Black River Falls by Jeff Hirsch(2)

“Nope,” I said. “Don’t think you mentioned that.”

Luckily, Gonzalez had been able to score me one of the newer masks, so I didn’t sound like Darth Vader with a mouth full of cotton balls when I talked.

“Oh yeah,” Greer said. “Isaac found this old set of clubs in the supply shed. All we had for a ball was a walnut, but—man, when I hit that thing? It just felt right, you know? Like I’ve been doing it my whole life. Do pro golfers make good money?”

“Yeah, but they have to wear weird pants. I thought you were getting the kids ready to go on the supply run.”

Greer picked up an acorn and chucked it into the woods. “Yeah, but I had to get out of there. Breakfast time? Those kids turn into a bunch of piranhas. I try to tell them that I’m, like, their savior. That we both are. That if it wasn’t for us, they’d all be fending off the gropers in that Guard shelter in town.”

“Please tell me you don’t let Benny and DeShaun hear you say things like that.”

He waved me off. “Ah, they’re fine. All I’m saying is you’d think after all we’ve done for them, I’d rate an extra helping of reconstituted powdered egg product in the morning.”

“World’s not a fair place, I guess.”

“Amen, brother. A-men. But don’t worry. Your old buddy Greer hasn’t forgotten you. Despite being weak with hunger, I managed to score you some grub before I left.”

He pulled something out of the pocket of his sweatshirt and pitched it to me. Two biscuits wrapped up in a red bandanna. They were craggy and golden brown. I tossed them back and returned to my work.

“Nah, you go ahead.”

“Dude, these are Tomiko’s biscuits we’re talking about here. If the gods had biscuits, they would be these very biscuits. What? Are you sick?”

“Not hungry.”

“You ate already?”

“Yep.”

“Are you lying to me?”

Those piranhas Greer was talking about? They were this group of infected kids who had been orphaned by the outbreak. Usually the only choice for kids like that was to stay in this crappy shelter the Guard built, but Greer hated the place so much he grabbed a bunch of them and brought them up to Lucy’s Promise instead. Their time together had turned him into a total mother hen. Usually all it took to make him back off was a good hard glare. I gave him one, and he threw up his hands in surrender.

“Hey, it’s your loss. I’ll just have to eat them myself.” He slipped the bundle back into his pocket. “So what’s going on, anyway? You starting up the Farmer Cardinal project?”

“Gathering branches to make the fence.”

Greer dug around in the leaves and presented a branch the size of his pinkie.

“Little bigger than that.”

He jumped to his feet. “Good thing I also used to be an expert finder of branches! Come on, fellas!”

The dogs dashed along beside us as we went tromping through the woods.

“So, for real,” I said. “How’s everybody doing this morning?”

He tossed aside a half-rotten log. “Fine. It’s the usual chaos. You stole my hairbrush. That’s my shirt. You’re stupid. No you’re stupid!”

“You make sure everyone took their meds?”

“Yeah, right,” he said. “Like I’d go anywhere with those kids if half of them weren’t hopped up on happy pills.”

“Oh, hey. I fixed Crystal’s backpack and sewed that button on Ren’s shirt. Left them by their cabins last night. Tell Eliot his shoes are probably a lost cause, though.”

“We’ll try to find him a new pair today.” Greer held up another branch. “How’s this?”

“That’ll work. DeShaun and Benny doing okay?”

He shrugged. “Better, maybe? I don’t know. They’re still not talking much, but they ate breakfast with everybody this morning, so—you know, baby steps.”

“If you think they can’t handle going to town—”

“They’ll be all right. Hell, it’ll probably be good for them.”

He kicked through a pile of brush, sending Snow Cone into a frenzy. She jumped into the air and did a 360, chomping at the flying leaves.

“I think it’s time to go talk to the doc about her,” I said. “Her side’s not getting better.”

“Ugh. Seriously, dude? That guy hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you.”

“He does too! You remember that time I asked him to get us that flea stuff for Hershey Bar? He said I should try using some on myself.”

I laughed. “Send one of the kids to talk to him, then. Send Makela!”

“Ha! Yeah, right. By the time she’s done with him, he’ll be so terrified he’ll hand over the entire pharmacy.”

“And maybe a Guard helicopter.”

Greer shook his head. “Nah, the poor guy doesn’t deserve that. I’ll take care of it. I’ll just add it to Greer’s eternal to-do list, won’t I, Snow Cone?”

The dog gave an excited woof. Greer dropped the branch he was carrying, and they started to wrestle. As soon as Greer got the upper hand, Hershey Bar joined in, flattening him onto his back.