“I think things are beginning to wear on you guys as well. You guys look a little punch-drunk,” she quipped back as she pushed herself up from the snow and stood up.
As with most girls Anthony knew, she was shorter than him, but only by a few inches, which, in his book, made her a little tall for a teenage girl. She was wearing a pair of white jeans, now befouled and wet from her sitting and kneeling in the snow. Anthony was a little surprised to see she didn’t seem to care. For a pretty girl, she doesn’t seem all prissy and afraid of a little dirt, he thought. Upon her feet, she wore a pair of white boots that were tie up above her ankle and looked like foot coverings made for serious hiking and not the mall. It was another atypical feature Anthony discovered he liked about her.
“Tell me about it,” he agreed, extending his semi-gloved hand, complete with skulls stitched into them. When he looked down and saw them. At that very moment, he flushed with embarrassment, wondering if she would think they were a little childish to be wearing things like them at his age.
Shit!
After a short time, his hand still extended toward her. “Um, my name is Anthony Herrera.”
“Oh,” she blurted, her hand coming to her chest, not even looking at his gloves. Then, “How rude of me, oh my! I’m so sorry about that, everything has been so… so wrong and off kilter lately, I’m forgetting my manners.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, ok then, umm… my name is Sophie Reed.” She took his hand and shook it. Through her gloves, Anthony could tell she had small, thin-boned hands.
Anthony turned to glance behind him, pointing. “The big guy here is Joaquin…,” he began and then looked over at Joaquin and put out his hands, palms heavenward in surrender. “Dude, you’re gonna have to help me with your last name,” Anthony said with a smile.
“That would be Barrientos,” he offered rolling his tongue over the “r’s”, enunciating his surname. He stepped around Anthony to shake her hand as well.
Sophie glanced up at him with a shy smile, a tiny portion of her former fear creeping behind her eyes. He was after all a big boy. He towered over her.
A moment later, Jason stepped up and shook her hand, introducing himself to her in a quiet voice to which she replied, in turn, with a small nod of her head and a thin smile.
Sophie turned, pointing at the boy behind her. By now, he had gained his feet, waiting impatiently, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “This is Louis Willigan.”
They boy waved at them.
The three boys waved back.
Anthony knew he’d been right in his first assessment. The boy did look right around Elena’s age. He was stockier of build than he’d first surmised though, with a round face, completed by large, jowly cheeks almost painfully red from the cold. Set deep into his face were a pair of small, light-brown eyes. What hair stuck out from underneath his hood was also light-brown, seemed straight and course. But, Anthony could only really guess. He wore simple jeans and high-top sneakers just as wet from the snow as the boots Sophie wore. Already, Anthony could envision them freezing to death where they stood with their clothes wet such as they were. The temperature around them was so incredibly low.
“From what I’ve been able to get out of him,” continued Sophie, still looking over at the boy, “is that Louis is eleven years old and lives around here somewhere. He awoke this morning, as I assume the rest of us did, and found things were very different with the world than they were the night before. Is that right, Louis?”
“Yes, it is,” retorted the boy in the piping voice of a tween just upon the vestiges of puberty. “I went to take out the garbage for my mother last night, when I heard these scary sounds and everything was shaking real bad, and for some reason I got sick. I think I fell on my face next, but I don’t know for real. That’s all I remember, I woke up this morning in what should have been my driveway, but all the cars were gone. I was cold. I looked around and all the houses were gone. Everything was gone…” He stopped. His voice cracked and he tried with all of his inner strength to keep from crying. “Even my dog…”
Anthony was sure Louis didn’t want to cry in front of three bigger boys. He was trying very hard not to appear like a baby.
“You’re not alone anymore, Louis. You see, it happened to all of us, every one of us here.” The other boys were nodding in agreement, looking down at the boy with sympathetic eyes. “Now, we’ve found you and you’ll be safe, ok?” said Anthony with a reassuring tone.
