Zach POV
Zach was zooming down the streets on Kevin's bicycle so fast, he didn't know where he was going all he knew was that he was going to find the murderer himself and kill him. Zach hated the idea of being watched 24/7 by some creepy Mission Impossible looking guy and a gorgeous spy-chick who would make it much better as a model than an agent, even if Zach enjoyed that little smooch she gave him. Zach didn't want to be used as a pawn for some big game between the Feds and the Long River Mafia, which Zach wouldn't be involved at all if not for Charlie's stupidity. Zach decided that as soon as he found the gunman, he's going after Charlie.
Zach saw the gunman with his own eyes shoot his father, the bullet that was meant for him. This, his secrecy and not listening to Jonathan's advice to go home instead of going to play baseball when he finally got to talk to Kimberly, all made Zach angry and confused. Kimberly had left and Jonathan left too, when Zach needed his best friends the most. Jonathan claimed he went because his parents feared for his safety, that may be so, but Zach knew that it was just Jonathan's excuse to be with Kimberly. Corey was the only person left in his life that was with him.
When Zach had arrived at the Adams' with Alice and Tom, Corey was there, as was Kevin. Kevin said he was there because Kimberly asked him to keep some stuff in her room safe. Zach met Wanda, who seemed indifferent to Zach being there. Scott was nice enough. He was very understanding and put him in the room with Timmy and gave him a cell phone. Corey was trying to tell Zach something but all Zach could think about were his parents. Zach ran out of the house and grabbed Kevin's bike and rode away. He deliberately avoided his own house because the thought of seeing that place again made him sick and he knew that cops were there.
Before Zach right on the banks of the Hudson River in the interstate. Zach felt a vibration in his pants from the cell phone. Zach answered.
"What the fuck do you want?!" screamed Zach into the phone.
"Its okay, Zach, its me." It was Kimberly. Zach's heart skipped a few beats.
"Did your Dad tell you to call me?" said Zach.
"Well yes." said Zach, "He's worried sick and so am I."
"Tell him not to." said Zach, "I just need to be alone." Zach was only partially lying. Zach had the wherewithal to know that he had no hope of finding the killer or Charlie, but he needed time to think. Also, he was very happy to hear Kimberly's voice.
"Gail and Jonathan say hello." said Kimberly, "Jonathan apologizes for leaving you like this."
"If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about It." said Zach
"That was pretty intense the other night, huh?" said Kimberly.
"What other night?" said Zach, "It was all intense."
"You know what I'm talking about, Zach. Or at least I hope you do" said Kimberly, "Despite all that you went through, you let me hold you and you were so gentle."
Kimberly obviously couldn't see but Zach was blushing.
"Oh that...thank you." He said shyly, "Thanks for being there. It meant all the difference in the world. And even though I know your Dad put you up to calling me, I'm happy you did and a little surprised."
"How so?" asked Kimberly.
"I don't know," said Kimberly's "I figured once you were in Canada, you'd forget all about me." Kimberly was letting out emotional pants from hearing this.
"I will never forget about you, Zach," whispered Kimberly intensely, "As much I've been trying to deny it. There's a strong connection between us and even though I'm not there, you can always come to me when you feel down. Just like I am doing because I feel down."
"Why?" asked Zach "What's keeping you down?"
"Its just that, ever since I got here I feel like an outcast." said Kimberly, "Don't get me wrong Gail and I are roommates and are great friends, but the headmistress is a witch and there's this snobby girl, Amber, who sucks up to her and also has it in for me for no reason. She always tries to outdo me in gymnastics."
"I didn't know you did gymnastics," said Zach, "but then again, I really don't know that much about you. We do have a connection Kimberly, but I thinks its best for both of us not to invest so much in these feelings . You need to focus on doing well in school and maybe you'll meet another nice guy like Kevin."
"And what about you?" said Kimberly.
"I'm not sure, but I love you." said Zach. He didn't realize what he was saying until he said it and he stopped abruptly. Kimberly didn't say anything.
"I meant 'good-bye'!" Zach yelled. "Oh god! I'm so-" He was cut off when Kevin's bike got caught under some rocks and at the speed he was still moving, the momentum catapulted Zach right into the river.
