“Did I do something to offend you?” Kyle asked.
“I envy you. You have something I no longer have. Hope. You have a mission. I had one too, but I failed. Everyone I loved is dead.”
A surge of sympathy hit Kyle. He did have a mission. Jasmine.
“Hey, Albert,” Carter called from the roof of the classroom.
Albert looked up in his direction. “What?”
“Get up here.”
“Duty calls,” he said looking at Kyle then covered his mouth so that Carter couldn’t see. Under his cupped hand he muttered, “Act normal.”
Kyle continued looking around the car as if he hadn’t heard him. “What?” he whispered once he turned to look out the back window.
“Take me with you. Please.” Albert paused. “We’ll talk later.” He removed his hand away from his mouth and looked up at Carter.
Kyle tried to act as normal as possible. Carter stared down at the two men. He gave a quick nod to Albert.
“What should I do for now?” Kyle inquired.
“Clean out the car. When you’re done go to the cafeteria. They may need help preparing dinner.”
Albert walked behind the classroom building and climbed to the roof with Carter. Kyle heard them talking while he cleaned the trash from the truck. Before he knew it, he was done.
The walk back to the cafeteria didn’t take long. He entered through the same door as before. Inside the room were three men. One he recognized as Ignacio. The Hispanic man sat at one of the tables talking into a CB radio. Kyle walked up behind him. Ignacio spun the knobs checking every channel, but there was nothing.
“What are you doing?” Kyle asked, scaring the man.
“I look for channels. Look for signals. Communicate wit others out in da madness.”
“Oh, shouldn’t someone else be doing that? Maybe someone without broken English?”
Ignacio looked at him and squinted. “What broke English?”
They both smiled.
“Albert sent me in here and said something about helping with dinner. I’ll tell you right now, my culinary experience goes as far as hotdogs and quesadillas.”
“We’re full for dinner,” someone from the kitchen said.
“You help me,” Ignacio said. “Here.” He handed Kyle a notepad with a pen. “I tell jou channel, jou write on pad. Understand?”
“All right.” Kyle took a seat next to Ignacio and began writing. Having a pen in his hand felt strange, almost alien. He wrote down a couple of scribbles just to familiarize his hand again.
“Channel tenty-tuo, at four thee one PM, no signal.”
Kyle marked it down.
“Channel tenty-thee, at four thee one PM, no signal.”
Again, Kyle marked it down as Ignacio turned the knobs.
“Channel tenty-four, at four thee tuo PM.” He paused and listened. “No signal.”
Listening to Ignacio give the first three reports, Kyle wished he could have done something else. His English was not making it easy on anyone.
“Channel tenty-five, at four thee tuo PM, no signal.”
They continued on until they had searched all forty channels. Ignacio took the notepad and ripped the sheet of paper out of its binding. He opened a file folder and placed the sheet inside. “All done for today,” he said, and checked his watch. “Five o’clock, should be dark soon.”
Kyle nodded.
People began to walk into the cafeteria as dinner was served. The lights flickered on as Albert walked in. Everyone in the room stared at Kyle, as he was the new kid on the block. Some walked up and greeted him. He brushed them off as politely as possible; he was never one for socializing at parties. Not that this was a party, but in end-of-the-world times, a gathering like this was as close as it was going to get.
Dinner began to be laid on a table like a buffet. Once Kyle had a closer look, he saw it was spaghetti. One tray had the noodles. Next to that was another long tray with tomato sauce on the left and Alfredo sauce on the right. Another tray contained slices of garlic bread. Not the most expensive meal, but it smelled fantastic.
Everyone began eating. Even Kyle dug into the food heartily. He sat at the table with Ignacio, Virginia, and Carter across from him, and Ricardo and Albert either side of him.
“Where’s Greenly?” Kyle asked, digging in.
“He’s usually here right now. Might be working on something big,” Virginia said.
Kyle was eager to talk to Greenly and even more so to Albert. Why would he want to leave such a safe place? Albert glanced at Kyle and then looked back at the mountain of noodles with no sauce.
“Don’t like the sauce?” Kyle asked.
“No, the red sauce gives me heartburn and the Alfredo gives me the runs. I’m stuck with bread and noodles.”
Just then, Doctor Greenly came into the room. He was no longer in his scrubs, but in street clothes, a pair of blue jeans with a pastel button-up shirt. His hair was wet as though he had just got out of the shower. He began greeting everyone with much care, as a grandfather would greet his grandchildren.
“He’s very friendly,” Kyle said.
Doctor Greenly grabbed a paper plate and began loading it with noodles. Then he did something that repulsed Kyle. He took a scoop of the red sauce and a scoop of the Alfredo and poured them both onto the noodles. Different men have different tastes. Greenly took a seat at one of the tables and began eating.
After Kyle saw that he was almost done, he got up and strolled over to Greenly. He took a seat at the only available chair at the table. “Is there any news on Victor’s condition?” Kyle asked.
“Hello, Kyle. Nice to see you again,” the doctor answered with much glee. His smile slowly turned into a frown. “I’m sorry,” he continued.
Kyle froze. It was as if the world stopped at that second and Kyle would hear the most horrifying words. His friend, his son, his boy, his responsibility, was dead. Dead like Mary, dead like Eddie, and it was all his fault. He was ready for it. His body tensed as if he was bracing himself to take a blow.
“There is no progress,” Greenly concluded.
Kyle sighed in relief. There was still a chance that Victor would be able to pull through. “Victor is still in a comatose state. I will check again on his condition before I retire. I will be honest, it doesn’t look good.”
“I know you’ll do everything you can,” Kyle said.
Greenly took a large bite from the garlic bread and smiled while he chewed.
“Can you tell me what you know about the Existing Dead?”
His smile grew from ear to ear. “I actually have something new to share with everyone. Once I am finished, an announcement will be made.”
Kyle nodded.
He watched Doctor Greenly as he slurped the last of his spaghetti. He wiped the excess sauce from the sides of his mouth with a paper towel and placed it on top of his plate.
“Can I take that from you?” the girl sitting next to Greenly asked. She was young, no older than Victor. She had a look on her face, one that could only be described as love.
“Yes, dear. Thank you,” Greenly said pushing a little away from the table as the girl took the plate to a nearby trash bag. “Now’s the time to make my announcement. Afterwards, we can talk in my lab.”
Kyle remained seated while Greenly walked to the wall that had the whiteboard and erased one of the lines with his finger. I guess it doesn’t mean how long this place has been here, Kyle thought. Now there were only eight check marks. Kyle glanced around the room and locked eyes with Albert. He turned to see the whiteboard and a look of fright crossed his face. Everyone else in the room stared at Greenly with wide open eyes and huge smiles.
“I have an announcement,” Greenly started as the room fell silent.
Kyle continued examining everyone in the room. They all had an expectant look on their faces, it was as though he was God and they were his angels. Among his loyal angels, Lucifer, in the form of Albert, had a different look. One of loathing and disgust.