyson said in a demanding tone. The fiends moved in closer with each pa.s.sing second.

”Just go!” shouted Bradley, who was consumed by the pain, and he signaled for Tyson to leave him.

Tyson shook his head in protest and continued to pull the injured Bradley to his feet. Surprise and pain battled at once to take control of Tyson, who dropped Bradley. Blood poured from the boy's stomach. A look of confusion and sadness crossed his young face. Roger's hook protruded from Tysons stomach as he dropped to his knees in the middle of the street.

”I'm sorry boy,” Roger said with sympathy in his voice that was genuine yet brief. ”But you did this to yourself. You can't meddle in grown up business.” He turned up the street and ran out of sight around the corner.

Bradley no longer felt his own pain. Rage fueled his body, and adrenaline did the rest. He stood and lifted Tyson up in his arms. The boy's laborious breathing was raspy and shallow. Bradley moved as quickly as he could, but they were still a block away from rounding the corner that would put them on the street to the safe house.

Grinding from his knee could be heard with each strenuous step he took, but he was not going to leave this boy to die here. He came around the corner to see Guillermo helping Roger toward the ladder. Emalynn stood on top of the wall screaming and waving to him. He couldn't see Roger's face, but he knew the man must have been shocked to see them still alive.

He was grabbed by his hair and s.h.i.+rt. ”I'm so sorry,” he said to Tyson as they were pulled to the ground. Bradley still tried to move forward. ”You are a hero for coming back for me, and I failed you by not bringing you to safety.” The fiends punched and kicked at him as they started their brutal a.s.sault.

Tyson put a b.l.o.o.d.y hand on Bradley's cheek and smiled through the pain. The boy's own face was covered in blood mixed with tears, but he didn't cry because of the pain. He knew his life was coming to a painful end. His mouth moved, but the only sound was a raspy gargle. Their eyes locked onto each other's as neither wanted to see what was about to happen.

The pain in Bradley's knee was nothing compared to the first bite to his shoulder. It felt as though it was ripped open and the wound was set on fire. Tyson was pulled from his hands and quickly lost in the horde before Bradley had the chance to react. His m.u.f.fled screams caused Bradley more pain then he had ever felt before. He didn't even try to hold back his sobs as he began to cry for the boy.

Emalynn could be seen as if Bradley was looking at her through gaps in a wall. Beautiful rays of light through a picket fence of disease. She made an attempt to run to him. Guillermo, whose s.h.i.+rt was torn and b.l.o.o.d.y from his own encounters, quickly grabbed her around the waist and carried her up the ladder as she kicked and pleaded to be set free.

Roger took one more look at what he had done before dropping down the other side of the wall. He knew he had made a terrible mistake. A year's worth of building anger and jealousy turned him into a monster no better than the ones roaming the streets. Not only did he kill a good man, but he murdered an innocent child. He turned as tears filled his eyes.