Chapter Three: Moving On (pt1)
Mami was stiff. Her brown eyes locked onto the sheriff and the woman, even as she fed Olivia frijoles and Vienna-sausages by spoonfuls.
The sheriff gave Shane a look, the other man only shook his head, "Fort Benning, Rick."
"Fort Benning..." the woman mumbled as she leaned against the wall before looking back at Rick.
He let out a sigh from his nose before locking eyes with Shane once more, "I should've listened to you Shane. Would've saved us a lotta grief if I had. Jackie would still be alive."
Shane shook his head, "It was her choice man. Do not take that on."
"It was her choice." the woman repeated before putting a hand on Rick's arm, "It was her decision to make, not yours. No more than it was with Jim."
"All these people..." Glenn piped up, his expression sad as he looked up from his food, "who would've done something like this. Just come in here, and..."
"People with evil in their hearts." Mami said in a soft voice, "No nos dieron la oportunidad- They didn't even let anyone surrender. It happened so fast."
Isabella sniffed morosely before hunching down and burying her face in my shoulder. I could feel her hot tears soaking up my t-shirt... but I didn't shake her off. My sister hated crying, but she hated crying in front of strangers even more. I ignored the stinging of my own eyes before scooping up my last spoonful of black beans and let Camila -who'd been the first one to finish- sit on my lap for comfort.
"I just don't understand-"
Glenn didn't get to finish his sentence before the woman moved away from the sheriff to sit with the boy on the floor, and interrupted him, "Is that really something we should be discussing right now." she said with frustration.
"Better if we all got some sleep, huh?" Shane added up in an almost gentle voice... before all the men, almost in unison, stood up and left the craft room to go talk in the hall.
"I bet I know what they're talking about." Alexander mumbled somewhat angrily in Spanish, before a serious expression overtook his face, "Tia, what are we gonna do when they leave? If no one else made it..."
My mother looked troubled as she finished eating, "I don't know, mijo. Enrique should've been here hours ago. With all the- with all the difuntos in the building, it won't be long before los muertos come looking."
Isabella gasped, pulling away from my shoulder to grab my arm fearfully, looking at our mother with wide eyes, "They're coming here! Are they gonna eat-"
"Shhh. Ya, ya. Don't think like that, mi amor. Remember we have to be-"
"Quiet." Alexander and I chimed in together. I hugged Camila tighter as she squirmed on my lap until her head rested on the shoulder Isabella hadn't been crying and getting her snot on.
"Exactly." Mami nodded before looking at me and Isabella seriously, "I'm very proud of you girls for keeping your sisters quiet and safe."
I shrugged, "We didn't do that good a job. They still caught us in the end."
"Olli started crying." Isabella's face crumbled in shame, "I couldn't make her stop fast enough and she woke up Evita."
"My fault Izzie." I sighed, "I should've stayed next to you, not gone to spy and see who'd come into the auditorium."
"It wasn't either of your faults." Mami soothed, "Evita and Olivia would have started crying at some point tonight anyway, and then this group would have found you in the dark. It's better that it happened when there was still light out so that they didn't confuse you with los muertos."
"I still should've been more careful." I whispered, swallowing around the lump in my throat, Alexander bumped his shoulder against mine in reassurance.
"And you will be." my mother said strongly, "You'll never make that mistake again. That's all we can do, learn from-"
"I'm sorry to interrupt." the brown-haired woman spoke up, "I- My name's Lori. Lori Grimes, Rick is my husband and this is our son Carl." she gestured to the boy, Carl, who was still staring at us. "Were you staying here with your husb- family from the beginning?"
Mami smoothed a hand over Olivia's hair, as the toddler started to nod off on her lap, "Pretty much. My mother and my Aunt come-came here in the mornings to participate in the activities and see their friends. I was coming to pick them up with the children-we were listening to music on the radio when it was hijacked by coverage on the outbreak."
I nodded, before mumbling, "Papi told us to stay here."
"Yes he did." she agreed, shooting me a pained smile, "There were already orderlies and doctors leaving in a panic. But a riot had broken out on Peachtree street, and Enrique didn't want us on the road. He left work and brought our stuff from the house... it took him hours to get here."
"My brother never made it." Alexander whispered. Grief panged in my chest. Andres and Alexander came from Venezuela every summer to spend the break with us. Andres was even supposed to start college here in the fall... he'd finally gotten his student visa approved.
