“Great,” Alex said, as he went back to petting Shadow. “Have fun.”
“Um ... okay.” David started out the door, then stopped. “Alex?”
Alex sighed. He really did not want to hear more from the Jared fan-club. “What?”
“Um ...” David said.
Though he wasn’t looking, Alex pictured him glancing awkwardly around the room, avoiding eye contact.
“Pretty soon, I’m gonna set up the SPLICER! It’s finished. I figured, once the dead guys from outside are gone, it would be a good time to get it set up, especially if no more show up.”
“Is Jared helping you with that, too?” Alex asked, still refusing to look at him.
“I dunno. He’s pretty busy, so I didn’t really ask him. But yeah ... I figure it’s probably a two-person job anyways, so, yeah ... if you wanna help with it? You know ... since you helped me with the plans.”
Alex finally looked at him and saw something like sincerity in his face. “Sure, yeah. I can help.” He smiled. “I wanna see if it works as good as you said it would.”
“Oh, it will,” David said, with a grin. “We kinda tested it, but only at, like, half the strength. I’ll put it up to full blast, so that when a mudman ... er, dead guy comes at it—WHAM!”
Alex smiled, excited about the possibilities. “After lunch?”
“Oh.” David looked like he was lost for words. “After lunch, me and Jared—”
Alex sighed and nodded. “Maybe after that, then.” He sat back on the floor with Shadow. He didn’t watch David leave.
After Alex ate his own lunch—a bowl of cereal and half a can of peas and carrots—he took a plate of canned ham to Shadow. She quickly lapped it up; evidently, she didn’t understand the value of rationing. He took the same meal he had eaten into Kyle’s room. Since they had found him, he and Nicole had split duty on bringing the dazed boy food and checking in on him.
Kyle hadn’t had any more outbursts, or attacked anyone again, but he didn’t react much to anyone at all. If they left some food behind, he would eat it. When they came back, they usually found the bowls or plates destroyed, and some of the food splattered on the walls and floor. No one was really sure why. Kyle was just ... different.
Alex remembered once when he was at his grandmother’s house, he saw a cat run under her back patio. When he tried to call the cat out, it hissed and screamed at him even when he offered it food.
“What’s wrong with your cat, Gramma?”
“It’s not my cat,” she replied, helping him to his feet.
“Well, whose cat is it?”
“No one’s.”
He didn’t understand. Someone had to own it. “What’s wrong with it? Why won’t it eat?”
“It’s just her way,” his grandmother answered. “She won’t come out unless she wants to. Not even for me, and I’ve been feeding her for months.”
“Why do you feed her, Gramma? Maybe she’ll get fed by whoever owns her.”
She smiled at him. “No one would feed her, honey. She’s feral. She takes care of herself because no one else does. Now, come on inside. She won’t eat if anybody’s watching.” She led him inside and gave him a meal, and he quickly forgot all about the cat under the patio. Until now.
“What’s wrong with him? Is he sick or just dumb or what?”
Jared was standing in the doorway.
“There’s nothing wrong with him,” Alex answered, with disdain. “It’s just his way.”
“Yeah, well, what else is his way?” Jared asked, entering the room. “If he’s just eating and sitting around while the rest of us do stuff—well, not all of us.” He smiled at Alex as passed him. “That’s just not fair, is it?”
Alex watched him approach the small, seemingly-vacant boy.
“What are you doing?” he asked, as Jared stood over Kyle.
“I’m just gonna talk to him.”
“He can’t talk.” Alex wondered if this was just Jared messing with him more, or messing with Kyle, or just plain ignorant.
“Of course he can talk!” Jared laughed. “He’s not a friggin’ baby!” He nudged Kyle with his foot. “Hey! Hey kid! What’s up? You can talk, right? You’re not retarded, right? Or are you?”
Kyle did nothing. Jared shoved him a little harder.
“Knock it off!” Alex said, grabbing Jared’s shoulder. When Jared stared back at him, he realized it was the first time he had ever stood up to the bully.
“Fuck off, Alec,” Jared said, pushing him away. “You shouldn’t mommy him like this. I know you don’t have a lot of experience with moms, but still.”
Alex didn’t know what to do. He could stand up to Jared, but it might not have any effect other than getting shoved around some more.
Jared nudged Kyle much harder—bordering on a kick. “Come on, kid. Stop fakin’!” He kicked again. “Stop being—”
The words caught in his throat as Kyle suddenly leapt on top of him. Alex almost couldn’t believe his eyes. After the briefest flash on Kyle’s face—like he finally noticed something was happening—he was in the air, then on the ground with Jared between him and the tile. He screamed into Jared’s face, clawing at him.
Kyle’s face was pure rage. Jared’s face was nothing but fear.
“Get him off! Get him off! Jesus Christ, get him off!”
Alex took a step forward, his instinct to help taking over, but he stopped himself. Looking at Jared—the boy who had caused him so many problems over his life—lying on the floor, totally at the mercy of a boy less than half his size, he realized there was no rush. Kyle wouldn’t actually hurt Jared, just scare the crap out of him. Alex smiled, hoping that Jared would wet his pants or at least cry.
“Alex! Jesus Christ! Get him off me!”
That was long enough. He
