You didn't paint smiles on these faces, you built them.
-unknown
•••
Screaming. Horrible, loud and painful screaming, and I have no idea where it's coming from.
I shoot awake in the tent, but soon realize it's not a tent. It's my bed. At home. In my bedroom.
The screaming continues.
Scrambling out from under the covers, I rip my door open and stumble out into the hall. The screaming is even louder now, and I can tell it's coming from the front yard. I recognize it, too.
It's my little sister. My little sister Isabelle.
"IZZY!" I yell, sprinting through the living room and out onto the lawn. My voice sounds foreign to my own ears, and the atmosphere is foggy around me. I have no idea what's going on.
"Over here!" Her yell sounds from the garden shed, and I run over and throw the door open. Nothing.
"No here!" The yell is from the garage this time. My feet move faster than I thought capable and I launch myself into the area, only to find nothing at all.
"Sissy please!" This time it's from the back of the house. I hurl myself over the fence, running into the yard.
Nothing.
Then I hear it.
It's a horrible, deathly sound. Like crackling fire and a hoarse voice at the same time. There's a distinct choke to it too, which is the only thing that makes me turn around.
My sister stands before me, but there's something wrong. Her eyes are blood red and her nose and mouth are leaking pus, her ears pouring greenish black fluid. Her fingers are twisted and deformed, her teeth sharp and jagged.
I start to scream, but it's like there's a hand around my throat. I can't even breathe. My sister, my adorable twelve year old little sister, is standing before me in her soiled blue dress with an expression of pure agony.
"Please help me, sissy." She says, her voice high and innocent and so full of hurt, before she just vanishes.
***
"Izzy, Izzy, Izzy.."
"ALEX!"
I shoot straight up into a sitting position, only to slam my forehead into somebody else's. Groaning, I reach up to rub my scalp as I flop back down on top of the pillow. My whole head is throbbing. I vaguely recognize Zay swearing from outside of the tent.
"Alex, Jesus Christ." He sputters, and a head full of orange hair pokes back through the flap. There's a massive pink spot just between his eyebrows. I can see the morning sky behind him. "Are you ok? You wouldn't stop whispering in your sleep, it was freaking me out."
"Yeah, I'm fine." Coughing, I sit up again. "What time is it?"
"Around noon I think. Everyone else is awake." He furrows his eyebrows. "You're bleeding."
Sure enough, when I reach a finger up to feel under my nose it comes back crimson. There's a dull ache behind the bridge of it, but I know I didn't hit it when I slammed heads with Xavier. Frowning, I ball up the end of my shirt and hold it over the bleeding, standing up.
The second I step out of the tent, the warm scent of eggs hits me. My stomach growls violently at the observation. Looking around, I see everyone gathered around several different fires, eating breakfast out of foil bags and drinking water from jugs.
I find the circle containing Jess and Ash, and sit down next to them. Surprisingly, Ivy's here, seated directly across from us.
"Here." She tosses me a closed foil bag and a full jug of water. I notice that the flame tattoo seems to flicker every time she turns her head. "You should probably eat."
"Thanks." I mutter, letting go of my shirt to rip open the packet. It just looks like little shrivels of stuff at first, but when I pour the water in (after several 'duh' looks from the group) it smokes and fizzes and suddenly I'm looking at a full blown English breakfast.
A drop of blood lands on my pants. I wipe under my nose once again with the back of my hand and rip the little plastic fork from the side of the packet, shoveling some eggs into my mouth. "God, this is amazing. How is this even possible?"
"Ever heard of astronaut food?" Ivy smiles. "It's something like that."
Zay takes a seat next to me, looking like he's been hit over the head with a two-by-four. "So." He says, staring dreamily at Ivy."What's the plan?"
Ivy shrugs. "You already know it. Find the headquarters in Arizona, after your families of course, scout out what's left, ship Luke off to Asia and be done with all of this. My guess is it'll take two weeks, tops."
