Neuroagent

Chapter Ten

"Ben?" I said quietly.

"Yeah, Lo?" He replied softly.

"Can you pull up a picture of Willow Simmons and Jeremy Alexander and print them out then take them to my apartment. Put them in the spare room." I asked.

"You got it Lo." He told me.

"Thanks Ben." I replied.

Jace put the van in drive and left the driveway we were parked in and headed to the east of town to check the houses and stores there for survivors. When we got to the other side of town, I came out of my funk. I kissed baby Justin on his cheek and climbed to the front seat.

"Keep an eye out for anything that might indicate there are survivors." I told everyone in the van.

"Are you okay?" Jace said loud enough for just me to hear.

"I have to be." I told him.

"It's alright to be in shock Laurell." Jace told me.

"I just can't believe she did it. She left her baby behind because she couldn't cope with the loss of the love of her life." I told him. "It makes no sense. Her baby should've been put first and thought about first, if she would've done that; focused on her baby instead of her grief, she would've made it."

"I know but she was young, maybe she just couldn't cope." He replied.

"It's bullshit. I lost the man I loved when I was seventeen, my daughter was nine months old at the time. I thought about killing myself everyday but everytime I looked in her eyes, it reminded me that she is and will always be more important than my grief. I looked in her eyes and she brought me back from the edge. When she wasn't around and I found it hard to cope, I just thought of her and she brought me back." I told him. "It's no excuse. She should've thought about her baby first. I was in shock, yes because I've never seen someone commit suicide before but I am good now."

"Okay." was all he said.

"I did what you asked Lo." Ben said through the ear piece.

"Why aren't you sleeping Ben?" I asked him.

"I did sleep." He told me. "I had eight hours of sleep, I figured that was enough. Now I am manning the computers while Noah sleeps."

"Alright." I said. "Have you seen anything on survaliance?"

"There seems to be movement a little north of town. Not sure if you want to check it out or not but there is movement." He told me.

"Sure. We will check it out." I told him. "We are going to bury two bodies first then check the houses on the east, then we'll head north."

"10-4." Ben replied and I smiled a little.

When we got the cemetary, Jace pulled up to the groundskeepers building and I got out of the vehicle.

"Keep your eyes open. Lock the doors." I told everyone that was staying in the van.

I walked to the front of the building and pulled on the door knob but it was locked. So I did the knock that I normally do, three; wait and three more. No one answered so I looked in the windows but couldn't see anything because the windows were covered. I climbed on the top of the building and found a hatch up there. I pulled it open, unsheathed my machete; flicked on my flashlight and jumped down, ready to take out any rotters that were in there.

When I dropped down, I landed on something soft which was odd considering where I was. I did a three hundred and sixty degree turn. I landed on a door to my right and I walked over to it. I knocked three times, waited and knocked three more. I heard shuffling around.

"I know you are in there." I said. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just come out."

The movement stopped and I waited. Nothing happened so I said, "I am taking a shovel. I have a couple to bury. If you want to talk when I get done, be waiting. If not then you can stay here and fend for yourself."

I walked over to the shelves to the left of the door and grabbed a shovel then unlocked the door to the building and walked out. I told Jace to find four pieces of wood that we can turn into crosses and I walked about thirty feet from the building and began digging. I heard someone coming up behind me and I turned around to find Aiden, Myles, Jace and Gabe coming towards me with their own shovels and a ladder.

Together we dug four feet down and five feet across, it took us two hours but we got it done. I went back into the building and grabbed two tarps that I seen earlier when I was in the building then headed back to the hole we had dug. I put the first tarp down and flattened it out.

We all walked back to the van and I seen that Erika had made the crosses and put their names on them plus date of their death.

Jace and I picked Willow up gently and carried her to the hole we dug. I climbed down the ladder and Jace lowered Willow down to me. Once her whole body was down, he climbed down and helped me lay her down softly. After we had her laying down, Gabe and Aiden came with Jeremy and Myles was trailing behind. Myles jumped down in the hole; narrowly missing Willow and told the boys to lower him down. Myles had Jeremy's feet and Jace walked over to catch the rest of Jeremy. Once they had him, they walked over and laid him down right next to Willow. I placed her hand on top of Jeremy's and took the edges of the first tarp and covered them up, making sure their bodies were covered then put the other on directly on top of the first.

I climbed up the ladder and said a silent prayer for them. Once Myles and Jace were back at the top, they pulled the ladder up and we began to cover their bodies with dirt. Aiden walked back over to us with the crosses and a hammer. He began hammering the crosses in the ground as we continued to put the dirt on top of them.

"God rest their soul. Protect them as they make their journey to Heaven." Aiden said and bowed his head in silent prayer.