That Crew

Meeting The Nerd

It is around 6:00pm right about now. At the moment, I was walking down the dirty alleyways. I would have never down it before,but since this could be the least crowded direction to walk, I had to.

I thought about how this situation happened, it replays in my head over and over.

I'm all alone now, and I'm beginning to get hungry. I hate that feeling, why do I have to eat. I guess if I want to stay alive, I have to.

I search for another one of 'them', they're everywhere now, there is really no escaping them.

Finally I see one, a normal middle aged lady, except she has no hair and left leg.
I was just going to charge in and attack her, but instead I watched her actions, she seemed distracted.

Other than the sounds of they're usual groaning, I also heard a lot of breathing, I didn't think those things still wanted to breath.

Being the curious person I am I look past the lady to see a boy, teenage, probably around 15 or 16.

But the thing that caught my eye, was that he was still alive. I was shocked, I thought everyone else died.

He looked calm though, even just a few feet away from the woman, he wasn't scared. I was confused, when I was in that state, I freaked out.

So without anymore hesitation, I slowly walked up to the lady, not directing her attention to me, and I suddenly took her shoulders, both hands on each, and brought them closer, bending her back, until her shoulder met.

No sounds were made after that, I looked up at the boy, he looked confused. I averted my attention back to the lady, and dislocated her shoulder from her arm, then tore the arm off.

I stood up, walking towards the boy, he hasn't moved since I showed up. I'm beginning to wonder if he really is alive.

"Hey, you still alive in there?" I ask. He just looks at me, then finally realizing I was there, he shook his head and looked right at me.

He smiled kindly. "I'm sorry, thank you for saving me, that was close." He said, he looked like he was going to cry though. He looked down, and rubbed his elbow awkwardly . "I was only trying to ... understand them."

Understand them? I was so confused. "How are you supposed to understand them, they're dead." I said nonchalantly.

He looked back up at me, I noticed a small cut along his cheek. "I know that they're dead, it's just that I wondered, 'if they're dead, then why are they alive too?' I just wanted to find that out."

"Yeah... okay?" I asked, purposely trying to sound like I didn't understand, even though I know it all.

He sighed, his face slightly annoyed, but not much.

"You probably don't understand, like anyone else I used to talk to." He had added emphasise on the word 'used'.

"Hey i know exactly what your taking about, you just want to get to the roots of this problem. Right?" I told him, being sure to get my point across that I wasn't stupid. But I guess he still thought I didn't get what he was talking about at all. Only if he knew.

But I guess he still didn't believe me. "Okay you know what, I was in a college, Janes Dremon University to be exact."

His eyes seemed to widen. I smiled, showing him how proud I was of myself.

He seemed rather excited now, wanting to ask questions. "Wait did you seriously go to Janes Dremon University, I always wanted to go there, after I had gotten out of highschool?" I nodded in agreement, he smiled. "What department were you in?"

I had to think about that, it's been a while since then. "I was in the mathematical department. But I volunteered to help with the science department." I said as you began to walk back down the soggy road. The boy following behind.

"The mathematical department huh? Well I don't know anyone from there, but since you were helping with the science department, do you know Dr. Grayson?" He asked walking beside me.

I like having some company, so I didn't mind talking to him. "Dr. Grayson, is he an old guy, shaggy beard?" I asked, the name sounded familiar.

He definitely lightened up more. "Yeah that's him, he's my grandfather on my dad's side. Or was at least." Cedric seemed to slumped down, I guess it struck a nerve. Made me think that maybe either his dad died or he knows Dr. Grayson is gone. I would too, pretty much everyone is gone.

I tried to start a different conversation. "Hey, my place is down the road, wanna come? By the way, the name's Casey." Might as well do introductions.

"I'm Cedric." He held out his hand, wanting me to take it. But one of my hands were full, still holding the arm and my other hand, well, it doesn't look too good. If you know what I mean.

He looked at me, making this even more awkward, then he noticed my hand was full. Probably not wanting to touch any part of one of the monsters roaming the streets, he took his hand back. But then he asked THAT question. "So why do you have the arm? Souvenir?"

Man, I was hoping he wasn't going to notice. "Uh... well, how about I tell you when we get inside." I said, still trying to avoid the question.

He shrugged. "Alright. How far away is it?" He asked, both of us still walking in the direction of my house.

I pointed down the street. "Just down on the end of the road, not too long. Hey, you live around here Cedric?" Wanting to start a new conversation, I asked.

He smiled. "Yeah I do, been here since birth. I live down a couple blocks and around a few corners."

"Walked a long way to get on this side of town. Here it is." I said as we both walked up my staircase. I opened the door with out trouble, since it wasn't locked. There is no need after all.

I turned on the living room light. Somehow through all this, There is still electricity and water, guess we're just lucky. I motioned for Cedric to sit down somewhere. "Take a seat, I don't mind. Are you hungry?" I asked him, wanting to be a good host.

"Sure, anything works though. " Cedric said getting situated in one of my recliners.

I searched around my kitchen for something that was still edible. I quickly found the stash of cans, and quickly grabbed some soup. I had already set the arm on the other side of the counter, putting it aside for now.

I opened the can of soup, put it in a bowl and put it in the microwave. Having a moment, I grabbed the severed limb and got my butcher knife. As I was about to cut into the dead flesh, my microwave went off, meaning the soup was done now.

"Cedric you okay with soup?" I asked as I stepped out of my small kitchen, handing him the bowl and a spoon. He nodded in agreement and began eating.

In between eating, he sparked up a conversation. "So, why have you stayed in this neighborhood this whole time? The reason I stayed back was because, I had called my family, who lives 3 states north, and they sayed I needed to stay put. Guess they didn't want me to go outside with all of those creatures." He said then continued eating.

"But you were out there anyway. But I guess like you said, you just wanted to find out information about them. I'm still here because, well, since I've been here I've been, uh how can I say it, killing them. So the numbers been decreasing. I was trying to make this area clear of them, then I'll be able to move on." I said trying not to give all the details.

He was done with his bowl of soup by now, and I had taken it from him. About to go put it in the sink, I ask him, "Hey you know, it is pretty lonely around here, wanna stay over for the night? Unless you got someone back home."

He looked up at me, I couldn't tell if he was surprised or confused. Maybe both. He didn't seem to answer right away though. He must've been thinking. Maybe I said the wrong thing.

"Um, sure. I wouldn't mind at all. But since you've been so nice to me, tomorrow I'll return the favor, okay." He smiled a genuine smile, I haven't seen one of those in months. I smiled back at him, something I haven't done in months.