I raise an eyebrow. "So you're all on board with this thing too?"
Ivy blinks. "What thing?"
"This whole 'kiss Luke's ass and ship him off to Asia' thing."
She looks confused for a moment. "Why wouldn't I be?"
My train of thought crashes. Here we go. Word vomit time.
"Because he's an asshole?"
To my surprise, Ivy laughs. She seems genuinely happy with the situation, like there's absolutely nothing wrong with any of it. "True and not true. You've just gotta get to know him."
Her eyes move to over my shoulder, and I turn around. It's Luke, in the same pants and boots he was in last night, shirtless, laughing and smiling with Michael and Calum. He looks happy, friendly even, a totally different person than I met a few hours ago.
"Doesn't seem like the getting to know type." Ashton scoffs. It's the first thing he's said all morning. "The guys ego is bigger than his weapons."
Ivy's expression darkens a little, but she remains in a relaxed persona. She seems to hesitate, before winning whatever argument going on in her head. "He's got a reason for the way he is. When you've worked as hard as him, to kind of earn the right to have an asshole personality." She shrugs. "Don't know what else to tell you."
I start to open my mouth to ask what she means by working hard, he's worked as hard as the rest of them it seems, but then Michaels voice rings out above everyone else's.
"SHOWER TIME, YOU FILTHY ANIMALS!" He yells, standing over a hole that must have been dug last night. He raises the long sword in his hand and brings it down, and water shoots out like a fountain all around us.
Underground water lines. Aquifers. Of course.
Everything leaps into action immediately.
Half of the soldiers race to grab empty jugs and containers, running to fill them with the fresh, clear water flowing from the earth. The other half just flat out strips, naked, running into the downpour with laughs and smiles. It's too much skin at once, overwhelming and completely unexpected. My cheeks flush bright red and my eyes widen.
Ivy giggles at my expression, and grabs my hand. "Come on!" She says, pulling me up. She's already stripped off her shirt.
I let her drag me into the water, and the feeling of the stuff on my skin feels so good I sigh out loud in relief. It's warm and fresh, soaking into my shirt and pants, and I kick off my boots and pull off my top almost subconsciously. This leaves me in my bra and cargo pants, holding my arms up like I can somehow absorb all of the water at once.
I turn to say something to Ivy, only to find her stark naked and sling-washing the dirt off her pale skin in an almost elated manner. All around me everyone is naked, and I mean everyone, and I can barely make out the goggling faces of my three fellow normal people through the artificial rain. I don't see Luke anywhere. What the hell is happening?
I'm not sure, but I definitely don't hate it. Not at all. The dirt scrubs off of my skin easily, hitting the ground where it belongs, and the ash leaves my hair and spills out into the puddle in murky sloshes.
By the time the water sputters out, I feel ten times better than I did before. My skin feels clean, my body refreshed. Compared to my earlier state, this is cloud nine.
My nose has stopped bleeding. There's not even an ache anymore.
Five minutes later, almost everyone is completely dressed again and packing up. My clothes are still soaked, but drying quickly with the hot empty environment. Tents are disassembled and put back in their bags, food packets are counted, jugs of water are rationed out into smaller containers for everyone to use. Michael hands me a small metal bottle full of it, his hair dripping and his eyes cool. My head is reeling.
"Here, you'll need this for today." He sounds amused, looking me over once before turning around and heading back to the others.
When I walk back to Xavier, he looks like he just witnessed the greatest thing to ever happen to mankind. His cheeks are flushed a bright red, his eyes dilated, and he keeps shifting his pants in a suspicious manner. I can barely hold in my laughter.
"Shut up." He mutters, and Ashton appears beside him.
"How'd you guys sleep?" Ashton asks, crossing his arms over his chest. He's still filthy, I didn't see him take part in the whole mass nudity shower thing. His hair is pulled back and tied in a bun with the string from his pants. He looks as tired as I feel.
"Shitty."
"Magnificent."
Ashton rolls his eyes. "Of course you did, mister positivity."