It was so cold and deep he didn't know what was happening. Mom, Dad, I think I'm about to join you, where I belong was the last thing he thought before all went black. Zach faintly felt a hand garb him and pull him up.
When Zach came to, he didn't no how long he'd been knocked out. The first thing he saw was a high dome shaped ceiling. His eye caught the distant flicker of a fire. Zach turned his head and saw a silhouette of someone in a chair, crouching over a desk, but his vision was so blurry and mind disoriented he couldn't make out who it was nor could he speak. Zach attempted to move, but something was keeping him down. Zach's left-leg was placed in an unconventional type of cast and pain coursed through him as he tried to lift his leg. The pain was immense, Zach let out a loud cry of agony.
The person turned around, "Oh, you're awake." said a scruffy, elderly voice, and "You're one lucky son of a bitch if I wasn't out fishing when you fell in the Hudson you woulda drowned. Wouldn't be the first time I did that either." Zach watched the man hobble over to him using a cane for his left leg limp and was smoking a pipe. There was also a Captain Hook style eye-patch over his right eye. He was a quite old looking with white, mangled hair but was quite built for his age, in spite of his handicaps. He was wearing a very tattered and worn, old army uniform.
"Let me take a look here," the man lifted Zach's leg to examine it and instinctively Zach clenched up. "Hold up, I know it hurts, you broke you're leg pretty bad. Musta happened when you hit the riverbed. Good thing I'm a doctor."
"Who are you?" asked Zach weakly.
"The names Leopold. Leopold Armisen," the man said, "But my friends call me
'Leo'. At least when I had friends." Leo coughed a laugh.
"W-Where am I?" said Zach.
"Shh." said Leo, "Don't worry about that know. You need some rest, you've had a long day."
"You know who I am?" asked Zach.
"'Course, you're all over the papers." said Leo, "You go by Zachary or Zach?"
"Zach." answered Zach.
Leo began quietly shushing Zach once more. "No more talking. We'll continue in the morning." Zach felt a warm, soothing cloth be placed on his forehead. Zach didn't know where he was or who this guy was, but he thanked God that he was alive. And as he drifted off to sleep, in the back of his mind, Zach trusted that he was in good hands.
Zach woke up the next day to the sounds of a rooster crowing and the river swaying in the background. The sun was already beaming down, Zach didn't know what time it was. Zach looked around the domed concrete structure, there was light emanating from the semi-circled openings like in a circus tent. In the center, there was a fire burning underneath a spit with a dead animal carcass wrapped around it. Zach thought he would vomit from the sight, the smell was so putrid. Zach's head and sight were much clearer now as he took the rag off his face. He still found it hard to move with the cast on his leg. But, the pain was lessened due to a bag of melted ice, Zach noticed, that was lodged in his cast.. There was no sign of Leo anywhere.
"Hello?" said Zach loudly, "Leo? Are you there?"
A few seconds later he saw Leo pop his head into the dome from the outside.
"Ah, good, you're up." Leo said cheerfully. He had a dear carcass in a fireman's carry. "You feel any better?" Leo dropped the carcass next to the fire pit. He was still smoking his pipe and cane.
"Wh-What is this place?" said Zach, "What happened last night?"
"Why don't you eat a little something first before you start asking questions," said Leo.
If Zach had a say, he wouldn't touch that foot with a hundred foot pole, but Leo saved his life and Zach was starving.
"Oh, don't worry." said Leo noticing Zach's aversion to the food, "I won't make you eat the meat if you don't want, I got eggs for ya out back, but we get ya up cuz the foods outside." Leo said. He went over to a tall cabinet next to his desk and pulled out a pair of crutches. "Here, take these. These'll help." Zach grabbed the rubber bar of one crutch and with the help of Leo, Zach managed to get up right. After lying down for so long, the quick motion of getting up made Zach lose his bearings for a moment.
"Steady there," said Leo, "Alright."
They walked slowly outside and there was big clearing about thirty to forty feet in diameter, but then just trees and woods. The top of the dome was covered in weeds and shrubs, up against the edge of the Hudson, it was no wonder Zach had never seen it before. At the far left of the clearing was a chicken coop, with several hens, little chicks fluttering around and one rooster. So you're the one who woke me. There was another fire going at the center of the circle, also with a skew and pit, but there was a small pot hanging from it. When Zach got closer, he saw the eggs being sizzled in the pot.
