We aren't supposed to feel

Part three

The next day I set off once again. I look for signs of life, the same thing I always do. I look around even though I doubt anyone would be out here. Just as I think that I hear breathing, the same breathing that I heard a couple days ago. I soon find the source in an old grocery store. As soon as I see them they run away like mice.

"Please wait I'm not going to hurt you." I say.

But they continue to run, I don't blame them, they probably have some pretty bad experiences with us.

Then I hear a wail, a deafening cry. I start to walk towards the sound

One of the kids, a young boy with brown hair, lays there with tears with streaming down his face. A large gash is cut deep into his left leg, the boy squeezes his thigh. He looks at me, fear is in his eyes. The other two kids gather around him, not daring to leave his side. I come closer.

"Don't move," I say softly.

I try to smile as kindly as I can, but I fail. He shakes, and the blood pours out of his wound. Then I remember that book I read, The Medical Cures for Everything. Page fifty-one, simple cuts and gashes. I go to the medicine aisle, I search the rows of medicine and listen to them talk.

"Just leave me, you know what she, it, will do to you." The boy says. 

"Yes." One of the girls say. "We do, but we aren't going to leave you here to die alone. You're not changing my mind." 

"Fine, stay here." The boy says bitterly. 

I pick up a bottles then I go to a lower shelf.  I pick up a pack of gauze and recite a paragraph of the book.

To stop infections you can apply a salve or take a shot soon after the injury. Wiping off the execs blood is also mandatory when cleaning a wound.

I bend down taking a package of bandages. I recite another paragraph of a different book, First Aid Technics.

If the wound is bleeding heavily use thicker bandages and wrap the wound tightly but gently. Wrap the same section several times.

I walk back to the boy, he looks like he is casting a curse on me as he stares. I kneel down, going to his side. "Open your mouth." I say, but he refuses, clamping his mouth shut. I bring my right hand to his face, cupping it around his chin. He shrinks away, as if he's a salt sprinkled slug. I place my thumb on his right cheek and my pointer finger on his left, I squeeze until his mouth pops open. I put the pill inside. He swallows reluctantly. I apply the salve, clean off the excess blood and wrap the wound. The whole time he looks at me in awe. When I finish I sit back, admiring my work for a couple seconds. Then I stand and start to walk away,

"Wait," The girl to the boy's left says. "Why aren't you going to kill us?" She asks looking at me.

"Yesterday when I saw you, you had your fingers," I interlace my fingers,"Like this, and, at first, I didn't understand it, but then I realized you were holding onto love."

They look at me, six eyes stare.

"You love each other, right?" I ask.

After a while they nod. I smile.

"I knew that I couldn't destroy the love you shared."

When I say it I realize how true that is, the love they share, the thing I don't have.

"What's your name?" The small girl asks.

A name, I have herd of those, but I have never thought to give myself one.

"I don't have one." I say, looking at the small girl. What is strange, the thing I can't figure out, is how this girl could look so kindly at someone like me, or something like me.

The girl flicks her eyes over my body, scanning me from head to toe.

"I think you look like a," She pauses, thinking. "Hannah." The girl says, smiling.

Hannah? Hannah? I stand there, not sure what to say. "O-okay." I blurt out. Then after an awkward moment I turn and walk away. Leaving them behind.