Ashton is talking to Zay? What planet is this?
Jess, who I didn't realize was beside him the entire time, actually smiles a little. Smiles. The girl actually has emotions, who knew. "Orange boy here is all sunshine and rainbows."
Zay sputters at her. "Why do you call me orange boy? I'm not orange, and I'm a man, not a boy."
"Psht." Jess scoffs. "Please, Xavier, you look like you belong on the front of some fancy ass scented shampoo bottle named 'orange ginger'." She shrugs. "It's inevitable."
Zay slaps a hand on his chest. "I'm offended."
Jess smiles a little wider.
I don't know why or how, but the tension that was hanging above everyone's heads has lessened. Maybe it's because we all realized nobody was going to turn on anybody and kill somebody. Maybe it's because we actually survived the night. Either way, I don't care. This change of atmosphere is an improvement.
"Alright crew, let's head on. We should be in Norfolk by tomorrow night." Luke's voice rings out above everyone else's, and I pick up my bag from the ground, shouldering it. Everyone else is already walking.
"Well." Ashton mutters. "I guess it's time then."
"I guess it's not the most appropriate time to sing the Little Einsteins theme song?" The corner of Zay's mouth twitches upward.
"No, orange boy." I roll my eyes. "It's not."
***
A few hours pass in sweat and more nosebleeds. There's a dull chatter humming through the group, something new to me, when the rustling is heard.
It's clearly coming from in front of us. There's a large blackened skeleton of a building, and a flurry of ash appears from the inside. Immediately everyone falls silent, and Luke draws out two knives almost subconsciously.
Nobody moves. The rustling happens again.
Luke turns to Calum, and nods his head. Calum raises the assault rifle to his shoulder.
"You've got thirty seconds to come out before I open fire!" He yells, loud and clear. Silence.
Then, on the edge of the wreckage, two brown hands appear. A women, looking no older than thirty, steps out with her arms high. She's pregnant, wearing nothing but a ragged green dress. "Don't shoot!" She shouts, and that's when I notice the little boy trailing behind her.
Calum follows her with the assault rifle, until five more people appear. All of them are dressed in construction uniforms, ripped orange vests and cracked helmets. They, too, come out with their hands up.
More survivors. Thank God.
"Line up." Luke barks. "Side by side. Right here." He points to a spot on the ground a few feet away. The construction men do as told, but the women looks at him like he's crazy.
"If you're going to kill me, you might as well do it already." She says, her voice cold. She's holding on to the little boy with white knuckles, and he's hugging her around her leg. "I won't die following your orders."
"Lady, I'm not going to kill you." Luke says gruffly. His tone is on the edge of hostile. "Now get in line."
She narrows her eyes at him, but then follows his orders. Luke beckons Michael over to him, and Michael readies his computer.
"State your names." Luke commands, and they do.
Michael types a few things into his database, and shakes his head. After a few minutes of silence, he confirms what I've been thinking. "They're clear."
The lady, who's name is apparently Georgia, scoffs at him. "What do you mean, clear?"
"Clear as in we're not going to shoot you, clear." Luke says, in that same authoritative voice he used with me. "In fact, we can help you. Under one condition."
"I don't need your help, and neither does my son."
Luke laughs, and I clench my fists into my sides. He's even an asshole with children present. "Oh believe me, you both do. You see, this is a war, sweetheart. And if you hang out here any longer you'll die of starvation or cancer. Come with us, and we'll give you and that precious little child of yours food and water and a place to sleep. It's an obvious choice if you ask me."
Georgia raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, and what's the condition?"
Luke smiles. "When we get to our destination, the main military base in Arizona, you tell the General of the Armies how amazing I am, how I saved all your lives, and recommend me to be put in position Head of Arms so I can travel to Asia and kill the bastard that did this to our country."
The women laughs at him. "You honestly think there's going to be anything there?"
"We've got satellite signals that suggest there still is."
