Eliot Strange and the Prince of the Apocalypse

31) A Trip to the Library

"Was the man who came and told about Jack and the prince, a big man?" I ask.

"Yep, real fat for these times. Looked like he walked a long way. All out of breath and sweaty. The one in charge gave him a car and sent him for reinforcements. Then he told the rest to shoot us all, and he got in the jeep and drove off to find a prince."

Steven quits crying and tells me, "Ben Hanson was here. He and some of his friends from that day at the school. They were in the same place as us. Captured. Yesterday, they said they were going to join up. But when they found out we all were going to be killed, they said they were not going to go down without a fight. They gathered us some weapons - books, office supplies, one of them had a skateboard. They put the women and the children in the back behind the desks." Steven stops talking like he can't go forward without seeing it all again.

Clay continues, "Ben and them boys was mean, but when it came down to it, we was all on the same side, and they was brave too. They jumped those soldiers when they came through the door. All hell broke loose. Ben and those boys was killed right off. The soldiers turned their guns towards us. And the lady there, the one called Nana, pulled her gun and bam, bam, bam. Looked like something from a Clint Eastwood movie. She started firing, and she was hitting them too. They must have been shocked because they turned and ran. Them that could. We was winning too, til she run out of ammo. One of them came back and fired at Nana and was going to kill us all."

Steven continues the story and from what he says, it is obvious that he is in shock. "And Ben Hanson got up off the ground where he laid dead. He swung the skateboard and hit the guy in the face. Ben killed the man who killed my Nana. Then Ben fell back down and died again. Ben was a hero, just like my Nana."

It gets really quiet other than the sound of Steven crying, and then Leia says, "Steven, I'm sorry about your Nana, but we got to get out of here. They could be coming back."

Torin says to Steven, "Lindy, let me take your Nana. I want to help you and help her. Where do you want me to take her?"

I am now myself crying and between my snubs and spurts I say, "Steven, we need to bury her. Where do you want us to take her? We'll take her wherever you want us to."

Steven lets Torin pick Nana up. Torin holds her gently and tenderly like the precious tiny hero and future legend that she has been all along.

"Grandpa George. She would want to be with Grandpa George."

As we are getting ready to leave, I hear the smallest voice calling my name from the corner where the hostages caught in the crossfire are lying. Someone in there is alive, and this person knows me.

"Eliot, can I go too?"

It is Cindy Lou Who.

"Cindy, how did you get here? Why are you here?"

"I went to find my friend Myrtle." She points to Myrtle. "She won't get up. She hurt her tummy."

I look at Myrtle still clutching two dolls all covered in her blood, with several more at her feet. What kind of person does this to someone so innocent? "Are you ok, Cindy?" I ask. "Are you hurt?"

"I hurt my finger." She holds up a bleeding finger that I am guessing was cut by shrapnel. "I played possum. I laid real still until I saw you. I'm an actress. I don't like it here. It is scary here. I want to go home."

"It's not safe there now. Do you want to go with me? I can fix that finger right up."

"Will you look out for me now? Keep me safe and promise?"

"Promise."

"Pinky swear?"

I nod.

"Can I have a band-aid?"

"Yes, sure."

"Have you got any super hero band-aids or princess? I like those."

I nod.

"Do you have some more sketti or cat food? I'm hungry."

"I have something better. I have some pudding cups."

"Chocolate pudding?"

"Yes, all you want."

"Ok, I am coming with you. Do you think Myrtle will care if I take one of her babies. I lost mine on the road."

"She won't care," I say.

"Myrtle is my good friend."

"Yes, yes she is."

Before we go, I cover Myrtle up with a coat from the lost and found box while others cover Lee and his friends. 

We leave with Steven's nana and head to the cemetery.