Linda Andrews - Extinction Level Event

“Yes.” He clucked her under her chin.

She jerked away and narrowed her eyes. “It’d better be.”

Irina folded and knotted the ends of the blanket until she formed a sling. Ducking her head, she draped the cloth over her shoulder. “There. That should do it.”

“Maybe I should carry it. It’s bound to be heavy.” Manny reached for the strap.

Irina dodged his hand before slapping it back. “I can do it. Geez, Manny. I’m not a niño.”

“I never…” Manny closed his mouth when her bruised lips twitched. Still the troublemaker. “Pest.”

“And don’t forget it.” She drilled her finger into his shoulder before turning to the jungle gym and clapping her hands. “Alright, you monkeys let’s get going. The faster we get there, the faster we eat.”

Luce helped Mary into her pack while the boys raced to see who could put theirs on first. Manny’s brother slowed down when Mikey dropped his pack. Finally, they finished and fidgeted before him. Irina scooted around a rat waddling across the patio to stand behind the boys.

“Okay, same rules.” Flesh slapped flesh as they clasped their partner’s hand. “Follow me.”

Turning on his heel, he led them across the patio to the gate. God, please let him be doing the right thing. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the latch up and opened the gate. The old woman stood next to the wagon, swatting at the air with her cane. He pushed against the plank until Luce grabbed it with her free hand then walked through.

“Who’s that, Manny?” Luce spoke behind him as they walked down the flagstone path.

He brushed the low Ironwood branches out of the way, holding them until Luce could. “That’s the lady who invited us to stay with her.”

Mary hunched down and peered around his legs. “She looks nice.”

“She is nice.” He hoped so, for all their sakes. Of course, she was swinging at the air.

Irina hissed behind him. “You didn’t say she was blind, Manny.”

Manny waved his arm to shush her. Geez, where were Rini’s manners? You don’t say things like that in front of the handicapped. He led his group down the driveway, looked both ways, and then crossed the street.

“Bloody bees!” After one last sweep, she lowered her cane and turned in their direction. “Ahh, there you are. Decided I’m not the Wicked Witch of the West, have you?”

Luce and Mary giggled behind their hands.

Niños . Manny resisted the urge to shush them too. “It had rats, like you said.”

“Unfortunate, but true.” She propped the cane against her chest. “Now, how many of you are there? Five. No.” She cocked her head to the left as they shuffled to a stop on the sidewalk. “Six, I think.”

How did she do that?

“Yes, six.” Manny rolled his shoulders despite the pack hanging on his back, before pointing to himself and the others. “I’m Manny. This is Luce, Mary, Jose, Mikey and Irina.”

Stupid! He resisted the urge to smack himself. The old woman couldn’t see.

“And I’m Constance, Connie for short.” The woman raised her liver-spotted hands and brushed Luce’s shorn hair. “I’m sorry for the familiarity, but this is how I see. And you’re…”

Luce wrinkled her nose as the fingertips swept down her face. “Luce, short for Lucia. I used to have really long hair, but then I got sick.”

“Well, Lucia, I think you have very soft hair, and it will grow back before you know it.”

Mary ducked under the old woman’s hands. “I’m Mary, and you smell like my nana.”

“Mary.” Manny dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. That’s all he needed was to insult the woman.

Connie chuckled. “That’s okay. All us old folks use the same brand of soap.”

“We don’t have any soap.” Mikey shoved his sister out of the way. “So Manny had us clean up with the dish stuff. I’m Mikey.”

“Hello, Mikey.” Connie cupped his full cheeks. “Dish stuff. Well, I just bet you sparkle in the light now.”

Mikey eyed his arm as he stepped out of the way. “Cool.”

Jose hunched his shoulders as he inched forward for his time. “Jose,” he mumbled.

“Such a nice name, Jose.” She smoothed his cowlick. “You must have had quite an adventure last night.”

“There were soldiers,” Jose whispered, scuttling backward. Mikey latched onto his arm.

“And tanks.” Stepping forward, Irina scooped up Connie’s hand and set it against her face. “I’m Irina.”

“Oh, dear!” The old woman jerked back her hand. “We’ll get you some ice and an aspirin.”

Rini winced and licked at the blood weeping from the cut on her lip. “Thanks.”

Shifting her cane to her hand, Connie offered the wagon handle to him. “I would like to hear all about your adventures over breakfast. And in exchange, I’ll even tell you about my encounters with tanks and soldiers.”

Manny slipped his fingers under hers and turned the wagon around.

“The soldiers come here?” Mikey eased behind Jose.

“Oh, no reason to fear.” Connie ruffled Jose’s hair before pivoting on her heel and marching forward, the cane probing the path as she walked. “The good soldiers come here, and they give us food.”

“Chocolate?” Luce glanced up from the wagon’s contents. Her brown eyes sparkled.

“Oh, yes.” Connie tossed a smile back at them while leading them deeper into the subdivision. Rats, cottontails and quail darted in and out of the overgrown brush. “Definitely chocolate. Do you like chocolate, too?”

A few houses had their windows boarded up. Others sported streamers of various colors tied to posts on their porches. Here and there, red biohazard stickers faded to orange on panes of glass.

Luce nodded and began ticking off her favorites on her fingers. “Yes, I like chocolate candy, and chocolate cake, and chocolate ice cream, and chocolate pudding.”

Manny’s stomach growled and saliva pooled in his mouth. He’d dreamed of a Hersey’s bar, had kept the wrapper of his last one until it no longer smelled of chocolate. And to think he might soon get to taste one again.

“Me, too.” Connie turned left at the three-way stop after the common area. “But my favorite is brownies with ice cream and chocolate syrup.”

He pressed his hands against his belly as images of food paraded through his head. Morning, noon, and night that’s all he thought about. Eating food, cooking food, getting food. He collected recipes and ripped pictures out of magazines and shoved them under his pillow. And now here they were talking about it. Would the thoughts never go away?

Whimpering, Irina smacked her lips. “Whipping cream.”

“Definitely whipping cream.” Connie stepped into the gutter before leading them across the street. A yellow sign on the bare metal post proclaimed the street a dead end. “Whew, all this talk of food has made me quite hungry. How many of you have eaten breakfast?”

Breakfast. Manny inhaled, detecting a faint whiff of bacon and coffee. Imagination. Just his imagination.

“Good. Because if I know Mildred, and you’d be surprised how well you get to know someone when you live with them for six months, then I know she’s prepared quite the feast to celebrate your arrival.” Connie pushed up her sleeve. Purple and green mottled skin surrounded the gold watch on her wrist.

Maybe this neighborhood wasn’t as safe as he thought. Manny glanced back at Irina and jerked his head toward the injury. Frowning, Rini shrugged.

Lifting the tip of her cane, Connie pushed up the cover of her watch and skimmed her fingers over the face. “And, we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy every last bite of food before we begin our work day.”

Manny jogged to walk besides the woman as they entered the cul-de-sac. “Work?”