Georgie was a nice little boy. I found it amazing how kids could find light out of a disaster like this. Most of them that I’ve encountered didn’t seem worried about anything. For them, they acted as if it was all normal. As if decaying people was supposed to chase after you and attempt to eat you piece by piece. Georgie wore a bright smile on his face even with his head injury as he played cards with Venice and I. I could tell Venice and he had conversation before. They were so comfortable around each other, which made me comfortable. For some reason, I wasn’t skeptical or nervous about Venice or any of the other Uniters, except for that blonde woman. Maybe it was because they were known to be peaceful. They had a good reputation, which they were holding up well. I’ve heard nothing but good talk about the Uniters, and now all of a sudden, I was a part of the crew. “You’re cheating,” Georgie yelled as he laughed. It was Venice’s fifth time beating both of us in Go Fish. “Let’s play a man’s game,” Georgie said as he rubbed his hands together. His scarred eyebrow rose a bit mischievously as he looked from Venice to I. “Spades.”
I laughed out loud at him as Venice shuffled the cards. “You know nothing about Spades,” Venice said as she shook her head. Her lips curved up in a small smile. She shuffled the cards professionally. “So, we’ll play Go Fish again.” Georgie pouted but he didn’t say anything or protest. Before Venice could pass out any cards, Fire and Union approached us. Union had my duffle bag wrapped around his shoulder as he also carried an assumedly heavy rubber shipping case. The case was long and looked to be deep. I had never seen a loot crate before in my life. Union held the crate with a scowl on his face. “Everything went okay,” Venice asked as she stood up. She passed the cards to Georgie and walked up to the two.
“Yeah, we had to kill a few Spillers but the less the merrier,” Fire said in a stern voice. “I’m just ready to get this thing opened. We didn’t look yet. We want it to be a surprise.”
Venice looked back towards me and Georgie. “Maeve, come with us. Georgie, work on your Go Fish skills.”
“And how am I going to do that,” he asked as he played with the decked of the cards.
“Find a way, kid,” Venice said as she shrugged. She began walking away with Fire and Union.
I stood up from my chair and patted Georgie’s arm. “I’ll see you later, Georgie.”
“See ya,” he said a bit solemnly. I gave him a small smile before rushing to catch up with the trio. They were just about to step into the elevator. I followed them in, and without a word, Union managed to pass me my duffle bag.
“Thank you,” I said. I didn’t even know what was in the contents of my own bag. I was eager to see what was in my bag, but also the loot crate. We went up to the seventh floor, throughout the ride Fire and Union began arguing.
“Your favorite hero is Spiderman,” Fire asked as she scoffed. She seemed so disgusted with Union and Union seemed highly offended. “Spiderman!? Seriously!? He’s a bitch. All he can do is shoot semen out of his fingertips. If you ask me, my favorite hero is Captain America. If he wasn’t fictional, none of this bullshit would be happening.”
“He’s like a million years old,” Union argued as we stepped off the elevator. “He can’t do shit but forget his prescription.” Fire growled, and her skin began turning a rosy red. It was almost like she was on fire with her red hair. “What are you going to do,” he asked as Venice used her key to open a door. The door was right beside my room door, so I assumed this was Venice’s place. She seemed so calm with Union and Fire yelling. It was almost like she was used to it. “Captain America would probably be the first one to turn into a feaster. I mean, how is he going to run away from them with a cane?” We walked into Venice’s place and she closed the door and huffed as Union put the crate down on her couch. “I mean, can he even see?”
“You know what Union, shut the hell up! You think you’re so damn clever and cute,” Fire argued as she crossed her arms. Union chuckled as he flashed Fire a grin.
“I don’t think that but you obviously do.”
“Enough with the third grade flirting. Seriously, it’s cringe-worthy,” Venice said as she advanced towards the crate. She opened up the latches, and lifted the lids of the crate. Union, Fire and Venice towered over the case, which left me not to see anything. I rolled my eyes and took off my backpack and duffle bag. As they looked at the contents in the crate with amazement, I unzipped my duffle bag to see what Margaret had threw in. I peered down in the bag to see it was filled with a variety of items. I looked through the items in the bag, there was nonperishable snack foods, water, a first aid kit, soap, and other moisturizing lotions. The bag was nearly filled which explained why it was so heavy. Margaret really didn’t have to pack so much I was only one person. “What do you got there?” I looked up to Venice towering over me. Quite rudely, she began going through the duffle bag that was on my lap.
