Jamie hugged his daughter fiercely before looking back at Nolan. “Well?”
Nolan’s expression had unexpectedly softened. “Sure.” He cleared his throat. “Can we just get on with it now?”
“I’m going to go with Karla,” I interrupted, eliciting a muttered curse word from Nolan. I heard Sam give a little gasp of surprise but I didn’t look in her direction. I needed to do this, and she’d be safer with Nolan.
“Can you just do as I ask? For once?” he grumbled.
“I want to know where all the exits are. This airport is huge—much bigger and more confusing than the one back home. If I got separated from you guys I’d be completely lost. Airports in the UK are not like this at all.” I folded my arms, mimicking Nolan’s posture.
“So you’re British?” Leon smiled.
“Guilty as charged,” I said with an awkward laugh.
Nolan looked between me and Leon, his eyebrows pulling in as he scowled. “Whatever, let’s just get going already.”
We separated into our two groups and I gave an unhappy Sam a quick hug. “I’ll see you back here in an hour. Stay safe, okay?”
Sam nodded nervously. “I’m not really excited about being separated. What about this? What if Trent sees it?” she whispered discreetly, gesturing to her injured arm.
We’d both tried to ignore the fact that she’d been hurt by one of those things out there, but I guess it was easier for me than for her. By the looks of it, the bleeding had stopped, which I took to be a good sign, though a light sheen of sweat was on her forehead and she’d gone pale.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like something tore a chunk out of my arm, I guess.” She shrugged with a half smile. “Honestly, I’m no worse than I was after my last flu shot.”
I smiled. “Well, I wouldn’t worry about it then. I’ll make sure to get some cleaning stuff for it, okay? Some Germaline or Savlon or something. Maybe see if the chemist has any medicine for it?” I shrugged.
“Chemist?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Yeah, like a Lloyds or a Boots or something.” I nodded, but Sam looked even more confused. “Like, umm…a pharmacy?” I said the word slowly, like I was speaking to a child. I didn’t want to come across rude but I wasn’t sure what other word to use for it.
“A pharmacy! Sorry. Lloyds and Boots sounds like a Grimm fairy tale.” Sam said with a soft nod of her head, and I gave a sad laugh. “Most of the travel shops will have first aid medicine I bet, but I don’t remember seeing a proper pharmacy on the map when I flew out of here. Um…” Sam bit her lower lip, thinking. “Angeleno! I don’t remember where it is in Bradley International, but I’m sure it had over-the-counter stuff.”
“Bloody hell, I’ve no idea what or who that is, but I’ll find whatever I can. I didn’t realize this was going to be so difficult.” I gave her another quick hug and turned to leave but she grabbed me, stopping me. I turned back around, confused.
“What if…what if I’m infected?” Sam stuttered out. “Rose, what if I’m getting ill and I’m going to turn into one of those things out there? I mean, god, look at me.” She swiped a hand across her forehead and displayed her now-glistening fingers.
I looked back at her, my expression serious. “That’s not going to happen.”
“But—” she stammered.
“No, it’s not going to happen. I won’t let it,” I said firmly, with no room for argument. “I better go.”
I started to walk away again and that time she let me. I gave her one quick look over my shoulder as I went to join my group. “It’s going to be fine. Just stay safe,” I called back to her. She was rubbing the bandage over her wound absentmindedly. I wanted to also yell at her to leave it the hell alone so she wouldn’t call attention to it, but my yelling would have had the same effect.
I had no idea if she was going to be okay. What if she was infected? What if she was slowly turning into one of those monsters we’d tried to blow up with the fireworks? I had no way to be sure. All I knew was that I didn’t want to lose her.
The world had gone mad and I was thousands of miles away from my home, my family, and my friends, with no way of getting back to them. Sam was my rock, my anchor to hold on to so I didn’t slip into madness at the insanity of everything that was happening.
She had to be okay, because the very thought that I would be on my own wasn’t worth thinking about.
Chapter three.
Sam
R ose was leaving me.
