Two Alive, стр. 67
Ben stammered and his eyes went everywhere as he heard his name. “Huh? What? Oh I… I don’t know if I should have any more say in this kinda stuff. This is the second time my judgment call led to someone’s death.”
Julia shook her head and looked to Manson to see if he had any input. But the scientist may as well have been an extra in a play from his quiet and uninterested demeanor.
“Is this almost over.” Manson asked with an empty expression. “I’d like to get back to my lab if we’re done.”
“Ay dios mio!” Julia slapped a hand to her face.
“Hey… I thought you said everything on the table,” Antonio said, leaning from his chair towards the group of adults a few feet away. “What you talkin’ about now?”
Julia looked at him and shook her head. “Did you two see a family out there too? A boy and his mother?”
Antonio and Miles exchanged glances but both of them shook their head.
Julia made her way back over to the table and took a deep breath with her eyes closed before starting to speak. “The group we sent out was looking for a little boy and his mother, Karen. A few months ago, Karen and her husband Joshua came to the compound with their son, looking for refuge. Then Ben let them in without consulting the committee that we had.”
“It seemed like the right idea at the time.” Ben lowered his head and turned slightly away from everyone.
“But when they got in, the boy started acting strange and we found out he had a bite mark on his leg. We thought he might’ve been infected and was starting to turn, so it was decided to kick them out,” Julia continued. “Karen and Joshua both argued that their boy wasn’t gonna turn and the bite was weeks old. He hadn’t turned yet. They begged us to let them stay. But things escalated and people tried to force them out… and Joshua was killed at the end of it.”
A hush came over the room and everyone hung their heads, especially those who still remembered the incident. Lesly took in a breath and closed her eyes tight trying to shake the sad thoughts away. Manson seemed unaffected by the memories; he continued to look around, waiting to leave. Miles and Antonio were just waiting to hear more of the story.
Julia went on. “After that, Karen left the compound. But it didn’t feel right just sending them back out there. It was like sending them out to die. So, we decided to try and find them and bring them back in. I think Carver just didn’t like letting them go and them knowing the store was here.”
Ben was shaking his head and muttering to himself, “It was my fault for letting them in.”
Baker stepped out from behind Julia, “You must’ve run into the group we sent out there looking for Karen and her son.” He said to the boys. “And you said all of them died?”
Antonio and Miles just nodded. Then Miles provided more to the story. “We live near where they died. We were going home when we saw them and heard them arguin’ and fightin’.”
“Miles!” Antonio nearly knocked his brother out of his chair when he shoved him. Julia stepped between them and stopped any further fighting.
“Ow! Stop Antonio!” Miles cried out.
“You gon tell ‘em where we stay! You know you can’t do that! What’s wrong with you?” Antonio was furious with his brother.
“Calm down, both of you.” Julia pushed the two apart but had trouble with keeping Antonio at bay. Ben stepped in to help but he struggled to hold the teenager and Baker went to lend a hand. Julia did her negotiating with Miles, the one most likely to bargain. “You don’t have to tell us where you guys stay. But can you take us to where our people died… and we’ll give you more food and supplies. We’ll give you what we owe you for taking care of the hive outside and we’ll give you more on top of that. How bout it?”
Miles looked at his brother, then looked at Julia. He looked to his brother again and against Antonio’s silent urging as he shook his head, Miles nodded and said yes to Julia. “Yeah. Food and supplies. Lots of food and supplies. And we’ll show you where your people died.”
“What the fuck Miles!” Antonio was fighting the men restraining him, trying to get to his brother to do God knows what to him. But finally, the men just escorted him to the office and locked him in there.
“You don’t have to take us where you live. I won’t try to make you do that.” Julia continued convincing Miles to accept the deal, but the boy was already onboard.
Major Carver reentered the room, wiping spittle from his chin. Chakrabarti was behind him, trying to remind him to stay calm but the major wasn’t listening. “Throw both of them in the office and we’ll decide what to do with them.” Carver said.
Julia sighed and turned to the major. “Actually, we already decided what we’re going to do. The boys are going to show us where our people died, and they can prove that they didn’t kill them. In exchange, we’ll give them food and supplies and let them leave.”
Carver’s expression was nothing short of bewilderment. “What?”
“We have to find our people. We’ve got too many people here in the compound wondering what happened to our