“Do you mind,” I asked.
She peeked up to look me in the eyes. “I’m just making sure you don’t have anything crazy in here. I don’t want your stuff,” she explained. “Looks like there’s nothing too out of the ordinary in here. Can I check out your backpack,” she asked as she grabbed my backpack without an answer from me. She began searching through it.
“You’re really rude,” I said frankly. Instead of answering, Venice gave me a slight smile. She pulled out each item from the bag. A bloody hammer, two water bottles and a pack of Skittles. Venice gave me a look as she held the pack of Skittles in her hands. I snatched them from her quite defensively. “Mine,” I told her. She laughed at me before snatching the Skittles back from my grasp. “Hey!”
“Sharing is caring,” she said as she ripped opened the bag of Skittles. She began pouring them into her mouth and I tackled her to the ground. Venice began laughing at me as she chewed on the flavorful candy. “Are you going to kill me over candy,” she asked as she laughed out loud. I tried to reach for the bag that was in her hands, but she threw it to Union who got a mouthful as well. I jumped off of Venice and ran towards the muscular man. He held the Skittles up high as he taunted me. I jumped to grab the pack as he laughed and threw them towards Fire. The redhead caught the Skittles with skill and poured herself a handful before throwing them over to me. I caught it and frowned when I felt what was left. I poured the remaining Skittles into my hands. There was only three left, and they were all the same flavor: grape. Venice laughed at me as I put the three Skittles in my mouth. My jaws clenched at the sudden sweetness. “So, where did you get candy from,” Venice asked as she sat on the floor. She leaned back while holding herself up with her hands. “Supply drop?”
“No. I’ve been alone throughout this whole thing. It’d be foolish of me to run towards a supply drop. I would get killed before I even got to touch the crate,” I voiced a bit angrily as I crossed my arms. I couldn’t believe Venice, Union and Fire ate all of my Skittles. It wasn’t fair at all. Margaret had given them to me, not them. They didn’t even know who Margaret was, and I doubt that they even cared. “The old woman from Area B gave them to me, right before the Bloodspillers attacked.” Venice nodded slowly just as I heard a frail voice over my walkie-talkie. I quickly grabbed it and talked into it. “Margaret!?”
“Everything’s fine,” a voice said over the receiver. There was a long pause, “They killed nearly everyone. I think they’re gone now. They looted and got what they wanted. My son is here with me; we’re going to try to escape once night comes.” I sighed with relief in just knowing that Margaret was okay and that she had her son to look after her. I looked towards Venice who was giving me a weird glance.
“I-I joined the Uniters. I ran into them while running away from the Bloodspillers. I’m sure Rick knows where the tower is. You guys should come here,” I suggested as I stared at Venice. She instantly began shaking her head. “It’s safe. They have enough rooms and food,” I continued. Venice quickly stood up and grabbed my walkie-talkie as a gruff voice started talking over the speaker. It was Rick, but I couldn’t hear anything he was saying because of Venice.
“You don’t just invite people to come here! We already have Talia and you now! We’re getting too many people. Tell your friends that they can’t come, or I will,” Venice said sternly.
“…You still there, Maeve,” Rick asked over the speaker. “Uh, over.”
“They need a place to stay. There’s only two of them. One’s an old woman, Venice! Rick was an enforcer in Area B, so he can help out and go get crates! He’ll do his duty, and Margaret won’t be a harm to anyone!”
“Did you not hear Rock earlier!? She gave me shit just for letting you and Talia in!”
“They need help. I’m not going to just let my friends stay out there and die!”
Venice clenched her jaw as she stared at me. She shook her head as she walked into the kitchen. I rolled my eyes and talked back into the walkie-talkie. “It’ll be okay. Just come. Be careful. You know feasters thrive in the night,” I finally replied back to Rick and Margaret.
“Will do,” Rick said over the other end. I sighed before stuffing my walkie-talkie back into my back pants pocket. I looked over towards the kitchen to see Venice smoking a cigarette. “They’ll be no problem,” I reassured her.
Venice shrugged her shoulders. “You’re the one that’ll have to deal with Rock if they come here and fuck shit up.”
“Why are you such an asshole,” I suddenly asked.
