The North (#wattys2016)

Chapter 5

I lay atop my cot and flashed my light on Sgt. Green’s letter. If only he’d just ordered us to load up the carriers and fight our way out of the city – even if he’d done it twenty four hours ago, he’d still be alive and I wouldn’t have to worry about stepping into his shoes.

Across the room Jo stirred and then yawned, stretching her arms out of the sleeping bag. She unzipped it halfway and kicked her body out of the down-filled cocoon, sticking her feet inside a pair of rubber boots. She clumped across the room and climbed onto the edge of my cot. I didn’t bother trying to hide the letter from her as she poked her head over to see what I was reading.

“Whatcha looking at?” she asked as she brushed her hair away from her eyes. “Is that … is that a letter from Mommy?”

There was a tiny, almost hopeful sounding lilt to her voice. I still had Mom’s goodbye letter – Jo didn’t know about it. She’d never know about it. Ever.

I flipped the letter over and showed it to Jo. “It’s from Sgt. Green,” I said very business-like. “He left us something to help us survive.”

Jo seemed to shrink a little. She was wearing a t-shirt that was more nightgown than anything. Across her narrow chest were the words CHARLIE COMPANY.

“So many people are gone now,” she said quietly. Her eyes drifted away from the letter and she gazed at her rubber boots. “Is Sgt. Green going to come back? Is he going to become a creeper?”

I shook my head. “He won’t. We took care of it.”

“Nobody else is ‘fected, right? Nobody else is going to turn, right?”

“We’re all good to go, Jo,” I replied. “And we’re all going to keep you safe. Got it?”

She nodded but kept her eyes fixed firmly on her rubber boots. “We’re not safe, David. The creepers got Mom … they’ll get all of us.”

I folded up the letter and dropped it on the floor, leaned forward and gently placed both hands on Jo’s face. I turned her head and rested my forehead against hers. “Jo … I’m your big brother and I’m going to protect you. We’re getting out of here – we’re going to go somewhere safe. That’s what Sgt. Green’s letter was about. He put together a plan for us to get out of the city. We’re going to get as far away from civilization as we can get. We’re going to start over.”

“But there’s so many creepers – they’re everywhere. We’ll get swarmed and then …”

I lifted her chin and stared hard into her eyes. “Jo … we’ve got lots of ammunition. We’ve got food and supplies. We’ve got each other – we’re a family.”

She pursed her lips together tightly and I allowed her a few moments to absorb what I’d just told her. I wanted her to hope even though hope was always something we’d tried to keep at arm’s length. If the last six months had taught us anything it was that hoping would always come back to bite you in the ass. But Jo was eight and she needed something to believe in.

“How are we going to get out of here?” she asked as she bent down and grabbed Sgt. Green’s letter.

“The armored personnel carriers,” I said calmly. “When we’re hatches down in those things, those monsters can’t touch us. We can blow right through them like bowling pins.”

“But where will we go?”

I brushed her hair away from her eyes. “We’ve gotta figure that one out still. Sgt. Green said we should head to the mountains where there is fresh water and game for us to hunt, but there’s another place … maybe.”