A thump sounded from inside the house and Wendy yanked the pistol out, shoving the girls behind her. “We won’t hurt you,” Wendy called out. “I’m with kids and looking for food. We thought everyone inside was dead because of the smell.”
The thump turned into a patter that was closing in. Gripping the pistol tight, Wendy held it low while staring at the corner of the kitchen. All of a sudden, a naked boy toddler popped out from the hallway grinning. He was filthy, with feces down both legs and dried food over his face.
“Hey,” Wendy said, letting the pistol hang at her side. “Is your mom and daddy here?”
“Da,” the little boy said and took off.
“Girls, stay close,” Wendy said, following the boy around the corner. Going down a short hallway, Wendy stopped in the living room and saw the little boy standing beside the couch, smiling.
“Da,” he said, pointing at a corpse on the couch.
“Oh my God,” Wendy gulped. Holstering the pistol, she moved over to the boy and looked down at the dead man. “Where’s your mama?”
“Ma,” the boy said and took off for the stairs, running up them on all fours.
Wendy took off after him with the girls right behind her. Reaching the top of the stairs, Wendy saw the boy climb up on a bed and she ran into the room. She stopped as the boy curled up next to a dead woman. “Momma,” the boy said, smiling.
Stumbling back into the wall, Wendy could tell the mother had been dead longer than the father. “They’ve been dead over a week, how?” Wendy asked, panting and watching the toddler curl up next to the corpse.
Pushing off the wall, Wendy clapped her hands, “Come here,” Wendy said with a smile and the boy jumped and ran across the bed. Reaching the end, he leapt into the air and Wendy caught him while turning her body and pulling him to her side so he wouldn’t hit Ryan.
“Oh,” she said, jerking her face back at smelling the stench from the boy. As Ryan woke up, Wendy saw an open doorway and a bathroom inside. She took off to find anything to wipe the boy down and then remembered the swimming pool at the first house. Walking in the bathroom, Wendy stopped.
A huge garden tub sat in the floor and it was half full of water. “Wawa,” the boy pointed at the tub.
“He drank that?” Jo Ann asked in a tearful voice.
“Yes, that’s all he had,” Wendy said, putting the boy down. “Thankfully, his parents filled up the tub. It has steps so if he fell in, he could get out.”
Taking the baby pack holding Ryan off, Wendy passed Ryan to Sally. When Wendy turned around, the little boy was holding onto the metal handrail beside the steps. He bent over and used his hand to scoop up water to his mouth. Walking over, Wendy grabbed a rag and bent down to get it wet.
“Wawa,” the boy said, shaking his head and pointing at the rag.
“Jo Ann, pull out a bottle of water,” Wendy told her, moving to the boy. “Water,” Wendy said as Jo Ann held up the bottle and the boy smiled. Wendy started wiping him off as the twins moved over.
“I’m sorry,” Jo Ann cried out.
“What for?” Wendy asked, but didn’t stop wiping the boy off.
“I didn’t want to come inside,” Jo Ann whimpered.
Turning around, “Jo Ann, I didn’t either. If Sally hadn’t crawled in, we would’ve been getting the gas from the vehicles outside and then leaving,” Wendy admitted and then went back to washing the boy off.
With most of the dried feces off, Wendy picked him up. “Let’s get his stuff and see if we can find out his name.”
“It’s Noah,” Jo Ann said, wiping her eyes. “There were birthday invitations on the refrigerator.”
“Can you go get one and meet us in Noah’s room?” Wendy asked and Jo Ann took off running.
If Jo Ann hadn’t known the name, they would’ve found out since there was a sign on Noah’s bedroom door with his name. Toys covered the floor and Wendy saw several places where Noah had taken a dump.
Walking over to a dresser, Wendy grabbed a backpack diaper bag. Inside, she found some pull-ups. Opening the dresser, Wendy started grabbing clothes as Jo Ann ran back and held out a card.
Wendy took it reading, ‘Join us for Noah’s Second birthday. Cake and ice cream will be served’. The date was May fourteenth. “Can we have a birthday party for him?” Jo Ann asked with dried tear streaks still on her face.
“Yes, when we get home, Noah will have his party,” Wendy promised with a nod, shoving the card in the bag. Grabbing some shoes for Noah, Wendy led them out of the room. Seeing a picture of Noah as a baby with his mom and dad, Wendy took the picture off the wall and shoved it into the backpack.
Walking downstairs, Wendy saw a small table by the front door with a purse on it. She walked over and took the wallet out and opened it up and saw the mom’s license. Closing it, Wendy tossed it in the bag and then saw a wallet on the table. Not looking inside, Wendy tossed the wallet inside the diaper bag as well. Before she turned, Wendy noticed a key rack and grabbed the keys.
As Wendy walked out the back door with Noah in her arms, Noah looked at his house. “Momma, bye,” he said and kissed his palm and slung his hand out, throwing the kiss. Then Noah kissed his palm again throwing it out. “Bye Da,” he called out.
Tears were pouring out from Wendy’s eyes as she walked through the gate and Noah hugged her neck and kissed her cheek. Noah leaned back
