He held on to me for a good two minutes. I dreaded the moment when I had to let go, and look back to his upset expression.
"Riley, please." Chandler held onto both of my shoulders now, and he lowered his head until we were eye to eye. "We can't stay here." His voice cracked, but no more tears fell.
"Okay." Was he going to kiss me? I wouldn't allow it. "Let's uh..." He said, backing up a few inches, loosening his grip on my shoulders. Thank God his face was no longer that close to my own. "Let's get going."
I felt rude-I felt as if I were pushing him away. My hand shifted across his face as we slowly pulled apart, just so I wouldn't hurt him more.
He smiled a bit, and I smiled back. Ashton.
He sniffled, and gave out a little chuckle.
Haley.
He blinked his bloodshot cerulean blue eyes.
Freddie.
Every time my heart gave a beat, there was a soreness; a pain. Moving to California was enough, how could I possibly go without speaking to my three best friends? My practical brothers and sister?
I glared into Chandlers eyes, making out each wiry pale line inside of it. They were just like Freddie's, it made my whole body hurt; along with my throat. "Freddie..." I croaked.
I had realize my mistake. How could I do this to Chandler? Why couldn't I stop making him upset?
His eyebrows furrowed, and one of his hands fell off my shoulder. "What?" Oh great, I thought. "Who's Freddie...?" There it is.
"Chandler, I'm sorry. It's just," I began, lifting my hand up to make sure his other hand didn't lose it's contact with me. "I'm just used to my friend Freddie when he.."
"Hugged you?" His fingers touched mine, lightly playing around with them. "I get it. I miss Hana too."
Hana was Chandler's girlfriend, an actress that I had looked up to for a long while. "But you are here now. You're my age, and you're my friend. And I need you." He wasn't offended that I had called him Freddie?
Chandler was right. We needed each other. All those times watching him on TV, wanting to meet him desperately, grinning at pictures of him. I needed to put all of that behind me.
"And I need you. I'm sorry," his hands were back on my shoulders, and he now looked at me straight in the eye. One of my hands was touching his cheek and his hairline, the other holding on to his own.
"Then let's go. Okay?" Yes.
I nodded. We finally separated, my left hand still gripping his right. My right hand held to the gun in my backpack's pocket, as I slowly pulled it out, getting ready to go on out of the airport.
He held on to his own, pulling it out of his belt. "I need one of those things." I told him in an unrealistic voice, trying to change the subject.
"We have to find another cop by the time we get out of this place." He responded, sounding normal, unlike me. Our entire heart to heart conversation was over.
"C'mon." I began walking again. Chandler turned back around, and we were off.
-----
A few Stiffs made unbearable screeches; their teeth clanking on the metal bars of locked-up stores, the gates shaking from their pulls, and more and more piling up as we passed them.
There were quite a few throughout the airport's halls, that Chandler and I had a bit of trouble killing. They were a lot stronger than I had thought.
Two of them were cops; one a wide-set blonde woman, the other a tall strong brunette man. Although the Stiff's weren't really blonde and brunette-their hair was matted and sticky with blood. I wondered how the blood even got their.
The man had a belt, but it only had a flashlight on it. I imagine all of the other useful materials had been stolen; or they could have fell out.
I strapped the belt around my waist; and it was obviously a little baggy even if it was strapped as far as it could go. I cut the excess part of the strap off, taking two pieces of duck tape that Chandler had found in the air marshall's bag.
I folded over the ends of the tape, so it was double-sided. One side was attached to the plastic part of the belt, the other with the end of the strap.
Standing there, surrounded by dead Stiffs on the floor, I was proud of my handy-work.
Chandler watched me, and I couldn't tell if he was impressed or not. The belt looked a bit bulky, but it will do.
"Sweet." I put my gun, the flashlight, and my extra pair of scissors inside the pockets. I lifted my head up at the sound of moaning Stiffs.
Chandler shot down a few, as did I. They kept coming. "It's the same herd!" I called to him. That would mean my mother would be in it, and I might just have to shoot her down.
"I know, we've got to go the other direction." He said, running back over to me. The Stiffs got closer, almost 30 feet away. "The froyo place is too far. We have to leave. Now."
I had everything that I needed; my bag full of clothes and my new belt with weapons. It was time.
"Okay," I shouted over the growing sound of shuffles and growls, "Gate C-4-Through the tunnels and down the side stairs." All tunnels at the entrance of planes had an extra escape door.
Chandler nodded, and we started to run. The Stiffs were really close now, right on our tails, but as we ran more distance was put between us.
