by Holly Hook
David stared at her like she was some kind of freak. “What?” she asked. “I spent two summers hanging out in my uncle’s garage, so I know some things about cars. I was thinking of going into something automotive when I’m done with school. I think we can get one of the vehicles out of park if we do something with the brake switch.”
“Anyone else?” David asked. He clearly wasn’t happy with this answer.
I was furious. “David,” I said. “Mina knows about cars. Let her see what she can do. We don’t have long before the sun comes up.”
He glared at me. “We need someone strong to help out with this.”
Tony advanced on him. “She can tell me what to do. Happy?”
David shook his head. “Let’s get moving,” he said. “Laney, go grab a bunch of tools out of the other building. And don't screw this up.”
Chapter Eight
I couldn’t believe I had ever been attracted to David.
He was the biggest jerk in the world. I wasn’t sure if I was angrier over his getting peeved over us not following orders that he had never really given or of Mina taking his place as the brains in this operation—of a girl taking his place. This group wasn’t going to hang together long.
I grabbed all the tools I could and shoved them in a work bag. I didn’t even recognize the things I was taking except for a wrench and one of those things that could unscrew bolts. What were those called? I didn’t care. I shoved all of them into a giant tote bag until it was so full that I could barely lift it. Our Dear Leader could figure all of this out.
As soon as we got out of here and found better transportation, I was ditching this dictatorship and heading for Dad. I’d find a place with working phones and try to reach him. Time was ticking and dangerous UV rays were hitting the ground all over the world. Food was diminishing as I was doing this. The group was going to fall apart, anyway. I could see it coming. Nothing lasted forever.
“Here,” I said after dragging the tote bag across the dust, past the bodies, and into the parking lot. I was getting used to the bodies by now, like they were a part of the landscape. I had gone safely numb.
“About time,” David said. He grabbed the tote bag, picked it up easier than I did, and carried it all the way to the minivan, where Mina was on the ground, ready to get under it. “Did you bring a jack?” David asked me.
“I think there’s one in there. That’s why I was dragging the bag on the ground,” I said. “The maintenance guys must have needed one around to work on that Cat."
“We need one, Laney,” David said. He stared down at Mina. “I hope there's one in here. We’re going to need to lift up this van, so we can get under and see what we can do.”
Alana kept the flashlight on the van. Mina’s reflection in it rolled her eyes like she was trying to say really? It was as if David had told her to put on her underwear before her pants.
I watched as Tony got the jack under the van and they cranked it up, creating a bigger space underneath it. Mina crawled under as Alana lay on the ground with the flashlight, casting the pale glow. She tossed it to Mina, who got under farther and started muttering.
"David," I said.
He turned to face me. "What?"
"Don't talk to people like they're idiots, and they'll respect you a little more."
He glared at me. "Then don't act like one," he said.
"I brought the Cat here. Without it we'd sit here and starve to death."
David made the most disgusted sigh. Christina joined him and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and muttered something back.
The wind kicked up, blowing cold air against my face. I waved my ponytail away and watched, waiting for a verdict. Mina might have watched a lot of car repair, but she was no certified mechanic. I knew her as the girl who had aced the drafting class back in the ninth grade. She’d been the only girl in that room and some of the guys, probably David, had harassed her for it.
“I think I can flip over the brake switch,” she said. “After I do that, someone needs to get in the van and change the gear. It’s unlocked but this might be a bit.”
“We don’t have a bit,” David said. “Let me have a look.”
“You know as much about cars as you do about girls,” Alana told him.
I laughed. It was the first time that day I had.
David glared at me. He wasn’t cute anymore. There was something really disturbing in his eyes, something angry and full of rage. “Shut up,” he told me. “I’m in charge here. Stop trying to screw everything up for us."
“No election,” Jerome said.
I would have flipped David off but he turned away to glare at Jerome. “Do you want us to leave you?” David asked. “Are you plotting against me or something?”
My stomach about heaved and I almost wished I was back in the underground. David was getting not just annoying, but dangerous. I shot Alana a look and our eyes met. Then I shared that same expression with Jerome. He nodded at me. It seemed like the three of us had an understanding.
We needed to split as soon as we could and take anyone we were able to with us. David had a look in his eye worse than anything I had ever drawn.
“You’re trying to keep us from getting out of here,” David told Jerome. “I’m just trying to make sure we all get out of here alive, and you’re trying to slow things down. Stop being so lazy and do something to help.”
Jerome’s fists clenched. I sensed a fight brewing. Mina stayed under the van and Tony crouched down, ready to intervene. I wasn’t sure whose side he was on.
“Do you know what my GPA is?” Jerome asked him. “I might wear baggy pants and walk with a swagger but that’s expected of a guy like me. Walk around in your class jackets all you want but that doesn’t make you cool. People say disasters bring out the true nature of people. I think we’re seeing that here.”
Jerome sounded like a philosopher. I had never heard the guy say much. He usually hung in the back of the class, keeping to himself.
“I’m going to be valedictorian,” David said. He puffed up in defense.
