This was my favorite "interview" of the whole book. Too bad it wasn't in the audio book.
TOPEKA, KANSAS, USA
[Sharon could be considered beautiful by almost any standard - with long red hair,
sparkling green eyes, and the body of a dancer or a prewar supermodel. She also has
the mind of a four-yeai-old girl]
We are at the Rothman Rehabilitation Home for Feral Children. Doctor Roberta Kelner,
Sharon's caseworker, describes her condition as "lucky." "At least she has language
skills, a cohesive thought process," she explains. "It's rudimentary, but at least it's fully
functional." Doctor Kelner is eager for the interview, but Doctor Sommers, Rothman's
program director, is not. Funding has always been spotty for this program, and the
present administration is threatening to close it down altogether.
[Sharon is shy at first. She will not shake my hand and seldom makes eye contact.
Although Sharon was found in the ruins of Wichita, there is no way of knowing where her
story originally occurred.]
We were in church, Mommy and me. Daddy cold us that he would come find us.
Daddy had to go do something. We had to wait for him in church.
Everybody was there. They all had stuff. They had cereal, and water, and juice,
and sleeping bags and flashlights and ... [she mimes a rifle]. Mrs. Randolph had
one. She wasn't supposed to. They were dangerous. She told me they were
dangerous. She was Ashley's mommy. Ashley was my friend. I asked her where
was Ashley. She started to cry. Mommy told me not to ask her about Ashley and
told Mrs. Randolph that she was sorry. Mrs. Randolph was dirty, she had red and
brown on her dress. She was fat. She had big, soft arms.
There were other kids, Jill and Abbie, and other kids. Mrs. McGraw was watching
them. They had crayons. They were coloring on the wall. Mommy told me to go
play with them. She told me it was okay. She said Pastor Dan said it was okay.
Pastor Dan was there, he was trying to make people listen to him. "Please
everyone . . ." (she mimics a deep, low voice] "please stay calm, the 'thor-ties' are
coming, just stay calm and wait for the 'thorties.' " No one was listening to him.
Everyone was talking, nobody was sitting. People were trying to talk on their
things [mimes holding a cell phone], they were angry at their things, throwing
them, and saying bad words. I felt bad for Pastor Dan. (She mimics the sound of a
siren.] Outside. (She does it again, starting soft, then growing, then fading out
again multiple times.)
Mommy was talking to Mrs. Cormode and other mommies. They were fighting.
Mommy was getting mad. Mrs. Cormode kept saying (in an angry drawl], "Well
what if? What else can you do?' Mommy was shaking her head. Mrs. Cormode
was talking with her hands. I didn't like Mrs. Cormode. She was Pastor Dan's wife.
She was bossy and mean.
Somebody yelled . . . "Here they come!" Mommy came and picked me up. They
Took our bench and put it next to the door. They put all the benches next to the
door. "Quick!" "Jam the door!" (She mimics several different voices.! "I need a
hammer!" "Nails!" "They're in the parking lot!" "They're coming this way!" She
turns to Doctor Kelner. Can I?
[Doctor Sommers looks unsure. Doctor Kelner smiles and nods. I later learn that the
room is soundproofed for this reason.!
WORLD WAR Z 75
[Sharon mimics the moan of a zombie. It is undoubtedly the most realistic I have ever
heard. Clearly, by their discomfort, Sommers and Kelner agree.]
They were coming. They came bigger. [Again she moans. Then follows up by pounding
her right fist on the table.] They wanted to come in. [Her blows are powerful,
mechanical.] People screamed. Mommy hugged me tight. "It's okay." [Her voice softens
as she begins to stroke her own hair.] "I won't let them get you. Shhhh. . . ."
[Now she bangs both fists on the table, her strikes becoming more chaotic
as if to simulate multiple ghouls.] "Brace the door!" "Hold it! Hold it!" [She simulates the
sound of shattering glass.) The windows broke, the windows in the front next to the door.
The lights got black. Grown-ups got scared. They screamed.
[Her voice returns to her mother's.) "Shhhh . . . baby. I won't let them get you."
[Her hands go from her hair to her face, gently stroking her forehead and cheeks. Sharon
gives Kelner a questioning look. Kelner nods. Sharon's voice suddenly simulates the
sound of something large breaking, a deep phlegm-filled rumble from the bottom of her
throat.]
"They're coming in! Shoot 'em, shoot 'em!" [She makes the sound of gunfire then
.. .] "I won't let them get you, I won't let them get you."
[Sharon suddenly looks away, over my shoulder to something that isn't there.]
"The children! Don't let them get the children!" That was Mrs. Cormode. "Save the children! Save the children!"
[Sharon makes more gunshots. She balls her hands into a large double fist, bringing it down hard
on an invisible form.] Now the kids started crying. [She simulates stabbing, punching,
striking with objects.) Abbie cried hard. Mrs. Cormode picked her up. [She mimes lifting
something, or someone, up and swinging them against the wall.] And then Abbie
stopped. [She goes back to stroking her own face, her mother's voice has become
harder.] "Shhh . . . it's okay, baby, it's okay . . ." [Her hands move down from her lace to
her throat, tightening into a strangling grip.] "I won't let them get you. I WON'T LET
THEM GET YOU!"
[Sharon begins to gasp for air.]
[Doctor Sommers makes a move to stop her. Doctor Kelner puts up a hand. Sharon
suddenly ceases, throwing her arms out to the sound of a gunshot.]
Warm and wet, salty in my mouth, stinging my eyes. Arms picked me up and
carried me. [She gets up from the table, mimicking a motion close to a football.]
Carried me into the parking lot. "Run, Sharon, don't stop!" [This is a different
voice now, not her mother's.] "Just run, run-run run!" They pulled her away from
me. Her arms let me go. They were big, soft arms.
"
- PeZook
