Z2012CHILDREN'SQUARTERS

Johnny ran as fast as he could, away from the destruction that would follow the next day. He had to warn the Rebels. If he didn’t, Johnny knew it would be all on him. The crushing weight of the shipyard’s lives rested on his tiny shoulders.
 * STORY:**

It had all begun two days before. Johnny’s dad, Robert Walton, ushered Johnny out the door, simultaneously handing him a piece of toast and his lunch for the day. Robert’s eyes were clouded, grey circles smudged underneath. The sun shone weakly through the dense grey clouds, showing the same emotions that Johnny felt. It was the first day back to school after Thanksgiving.

“Dad, why do I have to go to school? I feel sick…I feel sick like mom,” he whined.

Robert leaned against the door, staring blankly at his son. “You know you have to go, son. Now run along and learn something for me,” he said in a monotone. He gently pushed Johnny out of his way and closed the door. Johnny sighed and skipped down the stairs. His father was never good at hiding what was wrong. During Thanksgiving, all he did was run around the house, scattering official looking papers though the house and cursing the doctors at the Infirmary. Johnny had to fend for himself and his sick mother. She lay on their worn gray couch, piles of blankets resting on her thinning frame. Strands of dull brown hair lay limp on her pale forehead. Johnny didn’t know what she had, but he knew that it was bad. Almost everyone on his street had the sickness.

Johnny slowly made his way to school, walking with Carl and Sue. They said they were excited to go back to school because their parents had the sickness. Johnny was disgusted. // Nothings worse than school //, he thought.

He had made it through three classes when the announcements came on. Johnny’s stomach growled in protest. // It’s only 20 minutes til’ lunch. Can’t this wait? // “Good afternoon, Naval Elementary. Please pardon this interruption, but this is very important,” the metallic voice screeched, “Please evacuate the building. Thank you.” Johnny almost laughed, but he looked around to see terrified looks of bewilderment from his classmates and his teacher. Almost at once, everyone got out of their wooden desks and scrambled to the door. Outside, the hallway lights flickered, as if they were frightened by the announcement. Teachers screamed for a single file line, but animalistic instinct took over the children. Everyone ran out the metal double doors, racing to the safety of the playground. Johnny lagged behind, thinking this couldn't be a real evacuation. Some kid probably had an allergic reaction and the doctors had to get inside. Johnny crossed the threshold and saw that he was correct. Doctors in sterile white coats stood in rows of two in front of the school. The head doctor, Jonathan Frei, spoke to the doctors, giving orders Johnny assumed. Johnny watched as he pointed to the children on the playground, who now sat at the picnic tables contentedly eating their lunch as if nothing happened. Slowly, a sinister grin stretched out on Jonathan’s face. //I guess he doesn’t like allergies,// Johnny thought. Johnny headed to the playground. Although the children did not seem troubled, they spoke frantically about what had just happened. Suddenly, they all hushed. Two smiling doctors walked their way. “I bet you guys are wondering why we evacuated the building,” the taller of the two doctors said in faux excited voice. “We just need to collect some data that you probably wouldn’t understand. But for now we’re going to have to split you guys up so you can still get your education!” The other doctor spoke. “We’re going to call out groups, and you’ll either be going to the Infirmary or the Machine Shop. So, I’ll get started. Mary, Jessica, Clay…” The doctors rattled off names, the children huddling in their groups, faces pinched with worry. Jonathan got called into the Machine Shop group which was led by the tall doctor. Once all the children were split up, the doctors addressed their groups. “Hello children, I’m Doctor Smith. We’ve already taken out all your materials that you’ll need so this switch will be a smooth transition! Now follow me and I’ll get you set up.” Before they left, Johnny saw the doctors signaling to each other. Two sinister smiles crept up on their faces just like Doctor Frei's. Doctor Smith led the children to the Machine Shop, a white stone building near the school. The children piled in and Doctor Smith lingered by the door. “Now children, your teachers couldn’t make it because they had to help out at school. So you’re going to be on your own for a while, but you guys are a smart bunch!” The doctor’s voice darkened. “That’s why you’re here and the others are at the Infirmary.” He looked over his shoulder as if someone called him and then clapped his hands enthusiastically. “Well, I will be back shortly to check on you, children! Now do your work.” Doctor Smith slipped out of the door and shut it with a bang. Johnny heard one slight //click// of the lock, then the muffled steps of his boots. The children were silent. A few hours later and Johnny knew that Doctor Smith had lied; he wasn’t coming back. The children were alone. The next morning, Johnny woke up with a revelation. He had thought back to Thanksgiving break with his father muttering angrily under his breath. All his father could talk about was Doctor Frei and his “sociopathic minions who spread his evil doings.” Johnny had only thought his dad was bitter because he was fired from the Infirmary, but now he wasn’t so sure. One night at dinner Johnny's father cracked and explained the whole situation.