I mean, I got it; I understood what she was doing, but it didn’t change the fact that she was leaving me alone with people I barely knew.
You barely know her, idiot, the little invisible cricket on my shoulder hissed snidely. I wanted to argue back that I did know her, but that wouldn’t be the truth. What would be honest would be to admit that Rose felt like someone I’d known for a long time. It was like love at first sight, but friendship at first sight instead, I guess. I felt fiercely attached to her and safe around her, even though we were so damn far from safe that I couldn’t have seen safe through a set of high-power binoculars while someone stood on the roof of said safety waving their arms frantically.
“You coming?” Nolan spoke impatiently, and eyebrow raised in my direction as I watched Rose leave.
I rubbed at my arm once more and then dropped my hand. It was stupid to keep touching it; someone was bound to notice.
“Yes, I’m coming,” I gulped out, trying to swallow down the knot in my throat that had formed the minute Rose had said she wanted to go with the other group, and I adjusted the shoulder bag I was wearing to the other side. I finally turned away and saw that Alexa was doing the same thing I was. Only she was watching her father leave instead of Rose, an anxious expression on her face, much like I presumed mine had been. If I was her age, my dad still alive and around, it’d take a team of horses to yank me away from him. “You okay?” I asked her softly as I walked closer to her.
“I’m fine,” she said stoically, her bottom lip dropping the tiniest bit out past her upper.
I could tell that she was a tough kid, and that she’d maybe seen more darkness in her short life than I had in more than double the time, but she was still a kid. Kids shouldn’t have to be hardened—they shouldn’t have to be worried about monsters and survival.
“I know this is hard. Want to stick by me?”
She looked me up and down, a wry smile morphing her mouth. “What, are you going to protect me? You look like you couldn’t punch your way out of a paper bag.”
Looking down at myself, at my dress and shoes and the narrow cut of my hips, I nodded. “Yeah, I’m built more for ballet than battle, but you might be surprised how well a plié translates into a punch.”
“Clever,” she conceded. “All right, I’ll stick with you. But only because that guy”—she cocked a thumb at Leon—“seems weird.”
“How old are you?” I asked, surprised by the way she was speaking after seeing her dad treat her like she was a sheltered kid who needed to stay out of the fray.
“I’m twelve.”
“Your dad acted like—”
She cut me off. “My dad still treats me like I’m five. He’s just afraid of losing me.” She hugged herself tightly, things unspoken written in her body language.
I smiled sadly. This girl reminded me of myself—fragile to others, but steel on the inside. “My mom died when I was born, so I get what it’s like to be raised by a protective father.” Was I like that as a child? Pushing my dad’s protectiveness away and wanting so desperately to grow up? Maybe at times, but for the most part we’d been so very close. And, now… God, I’d give anything to have my dad around to play the protective parent.
“My mom left when I was little,” she replied. “It would have been easier if she’d died.”
Her words shocked me, spoken so very bluntly that I wanted to explore the hurt and try and help her, but I didn’t push the subject. Everyone has tragedies in their lives, and I
knew it had to be easier to never know your mother than to know your mother and have her abandon you. One was a choice; the other was uncontrollable.
We walked together, following Nolan and Trent, who were already several yards away. We didn’t run to catch up, but we walked a little faster as the two men approached a corner. I didn’t really care for Nolan and Trent was still a mystery, but I knew that I didn’t want to be separated from the two guys who were way bigger than me and could do a hell of a lot more in terms of fighting back the zombies.
“My dad acts strong, but he’s not.” Alexa spoke again as we rounded the corner, now only a few feet from the men we were following. “He puts up this front for me but it’s thin, like paper-thin, and I worry about him.”
“Kids shouldn’t worry about their parents,” I commented offhand, realizing what a hypocrite I was. I used to worry about my dad all the time, especially when I’d left him behind to pursue dance. I’d been so mad at him the night he hadn’t shown up at my showcase. My first role as a lead. I’d seethed the entire way to his hotel room, angrily knocked on his door, and then I’d found him on the floor clutching his chest.
