“You two are cute together,” James said, breaking the awkward moment of silence. “Did you meet her during the crisis?”
I shook my head, “Na. Grew up together, but I didn’t ask her out until a few weeks before the initial contamination. Her family was killed while the town was being evacuated.”
“What about your family?” He asked.
I shrugged my shoulders, “They should be fine, as far as I know anyway. They all got out and made it to safety. Well, all but one of my brothers, but I haven’t heard anything from him.”
“Must be nice,” he said. “My family was part of the beginning, the start of the contamination. My little sister, she was five years younger than me, so twelve, was walking home from school with my father one day. One of the first contaminated came up and bit her right on the arm. My father beat the living shit out of it, punching it until his knuckles were torn and bloody. Unfortunately, that is how he became contaminated.
“When they got home, they were already showing signs of change,” he said, wiping a bit of snot coming from his nose with his sleeve. “It was nothing super noticeable, just as if they were sick. You know, a paleness combined with a sweaty face and high fever. The eyes weren’t yet yellow, but I’m sure that would have happened sooner than later,” I noticed that his voice had been getting deeper as he told the tale. “The military showed up shortly after. They wanted to take my father and sister away to a camp for research, like the ones that I told you about on the forum, but my mother wasn’t having it. She argued with the military commander for nearly an hour, screaming her head off at him. I’ll give the man credit for keeping his cool during the whole conversation.
“Eventually the commander had heard enough. He ordered his men to take away my father and sister by force, but he did it while my mother was in the bathroom, or so he thought. You see, my mother had a mental disorder for panic attacks. She had a medicine to keep her calm, but sometimes just didn’t take it. Little did I know that she had been three weeks clean of the meds,” he took a deep breath, and exhaled very slowly, his breath stoking the flames of the fire.
“She came back with my father’s shotgun and fired on the soldier who was holding my sister. Blew his arm straight off. They responded by dropping my mother in a matter of seconds. I don’t know how many shots were fired. My father became enraged and began to fight the soldiers. They dropped him too. My sister was screaming and crying out for my mother. All that I could do was stand in shock.”
“I’m sorry, James,” I said. What else could I say?
He had an awkward look into the fire, “You know, the worst part of it all was that they all left. All of the soldiers left without a word accept for one. ‘Sorry kid,’ was all that he could say. I’m sorry for slaughtering your parents in front of your baby sister and you then leaving you shit free to fuck for yourself.” He had his hands covering his eyes, “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.”
“What happened to you? I mean did they just leave you there, alone?”
He shook his head, “Sort of, well I don’t really know. I ran, terrified of what happened. I just carried my body as fast as I could into a remote park, hiding up in the trees. I woke up with tree bark marks on my cheek and remembered what had happened. I made my way back home, but the house looked almost untouched,” James exhaled heavily. “My father’s body was gone, probably for research. My mother’s body was gone, probably for research. The blood was still on the floor where they dropped my parents. I don’t mean to trash the armed forces, but these guys suck.”
“They’re desperate,” I said, getting a look from James. “Not that being desperate is an excuse for their actions, but the world’s kind of gone to shit in an Easter basket. I’m not justifying their actions, but I understand it.”
He shook his head, “Maybe you’re right, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about what they did. I mean, my sister was just twelve years old. Twelve! A crisis occurs and we lose our rights? How does that fit for a land of the free?” he took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for ranting a bit, Daryl. I can just get so heated.”
I waived it off, “It’s fine. I don’t mind listening to those who want to talk.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to get that story off of my chest. I haven’t had anyone to talk to in a long time now,” he said with a nod. “I’m going to hit the hay. Apparently I am more tired than I thought. Night,” he said as he collapsed into his own sleeping bag without another word.
I woke everyone early the next morning, the current remains of the fire smoldering into the ground. Frost had covered the cars with a thin layer, making the ice crystals sparkle in the morning sun.
The group mumbled awake as we placed a pot of water on top of the fire to warm it up. Once it was boiling, we scooped the water into cups with teabags in it. Chelsea then warmed some soup in the pot. Soup and tea: the breakfast of champions. We hastily finished, practically throwing the hot soup into our frigid bodies. Breakfast itself took a total of twenty minutes before we had the fire out and were on
