Two Alive, стр. 76
Julia went into a fit, cursing in Spanish and throwing her hands through the air, frustrated with the major. She paced with her back to Carver and managed to calm herself down. “Then who the hell is going with us instead of the captain? Who are you going to let go?”
“Your team’s the same. That boy who killed Bates, will take you, Lance and Clint to find the first search group. Manson wants to join you and see the infected firsthand for some insane reason and he requested Burrows to come with him. With Torrez and Castle, you all should be fine.”
“Wait a minute… Castle?” The name was a surprise to Julia, she contorted her face. “Burrows and Castle? Why the hell…” She shook the look from her face and her sneer relaxed. “You really are a piece of shit.”
Carver roared a cough through his teeth. “I don’t know what your problem is Julia, but all this defiance isn’t helping either one of us.”
“Defiance? What the hell do you think this is, Eric? Do you think I didn’t see, from day one, how you’ve been manipulating these people and making them your sheep? I didn’t care when it was just some posturing game you had to prove you’re the community’s leader. But lives are on the line.”
Carver cut in, “You’re going to go out there and find bodies. Stop telling yourself you’re helping people by making them grieve. Finding our group won’t bring closure, it’ll just prove what I’ve been saying. The world out there is fucked, doctor. There’s no logical reason to go out there, into the danger, when we can survive, here!” Carver looked around and noticed the two of them were starting to garner attention from families still leaving the food court. He cleared his throat and regained his composure.
“You’ve scared people into thinking this is the end all be all. Like if they step out this store for even a second, they’ll die.” Julia pointed at Antonio and Miles. “But those two kids were out there on their own surviving.” She left before the major could respond.
Julia didn’t get two feet away from the major before she was immediately rushed by Lance and Clint. “Is everything ok? Can we still go with you guys?” Clint gripped the straps to his backpack tightly. His clothes looked like he put them on in a rush. His flannel shirt was half tucked and his jeans were tied in one of his boots. The eyepatch over his eye was slanted.
“I have to go.” Lance said matter-of-factly. He was wearing fatigue pants and a hunter’s puff coat; both items he grabbed from the sports section. The tags still hung from the back of the pants and his white New Balance shoes were pristine. He also had a small Janson backpack with a metal water bottle tied to it. He was ready to go and find his wife, no matter where she was outside the store.
Julia sighed. “Yes, it’s ok. You two can still tag along if you like.” She flipped back her long overcoat and put her hands on her hips. “Though the captain won’t be joining us.”
“That sounds reasonable.” Dr. Manson stepped up behind Lance and Clint. “We’ll have Burrows, along with Torrez and Henry Castle, I hear. All of them are expertly trained.” The scientist was looking at Julia over his glasses. He was wearing a long overcoat as well.
“You’re right, Manson. We’ll be fine.” Julia cocked her head to the side with a sardonic grin.
“I don’t care who’s coming, let’s just hurry up and get going.” Lance was fidgety.
“Ok, ok.” Julia turned around to see Carver speaking to his army boys.
He was probably giving them some secret agenda to not follow Julia’s orders. When Carver looked over his shoulder and caught her eye, his nod and simple smile made Julia feel her paranoia wasn’t far off. She turned and started making her way to where Miles and Antonio were. As she approached, she heard Antonio bragging about how fresh his new outfit was and trying to do the Michael Jordan pose on his shirt. His clothes were grabbed this morning from the Nike section of the men’s department and it reminded Julia that he was still just some nineteen-year-old kid. Rather than a skilled and trained killer who took out infected people with ease. The teen was still wearing the backpack he found outside with the baseball bat he used to defend himself. Blood splatter could be seen around the handle.
“Miles, are you ready to go?” Julia asked the question but judging by his outfit, the thirteen-year-old was ready for anything.
The small boy looked her up and down, concerned about what she was wearing. “You not goin’ like that are you?” he asked.
Julia looked at her ripped jeans and plaid button-up and decided the long overcoat brought it all together. “Why? I thought I looked post-apocalypse ready.” She giggled.
The brothers blinked in response.
“Well, we don’t exactly have riot gear just lying around the store,” Julia said.
“We saw a sports section when we was runnin’ through the store. You could get like a baseball catcher uniform.” Antonio scratched his head, thinking.
“Or you could, you could put on more layers. More layers of clothes,” Miles added. “Like two shirts and two pants.”
Julia felt awkward now in her outfit. She wished she had put more thought into what she would wear outside. “Uh, ok. I’ll make sure I get a better coat too.”
“You better,” Antonio said.
Julia crossed her arms and stared the boy down. He avoided the serious look on her face and all his boldness melted away. Still, the brothers had made a good point, and Julia would suggest everyone layer up