"Wow, how's you get the chickens?" said Zach, amazed
"To know how I got the chickens is to know how I got to this place." said Leo.
"Well, how did you?" said Zach.
"Lets eat, then we'll schmooze." said Leo. He went over to the pot and stirred it a bit and walked over to the side of the dome and pulled out two large palm branch-like leaves and divided the contents of the pot into each. They both sat down on adjacent tree stumps.
"So what happened last night?" asked Zach as they were eating.
"Maybe you could tell me?" said Leo, setting down hit pipe on a nearby stone. "Why the hell were you all the way out here?"
"I don't know." moaned Zach, shaking his head in self-pity.
"'Course ya do," said Leo, "the best way to let go is to let it out. Come on tell ol' Leo."
"'ol Leo'?" said Zach in confused irritation, "Listen, I appreciate what you've done for me, I don't know you and you don't know me. Who are you to tell me what the best way is. 'Let go'? Let go of what?"
"Who am I?" he said, "I'm the sumbitch that saved your life, that's who? You need to let go of you're own grief and the only way to do that is to talk about it."
"What do you know what the only way is?!" said Zach, "All you know is what you've read in the papers!"
"Don't get all angry," said Leo, "I'm tryin' to help you."
"I don't need your help," said Zach, "I need to get out of here and find the asswhole who killed my parents."
"Oh yeah? And then what?" challenged Leo, "Assuming you can find him, what is a little kid like you gonna do to a trained gunman like that."
"What do you know, that guy wasn't trained," said Zach, "I saw the look in his eyes when I went into my house. He was more scared then I was."
"If he's scared, you're solution is to kill him?" said Leo.
"He killed my parents, I don't care if he's scared!" shouted Zach
"Well, you damn well should." said Leo, "Maybe he has a family too? Maybe he was put up to it in order to help them."
"I know he was and I don't care," said Zach, "Before I kill him, I'm gonna make him tell me where the Long River Mafia is now based."
"the Long River, what?!" Leo burst out into coughs of laughter, "You think you're gonna take down a mob!?" He teased and continued laughing. Zach was incredibly incensed.
"Stop laughing!" he demanded, "Its not funny. My parents are dead!" Zach screamed hysterically.
"So what?" said Leo, still laughing.
"'So what'!?" said Zach boiling angry,
"Its not like you're the only kid whoever lost their folks at your age." said Leopold, grinning. Impulsively, Zach dropped his crutches and charged the older man and attempted to punch him, but Leo, quick as lightning, grabbed Zach's arm and pulled it behind Zach's own back and elbowed him hard in the back. Zach let out an agonized cry. Zach fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
"Painful idn't it?" said Leo, "Also shocking the a man my age could move so fast and hit so hard, is it not?"
"Is that supposed to mean something, you old bastard!?" yelled Zach through the pain.
"You tell me?" said Leo.
"Do you always answer a question with a question?" said Zach, raising to a knee and fetching his crutches.
"Do you always question an answer with an answer?" said Leo
"What the hell does that mean?" said Zach.
"What the hell do you want it to mean?" said Leo.
"You're doing it again!" said Zach.
"Doing what?" said Leo.
"Stop it!" screamed Zach.
"Stop what?" said Leo.
"You're driving me crazy!" said Zach.
"Too late for that." said Leo.
"Just please tell me how to get out of here!" begged Zach.
"Now why would I do that?" said Leo, "You tell me you're going to go kill someone when you leave. I don't want to be aiding and abetting a child murderer." Zach looked at Leo like he said the dumbest thing ever.
"Do you really think I'm going to kill someone?" said Zach, "Do I look like someone capable of killing someone?"
"Then I ask you again," said Leo, "why were you all the way out here last night?"
"I was running away." said Zach, sorrowful.
"From myself!" yelled Zach.
"Ah, there we go," said Leo, "that's the answer I was lookin' for."
"Now can you please tell me how to go back?" said Zach,
"Go back where?" said Leo.
"To my foster home," said Zach, "they're probably worrying about me."
