Necrocide

Chapter 37

FOUR YEARS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK...

It was a hot summer day that July in London, probably one of the hottest days of Aaron's life. Today was the perfect day for a swim in Aaron's opinion, and Mr. Hecox must've had the same idea since he was actually able to convince his wife and the school he used to work at to let them swim in their indoor pool.

Not everyone at the children's home knew how to swim, but luckily Aaron and the rest of his Cod Squad were one of the lucky few who could. The kids who couldn't swim either stayed on the shallow side to learn or played with some of the older kids in the gym. Aaron and his three friends felt like they ruled the water as they waded on the surface of the pool without a care in the world.

The convenience of the school's accessibility to the children debunked the rumor that Mr. Hecox was fired. He seemed to get along just fine with the staff. Some of the other students even rejoiced when they saw him in the hallway. Apparently, he was one of their favorites.

"See?" Jonah said, noticing Mr. Hecox loitering outside the doors as he floated on the surface of the water. "I keep trying to tell Mrs. Hecox that explosions build character. And her husband is living proof of that!"

"Jonah, you really need to stop reading comic books," Nika replied, drifting by.

"And action movies," Natalya added, appearing from underneath the water. "Or at least start watching ones with actual plot and not just endless explosions."

"Asking me to stop reading comic books is like asking me to sink into this pool and stay down there." Jonah paused for a moment. "Speaking of which, where's Aaron?"

"Cannonball!"

The three kids looked over toward the edge of the pool to see eight-year-old Aaron hovering above the pool like a bird before crashing into the water beneath him. The water rained down on his friends, disrupting the otherwise peaceful pool. Jonah lost his focus and sunk into the water, now having to work to keep himself afloat.

Aaron's head emerged from the water, a goofy smile formed across his face. "Tidal wave!"

"You wanker," Jonah replied, splashing water all over Aaron by smashing his hand through the pool. "I was having such a great time just floating and stuff."

"Mrs. Hecox says that's a bad word," Nika chimed in.

"What? Wanker?"

Nika gasped. "You said it again!"

"Can't be that bad." Jonah shrugged. "I heard Mr. Hecox use it a couple of times. Plus, some of the older kids say it when they play football."

Natalya halted her relaxed position on the surface of the pool and started moving her arms and legs to keep herself afloat as she remained stationary in the water. She then faced toward the other end of the pool, where Mrs. Hecox sat on a chair watching over the kids.

"Mrs. Hecox!" she called out. "Is wanker a bad word?"

"I'm sorry, what, dear?" Mrs. Hecox replied as she sat up in her seat.

"Is wanker a bad word?"

Mrs. Hecox paused for a moment to think about it, amusingly clenching her teeth in what seemed like anxiousness. Like if she dreaded the day she'd have to explain what profanity was. "It's not the worse word you could use, but you still shouldn't use it anyway. Why?"

"Because Jonah just called Aaron that."

Even though Mrs. Hecox was calm as she glanced over at Jonah, Jonah was practically frozen with fear as he stood in the water with nowhere else to go. He was even debating diving under the water to hide, but even he wasn't dumb enough to ignore the fact the water was clear.