by Mariah Lynde
I hated being made to feel inferior. With Cal Mitty that seemed to be turning into a common occurrence. Much like last night, he looked down on me as if he somehow believed himself to be better, more deserving. With each passing moment, the conversation at hand seemed to be some kind of test, like he was toying with me. A part of me – my lesser nature – churned beneath the surface ready to strike out at the world. That particular aspect of my personality wanted nothing more than to slap the shit out of him and walk away flying both one fingered salutes as I made my exit.
Still, one did not get anywhere in life giving in to their primal urges. Mankind had always been a cut above in learning to adapt, to survive. If the apocalypse happened to skip this week, pissing off the boss was not the way to facilitate my continued survival.
That said, I gritted my teeth and gave the most absolute fake smile I could muster while turning on the southern charm.
“Ya know, just practice. Well, darlin’…” I began, one hand moving to twirl my hair. Which was actually my fingers combing through the frizzy brown strands to be sure there were no eight-legged monsters remaining. “You’re here now. So, what couldn’t wait until Monday?”
“Ah-ah-ah. That’s not an answer. Remember, quid pro quo.” He said playfully.
“Does it really matter?” I asked. The words were out of my mouth before I could take them back. Seeing his almost startled gaze, I slowly moved to inch my way towards a tree. God knew, if he refused to leave and something or someone came around us, I didn’t want myself wide open to an attack.
“Is it because of what happened yesterday?” This time, there was no mirth or amusement in his voice. Even as he asked the question I watched the change in his demeanor. There was a moment’s pause before he continued, “Miss Warren, what happened last night was an attack, nothing more. You’re an intelligent woman. Surely you understand that this is an overreaction. The chances you will be attacked like that poor lady last night, is virtually non-existent. Besides, I doubt that you’ll be able to sneak that thing in past security.” The hand holding the red file folder waved in the direction of where I held the bow.
Watching Cal as he spoke, I frowned. There was a slew of mixed signals that I was trying to read and to be honest, I had no clue what half of them meant. When he spoke, his voice was calm and even. I recognized it as a soothing, placating tone that most people used to persuade other people to their way of thinking or plan of action.
Those words were at odds with his physical presentation. In the space of a moment, Cal’s skin had reverted from its healthy tawny gold complexion to pale, porcelain white. Broad shoulders had tensed, putting me in mind of a predatory creature that looked ready for an attack and suddenly made things very clear for me.
Denial.
That was an emotion I could well understand and one that would explain why it seemed like he was trying to minimalize what we had witnessed the night before.
That said, the display in itself was strange. Almost as if what he were doing and what was in his mind were two separate things. No matter the amount of profound shock he was in, those steely gray eyes never once faltered in their constant assessment of me. If anything I could feel the judgmental look growing in disdain as he took in my attire and messy hair. While I’m sure I probably resembled something from Where the Wild Things Are, it irked me to no end that he felt that made him superior enough that I should blindly follow his train of thought.
Watching him, I debated the wisdom of breaking the wall of illusion he was building to tell him the truth, or leaving things as they were. What could it hurt to let him go on his way? Cal Mitty and what happened to him wasn’t my problem.
Still, there was a part of me that just couldn’t allow him to go out blindly into the world. If he chose not to believe me, that was on him. At least if I gave him the warning, I’d done what I could to give him some kind of heads up.
“No, Cal,” I spoke in an almost whispered tone as my fingers fidgeted with the bow in my grip. “Last night was not just some random attack. You saw what I did, that woman died. She bled out on that floor and then she came back to begin attacking the rest of us. That’s not normal, something is coming. Yes, this may be an overreaction, but have you stopped to really consider things? With what we witnessed in that lobby, eliminate what you think you know and think about what will happen if I’m right.”
“I’m an adult, Miss Warren. There are no such things as zombies, no matter what we think we might have seen.” His voice was once more stern, as if speaking in that manner would make it the truth.
Watching him for a moment, I seriously debated letting his words ride. I considered capitulating to his need for the illusion just to end the conversation and let him go on his merry way. Maybe I should have, but I couldn’t. Not when I knew if he walked away from this place believing in all of this, he’d likely end up dead. That blood would be on my hands.
They always said that the truth would set you free. Let me tell you now that whoever said that is completely full of shit. The truth is a hampering, weighty, and a cruel bastard that makes sure you get the hell beat of you in one way or another. In this case, it meant breaking down the illusion of safety that kept the man before me calm. So there were any number of ways that this could blow up in my face. When you ripped the rug out from under someone, there was always the possibility you did so at your own peril.
“You know, once upon a time we all knew the Earth was flat. We also knew that the mentally ill were possessed by demons. Whether you want to believe it or not, the world is once again changing. Zombies are real. They are coming and we all need to be prepared for it.” Slowly pushing away from the tree to take a couple of steps towards him, I tilted my head waiting to see his response.
