“Where do you want me to sit?” Vicki asked, standing beside the driver’s door.
“You will sit beside me,” Arthur said, managing to get his door open with two babies in his hands. “Beth, I need you to sit back with the boys. Boys, introduce yourselves,” Arthur said and Beth climbed over the seat to join them in the back.
Arthur laid Nicole in his seat and then took Lucas out of his shirt and Lucas let out a small cry to let everyone know, he wanted back where it was warm. “Wrap him in this,” Arthur told Shawn, handing the blanket and then Lucas over.
When Lucas was wrapped up, Shawn fed him the bottle and that made Lucas content.
Putting Nicole back into the baby sling, Arthur picked up Vicki and put her in the middle on the car seat. “How far?” Arthur asked, climbing in.
“Not far,” Vicki said. “I can’t go far and stay gone long because Robin starts crying and people hear it.”
Nodding as he started the engine, Arthur put the shifter in drive and pulled around the store. “Turn right here,” Vicki told him at the next road.
Pulling into a subdivision, Arthur noticed a few bodies lying around in yards and the road but then, he noticed there were dead birds also. “See that white sign? That’s the daycare,” Vicki said with a smile.
When Arthur stopped, Vicki looked at him with a serious face. “You won’t leave, will you?” she asked with a trembling lip.
Arthur turned off the Blazer and pulled the keys out. “I gave my word, little lady,” he smiled, reaching over and clipping the keys to her belt loop. He opened his door and let her out. “I don’t want to scare them, so we’ll wait here,” Arthur said, putting Vicki down.
When her feet touched the ground, Vicki took off running and Arthur held his AR across his body, looking around. The smell was harsh, but if he breathed through his mouth he could taste the smell of death and that was worse. Turning as Vicki reached the door, Arthur watched her knock in a code on the door.
When the door cracked open, Vicki pushed it open and ran inside. She soon came back out with a baby on her hip and holding the hand of a toddler, with seven-year-old Jodi following. Vicki ran around the front of the truck and stopped.
Taking the keys off her belt, “Guys, it’s going to be crowded, but just hang on,” Arthur said, reaching for the baby. The baby pulled away so Arthur just picked up Vicki and turned, lifting his seat up to help Vicki into the back.
He turned to see Robin, the toddler holding out her arms to him. Smiling as he picked her up, Arthur put her in the back and then watched Jodi climb in. “Won’t let me pick ‘em up, but will get in my ride,” Arthur chuckled.
Climbing in, Arthur cranked up, put the shifter in drive, and pulled off. Hearing a small burp, he looked over to see Shawn patting Lucas on the back. “That sounded wimpy,” Arthur chuckled, hearing Jodi whispering to Vicki.
Avoiding a body in the road, Arthur saw a nude woman standing in a yard. The woman’s face was emotionless as she watched him drive past, but did nothing else.
Taking the next turn that would take him out of the subdivision, Arthur kept his head on a swivel. “You are looking, right, boys?” he asked, seeing several people walking on a side street.
“Yes sir, people at nine o’clock,” Kirk said.
“A man at six o’clock riding a bike,” Pat called out and Arthur glanced in his mirror and saw a man peddling fast behind them to catch up.
“Hey, that’s the man who wanted my cat,” Vicki cried out and Arthur slammed on the brakes.
In one motion, Arthur shifted into park, grabbed the AR pistol grip and jumped out as the man started to stop as he yelled, “Give me those kids! They’re mine!”
Flipping the safety off, Arthur was already raising his AR up as the man reached for his waist. Arthur squeezed the trigger three times, watching the rounds impact across the man’s chest.
A pistol fell from the man’s hand as he fell over with the bike crashing hard on the road. Giving a glance around, Arthur saw a young woman looking at him and a few others further away. Calmly, Arthur strolled over and aimed the AR like a pistol with his right arm and shot the man in the face.
It wasn’t for dramatic Hollywood effect. The reason he’d aimed with one hand was Nicole was crying and his left was putting the pacifier in her mouth.
Spinning on his heel, Arthur pulled a magazine from the pouch on his belt. Ejecting the partial, he slapped the full one in as he continued looking around. He climbed in, letting the AR hang from the sling propped on the seat. “Worthless cocksucker wasn’t sick,” Arthur growled, putting the Blazer in gear.
“My mom would never let me have a cat,” Vicki said.
“Um, that’s not what the man-,” Shawn stopped as Arthur spoke.
“Shawn,” he snapped, patting Nicole with his left hand. “Not now, I’ll explain to her later. I’m mad enough as it is.”
“Sorry, sir,” Shawn mumbled.
“Shawn, you did nothing wrong. You did everything you could and people tried to hurt you. And that’s what has me pissed off like a madman,” Arthur growled. “Now people will know, screw with my kids and I’ll kill you, three of your best friends and your pet hamster.”
“Car, three o’clock,” Kirk announced and Arthur spotted a car speeding out of a parking lot to the main road. They heard the