“So you feel threatened?” Jerome asked. “By the way, check what you said.”
“Come on,” Tony said, stepping between the two of them. “We need to work together if we’re going to get out of here.”
“Exactly.” David turned around to face everyone.
Tony kind of nudged Jerome away, leaving David room. I glanced at Alana again. There was a David cult developing here and Tony might be its first member.
Jerome walked past me and called David something pretty vile under his breath.
* * * * *
“It’s like two little kids fighting,” Alana said, leaning against the counter. Outside there was a pounding noise as Mina and Tony worked on the van under David’s direction. Neither one of them were arguing. I had never touched a car—at least not mechanically—so it gave me a good excuse to go back into the Visitor Center and enjoy the quiet. Everyone else had stayed outside.
“Make me out to be the jerk,” Jerome said, stalking back into the building. He was a tall shadow against more darkness. Or was it grayness? The sun might be getting close to rising. “David was the one telling you to shut up. I was just trying to get him to treat everyone a little better. I can’t believe Tony’s all nice to him. The guy could kill David if he wanted to.”
I sighed. “Thanks. For getting his attention off me. You didn't have to do that.”
Jerome closed the door all the way, casting us in complete darkness. “David reminds me of my abusive dad.”
“Your what?” Alana asked.
“My real dad. Well, I have a stepdad now and he’s an okay guy, but my real dad used to cut my mother down all the time. He would blame her for everything even if it was his fault. He never hit her, but it’s more like he just killed her spirit, you know? One time he was supposed to stop and pick up some milk and he forgot. She reminded him about it and then my dad started accusing her of always nagging him and being crit
ical all the time. He just launched into this whole tirade against her. My mom eventually came to think everything was her fault. My real dad didn’t want to believe there was anything wrong with him and that he was better, so he tried to destroy everyone else.”
“Jerome, I’m sorry,” I said. It did sound like David. “You should be a psychologist.”
“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “It’s a pretty cool subject. I’d like to work with people who have gone through abuse. If there’s any left.”
“There are,” Alana pointed out. “They’re just on the other side of the country.” Her tone was sinking into the center of the world and I knew she was thinking about her brother.
Jerome stayed quiet. I wondered how his father had treated him. He was a bad father. Mine was a good father, even if he wasn’t around much. Dad at least listened to me when I called him on the phone, without judgment and without trying to cut me down.
No wonder David pissed him off.
Jerome had just lost his stepfather—probably—and now his real father had returned in a way.
He opened the door again and peeked out. “Day’s almost here,” he said. “They need to hurry up. Oh. They’re pushing the van. They got the gear changed. Way to go, Mina.”
"Awesome," Alana said, getting up to go see.
I joined her. The guys were all pushing the van over towards the outbuilding where the Cat had probably been sitting next to before. Then Gina got on the Cat, turned it on, and followed them. It would have looked funny under other circumstances. David stood by and directed them towards the building. He had the flashlight, even though the natural light--the dangerous light--was getting stronger by the minute. Tony grinned at David and David nodded. He was exerting some control over the guy.
It only took a few minutes for them to move the vehicles into the safety of the shed.
"We'll be able to run over there even in the day and work," Jerome said. "This whole thing should be done by nightfall. Then we can get back to Colton." There was hope in his voice. I didn't want to crush it. It was like a fluttering butterfly, not knowing it was headed right into a spider's web or a bug light. Jerome's family was gone. Alana's was gone. The truth hadn't hit him full force yet.
It would when we got to town. I didn't want to be around for that. I couldn't live through that again, even if it wasn't my folks. But right now, we had something to be happy about. It was better than nothing.
David ran towards the building, waving everyone else behind him. He ran in, practically slamming the door into Jerome as he opened it. "Where were you?" he asked. "Why weren't you helping us push the car?"
"You told me to...screw off, to make it PG rated," Jerome said. "Setting me up for failure, aren't you?"
"You knew the sun was coming up," David said. "You knew we needed all the help we can get. You sat in here with the girls and watched us do all the work. Great job, man."
Tony joined David in glaring at Jerome. This was getting ugly. Jerome opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to realize he was outnumbered and backed off. "Sorry," he said, not sounding it. "Why don't we all get some sleep? None of us got any and the room's starting to spin. I think I'm going to be sick or pass out."
I waited for David's glare to soften, but it remained hard. The guy had no sympathy. That didn't exist anymore. This was a new world of rough edges, pain, and hunger.
"He's right," Gina said. "We all need sleep. It's not like we can do anything with the sun up."
"Someone still needs to tether the van to the Cat," David said. "I'll supervise. Someone else needs to pass out food. Tony. Eric. You can do that. Everyone who helped with the van gets something to eat. We need our resources to go to work here."
My stomach rumbled. Jerome looked at the floor for a second, then up again like he was trying to keep his dignity. He had dealt with this sort of thing before.
Alana leaned close to me. "We'll share with him."
