all god's orphans
Chapter 9

Brian pulled his truck up to Daniel’s house and shut off the engine. Daniel opened the door to get out but Brian didn’t move.

“Aren’t you coming?” Daniel wanted to know. Brian lit another smoke.

“I already dealt with one family today. Don’t really feel like doing it again.” He exhaled a plume of smoke that stuck to the humid air inside the truck. Daniel huffed.

“My mom isn’t like that. She doesn’t care if you’re gay.” Brian’s discomfort with that word showed in the look he shot Daniel, but mostly he just didn’t want to deal with anyone. He wanted some time to think, not meet his boyfriend’s mom. “Fine.” said Daniel and headed inside. Brian watched him go and felt a little like an asshole, but he allowed himself this one. For chrissakes, he just saw his brainwashed dad standing in his backyard like some kind of simpleton.

“Shit.” he finally said and got out of his truck. Daniel was there for him when he found his father, the least he could do was return the favor if Daniel’s mom was the same way. He went into the house.

“Mom!” he could hear Daniel shouting throughout the downstairs. “Mom! You here?” there was no answer. Daniel emerged from the back bedrooms to replace Brian in the living room. “Did you get bored?” he asked cattily.

“Don’t be a bitch.” Brian grumbled. “Is your mom not here?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t checked upstairs.”

“Shall we?” Brian headed upstairs fearing what they might replace. He didn’t mind seeing his dad replaced by pod people or whatever the fuck was going on, but Daniel loved his mother, and by all accounts, she sounded like a fun lady. He hoped for Daniel’s sake she was ok.

They found her in her bedroom, sitting in a chair and staring into space.

“Oh, mom!” Daniel rushed to her and knelt before her, hugging her legs. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” He wasn’t looking at her, but Brian was. He could see already that she wasn’t the same. Her face had the same beatific, benign expression as all the zombies at his house. She didn’t really react to Daniel’s presence other than to regard him with those blank eyes. “Mom?” he repeated, finally looking up at her. “Are you okay?” She didn’t answer or make any sign that she understood him. Brian stepped forward and put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

“I think whatever happened to my dad happened here, too.” Daniel looked up at him with tears filling his eyes.

“What?” he choked back sobs. “What do you mean?”

“Those people at my dad’s house, all of them, they didn’t talk. Didn’t even seem like real people. I think the same thing happened to your mom.” Anger soared through Daniel.

“Are you saying my mom isn’t a real person?” he stood up to look Brian directly in the eye. Briand realized he had chosen his words poorly.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Well what did you mean?” Daniel was clearly hurt and on the verge of collapse. Brian searched for the words that would calm him down.

“I mean,” he thought carefully. “Something has obviously happened and it has affected some people and not others and we need to take care that we stay who we are so we can help people like your mom.” Daniel calmed down a bit.

“What should we do?” he finally asked.

“I’m not sure, but first we need to get what we came here for.”

“Oh yeah.” said Daniel absentmindedly, and went downstairs to the kitchen. Brian lingered behind just for a moment searching the woman’s face for any sign of recognition. There was none and instead of following after her son, she simply resumed staring out the window.

Down in the kitchen, Brian watched as Daniel fetched his insulin from the fridge and prepared the needle.

“How many of those do you need a day?”

“Two.” Daniel stuck himself. “Why?”

“How many doses do you have left?”

“Enough for about a week.” Daniel finally understood what Brian was getting at. “Shit.” he finally sighed.

“Where do you get it?”

“CVS.”

“We’ll have to get some more, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s not the problem.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Insulin doesn’t keep forever.”

“How long does it last?” Brian could see a slight panic rising behind Daniel’s eyes.

“About a month and it has to be refrigerated.” Brian thought about it for a moment.

“Well,” he finally said trying to sound confident. “A month is plenty of time for the government to start getting their shit together. We’ll just get some at CVS.” He tried to smile convincingly, but failed.

“Oh my god,” Daniel laughed. “Is that your ‘comforting’ smile?” Now Brian genuinely did crack a real grin.

“Yeah. I guess so.” Daniel put his arms around Brian’s neck. “I feel so much better.” He whispered sarcastically.

“Come on.” He said after a few moments. “Help me bring my mom downstairs.”

Standing in front of Daniel’s mother, Brian realized he had to ask a slightly embarrassing question.

“What’s her name again?” Brian’s cheeks flushed. He should’ve remembered that.

