Ben was holed up in the attic of a condo about ten blocks away. He said he had taken out about two dozen zombies, but that close to a hundred were still out there. Ethan asked him if the zombies were heading back to the school.
They were not.
Ben went on to explain that he had rigged the steering wheel and gas pedal of the lawn mower so it continued moving down the street. Ben was happy to say that the zombies followed the bait. He’d watched as the machine led the undead two more blocks away before ramming into a curb.
Even then, the zombies continued to congregate around the lawnmower. The boombox was still going strong, which Ben proved by holding his walkie-talkie out towards the sound.
Q laughed when he heard the music. “That was a quality ghetto blaster, yo!” He high-fived Steve. “Tell him he’s got one more song after this. Then the CD will start over. Yeah, I put it on repeat.” He smirked. “Ask him if it’s grown on him yet.”
It had not.
Ben told Ethan that he was going to go silent, as there were zombies roaming nearby. John asked for the walkie-talkie at that point.
“This is John. You did good. Thank you. Wait over.” He stopped talking for a moment but kept the push-to-talk button pressed. “We’ll stand by to extract you when you’re ready. Over.”
“Thanks, John. Are you Actual? Over.”
John chuckled before answering. “Negative. I traded in my chest candy long ago, over.”
“Roger that. Will call in at oh-eight hundred. Over and out.”
The conversation fascinated Q. He was no stranger to slang but felt as lost as the rest of the group when it came to military jargon. He sidled closer when somebody else asked John about it.
“Actual? That just means senior officer,” John replied with an easy smile. He had retreated to his spot beside Melissa and had his arm protectively around her shoulder. “I told him that I am a civilian. Besides, Major Adams here was the one with all the chest candy.” He smiled at her.
She elbowed him playfully. “It’s Major Miller now, bub.”
Q didn’t think chest candy were boobs, and he tried not to look at Melissa’s chest. He lost interest and drifted away from that group, sitting at one of the far tables. Steve sat beside him.
An interesting thing happened just then, as the residents of the Ren experienced their first power surge. The lights dimmed and almost turned off for several seconds before power resumed. Rachel screamed like a banshee, yelling something like, “They’re in the lights!” It happened on the other side of the room from Q, so he really couldn’t see. Joe and Ethan rushed her out of the room anyway.
After a few minutes and a joke from Ern, the mood had lightened enough for the party to continue. Q and Steve sat at their table and watched people.
“Those two are getting together,” Q stated, lifting his chin towards Jack and Nat. They sat talking quietly at another table. “And that one is feeling left out,” Q added, nodding towards Christine, who sat with her family but only had eyes for the couple.
He scanned the room. The mood was positive. People were smiling, possibly for the fist time since the world had gone to shit.
For some reason it upset Q. At first, he couldn’t really place his feeling. Why should he be annoyed at the people around him? They had gone through a lot. Probably as much as he. Looking down at his hands, he saw that the cuts had mostly healed, although he found out how hard it was not to break scabs on cuts in the palms of your hands. He thought back to Angel. The poor girl really had had no clue and died a horrible death in the clutches of her own mother.
That was fucked up.
But then again, maybe it was better that she had been clueless. He’d known what happened to his parents, and that sucked.
Q paused at that thought. Mom. Dad.
They had done everything for him. They had worked hard to provide him a comfortable life. He had never had to get a job. Not like all the other kids his age at Verde Acres.
He always got what his heart desired. His parents put themselves into poverty while putting him into new kicks. They had also insisted on sending him to a Gringo school.
Q wasn’t blind. It was all meant to provide him with an opportunity. One that they’d never had. They had literally sacrificed their lives so that he could just possibly have a future.
And what had he done? Bitch and complain about his clothes. Ask for more pocket money. Skip school.
They’d given him unconditional love and he’d repaid them with resentment and rebellion.
And now they were gone.
No. Worse. They’re fucking zombies. And you ran away from them.
“Huh?” Q snapped back to reality as he felt a hand on his own. He looked down, then over at Rosa. She had come over to sit beside him. Her expression was full of concern.
At that moment, Q realized that he had been crying. He extricated his hand from Rosa’s and wiped his cheeks.
“I’m all right.” The excuse sounded weak.
“Hey.” Rosa waited until Q met her eyes. “None of us are ‘all right.’ But that’s OK. We’re going to get through this, together.” She nodded, conviction plain on her face.
Q half-heartedly smiled. “You really think so, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
He sighed and dropped his gaze to his feet. After a long moment, he looked back at Rosa. “You know what I want to do? I want to go back home and”—he swallowed hard—“and take care of my parents.”
Rosa nodded in understanding.
“Hey,” Steve piped up. The boy had been there for the entire episode. His expression was serious. “I wonder if my dad is still alive.”
