The Regulator (Complete First Draft)

Chapter 37: James - A Cold Halloween Day

James leaned on the railing in the cold, October morning. Frost covered the grass and James could see his breath every time he took one. He was wearing a light brown coat and some jeans, the first time he’d worn jeans since last winter. They’d been doing this for three weeks now. Getting up at the crack of dawn and heading out into the hills for target practice. Andrew said it kept them on their toes, having to wake up so early. James was inclined to believe that.

As James leaned against the railing, Andrew came walking out the front door of the cabin, talking on the radio.

“No, no I agree.” James heard him saying, “We’ve searched for three weeks with no sign of the guy, or anyone else for that matter. We’ll do one more search today and that’ll be it.” Andrew snapped the radio to his belt as he walked out, blue jeans and a brown leather jacket.

“Okay, last day of search, will do.” Brad said through the radio as Andrew leaned up against the railing next to James.

“Giving up?” James asked.

“I guess maybe Nick was right and I overreacted. No one’s seen this guy in three weeks, let alone a sign of him. He probably was just some passing drifter or something.” Andrew said.

“Mmhm.” James murmured.

“What are you doing up so early anyway? You were out here before even I was.” Andrew asked, curiously.

“I just want to be ready. I want to prove myself.” James said, he sounded determined.

“Is this about the Walker attacks again?” Andrew asked. James turned to him.

“Three time.” James said, holding up three fingers, “Three times Walkers appear at Fireside and three times you tell us that we can’t help deal with the problem. I don’t wake up this early every other morning for fun, I do it to help.” James said. He was angry. Yeah, he was a kid, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel like he could help.

“Look, let’s make something a little clearer. First off, those weren’t attacks. A couple Zombies stumbled onto campus and we quickly dealt with them. Second, I wasn’t disallowing you or any of the others from helping, we just didn’t need the help at the time. It wasn’t a big problem.” Andrew said. James turned and looked back out over the railing. “Besides, you should be thankful we haven’t gotten attacked for real, not wishing for one.”

“I am thankful... just... I don’t know.” James said.

“Don’t stress about it.” Andrew said patting him on the back. James heard the rest of the boys rushing towards the front door, their footsteps pounding on the wood floors, and one-by-one, the boys came running out the front.

“We’re ready to go!” Jaxon said, enthusiastically.

“We would have been ready even sooner, but Danny wouldn’t get out of bed.” Anthony added on.

“Hey, it’s not my fault I need my beauty sleep!” Danny shouted, laughing. Andrew, James, and the rest of the boys giggled.

“It doesn’t really matter right now anyway, were still waiting for Gabi and Ivan.” Andrew said.

“So we could have slept longer?” Niko whined.

“You’ve literally said that everyday we’ve done this.” James said, Andrew laughed at that. The boys all settled down, some sitting on the bench and some sitting on the floor while they waited. James went back to looking over the side of the porch.

“So, do you guys know what day it is?” Andrew asked, clearly hiding something.

“Thursday?” Jaxon said, cocking his head a little bit.

“I’m pretty sure it’s Friday, right?” Seth asked.

“No, it’s for sure Tuesday. Trust me, I keep track of this.” Anthony said.

“Okay, A, no it’s Thursday, Jaxon was right.” Andrew said. Jaxon quickly pumped his fist just a bit. “And B, I was talking about a holiday. Today’s Halloween.” Andrew said smiling. The boys faces lit up.

“Oh my gosh! Are we getting candy!” Niko shouted, jumping up and down.

“Best day ever!” Jaxon said, jumping out of his seat and throwing his hands in the air.

“But we don’t have costumes!” Seth suddenly whined.

“Let’s just say several costumes were picked up by Gavin on his recent run... and that may have included candy as well.” Andrew said, smiling. The boys cheered, it was the first truly good news they’d heard in months. James even smiled a little bit. He turned around to be with the rest of the group just as Gabi and Ivan got to the cabin stairs.

“What’s all the yelling?” Gabi asked, walking up the stairs.

“Yeah, what’s it about?” Ivan asked, carrying something large in his hands.

“It’s about Halloween,” Andrew said, “And how... what is that you’re holding?” Andrew said, pointing at the large object in Ivan’s hands, astonished.
“Oh, this?” Ivan asked, holding it up, “It’s a crossbow. Justin gave it too me.” He said, almost uninterested.

“Why would someone give you a crossbow.” James asked in an incredibly monotone voice.

“I dunno, he just said I could have it.” Ivan said. He swung it around, slinging it across his back. “Cool as s***, ain’t it.”

“It’s heavy, has one shot, takes forever to reload... I don’t know about that.” James said, sarcastically. Ivan gave him an annoyed look.

“When the walkers come running for your guns, i’ll be hanging out in some bush with my quiet as all hell crossbow.” He declared. James walked up to him, trying to size himself up, but there was a pretty big size difference between the eight year old and the twelve year old.

“Enough.” Andrew said, “Don’t need you two to kill each other over something so stupid.” James backed off and shot Ivan a dirty look. Ivan played it off like nothing was gonna come of it. “Anyway,” Andrew continued, “Halloween’s tonight, and Gavin got costumes and candy if you all want to participate.”

“Sounds fun... but aren’t we a bit late now?” Gabi asked.

“Gabi, no!” Danny shouted, he hated going to practice everyday. He found it strangely boring. James gave him a playful punch.

“Right you are, let’s go guys. To the bus.” Andrew said, walking down the steps. The other boys followed suit, with Ivan and James in the back.

“The crossbow’s actually pretty cool.” James muttered. Ivan smiled.

“Dude, I know right?” He said.