“Why are you so sensitive? It’s a damn nightmare outside! New York is the whole world’s biggest fear right now! We’re in this clusterfuck with a bunch of dead people who seem very much alive, while everyone else all over the world and in the United States are living normally! I’m just living cautiously because if there is a cure or if somehow these feasters just go away, I want to be a survivor. I don’t need you bringing in unwanted people. You put everyone’s lives in danger. We don’t know them.”
“You don’t know me either,” I pointed out.
Venice sighed before putting out her cigarette. “You’re a piece of work,” she said as she shook her head.
“Enough with the third grade flirting. Seriously, it’s cringe-worthy,” Fire mocked Venice from earlier.
Venice gave the girl the middle finger as Union and Fire laughed. I crossed my arms and just stared at all of them. I was not flirting with Venice. She may be good-looking, but she was a jerk. “It’s dinner time,” Venice suddenly said. “Let’s get to the cafeteria before the food gets cold.”
As if nothing happened, we took the elevator and walked towards the cafeteria. It was convenient because the food was already prepared and on a plate, so everyone just grabbed a plate and went to sit somewhere. Most people sat on the floor for the lack of seats. Venice went and sat beside the girl that she had talked to earlier. I believed her name was Lara. Obviously, I didn’t know anyone else and Union and Fire went to sit with Venice, so I had no choice but to sit with her also. I took a seat on the floor beside Fire who gave me a bit of a smile. On the plate was a hotdog, and just a little bit of canned beans. It looked and smelled pretty delicious. All I’ve been eating for the past years is whatever Margaret put together, which was nothing but soup-like recipes. “So, who’s the newcomer,” Lara asked after taking a bite from her hotdog.
“Maeve,” I responded before anyone could answer for me. Lara gave me a smile before nodding. She looked over at Venice who was putting a spoonful of beans into her mouth.
“Maeve, huh? Venice, did you give her your welcoming treatment?” Venice nearly choked on the beans as she swallowed them. I furrowed my eyebrows as I watched her chug down her water as Lara, Fire and Union laughed. Was I missing something? Everyone continued to laugh as I continued to be confused. “She hasn’t tried anything with you, has she?”
“Like what?”
Venice elbowed Lara and gave her a stern look. Before Lara could say anything, a man had caught everyone’s eyes. He was tall, muscular, and looked to be in his mid-forties. There was a bit of gray in his beard, but most of his hair was nearly a coal black. He looked over towards us and began approaching where we were sitting. “Can I talk to you, sweetie,” he asked Venice. I looked from Venice to the man. They resembled each other.
“Hello, Nark,” Fire said with a smile. Nark. Venice had said that was her father’s name. No wonder they looked so much alike. Nark gave Fire a smile before waving to everyone. He looked nice, definitely nicer than Rock. Unlike Rock, he didn’t give me any nervous vibes. He actually made everything feel okay.
Venice stood up from the floor and walked over to her father. “What’s up, Dad,” I heard her ask as the two began walking away.
I turned back towards Lara who was staring at me. “So, what did you mean by whether or not Venice has tried anything with me, yet,” I asked with my brows scrunched. Fire and Union laughed a bit before shaking their heads in unison. “What the hell is going on,” I asked.
Lara shrugged before giving me a bit of a smirk. “Venice is just very good with the ladies. I was just making sure she didn’t try to get into your pants already. That’s all.” Sex still existed in a world like this? That couldn’t be sanitary, right? I mean, of course, here in the Tower, they have all the right necessities, but for people in Area B and other places, I didn’t see how it was even mentioned. So many people didn’t get the proper care outside of the Tower so they tended to smell pretty damn bad.
“She hasn’t tried anything,” I said simply.
“Good,” Lara said as she raised her brow a bit.
That night, I took a very long bath. It was so nice to have soap and water. Such a luxury was rare when I was out living anywhere and everywhere in the city. Now, I could take a bath and wash my hair every day which felt amazing. After getting myself cleaned up, I changed into some clothes that was left outside of my door. Along with the clothes, I had gotten my black bandana. The very thing that identified me as a Uniter. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt and lied down in my bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but it sure beat concrete. I was just about to close my eyes when suddenly I heard a banging on the wall. It was coming from the side that Venice lived on. I then heard a few moans, and my eyes widened. What the hell was going on? I heard someone scream Venice’s name and then there was silence. Lara really wasn’t kidding. Venice really did get around.