Killers

Chapter 6

It's been three whole days and Chuck was still ignoring us. During training, he would listen to Rox's orders, execute them professionally and walk off without a word. At lunch, he would get his meal from the cafeteria ladies and exit the room. Topher and I have tried to follow him and see where he was headed to but he would always find a way to evade us. Admittedly, Chuck was fading, day by day. I could see the lack of life in his bluish-grey eyes. By not speaking to us, or to anybody, he is silently becoming one of them. Silently losing himself.

Rox and I were at the library, reading Ender's Game when we saw Chuck walk in. His head was bowed down and his posture was incredibly poor and I bet if Chief Commander Joy was there, he would lose his fucking mind. I heard Rox sigh next to me and I turned around to face her. Her eyes were trained on Chuck's every move and I saw Chuck tense-up, knowing he's being watched.

"We should talk to him, Rox. It's been days" I said quietly. Rox shook her head and turned away, staring at the carpet.

"You should talk to him. He won't even look at me" she replied sullenly. I nodded my head and gave her a gentle pat on the knee before standing up. I felt a tug on my military pants so I looked down.

"Good luck, Dex" she said. I smiled at the nickname.

I tried my best not to fidget or play with my fingers as I walked towards him. I was never the best at handling awkward and tense situations. I've managed to avoid conflict for 17 years of my life until now. These Things were really a pain in the ass.

When I got close enough to Chuck, I nudged him in the arm and he took a few baby-steps away from me. I side-stepped toward him and nudged him again, this time causing him to sigh with slight agitation. He looked up and scowled at me, the anger in his blue eyes burning like a thousand suns. He grabbed a leather book and graphite pencil before running out of the library. This time, I followed suit.

"Chuck! Wait up! Hey, Chucky!" I called out and he jerked to a stop. I almost bumped into him but all that training improved my reflexes so I managed to stop in time. He turned around and there were tears in his eyes. We sort of just looked at each other for a while until one of the tears streamed down his chubby cheeks.

I quickly pulled him into me and hugged him as tight as I could. His body was shuddering and he was hiccupping back tears. He was tiny compared to me so his head was pressed against my abdomen, his tears soaking my shirt. I just continued to pat him on the back and stroke his bowl-like hair. After a while, he calmed down and the tears stopped. I pulled him away at an arm's-length and kneeled.

"Talk to me, Chuck. Please" I begged. He nodded and sat down so I did too.

With one sharp intake of breath, he started to talk.

"My mum used to call me Chucky" he said, his voice as soft as silk. I opened my mouth to apologize but he cut me off.

"I miss her, Dexter. She was everything to me. My dad and brother passed away when I was two in a car accident. I don't remember them that well so it didn't really matter to me. Although I wish, I could've had a dad to play baseball with or a brother to fight over Lego pieces with, you know?" I almost answered before I realized it was a rhetorical question. I sat there, quietly listening as he finally opened-up.

"Anyway, it's always been my mum and me. We rode bikes together, baked cupcakes together and dressed up for Halloween together too. And then one day, we heard about the Plague. I didn't think it was serious of course because my mum kept telling me not to worry. So we went on with our lives until a month after, my mum got sick." He paused and took another breath. I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and he continued.