Feeding Frenzy

Chapter 25

Gomez continued to complain about Toronto as they walked down the empty roads. Johnson navigated them through Cleansed territory. His voice was the only thing heard in the silent air. The civilians had been vocal about getting him to be quiet, but he did not stop. Josie had her hands over her ears to try and drown out the noise, and Evey rolled her eyes every time she heard him swear.

"For the love of God," Johnson finally said. "If you don't stop bitching I'm putting a bullet in your skull."

"All I am doing is making sure I don't get blamed when we get eaten," Gomez said.

"We got the point," Johnson said. "Now, shut up."

Evey had Joey's hand in her own. His legs were growing tired, and she had been pulling him along for the past ten minutes so that he could keep up with the group. She did not want any excuse for Ford or one of the other soldiers to kill one of the twins. Joey whined as his knees gave out and he sat on the pavement. Evey crouched next to him. The group had stopped moving.

"We have to keep moving," Evey said.

"I'm tired," Joey said.

"We can't stop," Evey said.

Josie came up beside Evey. Chester was in her grip. Her eyes looked heavy as she struggled to keep them open.

"Can we stop, Evey?" Josie asked.

"No." She shook her head. "We need to keep going."

They both whined. Evey sighed. She knew what she had to do in order to keep them alive. She picked Joey up off the ground and set him on her hip. She struggled not to tip back from the heavy backpack. The soldiers had grabbed all of their supplies out of the truck and made everyone carry something. She reached down for Josie despite being unsure if she was strong enough to carry both twins.

Arms reached down and grabbed Josie. The black ink on the skin quickly told Evey that it was Ford. Her heart pounded as she looked at them. He set Josie on his hip. She put her thumb in her mouth and rested her head on his shoulder. Was she in danger?

"I got it," Evey said, reaching her other arm out for Josie.

"You can't carry both," Ford said. "Keep moving."

Evey stared into Ford's eyes for a moment. His face was expressionless as always, and she was desperate to be able to read his mind. What was he thinking?

"I'm not going to hurt her," he said. "Let's go."

Evey nodded and stepped forward. The group continued to walk down the road. Soon, they were surrounded by a scene of cars. Much like at the bridge, they had crashed into each other. Metal was crumpled, tires were popped, and windows were shattered. Bodies with missing flesh were scattered on the ground and a few were trapped in their cars.

Evey held Joey's head against her chest to block his view. She motioned for Ford to do the same, and he followed. These were gruesome scenes that no children should witness. How much of this blood and chaos were they going to remember?

Johnson and Harrington checked the cars that could be salvaged, but their batteries were dead. Evey looked down at Joey to see he was asleep in her arms. Her back and arm ached, and she was actually relieved Ford had Josie. She was struggling to manage one, she didn't know how she would carry both twins. She was trailing behind the group because she was unable to keep up with the rest. Ford stayed by her side with Josie. Was he getting tired too?

"Thanks for carrying her," Evey said. "I wasn't expecting it."

"I'm not a monster," Ford said.

"You won't kill them?"

"Never."

A small smile crept on Evey's lips. At least, there was one less threat to the twins.

--

Everyone was quiet. The group was on high alert for the sound of any screeching, but the air was silent. The sun was setting and there was a cool chill in the air. Evey was relieved when Joey wanted to start walking again. Her back ached and she would stretch her arms over her head. She prayed that he did not ask her to carry him all the way to Toronto.

They were walking through one of the Cleansed towns. Johnson lead the way as they walked through the side streets. The scene of bodies lying on lawns and the road had started to be normal to Evey.

The group split as they went into four of the house. Evey stepped onto the porch holding the hands of the twins when Ford stopped and held his hand out.

"Wait," he said. "I need to check first."

Ford opened the door and walked into the house. No doors were locked because the soldiers must have rushed out after killing families in an attempt to Cleanse the family. Evey recalled that her parents' front door was open when she was dragged out of her home by Ford. Were there civilians camping out in their house? How many other Immune were even out there?

Evey sat on the porch and the kids played in the front yard. She watched Anjo, Fiona, Roger, and Connar wait outside their respective houses. The soldiers were clearing out all of the bodies.

Ford stepped onto the porch and Evey stood. She picked up her heavy backpack and waved for the kids to come inside.

The smell hit Evey like a brick wall. The scent of rotting flesh filled the air. Josie and Joey made an audible sound of disgust when they followed in. How many bodies had lived in this house? It was a big home. It must have at least been a family.

Ford looked at Evey to see her cringing.

"I'm sorry," he said. "The other houses will be the same."

"I'll look for a candle or something," Evey said. She stepped toward Ford so that she could speak in a hushed tone that the children could not hear. "Where were the bodies?"

"Kitchen."

Evey swallowed past the lump in her throat. Did they have a similar morning to Evey? Were they also enjoying a family breakfast when the soldiers came?

"First, let's open the windows," Evey said.

Ford nodded and went to the living room windows. Evey dropped her bag by the door and walked into the kitchen. The smell was stronger and crimson splatters were across the floor. Blood had sprayed across the cupboards and grey brain matter was on the counter. Was any of them Immune? Was someone ripped away from this scene, just like Evey?

She pulled the windows open and took in a deep breath of outside air. There was a candle in a glass jar sitting on the stove. Evey searched through the drawers for matches before lighting the candle. She walked to the living room and set it down on the coffee table.

Evey pulled the book out of the backpack and handed it to the twins. They sat on the couch and opened it on their laps. The sun was setting, and in less than an hour, the house would be dark.

"Don't let them go in the kitchen," Evey said.

"Yeah." Ford was focused on watching Josie and Joey.

"You could have given me a warning."

"My bad."

Evey rolled her eyes. She went into the kitchen to find something to eat. Ford followed and looked in the cupboard under the sink. He pulled out a can of air freshener. He sprayed it in the air and the smell of vanilla competed with the smell of decay. He sprayed the air as he walked back into the living room.

Hopefully, that air freshener was powerful enough to mask the smell to a tolerable stench.

She wished for an uneventful night, and she somewhat got what she hoped for.