Two Alive, стр. 58

“Yeah, you guys is lucky! So lucky!” Miles put his hands up in a raise-the-roof fashion, smiling a crooked smile.

“Them strikers had eaters wit ‘em too.”

“Eaters?” Someone asked, confused.

“Yeah. That’s when a infected person so hungry that they kill you and eat you like a zombie.” Antonio clarified, and a few people groaned at the thought of it.

“But it’s not a zombie. It’s just hungry. Infected people ain’t zombies.” Miles added.

“I know that Miles.” Antonio let out an irritated groan, “But they eat people like a zombie.”

“They not zombies. They not dead, you can kill them. They sick. They all sick. But there ain’t no cure.”

Antonio sighed, “Everybody know that.”

“You two kids were out there fighting those freaks?” Another bystander asked.

“Yeah. We lost them in the woods.”

“They called strikers. They called strikers.” Miles corrected. “It was a hive of them and we lost them in the woods. Yeah, we lost them in the woods.”

Baker watched the kids and just shook his head. “Close the door,” He said to one of the men standing near the shutter door chains.

 “Where’s Bates and Anderson?” Bryant asked, hesitant but still curious.

Baker just stared at him and said again, “Close the door.”

“Captain!” A booming voice came up over the crowd and everyone turned to see Major Carver approaching with fire in his eyes. “Restrain those boys right now!”

Baker saw the disbelief on the boys’ faces. “Sir?” The captain questioned the major.

“Restrain them, Captain Baker! Those two are murderers!” Carver coughed.

Baker paused, but still nodded to Lincoln and Torrez to take the boys and put their arms behind their backs.

“What the hell? This is bullshit! Antonio was shouting vehemently. “We just took care of those strikers for you! Just got rid of a fuckin’ hive!”

“And then you killed one of my men in cold blood,” Carver said when he made his way through the crowds and the people parted as he came.

“He was infected! He was about to turn!” Miles wasn’t as aggressive as his brother but was just as upset about being held captive.

“We watched you on the monitors. We saw you shoot him. He didn’t look infected to us and you killed him anyway.” Carver looked out at the crowd and prepared to address them, when Baker put a hand on his shoulder.

“Sir, I don’t think this is right,” Captain Baker whispered.

Carver shook the captain’s hand off his shoulder and looked him up and down for a moment. “I’ll say what is and isn’t right.” The major continued with a voice of restraint. “This is about protecting this community, Baker. You know better than anyone what that means.”

Carver raised his hands to the people and they slowly started to quiet.

“Wait! Don’t close that door yet! Open it!” Manson came squirming through the audience, clutching his bag and made his way to the shutter doors; just as they were lowered shut. “Raise it back up! Open the door.”

“Manson, what the hell are you doing here?” Carver asked.

“The specimen! I have to get the specimen before it dies!” The scientist looked at the soldiers and pointed at Torrez and Lincoln. “You two, come with me. I may need help while I examine the body.”

“The body?” a voice from the crowd echoed.

“Manson!” Carver shouted.

Ben appeared next, stepping out from the crowd. “We need to check him. To find out if the boys were right.”

“You’ve got to be…” Carver rolled his eyes and rolled his head too, putting a hand to his face.

Lesly’s shrill voice could be heard from behind the masses, “Excuse me everyone!” Faces started turning to give her their attention. “Could you just come with me to the food court, I can try explaining everything there!”

Carver was grinding his teeth and whipped his head around when he heard the shutter door starting to screech open behind him. Before he could say anything, Manson was throwing his leather bag under the door and getting down to crawl through the opening.

“Damn it!” The major growled. His control seemed to be unraveling with each passing second and he blamed those two boys for the anarchy.

“Should… should we go with him?” Lincoln was feeling overwhelmed with everything happening so fast, but still understood the order of command and asked the major what they should do.

“Go,” Carver rumbled. Then he looked at Ben, standing in front of the crowd that was trying to decide between staying and leaving with Lesly. The major took a breath, put on a feigned smile and addressed the people. “Please, everyone, go with Lesly to the food court. We’ll explain everything. There have been some new developments and we just want everyone to stay calm.”

Reassured by Carver’s words, more of the audience turned to leave with the store manager as she led the way. Some lingered behind, hoping to see something of interest or get their questions answered by the major directly. But when he waved them off, they went without argument. Lance was one of the many lingerers who stared down the major with that same sneer he had been wearing since the day his wife went with Franklin and the others on their venture outside. Carver sucked the back of his teeth and cleared his throat, spitting on the floor before stamping it with his boot.

Lance still blamed the major for allowing his wife to go with the search party. Carver didn’t feel responsible for her decision, nor did he feel responsible for the groups apparent disappearance. The major believed it was suicide for anyone to leave the store and felt no remorse if they wound up dead.

Carver looked back at his men and grabbed the boys from Torrez and Lincoln. “Hurry up and go so we can get this