"Who's 'they'? said Leo.
"Please don't do this again." said Zach.
"Do what again?" said Leo.
Zach shook his head in frustration. He looked at the wood and trees.
"You know what, you've been a great help." said Zach sarcastically, "But, I think I'll be able to find my own way back." He began to crutch to the woods.
"What do you expect to find once you get back?" said Leo.
"Not listening." said Zach.
"Of course, you're not listening, you don't know how." said Leo.
"What do you know?" said Zach, stopping but didn't turn his head around.
"I know what its like to lose family and friends. Time and time again." Zach." said Leo, "Have them taken right from under your nose. At my age, the life I've lived, I wish every second that I could start over, but you don't have to."
"What are you talking about?" said Zach, "My parents are dead, one of my best friends left me when I needed him most, the most amazing girl I've ever met is thousands of miles away and I probably blew it with her last night. And worst of all, I need to be watched all day every day by big shot government people just to be a pawn in their game to bring down the mob. I can't start over, Leo, because my life is over."
"Is it?" said Leo. Zach turned back around, "You survived the fire and thanks to me, you survived drowning in the river. To me, that's as good as a sign as you'll get."
"'Sign'?" said Zach, standing in place, "What sign?"
"What kinda sign do ya think?" said Leo. Zach was getting sick of this game of talking in circles. But then he realized that Leo was just trying to help him and he saved his life, the least Zach could do was indulge Leo. Zach figured out what Leo meant by 'sign', after several minutes of thinking.
"A sign from God?" said Zach.
"Now we're gettin' somewhere." said Leo with a smile
"What kind of sign from God involves killing a kids parents, taking everything away from him?" asked Zach.
"Well, if its not a sign from God, than what is it?" said Leo.
"A kid with parents that didn't trust him with the thing that killed them, a kid who's uncle started all this" Zach started crying, "a kid who could have done something about it when he found out. And a kid, who's father took a bullet meant for him." he looked at Leo, tears swelling in his eyes "that's why I'm running away. I can't face, that in a big way, its my fault."
Leo didn't say anything. He just tilted his head, comprehending what Zach meant. Leo just sat there and let Zach stand there with his crutches, having it out.
After several minutes, Zach crutched his way back to the tree stump he was sitting on.
"Can I go now?" said Zach.
"Ya can if ya want." said Leo, "But if it were up to me, I don't think you're ready to go back."
"I don't think I'll ever be ready." said Zach.
"Of course you don't," said Leo, "because its easier to give up than it is to suck it up and take what life throws at ya. No matter how harsh it seems."
"My friends used to say the same thing," said Zach, "even before all this happened."
"That means they have the same problem, Zach." said Leo, "A person who has a personal issue doesn't know how to deal with it so they see someone else with that problem and give ya hard time for it."
"Does that mean you have the problem, too?" said Zach, "I mean, you brought it up."
"'Course I do," said Leo, "Why do ya think I'm out here."
Just then, it began to drizzle and storm clouds were booming.
"Lets get the hell inside before it gets worse." said Leo, "But first, take the pot of the pit and take inside." As Zach hopped gingerly to the pit, as he was told, he saw Leo take a long and wide burlap tarp and covered it over the chicken coop. They still went about their way but the mat was like a roof.
Once they got inside, the rain outside poured down like a deluge.
"Well, it don't look like you're going anywhere for awhile, Zach." said Leo.
"How long have you been living here, Leo?" said Zach. "And how did you find this place?"
Leo did not say anything, but stared blankly as if pondering if he should answer Zach's question.
"Okay. I've been drillin' you about your story," said Zach, "only fair that I tell ya mine." Leo limped his way to his desk and sat down. Zach was too groggy earlier that there was another chair next to it. "Have a seat, Zach. I'm eighty-six years old, that's a hell of a life story, so get comfortable." Zach sat down on the other chair.
"I was born in 1924, on Independence Day, right here in Fleming at St. Peter's, delivered by my own father. He was the head doctor there at the time. Only it was called St. Peter's back then, it was Fleming General. I grew up like everybody else. Went to school, played ball, dated pretty girls. My favorite thing to do was go to the symphony, which was right here where we're sitting right now. But what I trained most for was to be a doctor like my pops. I would go with him all the time when he did surgery. He trained me since I was seven years old. By the time I was eighteen, I became the youngest spinal surgeon in the state. It was around that time that I met my beautiful wife, Martha. She was the light of my life. We had a daughter, Rachel, shortly after.
