Broken World

Chapter 18

       I awake to someone screaming for me and running this way.

       "What the bloody hell?" Kellin asks waking up around the same time I do.

       "Delilah, where the frick are you?" the voice calls out.

       "In here," I call out.

       "De...li...lah," the boy pants coming into the room and doubling over.

       "What the hell is going on?" I ask.

       "Th...they..." he trails off panting.

       "Get your breath back then spit it out," I say concerned.

       "Some kids were taken by the things," he says it really fast after taking in a deep breath, but I understand what he says completely.

       "WHAT?" I scream. The boy recoils, and I can tell Kellin is tense behind me, getting ready to grab me if I lunge for the kid.

       "The kids went out, and the things got them," he says looking at the ground. I growl and charge for the door. The boy yelps and jumping aside, probably thinking I was going for him, says, "Don't kill the messenger!" I charge right past him though. As I go flying down the stairs I hear panicked voices, and I head straight for them.

       "Delilah, I'm-" I cut Max off there.

       "Give me my knife," I say it so calmly it's scary, and everyone seems to agree because looks of fear cross their faces.

       "I don't think-" he begins.

       "I SAID GIVE ME MY KNIFE!" I scream. He quickly hands it over, and everyone drops to the floor as I look around trying to see if one of the kids was from camp. Upon seeing that the kids weren't from camp I spin and storm to the doors. I fling them open, and all the azoms and kizoms turn and look at me. A look of fear flutters across their faces as they see me. They probably were thinking 'Meal' until they saw the wrath in my eyes and the knife in my hands. I knew they were intelligent. When I see the remains of a female and two males I scream, and I kid you not it sounded like a demon from hell had come up and growled itself. The azoms and kizoms begin to flee, but I launch into a full out attack. I decapitate, disembowel, delimb, and disassemble every one that I get my hands on. I tear throats out, pull out teeth, and rip hair out every time one gets near me.

       "Come at me you bastards!" I scream. When they are all dead I walk over to the dead kids' remains, and I'm surprised to find one alive.

       "H-help. G-God, sa-save meeee," one of the boys cries out. His arm has been cut to the bone, by a knife from the looks of it; his nose is broken and bleeding; there are cuts on his chest, not made by teeth or nails; and his leg has a nasty gash made from only God knows what.

       "Hey, buddy, it's Delilah. How'd you survive?" I ask calmly, trying to keep him calm.

       "Th-they ate th-them f-f-first," he stutters.

       "I'm going to do my best to save you. I just need to get you inside. I'll be back in just a sec. I'm going to get some people to carry you inside, okay?" I ask.

       "O-okay," he manages to stutter. A few tears slide from his closed eyes before I get up. I walk to the door and call for everyone. They all arrive quickly, probably afraid I'd become enraged and kill them if they didn't. I explain the situation and asks for help.

       "I need at least six of you to carry him in gently. I need four people who know a bit about being a doctor to take care of him. I need two people to dig graves and bury the two fallen. I need someone to take count of everyone still living. That same person needs to get everyone's names, ages, dates of birth, and skills. That person can have a helper if they would like. We'll start with that and work our way up," I say. Everyone scatters to complete the tasks. I look at the kids that still remain standing still and remember something. "You, go get Jim," I say pointing to one girl.

       "What's up?" Jim asks when he comes down.

       "I need security cameras. I need metal gates that can be controlled from your office. I need food. I need blankets. I need weapons. I need medical supplies. I need walkie-talkies," I say looking at him expectantly.

       "Why're you telling me this?" he asks looking at me confused.

       "Because I'm putting you in charge of a scavenging team to go get those things. Take half the kids still standing here and go," I say.

       "Okay, we'll be back soon...I hope," he mumbles the last part, but I hear him.

       "Don't talk like that," I whisper to him, and he only nods. He selects a few kids who arm themselves as best as they can and head out. The boy is brought in quickly but gently. The grave diggers are looking for things to dig with. The doctors are scrambling around to find things to patch him up with. A girl and her friend are asking people about themselves and writing answers down. I begin going through rooms and deciding what we can do with ever room. I select a room for dining, a room for sleeping, a room for hanging out, a room for my office, a room for medical related things, and everything else just gets labeled as I don't know what to do with them.

       "Delilah, what do you need me to do?" Kellin asks finally coming into view.

       "Get me some dang Advil. Watch over the kids here and don't let 'em outside," I say rubbing my temples.

       "Advil first then I'll watch the other kids," he says running off to do my commands. He comes back after about a minute, hands me the Advil, and then turns to go watch over the others. I hope that Jim gets back safely. I should've sent out Max, Zoe, Kellin, Brandon, Kasey, Brody, or even myself with him, but no I didn't. That's when it hits me that Max, Zoe, Kasey, Brody, and Brandon are all not here. They must've went, and I didn't see them. I stand up from where I sat down on the floor and go down to help out the people. I first go help the grave diggers. I help them dig holes with my hands because they couldn't find anything to dig with, and then I carry the bodies' remains and put them in.

       "I think that's the girlfriend and boyfriend. They went outside for some 'fun time' and the other boy went out to get them," one of the grave diggers says.

       "Yeah, it looks like it. I honestly am glad they're dead. They were way to open with their relationship," the other says.

       "Were they really? I never got to know them. You always could've come asked me to make them stop," I say looking at the dead bodies we still haven't covered.

       "Eh, wasn't worth it. They wouldn't listen to anybody," the first grave digger says.

       "I'm going to go help the others," I say after we recover the hole in the ground. I go inside and wash my hands quickly.

       "Um, Miss Delilah," a girl says walking up to me.

       "No, don't call me miss. I'm just Delilah. Anyway what do you need?" I ask smiling.

       "We got the list done. A few said they didn't have any skills, and when I questioned further they got a bit aggressive," she says.

       "What'd they do?" I ask.

       "They just snapped. I could see a strange look in their eyes though. It looked a mix of fear and nervousness," she says.

       "Hmm, strange. Can you take me to them or bring them to me?" I ask.

       "They probably won't come, so I'll take you," she says. She turns and walks away as her friend and I follow. I see we are going to a blonde haired, blue eyed, and really pale boy that's about five foot nine. I'm guessing he's about fourteen years old.