Necrocide

Chapter 27

SEVEN YEARS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK

Two weeks had passed since Aaron became part of the Hecox Home for Children. He remained quiet and introverted, usually keeping to himself in the library while the other kids played outside in the playground. He would read stories or look out over the River Thames through the window.

One day, as he was attempting--and utterly giving up on--reading a Charles Dickens novel, he paused as he realized he wasn't alone in the library. Mrs. Hecox was somewhere else in the room reading to herself out loud, but she wasn't speaking English. Whatever language she was speaking, she'd say one word of it, pause, and follow it with what he assumed was the English translation of the word.

He rose from his chair and followed the voice. He passed around several bookcases before finding Mrs. Hecox sitting at a table. She continued her verbal cycle of muttering a word of the foreign language, pausing to look down at whatever book she was reading, and repeating the same word in English.

"Excuse me," Aaron said.

Mrs. Hecox gasped in surprise before turning to look back at Aaron. "You startled me, Aaron."

"Sorry."

"It's alright, dear. Is there a problem? Why aren't you outside with the other children?"

"I...uh...feel safer in here, to be honest. I haven't really made any friends yet."

"Well how are you supposed to make friends if you stay in here all day?" She grinned to make sure that comment didn't hurt Aaron's feelings. "You've been here for two weeks already, Aaron. You should get to know these kids. Like this little girl right here."

Aaron looked down at the books on the table, confused by the question. "That's not a girl. That's a book, miss."

Mrs. Hecox chuckled. "No, silly. Two twins were brought here all the way from Russia. One twin is fluent in English, but her sister can hardly speak it, only a word here and there." Her face suddenly lit up, as if a lightbulb representing a new idea appeared above her like in cartoons. "Maybe you should introduce yourself to them."

"I dunno, miss," Aaron replied. "What if they don't like me?"

"Sadly, Aaron, things like that can only be found out through personal confrontation," Mrs. Hecox replied. "Now run along. They should be outside with the other children."

"What are their names?"

"Nika and Natalya Koslov, two golden-haired girls around your age. Nika is shy, so you can probably find her underneath the tree at the edge of the playground. Natalya is more outgoing, so she'll probably be running around the yard with everyone else."

"Okay," Aaron said, making his way toward the exit. "Thanks, miss."

"Anytime, dear."

Aaron walked out of the library and continued down the corridor until he found the door leading outside. He pushed it open and walked out into the sunlight. He was greeted by the blue sky and the sounds of children running around screaming with joy. Several kids were playing tag while others were messing around with a football, with one kid trying to kick it into the air as many times as he could without dropping it.

"So Nika and Natalya," Aaron mumbled to himself. "That's who I'm trying to find. Shouldn't be too hard. Especially if someone has hair made of gold."

He strolled through the field where the other kids played, caught up in a conversation with himself. "Wait...I think Mrs. Hecox was kidding when she said they had hair made of gold."

He stared at the dirt beneath his feet as he continued walking. The world was completely shut off from him thanks to this weird conversation.

"Can someone actually have hair made of gold? Or does she mean that they're blonde? That would be weird if it was real gold. I'd probably cut it so I could get rich. But then again, that seems mean. I don't think they would like it if I—"