"But, when I was a few months shy of my twentieth birthday, America entered World War II. I couldn't avoid the draft to the army to go to Germany and help fight the war. Because of my expertise, my recruiter told me I wasn't going to see any action. That they wanted me to be part of the medical staff, treating wounded soldiers. Boy was I wrong. I was there on the boats on June 6, 1944." Leo turned to face Zach, "Zach, did you ever learn about WWII in school?"
Zach nodded, "Yes. I know that date." he said, "I was supposed memorize it for a test. It was D-Day."
"And you know why they call that, don't ya?" asked Leo.
"It stood for 'Death Day?" said Zach.
"You don't know the half of it, kid." said Leo. "I was in a boat a'ten kids just like me. We thought we were big tough guys going to save the world. Our asses were handed to us, Zach. Boys being killed all around me, bodies falling into the water, heads being blown to bits. It was the most gruesome horror I ever experienced until that point. And I rarely saw any worse since. Once we got to Omaha Beach, I was immediately rushed to the hospital ward to treat dying soldiers. There were still explosions happening all around us. They didn't have all the right tools and guys were dropping faster than I was able to diagnose them. They were dying and I got blamed for their deaths. My superior officers told me I'd do better as an on-field medic.
"I was assigned to go on a rescue mission through the heart of the Nazi War Machine and be there to make emergency snap-quick treatments. That's how I learned to make a cast that you're wearing right now, Zach." Zach glanced at the cast. "We had a day before we were supposed to leave. I met one of the older doctors there, Dr. Ronald Evans. He had with him several different chemicals. He and I began to bond and discussed different ways, scientifically, to help the war effort. Do you know anything about science, Zach?"
"Only enough to get me a high GPA, Leo." said Zach the first time he smiled in since the attack on his parents. Leo grunted a chuckle at Zach's remark.
"That figures," he said, "anyway, I always loved it. The way the body works, the elements in the atmosphere and properties of solid and liquid matter. Just talking about it makes my blood churn. We mixed several different things and came up with a great concoction. We didn't have name for it yet, but it was a serum administered with a needle in the brain. It was designed to help the soldiers think smarter, run faster, fight stronger and less susceptible to injury. And boy it worked like a charm. Yes, we still had injuries in my squadron, even some fatalities, hell that's how I lost my right eye and my left hip was crippled for life, but my group became the most feared group in all the Axis forces because of the serum. We were called the Exterminators.
"After we were done, I went to find Dr. Evans, but I was told he was killed in enemy crossfire but I was given a note from him. The note said to take the ingredients of the serum back to the States, develop it, purify it, patten it and use it to help others. And I did, but when I got back a year later, at the start of 1946, I found out my wife, Martha, had left me and both my parents had disowned me. When I asked her why, she told me she only married me for money and the prestige of marrying a young doctor, not a war-ridden soldier and that she'd been sleeping with her then current husband from the day I received my draft letter. I was heartbroken.
"My daughter, Rachel, was less than a year old when I left and the court gave Martha full custody over her. When I tried to visit her anyway, Martha had me arrested for trespassing, sent to jail and told me that she would have Rachel grow up hating me and not wanting anything to do with me. I turned twenty-two while I sat in my cell, but I was allowed to have my instruments, chemicals and tools. I was there a whole week before I was bailed out and it was in prison that I solidified and perfected the serum I dubbed the Perfect Soldier Serum."
Just then, they heard a rustling in the bushes outside, as the rain had subsided. Both Leo and Zach went to see what it was but whatever it was, was gone.
"Coulda been an animal, Zach," said Leo, "hardly anybody knows 'bout this place."
"So what happened after you were in jail?" Zach was totally captivated by the story.
"Ah yeah," said Leo, remembering himself, "so after about a week, Dr. Evans' wife and kids came to my bail me out. They told me that Dr. Evans wrote them letters and telegrams during the war, tellin' them all about me and the discoveries we'd made and how enamored he was with me. Because of my previous reputation as a doctor, news of my divorce and arrest had made the papers, even in New York city, where Dr. Evans' came from.
