EPISODE TWELVE:
After sitting staring into the oncoming night sky for at least twenty minutes, Zora stood up. She gave me a glance that told me she would rather stay there with me. A smile bloomed on my face ‘She wants to stay’. But following the glance was her telling me that we had to go inside.
“But what about guard duty?” I asked persistently.
“Evie, we don’t need a guard,” she protested.
“But what if-” she cut me off.
She reached down and pulled my face up towards her so that we were touching foreheads. She gave me a stern look with her steely gray eyes.
“You. Are. Safe.” she said, “I. Am. Safe.” she smiled and then closed her eyes, “We. Are. Safe.”
She let go and I resisted pulling her back. My face was surely red as a tomato but I didn’t care. My body was buzzing with happiness.
“Let’s go inside,” she smiled and offered out her hand.
I took it willingly and she helped me into a standing position. Her fingers were laced securely with mine as she led me through the door, down the hallways, and into a room full of sleeping people. I looked around and was surprised to see that some people even had blankets and pillows.
“We found some supplies in a few of the rooms. Oh! It turns out that Mr. Richard, the english teacher - Yeah - he was sleeping in the basement storage room. And,” she said teasingly, “I got his mattress!”
I smiled at her joy and laughed a bit at her discovery of Mr. Richard camping out in the school basement. She presented the mattress to me with grand gestures, showing it off like a show host. I giggled.
“Where do I sleep?” I asked, suddenly feeling very tired.
“Oh,” she said puzzled for a second, “Well you could share a blanket with Lorie or-”
“What?” I heard a familiar voice call out at the mention of her name.
Lorie’s head popped up from a blanket a few feet from the mattress. I choked down a laugh as I saw her disastrous bed head. She gasped when she saw the mattress.
“No fair! You have a mattress!” she said loudly.
“Shush!” Zora and I said in unison.
“Alright, alright,” she paused for a second, “Can I share with you two?”
“Oh we weren’t planning on-” I stopped and glanced over at Zora and then down at my shoes.
Lorie stared for a second then shrugged and decided on not asking any questions. There was a pause before anyone began to talk.
“Sure. We can all share,” Zora answered.
“Yessss,” Lorie climbed into the center of the bed, flopped down, and immediately fell back asleep.
Zora snorted and then laid down on the mattress, beside Lorie, pulling the blanket onto her the best she could. I soon followed and was laying on the other side of Lorie. ‘Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!’ I repeated to myself while re-living the embarrassing moments that happened just seconds before I laid down.
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I woke up and the events of yesterday hit me like a truck. Rolling over I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling as my mind replayed yesterday like a movie. I could still feel what it felt like to have the gunshots rattle my bones. While fighting back tears, I was flooded with guilt. I lost control and a tear slipped down my face and slid down my temple making me shiver.
“Evie?” someone whispered.
I recognized the voice to be Andrew’s and when I turned my head I was greeted by his tired brown eyes.
“You can’t sleep either?” he asked.
I gave him a confused look and he pointed to the window. Propping myself up with my elbows I twisted around to look out the window. The sky was a dark greyish blue indicating that it was almost sunrise. I sighed and turned to face Drew again.
“No, bad thoughts,” I said my voice was heavy.
He gave a halfhearted smile and then began to shift in his blanket. He threw off his cover and stood up. I watched with a curious stare as he wandered over to one of the walls. Shoes of all sizes and colors lined the wall. He was walking along for some time before he picked up two pairs. I realized that he had picked up mine and his and was now walking over to where I was. Before he reached me I willed my limbs to lift me in a sitting position.
“What are you doing?” I whispered not wanting to wake the others.
“We’re going for a walk,” he said.
His tone clearly left no room for protesting. He handed me my shoes and I quickly slipped them on and tied a double knot with my laces. I waited for him to finnish putting on his shoes before I stood up. He did the same and then, together, we walked towards the door. He opened it for me and I walked though uttering a “thank you” as I passed through the door frame.
Silently we both made our way outside and onto the steps in front of the main double doors. The air was still and crisp. Autumn was seeping in and so the air was full of seasonal smells and chills. As the icy night air brushed across my bare arms I regretted not bringing the blanket with me. I rubbed the remaining sleep from my eyes and made my way down the steps. The two of us, side by side, began to walk the perimeter of the building. First we were in pleasant silence but in the beginning of our third lap of the building Andrew decided to strike up a conversation.
“Evie?”
“Hmn?”
“Are- are you okay?” he paused, “Ya know after what happened?”
“I don’t know Andrew,” I said, exasperated.
“That’s okay, that’s okay,” he muttered, his voice trailing off.
“Are you okay, Drew?” I said, trying to bring life back into my voice.
“Yeah, Evie, I’ll be okay. It’s just a shock, ya know?”
“Yeah, I do,” I said “What happened… it was…”
“Terrifying,” he filled in.
“Exactly. All I wanted to do was run away but I was frozen to the spot.” I said shivering as a chill passed through me.
“It was like I didn’t know what was up or down. I was so helpless. I didn’t know what to do or say. I don’t know, Evie.” He took in a ragged breath, “They're all dead,” another shaky breath, “Evie, I cannot do that again! It won’t happen again right?” his eyes were desperate.
He threw his hands up as he said this and his eyebrows furrowed together in confused fear. I felt something kinder than pity, sympathy maybe, as he expressed his fears. We shared a common threat and a common nightmare. We both were frightened at the possibility of that day happening again and at the little control we had over, well, everything. Just as he finished his frantic statements I rushed to hug him. I wrapped my arms around his middle and held him in the most comforting hug I could muster. For a moment he stood still, not knowing what to do. But, once his brain processed what was happening, he returned the hug.
“I’m scared too, Drew,” I whispered.
We stood there in each other's embrace for a little. The sun had just broken away from the horizon line and was now casting the first rays of morning sunlight on the sidewalk. Sunbeams speckled the ground around our feet and we both broke apart to stare at the rising sun. It was the beginning of a new day. Even though I was trying not to think of everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours it still sat like a heavy rock in the back of my head weighing me down.
“What are you guys doing out here?”
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A/N
1329 words
Kinda sappy.
- love from QueenCobra <3 -
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