him either. But how the hell they didn’t see him coming was beyond my comprehension. I was already mourning his passing in my head; I was going to miss the kid. He was like a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark and desolate world. He got to within ten feet of our location. I was frantically gesturing for him to come and hide with us. I even rose a little to get him when the angry hornets came back. He just looked over at us and was smiling, Butterfinger mess spread all over his face. He then pulled the drawstring back so far on that little bow I thought it was going to snap in half. He let go, the arrow flew. I knew without a doubt in my mind that arrow was going to hit home. It was divine intervention, pure and simple. I heard the telltale thud of impact. Whoever that arrow had hit hadn’t even had time to cry out in surprise.
“Hey Mr. T!” Tommy yelled, waving happily. “Do you think they have any Twinkies in there?” He gestured toward the clubhouse.
I stood up slowly, still half-crouching and waiting for someone else to pepper my location. When no one did I turned back to Tommy. I didn’t know whether to kick his ass or kiss it. I know he wouldn’t have understood either gesture. So I just held out my arms wide. He rushed forward for the offered hug and nearly toppled me over which would have completed the mission the raiders had attempted. I so wanted to yell at him, but that huge grin and the fact that he had saved our lives, well that factored into my decision not to.
“Yeah, there’s Twinkies. Come on.” I put my arm around him and led him past the worst of the carnage so we could rummage through the food.
Little Turtle residents were now scrambling in the aftermath to help the wounded or offer solace to the dying. I wasn’t a medic or a priest, so I stayed with Tommy while the whirlwind of activity swirled around me.
Jed came in a few minutes later to assess the situation. “Good work Talbot,” he said as he slapped me on the back. “I heard what you did. Most of these snot nosed ‘hard asses,’” he sneered as he said that, “were running in the other direction. I’m glad you’ve got some mettle in you, we wouldn’t have made it through the night, much less anything further.”
I slightly nodded my head in acknowledgment. But then pointed to Tommy, who was gleefully stuffing two Twinkies in his face simultaneously, crumbs littered the floor at his feet. “He’s the real hero, Jed, he took out a machine gunner with a bow and arrow.”
“Holy cow!” Jed whooped. He shook Tommy’s hand and was a little taken aback by the stickiness of the creme filled Twinkie center that cemented the shake. “You’re a hero, boy,” Jed finished as he wiped his hand on his pants.
“Fank you!” Tommy said, spitting blonde orts, smiling with his teeth all sugar coated and gummed up.
“Let’s get you home Tommy. I’m sure Mrs. T is worried about you,” I said.
“Youf toof,”he finished.
“Yeah probably a little worried about me too,” I concluded.
Jed called out to us while we were leaving. “Emergency meeting in about an hour, I’d like to get this area cleaned up a little first.”
I waved over my back letting him know I had heard, I wouldn’t be sleeping much tonight anyway.
Tracy almost ripped the front door from its hinges when we came back up the walkway. Brendon had already come home to tell them where Tommy was and that we were all right.
“Are you crazy? What were you thinking? Are you hurt? Why didn’t you just get your Yoo-Hoo? Where did you find that damned bow and arrow?” She was rapid firing questions so fast I couldn’t even keep up.
Tommy’s eyes at first furrowed and then began to water. It was safe to assume he wasn’t liking Tracy berating him.
“Don’t worry, kid,” I said as an aside. “She’ll peter out in a minute.” It was funny watching this waif of a woman tongue-lash a person more than twice her size.
The glistening in Tommy’s eyes broke Tracy’s anguish. She immediately rushed forward, giving Tommy a big hug, getting swallowed up in his arms.
“What, no hug for me?” I asked dejectedly.
She pulled away from Tommy and directed the full force of her assault at me. “How could you? You’re a grown man you should have known better. What were you thinking? Oh that’s right, you weren’t thinking at all, were you.”
I was backpedaling as fast as I could to avoid the finger of doom she kept thrusting at me.
Tommy’s words of encouragement did little to help me. “Don’t worry Mr. T, she’ll peter out in a minute!” he yelled as he began to dig into his pockets for another sugary snack.
When Tracy finally looked like she wasn’t going to thrust her finger through my sternum, I pulled Justin aside.
“Justin, how do you know Tommy?” I asked. There were questions that needed answering. Whether Justin was going to be able to answer them was a different story.
“He’s just the retar…” He saw the scowl forming on my face, so he amended his words. “He’s just the door greeter, and I mean, you already know he’s a little slow.”
“Yeah I figured that part out but there’s something more to him too,” I said.
Now it was Justin’s turn to look perplexed. Good, now I wouldn’t be alone.
“Did you go and get him when the zombies started attacking the Wal-Mart?” I asked
“Even if I had thought to, I didn’t, Dad. My section, Gardening, is at the complete other end of the building. We barely made it as it was, and to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever said more than hi to him. Although he gives me a damn sticker every time he sees me. He loves those stickers,” Justin said with a smile. “And come to think of it Dad, Tommy was already on the roof when we got there, he’s the one that unlocked it for us.”
“Would he have access to the roof?” I asked.
Justin looked at me incredulously, “Dad I’m not even sure if he knew there was a roof.”
There was more than meets the eye when it came to Tommy, and hopefully I’d have enough time to figure it out. I had a few minutes before Jed’s emergency gathering and I just wanted to ask Tommy a thing or two. Tommy was in the midst of quaffing down some M&M’s. (I didn’t even remember liberating those from the store.)
“Hey Tommy, can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked.
He looked up and a bunch of the M&M’s rolled to the floor. Tommy looked like he was having an internal battle with himself whether he should pick them up. Henry took care of the matter before it began to weigh too heavily on him. He pulled his gaze off Henry, maybe just a little miffed the dog had eaten his candy, but then Tommy gave Henry a big kiss on the forehead as an offering of apology for having had a bad thought. Henry in return licked his face, which Tommy delighted in, but personally I think the lick had more to do with the smattering of Twinkie all over Tommy’s face.
“Tommy,” I said again, hoping to reel back his attention.
“Hey Mr. T,” Tommy answered. “Oh right! Yeah, you can talk to me for a minute.
I figured no sense in beating around the bush so I asked him straight out. “Tommy, how did you get on the Wal-Mart roof the other night?”
He was thinking hard. I almost believed I could hear the wheels creaking in his noggin. And then when he came out with the answer it was like it was no big deal, something he had been dealing with his entire life. “The Voice told me.”
Goose bumps ran up and down my arms. “The voice?” I asked hoping for some elaboration.
“Yeah, you know, The Voice the one that tells you to do things,” he explained, digging into his bag of candy, thrilled when he pulled out a blue M&M.
The way he said it gave me the impression that he thought everyone had a guiding voice.
“Did you hear this same voice earlier tonight when you came to help me and Brendon?”
“Oh yeah, I was going to get my Yoo-Hoo and I stopped with the refrigerator door open. Are you mad because I left the door open? I forgot about it once before. The Voice told me where to look for the bow and then the arrows and that I had to come help you quick ‘cause you were in a lot of trouble.” My mouth must have been hanging open because he just kept going. “So you’re not mad about the fridge door being open?”
I snapped back to reality. “The door? No I’m not mad about the door. You saved my life, and Brendon’s too. I don’t care if a few Popsicles melt.”
Tommy’s expression became one of alarm. “Not the Popsicles!” he said as he started to rise, I believe to go shut the fridge door.
I grabbed his arm. “Don’t worry, Tommy. The Popsicles are in the freezer,” I said, doing my best to calm his