"Your husband, was he..." a blonde woman, who'd been sitting by herself after having an argument with the only real old guy in their group, trailed off.
"No." Mami shook her head, "Enrique wasn't here when everythin' happened. He was out on a run with Carlos and Gonzalo. They were going to go to look for medicines and first aid kits in some pharmacies... and then try to break into a dentist office. My husband and I, we're both MD's." the other women looked shocked at that revelation, "I've just been on maternity leave. I was supposed to go back a week after the outbreak hit but..."
"Atlanta got overrun by un-dead cannibals." the blonde huffed bitterly, glaring at the door all the men had left through.
That night we fell asleep curled up on the floor like my neighbor's golden retriever puppies. God, I had really wanted one. I'd been pretty close to convincing Papi into letting me keep one as well... Especially since I'd dog-sitted and even been walking Dottie for a couple of months now. He'd been impressed when I picked up after her... droppings without blinking. Honestly, though, nothing was worse than cleaning one of Olivia's or Eva's dirty diapers, so the joke was on him.
We only woke when Eva or Olivia stirred. Thankfully, my mother was good at quieting them down the second they started making noises. In all honesty, the morning came too quickly. We ate meager breakfasts in relative silence, the grownups even insisted on only us kids sharing the last of the water. An hour before the sheriff's group was to get on the road, he pulled my mother out of the room. When she came back, her eyes were red like she'd been trying to hold back tears, her voice shaky but firm when she told us to pack all of our things from the room we'd been sharing for the last month.
Isabella had been the one to crack under her stare and ask the question plaguing all of us... "Why?"
"We're going with them." our mother replied without missing a beat, "Vamos, hurry up. Get your things. We won't come back."
I wanted to cry.
Scream and beg.
To wait for Papi to come back with the other men he'd gone on a run with yesterday.
For the events from yesterday to all be a nightmare that I could wake up from... for the last month to have all been an elaborate prank.
Instead, I helped my mother, sisters and Alexander gather up everything we owned into bags. Mami went around each room and grabbed everything she thought could be useful one day... medicines that had been missed by the bandidos, and even some of the adult-sized diapers... because one day, as she said, we'd might run out of the regular ones for Olivia and Eva. In garbage bags we even stuffed all the yarn and hooks from the craft room, as well as some linens and heavier blankets so that we could sleep comfortably in the car.
-Mami left a tear-stained letter on the bed... it said that we were alive. That a nice group was willing to take us all in and that we couldn't wait for him to come because it wouldn't be long before the living dead decided to start investigating the inside of the nursing home.
She wrote the direction we'd be taking so that he could follow us. Mami wrote that she loved him. That she was sorry. That she was praying to God that he was still alive. There was still space at the end of the letter... so I added that I loved him too and that we would see each other again before I passed it to Isabella and Alexander so that they could write their names on it too. Alexander helped Camila write her name on it too, even though she didn't seem to understand that it was a 'goodbye'.-
There was only one muerto still roaming outside, the archer killed it so fast that I only heard the swish of the arrow flying before the body fell onto the ground. I held Olivia in my arms as we walked out of the nursing home and into the garage. I helped my mother buckle in my youngest sisters into our van and didn't protest when Alexander said he wanted to sit in the front.
I curled up in the back seat with Isabella, closed my eyes, and pretended that everything would be alright.
That we would find Papi.
That los muertos would stop walking and eating people alive.
The engine of the car turned on, and I could feel the car moving underneath my feet... We left. That's when the tears started to silently fall. I covered my face with Papi's worn Yankee hat. Isabella's sweaty hand in mine was
Words 1765
(Hi! Sorry, I've been overwhelmed with my school workload and haven't had time to write for pleasure... my classes are very writing-intensive this semester and I've been writing at least three essays per week since August. Hope you all enjoyed the update!)
Translations:
frijoles - beans
No nos dieron la oportunidad - They didn't give us the opportunity
Tia - Aunt
difuntos - those that have passed away/the dead
Ya, ya - There, there
Vamos - Let's go
bandidos -bandits/thieves
muerto/los muertos
(Kyr: Thank you! (Extra KUDOS for being my first reviewer!) I've always avoided this POV, but yeah, we're going to be seeing some amusing kid-logic in this fic, LOL. I cackled over your imagines zombie-killing via swing! Yeah, piohas is something that my dad used to call my sisters and I as kids... I guess it's because we were often annoying and always underfoot, LOL.)