The Orphans (Book 5): Civil War Read Free

like being made fun of either. Greg dropped his pack and rifle on the floor and turned around to head back. Joey tried to grab his arm but missed. He said, “Greg, they aren’t worth it, okay? Come on, I wanna go see Ellie. Today’s her get out of hospital day.”
    Greg held up a finger, saying, “It’ll take just one minute, swear to God, Joey.”
    Chris saw him coming and tried to get out of the line but it was too late. Greg gripped him by the hoody half lifting half pushing him past the onlookers and into the bathroom. Kicking the door open he threw Chris to the ground and clicked the lock behind him. Greg yelled, “You call him a fucking retard and think you’re funny as shit, don’t you? That kid has more heart in him than ten of you assholes. I told you very clearly what would come about if you and Charlie gave him any more trouble. You can be thankful that you’re in the hospital already.”
    Chris pushed up from the ground and said, “I'm not scared of you, Greg. I’ve been training too.”
    Chris made the mistake of letting his training give him a false sense of confidence. He ran for Greg gripping him around the waist and slamming the two of them into the door. Greg let out a gasp of air bringing a knee up on impact and caught Chris in the sternum. When Chris started to fall to the ground Greg held him up by the hoody and brought his knee up into his gut. He knew that if he walked out and Chris was a bloody mess that he would get the third degree from Aslin and Clary. He also knew that the boy’s dads were on base, but was unconcerned about any tongue lashings that they would try and put forward.
    Greg knelt down uncomfortably close to Chris. Chris tried backing up but Greg took a handful of his hair in one hand lifting his head to whisper in his ear, “You know, Chris, the only reason that I don’t beat the shit out of you, is because of Joey. It doesn’t matter how many times you dumbasses upset him, or call him names that you shouldn’t be using, he just keeps on loving everyone. I wanted to let you know he has been through a lot more than you. Unlike you, God didn’t grant him the gift of parents to watch over him. Which is actually more than most people on the base can say. One day he’s going to realize the piece of shit you are and when he loses his shit on you I’d hate to be in your position because I’ve seen that kid crack a zombie's head open with one single swing of his bat. If I were you, I would pray that you aren’t on the receiving end of it because I'm quite confident there would be little good about that. You got any questions, anything at all that you can’t wrap your little brain around? I'm really not kidding; every time I need to do this it is going to get worse. I mean it, you need to learn or you can be like the others and hit the road. I’m confident that my opinion weighed over yours getting to stay is not going to do very much for you.”
    “You wouldn’t do that. I don’t get your infatuation with that kid, he isn’t special; he’s just another kid.”
    Greg clicked the door open and looked back at the boy trying to hold his stomach in a way that didn’t hurt. “You realize that kid who you say isn’t special, has saved my life and yours more than once by now? Maybe you shouldn’t take things for granted when you don’t know what you are talking about. I’ll take twenty Joey’s on my side over a hundred of you. You just don’t get it, but I gotta feeling that somehow you’re still going to be one of the survivors long term.”
    “What the hell do you mean by that?”
    “That’s pretty simple, Chris. Cowards who choose to stay on base and hide without contributing usually have the best chance of surviving. I mean, when are you going to get hurt dropping your training rifle on your foot? You don’t go anywhere, you haven’t earned the trust and respect to leave, you aren’t on guard duty, and you are a waste of space. But keep it up because as we