Chapter Ten: Hank
"Hey, Pa, you there?" Hank's familiar voice broke through the air. Juno couldn't help the relieved shaky sigh that escaped her, nor the smile that momentarily tugged on her lips at the realization that the man wasn't dead. "What was all th' damn commotion 'bout, earlier? If I wasn' so determined ta take my nap I would've come down ta look myself." annoyance was clear in Hank's voice as he wheeled himself to the top of the stairs, "The hell you three doin' here?" he snapped when they came into view.
"So, I guess you haven't taken a look outside yet, Hank." Eun-Hyool bluntly declared, "Because otherwise, you'd know that the world went to hell while you took your nap." Juno slapped the man's back in reprimand, ignoring the hissed response, "Hey, that hurt!" and kept her eyes locked onto Hank's figure.
"Fuck you talkin' 'bout? Where's my Pa?" the man asked grouchily, "The old fart was 'upposed ta wake me up half-an-hour ago."
"He's dead." Eun-Hyool was painfully blunt with his admission, earning himself another slap from Juno.
"God, shut up Eun-Hyool, don't make me come up there," Hyun-Bin stated in annoyance from the bottom of the stairs as he shut the door, locking it behind him and leaned against it.
"Dead? The fuck man. Tha' shit ain't funny!"
"What he meant was that there's been an incident outside." Juno started, before looking at Hank with sorrow plain on her face, "I'm sorry Hank your Pa was infected- sick, and, um, he ate Mr. Webber alive before he was put down."
If anything, Hank looked even more confused and frustrated, "Ya'll are not makin' damn sense." he snapped as he wheeled away. Juno could sympathize... she quickly climbed up the rest of the stairs to the top floor and following Hank into the house. The man had wheeled himself to the window and pulled open the curtains. The pained and disbelieving gasp that escaped from his body was like a blow to Juno's stomach.
She gently placed her hand on his tense shoulder, making his wide blue eyes lock with her. "I'm so sorry Hank."
The man's eyes snapped back to the scene being portrayed out of his window. He seemed to be searching for something before his gaze fixated itself onto one body crumbled onto the street. "Shee-it. Oh god." he groaned before whispering brokenly, "The fuck happen' while I was sleepin'?"
"We- We're not really sure either," she whispered. Juno scanned the room, the Kim men had followed her up the stairs and were now watching them awkwardly. There was a radio in the corner of the living room. She quickly walked over before turning it on to a random channel that wasn't static.
"Not a Drill. I Repeat, This is Not a Drill. The rumors of a contagious disease making people attack and eat one another was NOT a Joke. Please make your way to the nearest shelter and safe zone by tuning into your county police's transmission statement. Atlanta is a safe zone. If you are close by, make your way to the city immediately the military is on its way. Do NOT get bitten or scratched, there is no coming back from that. Only way to put down an infected person is a headshot. Do Not Panic. This is Not a Drill. I Repeat, This Not a Drill. The rumors of a contagious disease-"
She shut off the message before it could repeat itself once more. The room was silent for a moment. Suddenly everything happening outside felt very real. More real than it was to put down more than half of her neighbors outside. More real than calling her parents only to find out that she may never see them or her sisters and brother again. This wasn't just some fucked up nightmare -something that she could usually recognize and even control during REM sleep- that she couldn't wake up from. Juno hadn't heard or seen any news since this whole thing started... and considering the fact that she'd tried to surf the internet for any information on her cell... well that was practically unheard of in this day and age.
This wasn't some fucked up coma dream. This was reality. A mortal disease, that had only made headlines twice, had spread across the whole nation to the point that the government -the oftentimes useless government that always took forever to send relief and aid to those in need- was setting up safe zones. Safe zones.
"The world has really gone to hell, hasn't it?" Eun-Hyool asked the room. Juno shut her eyes, willing away frustrated tears.
"Yeah. It has," she confirmed, her voice sore from all the pressure she was putting into making the statement come out clearly.
Hank wheeled himself to look at her, "Ya said my Pa was 'nfected? An' that he ate Webber?" She simply nodded in response, the man threw his arms up in the air, "Wha' like he had goddamn rabies!?"
"Hey, man relax." Hyun-Bin tried to placate, only putting himself directly into Hank's ire.
"Relax? Relax!? My Pa is lyin' dead on the street like fuckin' roadkill!" he roared, making Juno twitch nervously, "Don' tell me ta relax!"
Hyun-Bin sighed, "Hey man, that's not what I meant. Those rabies-like infected, as you put it, are attracted to damn sound. Juno put down the majority of them on Main Street, but there might be more. We don't know who was on the island when shit went down."