They took me to their home in Queens and they showed me Dr. Evans' lab and where he worked. That's where I lived for the next few years. In that same year that I met the Evans', I was married a second time, to Dr. Evans' daughter, Patricia. She was the apple of my eye, Zach." Leo said with a glimmer in his eyes.
"But how could you let yourself be open to marry so soon after the heartbreak you suffered the heartbreak from Martha?" asked Zach.
"That's a very good question, Zach, you've really been payin' attention, haven't ya?" said Leo. "After my years in the war, seeing and talking to those Jewish families get massacred, but all the while, they held on to their belief in God, and that He'd put them in their situation for a reason. Whether or not what we agree what they believe in or not, that devotion kept them through the hardest times in human history. So I had adopted that way of thinking, that's why I truly believe that everything that happens, is the will of God. I'm not talking about Jesus or Moses or Muhammad or any religious doctrine, I'm talking about the belief and awareness that this Earth that we stand on didn't come from nothing.
"There was no Big Bang, it was created by something greater and larger than you and I. We can't see Him or touch Him, but that don't mean He ain't there. God is watching over us at all times and has a plan for all of us, so if you believe, like those poor Jews in the Nazi Holocaust believed, that the One-Above-All has a reason for anything happening, than there's no reason to feel resentful and angry. Just like with your parents."
"So you're saying I should forget about everything that happened because its all part of a grand plan, just like me being a pawn to the government." said Zach. It was difficult for Zach to wrap his head around the whole God thing, especially since his parents only never went to Church on big holidays Christmas and Easter, even though, technically, Zach's family were Episcopalian. Johnathan's family were atheists and Corey's family very loosely followed his mother's Hindu tradition, even though his father was from a Christian home.
"Hold on, Zach," said Leo, raising a hand in protest, "I never said you can't mourn for your parents. You're absolutely supposed to, they're your folks, for God's sakes. Pun intended. So that belief allowed me to forgive Martha for what she'd done, even if she was still acting like a selfish bitch. If you'd adapt that same philosophy into your life, thing's are sure to turn up for ya, no matter how tough things get."
"Alright, I guess its something I should think about." said Zach, "But how do I deal with people in reality. Once I go back, if I go back, I'm going to need to deal with my foster parents, the CIA people, the press, let alone deal with all the normal pressures of a new freshman."
"The same way those people in eastern Europe were able to deal when they were fearing for their lives and thanked God for every breath they took because it could've been their life. They didn't have a choice but to follow the Nazi mandates, but you do, Zach. Thank God, we live in America where freedom of choice is taken for granted at times. The choice you have to make, Zach, is whether or not you're going to let the things you've mentioned bother you. Sometimes its worth it to be bothered and important enough to do something about it. But, its up to you to decide when, what and how.
"These people, the CIA agents or your foster parents or anybody, can never make you do anything, you're the one in control. Many times when things look like their getting out of control, you need to step back and look at the bigger picture. Most people need time to themselves to figure things out and figure out how they need to deal with things. But, most people are either not smart enough or too stubborn to admit to themselves that they have flaws, but they also have strengths. Our job is to internally work on our growth as people and perfect ourselves to our full potential."
"That's easy for you to say, Leo," said Zach, "you've been through a lifetime of suffering and you haven't even told me the rest. I don't need to hear the rest to figure out that life dealt you a lot of heavy punches and that's why you've run away to a place like this in order to hide yourself from any more disappointment, in other people or in yourself."
"You're a real smart kid, Zach." said Leo, "You nailed it right on the head. I have a good feelin' you're gonna be alright, kid."
"So you think you could teach me how to deal with things?" said Zach, "You seem like you've been through a lot, Leo."
"I sure have, but I've endured several years of yoga and martial arts training and tactical problem solving and learning how to fend for myself. This was all to keep my sanity" said Leo, "That's why I got those chickens. I bought one rooster and one hen and the rest was history. I could teach you all that if you want, but it takes a lot of patience and discipline. It could take a lot of time, too. When do you start school?"
"Exactly a week." said Zach.
