“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but there is nothing that I can do,” he said.
I hated these situations. There was no way that she could keep those kids calm for three days while waiting for the military to show up. That was not fair, to leave the children alone with a mother whose husband was away and may not have even contacted her since the crisis started. She was borderline in tears, her eyes red and furious.
I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again, then closed it. I finally worked up the courage and opened it for good, “Three days?” I asked the marine.
He looked at me, nodding. “Three short days is all.”
Mrs. Figgins looked as if she was going to tear his face off. I let out a huge breath, “Okay. Give them my spot.”
“Daryl!” Mrs. Figgins said, looking me in the eye. “You need that spot just as much as anyone.”
I shook my head, “I’ll have an easier time being in the house. The very least I could do is make sure you and the kids get a spot, though it might be a bit cramped. I can last three easy days.”
“Me too,” I heard Chelsea pipe up. “I’ll make room for you guys. This way Daryl doesn’t have to stay home all by his lonesome.”
“I’ll have the cat.”
“Shut up.”
Mrs. Figgins was slightly tearing now, a huge smile stricken across her face, “I can’t thank you enough, the both of you!” she said, pulling us both in for a hug.
I turned to the marine guardsman, “This is okay, right?”
He nodded, “Very noble of you, son. You’d make one fine looking marine.”
I smiled a dumb look and waived him off, “My mother would kill me.”
Mrs. Figgins thanked us again as they loaded onto the convoy truck. I turned to grandma.
“You be careful, Daryl!” My grandmother said to me right before she was about to step into the military convoy truck. The marine vehicle was painted in a forest camouflage pattern. Its wheels alone were larger the eighty year old polish grandmother waiting to board.
“These nice soldiers said that another truck would be running through here in three days, so be safe,” she kissed me on the cheek, quickly blessing Chelsea with one too. “And take care of your delightful girlfriend. You two will be all alone in your old house,” Grandma squeezed my hand. “And remember, Jesus is always watching!” She exclaimed with her index finger pointing to the heavens.
“Oh grandma, the cat will be home the whole time,” I replied.
She chuckled a small bit, and with her finger still raised in the air in warning of Jesus’ vision, she walked towards the convoy. A stocky marine met her, taking her arm to help my grandmother up the high stairs leading into the back of the military truck. My last vision of her was her walking to the interior of the truck, quickly hidden behind the steel exterior siding. Little did I know that would be the last time that I would ever see my grandmother.
The convoy’s engines started just as the stocky marine had jumped out of the truck, pushing the steps up behind him. “That’s all that we can hold on this trip. I’m sorry, guys,” he said with full sincerity to his voice. “As I am sure you have heard, we will be back in three days,” the marine’s emphasis on ‘will’ was so strong that he must have believed it to be true at the time.
He opened the passenger door and stood in the truck with the door still open. “We’re going to be blasting our warning sirens, hopefully drawing out any of those contaminated.” He ducked his head inside, arm still holding open the door. “Stay inside. Stay safe.” The stocky marine pulled the steel door closed with a strong metallic thump followed by the roaring of engines as they drove off.
Chapter 4
My eyes followed the convoy to the end of the street until they turned towards the highway. I felt a gentle hand behind me, and I turned with it.
Chelsea sat on the rock wall in the front of my family’s house, legs dangling over the side with a wide smile across her face. I was just about to speak when a blaring noise drowned out any other possible sound coming from the abandoned town.
Both Chelsea and I slapped our hands up to our ears, trying our best to cover them well enough to prevent our eardrums from being slaughtered by the excessive noise. I motioned with my head to the house, hands still clamped over my ears. Chelsea nodded in understanding.
We both sprinted to the door. I had always been a quick person, fast on my feet due to my lanky and tall body, thus my arrival at the door first. I ripped open the door and held it for Chelsea to run by without it slamming in her face. Once we were both safely inside, I slammed the door shut and flicked closed the lock. The noise lessened greatly in the house, but was still very audible through the thin walls and old style glass windows.
“Holy noise!” I said. “I think that the town will be pretty clear of the contaminated if they are as mindless as the military says that they are.”
Chelsea took a minute to catch her breath from the short sprint. “I’m not worried,” she said. “I mean, the outbreak started a few days ago and we haven’t even seen one of the contaminated. I highly doubt we will.”
“I don’t think that they would evacuate to secure areas if they didn’t think the contaminated to be a threat,” I countered.
She frowned at my disagreement, “I mean, I guess it’s possible that they’re worried,