Sophie gave him a big, warm smile of thanks.
He nodded back and smiling too.
“Hey, maybe we should kinda get rolling here, huh?” prodded Jason, looking around through the dreary landscape, unease drawn across his face, shivering suddenly, worrisome thoughts crossing his mind.
Anthony’s shook as if he had just snapped out of a trance. His smile dwindled. “Yeah, you’re right, man, we need to get going,” he muttered quietly. He glanced at the two kids in front of him. “Ok, we are going to introduce you to some of our friends. We don’t want you guys to freak out or anything, and definitely do not run away, because you could get lost in the storm. We might never be able to find you again. This has got to be some of the worst weather I have ever seen. So please, don’t panic or anything, and please, please remember they will not hurt you. Just like I told you both before, you have my word. Okay?
“Now,” he went on, tempering the situation, “they’re gonna look a little strange to you, maybe even a little scary, but don’t worry ok, because they are with us. In fact, they are the reason we are here right now with you guys and not locked up in some cave or worse. They actually saved us all from being prisoners like less than an hour ago. Okay? So, you’ll be fine.”
“He’s telling the truth, they kicked some major ass like -,” Jason didn’t finish.
“Dude, stop trying to help,” begged Joaquin.
“Ok, ok, ok, damn!”
Sensing the seriousness in his tone, Sophie nodded nervously at Anthony.
Louis seemed to physically brace himself and gave a weepy, “O-ok.” He reached out suddenly, grabbing one of Sophie’s hands.
Anthony hated seen their fright return anew. Man, this is a messed up day… He swiveled at his waist and called loudly over his shoulder, “Garfield, bring the others!” Anthony looked back at the other two, emphasizing his point, “I promise you, they are on our side.”
They both just nodded a few times and stepped back toward the trunk of the tree they’d been leaning against before. They were side by side, hand in hand, their eyes darting back and forth.
Out of the snow, three large forms came towards them, materializing into Kenai, Garfield and Mr. Patas.
Both Sophie and Louie let out tremendous gasps of shock and hugged each other tightly. Louis buried his face into Sophie mid-section, not wanting to look anymore.
“They will not hurt you,” cajoled Anthony in the calmest voice he could muster. “I know this because they were once my pets.”
“What?” squealed Sophie as if she had been “goosed”. Anthony’s claim had jolted her from the grip fear. They let go of each other, simultaneously, to gaze upon the animals in disturbed amazement.
“They were my pets,” he repeated with the same calm. “The cat-like one was my little kitty-cat, named Garfield.” The cat immediately dropped his head and shook it in exasperation, making Anthony chuckle knowing he hated the label.
Kitty-cat, lol!
Anthony pointed at Kenai. “The big bear-like dog was once my puppy Kenai who was taken away a long time ago, but that is a long story we don’t have time to get into right now.” He turned to smile at them, hoping they weren’t about to run away or made insane from the constant barrage of shock. “Lastly, the rabbit-eared one was once my pet rabbit, Mr. Patas. As you can see, like the rest of them, he has really changed a lot too.
“Now, I’m not sure how or why exactly, but somehow, they came to this place when we did and… I believe the
y were sent here to protect us, right Kenai?”
“That is correct, Tony,” replied the bear-dog with a voice, sounding like boulders grinding together during an earthquake.
“How do you do?” said Mr. Patas in his squeaky tones, introducing himself, while the other animals merely nodded.
Both Sophie and Louis just stood in wide-eyed disbelief at what they were seeing, struck speechless. They could talk!
Surprisingly, it was Louis spoke first, “Are you serious? Man that is sooo cool! Weird too, but cool just the same!” His fear seemingly replaced by genuine enthusiasm and excitement.
Anthony smiled at the boy. “I know, it sure is cool and you do know what’s even better?”
“What?” asked the Louis.
“They’re being here means we have more friends to stop the bad guys that are trying to get us.”
“Really?”
