Chapter 11
Casper
Fate clearly has a sense of humor.
Out of all people to stick with us, we get stuck with Ridge—who just so happens to be a somewhat converted Jotunn. It irritates me to have him along with us for the ride. It almost feels like a babysitting job. Typically, I am not the one to lose my cool—Bay does that for me. But now? The tables have turned and she is the one that has to calm me down.
When Ridge attacked her something inside of me clicked. I became overly protective of her, furious that he had the nerve to touch her in the slightest. I find myself more than furious that he didn't simply touch her—he full on punched her and to top it off tried to strangle her. He disgusts me. Whether he is in control of his actions as a Warrior or not, he still harmed Bay. And that alone makes my skin crawl.
Even after talking with Willow I still haven't unpinned the guy. Bay pries me off of him, working at each finger individually in order to get me to release him. She tugs me away with him with a strong force, causing me to lose my balance. I tumble into her and fall to the ground. I rotate myself so I land on the ground and she ends up landing atop of me, her head nearly hitting against mine. Very little distance remains between us as she stares down at me, her hair falling over her shoulder and blocking part of her face.
My eyes widen as I stare up at her. I clear my throat.
"Uh, hello." This friendship thing is hard for me. I find myself simply wanting to kiss her more than I have in the past four months of getting to know the girl called Bay Zachary.
"Hi." She murmurs as she slides off of me.
My heart sinks as she does but I remain silent. I sit up and rub the back of my head, staring at Ridge. "So, him."
"Yeah." Bay scratches her cheek that begins to bruise from the punch Ridge gave her.
"What do we—"
"I have no idea."
"I can hear you, you know?" Ridge growls.
"That's the point, genius." Bay rolls her eyes. She leans in close and whispers to me, "I vote we kill him."
I shake my head without hesitation. "Death is too easy."
She raises her brows. "What?"
"Death is the easy way out. If anything, I've learned living is much more of a punishment than death."
She stares at me. "Damn, that was incredibly hot."
I chuckle and stand to my feet. I offer my hand for her to take. "I try." I tease.
"Must the two of you flirt when I am standing right here?" Ridge announces with a disgusted groan.
Bay smirks and takes my hand as she pulls herself back onto her feet. I go to release my hand but realize she doesn't intend on letting go. A smirk tugs at my lips as I am secretly reminded of when I held her hand without permission. I had no intentions of letting it go then, and I have none of letting it go now. Perhaps this is what she is going for—giving me a taste of what I have done to her back in the woods in Narrowsburg, New York.
"Yes, we must. Now, I'm not exactly sure what I should call you. Whether it be Peak or traitor." Bay narrows her eyes at him. .
"It's still Ridge! Has been for twenty years!" He throws his hands up in annoyance, "as for traitor—"
"Ridge, we aren't going to kill you." I say.
"Well that's a relief." He has a twang of sarcasm to his tone. "Why do I sense there's a "but" coming?"
"But," I continue.
"There it is." He grumbles. "But what?"
"We can't exactly trust you now, can we?"
"Well I—"
"Let me finish!" I shush him, "if you are indeed a Warrior then what makes us think that you won't lash out again? This time it could be even worse than trying to strangle Bay. It could be you killing one of us. Is it worth having you come along only to put us in more danger than we are already in?" I glance over at Bay.
"We need to be heading to Chillicothe." She picks up where I left off, "we are on a tight schedule. The question of the hour is whether or not you should come with us. All the way from Ohio to New York is a long way to go without transforming to a Warrior again. Do you get where we are coming from? Do you understand our concerns?"
After a few moments of silence he finally replies, choking out each word he speaks. "Yes, I do, but you need me."
"Give us one reason." I raise my brows, "one reason that we need you."
"If I am a Warrior then I can easily get you one place to another, can I not?"
I look over at Bay, raising my brows. I am rather shocked that his argument actually makes sense. "Like an escort?" I say.
He gives a brief nod. "If you need to get to New York then I can help with that! If you get caught due to lack of helmets, I can say that I am escorting you to Master Zedd. Simple as that."
"If?" Bay protests, "Ridge, you don't even have a helmet. Why would they believe you for even a second?"
"Bay is right..." I skim my callused hands over my neck, "but Zachary, Ridge also had a fair point. We need him."
"We do?"
I sigh.
"Then what? He can stay?" Bay mumbles questioningly.
"He'd be essential, yes."
She huffs in frustration. "Fine."
"We need to move then." I tell him as I pull out the white, spherical cuffs that came with the Jotunn suit. I position his hands in front of him before snapping them onto his wrists and seal them shut with my thumbprint. "As for us, Bay." I glance at her, "in order to stay under the radar I suggest that we lose the suits. They'll be looking for two fugitives wearing suits, no doubt. That and we stick out like a sore thumb without helmets."
She pouts. "But it's cold out."
"We will find a shop along the way to Chillicothe."
