Dark Days

Darkest Days

                   ©JRF 2016

Mason steps out into the porch. He sees everyone battling the corpses that were pushing their way further in. He sees the fire blazing from the ends of those guns like slow motion but he heard only the sounds of the growls that had come from his own mother's throat right before she tried to take a bite out of him. He slowly sits himself on the top step as he watches the battle rage on.  After what seems like ages he pulls the knife from his belt and walks up to a male corpse with half his intestines dragging on the ground.  He sweeps his leg and the dead freak falls to the ground, chomping his jaws up at the boy. Mason drops the blade down into the dead man's skull and pulls it back out.  He moves on to the next and then the next.  One after another the boy kept dropping the dead ones.  He was almost like a machine the way he stabbed one and moved on to the next. He may be small but in this moment it didn't matter, he was taking them down just as easily as the grown up men. Darrick takes a second to glance over at the kid and a small smirk slides across his face and his chest swells with pride before returning to the task at hand.

By the time all the dead we're truly dead, Mason was covered in that stinky, black goo that used to be life giving blood flowing through their veins.  He smells just like one of them too. "Damn boy," Darrick says as he walks up to his son, "You really kicked some ass! Just like your old man."  Darrick reaches over and ruffles his fingers through the boy's hair.   Mason jerks his head away and glares up at his father before running off.  "Where are ya goin'?" Darrick yells after him.  Mason hears him but he can't stop, he can feel the tears welling up in his eyes and he didn't want his father to see him cry.  He didn't want to look like a baby in front of him, he was so proud with how tough he just was. He wants to be strong but he isn't, he can't be.  His momma was gone now and he had to put her down.  It was the hardest thing that he ever had to do in his short little life.  "Darrick," Reid speaks up from somewhere behind him as he stares at the small figure of his son running away from him, "You need to go after him." 

"I ain't worried 'bout that boy out there.  You see the way he kicked some dead ass just now?"

"I didn't mean because of the walkers, he's upset about something.  You need to go after him to find out what happened."  Darrick scratches his head and looks back at Reid.  "Don't y'all need help gettin' this wall back up and," Darrick asks but Reid cuts him off before he can finish.

"Mason's more important.  Go.  We can handle this stuff." 

It wasn't long before Darrick catches up to Mason.  His strides were a lot longer than Mason could manage no matter how fast he ran.  Just up ahead was a fallen tree so Mason decided to hide out there hoping that Darrick wouldn't see him.  He hoped he could slip under that tree and be hidden so his father would just walk right passed him and he wouldn't have to talk.  Mason stuck his leg out and slides underneath that tree like a runner sliding into home base.  When Darrick gets close Mason sucks in a big gulp of air and holds his breath. Darrick stands right in front of Mason's face and he looks around before letting out a puff of air of his own and sitting on top of that tree.  "I must be losing my touch," Darrick mumbles, "I can't even track a kid anymore."  He waits for Darrick to get up but he doesn't.  He forgot that he had been holding his breath and he released a much needed gasp for air.  Darrick bends down and was face to face with the boy now.  "You gonna come outta there and talk to me or what?"  Mason just shakes his head. Darrick can barely make out the movement in the still dark night. "Well, I ain't goin' back without ya.  I'd rather not be out here with the corpses but if you're stayin' I'm stayin'."  Mason stays put but it isn't long before he begins to get uncomfortable and sleepy. 

Darrick stretches out and lies down across the length of that log.  He is determined to wait this kid out but he's never really been that patient. "You really gonna stay out here?  You wouldn't feel better back at home, with your momma?  I'm sure she's worried about ya anyway, what do ya say we get back to her?" The boy didn't speak but Darrick thought he heard a little sniffle.  He listens a little longer and realizes it wasn't from being out here in the cold.  Was the boy crying? Darrick sits up and slides off the log kneeling down in front of Mason now and looking at his head buried in the dirt.  "What's wrong with ya boy?" The boy gives no response.  Darrick holds out his hand and pats Mason on the head causing him to turn his tear stained face up. Darrick actually feels his heart break a little at the sadness in the boy's face.  He feels an urge to pick the boy up and hug him but he pushes that feeling back down, grabs Mason's hand and pulls him to his feet.  Without saying anything he put his arm around the boy's shoulders and starts walking him back to town.  As they walk the night was starting to fade and the light of day was getting brighter.  The sun is completely up by the time they make it to the gate and see all their people busily trying to rebuild that chunk of the wall that had come down in the night while trying to pile up all the dead to burn them. Darrick looks over at his little brother with Reid and then down at his son.  "Why don't you go on back to the house with your momma and get some sleep.  I'm gonna help your Uncle Conner get this place back to being safe again." Mason starts to shake and the tears start falling again. He shakes his head, "No, please, I can't go back in there." Darrick kneels down in front of the boy now staring into his watery eyes.