The Plague {One Direction AU}

13. Louis

Pasadena, CA
December 24

It was Christmas Eve and Louis' fucking birthday.

His 27th fucking birthday.

And instead of hanging out with his mates at a pub, or even his family at home... Instead of eating his favourite dinner of chicken stuffed with mozzarella wrapped in Parma ham with a side of homemade mash... Instead of getting fall-down drunk or laid-back high like he normally would have, Louis was standing in front of a pile of burning books, hungry, holding a squirming, fussy toddler, and desperately trying to get warm. Not exactly the birthday he had in mind. Not exactly the Christmas any of them had in mind.

But shockingly it was a white Christmas. Southern California was covered in a thick blanket of snow. Blanket was a bad choice. Blankets are warm. This was as far from warm as Louis had been since the time he got locked out of his room in nothing but a dressing gown in the French Alps. He shook his head to cast off that very bad memory.

Louis had been forced to abandon his hillside home when the electricity cut off for good and the weather turned icy a week ago. The modern, sleek style of the home offered a lovely view, but not great insulation against the cold. He and the little girl he had rescued a week earlier from the grocery store parking lot were freezing and famished. So, he had piled their remaining food, a bundle of blankets, and little Lux into his Range Rover, running the heat on full blast. It made no sense just to stay where he was, but Louis really hadn't much idea where he should go. So, he drove down the hill and into town, looking for another grocery store to raid.

But most of the places were too manky even to consider going inside. The stench of decaying bodies and rotting food was overpowering. He had to drive quite a ways, finally finding a big box store that had obviously closed its doors before the majority of the deaths, in Burbank--a good ten miles away from Beverly Hills. Ten miles, but more like 6 hours of driving with the roads clogged and cluttered by crashed and abandoned cars. Louis was more careful than when he left the stadium, though, making sure he had  clearance before squeezing in between. In contrast, the parking lot of the store was deserted, and he drove right up to the doors, covered loosely by plywood.

As he hopped down out of his suv, the piece of wood rattled and slid to the side. Two beanie-covered heads poked around the edge, looked at each other, and disappeared. Louis watched as gloved-hands shoved the wood out of the way far enough for the people to come out.

One was a short woman in her mid- to late twenties, with cute dimples low on her chin. Her companion, as it happened, was the well-known Disney child actress turned pop star, Serenity Keane, now the ripe old age of 21. Serenity recognised Louis as well, as they sometimes ran in the same circles, attended the same charity events. Not that Louis was some major celebrity; he wasn't. He was better known in England, where he had at least started for his team. But here in Los Angeles, it was second string and D-list.

Still, Serenity had raised her eyebrows in surprise as she walked out into the parking lot. "Hey," she snapped her gloved fingers, "sorry, I don't--"

"Louis," he offered, reaching his hand out to shake hers. "How are ya, Serenity?"

"Well," she held her hands up and looked around, "I guess I'm pretty good, considering."

"Ha. No shit." Lux stirred in the car behind him. With the engine off, she must be cold. He hoisted her out and onto his hip, and she snuggled close to his chest. "Found this one on her own."

"Jesus."

"Yeah. It was awful. We've just been hiding up in my house, but this snow," he looked up at the white sky, shivering slightly.