Hank's accusing gaze locked onto her form, "You shoot down my Pa?"
Juno looked down at her feet in shame, "I-I'm so sorry Hank. I-I, he wasn't Mr. Arnold anymore. Your Pa wouldn't have ever eaten a man alive."
The man looked like he wanted to hit her. She couldn't blame him, Juno had put down the man's only remaining relative. "You couldn' have helped 'im?" he growled out, "Wha' happen if he was just sick like them people on the news was talkin' 'bout? You killed an innocent man! You killed ma father!"
Juno dug her nails into the sweaty palms of her hands, "Then I will take the punishment for my crime. But Hank, Mr. Arno- your Pa, couldn't be reasoned with. Mr. Webber had been begging for him to stop, and he didn't."
"FU-CK!" Hank wailed, grief immersed in the curse, "Fuck." he repeated more quietly, tears starting to stream down his face, "I believe you. But fuck me, if this ain't the most fucked up shit ta ever happen ta me, an' I can' fuckin' walk no more." He wiped his face gruffly with his flannel shirt, "Wha' now?"
"We live." Hyun-Bin stated bluntly, "We don't have time to wallow in our sorrow. Juno and the other ladies next door got twenty-plus toddlers to care for, and a bunch of orphaned and traumatized kids to help heal."
Juno winced, "Yeah." she agreed, "We also have to clear the street and put down any more shamblers. From what my papi told me over the phone, a bite or scratch from one of those things is a death sentence."
"Perishables." Eun-Hyool blurted out, "We're gonna have to break into the other houses and get all the perishables and canned goods we can."
"Tha's nice an' all." Hank drawled, "But wha' can the crippled man, whose livin' room ya standin' in, do?"
"Man you are a real dow-"
"Shut up brother," Hyun-Bin interrupted with a slap to the twenty-nine year-old's head, "Aerial support from the rooftop would be nice. Juno did that for us when we pulled up to the daycare earlier."
Hank grunted, "Sounds good ta me, but the keys to the chains closin' the rooftop, are attached ta my Pa's key belt. Yeah, I know." he stated blandly after surveying their distressed -and in Eun-Hyool's case, disgusted- faces.
"Alright... We'll just have to get it." Hyun-Bin stated after a pause.
"Naneun geugeos-eul manjiji anhneunda!" Eun-Hyool whisper-shouted in a hysterical tone.
His older brother simply rolled his eyes, and Juno didn't have to be a genius to guess what the older man had proclaimed in panicked Korean, "Nobody's asking you to dumbass, I'll do it while you and Juno keep watch. That sound good to you?" he asked addressing her specifically.
"Yeah." she agreed, "But first, let me check in with Kathy. We've been here for a while and we're supposed to go pick up her family at the docks when they get here." both of the men nodded as Juno reached for her walkie, "Hey Kathy, all clear. We're inside of Hank's apartment, he didn't know what happened outside. Over."
"I'm glad Hank is alright Juno... Lexie sen' me a message a few moments ago that they're 'ere. You guys gonna go get 'em now? Over." the woman asked frantically.
After sharing a glance with the men, she agreed, "We'll make our way to the truck now Kathy, any shamblers out there? Over."
"Ain't nothin' change since you asked last time. Don' think they're any left Juno. Over."
"Alright, we'll be making our way down now. Radio silence, over." she confirmed before reattaching the walkie to her hip and checking her rounds for the Ruger. "You guys ready?"
Hyun-Bin grunted, "As much as I'll ever be."
Hank wheeled himself towards the window once more, this time though the man had a shotgun resting on his lap. "I'll cover you from 'ere, 'case ya need it."
"Thanks." Juno acknowledged as the three of them started for the stairs and stealthily made their way down. Hyun-Bin was in the lead and he pressed his ear to the door in an attempt to cautiously overhear anything that could possibly be lurking on the other side. The man smiled back at them before slowly turning the knob. Juno followed closely behind him, her gun poised in caution as they made their way back out of the shop.
The corpses on the street were immobile and in the same position they'd left them. She could hear Baxter barking anxiously from inside of his house again, now that she thought about it they would need to release the pets inside of the houses and care for them as well. Looking after all the inhabitants of the island was going to be a chore. They made it to the black truck without any complications and quickly boarded the vehicle. Juno made herself comfortable in the back seat, when they picked up Kathy's family they would have to squish in or sit on each other's laps so that they could all fit. Then again, Juno could always offer to go in the rear and keep an eye out for shamblers that way.
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