“Dad and I are a family—he’s all I’ve got. Of course I’m going to worry about him.” Her innocent-looking face, with wide doe eyes, glanced at me quickly. “Don’t you worry about your dad?”
I looked away quickly, tears threatening. “My dad died several years ago.”
“Oh.” Alexa audibly swallowed. “Sorry.”
“It was a while ago.”
“So both of your parents are dead then?” she probed at the wound and I nodded. “Wow, that must be hard. Do you have a husband?”
I gave a dry laugh. “That’s a whole other story, Alexa.” It was the end of the world, and people were still asking if I was married, about to get married, or at least in a serious relationship. I couldn’t blame the kid, seeing as blunt was her nature, but when full-grown adults did it…those idiots should have known better.
We went on in silence, and I realized how quiet the place really was then. It made me uncomfortable. That terminal should have been abuzz with life. People should have been chatting, yelling out for a gate to hold the plane, fighting over identical-looking luggage at the baggage claim. People should have been grabbing a bite in the restaurants, or snagging a magazine for their long flight. I should have been hearing the squeaky roll of wheels on the hard industrial floor as a businesswoman walked purposefully toward check-in.
Instead, none of those sounds filled the empty, dead space. It made my chest tighten, because I knew my life was changing in ways I couldn’t even begin to fathom. Changing like it had when dad had died and for the first time in my life I had been alone. Totally alone.
Nolan and Trent had been walking in silence, but every few minutes I noticed that Trent looked over his shoulder. Not at me, but at Alexa by my side. It creeped me out. For the first time, I appraised what she was wearing—a spaghetti-strap tank top in pale pink, khaki shorts that were cut mid-thigh and tattered at the hem, and she had a purple hoodie tied at her waist. It was a normal kid’s outfit, nothing attention-worthy about it. I mean, you could see the slightly-wider straps of her white training bra, but…
I shook off the dark thoughts, immediately feeling guilty for even letting my thoughts stray the way they had been going. Trent had already tried, and failed, to save the life of a little girl today. No doubt it must have been hard to have another kid so close, and somewhat his responsibility to keep safe.
“This looks good,” Nolan said, stopping in front of a travel store that had a display of tropical vacation-type clothes in the window, worn by faceless white mannequins. I looked up at the red and white sign. DFS Duty Free. Down the hall a bit was a double-gender restroom sign next to a shop called Hudson. What really caught my eye, though, was a freestanding smoothie kiosk. Its sign offering an Orange Julius for $1.99 made my mouth water. I hadn’t had one of those since I was a kid. I didn’t even realize they still made them outside of Dairy Queens.
I turned my attention back to the store. Nolan and Trent were already starting to walk inside; Alexa was hanging back next to me.
“The clothes don’t seem practical,” I commented, leaning forward to see if there really were tiny flamingos embroidered onto the palm trees of one slinky-looking sundress.
“You’re right,” Nolan responded, sarcasm dancing in his tone. “What you have on is infinitely more practical. You should keep those.”
I glared at him, nervously messing with the hem of my tattered dress. “I wasn’t exactly dressing in anticipation of a fu—” I stopped myself before I said “fucking”; we were in the presence of a pre-teen after all. “Freaking apocalypse,” I finished.
“None of us were, Sam.” Nolan pushed through the large entrance, his voice stiff.
Above our heads as we passed the threshold was the metal security gate that rolled down to secure the business after hours. It made me realize that we could hole up in any one of the stores if we could get enough supplies and make sure the gate was bolted firmly down. It looked like it took a key to do so though, and I doubted the store owner was waltzing around with the keys, ready to lock us in. Or maybe they were but I doubted they were probably feeling themselves at the moment, by the looks of the blood spray across the front window.
“I, for one, really dig Hawaiian shirts. They make me feel like I’m back in Mexico on spring break from school. Jesus, been two decades almost.” Trent was already fingering a button-up shirt that was a riot of color, almost blindingly so. It was teal, with huge bursts of yellow flowers punctuated by small purple birds. He took off the basic shirt he was wearing—it almost looked like an undershirt and was spattered with little dots of red, which I assumed to be blood. He glanced over at Alexa as he slid it over his shoulders, smiling as he buttoned it up. He whirled slowly, once dressed, and stopped facing Alexa. Giving her a wink, he spoke again. “What do you think? Date night worthy?”