"Can we wear the suits until then?" She gazes up at me with big, blue eyes.
I furrow my brow and sigh. How could I not cave into her? "Fine, but when we find a clothing store we lose the suits." When did I go soft? I'm not a soft kind of guy.
She smiles, "Okay." She walks out of the demolished building, passing a few of the dying flames with swaying hips.
I look at Ridge who stares right back at me. "Is she normally that seductively flirtatious?" He whispers with raised brows.
I slowly nod, looking back to where she walks off. "Yeah." I clear my throat and calm myself down before I follow after her.
+++
With guidance from Avery who has gone next door to the map room, we are back on track to Chillicothe once more. The time nears 9:45 a.m., the sun shining almost its full strength. Even with the sun up it remains bitterly cold. I haven't missed the low temperatures of the upper states. I prefer the 70+ degree weather back in California even though the state is a complete dump.
I watch Bay as she walks. I know she has had it hard over these past few days—hell, even the past few months—having believed her dad was dead for two months only to find him alive. It worries me. Not because of the fact she had to kill her father, but if her father was transformed into a Jotunn Warrior did that mean my deceased mother was a Jotunn, also? I hate to think like this, but if Rosita Garcia-Maria Fernandez Bunk is out there after she has been dead for six years, how am I supposed to cope?
Bay only had six months of suffering after Kole died, but I've had six years to wish for my mother back. If she is alive and out there somewhere, I don't think I would be able to live with myself. I had to endure my father moving far too fast in a relationship and remarry without being ready. He remarried to hide the pain of losing his wife of fourteen years and it made him deteriorate into a monster. It kills me inside out. I know he didn't care whether or not Mom died but he had to act like he did—he had to act like he still loves her. But I can see straight through his lies. Arris Bunk would have also died when Nebraska was destroyed. My parents, both my mother and father, are dead.
I suddenly feel sick.
I no longer have any parents. I don't have my birth-mom, my dad, or my step-mom. Avery knows if my dad or her mother died because she was there and experienced it all herself. Not only did I try to kill Avery because of her knowledge on the destruction that was to come, but I fled after I shot her. I was trying to escape it all. And I wasn't just trying to escape Nebraska. I was trying to escape my life. But the fact that both my parents and step-mother could and might be a Warrior makes me physically sick. This can't be happening. I refuse to believe it.
"You okay there Bunk?" Bay nudges me, having slowed her pace to walk alongside me.
I slowly shake my head.
She comes to a stop as if surprised that I admit to being anything but okay. She grasps my forearm in her hand, stopping me from walking. Ridge ceases walking and stands to the side. I don't look at her, not wanting too. She slides her index beneath my chin and brings it down so I will look at her. I glance down at her and bite my inner cheek.
"What's wrong?" She asks as her thumb strokes comfortingly along my cheek.
"I realized something I wished I hadn't." I murmur in reply.
"What is it?" She coos.
"I can't." I shake my head.
"Casper, talk to me."
"Both my parents as well as my step-mother are dead."
Bay hesitates a moment. "I'm sorry, Bunk."
"That's not the worst part." I interrupt her.
"Oh God no." Avery whispers; I know she has caught on. She knew they were dead for a fact, but at the time we hadn't known what happened to people after they die, at the time. But now we know, and that makes the pain ten times worse. It's excruciating.
"What's the worst part?" Bay's blue eyes are full of concern as they stare up at me intently.
"If my parents and Avery's mother is dead then that can only mean one thing."
"Oh." Bay croaks as she finally catches on.
"They are out there somewhere Zachary. They are out there and they are now Warriors—they're now monsters. It is going to kill me inside out if I ever have to witness them as one of those creatures.
"If I ever find them there is no way I'd be able to cope. I never knew how my mother died, and I know my dad's death had to be ten times worse since he died in the midst of a nuclear explosion. I can't see them like that. I would never be able to forgive myself." I croak.
"But you have to keep moving." She says soothingly, "you can't let what happened in the past define you. You can't go living by the 'what ifs'. You have to live in the present. You can't dwell on the past or focus on the future. You have to live in the now."
"But they were my parents, Bay. I don't know how Mom died but I could have at least prevented my father's death if I hadn't been so selfish at the time. I could have taken him with me and he'd still be alive."
"I definitely wouldn't dwell on that, sweetheart. What's happened has happened and it cannot be prevented. I killed my own father ten days ago. That is a burden I have to bear, but it isn't a burden I have to dwell on."
I sigh. "Can I kiss you?" I mutter under my breath.
"What was that?" She looks at me with confusion across her pale features.
"Nothing." I whisper.
She smiles sadly before standing on her tiptoes in order to reach my forehead. She presses a light kiss against my flesh. Her lips linger on my skin for a moment longer before she retracts and gazes up at me. "It'll be okay. I'm here for you."
I sigh and nod. "Alright, let's get moving."