Georgia rolls her eyes, but then her son tugs on her dress. She looks down at him, and he's frowning up at her with big doughy eyes. He's really such a pitiful sight, in ripped dirty clothes and sneakers filled with holes.
"Please, Mama." He whimpers. "I don't wanna be hungry no more."
My heart physically breaks a little. Georgias appears to as well, because her expression changes. She's silent for a moment. Then: "We won't, baby. I promise we won't."
When she looks up again her eyes are so determined it's actually kind of scary. "Ok." She says quietly. "Ok. It's a deal."
The other men seem to agree. Calum immediately runs to get the kid a small jug of water, and Luke turns away. His back is stiff, tense, strung like a wire. He's obviously unnerved by something, but I don't know what.
"I'll make sure they're ok." I hear Ashton whisper beside me, and then he heads over to the mother-son pair. I almost forget he's a medical major.
Zay watches him go. I give him a sideways glance, wondering what's going on his head. Lucky for me, I don't have to ask.
"I think I need to apologize to him." Zay says. "For what I said, the fight. It wasn't a good move on my part."
I can't not smile at him. I'm relieved that the obvious awkward tension between them will be resolved. "I think that's a great idea."
Now it's Zay's turn to look at me sideways. "Are you going to apologize to Luke?"
This catches me so off guard, I sputter and nearly choke on the sip of water I was taking. "W-What?"
"Oh please, don't think I couldn't hear you two bickering last night. You were both loud as hell." Zay rolls his eyes. "If I've gotta do it, you need to too."
"I didn't even start it!"
"You kind of did."
"Did not."
"It's the right thing to do." Zay smirks at me. "It know you know it, Alex. He might surprise you."
"He threw a knife at my head, Zay."
"It may have been an act of affection."
Now it's my turn to roll my eyes. "You piss me off, you know that?"
"Well, what are friends for if not to nag on their fellow comrade about an asshole hot dude during an apocalyptic situation?"
I shove at his side. "Nothing, Zay. Absolutely nothing."
***
I wait until everyone goes to their tents before I decide to make my move.
Luke's tent is at the very far end of the others, and one of the only ones with the light still on. I gather my breath when I get to it, bracing myself, and then the flap opens.
Luke steps out, in nothing but cargo pants and a bandana tied around his black hair. His eyes are striking in the faded moonlight. There's a ring of knives in his left hand, the same from last night. He looks almost surprised to see me.
"Can I help you?" He asks, twirling one of the knives in his fingers. He seems to do that when he's nervous. But he's not nervous. Right?
"Yeah, um, I just wanted to apologize for the stuff I said last night."
I try my hardest to keep my eyes on his face, and to not let them travel downward to the thickly packed muscles in his torso or the long bruise on his chest. In the shadow of moonlight I swear I can see other scars, but it would be impolite to study them. Not being a creep is once again harder than I thought it would be.
"Last night?" He raises a thick eyebrow, but his voice is unusually soft, still strained. "What about it?"
"I was rude. I was the one being creepy and spying on you, and I was acting like you were the asshole. I'm sorry."
Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, his mouth twitches up a bit at the corners. "Well, I am an asshole. Don't worry. You didn't damage my ego. I still think I'm better than everyone else."
There it is. Breathe, Alex, Breathe.
I can't stand arrogant people.
"..Right." I say slowly. "Well, I better let you get back to whatever it is you do. Goodnight."
I'm halfway turned around when I feel his hand on my shoulder. "Alexandra, wait."
I face him, puzzled. His expression has softened to look almost normal. "It's fine. Don't worry about it, seriously."
I'm almost weirded out by his sudden sense of integrity. But then his expression closes off again and he steps away from me.
"Ok, I won't." I give him a small nod. "Goodnight, Luke."
I'm halfway to my tent when I hear him respond. "Goodnight, Alexandra."
•••
ik chapters are a bit short rn but they'll get longer in the future i promise. just gotta get things rolling
see you next monday and stay rad
xoxo
~Camryn