“No!” his exclamation had me jumping back towards the tree. My hand bringing the bow up in front of me as if I thought he might lunge to attack me and I could use it in defense. I watched as his gaze narrowed, looking on me with something akin to hatred with a bit of grudging respect. Yet, even still he seemed to be watching, observing me as he walked towards me. “No. We had to have seen something wrong. There are no such things as zombies. Do you have any idea what it is you’re asking me to believe? Zombies are the things of story books. They are a fantasy, nothing more. Things like that don’t happen in the real world. If they did−”
“If they did exist, it would mean everything as we know it, would change.” I finished for him softly, warily moving to take another step back. “You know we didn’t see anything wrong last night. You just have to accept that what we did see was real.”
“But…if that’s true, that means that everything is over. We’re doomed.” There was a note in his voice that seemed…out of place. Cal Mitty had gone from large and in charge, to a mess of doubt and denial that appeared shaky. Something about the change set me on edge, enough so that the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
“Not necessarily. It’s all in how you choose to react to it. My response, is to prepare for the worst. If I’m wrong, then all I’ve lost is some personal time, but if I’m right…” I trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.
“I…it just…can’t.” There was a healthy amount of strain in those words. Confusion and what I assumed to be panic laced each syllable, causing me to study him carefully. I recognized the look well. I’d thought Cal looked ashen before, now he looked like absolute death. Sweat beaded his forehead and his whole body seemed to shake, just as I realized that being so blunt about things might not have been the best method. Still, at least the lesson seemed to be getting through to him, even if it was a little shaky.
In that small millisecond that I realized my mistake, it seemed like the whole of the world around me was playing out in slow motion. Cal dragged in a shaky breath, his lips pulling back taut as he moved towards me with his arms outstretched like he wanted to try and shake some sense into me. In some ways what happened next was something he only had himself to blame for. Seeing him come towards
me, I’d immediately lifted the bow to lash out in front of me in warning. An action he had not been ready for as he sidestepped to avoid the blow and walked straight into the remnants of that eight legged menace's web. There was a shout as Cal overcorrected and tripped over the root of that very tree and went into free fall.
It was like watching a tree break under the assault of a hurricane as his knees just suddenly lost their ability to hold him up and bent, pitching his body forward and directly towards me. Between the anger, shock, and generally unprepared for conversation I could only assume that body had caught up to mind as the man fell. My gaze locked on Cal’s face, seeing his eyes as they rolled back into his head just before the full weight of his body slammed into my own. I would love to tell you that I acted as a savior and stopped his fall, but between the surprise of his reaction and my own wandering thoughts, there was no such luck.
Too late my arms went out to try and catch him before he hit the ground. Not that it did either of us any good. If anything, my action only made the situation worse as the impact left me grunting and his added weight sent me spinning to try and recover some form of balance. While I’d dropped the bow in my haste to try and catch Cal in his rather embarrassing descent, the quiver on my shoulder had been forgotten. As I spun, the open bag shook wildly on my shoulder and the soft clink of the arrows inside breaking free vaguely registered as we went crashing to the ground.
Surprisingly enough, Cal Mitty was a damn sight heavier than he appeared to be. A thought that was quickly replaced by panic as I realized this situation could not have been any worse. While I should be thankful that he had checked out, his state of unconsciousness only made the situation more difficult than I would like.
“Oh, for the love of God…” I grunted as I wriggled under the lump of dead weight that was my kind of boss. Trying to arch my back, the lifeless ragdoll settled atop me gave little room to move and had me flopping back down with a muted whomp as I was plastered to the ground.
Grunting, I struggled to drag in air while I assessed the situation. I frowned, cursing my smaller stature for the inconvenience as I realized the whole of my body from the waist down was pinned under Cal’s legs, leaving his upper body pretty much smothering me in a whole lot of t-shirt and choking on whatever cologne he was wearing. As appealing as that was to my olfactory senses, it sucked ass when I could barely draw in a breath. Struggling to pull in air, I let my gaze continue downward to assess the whole of the situation and what I saw next made me groan.
‘Brilliant.’ I thought to myself. As if this whole scenario were not awkward enough, I now had to take into consideration the fact that somehow in the fall, Mr. High and Mighty had been impaled by one of my wayward arrows. I could see the black, notched plastic tip buried deep in the clay ground next to me with the shaft of the arrow pointing upwards and disappearing into the defined bicep of Cal’s arm. Even if I’d wanted to roll the heavy bastard off of me, I couldn’t risk it because it could do more harm than good.
Much as it might have been in the back of my mind that I wouldn’t have minded a little action, this was certainly not the way that I had in my mind of finding a guy to get close to. Any movement I made carried the risk of doing more damage to Cal’s arm. Not to mention the fact, that doing such would also have me pressing my body to Cal’s in a way far more intimately than I was comfortable with. After all, I barely knew the man.
So, I was stuck. The worst part of that being that with each passing moment, his added weight made breathing a chore. With my chest unable to expand far enough to take a full breath, I was getting a little more dizzy with each passing moment. If I didn’t come up with a plan quickly, Cal would not be the only one drifting off in la-la land.
One hand moved, ineffectually slapping at Cal’s side as I grunted, “C’mon, get up.”
As expected, there was no reply. Not that I should have expected one because those fainting spells caused by trauma and stress tended to keep a person’s mind shut down until it had time to reboot. God knew how long that would be for Mr. Logical Mind here.
