Milepost 291

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Oh no. I screwed up bad.

Stephen wasn’t supposed to yell at DeVontay. He was supposed to wait until DeVontay checked out the house, opened the door, and given the “all clear” signal. But waiting outside in the grass, he’d heard noises around him—the sloppy mush of footsteps, the creaking of wood, and the splash of things crawling up from the river. And the mist had thickened until he could barely see the house.

Then DeVontay didn’t open the door and tell him to come in. He’d told him to run. He’d even called Stephen by his name, not “Little Man” like he usually did, so DeVontay must be mad at him. And it sounded like somebody else was inside the house, talking. Then he’d heard the crack and dropped down, because it sounded like a gun.

Who were they shooting at? Zapheads?

He couldn’t see Kiki and James and the rest of the group. All he saw was the fog and the wet grass right in front of him. He might be surrounded by Zapheads right now and not even know it.

All he could do was head back in the direction where the group might be. The moonlight made a big haze overhead, so he could see just well enough to keep running. He was afraid to call out for Kiki because then the Zapheads might hear him.

If only DeVontay could tell him what to do. There must be a reason DeVontay couldn’t call out. He thought he heard people talking, so maybe others had been hiding in the house. Maybe they were scared of Zapheads.

His clothes were wet and he shivered, even though now he was sweating. He heard somebody yelling behind him. Maybe he should slow down and just duck into the grass until they passed. But if Zapheads were all around, they’d get him. He couldn’t stand to be alone. He’d barely made it after getting separated from Rachel—all because he was afraid of a stupid snake—and if he screwed up again because he was scared, DeVontay would probably call him Little Baby instead of Little Man.

“Do you see anything?” a man yelled. It wasn’t DeVontay. That meant DeVontay wasn’t alone right now, which was good news if there were Zapheads around, because DeVontay didn’t carry a gun.

But some of the men at the compound were bad. They were mean to the women and children, and the ones that had found Stephen wandering around in the woods made fun of him and wouldn’t let him eat until they stuck him in that stinky building with the other kids. He’d told Rooster about Milepost 291 because he wanted Rooster to think he was important, not just some stupid kid.

Stephen had to slow down because he couldn’t see well enough to run anymore. He wasn’t even sure he was heading back to the group. Maybe he was walking toward the road that ran alongside the river. DeVontay said Zapheads were more likely to see you if you were out in the open like that, which is why it was better to stick to the woods or else hide inside houses.

But most of the houses had dead people inside them that smelled like rotten old fruit. That was one reason DeVontay wanted to check out the house himself, even though he didn’t say so. DeVontay was trying to protect him.

Stephen remembered being trapped in the hotel room with his dead mom and what it was like to see her turn all pale and bloated and hear creepy gurgling noises come out of her throat. He loved her but was afraid to touch her or even look at her, and he felt ashamed of that. It was his mom, after all.

But DeVontay and Rachel had rescued him, and they’d been good to him. Almost like family. Maybe even better than family. Stephen told them he wanted to go to Mi’ssippi to find his dad, but in truth, he didn’t really want to see his dad. It just seemed like the thing you were supposed to do. Rachel and DeVontay talked about getting to their families, too, and that’s why they were headed to Milepost 291 in the first place.

Right now, both Milepost 291 and Mi’ssippi might as well be a million miles away, because he couldn’t even find Kiki and the others, and they were probably not even a mile away. He didn’t know how far a mile was. Probably as far as he could walk. But the mist sure made a mile seem a lot longer.

“I heard something,” a man hollered from the far end of the mist. “Over here.”

Stephen was almost glad because the man was moving farther away from him. That proved Stephen’s idea of running was better than just ducking down in the weeds and hiding, because they would have found him by now. If he could outsmart them, then DeVontay might not be as mad at him.

So he kept running, or at least jogging, even though he was breathing hard and his side hurt. He headed uphill, where the mist seemed way darker. He guessed the woods were beyond it, with the mist weaving in and out of the trees to make a wall. He could hide there until he figured out what to do. But being alone was too scary. And the group couldn’t be much farther away unless they were already in the woods.

Then he heard James nearby: “I can’t see anything!”

James was too dumb to stay quiet like he was supposed to. A couple of kids were crying. Little babies. They didn’t know that being afraid only made things worse. Kiki and Carole were telling them to hush and stick together, but they sounded scared, too.

Stephen wanted to yell at them. Why didn’t they hide in the woods like DeVontay told them? Didn’t anybody listen anymore? Did they get scared and do stupid stuff like Stephen did?

If only Rachel was here, Stephen would feel better. Kiki was smart and nice, and she did a good job caring for the kids, but she wasn’t tough like Rachel.

And why is Rachel not here? Because you got scared and did stupid stuff!

He changed his plans and headed toward the voices. The least Stephen could do to make up for his mistake would be to lead them all into the woods to safety. Then, when DeVontay got away from the rest of the men and found them, he’d tell Stephen what a good job he’d done. He’d call him a Brave Little Man. Something like that was worth the risk.

Some kid was bawling and sniffling, giving away their position even in the thick fog. Couldn’t Kiki slap a hand over the kid’s mouth? It was probably Jeremiah, that kid who kept farting because he needed a special diet. Between the farts and the whimpers, Jeremiah was a real downer. If Stephen had his choice, he’d have left Jeremiah in the big building.

But DeVontay said they were all in it together. Maybe DeVontay was just doing it so that Kiki would kiss him, but DeVontay was brave, so he probably really meant it.

Then he heard James almost right in front of him saying “I see somebody.” James wasn’t even smart enough to keep his voice down. James was almost Stephen’s age but no way would DeVontay ever call him Little Man.

“Shush, James, it’s me,” Stephen whispered.

Kiki called to him.

He pushed through the grass and there they were, the kids all whining and bawling and sniffling like scared brats, the blanket all tramped down and soggy, half the food gone. Kiki gave him a hug and asked him where DeVontay was, and he was ashamed to admit he didn’t know. But DeVontay would want him to lead the group now, not sit around feeling sorry for himself.

“Why didn’t you leave when you heard the shot?” Stephen asked.

“We thought it might be DeVontay,” Kiki said.

Stephen didn’t want to confess that he’d messed up. “He’s down there somewhere. He told me to come back and get everyone to hide in the woods.”

But that strange man’s voice came again, this time real, real close, and it said, “The woods ain’t safe for children.”