Dog Eat Dog, page 10
Patrick had never been the kind blessed with the opportunity to even slightly experience anything remotely related to familiar bonding or parental affection. He was born to a woman by the name of Starla, and that was all that he knew about his family really; other than the fact that she had given birth to many other children by several other men. Also, that he was a luckier member of the canon of her extensive litter, because his siblings were apparently subjected to many horrors shortly after being born, that he thankfully never had to endure. Patrick’s social worker had told him that his mother had thrown herself down the stairs when she realized she was going into labor with his older sister, then tried to drown one of his brothers, and the brother after him was born addicted to crack cocaine. But, that was not even the worst part; she placed him on top of a radiator after bringing him home, leaving him there to starve. Thankfully, one of her neighbors at the trailer park she lived in heard a baby crying and knew that Starla was not home. So she called the authorities who had him swiftly removed from her care. This horrible occurrence, fortunately, led to Starla being mandated to give Patrick up for adoption as soon as he was born, so she never had the chance to do anything like that to him. He also took solace in the fact that he found out from his maternal grandmother, he tracked down before she passed away, that she had made the doctors aware of his mothers past less than stellar record of child care. So they were more than happy to do her bidding when she asked them to tie Starla’s tubes without her knowledge. Patrick, knowing the track record of many of these types of procedures, hoped that hers would hold until such a time as menopause would take over and she would never be able to bear another child ever again. If only, the effects of her bad parenting had stopped with her no longer being a part of their lives. But unfortunately, this was not the case. Many of his siblings followed her path and got into doing really hard drugs and even more unspeakable and dangerous ways of life, or to support their habit. Not to mention, they’re fragile and broken states of mind led to his older sister and brother believing they had fallen in love somehow and running off to Arkansas to get married because it is the only place in the United States where that sort of thing is still legal.
This was all too much for him to carry for someone so young, and he would have been the first to admit it. He figured this was why he acted out so much in school, getting in trouble on purpose so that he could sit in detention and concentrate on his studies. Another reason he liked detention these days was the fact that Evelyn was there now. All of the other teachers were so boring and on engaging. They did not seem to care if you were actually learning or if the material was advanced enough for you. Before everyone came along, he had become bored and complacent in his work because it was too easy. There was nothing to challenge him or give him a reason to be passionate about the work he was being required to do. But there was something about her passion and her love for them that was infectious. She seemed to carry this desire to see all of them not only succeed but thrive to their fullest potential. She also treated them all with respect, as if they were her equals in maturity and intellect, challenging them not only academically but personally to not only do better but to be better people. Patrick figured this was why all of them loved her so much. They genuinely loved her, and they knew she loved them. He knew it was the same love that gave her purpose and propelled her to continue her quest to mother them and preserve their survival; as any true mother would. This brought to mind the saying, ‘it takes a truly special caliber of person to raise another’s children as their own.’ And, Evelyn most certainly was a special kind of person and more of a mother to them then he was sure any of them had ever had. Particularly, him.
Patrick became even more certain that he needed to be the strong one for her now since the sudden and tragic loss of Daniel. He knew that it must have been hitting everyone 10 times harder than it was any of them, even though it was impacting every one of them pretty deeply in its own way. They all, especially him, have lost a big brother figure that could rival any brother that ever lived. But Evelyn had lost a son, and he knew that pain would be the biggest hurdle she would have to overcome yet. He wished there was more that he could do to comfort her and ease the pain that she felt. But he was aware, even in his young mind, that the only thing there was for him to do was show her just how much she had done for them by allowing whatever life he had left to stand as a testament to all of her love and hard work. This would be the only way to prove to Evelyn just how much she had not failed all of them, and he would, through his actions and example, encourage the others around him to do the same. And, he knew that it would not require much effort.
Patrick meandered closer to the group as some of them leaned tiredly up against the side of the bus.
“How are you holding up, honey?” asked Beth, in a soft and mothering tone as she gently stroked the stray locks of fading aquamarine hair from his pale, delicate features, that had been dirtied and hardened by battle weariness.
“As well as can be expected, I suppose,” replied Patrick, in his usual matter of fact, articulate manner. “How are you holding up? I know the two of you were kind of close.” Patrick tried to comfort her the only way he knew how.
“We all were, Patrick. We all were,” Beth said, and Patrick saw the collective nod from the rest of the group. They were all truly a family experiencing a loss, and he thought that they were all dealing with it like troopers, himself included. Even though, maybe not quite as well as the others, if he really wanted to be completely honest with himself.
“Well, even though, none of us really feel like doing this right now, but we need to make the most of this downtime and see if there are any supplies to be collected from any of these stores and outlying buildings,” Patrick informed them.
Darren looked up from where he knelt to show that he was also paying attention to what Patrick was telling all of them. “I am almost done here, if you want, Casey and I can hit the convenience store,” he offered.
“I can take this from here, if you want to go ahead and get started on that,” Will said to Darren as he continued to pump gas into their reserve gas cans.
