Kids Never Die

Chapter 4: Devils Grin

We went out across the newly formed grave yard once more. The land was now barren and most of the flames had died down. All was silent. Not a cry, nor sizzle rang out. The silence was almost overwhelming. An ear shattering silence that hurt to listen to.

Occasionally we would kick up some heavy dirt or gravel to drown out the white noise, ringing against our eardrums. There was nothing though. We were the only survivors. There were no dogs, or cats to meow, nor flames to crackle, nor wind to blow. No traffic or curses. No jobs or daily activity. No cell phones or televisions. Just deafening silence.

We kicked around stones to search for possibly unconscious bodies. Underneath a shattered archway, we found the body of what you would call an undesirable. His name was unbeknownst to anyone. Had not a friend. And he liked it that way. The kid never showered and his hair always appeared to have showered in the nearest grease vat at McDonalds. His complexion told no otherwise. His bent glasses told a story of either harsh child abuse or poor background. (Or plain stupidity) His front teeth were buck and crooked, the right being longer than the left. He wore coats in the middle of July and never had anything nice to say.

This is no joke, his only response to anything were two simple words that only a creature of his primitive nature would mutter them so often. The phrase was "Fuck you." That's all he would say. If you said "Hi" to him in the hallway, he would respond "Fuck you." If you complimented him, he would respond "Fuck you." If you asked him a question he would respond "Fuck you."

I'm fairly certain he murmured it to teachers.

We found his body almost completely smashed under the arch. As we cleared more rubble, we found the devil himself. Our Vice Principle, Mr. E. The man had no sense of humor. Never laughed or even smiled. I didn't know if he knew how. His rules were strict and his ways of enforcing them, even stricter. He caused pain just by simply glancing his eyes over you. He was not good with children and had terrible patience. His eyes were like an eagle. They would spot kids from miles away. Burn into their soul, like laser beams. I shit you not, one time I saw him stare at a teacher and she spontaneously combusted. Caught on fire from no where. He was truly a terrible man.

But the image we were about to unveil made him my number one favorite teacher. As we cleared away dirt, we saw Mr E's face, with the largest grin burnt across it. And as he sat directly by the undesirables body, his finger sprung out pointing at him. The three of us looked at each other and broke into a sporadic laughter. Almost uncontrollable at such a wondrous sight. I now know our actions probably were not the most appropriate but you must agree, neither were his. We headed back to the group.

Ian sprang up and grabbed the collar of my shirt. He looked deeply through tears in his eyes and asked, "Did you find Anna?" I looked him in the eyes and took his hand in my own. Then I lowered my head. He smiled a second, then closed his eyes. He had accepted defeat. He began to sob violently. I wrapped my arms around him and held him close. "Its gonna be okay, man." I kept repeating.

Morgan and Gavin walked behind him and rested their hands on his shoulders. I didn't know what to do. The man had just lost his girlfriend of two months. His shaggy blonde hair pressed against my ear. His head rested against my shoulder and his tears drew down my back. We wept for him. Ian was a good friend, and we didn't tell him that enough. He was a good man and it was tough to see him like this.

After what felt like an eternity, he let go and said he would sit down for a few minutes. I went to go check on the others. When we had found Nick, he was wearing a t-shirt and over top, an unbuttoned, plaid flannel of the same color. When I came over to check, he had wrapped the over shirt over his left arm, but blood still seeped through. Emilee had woken up and she looked rather scared. Gavin had taken one of Katie's stockings and wrapped it around her waist, covering her wound. She seemed to be stable for now.

Nate and Angela were fine, as well as Miranda and Kyra. But Emily still lay, dehydrated and in an entranced sleep. "Morgan." I called him over. "Go check through the lockers, find water bottles."

Morgan nodded, then he ran off. I walked over and sat by Emilee. I wrapped my arm around her. She lay her head on my shoulder. "I'm scared." she shivered. Her voice was hoarse and weak. "Its okay," I held her close, "I am too."