"That's perfect." exclaimed Leo, "Are you ready?"
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." said Zach.
So for the next several days, Leo taught Zach many different things. They would get up at the crack of dawn when the rooster, Doodle, Leo called it, would crow and then Leo taught Zach different techniques of hunting for various animals. In the woods, Leo created a path to yet another clearing that was under the canopy of the trees. There, Leo had several standing cabinets, one of them contained an array of hunting knives, gaming guns, animal traps and other tools of the like. There was also an isolated garden with various fruits and vegetables and a park bench. Zach learned how catch rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, different birds and even deer using the weapons Leo had provided. Zach was also taught how to properly slaughter a chicken and check eggs if they had chicks inside or not.
Of course Zach was averse with everything at first, but through training, Leo taught him how to separate the feelings in his mind from what was important to reality, like eating and drinking. Leo applied this technique to other areas like romantic and platonic relationships, moments of anger, anxiety, depression, sadness, joy, delight, pleasure and many other various emotions and scenarios. Following breakfast, they would spend two to three hours exercising and getting in shape, despite both of them being crippled.
Included in the work out, they practiced several forms of calisthenics, push-ups, sits ups, crunches, back strengtheners. They'd jog every day from the dome to the end of the woods and back, at least Zach did. Leo taught Zach several different martial arts and fighting forms and how to control and use the body to its peak potential. Zach even was able to break several wooden boards both with his hands and with his good foot.
After the work out and lunch, they would spend the next few hours exercising the mind, playing chess, Stratego, Clue and Monopoly. Leo would also give Zach several mind twisting questions that Zach would have to solve to improve his problem solving skills. They would bathe in the river, standing on very sturdy planks that Leo placed in the water at the edge of the river bank. Leo had a whole cabinet just of old comic books in English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. He had Superman, Batman, Captain America, etc, that helped him through the war years.
Leo showed Zach how to play cards; poker, blackjack, hearts, everything. Zach was taught magic tricks with the cards. Leo taught Zach how to smoke a pipe, but warned him to stay away from cigarettes and drugs. He said one was occasionally allowed an alcoholic beverage. Leo had a whole other cabinet full of hard liquor. Zach took a shot of some rare whiskey that Leo told him hadn't been made since he was a teenager.
Late at night, around the fire in the dome over deer meat, Leo would tell Zach stories of his life. Zach learned that Leo sold his serum in 1948 to the U.S. Government under the assumption that they would use it for the armed forces, but he was wrong. The world intelligence community had created a program to make babies little assassins. Leo wanted the serum back and fought tooth and nail. But the people on the project started harassing him to make more, and when he refused, they moved on to harassing his family in New York. In 1951, Patricia even gave them their newborn twins, Mathew and Roy, in order to be left alone. But it was not enough. The fear caused Leo to leave Patricia and the Evans' in order to keep them safe and sent them far away.
During this time, Leo himself had gone back to Fleming and found out that the auditorium that he had gone to as a child had closed but no one was doing anything with it. The structure was made of pure granite, not something that could be easily demolished, at least in those days. So from 1952 or 53', Leo couldn't remember exactly, until the present day, he had been living under the dome of the auditorium. Leo told Zach that thirty years prior, he saw in the newspaper obituaries that Patricia had died of natural causes. One of the few times he ever would leave the dome was to visit her grave every year on her death memorial.
Leo said around that time, he'd managed to find Rachel when she was already a mother in her thirties, living out in California married to a nice Hispanic American gentleman. She told him that she never let Martha, who had since died, poison her and she resented the fact that he believed Martha's lies. She didn't want to deal with his issues with the government or have her children affected by it. But her husband, Carlos Rodriguez, had secretly kept him posted periodically.
Zach saw that Leo had hundreds of newspapers from every decade since he was born. Many of them talked about his accomplishments in WWII, how he saved many lives and was called a war hero. There were articles about him, that hung from the bulletin board he hung to the wall, right above his desk. The articles told about about his days as a young spinal surgeon and when his serum went public.
A whole week had nearly past when Leo told Zach, its time for him to return to his life. Zach's cast was ready to come off but meanwhile, he did not want to leave, he was content in staying with Leo for the rest of his life.