“I told them that I heard them speaking about the Fever.” His father had said at dinner. “I said, ‘I know what you’re planning! I know about you’re crazy cult. I know how you want this shipyard to die so you can create your perfect civilization. I know you’re trying to have us go down silently and act like you’re all innocent. But no. I know all your dark and dirty secrets and I’m not going to let going to let this happen.’ And you know what they did? They laughed in my face and called me a pitiful excuse of a man.”

This was back before Johnny’s mother had gotten the Fever. // Actually, she got it the very next day //, Johnny thought. He had to find his father and tell him what the doctors were doing to the children. He knew it had to do something with the sickness, and it wasn’t good.

Doctor Smith was right about one thing, Johnny realized, his group was a smart one. By now, most of the children realized they were indeed alone, but continued on quietly learning and playing. Sighing, he surveyed the Machine shop for an escape. Abandoned furniture rested defeated against the walls, a few narrow windows cut into the concrete walls. A ladder was propped upon one of the walls, tall enough to reach the ceiling. A light bulb clicked on above Johnny’s head. At 12:30, a hatch in the Shop’s door opened, sliding in steaming piles of food. The children rushed towards it, not bothering to use the utensils that were supplied. Johnny figured the doctors would be outside and around the building; he’d have to put his plan in action at nightfall.

Johnny watched the sun slither down the sky, leaving behind a trail of watery yellow light. // It’s time //, Johnny thought. Most of the children were preoccupied with drawing on the walls and playing board games, it was perfect timing. He crept over to the ladder and dragged it under one of the skylights. Taking a deep breath, started to ascend the ladder. Miraculously, no one noticed Johnny, and when he reached the window he quickly turned the lock and scrambled out. He stood on the roof, the brittle night wind crashing into him. Faintly, he heard the smooth sound of water and the rush of cars on the bridge. Fuzzy lights from the city danced in front of the black curtained night. Up here, the weight of what Johnny knew and had to do didn’t seem that important. He could just get down and… // how am I going to get down? //

Johnny hadn’t gotten that far in his plan. He half expected to see another ladder, but instead settled upon a thick bush climbing up the building. Hands shaking, Johnny clutched its branches and picked his way down. Once upon the ground, Johnny’s situation hit him full force. With one last gaze at the Machine Shop, Johnny headed on his way. Luckily, the areas between the Machine Shop, the Elementary School, and the Infirmary were surrounded by woods. Leaves rustled as Johnny walked, never failing to scare him. Each tree’s shadow was a grinning doctor, ready to capture him. Taking deep breaths, Johnny finally reached a clearing. In the center of the road burned a bonfire surrounded by doctors. Johnny stopped in his tracks, his heart jumping to his thoat. Carefully, he edged away from it, knowing he’d have to take the long way home.

