They Walk

Chapter Seventy Nine

Not even waiting for me to pull my crap together, Randy gets right to business by getting the tight nit group of the ‘it’ people here together. With us in the main room is now us, with Brady and Lauren. For some strange reason sitting here on the couch sandwiched between Dan and Gabe still, I’m reminded of the Collisee. And only because now that the initial freak out over getting here and getting my mom help has subdued somewhat, I can now hear the other people down here. There aren’t loud or anything like that, it’s more like a comforting background hum, like at the Collisee. You can’t see the people, but by just hearing them in the distance, you know they are there. And it gives me a sense of solace that we aren’t alone in all this.

Heavy, right?

Anyways, Randy has been deposited in a recliner for the last couple of minutes while Brady and Lauren got comfortable on the loveseat. They’ve all been staring at us, waiting. Waiting for us to tell how everything happened the way it did over the last week, and where the rest of our party is and how we got my parents back and found out about the bombs. I know we should jump right in and get it over with so we can get down to the bombs explanation, but for the life of me, I don’t know where to start.

Luckily for me, I wasn’t the only one there, Gabe was too.

With little help from me, he goes into the tale of how we got to the army base with Noah, and how we found a jackpot of weapons, ammo, and grenades. He tells how we finally made it to the Collisee, and how Sam got bit saving me and then killed himself before he turned. Hearing that again makes me feel guilt so strongly, that I feel sick to my stomach. It is my fault he’s gone now after all. But I try to not let it get to me, as Gabe continues none the wiser to my thoughts.

He tells how Claire and Noah found her mom, and his pregnant sister and boyfriend. He also mentions that we, meaning him and me both, couldn’t deal with the fact that my parents weren’t there. I notice that Dan now is the one to look guilty even though he doesn’t have a reason too. Alright so maybe does, not going with me in the first place, but it’s really not his fault.

And I definitely don’t blame him.

When Gabe goes on to tell about us getting together with just Noah, and heading for Bates, I’m grateful that he doesn’t mention Hunter. That is certainly something I don’t want to have to explain, least of all to my brother. Even if he understood, I still don’t really condone killing him. I’m not a monster after all.

Dan is sitting at the edge of his seat, when Gabe tells them about how we were only just searching the library when Noah found my parents and a small group of others. He mentions that we stayed the night, and had to find another car in the morning since we all wouldn’t fit in his and thankfully we all were back on the road to the Collisee. When Gabe tells of how we found the place scattered and in chaos, Randy is the one to move to the edge of his seat. He tells them how we found Claire with Hanna and the others, and that they inform us that the military there found out that the Country will be bombed in 48 hours.

Everyone is still quiet as Gabe continues, but I can tell that Randy really wants to interrupt about what the military said word for word. But instead, they wait and let Gabe go on to tell them that most people, Noah and Claire included, are heading for the nearest border for evacuation before the bombs hit. When Gabe is finally done, they are all still quiet and for a moment I think something is wrong, but I know nothing other than the obvious is, it was just a long story and it’s seems’ weird that this is the end. I know exactly how they feel.

Randy sighs and leans back into the recliner making it groan in response.

He raises his hands and buries his face in them, and then he is the one to groan, before he lowers them.

“You said the bombs are arriving sometime tomorrow didn’t you?”

Gabe tenses beside me, and he twines his fingers with mine.

I ignore the fact that his hands are sweaty and I cling to him.

“That’s right.”

Randy narrows his eyes at Gabe now, and leans forward so that his elbows are resting somewhat awkwardly on his knees.

“But you just said you were told the bombs were coming in forty eight hours. So what happened the other thirty or so hours?”

Gabe clears his throat and looks away so that he and I share our own little awkward look.

“On the way here we got stopped by a band of wannabe renegades, and they took us to the old Auburn High School down the road. When we escaped, that is when Karen was shot.”

They all make their own admonishments, and Randy just nods his head, like he figured something like that had happened. He doesn’t explain why he would think it, but we don’t ask either. Randy leans back in the recliner again with a pensive look on his face and I know he’s going over everything Gabe had said again in his head.

Everyone else is quiet still though, I included, and I’m not entirely sure where we go from here.

“Why did you come here instead of running for safety? It’s not like you guys knew we’d found better shelter. And what if you were to run out of time?” Dan asks in a soft frightened voice, breaking the silence.

I share a brief glace with Gabe, before searching out my brother. This question needs to be answered by me and no one else, since I am the reason for coming here after all. Dan is staring at his hands that are in his lap, and all I want in the world is to make him feel better. I don’t like seeing him so subdued and not his usual punk kid self.

“Daniel, I couldn’t just leave you and the others. It wouldn’t be the right thing to do. Besides, if we’re going to die wouldn’t it be better to do it with those you care about?”

He looks up at me then, and I see that he is smirking at me, and then is shifts to the grin I’ve come to hate and love from him over the years.

“Your and idiot, you know.”

I can’t help my own grin from forming and I think back to all the times I’ve jumped into a fight without thinking and how Gabe would always get mad at me. He too would call me an idiot, looks like its catching.

“I know.”

Dan just shakes his head for a moment and then he reaches out and pulls me close to him.

I latch onto him like he’s my lifeline, and feel so blessed to have him as my brother. When he tightens his hold on me, I remember the hug we shared before I ever left the apartments so long ago and I wonder if we can ever get to a place we were before all this. It’s nice to think so, but I won’t hold anyone to it that’s for sure. We pull apart at about the same time chuckling, and I swear I see Dan swiping at his eyes, must be dust.

Right.

I lean back in the seat of the couch and let out a deep breath that I really think I’ve been holding for a week since we left. Gabe shifts closer to me and drapes his arm over the back of the couch and my shoulder at the same time. Randy, finally have enough time to process everything, gets to his feet suddenly.

“We should get everyone together, because it seems we all have a decision to make.”

He walks right out of the room then and down the hallway to the left and disappearing from our sight. I wonder for half a second what he could mean by ‘decision’, and then I realize he means for us leaving for the border with the rest of the population. Why would he want that though? Are the tunnels not safe?

I guess there is only one way to find out.