Dog Eat Dog, page 11
As soon as the bus came to a stop, Evelyn bolted from the doors to embrace the four of her students that waited for her with open arms on the outside. She looked at each one of their faces as a way to reassure herself once again that they had all made it back to her safe and found, and that she had not failed to keep them alive as she had in the previous days, losing Daniel as they did. Her eyes welled up with joyful tears this time as she smiled at all of the young faces that beamed back at her through the soot and grime that coated all of their skin like war paint.
“Thank you so much, sir, for bringing our team back to us,” Evelyn heard Will say as he came up beside them to shake the old man’s remaining hand.
“Oh no, sir, I am not the one to thank. These youngsters seem pretty capable of handling themselves. Especially, this little red-headed firecracker, she’s a natural with a pistol. She could probably teach me a thing or two,” the man replied.
“Nah, Mr. Potter, you seem to hold your own pretty good for an old guy with one arm,” Responded Beth, turning to face him.
“Beth! That’s not very polite,” Evelyn expressed in a surprised and shocked tone.
“Its quite alright ma’am. She’s earned the right to do without pleasantries and politeness. At least in my book anyway,” he comforted Evelyn and threw a wink in Beth’s direction.
“Well, considering I probably haven’t, at least in your eyes yet anyway, my name is Evelyn Bullock. I am the mother of sorts to all these youngsters, as you call them,” Evelyn injected, shaking his hand.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance ma’am. You can call me, Silas, or Mr. Potter; whichever makes you more comfortable. I used to teach, and that is what all of my students called me before I retired. Some of them even after I retired,” Mr. Potter added.
“Is that how you lost your arm?” asked Stephanie out of nowhere. This caused Evelyn to feel another twinge of embarrassment and shock come over her, but before she could voice her own thoughts, Mr. Potter placed a gentle hand on her arm to reassure her that he took no offense to the young woman’s inquiry.
“Well, let’s just say I wasn’t always this gimpy. I had two hands until my best friend… actually he was more my wife’s best friend, her baby, Snowball. One morning he woke up and forgot who and where he was. So when I tried to help him, he took it all the wrong sort of way and there when my hand,” Mr. Potter explained.
“Your wife? So you’re not alone out here. Maybe the two you should come with us.” Evelyn looked to Will who looked like he agreed.
“That’s awful kind of you, but it would just be me. My wife passed on some time ago. I suppose that was pretty lucky considering she didn’t have to see her little buddy get this terrible sickness,” Mr. Potter corrected her with a slightly sad tone.
Evelyn felt even more embarrassed than she had at any of the children. “I am so sorry.”
“Oh, that’s quite alright, my dear. It’s my fault I often talk about her like she’s still here,” Mr. Potter comforted her, but it seemed to make her feel a little more sympathetic and sad for him rather than helping her recover from her desire to slowly shrink away into invisibility, somehow.
“Why don’t you come with us, Mr. Potter?” Will offered and before they knew it the group of teenagers were practically chanting disjointedly for Mr. Potter to accept. “We’re headed to Fort Carson, it’s only a couple more days from here, and we have more than enough room,” Will continued.
Mr. Potter paused for a moment as if he was contemplating everything they were telling him and weighing his options. Evelyn for his safety, as well as theirs according to what all of the kids were saying, that he would break down and say yes.
“Well, as much as I would love to come along with you nice folks, I’m afraid I can’t,” Mr. Potter began. “Besides, y’ all don’t need an old man weighing you down,”
“No, it won’t be any extra weight at all. We would rather you come along,” Evelyn urged.
“I know, darlin’, but I’ve got some family obligations to look after. My father had a cabin that he left to me out in the mountains, and I would hate for anyone to take it over before I get there. I do appreciate your kind offerings, though. If this idea goes in the shitter, I’ll take you up on it. So, Aquaman, keep that radio working as long as you can,” Mr. Potter punctuated.
“Will do, my good man,” Patrick said, with a salute that was immediately returned with a beaming smile.
Mr. Potter’s smile changed slightly into a squint, and he felt at his nub of an arm as he looked in the sky. He then licked his pinky finger and held it up before saying, “You folks should probably get out of here, looks like we’ve got a bit of a storm brewing.”
“I suppose this is goodbye, then,” Evelyn said, shaking the man’s hand one last time before boarding the bus.
Once everyone had piled in, and the bus began to pull away, Evelyn still stood peering out the back windows at the waving old man she had come to know as Mr. Potter. And, she got the feeling they would be seeing more of him very soon.
Chapter 7
The night was quiet, almost peaceful. It was something like they remembered from a time before all of this started. That life seemed like something out of a faraway daydream, a fantasy that they had been told to remind them that there were once better days. Something to give them false hope that there could be days like that once again. But Darren felt he knew better now, that time was a thief, and he had stolen almost all memory of how much simpler life was before they had to live it constantly on the run from things with only their death and destruction in mind. He vowed to punch whoever the wise guy was that put them in this mess in the throat if he ever met him. He was pretty sure he would do much more than that if he ever met him, but for now, he would just settle for the opportunity to land a single punch on his smarmy most likely nerdy face.