Anthony could see the boy didn’t quite understand what he was talking about, but had replied politely anyhow. Could it be possible that they do not know… have not seen... Could they’ve been that lucky?
“Yeah really, I told you, Louis you are no longer alone.”
“Well, ok then, good! That’s a huge relief, I think,” said the boy with a slight frown, but it was gone in seconds as he began tucking the few strands of hair that had fallen out of his hood back underneath it.
Then Joaquin said, “You can say that again, Lou. I was just as relieved as you were when Anthony showed up with his friends. They saved me and Jason from those awful creatures that had captured us.”
Anthony was glad the other boy was helping him keep Louis calm. He had obviously been through a lot. He glanced at Sophie, who was looking at him with a similar cast to her visage, near comprehension, but not complete. Though, neither of them seemed to know what Joaquin was talking about.
“We were going to Vons,” began Anthony, mentally shrugging at their confusion. We’ll figure it out later. “We need to get some food and supplies for our entire group. You are more than welcome to join us if you want. Both of you can come with us.” His eyes were bright with expectation.
Sophie turned her head to one side, her nearly white hair draping over half her face with the tilt of her head. “Vons is still here?” She appeared to have accepted the animals for what they were. She stood there as she would’ve when talking with a group of friends from school – nonplussed, nonchalant.
“Yeah,” replied Jason, “was here this morning when Joaquin and I woke up inside of it, so it should be there now… I hope.”
“Would you like to join us?” said Anthony once more, his eyes searching over her face, a vain attempt not to lose himself in her eyes.
“Are you kidding me with the kind of protection you have with you? I would be insane if I didn’t come along,” Sophie answered, clasping her hands before her, a gesture more commonly seen when one was about to pray. A smile more her own lit up her face.
Anthony nodded toward her briefly. “Ok then, let’s go.” Anthony turned to look at Garfield. “Alright, Cat Face, do your thing.”
At that, the great cat bounded off into the storm. So swiftly, it was hard for any of them to follow his movement, as he scouted ahead, making sure the path was clear.
Kenai took the point once more, while Mr. Patas walked a ways to the right again. His ears were twitching in the wind. The rest of them formed a group behind the bear-dog. Anthony had taken a few steps when he felt Sophie’s small hand clasp a hold of his and give it a brief squeeze as she said in a low voice, “Thank you,” a soft murmur in his ear.
He turned, a little startled at first, but then his eyes found hers and saw the gratitude within them. It was so real and so raw his initial reaction was overwhelmed by something else, something quite different than any notion he would’ve dreamed of experiencing on his first day in the Melded World. He muttered a quick ‘you’re welcome’.
She moved away a bit. She was content to stay at his side, though, as they walked on, through the snow and the occasional flurry. Every once and a while, one of them would glance at the other.
Sometimes, they felt the others’ stare and turned, a warm, silent message would pass between them. But, it was during those intervals, where only one of them did the gazing, when the most interesting feelings crossed their minds, written plainly upon their faces.
Two more of the twelve were found and safe. Though this marked only the beginning of many things to come, something new and unexpected was blossoming on this horrible, mixed place.
It was a good thing… a much-needed thing, indeed.
~~~~~~~~<<<<<<{ ☼ }>>>>>>~~~~~~~~
~ 50 ~
Provisions
Day One, Thursday, 8:34 am…
They stepped into the intersection of La Loma trail and Figueroa Street - Figueroa looking much like Avenue 64 had - no more than a wagon trail and not the broad, four-lane Boulevard it had been a universe away. Trudging through snow that had drifted more than half a foot in the middle of the road, they walked a short distance down what was left of Figueroa toward a lessening in the trees up ahead. Around them, pregnant graupel continued to fall in massive sheets. It was still a slow wafting of precipitation, though the sheer quantity made it appear it was drifting down in torrents. The wind had dwindle to a breath of air flowing over the land, now and again, drowsy, as if it too was weighed down by the sheer volume of snow cascading down from above. Sophie knew from the topography of the land, Vons should be just ahead, about fifty yards to the right of the road from the direction they were traveling. But, she wouldn’t stake her life on it. Who could be sure in place as strange as this?
