Silenced Genes

In the meantime, the traffic jam that happened as a result of this accident turned blood bath caused the bus with the elementary students to let the children out farther down the road than the regular bus stop. The bus turned down a side street and disappeared before the line of traffic trapped it on the main road. Seventeen children between kindergarten and fifth grade stepped off the bus and immediately started walking over to see what the crowd was doing. Ricky saw the yellow blur out the corner of his eye as it took the corner. In the commotion, he had forgotten that he was waiting for the boys, forgotten there were other children – his sisters' friends – still over there too. He felt his stomach lurch, but he turned mid-stride and raced back to the children, screaming, “Hey! Don’t go over there! Run home!” With all the other noise, Ricky knew it was pointless.

Eddie noticed Ricky right away, waving as he trotted over to see what Ricky was yelling about. But when Eddie got close enough, he could see the terror on Ricky's face and heard “...run home,” without wasting a second, he ran to grab Joseph and Skippy.

People were running away, not noticing the sudden arrival of small children that were in the way. One woman knocked a second grader down and stopped to help the child up, getting grabbed in the process. The child ran, screaming as the woman was pulled apart by the two freshly bitten men fighting over her. Several other people had been bitten and were attacking vehicles, breaking windows, dragging people out and tearing them apart. It was unrestrained chaos – Ricky grabbed as many children as he could, “you have to run home! Go into your house and lock the door!”

Eddie had Joseph and Skippy and they were running back home calling as many of their friends to come along as they could.

By the time they got to the door, Mack and the girls were waiting, watching out the window. Five other children from the neighborhood came in with the boys with Ricky close behind. He told them to all go upstairs with Eddie, Joseph and Skippy until he could find their parents. Ricky looked at the clock, it was quarter past twelve. Mom would still be in her meeting for another fifteen minutes. He checked his phone and there were about eight missed calls from Dad. He didn't even bother with the messages, he just called him. Mack, Alice and Mary crowded around to hear the conversation. “Ricky?”

“It’s me, Dad,” Ricky answered.

“Is everyone there? Are you all safe?” Dad asked.

“Yes, we’re all inside,” Ricky replied. “There’s a few other kids too, from the elementary school. It was crazy, Dad, I didn’t know what to do. There was a guy that showed up and started attacking people after he got hit by a car and it didn’t even phase him. I.. I panicked, I ran away. What happened to him? Do you know what’s going on, Dad?”

Dad said, “similar things are happening here too. I have been trying to get into the meeting to get Mom but they won't let me past security because they don't know what’s happening either. They keep telling me they don't want to endanger the representatives. They think it’s a riot or some kind of protest – nothing I said about it made any difference. Look, stay inside, feed the kids and make a place for them to sleep over. Lock all the doors, draw the curtains and stay upstairs until Mom and I get back. Ricky, I need you to promise you won’t let anyone leave the house”.

“I told the kids I would try to get them home, to find their folks,” Ricky said, “I don’t know how long I can keep a bunch of little kids here.”

“Ricky, this is important. You have seen what these sick people can do. Maybe some of the children will take a nap and that will buy us some time. When mom and I get back, we will figure out what to do. I just need you to keep those kids safe until then. Please, Ricky,” Dad urged.

“I will do my best, Dad,” Ricky offered, “I will try.”

“That’s all I can ask of you,” Dad said, “I love you, Ricky.”

“I love you too, Dad”

“Let me talk to Mack,” Dad said

He told Mack he loved him, then asked Mack to pass the phone to Alice, and on to each one of the children in turn down to the youngest. “Norman, you listen to Ricky and Mack, OK?”

“I will, Daddy. I love you” Skippy said with a sniffle.

“I love you, Skip. I will see you as soon as I can. I’m going to hang up now.”

“OK, bye Daddy” Skippy handed Ricky back his phone. Tears were rolling unchecked down his face. “Where’s Momma, Ricky? Why can’t Daddy come home?”

“They will be back as soon as they can, Skip. Why don’t we have a picnic upstairs? Mary, you help me find something to keep everyone busy with. Mack, can you and Alice make some sandwiches and stuff?” Ricky suggested.

“Sure, Ricky,” Mack said, “c’mon Alice.”

Alice nodded and followed Mack into the kitchen to make some lunch for everyone. Ricky and Mary went upstairs to keep the children distracted and, hopefully, quiet. Alice took a jar of apple jelly out of the cabinet. There were only 4 jars left from the batch she and Mom had spent an entire Saturday making last October. Somehow, they always managed to make enough to get through until the next season's harvest. In June they had made strawberry jam, there were still plenty of jars of that. She started thinking about June, hoping they would see it. She wasn’t even sure they would see October to make more apple jelly. A tear slid down her cheek narrowly missing the bread Mack was slicing. Alice kept covering the slices with apple jelly and peanut butter. “I hope none of these kids are allergic to any of the food,” Alice broke the silence, “what would we do if one of them had an allergic reaction?”

“I don’t know Alice,” Mack replied, “I really don’t.”

Alice issued a heavy sigh as she made a couple of pitchers of lemonade. Mack quietly cleaned and cut up some carrots. He didn’t know what to say about any of this. They just saw their neighbors get torn apart, in some cases by other neighbors. There was zero chance that at least one of those dead or - not dead but should be - people is a parent of one of these children they are about to feed and try to entertain like the children didn’t just witness the same thing. This time it was Mack that sighed. “Are you making fun of me?” Alice asked.