I could make out the letter C on a sign up ahead, and I couldn't tell if it was C-4 or not. "There, just go in there! Be ready." I told him, pointing to the first gate that we saw.
I entered the tunnel first, and I could hear Chandler's footsteps right beside me. I quickly glanced at him to see if he was okay. He had his gun slanted upward, ready to raise and shoot. I realized that my gun was just gripped in my hand.
After cocking the gun, I mimicked his position, while still trying to look up ahead.
There were four stiffs staring at us, an about to react. I held up my gun and shot a red headed woman, wearing a black dress ripped at the shoulder.
Blood splattered as she fell to the floor, along with the other three that Chandler had hit. They revealed the door that led to the outside.
We skidded to a stop, and I looked behind us. The herd was still piling through the entrance of the tunnel. Only a few of them got through already.
"Quick open the door." He told me. I pushed on the lever, expecting light to shine in. But it was pitch black outside-only a small bit of the acres of pavement were covered by moonlight.
I rushed down the metal stairs, hopping over the last three. Once we landed on the pavement, Chandler and I began sprinting as fast as possible past tipped over luggage carts, parked planes, and random pieces of trash on the ground.
There were hundreds of meters ahead of us to run, and eventually those roads led to tall pine and oak trees. "There," Chandler pointed to the left. "See that opening?"
My eyes followed his finger, landing on a wider dark space in between the miles of trees. "Yeah." I replied.
"We'll go through there. Steer off into anther direction, and quick so they can't tell which way." His words were choppy. He spoke a few words, took a breath, and tried to complete his sentence.
There were seldom Stiffs on the pavement, hissing at us when we passed. I didn't dare look behind me; but I could tell that the herd was becoming angrier.
"We'll have to go a complete different direction!" I shouted, running out of options. But then I saw the luggage vehicle. "The cart! Get in the cart!" I turned to the right a bit, traveling to a stop at the tipped over luggage cart.
Chandler and I pulled on the bar on the side so we could put it back to normal. It moved upward a bit, but fell a few moments after we gave up.
The Stiffs were getting closer. "Okay, ready! One!" I gathered up all my strength.
"Two!" I rearranged my legs and hands so they had a good grip on the cold metal rungs of the cart.
"Three!" We pulled up the cart together, until the tires hit the floor. My arms immediately became weak and sore.
"Yes! Get in!" I shouted to him, although it came out like a loud whisper.
Chandler hopped into the driver's seat, and put his foot on the gas. We didn't move. "It needs a key!" I shouted at him, getting worried and annoyed.
He got out of the cart, frantically searching for the keys that could have dropped from the glovebox.
I glanced behind us back at the airport, to see the herd gathering up more stiffs that we had passed. They were about to come into shooting mode. "Hurry!"
"I can't find them." He picks his head up and stares at me. We could die soon.
But then I see something move on his belt. "Your belt! Try the keys on your belt!" I pointed at his waist with one hand and tapped the keyhole with the other. Chandler returned to the cart and began plugging in the variety of keys.
The first one-nothing. The second and the third-and even the fourth wouldn't fit. "Great! Turn it turn it..." I shrieked when the fifth key clicked.
With a flick of his wrist he turned the key, and the engine started. "Don't you know how to drive this?" I asked him. The Stiffs were at least twenty feet away now.
"Do you?!" He replied. I had no choice but to pull in his shoulders so he was on the other side. I flipped my legs over his, and maneuvered my body so we switched positions. "Yes, I do."
My new combat boots pressed hard on the gas as I tried to work through the pressure. We were safe; and we were moving. For now, I thought.
Through the rearview mirror the Stiffs grew further away, becoming smaller every second. I used one hand to pull my backpack straps off my shoulders and put it on the floor between Chandler and I.
"Jeez..." He sighed, which led to a soft giggle. Why is he laughing? Although it was a close one... And he didn't know how to drive a golf cart, and I did. No matter how hard I tried to serious, I ended up laughing at every thought.
Stiffs and more carts and the walls of the airport zoomed by as I pressed harder on the gas pedal. "We made it." Said Chandler. He rested his left hand on the pale white cushion between us. I took my own off of the steering wheel and placed it next to his.
I smiled as I felt his fingers sneak between each of mine. I let out a sigh, the one that had been stuck inside of my chest since the moment we saw the herd.
"We made it."
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Hi, so if any of you guys enjoy my book, can you tell me? Because I feel like I have no reads.
Thank ya