The silvery sheen of moonlight came through the sparse arrangement of trees. It created a glittery shimmer across the soft plush grass beneath their shoes that squished slightly like the fur of a shag carpet, like the one in his grandmother’s living room. He was pretty sure that it was all torn to shreds by now and probably a similar green color from all of the mold that had grown up on it from exposure. What was he doing? He asked himself. Here he was out here with the most beautiful girl in school, or so he believed, and he was thinking about some moldy old rug that was probably covered in bloody dog shit by now. Darren knew that he needed to reevaluate his priorities and quickly before she was out of the mood, or someone from the camp came and cramped their style before they could actually do anything.
Darren smiled back at Casey as he watched her twirl around in the moonlight like some kind of a fairy-like creature. He was really looking forward to tonight. He knew that she was more experienced than he was in the area of, but he was sure that he could learn enough from her to get by at least for tonight anyway.
Darren took a deep breath and gathered his courage before making his move. He walked up to Casey and held out his hand and said, “Can I have this dance?”
Casey giggled as she took his hand and let him twirl her around. He continued to spin her around and around until she was dizzy enough to fall into his body as if drunkenly. They clasped eyes and realized that he had never noticed just how beautiful they were before now. She leaned in and kissed him before he even knew what was happening, but he quickly got the hang of it and began to kiss her back. Everything was just smooth sailing from there, and all of his fear and inhibitions were gone, leaving room for only his passion for her that came out like a raging disjointed teenage hormonal hurricane.
Their clothing was quickly being shed like skin layer by layer as they continued to kiss each other all over. He lay his shirt down on the grass for her to lie down on and began to remove his belt and pants. He could feel the blood rushing to his pelvic area, and his heart raced with excitement. His only fear now was that he not become too excited and finish too quickly. That would be embarrassing.
Darren was locked and loaded as he prepared himself for a look at her ultimate prize. His eyes widened as he watched her hands slide down to the band of her panties when suddenly he heard something in the distant darkness of the woods. It was obvious that Casey heard it too because she stopped what she was doing and raised herself to a seated position.
“What was that?” she asked.
“I’m sure it was nothing.” Darren did his best to recover the mood, but it was too far gone now. Or so he thought. This disappointment was soon put aside when she started to kiss him once again. He felt a tingling sensation race all over his body like he had never felt before. It was almost like some kind of high that caused him to suddenly feel warm and fuzzy all over. But then he was suddenly bombarded by another sensation entirely, a shooting pain in his arm and the warm rush of blood. Then there was the sound of screaming, and Darren realized that it was coming from both him and Casey. When he looked down, his arm was being torn into by an inordinately large fox that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Casey was soon standing over him trying to beat the animal away with a fallen branch but to no avail. A loud blast rang through the forest as the foxes brains were blown in bloody bits all over Darren’s face. Casey’s breath slowed, and she stopped screaming.
“Boy! If I have to save your ass one more time, can you at least make sure it’s not bare next time,” proclaimed Mr. Potter as he came into the clearing.
“Oh, my god! What are we going to do? He’s been bitten,” Casey started to panic as Darren continued to cry out in pain.
Mr. Potter knelt down to take a look at the boy’s wound. “Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head none, dear. If you can lead me back to the camp, I think we can save him,” he assured her.
“How?” Casey asked, gathering up their things from the ground.
“Never you mind about that, we just need to hurry,” Mr. Potter urged.
Evelyn and Will stood practically at attention like soldiers at the ready for an attack.
“What was that?” asked Will.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll find out in a minute,” replied Evelyn, looking through the darkness frantically. She turned to take a look at her crew gathered around the fire and realized to her great horror that Casey and Darren were missing. A feeling of frustration ran through her as she remembered how she had told them all many times there was no time to risk their lives for silly behavior like this. Especially when it could result in something else they really didn’t need right now.
Just then, to her relief, she could hear the distant cries of Casey calling out to them underpinned by Darren groaning in pain. It was not the most ideal situation, at least they were alive enough to make noise. She watched as Will responded quickly in doctor fashion, running over to Mr. Potter and helping him carry Darren over to the fire. All of the others stood in shock murmuring amongst each other as well as scolding Darren and Casey for their behavior. Which she very much wanted to do herself, but it would have to wait, from the look of Darren’s arm it appeared he had been punished enough already.
“Let’s take a look here…” Will knelt down next to Darren as the rest of them stood around them towering over them.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Evelyn, we shouldn’t have gone off by ourselves,” said Casey, starting to cry.
Evelyn placed a gentle arm around the girl’s small rounded shoulders. “It’s alright, dear, but sometimes we have to do things in order to receive the consequences so that we never do them again. But don’t worry, Darren is in very capable hands.” Evelyn then turned her attention to Will and asked, “what are his chances?”
