No Entry - Children of the Gone - Episode 1 / Part 3 (Original Series)

ethosunlimited (32)in #story • 7 years ago (edited)

PROLOGUE: In the year 2019, a mysterious disease has swept over the world. In a matter of weeks all humans over the age of puberty died. Only the young children remain.

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CHILDREN OF THE GONE SERIES

Episode #1 “No Entry”

INTRODUCTION

This first episode of the “Children of the Gone” series is called “No Entry.”

PROLOGUE

In the year 2019, a mysterious disease has swept over the world. In a matter of weeks all humans over the age of puberty died. Only the young children remain.

Episode 1, No Entry, follows a small group of children trying to figure out what to do now.

Part 3

The morning July sun came early through the east-facing library window. The library wasn’t scary to Sam. He found the rows of neatly stacked books comforting. There were books on anything he could imagine, written by so many different people.
He woke up earlier than everyone else and went to the card catalog. He had learned how to use the card catalog in third grade. He didn’t know why they had to learn how to use this paper card catalog when the computer version was so much easier. The library had both types and now he was glad, since the computers stopped working when the power went out.
He wanted to know so many things. He wanted to know why all the grownups were gone. He wanted to know why all the older kids were gone too. No one had written any books about that though, because, well, they were all gone.
He wanted a book to tell him what to do next. He really didn’t know how to do this. He didn’t know how to be the one to take care of the other kids. He knew they needed him.
He settled for a book on driver’s education. He looked at the table of contents and realized that the book was about how to follow the rules of the road. It didn’t tell him how to drive. There was a whole chapter on signaling and changing lanes, but he didn’t even know what to push to make the blinker work.
“Sam, there you are,” said Dylan. “Greg and I want to shoot the guns.”
“You can’t shoot the guns,” said Sam. “You’re not big enough.”
“I am too,” said Dylan. “Who made you the boss? What if I go find my own guns?”
“I’m almost as tall as you,” said Greg. It was true. Greg was big for a seven-year-old. Before the sickness, he was the biggest and fattest kid in his class. In the past couple of months, he had lost a considerable amount of weight, but he was still a big kid.
“It doesn’t matter how big you are,” said Sam. “We need to learn how to use the guns safely. We need to learn how to not shoot ourselves or someone else.”
“I ain’t going to shoot nobody. Unless they need to be shot,” said Dylan.
“You’re not going to shoot anyone,” said Sam.
“What if they need to be shot?” said Dylan. “What if they’re going to hurt us?”
“I don’t know,” said Sam.
“If you don’t know, who does?” said Dylan, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at the ground. “You’re stupid,” Dylan pouted, walking away.
“Yeah, you’re dumb,” said Greg. “If my older brother were still here, he would let us shoot the guns.”
“Did you have any guns in your house?” said Maddie, walking up.
“No,” said Sam. “Last night, when I got those guns, was the first time I ever touched one.”
“We had guns in my house,” said Maddie. “I had my own .22. My dad used to take me to the range and we would target practice. One of the guns you found is a .22. I know how to shoot it.”
“We need to learn how to use them,” said Sam. “I don’t like the idea any more than you do. I’m only ten and you’re nine. We shouldn’t be shooting guns like this, but what else are we going to do? We need to learn.”
“I’ll teach you,” said Maddie. “We just need to be safe.”
They took the three rifles and the handgun outside. Heidi carried a backpack containing all the bullets.
“I want to shoot that house,” said Dylan.
“You can’t shoot a house,” said Sam.
“Why not? There’s nobody in it.”
“Let’s start with that stop sign,” said Maddie.
They looked at the three guns.
“This one is a .22. I can tell it’s a .22 because it’s like the one I had. I’m not sure what the other two are.”
“I think if we look at the boxes of bullets they will tell us. Whatever bullets fit in the gun, that’s what kind of gun it is,” said Sam.
“These bullets here say, 20 gauge” said Heidi. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” said Maddie. “That’s what kind of gun it is, I guess.”

