Zombie Story

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen- Toyota Prius (Day Five)

If I could be anywhere else, I would.

If I hadn't been the one who insisted we cut Leon's arm off then I would have gladly been in my room with baby Luke.

I didn't realize I blocked everything out. I didn't faint or anything, I was still there. But my brain refused to process the gruesome scene in front of me.

"Josie? You there?" Heather waved her hand in front of me, "It's done. He lost a lot of blood but he's alive. Geoff is gonna stay here to monitor him. Don't worry, I'll go check on Luke. And after I have to deal with all the psychological damage Alice probably has now. Who am I kidding, all the psychological damage I probably have."

"Yeah, sounds good." I managed to mumble, not completely there yet. I was fine when it came to dealing with zombies. I would go as far to say that I was a natural.

Yet when it came to the children, I had a weak stomach. I looked over to Leon, who was now passed out in sleep. Or maybe he fainted? Whichever it was, he was no longer awake. Even in his unconsciousness he looked disturbed. His face was distorted into a pained expression. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Geoff approach me. He patted my shoulder much like the way small children patted a dog, "You were right Josephina, we had to take a chance."

"What?" I turned my head so fast it gave me flash backs to summers in Six Flags, "You agree with me? Even after you had to slice a nine year olds arm off and then bandage it while blood seeped everywhere?" It seemed like I was almost trying to convince him to disagree with everything I had tried to convince him on earlier.

Geoff looked serious, "Well when you say it like that...". He held a stern look before seeing the horrified expression on my face. He burst out in a roaring laugh, "Look Josephina, I was wrong. If we had it my way, that boy right there would've been six feet under. But because of you, he's lying in that bed. Alive."

I shook my head, "We're not out of woods yet, Geoff." I walked over to the boy and placed the back of my hands onto his forehead, "He has a fever. You know what that means."

Geoff followed behind me to inspect the boy, "Fevers are common, especially in these kinds of procedures. The cut might just be infected. You know, whiskey isn't the best disinfector." He chuckled nervously, "Honestly, I'm more worried about him going into hypovolemic shock."

"Look Geoff, I'm just saying, don't get you're hopes up." I whispered, facing away from the unconscious boy in front of me.

"How can you say that?" Geoff argued trying to keep his voice at room level, "Josephina, you gave me hope. I haven't had that in a long time. Not since my wife turned." Geoff took a shaky breath, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you about David. I didn't want to believe you, not when I had just made a new buddy after losing so many people. But, I should have. Look, you're changing this group, Josephina," His eyes flickered back to Leon, "you just don't know it yet." Geoff grinned at me, shaking off the solemn tone he had previously, "Now get out of here youngster. Don't worry, you'll be the first to know if anything changes."

I didn't know what to say. So much was said. I settled on nodding my thanks at his words before exiting the room, gently closing it behind me. He believed too much in me. Believing too much in anyone is dangerous. Ethan would know.

I took a deep breath trying to regroup my thoughts. Heather would be with Luke right now. Everyone else should be doing their tasks right now or finishing up at least. I needed to sit down. I walked over to the living room to find Aspen holding up Berlin, flying him around like an airplane, while Phoenix was holding onto one leg and Princesa and Alice were holding onto another. The laughter of the four children was almost medicinal.

"Vrmm, airplane Berlin is gonna crash into a building," Aspen flew Berlin past the sofa, "Unless the town people can save him."

Alice and Princesa squealed trying to drag Aspen's leg off balance while a giggling Phoenix attempted to pull into the opposite direction. Berlin seemed to be distracted by the previous situation, in a fit of laughter now, "Nooo, don't let me fall guys!"

Even I couldn't help but to join in the laughter. A startled Aspen turned around, shocked to me standing there. Taking the opportunity of his lack of focus, Phoenix, Princesa, and Alice managed to throw off the balance of the young man, sending him and Berlin tumbling onto the sofa in another fit of laughter. Aspen looked sheepishly up at me, "I'm not slacking off, you told me to take care of the kids."

I didnt bother to reply and instead settled into another laugh as Phoenix and Alice crawled over Aspen while Princesa grinned from where she was sitting at his feet. My laughter was cut short by Berlin hopping off the couch and running up to me, his previous joy replaced by worry, "Is Leon okay? How is he?" His emerald green eyes looked at me expectantly.

I tusseled his black hair, "He's resting right now. He's alive, Berlin."

Berlin wrapped me in a hug, he was only ten but his head was almost at my shoulders now.

I returned the hug before it was broken by Carmen walking in from the garage, her hands still wet from doing laundry, "People, children, Belle and Colt are back and they replaced one of the cars with one with actual keys!"

The children didn't find much interest in this and instead scurried off, understanding that their playtime with Aspen was over. Berlin still looked worried but joined the running children.

Unlike the children, a new car with keys intrigued me and I found myself going over to the garage, Aspen not far behind me.

I pushed through the door leading to the garage to find a proud looking Belle and Colt displaying off the new car they had brought back in replacement to the car with the broken lock and vulnerable wires I had brought back.

"A Toyota Prius!" Aspen exclaimed from behind me, answering my question on what type of car was brought back. I couldn't lie that it was a much more suitable replacement, it had all of its working parts from what I could see.

"Not bad, eh?" Colt leaned back against the car seemingly proud that he was the one who had brought it back.

"Not bad at all," Aspen remarked, inspecting the car closer, "Definitely worth it."

Belle rolled her creek green eyes, "You know how much trouble we had to go through for this thing? Colt refused to get any of the easier less surrounded cars." She sent a glare at Colt, but she couldn't hide her grin of amusement.

As the three conversed over the car, I was gripped by the cold realization of how much of an outsider I was still. The only people in this group that I could consider friends were Heather and Ethan. And now it was just Heather. I should make an attempt to become closer to everyone else. I tuned back into the conversation to try to see where I could jump in.

"And that's the short version on how me and Belle snagged this beauty," Colt winked, gesturing to the car.

Aspen nodded, his eyes glimmering, "I can't believe I wasn't there to witness all that!"

I blinked in confusion, just how much did I miss? By the look on Aspen's face, I clearly blanked out on a story that would be passed on to their grandchildren.

Maybe I could pretend I was listening, "I wish I could've went. That sounds like quite the adventure."

I must've been successful in my assumption because Colt nodded, a proud grin on his face, "I mean what can I say~"

Belle shook her head, pinching Colt's check before turning to me, "Try not to compliment him too much, his ego can't take it."

Aspen chuckled, turning to me, "It's already huge as is, if you haven't noticed."

I smiled before looking over at the red car Heather had brought from Walmart, it didn't have keys either. We had to hotwire it since we didn't have much time to look for a car with keys. I turned to Aspen,

"How about we crush his ego by bringing back a better car?"