“Well, you still need someone to…” Darren was stopped short in his words by Patrick, who stated, “I have a better idea. Stephanie, since you are the youngest, why don’t you stay here with the doctor, and Darren and Beth go check out the gun shop. Casey and I will go through the convenience store, then we can meet up at the pharmacy,”
“Why can’t Casey and I go together?” Darren asked, confused as he gathered his things from the ground in preparation to move out for his task.
“Because it is better for everyone that way,” Patrick answered in a very even non-confrontational tone.
“How is that better for everyone? I want to go with Casey,” Darren urged, further.
“Why? What’s wrong with me?” Beth inquired, moving in closer.
“Nothing, it’s just…” Darren began trying to come up with a reason to justify his need for it to specifically be Casey, without completely giving away his intentions.
“We all know what it is, Darren, and that’s why we think it is the best for Beth to go with you instead,” Patrick instructed him.
“‘We’ all know how it is, how is it then? And, what is all of this ‘we’ business?” Darren’s voice took on a slight hostility.
“The ‘we’ is all of us, in case you have forgotten, and you two have proven that you cannot be trusted not to put us all at risk because you pay more attention to your hormones than your surroundings,” Patrick countered, his voice still calm but firm, and his stance became more stable and his posture more upright. Like a brick wall being erected to keep out foes.
“Hey, don’t talk to him like that; that isn’t fair!” Exclaimed Casey, coming to Darren’s defense and his side. “That was just one time, and if we hadn’t taken so long, we wouldn’t have been there when that lady came along,” she justified for herself as well.
“Yeah, tell me again how that was a good thing, Casey. Because we had to compromise our defenses to let you all in, and if we hadn’t had to do that the doors wouldn’t have been breached and we could have stayed there until they could come get us,” Patrick exposited in a scolding tone of voice.
“So what are you saying, pipsqueak?” exploded Darren, stepping forward as if to protect Casey. “Are you saying it’s our fault Daniel is dead? Huh?”
“Well, you said it, not him,” Beth added, stepping in between him and Patrick in a protective gesture of her own.
“Fuck you, Beth! Fuck you!” Darren shouted, pointing his finger in Beth and Patrick’s face, spit flying from his mouth and spattering their skin as it did.
“Hey, hey, hey!” Will shouted, running up and getting in the middle of the cluster. “Stop this, stop it this instant! We don’t have time for this. I know I am still a bit of an outsider, having only just become a part of your little clan… tribe… or whatever. But I understand what it’s like to lose someone very close to me, and the worse thing you can do right now is blame yourselves and each other. This is the time you need one another the most. If anything, it will prove to all of you just how strong of a family and team that you are,” Will urged all of them, doing his best to catch a glimpse of each of their eyes to be certain they were absorbing the message he was trying to get across to them.
The teens calmed down, and the atmosphere that settled around them lost its intensity.
“He’s right, you guys, Daniel wouldn’t want to see us all fighting like this. If we let his sacrifice tear us apart, then it will have all been for nothing,” Stephanie piped up unexpectedly after what seemed like a long period of silence. “Now everybody listen to Patrick, so we can hurry up and get out of here before they figure out we’re here,” Stephanie urged firmly like a mother hen. The group stood silent, stunned as the fact they had never known Stephanie to behave so sternly, considering she was the youngest and quietest of the whole bunch, usually. Especially, since the trauma of losing their brother, she had been exceedingly quiet due to the shock.
“Alright then, Casey, you’re coming with me, and Darren you and Beth take the gun shop. We will all meet up at the pharmacy,” Patrick instructed, once again.
They all gathered their weapons and their backpacks and disburse themselves throughout the small hamlet to make quick work of their scavenger hunt for much-needed supplies.
Darren and Beth made their way to the small gun and pawn shop that was a short distance from the gas station, being sure to keep themselves in view of the others as much as possible just in case anything were to happen because of dogs they may not be aware of right now.
They found the front doors to be unlocked. They figured this was because the previous proprietors of the shop had left in too much of a hurry to lock the doors behind them. But collective observation was that there would not really have been much of a point in locking the doors considering the condition of the world outside at the time. Even now, for that matter. At least it made less of an ordeal for them to be able to get in and take what they needed without the trouble of busting windows and alerting any neighboring dog packs to their presence.
Darren was also grateful that Beth had been chosen to be his scavenging partner, considering her background as a self-proclaimed country girl. Even though he would have much rather been on this little excursion with Casey because it would be the perfect opportunity for them to get some quality time alone together away from the prying eyes of the others. But at least he was partnered with someone with an extensive knowledge of firearms. He watched her intensely as she made her way through each case, clearing them out one by one, and he followed suit so that their work would go by quicker.
“Hey once we get all of these on the bus, I’ll go through each one and assign each person their correct firearm. And, if we have a chance for another stop, I think it would be a good idea to show some of you newbies how to use these things,” Beth said as she began to load boxes of ammunition into another empty backpack she had waiting on hand.
“I think we can pretty much figure it out, Beth,” Darren retorted. “You just aim and shoot, right? How hard can it be?”
“Well, it’s much more effective when you can actually hit what you’re shooting at. And, you pussies, I’m sure, have never had to deal with the kickback on some of these bad boys,” Beth said, punctuating her words with the snap of a slide as she chambered a round in the Glock nine millimeter she then stuffed into the back of her belt.