“Carla.” hissed Daniel.

“Oh, right.” he lied. “I remember now.” They stood in silence for an uncomfortable moment before Brian added. “My mom’s name is Jennifer.”

“I know.” this upset Daniel more than it would have if his mother was up and walking around. In fact, she would have thought it was funny. She would have declared, glass of wine in one hand and a fabulous gesture in the other, “My name is Carlene, dear, but don’t call me that. Call me Carla.” Then she would have smiled her smile that made people instantly feel better and want to be her friend. Daniel hoped this condition wasn’t permanent, and for his sake, Brian hoped the same. However, for his own sake, he was fine with never speaking to the douchebag who was his dad ever again.

“Carla?” he said, waving his hand in front of her face. “Can you hear me?” Carla turned her eyes up at him and smiled, but it was a weak smile. Not her normal spotlight smile. She didn’t answer him.

“Mom? Come downstairs, okay?” Carla didn’t move so Brian took her hand gently and led her up. She followed willingly and walked downstairs with them leading the way.

“Have a seat on the couch, mom. I’ll get you something to eat.” Brian deposited Carla on the sofa as Daniel whipped up some lunch.

“We need a plan.” announced Brian. “We can’t just sit here waiting for the cavalry. They might not get here in a month.” Daniel returned from the kitchen carrying a tray of crackers and cheese.

“Here, mom.” he offered her a piece of cheese. “Eat this.” She took it from him but did not eat it. She just stared blankly at the tiny cube. “Like this.” said Daniel taking a bite. “Yum!” he exclaimed and she sniffed it like an animal. Finally, when she was convinced it was an edible thing, she took a small bite, followed by another and then it was gone. She took a greedy handful from the tray and devoured them. “Easy, mom. Have some water.” Again she didn’t seem to get it so Daniel had to show her how to do it. She immediately downed the glass and gestured that she wanted more. Daniel brought her another glassful and she drained that one too, but a little more slowly.

Brian looked around at the house. It seemed a strange shape to him. From the outside, it looked just like all the other cookie cutter homes in this neighborhood, but the inside was strange. The living room had high, vaulted ceilings, jutting up to a point in the center. Two gigantic windows opened up to the back and he could see the rest of the suburban sprawl stretching across the small valley and up the slight hill on the other side. Nothing but vinyl siding and basketball goals as far as the eye could see.

The kitchen was to one side and the only way to tell where it began and the living room ended was where the floor turned from hardwood to tile. Likewise, the foyer was simply there. It finally dawned on Brian why he found it so strange. There were very few walls. The whole interior was just open, letting spaces flow into one another without regard for purpose or design. It was unsettling at first, but when he realized he could easily see Daniel rummaging around the kitchen, he saw the appeal of it.

When Daniel was satisfied that his mother wouldn’t starve, he turned his attention back to Brian.

“So what do you suggest we do now?” he asked.

“Well, like I said, we go to CVS and stock up on insulin, but after that, we need to get moving. We’ll need to replace a place with a more permanent stock.”

“Like where? A hospital?”

“Kinda. We need to get somewhere with a bigger government presence. They’ll be the first to get more medical supplies.”

“So where are you thinking?”

“Well, the closest military base is Ft. Campbell. That seems like a good place to start.”

“Kentucky?” Daniel grimaced.

“What’s wrong with Kentucky?”

“Oh nothing, if you’re a straight, white, Christian male.” Brian stared him down.

“Daniel,” he said dismissively. “You live in Tennessee. Do you really think there’s much of a difference?” Daniel rolled his eyes.

“Tennessee has Dollywood, so yeah, there’s a huge difference.” For the first time since the world had ended, they both laughed.

“We’ll need supplies. Clothes. Food.” Brian never seemed to stop thinking ahead.

“A new car.” Daniel added, doing his version of thinking ahead.

“I’m serious.”

“I’m dead serious.” replied Daniel. “It’s the end of the world as we know it. Why not explore it in style?” Brian opened his mouth to protest but realized Daniel had point. A smile spread across his face. “What are you thinking?” Daniel wanted to know.

“You start packing.” Brian told him as he headed for the door. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Get something with seat warmers!” Daniel called after him and then sat back to have some cheese and wine with his mother. “He means well, mom, but the boy has the style sense of a particularly unfashionable lumberjack.” Carla smiled and Daniel told himself she had understood him, if only a little bit.