“Um, sure. I guess.” Alexa looked away from him and crossed her arms over her body. Instinctively, I moved closer to her. Just a half step. I’d never wanted children, not even while Travis and I were together and things were going well, but there’s something about a kid in discomfort or danger that makes every woman’s maternal nature, no matter how deeply buried, spring to being.
Nolan seemed oblivious to the exchange as he stuffed a large leather-look duffel with various items—socks, oversized sweatshirts, and pants with drawstrings. I’d no idea who he was thinking about by grabbing the items; maybe he thought too big was better than too small and a drawstring could cinch the pants down on even the smallest of frames.
“You going to just stand around? Decided to keep the post-midnight Cinderella gown?” Nolan grumbled as he looked at me, the bag he was holding now stuffed to the brim.
I ignored him and instead turned and started looking around the store for something to wear, which was probably response enough. I was getting tired of his bossy damn attitude. The first thing I found was a rack of gold jewelry—the name kind. Samantha was such a common name that I was used to finding memorabilia items and such easily. What caught my eye was the Rose necklace, and it was in an actual rose gold hue to boot. It wasn’t necessary—silly, even—to grab it, but I did so anyway. Next, I found a pair of black yoga pants that were only slightly silly, with a faint gold pattern of waves that weren’t totally obvious unless the light caught the shimmer. There was a matching zip-up, short-sleeve hoody. I think I’d seen something similar in an early 2000s movie with a perky blonde in a pink tracksuit trying to get into Harvard. Or maybe it was Yale.
Lastly, I grabbed a black one-piece swimsuit, thinking it would hold me in better than the pale strapless bra I was wearing beneath my dress, and a pair of leather boat shoes. It was definitely not haute couture. After that, I scanned the items for something else for Rose. I wasn’t quite sure of her size, but I grabbed some clothes anyway, and stuffed all of my items into a canvas tote.
&nb
sp; “There’s no changing room,” I realized out loud, turning to take in the back of the store.
Nolan scowled at me. “It’s a tourist store in an airport. What did you expect?”
“Nolan, stop being an asshole and quit yelling at me!” I snapped without thinking of how he’d take it or how I was cursing in front of Alexa.
His stunned expression in return made me feel good that I’d let my inner bitch loose, at least a fraction. His features softened and he looked away.
I turned to Alexa. “Hey, I need to change. Will you come with me? I’m not really jazzed about going alone. I saw a bathroom sign just a little ways down from this store though.”
“She can stay with us. We’re better protection,” Trent replied. He had his worn tennis shoes off and one sock-covered foot stuffed into a pair of bright yellow galoshes. He looked ridiculous, what with the shirt and the boot, and the half-grin on his face as he looked at us.
“No, I don’t want her to go alone. We’ll be okay.” Alexa took my hand and it felt weird, not like holding Rose’s hand at all.
“Yep, we’ll be fine.” I turned from the men and Alexa followed my lead.
“Wait, we’ll all go together.” Nolan sounded reluctant, but he was slinging two bags he’d filled over his shoulders and catching up with us.
Trent shoved his foot quickly into the other boot and then made his own way, nearly tripping over the canary-colored shoes because they had to be at least two sizes too large.
“Those are fucking ridiculous. Go back and get your shoes, Trent,” Nolan snapped, and I was glad to see him snapping at someone other than me for a change.
I didn’t like Nolan. I didn’t particularly like Trent so far either, but I also didn’t think it was right for a grown man to condescend to another person like that. “You’re not his boss, Nolan. Leave him alone.”
“Leave him alone?” Nolan scoffed behind me. “So what happens when we get attacked? He’s wearing those goddamn stupid boots, trips the fuck up, and gets one of us killed because we’re trying to save his clumsy ass.”
Red Eye | Season 1 | Episode 2 Page 3