After crossing several other campsites, Johnny made it home. The street stood abandoned and alone, as if it had been stripped and robbed. Johnny’s front door stood slightly ajar. He opened it; no one was inside. “Mom? Dad? I'm home” Johnny whispered. He tiptoed through the dark house, cringing every time he opened a door. He almost expected Doctors to storm through the house, flashlights and guns pinning Johnny to the wall. Instead, Johnny found nothing. Thoughts poured through into his head, almost too much to bear. Johnny slid into a chair at the dining room table, chest heaving. All his frustrations and sadness streamed down his face. // I’m all alone and I don’t know what to do, // he thought with despair. He convulsed into another set of sobs, arms folded on the table. Slowly, light from the moon spread across the table. Johnny raised his head, inspecting the house in the new light. Wiping his eyes, he stared at the paper across from him on the table.

// “Dear Johnny,” // it read, // As you've probably figured out, no one is really who they say they are. Things have happened that you wouldn't believe, and now it's up to me to fix them. Please don't worry about me; I'll be okay. Just stay with your mother at home. I'll be back in the morning. -Love, Dad.” //

Johnny stared at the paper, waiting for the words to sink in. A thrill ran through him as he realized he was in fact correct about the doctor's plan. The thrill was quickly replaced by a dull dread. Without a second thought, he dashed out of the house.

Johnny blurred past the trees, halting to a breathless stop in front of the infirmary. Its steps, sturdy and ominous, led to the double doors. An uneasiness washed over Johnny; the Infirmary was usually the busiest place on the shipyard.Now a thick layer of abandon was draped over the building, but Johnny knew his father had to be there. As he cautiously stepped into the main hallway, nothing could have prepared him for the scene before him. Papers lay scattered and torn across the black and white checkered floor. The front desk was demolished, bits and pieces of the old mahogany wood speared through the wall behind it. Drips of crimson blood dotted the walls, leaving trails to the doors on either side of the entrance and up the dark staircase. The lights were gutted from the ceiling, hanging precariously over the only untouched thing in the room -- the receptionist's vase of yellow tulips.

Johnny's face was set in a determined line. He headed towards his father's old office, up on the second floor. As he climbed the stairs, he noticed a figure blocking the rising sun from the window on the landing. Panic coursing through his veins, Johnny huddled in the shadows, waiting for the figure to make its move. Suddenly, the figure slumped over, crashing to the floor. Johnny froze, wide-eyed. He...it...was dead. Holding his breath, Johnny ran up the rest of the steps. The second floor held mostly offices on the left wing and patient rooms on the right. He inched himself towards his father's office and was at the last patient's room when he heard a muffled cough. He whipped around, pausing at the door. Hesitantly, he reached for the door and pushed it open.

Gasps of surprise met Johnny. Some 25 tear stained faces looked upon him, some splattered with droplets of what looked like blood and filth. Among one of the faces was Johnny's father. With a cry of joy, Johnny ran towards him. Suddenly, hands of steel gripped Johnny and ripped him from the doorway. A hot, rancid breath washed over him, chuckling. "My dear boy, did you not think we wouldn't catch you? Did you think that we didn't know that you escaped? And to think you were put in the 'smart' group." Johnny knew that voice. Dr. Frei. With a strangled yell, Johnny's father leapt from the floor, his fist searching for the Dr.'s smug face. Just before impact, two doctors materialized from either side of the door, guns pointed at Mr. Walton. "Ha," Frei said dryly, "I suppose you get your stupidity from your father. Or maybe from your mother, but I guess we'll just never know that for sure now, will we?" Johnny's father seethed, pure hatred and violence evident in his blazing eyes.The room was silent. Without taking his grip off Johnny, Dr. Frei sauntered around the room, staring into the faces of each Rebel. "There's nothing you can do to stop me. I have your children. I have your friends, your family. This town will be mine." He shrugged simply, an amused grin on his pointed face. Johnny kicked out at the Dr., there was no way this could be happening. He was too young for his mother, his childhood, his life to go up in flames. But the Dr. only dropped him to the floor and stood in the doorway."I'd advise you to get a goodnight's sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a rude awakening." With a glint in his eye, he slipped into the golden light, his pack of doctors trailing behind.