“This other box says, 30-30,” said Dylan. “Why would it be thirty twice?”

“Maybe it’s just a thirty but they don’t want you to forget,” said Greg. “My mom always said stuff twice if I wasn’t listening.”

“The other box says 9 mm,” said Dylan.

“Those are funny names to call a gun,” said Heidi. “I’m not going to call them numbers. I’m going to call this one Fred. It looks like a Fred.”

“Which bullets fit into Fred?” said Dylan.

“Looks like these red plastic ones that say 20 gauge,” said Sam. “Maddie, do you know how to get them in there?”

“Not really. I think you’re supposed to pump this thing here, but it’s stuck,” said Maddie. “Okay guys. My dad always said safety is first. Never, never, ever point a gun at a person. Even if it’s not loaded,” said Maddie. “My dad always said, whenever you pick up a gun pretend that it’s loaded even if it’s not, that way you won’t make a mistake.”

“Are they loaded now?” said Heidi.

“I don’t know,” said Maddie. “I know about the .22. I don’t really know about the other ones.”

“Maybe we should leave the other guns alone for now,” said Sam. “Until we figure it out.”

“If we don’t know, how are we going to figure it out later?” said Dylan, picking up the large gun that looked like it fit the bullets called 30-30. “I’m going to call this one Bill.”

“Dylan, be careful with that thing,” said Maddie. “You’re pointing it right at us.”

“I don’t even think it’s loaded,” said Dylan. “Look.”

Before anyone really knew what was happening, Dylan pulled the trigger. BOOOOOOMM!!! The gun fired. Time stood still. Everyone heard the sound, but no one understood what it meant. Dylan, who had been holding the gun tucked under his arm was pushed backwards and knocked to the ground.

Sam was standing right next to Dylan and his ears were ringing so loudly that he could only hear the ringing. Lillyan started screaming and holding her ears. Dylan was laughing hysterically. Greg was screaming too, clutching his hand, bright red blood dripping onto the ground.

“You shot my finger off,” screamed Greg. “You shot me in the finger!” He held up his left hand. The tip of his index finger was missing down to where to the base of the fingernail should have been, and was spurting blood in rhythm with his racing heartbeat.

“Does it hurt?” said Maddie, running to him and grabbing his hand. “Are you okay? You need to sit.”

“I don’t know,” said Greg. “I don’t know. It’s bleeding. Can you fix it?”

“Oh shit,” said Dylan. “Oh, shit. I wasn’t laughing at you. Are you okay?”

“Dylan, give me your shirt,” said Maddie.

“Why? Why do you need my shirt?” said Dylan.

“Because you’re the one who shot him. I’m going to use the shirt to put on his hand,” said Maddie.

“Can I do anything to help?” said Sam.

“Water,” said Maddie. “Go get some water. I need water to clean this. Sam, I need you to find some water.”

“I’ll do my best to find some water and supplies,” said Sam, running to the library to grab his bike.

“Am I going to die?” said Greg.

“You’re not going to die. It’s just your finger,” said Maddie.

“I was just pointing at that dog over there,” said Greg. “Then, I was…”

“Hey, stay with me,” said Maddie, patting him in the face.

“Oh, yeah,” said Greg. “What happened to the dog?”

“What dog?” said Heidi.

“There was a dog. Over there,” said Greg, motioning with his head.

“We don’t have time to worry about a dog right now,” said Maddie. “Let’s go back to the library. We need to get this fixed up. Keep this shirt wrapped around your finger.”

“But it hurts,” said Greg.

“It won’t hurt at all if you die because you’ve lost all your blood,” said Maddie.

“I don’t want to die,” said Greg.

“I won’t let you die,” said Maddie.

“Heidi, you take Lillyan inside. Dylan, leave the guns here for now. I need you to make sure Greg holds this shirt on his finger. Help him keep pressure on it,” said Maddie. “I need to find a book to tell me what to do.”