I nodded, trying not to make it obvious. Jerome kept silent. He knew what his fate was going to be. Eric walked over and stood in front of the vending machine, while Christina and Jasmine joined him. One of them whispered something to the guy and he looked at her. I hadn't heard Eric speak in hours, to the point where I wondered if he was mute. Tony joined Eric and the two of them formed a wall. I couldn't remember what Christina and Jasmine had done to help, but they were still here, untouched by David's fury.
"Now," David said. "Everyone except for Jerome gets one bottled thing and one food thing. Their pick. Oh, and Laney and Alana didn't exactly help us, either."
No one spoke at first. My stomach rumbled and my tongue felt dry. My throat had a lump in it.
David was going to deny us food.
And Eric was holding a crowbar, guarding the vending machine.
"I helped bring back the Cat," I said. "Without that, we wouldn't be going anywhere. And Alana held the flashlight so you guys could work."
David turned his hate on me. I wanted to wither, but I stood my ground. That was the only way to deal with bullies--only David was more than that. If this world was going to be rough and dark, I would be right along with it. If I didn't fit in, I'd be done for in no time.
"I didn't want anyone to go out," he said. "I did not like that. What if you had driven the Cat away and left us here? Or run down all the gas?"
"I didn't," I said. I felt like I was talking to a wall. I couldn't believe this. David was upset because I'd argued with him. Maybe I was the rebel after all. No argument was going to bend David. He was past the point of reason. At least, emotional reason. "I'm not that kind of person."
"But you didn't follow orders," David said.
"You never ordered us to stay inside," I pointed out. If he wasn't going to change his mind, what was the point in letting him talk me down?
"What else are you going to do in the future, Laney? What are you going to screw up? I think you, Jerome and Alana should go into the bathroom and stay there until it's time to leave. Tony, you think we can barricade the door with a chair?"
Terror rose inside of me. I had helped move dead bodies, had helped wash my mother's body, but that bathroom full of filth and the toilet that might not flush struck terror in my heart. It was a small bathroom, barely bigger than the closet and even tinier than the elevator. It was smaller than the death room. More crushing. There would be nothing in there but my thoughts.
David knew it would bother me.
He knew there was a way to try to bring me under control.
"We're all trying to help here," Alana said, stepping in the middle of the crowd. "We're not going to survive unless we work with each other. We need to share supplies and have all of our brains working. We're not stupid people."
David stared at her as if she had just suggested we all go out and tan on the desert floor. "That's going to create a lot of chaos," he told her. "Think about that in the bathroom. Or would you prefer the elevator?" He turned his gaze towards me just a little.
I thought of all kinds of horrible things to call him, but I had to keep my mouth shut. I hated that he was having some control over what I was saying, but that elevator was ready to snap and go sailing to the bottom of the mine, so I didn't have a choice. David might even try to snap it himself. I'd heard somewhere that there was a monster in all of us, waiting for a time to come free. If the apocalypse wasn't a good time for that, I wasn't sure what was.
He nodded. "Bathroom."
My heart raced, but I wasn't going to let that show. I wouldn't let David know that he was really bothering me. I held back tears as I followed Jerome towards the bathroom door. Alana followed. Jasmine held the door open and I was sure to give her my best glare. She looked away as if too scared to face either me or David. She was a short, petite girl with a plain blonde ponytail. I hadn't heard her speak, either.
"Thanks, Jasmine," David told her. "Close the door. Tony, bring a chair. It's not like they can get out."
The stench overtook me as I stepped over the thre
shold. Jerome stood in front of the toilet, so Alana and I were spared the first real view of that. Jasmine closed the door and then there was a scraping sound as Tony shoved the chair against the handle. I didn't try to push it open again. There was no use. Not until they went out to work on the van and I had a feeling hooking it up to the Cat wouldn't take the entire day.
"Well, this is awesome," Jerome said, bringing his hand over his mouth. He lifted his foot and flushed the toilet--and thank everything it still worked. The smell remained, a smell I can't even describe and didn't want to. "You girls are glad you did not have to see that."
"We appreciate it," Alana said.
The bathroom was big enough for all three of us to stand, but not big enough to let us sit down. The floor wasn't too bad, but the sink looked as if someone had been sick in it. Jerome did the honors again, grabbed a bunch of clean toilet paper, and turned the water on. A magical spray shot out and took away the mess after a few minutes.
"How come the water's still working?" I asked.
"Maybe they have a well out here," Jerome said. "I would. Who would want to lay pipes just out to here?"
"The mine," I said. "Maybe they needed water for it and the pipes were still here."
"Those pipes are probably old, like the ones in that city that had all the dangerous water," Alana said. "They probably didn't want to use those."
"Can't blame them," I said.
Then I noticed.
The bathroom was lighter than it should have been.
There was a high window, facing the east, where the sun would stream in any minute. There was already a pale pink glow against the door and some of it was shining on Alana. There wasn't much yet, probably not enough to hurt, but it was enough to make me go and hammer on the door. "David!" I yelled. "There's sun coming in here." I hesitated. I had to word this just right. "You have anything we can cover the window with? That would be awesome."
There was no response. Someone muttered out in the main lobby.
Then nothing.