Apocalypse Fighter

Chapter 60: Tommy, The Orphan Boy

“I am sorry!” cried Wood. “Let me go! Help me! It hurts!” At first, he did not understand why he couldn’t escape, but then he saw that there were tiny hooks on Janet’s body. If he wanted to get away from her, those hooks would catch him, and the pain would almost kill him. The touch of her hooks on his skin felt like hundreds of ants biting him.

The hooks on Janet’s body were weird in that they could change into other shapes. The tiny ones were even smaller than the smallest fishhooks on the planet, and they were as strong as steel. Thus, while Wood was in Janet’s embrace, he was like a fish caught at the end of a fisherman’s line. Luckily for him, though, she was as surprised by this new turn of events as he was.

“What the f**k!” cried Janet. “What is going on with my body?” Her skin changed from one color to another and she began to cry. Ignoring Brown’s distress, she dragged him over to where Anthony and Zoe were standing.

Zoe smiled and said, “Janet… You… You look… Well… Special! Calm down! Let’s get this man off you.” He started to remove Wood from her hooks but the harder he pulled, the louder the man shouted. Seeing this, Anthony walked forward and helped him. Finally, the man was free, but he was in bad shape. His whole body was cut up and there was blood everywhere.

Anthony frowned and said: “Damn it! Janet, are you becoming a spider? You are sticky. You almost pulled this man’s face off!”

“I didn’t mean it,” Janet said. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I think I’m going to puke!” Her face turned green, and almost immediately after she said that, she bent over and emptied the contents of her stomach on the ground.

When she was done, Anthony rubbed her back and said, “Don’t worry. Richard will know what to do.”

“He had better!” Zoe exclaimed. He looked at Anthony and said, “Janet wasn’t the only one who took the potions…” He was worried that they would undergo the same changes that Janet had.

“We’ll have to worry about that later,” Anthony said. “For now, what are we going to do about Todd and his men. They both turned to Todd and he surrendered without another word having to be said. After seeing what Janet had done to Wood, he was terrified of the trio.

Once Todd and his men were secured, Anthony, Zoe, and Janet had a discussion and decided to go and check out Todd’s office. Todd had mentioned more than once that they had a decent supply of, not only food, but also energy cores.

The way to Todd’s office appeared safe, but only because they could not see the tiny eyes that were watching them from the grass. Once they were out of sight, hundreds of greyish dark creatures emerged and followed them.

***

Mary held her son in her arms and let him play with her fingers. She sighed as she touched his chubby cheeks, and she murmured worriedly: “Steven, where is your dad? He has been gone for a while. He should have been home by now.”

They had just lost power, and even though Mary had been warned by Richard that it would happen, she was still scared. She walked around the room and used her son as a distraction.

Steven: “Da… Da…”

Mary was startle to hear Steven’s attempt at speech. She had never heard of a one-month old child speaking. She laughed and said, “Aren’t you just the smartest? Yes, you are. Oh, yes, you are!” As she touched his face, she thought – I wonder what you will look like when you grow up, and if you will protect me and Richard.

Suddenly, Mary heard Mabel Kelsey and the lawyer, Elmer Grey, arguing in another room, and she was drawn out of her thoughts. It sounded like they were talking about a boy, and she went over to the doorway so that she could hear what was being said more clearly.

Mabel: “You are shameless! You are adults. How could you rob a kid?”

Elmer: “It is none of your business. You had better shut up now. Or do you want to be the one being robbed by me?

Mabel: “I know you. You are the lawyer that lives the sixth floor. You always dress and groom yourself in a gentlemanly manner. But now, you are acting like a beast! I am not afraid of you, though! You really think you can do whatever you want?”

Mary peaked out and saw two groups of people standing opposite each other. Mabel was about fifty years old, and she had gathered eight men and women of different ages. It was clear that they were from different families, but they were all united in their disgust of the lawyer and the people with him.  

Four men stood with the lawyer, and from their posturing, Janet could see that they were not kind people. All of them were carrying knives or pipes.

Mary saw a little boy squatting between those two groups. The kid looked miserable and scared, and she could see that he was holding something behind his back. Almost immediately, her maternal instincts kicked in and she stepped out of the room. “What are you doing to that little boy?” she demanded.

The lawyer glared at her and said, “You are lucky that you are a woman. I will forgive you this time. Now, f**k off! I will leave once I have what I want… Anyway, there is no need for us to hate each other. The fool kid was lucky. That is all. He found food, but it is more than he can eat, so why can’t I have some?”

Mabel looked carefully at the little boy. “Are you Tommy?” she wondered. “The orphan?” If he was, then almost everyone living in this community knew him.

The little boy nodded but he said nothing, and Mary could see that he was still afraid.