What Becomes of Us

Day 5

"Y'know, if Donald Trump was president of de US ef A, I bet'cha deez goons'd have der heads splattered all o'er de walls, see? He'd send in all de tanks and de missiles and all dem goonies would just go kersplat ev'rywhere! Dat's da kind of president he'd be."

Zoe gave Bob a skeptical glance. "Really, you'd think he'd do that?" she asked. "I figured he'd just fire them all."

Bob slapped his knee appreciatively and gave out a hollering laugh, before being silenced with a long, sustained "Shhhhhhh," from Diane.

Diane was sitting beside Selena again. It must have been some kind of feminine, maternal instinct within her. Looking at the Mexican girl, she asked, "How are you feeling?"

Selena nodded slightly. "Bien," she muttered.

The corners of Diane's mouth tugged down a bit. Selena seemed paler than usual. Was she falling ill? Or was it...?

"Are you sure?" she asked again. "You seem kind of tired. If you're not feeling well, you must let us know as soon as possible."

Selena turned her head away from Diane. "Soy bien," she said, more curtly this time.

Diane didn't push any further.

"Y'know whut else Trump'd do as president? He'd build dis big ole containment area with ten foot walls, and den he'd round up all de goons, and once dey in dat containment facility dere easy pickins, amiright? He'd probably do it for real cheap, too."

Zoe laughed out loud. It felt so good to have some lightheartedness in the room, it felt like a heavy weight was being lifted off of their shoulders.

But then Madeleine slammed her fist down on the table at which she always sat. The metal made a dull ring, and the rusty legs creaked from the force.

"Would you shut up about Trump already?!" she shouted at Bob. "Who cares about the president anymore? There's no more election! Heck, there's no more government! There's no more country, either! It's all gone, so stop delusioning yourself like none of this is actually happening! That kind of attitude just pisses me off!"

She sat back down with a heavy plop, her arms crossed defensively over each other. "Besides, Trump is a dumb candidate." she muttered.

A heavy silence settled over the entire room. Nobody said anything; Madeleine's words had quieted them.

Then Bob seemed to come to a realization.

"Oh," he said innocently. "Yer one of dem Democrats, aren'cha?

Everyone in the room laughed save for Madeleine, who only scowled further.

"Yeah, shut up, Forrest Gump." she spat.

"Oh, now yer making fun a my accent, eh? I don't even sound all dat much like Gump. But lemme tell ya, I can do a mean impression."

Madeleine rolled her eyes while Zoe cheered for an impression. "Do the chocolate quote!" she was calling.

Bob cleared his throat and shifted his lower jaw to the side so he'd speak from the side of his mouth. "My momma used teh say dat life is like a box o' chocolates," he said in an accented Southern drawl. "Yeh never know what'cha gonna git!"

He didn't actually sound all that much like Forrest Gump, but the teenage girl still roared with laughter, and the others couldn't help but chuckle as well.

Madeleine just huffed to herself. "Yeah, definitely didn't know we were gonna get this mess."

Seeing her expression, Zoe joked with her. "Ah, come on, Maddie. Why don't you laugh a little? Smile!"

Madeleine cocked a brow at her. "Maddie?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, Maddie." said Bob. "Don't be such'a Debbie Downer, eh?"

"I'm not being a downer!" she shot back. But even her own words were beginning to lose their venom at this point.

As they all laughed together amidst the carnage, a slow, almost methodical, crashing sound came from far down the hall. The jovial mood was suddenly slashed through. They all froze, and the temperature seemed to drop to sub-zero. Zoe guessed that a part of the barricade must have collapsed. That could either mean bad news or catastrophic news.

Bob was the first to move. "Musta heard us having ourselves a good ole time and wanted teh come join in, eh?" he mused, grabbing his chainsaw. "I'lla handle it. Didn't sound like a whole lot fell o'er, so it can't be dat bad. Be right back."

He headed calmly for the door. "Be careful!" Diane called out.

Bob turned around and gave them all a yellow smile. "Don't worry yer pretty lil heads. I'ma make sure dem goonies don't get anywhere close teh here."

Then he walked through the door like he was simply going for a walk in the park.