“Well, it’s not looking good. I’m just going to tell you that right now,” Will stated.
“I knew it. I’m going to die. Why was I so stupid?” Darren whimpered in pain.
“Don’t think like that, we’re going to do everything we can,” Evelyn said, trying to hold onto the hope that everything would work out alright, and that she hadn’t failed yet another one of her children.
“I hate to suggest it, but I am afraid there may be no other alternative, doc. You’re going to have to take that arm,” Mr. Potter said with a slight tone of urgency in his voice.
“What? What does he mean?” Darren’s face was completely saturated with fear by now.
“Well, Darren, I’m afraid the only way we’re going to be able to save you is if we remove that part of your arm and cauterize the wound,” Will explained as gently as he knew how. Even though he knew that there was no way to make this news anymore pleasant.
“What? No, I can’t lose my arm, there has to be another way. Miss Evelyn do something, please, there has to be another way,” Darren pleaded as he grew paler. Evelyn knew deep down that Will, and Mr. Potter were right, and there was no other way to save Darren. Not to mention, time was very much of the essence, and they needed to act quickly if they were going to do so before the infection spread to the rest of his body.
“I’m sorry, dear, there is nothing else we can do. You’re going to have to be braver than you have ever been just now and let us do this, alright?” she knelt down and cupped his frightened quivering face in her hands. “And, don’t worry, the rest of us are right here with you. We will help you through this, like a family should.”
Darren nodded his head and looked into her eyes. She could his expression starting to change from that of a frightened little boy to that of a man shoring up his resolve.
“You can do this,” Evelyn encouraged him further.
Darren took a deep breath before letting out a heavy exhale. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.”
“Alright,” responded Will.
Evelyn resumed a standing position and stood back to give them some room to work on their unpleasant task. She watched as Will motioned for Mr. Potter to take his designated position beside Darren, who extended his arm and allowed Mr. Potter to firmly hold his wrist. Patrick stepped forward with his blazing red fire ax and long machete-like blade that he also carried. He handed them to Will, who placed them in the fire to sterilize them.
“Now, Patrick, I am going to need you to do this for me, because I have to be able to wrap it as soon as we have sealed the wound,” Will instructed him. Patrick looked a little apprehensive but that soon passed and Evelyn saw the young fourteen-year-old boy practically transform into a grown man before her very eyes.
Will took his position with a clean white T-shirt at the ready. He signaled to Patrick who lifted the ax from the flames, wincing slightly at the heat. He raised the weapon over his head and looked Darren straight in the eyes. Evelyn held her breath and watched as Patrick quickly dropped the blade and it sliced through Darren’s arm. She placed her hands over her mouth to stifle her screams and to stop the small amount of vomit that sprang from her stomach and into her mouth.
“Now, now, now,” said Will, waving his hand like a rapidly turning windmill. Patrick took the machete, whose blade now glowed red, and placed it over the open wound. There was the smell of burning flesh and hot metal that coated the wind as well as the inside of all of their nostrils, Evelyn was sure. And, the sound of sizzling and popping took on a completely different memory for Evelyn all together, and she was also sure that she would probably never be able to think of frying ham the same ever again.
Evelyn sat nearly catatonic, staring into the dancing flames of their small campfire, trying to erase the image of Darren’s limb being severed from her mind. It was not a complete failure, but it still made her list of things that she could have stopped from happening if she had only kept an eye on everyone better. The sound of someone settling in beside her and the shift of weight on the log alerted her to the fact that someone had decided to join her. But she was miles away in her mind and not really in a place to care about who it might be at the moment. So continued to stare ahead of her into the middle distance until the flames before her became a blur.
The feeling of warm flesh that was covered in bristly hair brushed against the flesh of her arm, and she heard the sloshing of liquid inside a flask. Evelyn cast a small glance in the direction of the silver flask. It sat firmly in the well work-worn hand of Mr. Potter. He extended it to her, offering her a drink; which after a moment she gladly took.
“I figured you could use one, after all of that. I know I certainly did. It’s been a good minute since I lost mine. But time doesn’t make its passing really any easier to cope with, especially since it serves as a painful reminder of why I lost it,” Mr. Potter said.
“You must have really been attached to that dog,” Evelyn observed, taking another long swig.
“That I was, but I’m afraid that was not the worst of it,” Mr. Potter replied, taking the flask from her offering hand and took a long draught himself.
“What do you mean?” asked Evelyn, a little confused.
Just then, Will joined them, sitting on the ground on the other side of Evelyn with his back against the log.
“He’s sleeping soundly now, I have Casey looking after him,” Will said, with an exhausted sigh that was quickly followed by a yawn.
“Good, all we have to do is wait now, I suppose. See how he’s doing tomorrow,” Evelyn added, rubbing Will’s shoulder and neck. He turned to look at her and Mr. Potter. “I think it will all be better tomorrow when we arrive at Fort Carson. They should at least have some kind of medical supply that will suffice enough to give him the care he needs,” Will stated.