Mack put the plate with the carrots on the tray and turned to face Alice, “not even a little bit. I’m sorry if you thought I was. Honestly, Alice, I am scared.” At that point, he realized she had been crying. He put his arms around her and she dissolved into tears.

“I’m scared too, I don’t know what is happening. I want Momma and Dad,” she mumbled between sobs.

“I know, Alice, I do too,” Mack said. He had no idea what he could say to calm her fears, he was just as terrified. “We have to do our best to keep it together, though, because there are a bunch of little kids upstairs that will lose it if we go up there in tears.”

“I know,” Alice sniffed, “I am trying. This is the worst babysitting job ever.”

Mack couldn’t help but chuckle, “That’s fair. Let’s get this stuff upstairs and hope it occupies them for a while. C’mon, Cedric.” They carried it all upstairs and had everyone sit around in a big circle on the floor like they were having a picnic. They didn't want to draw any attention with movement in the windows. Cedric laid in the middle of the group quietly.

One o'clock rolled around and Ricky grabbed his phone. He had missed a call about 15 minutes prior, cursing softly at himself for putting his phone on silent. The message was not encouraging. Dad told them to stay put, he had mom and they would be there as soon as they could. He said he loved him - and to tell the others he loved them too. He said each name individually. Ricky could hear screaming in the background, the call ended with the sound of glass breaking. Ricky tried calling his dad back first, then his mom; both went straight to voicemail. He and Mack were watching out the windows on either side of the room. They were all in the room the three younger boys shared, there were toys and that helped keep the younger children occupied; but the events of the day were taking their toll. Minutes seemed like hours, the children were getting more restless and scared, wanting their families. One of the younger children was crying. Alice was trying to console her, “It’s OK, your mom will be here soon.”

The children were asking when they could go home and trying to look out the windows. Mary asked, “has the crowd left yet? Are there police? Has anyone come to help?”

Mack was facing the scene and just shook his head. The crowd was gone, but there were bodies everywhere, women and children ripped apart and chewed up, lying motionless on the ground. He watched the last man wander off dragging part of one unfortunate victim along behind him. He didn't think he would ever be able to eat again.

Another half an hour and still no word from dad or mom. The youngest children were past the point of reason; even Norman and Joseph were becoming unruly. Ricky and Mack didn't know what to do and Alice was doing her best to comfort the children. Usually she had no problem babysitting, but this was different. The children were terrified. Telling them everything would be alright was weak and she knew it. Everything probably wasn't going to be alright, Alice just had nothing else to offer; she wanted to calm them down and keep them quiet. Who knew what would happen if those people came back?

Mary had less patience, if nice wasn't working, maybe scare tactics were necessary, “if you guys don't quiet down those monster people are gonna come back and get inside and kill us all! Is that what you want?” she hissed.

Alice stared at Mary wide-eyed. Before Alice could even attempt to diffuse the situation, one of the older children, a fourth grader named Jeffrey, panicked and ran downstairs. “Jeffrey, no!”

Mack went to run after Jeffrey, but Ricky stopped him, “we can’t go down there!”

“We can’t just let him go! He’ll be killed!” Mack shot back.

They began to argue, “better than all of us being killed,” Ricky countered, “you were in here with the girls when everything went down. You don’t know what they are like”

“No, I don’t. I only see the bodies ripped apart everywhere and I guess that’s enough for me to realize a fourth grader shouldn’t be wandering around out there by himself! Why are you OK with that?”

Alice was trying desperately to keep the other children under control, “no, no, it’s alright, please, come on over here. Don’t go to the window.”

Mary brought the youngest two, a kindergartner named Keeley and a first grader named Hope, into her and Alice's room, “c’mon, we can play with my dolls.” She fished a box of dolls out of the closet. Mary felt awful, she hadn't meant to make Jeffrey leave. She didn't want to cause any more problems, keeping two little girls amused while the others figured out what to do seemed like the safest thing she could do.

In the meantime, Ricky and Mack were in a heated debate. “Oh, tough guy lets a nine year old run off alone and you expect any of us to listen to you now? What if it was Joseph or Skippy? You gonna cut our losses there too?” Mack accused.

Ricky looked like he had just been punched in the gut, “you don’t get it. There is nothing we are going to do to stop it if one of those sick people does come back. I saw it up close, you didn’t. They are stupid fast and strong. They feel no pain and something in their bite transmits it. Dude, I’m afraid.”

“We are all afraid, Ricky,” Mack said, “I never took you for a coward though. Dad made you promise you wouldn’t let anyone leave. I heard him ask and I heard you…”

“...you heard me say I would do my best,” Ricky cut Mack off. “As far as I am concerned, my best ends at the door. If we chase after him, we will all die.”

“That’s Jeffrey, he plays with the boys all the time, Ricky,” Mack implored. “His sister is Alice’s best friend. How can you just let him die? How can you expect me to?”

“Because we can’t save him now,” Ricky strained through clenched teeth.

"Maybe you can't," Mack growled as he pushed past Ricky.

.... episode 3 on the way....

Any support is greatly appreciated (and encouraging!)