A-O Bomb Squad 4: The Final Blow

Can't Seem to Get a Break

The day after Uncle Loud Speaker's funeral was terrible. All my classes were cancelled except Coach's. I spent the whole day running. But I didn't care. Every time I ran a lap, I thought of Loud Speaker. Sometimes he'd sit in on my class and we'd have fun. He was a really fun guy. I wish I could've met him before the apocalypse. If I was born, that is. Buzz Kill didn't leave the bedroom all day. Coco got out and walked, but only to the art room. She spent all day in there painting.

I knocked on the bedroom door. "Aunt Buzz Kill, can I come in?" I asked sheepishly.

She wiped her eyes. "Sure. I was just sitting around. What do you need?"

"I just wanted to see if you were okay."

She smiled. "Thanks."

"You want to talk about it?" I asked after closing the door and sitting next to her.

"Don't tell anyone this, but before Loud Speaker died, we were discussing having a baby. Ya know, since you're almost grown up now," she admitted to me. Then she told me of the pregnancy scare she had while Mom was pregnant with me. We both started laughing at the end. Afterwards, we laid down on her mattress and told each other stories, even though she had way more than me.

I hugged her until she fell asleep. I told Fail Face to stay with her, and she did. Then I walked back downstairs to see how Aunt Coco was doing. She was in the hall next to the art room, painting, of course. I picked up a brush and began paint the rest of the wall with the base coat. We didn't talk for awhile until I asked her what we were going to be painting. "I don't know yet. Grab some colors and go nuts."

We ended up painting a graveyard. There were six headstones in total. On the far left, there was a headstone with the name Keegan Erlenbush. Second was a girl named Shelby Fryman. In the middle, was a boy named Blake Faith. After him was another boy named Jaason White (apparently the name Jaason with two a's was weird), and then was another boy on the end with the name Sylvan Gentry. I decided to ask Aunt Coco about him in a minute after we finished Uncle Loud Speaker's headstone.

"Who's that?" I asked pointing to the headstone with my first name on it.

"A friend of ours who's gone now."

"What happened to him? Was I named after him? Who was he?" I questioned.

"He used to be in Bomb Squad with me and your mom and the others. He was a bit quiet at first, but grew accustomed to us. He was the oldest. He died saving your mom from Julio," she paused. I nodded confirming I remembered who Julio was from Bomb Squad History class. "And yes, you were named after him. He was a great friend. Your mom, and everybody, loved him very much. His death was unxpected, and we all have changed because of it."

"So why didn't I learn about him in BSH?"

"That was your mom's decision. We didn't have a say in it, but he did exsist. Your mom will tell you the rest someday. For now that's all anyone can tell you." With that, she picked up our painting supplies and locked herself back in the art room. I sat in front of the mural and stared at it while thinking.

Why would Mom hide Sylvan from me? Who was he really? What did he have to do with Mom? What did he look like? What was he like? All of these were questions that popped up in my head. I considered asking Coco more about Sylvan, but she said Mom would tell me more about it. I wondered if I should go up to her and ask her. I had more questions than answers. I sighed in frustration. Why did Aunt Coco have to tell me about this Sylvan guy? I was more curious than ever.

I gave up on guessing who Sylvan was and walked to the gym to shoot at the firing range. Coach had run out of actual things for me to shoot, so he ended up drawing targets on cardboard. I set them up and began shooting. I got mostly forties and fifties. I didn't have perfect aim, but appareantly I was close. I shot until the gun ran out of ammo. It wasn't a real gun; it was a NERF gun. I practiced with these to so we could preserve ammo. I picked up all the darts, and cleaned up the room. I set the NERF down and walked to the top of the bleachers. I sat down and stared out the window. There were parked cars, dead bodies, mashed up cars, and shotgun shells everywhere. I sighed.

Suddenly, I felt Fail Face's cold, wet nose dig itself under my hand. I smiled and pat her head. "Hey, girl," I whispered. I looked back out the window, while still petting her head. "Life just sucks, doesn't it?" I asked even though she could never answer me. She laid her head down on my lap and whined. "What's the matter?" She got up and ran down the bleachers. She waited at the door for me. After I got there, she bolted down the hallway. "Fail Face! Fail Face, slow down! I can't run that fast!" But she still galloped in front of me. She led me outside with the others standing in a circle. "Guys, what's going on?" I asked.

They parted to make room for me to see. I looked down at the mangled body in horror. It was Coach.

A/N: Again guys sorry about the short chapters, but that's why I posted two of them. Hope you have a merry Christmas, or Hanukah, or Quanza, or whatever it is you celebrate!