Our Boys

The Survivor

Once again trying to write something a little different to normal. This is co-written with help from my friend who doesn't have a wattpad (yet!)

Police cars,vans, and media filled the once quiet neighbourhood just outside of London. Newspaper reporters shouted for interviews, demanding to know what had happened, while local TV stations sent out live updates. The investigative teams bagged evidence and took picture after picture of the crime scene, while officers worked to hold back morbidly curious onlookers.

Officer Rick Taylor, a 10-year veteran on the force, had never seen anything like the scene that greeted them in the house, and he prayed to God that he never would again. A father himself, Taylor was sickened to his core by the thought that someone could lash out so violently towards his own family. When the lead investigator had called for volunteers to search the property surrounding the moderate four-bedroom brick home, Taylor was quick to step forward, dragging his rookie partner, Danny Michaels, outside with him. As he approached an area near a big tree, he heard a muffled yelp come from somewhere above his head. Bewildered, the officer looked up to see a tree house hidden in the branches. He heard another sound, this time it sounded like puppy barking and it was definitely coming from the tree house. A dog could not have gotten up there on his own.

"This is Officer Taylor," he spoke into his radio. "I've located a tree house in the rear left quadrant of the property with possible movement, I need backup and a ladder to proceed."

Within minutes, a ladder was provided and carefully propped in the opening. Officer Michaels secured the bottom as Taylor made his slow ascent. If anyone was in there, they'd know someone was coming up. Cautiously, Taylor stuck his head into the opening, only to have his jaw drop in surprise when he caught sight of a small form huddled in the far corner.

"There's a kid up here!" he gasped in shock.

"What?!" came the incredulous replies from the officers gathered below.

"A kid!" he repeated. "A small one, too. He's gotta be younger than Sam..." he whispered to himself.

Sam was Taylor's youngest son, who would be starting school in the autumn.

"Is he ok?" Michaels called up worriedly. He came from a large family and was about to become a father himself, so he had a definite weak spot for kids.

"I can't tell. He's all curled up in a ball back in the corner. He's breathing, though." Taylor crouched low to enter the rest of the way into the wooden structure. The tree house creaked at his added weight, but held firmly.

He kneeled down next to the child and noticed for the first time the black eye that had been hidden by the shadows. He cursed to himself. The kid hadn't escaped unscathed. Taylor then took note of the boy's bare feet and the abnormal shape and obvious bruising of his small right foot. His stomach turned, someone or something had broken the little boy's foot. A small lump, now recognisable as a puppy, wiggled around inside the boy's shirt and another muffled bark emitted from the creature held in the boy's protective embrace.

Gently, Taylor laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Kid? Are you ok, son? Can you hear me?"

The small body gave a tiny gasp and he managed to roll his head a bit. The uninjured right eye fluttered.

"Hey, good, good." the cop sighed with relief, he'd been terrified the child was badly injured...of course it was still possible that he was and he just hadn't seen the wound yet. "Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere besides your foot?"

The child struggled to lift his head, but it was as if that simple act took too much energy.

Taylor caught a glimpse of a nasty laceration and lump on the child's forehead and cringed at the thought of a head injury.

"We're going to need an ambulance here!" he called down to his partner. "He's got a pretty bad cut and a goose egg on his forehead, and there's no way this foot isn't broken."

"It's on the way; should be here in a few minutes," Michaels replied.

"I need to pick you up," Taylor told the boy, slowly reaching his arms out. "Is that okay?"

A hooded chocolate brown eye stared at the officer for several tense moments while the child obviously tried to figure out what the officer was asking. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the child lifted up one arm, the other still firmly around the squirming puppy. Taylor breathed another sigh of relief and carefully gathered the slight child into his arms, securely placing one arm underneath both the boy's legs and holding him tightly to his body.

"We're coming down," he called to his partner, then slowly started backing out of the tree house.

A large number of police and other personnel had gathered around the tree, desperate to see the small miracle hidden there, a sole survivor of a brutal scene. The sight of the small child, arm wrapped around the officer's neck, lifted their heavy hearts, after having to document the bloody death of the two other young boys who had lived and died in this house. Killed by their father's hand. The question was, who was the child? He was in none of the family photos, and none of the bedrooms were full of toys and books appropriate for a child of his age. Who was he?

The awaited ambulance wove through the sea of reporters, backing onto the lawn as close to the gate to the backyard as it could get. The paramedics jumped from their rig and ran to the backyard with their supplies.

The paramedics quickly noted the probable broken foot, rapid pulse, head wound, and blood loss, and agreed that it was imperative to get the child to the hospital as soon as possible. They gently pried him from the protective embrace of his rescuer and settled him onto a backboard. The child's brown eye began to close as emotional and physical shock tugged him into unconsciousness. Officer Taylor stepped forward to retrieve the puppy, but even unconscious, the little one would not release his grip on the animal. Pressed for time and having no desire to inadvertently cause further harm, both the boy and the dog were loaded into the ambulance. Lights flashing and siren wailing, the vehicle rushed its precious cargo to the hospital.

I wonder who this boy is...? Short introduction there, will be introducing some of the others next chapter!