A Flash of Red

Chapter Fifteen

Harry

I blinked my eyes open and quickly squeezed them shut again when daylight hit them. I yawned, rubbing my right hand over my face to wipe away any sleep. I reopened my eyes and blinked, taking in my surroundings. This wasn't my aisle in the stacks.

I shifted slightly but stopped when I felt a weight on me. I was still sitting against Tara's desk and the weight I felt was Tara's head resting in my lap. She must've slipped down my chest during the night. She was leaning on her right arm, but her left hand was lightly placed on my left thigh, her head laying across both of my legs. My left arm was still draping over her, my hand coming to rest on her hip.

I sucked in a deep breath, knowing that I should probably be gone before she woke up. I looked around the room, trying to find a way to quietly exit and not wake her up.

I moved my left arm off of her and slid it under the shoulder pressed against my thigh. I lifted her upper body slowly and slid out from underneath her onto the floor. I grabbed the pillow that sat propped up against the desk and placed it under her, replacing my spot. She stirred slightly and I paused, but she didn't wake up and I took that as my signal to leave.

I stood up off the floor and silently moved the sheet out of the way, exiting the room.

I looked at my watch and saw it was 8:34AM. I jogged back to my bed, grabbing the t-shirt on my shelf and pulling it on over my head. I then walked into the main to find that Mr. Andrews was the only one in there.

"Good morning, Mr. Andrews."

"Morning, Harry. How'd you sleep?"

"Uh, pretty good, yeah."

"Good."

"I actually have a question." He gestured for me to continue. "I need to get in contact with my friends in a bunker just outside the city. I want them to know that I'm okay and I need to make sure they are, too. I know what station they're transmitting on and I was hoping I could use the transmitter down here to communicate with them."

People were slowly starting to wake up. Scarlett was talking to Deanna at the table and Mr. Ventris was helping the older ones to their regular seats.

Mr. Andrews sighed.

"Harry, I'm sorry but we don't have a transmitter, just a regular radio to listen to news. There's no way to contact your boys from that." I blinked at him.

"Is there another way?"

"I don't think so. I'm sorry, son. We don't have much communication with anyone out there and it's too dangerous to try and make the trip outside the city. From what I understand, you almost didn't survive the one here."

"I understand." I said after a long pause.

"I wish there was something I could do." He cupped his hand on my shoulder and offered me a tight smile. "Feel free to listen to the channels on the radio. Maybe you can find out if they're alright even if they can't find out about you. It'll provide some relief, yeah?"

I nodded.

"Thanks, Mr. Andrews."

"Of course." I turned and walked towards the table to Scar. I plopped down and rested my head on the table.

"What a pleasant greeting." I looked up at Scarlett who had her eyebrows raised at me. I didn't respond and she frowned. "No witty comeback? What's up?"

"Just found out I can't contact the guys."

"Oh," she said, looking down. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."