"You gotta go back, Zach," said Leo, "You have to go to school, embrace the skills you've learned here and apply it to you're new life."
"Why should I?" said Zach, "You've been here all this time."
"The point of me teachin' ya this stuff so you could handle the tough roads ahead in your life." said Leo. "Just because you've felt comfortable and accustomed with my life style. doesn't make it a new tool for you to run away from your responsibilities."
"What responsibilities?" said Zach. He didn't want to go back because he still didn't want to face all the politics and controversy surrounding his parents' deaths. He thought of this life with Leo as an escape from reality.
"Have you learned nothing from this past week, Zach?" said Leo, "You tell me what responsibilities I'm talking about."
"You've taught me how to cope with my parents deaths but I could still do that here." said Zach.
"Hell you can," said Leo, "the only way you know you're ready is by going out in the world. You have responsibility to be light to everyone around you. To show them that in spite of your loss, you've used that grief to channel you into something great. God does not put people in positions in their life that He doesn't believe they can handle. I've sensed something in you from the moment I saw your name is the papers and even more so when I dragged you out of the river."
"So you're saying its fate that brought us together?" said Zach, getting annoyed.
"Not fate, Zach." Leo raised his voice, also annoyed "God!"
"But those people are assholes!" yelled Zach, "They want to use me for some big agenda."
"First off, a stand up boy like yourself should never talk like that." said Leo, "Second, don't look at as them using you, they care about you."
"Yeah," Zach said indifferently, "if they cared so much they would have found me already."
"How do you know, Zach?" said Leo, "Maybe there still lookin' for ya. Its damn near impossible to find the place and maybe they trust that you need some space. Everyone needs friends and people around them, that's the best way to deal with things on a practical level. You must learn from everyone but at the same time, be strong willed enough to decide of what you see or hear is for you. I believe in you Zachary Monroe"
Leo's words hit Zach like a bullet and he remembered what he told Kimberly, that he needed space and maybe that's why Scott and the others stopped their pursuit.
"Life ain't always made to serve you, Zach." said Leo, "Sometimes you gotta deal with people of their terms in order to serve a greater good. That's the toughest thing for any man to do, to swallow you're pride. You got it in you."
"And what about you, Leo?" said Zach.
"What about me, Zach?" said Leo.
"What do you think I mean?" said Zach. Leo smirked at Zach turning the tables on him.
"You mean, here ol' Leo's sittin' on his duff preachin' about what's right and wrong and what you should be or not be doing, when I'm hidin' in here away from the world." said Leo, "Well, Zach, remember what I said about people with a problem are going to point out everyone else with that problem. There's no greater teacher than someone's who's problem is his life."
"Okay, but isn't that a cop out, Leo?" said Zach, "You've been here so long and gotten so old that you think that its too late. But you also told me that every moment of air you breath is a gift from a God and the fact that you're still breathing in a sign."
"What are you saying, Zach?" said Leo, "And this time, don't try to be like me and answer a question with a question."
"Why not?" said Zach.
"Damn it, Zach!" hollered Leo, this was the first time Zach had seen Leo so fired up "You think I should find my daughter, don't ya?!
"Is that so terrible?" said Zach, "What about you're twin boys?"
"I told ya, I gave em' away!", yelled Leo and he violently threw his cane on the ground, shattering it in two, "They're probably dead!"
"But you don't know that, Leo," said Zach, "it seems its all fine and dandy to get on my nerves and teach me all this stuff but when it comes to yourself your just a hypocrite. You've taught me a lot, Leo. I think I will leave, but don't forget what you told me. That you learn from other people, even if their over seventy years younger than you. I think the reason you're scared is because based on your medical background, you've figured out that you're dying. I don't blame you for being scared, Leo. You're eighty-six years old and you smoke. Its all the more reason that you should find Rachel or her children or grandchildren and end your life knowing that you were with family or tried. I never got a chance to know my own grandparents, don't rob yours of their chance,"
Zach went to leave but before he did he turned to Leo who was standing there, seemingly stunned by Zach's words and said, "I believe in Leopold Armisen."
And Zach left the dome with some old comic books, a newly carved pipe and a new found resolve to embark on his quest of life.
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