Had it really been only a few hours?
They walked a bit farther with the huge cat Anthony had called, Garfield, in the lead. The huge feline was now zigzagging from one side of the road to the next, sometimes vanishing into the forest on either side, investigating something only he knew to be there.
The fantastically bizarre rabbit-man, Mr. Patas, trotted off to their left, near the very edge of the way. His ears were constantly twitching and moving. His eyes oftimes closed as he scoured the area with his ears, noting every quiver, every vibration and everything else that pulsed or thumped in the forest.
The hulking Kenai walked directly before her and the boy, Louis, who walked at her left, while the tall, lanky form of Anthony, strode on her right. Joaquin and Jason had taken position behind her, walking two paces behind. Quietly, they mulled over something she couldn’t hear over the din of their boots, shoes and paws crunching through the icy surface of the snow.
She chanced another glance at the self-assured teenage boy beside her as he plowed his way through the drifts. His head was nearly hunched into his chest as he walked, concentrating on the effort it took to walk. Having been caught on more than one occasion, staring at him like a moonstruck calf, she let her eyes search over him quickly once more before she quickly glanced away, biting her lip in consternation.
What is wrong with me? she asked herself, wondering, frustrated. Why she was having such a hard time overcoming the urge to scrutinize every aspect of the boy beside her. I’m never like this. I don’t obsess over boys. I never have in the past, so why should he be any different? Why can I not just look at something else, be curious about something else? Why him? He’s definitely not the handsomest guy I have ever met or even the greatest built.
Joaquin is piled high with muscle and I’m not all weak in the knees over him. Why Anthony then? He’s got long hair and didn’t dress like most kids I know, so what gives? Why him?
True, he is nice, and talks and carries himself like he is intelligent and thoughtful, but I’ve met a ton of guys like that…
It was true, she’d never really cared for boys with long hair on general principle, because, in her experience, they tended toward sloppy or looked frumpy, lacked the understanding that a shower a day was actually a good thing. So, she usually steered clear.
She peered again at the teen through the corner o
f her eye, still pondering her reaction to him. The more she thought about it, being well-built had never really been a game-changing criterion for the type of boy she’d date anyway. She did prefer a likely candidate be somewhat fit, or, at least, look like he took care of himself. Anthony was fit, tall, trim, and clean. Well, as clean as possible when having to walk the dismal place without adequate bathroom facilities. Still, he looked groomed. Then, there was the hair. She chanced a more direct look, staring at it for a few seconds before she forced herself to keep turning her head, to glance behind her, covering up her inspection of the boy.
Jason had caught her eye. They exchanged a quick smile before she turned back, looking ahead.
She had to admit, his hair was beautiful, almost as lustrous and bountiful as hers and she took great pains to keep her hair looking the best it could. Moreover, his was longer. Despite being absconded to another world, with all the chaos surrounding them, it still appeared combed and tangle free. It was chestnut brown and looped in loose, dangling curls that bounced all the way down to the middle of his back when he walked. It never really fell out of place. He appeared like he was ready for school, ready to go out, ready for something, other than traipsing about a forest in a snowstorm, in search of provisions. He wasn’t frumpy or slovenly in any way. To her, he seemed well dressed in his skinny jeans and waterproof Chucks, the very style she herself was set on buying, but hadn’t gotten around to it. His clothes fit the contours of his body, even the way he wore his jacket with the collar pulled slightly back, so it didn’t interfere with his hair made him appear confident, purposeful. He carried himself in manner all his own. There was nothing out of place or ill-conceived with his outfit. It made him look right in her mind. She hadn’t known it before. But she did now, as she peered over at him once again. She realized she liked boys with a particular carriage, a certain sense of self, giving the impression of calm, confidence.
The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves Page 42