“Oh, please…” I pleaded. To God, to fairy sprites, or Loki himself – anyone who would take pity on me and help me out of this amalgam of embarrassment with Cal none the wiser. It was a prayer that went unanswered, leaving me to fend for myself.
Grunting a little, I started to try and work my left arm free in small jerking motions. Black spots started dancing in front of my eyes from the lack of air, but still, I persisted. My motions halted as the weight of the body atop my own shifted, nearly crushing the life out of me and sending what little air I had in my lungs hissing out in a wisp of sound. My hand stilled as I heard the soft rip of metal over fabric and realized that my watch had snagged on something. Flexing my fingers and feeling denim I gasped, yanking my arm roughly only to feel the bite of my watchband digging into the soft flesh of my wrist.
“Damn it…” Grunting a little, I forgot everything but getting myself free. My arm wriggling and twisting until a soft snap sounded and pain ripped across my wrist just as I slid my hand up and away from where it had been. Not in time though.
A low toned groan that rumbled over my head sounded and sent chills rocketing down my spine. Suddenly, I felt long fingers grip my right arm and tighten to hold me in place while Cal’s body shifted, the weight being redistributed as he levered his torso up. The movement, while simple enough, had his lower body shifting as well so that he pinned my legs down effortlessly.
“WHAT...HOW THE…WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, MISS WARREN?!”
It was official. There was not a black hole big enough for me to fall into.
Cal’s voice carried about the small area around me loud enough that I was sure anyone else in the complex probably heard him. Knowing my luck, Ms. Hawthorne was likely somewhere nearby just so she could rush over and take part in this little fiasco to get her own form of vengeance.
As for me, I’d adopted the whole ‘play possum’ ruse in the hopes that if I lay still enough, he’d just roll off of me and walk away or something. Hell, if I could have gotten away with curling up in the fetal position and playing dead, I would have.
“Miss Warren, do you plan on answering me?”
When he made no effort to move, I grudgingly opened my eyes to peer up at him. Doing my best to look as if I was ready to kill someone I scowled, bringing my now free hand up to push at the center of his chest. I had no intention of having this conversation while I was pinned to the ground beneath him.
“Can you get the hell off me, you overgrown baboon? Trying to breathe here.” I grunted.
Whatever reaction he had expected, what he got had him releasing my arm and rolling off me quickly. I saw him wince as the arrow moved with him, wiggling a bit in his arm as he backed away from me.
“What the hell happened? Did you shoot me?” Cal demanded, his body shaking with what I could only assume was rage.
“Oh, yes. I shot you. Right there while you were less than a foot from me and decided it was a good idea to check out of reality to nose dive into my boobs.” I grimaced, pulling myself up to scowl at him. “I must be magic. Just call me Maleficent.”
“You don’t have to be such a bitch about it. You could have just said no.” He muttered. Not that I could blame the guy, I had been waspish. Still, I hadn’t asked for him to pass out on me after I gave him a dose of reality.
I could have…probably should have, kept my damn mouth shut. After all, as a group we had decided it was best not to start flooding the streets with crazy and to wait to see what happened. It had been my damn decision to unload the truth on this guy to the point of overload. While the idea in mind had been self-preservation, in the end, I had caved under the notion that the long term goal should be survival of the species. That meant giving Cal a head’s up so he could be prepared. A decision I was now paying for.
Still, he’d called me a bitch when he barely knew me. My eyes narrowed on him menacingly and a small part of me rejoiced as I saw him go still
. My back ached, as I realized that in the fall I’d landed almost directly on top of the bow, but I hadn’t realized it was digging in to my lower back because of Cal’s body keeping me pinned down. Now, though…I was more than aware of the pain as blood was once again flowing freely and the loss of pressure had my nerves waking back up.
“Yes, I do. I didn’t exactly ask to have you come here. And I sure as hell didn’t ask for you to pass out on top of me.” Grimacing, I shifted my left hand to the small of my back and started rubbing to try and alleviate the pain.
“Fair point. I actually came to offer you a job, I didn’t exactly expect to be wounded.” Cal grimaced, looking down at his arm and then back at me.
“No, you didn’t.” I shot back. Moving to grab the forgotten pillow off the ground, I grunted and levered myself up to stand. “You came here for some kind of affirmation that all was right with the world again. You used my file as an excuse to come here. Why you chose me, I’ll never know. We didn’t exactly start off on the right foot. That aside, you came here wanting some kind of reason to doubt what we both saw in that lobby. When you didn’t get that, you didn’t know how to deal and you got hurt in the process. I’m sorry that happened, but I’ll be damned if I’m sorry that I told you the truth, despite what you wanted to hear.”
My patience was at its end. While I could understand needing to stroke the fragile ego of a man struggling to come to grips with learning the world didn’t always work the way you wanted, I didn’t have time for it. My eyes lifted to the sky seeing the waning light and knowing my time to practice was rapidly waning. Shaking my head, I moved to gather the arrows scattered out around the ground when Cal chose to speak again.
“What is your problem with me? Really?” The words were a challenge. Some kind of shot in the dark to allow him an opportunity to heal his wounded pride, I supposed.