“Point taken,” Darren replied, with an obvious expression of respect after she had thoroughly impressed him once again with an effortless show of her advanced skill set. He wondered at times if Beth knew how much of a badass she truly was, or if it was the fact that all of this resource full Ness came so naturally to her that made her so sexy. This also caused him to wonder if he would have a chance with her if things didn’t work out with him and Casey. But someone like Beth was a little out of his league, even though she was a bit younger than him in age. He knew that she very well surpassed him in intellect and maturity.
Once they had cleaned enough of the necessary inventory from the front of the store, they noticed that there was a curtain that stood in a doorway leading to another room. Beth motioned for Darren to follow her, she handed him a pistol and told him in her type of sign language to be at the ready to cover her if need be. Darren watched how she held her handgun and did the same as they made their passage into the shadow-filled wood-paneled room that was only lit by snatches of midday sunlight that peeped through dirty windows high up in the walls of the small confines of the back room. It appeared to be an office and storage for inventory overflow all rolled up into one. It gave them the idea that the storefront and this room were the only two rooms in the building except for another doorless passageway that opened to the landing of a small flight of stairs that lead into what they could only imagine was an apartment over the store. Which was not uncommon for small towns such as these that look to conserve as much residential space as possible.
The two teams crept up the creaking old wooden steps as carefully and quietly as they could Beth got to the top of the landing first and jiggled the doorknob. She threw Darren a glance that he couldn’t quite decipher, but he figured it meant she was happy about the fact that she found it to be unlocked. Darren gave her a thumbs up as a way to encourage her to try opening the door this time, and he gestured with his newly acquired firearm that he was ready to cover her against any foe that might be on the other side. Beth reached for the door once again but it flung open, the knob being jerked from her hand, and it was then that she and Darren found themselves in a standoff with something they had not quite expected at all.
A tall one-armed man aiming a double-barreled shotgun right in their terrified faces.
The air was still quiet and somewhat peaceful. The heat from the high and very bright midday sun was being pleasantly cut by a slight cool breeze that came down from the distant grayish blue mountains on the horizon. Evelyn hoped that it was the foreshadowing of something she missed very much and had not seen in a long while, rain. She knew that would be a much-welcomed change in the pace of their journey that was filled with many days riding in the old school bus through the hot unpredictable Colorado scenery, and it didn’t help that the air conditioner had decided to crap out on the way.
“This is kind of nice, you know, just being able to sit here for a change,” Will said to Evelyn as he took a seat on the entrance steps of the bus.
Evelyn tilted her head and opened one eye to look at him as she previously had them closed while she was savoring the soft caress of the breeze on her face.
“Yeah, it really is, but we better enjoy it while we can. I have a feeling it won’t be this peaceful for long, and we’ll be back to running again,” Evelyn replied.
“True. Maybe we should think about stopping here for the night. I mean, we could probably hold out in one of these buildings and at least get some kind of a break.” Will looked around and scratched at the growing sandy stubble on his chin and jawline.
Evelyn thought for a moment as she observed their currently tranquil surroundings. “Yeah, that may not be a bad…” her voice did not even get the chance to trail off into the wind as the air was suddenly filled with the loud sound of gunfire as well as the barking of dogs and cries of her remaining children.
Both Evelyn and Will knew the same thought ran through their minds simultaneously as they looked into each others bewildered and terrified eyes. Will quickly got up from the steps practically crawling into the driver’s seat, and Evelyn was not far behind. The bus peeled out of the parking lot and into the street before Will could even close the doors properly. They both alternated searching glances out of either set of windows, hoping for a sight of their group, alive.
“There they are! There they are!” Cried Stephanie, jumping up and down on her knees in her seat. The commotion from the gunfire and the jostling from the moving bus had woken her from her nap. Evelyn rushed to the window where Stephanie was peering out of, and sure enough, there they all were. It was like something out of a movie. All of their various sized figures surrounded by a cloud of smoke and the smell of gunpowder in the air wafted into the bus as it was carried on the breeze. Evelyn counted the heads of the small cluster of her children as they walked up to the bus. But something was off, there were five of them, and that was not including Stephanie who was still inside with her and Will. Once the smoke cleared, she realized that it had not been a wishful trick of her mind. There was actually a fifth figure walking amongst their motley crew. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with deepest wrinkles and a receding hairline of white hair that was a stark contrast to his complexion in the bright sun. He wore a tattered red flannel shirt and seemingly oversized denim overalls. Evelyn figured the reason they looked oversized was the fact he had probably not been eating very well considering he was probably living alone, either since before all of this started, or his family had suffered some sort of tragic demise due to this horrific situation. There was also another sign that told her it was most likely the latter rather than the former, his arms. He only had one, and she could only imagine why. Most likely it was because of his beloved family dog, or only companion that had been taken by this disease and nearly tried to take him. But luckily the man had the resourcefulness to cut off his own arm and cauterize the wound. Or maybe she was assuming too much, and it was from some previous injury. Perhaps, he was a war veteran.