I glance over at Ridge and notice he seems furious at the show of affection Bay has just given me. Oh, great. He has feelings for her. Perfect. I already knew that from our previous conversation, but now that I know he's slowly turning into a Jotunn permanently? His feelings for Bay aren't gonna fly for me.
"Come on, Jotunn." She frowns and looks at Ferryweather, "get going." She ushers him onwards.
+++
I tell Avery that I need her to find us a clothing store between wherever we are in Ohio and Chillicothe. The closest she finds is about thirty minute walk from our current location. Bay is disappointed in the idea of getting rid of the suits because the suit finally provides the needed warmth.
Even though it's April, the temperature is bitterly cold, as to be expected from states up north. Our noses and ears turn red from the bitter cold, eyes watering and mouths dry. All we have on our person is the spherical handcuffs, a regular handgun, and a bolt gun—better known as a pulsar. We have become hungry, thirsty and overall fatigued. Clearly we are dehydrated being that we ran out of water several hours ago and now resort to gnawing on melting snow from the ground.
At long last, even my feet begin to ache. It's just now nearing 10 a.m. and we've been walking since 2 a.m. Our estimated arrival time has been pushed back for up to an hour and a half to two hours due to some unseen circumstances. According to Avery, the estimated time of arrival for the Chillicothe Bus Transportation would hopefully be around noon if we didn't have any further setbacks. It feels like we have been walking for a lifetime but we need to get to the bus station. If we want to get to New York in plenty of time, then the bus is our best bet. Even with a month left before New York's destruction, it doesn't leave a lot of time and it leaves hardly any room for error. I admit to myself that I need need a rest but I also know that we can't afford to stop until we board that bus.
+++
Come 10:35 a.m., we spot a small clothing store. This means food is nearby, too. If only if had the time and luxury to stop and eat. I always find it odd that while the entire state might be destroyed, simple things such as grocery stores or clothing stores get left behind. Or perhaps they were destroyed and survivors built it from the ground up. Regardless, it still puzzles me.
Bay and I strip from our suits, knowing Ridge can't leave his suit since he is a Warrior. No suit means he will die. And for now, we are keeping him alive.We toss the suits into a dumpster down a dark, trash-filled alleyway, sporting our grungy blue clothes from West Virginia. Ridge's eyes seem sad as he recognizes the color we wear.
We keep ahold of the handgun, bolt gun and handcuffs just in case we need them. One other thing I keep from the Jotunn suit was the backpack that meshed with the suit. Obviously without the suit to go with it, it's just a normal backpack. With the suit on, it disappears and fuses with the suit, causing it to be weightless. Without the suit, it's heavy and awkward to carry, but we need it, so I keep it.
I sling the bag over one shoulder as the already shivering Bay pushes into the store. Her pale flesh becomes covered in goose-bumps. Her hands rest on her upper arms and cross over her chest as she runs her hands up in down quickly in order to try and warm herself. I come in behind her, blowing my warm breath into the palms of my cold hands. We look around for assistance or a friendly smile before realizing that the person at the register has no intention of helping us like Isabel, Mariana and Debbie had. The woman just sits there and smacks the gum in her mouth, blowing a bubble absent-mindedly.
"Excuse me," I walk over to her, "do you have showers?"
She looks up and studies my face first before her eyes drift over my body with a smirk. "Nah, but we got sinks." She smacks her gum even more so, gesturing to the bathrooms. Her eyes stare at my lips.
I shift uncomfortably. "Of course, thanks." I turn to Bay, "Go wash your hair out in the sink. I'll do the same."
She nods and disappears into the woman's bathroom.
"Why's this dude in a suit?" The clerk asks, jabbing her thumb towards Ridge.
I roll my eyes into the back of my head and stifle a grunt of frustration. "Long story." I tell her, looking to the Warrior, "Ridge, don't do anything stupid."
"Wouldn't dream of it." He grumbles.
I walk off into the men's restroom and am greeted by a rusted-over sink. Charming. Granted this is better than nothing. I turn on the sink, brown water sputtering out. I turn the faucet on and let it run until it can at least become semi-clean. Until then, I study myself in the dirty mirror. I hardly recognize the face staring back at me.
I have blonde hair growing on my face. Surprisingly for being four months without a shave, it isn't a bushy beard. It remains as scruff, hardly visible but definitely able to be felt. My hair is a greasy mess and my eyes have bags underneath them. I have several scabs, cuts, and bruises across my face to represent the trials of the past four months. At one point in time my hair was clean cut, but for now my curls have begun to grow into a shaggy mess. If I'm honest, I kind of like it, but at the same time it's not me. I don't know who this man staring back at me is, and I don't know how to feel by it. The water runs for at least three minutes until it comes out almost clear. It's still slightly brown in color, but I can at least see through the stream of water, so I decide it'll be good enough. I dip my head beneath the faucet and allow the water to run over my hair and down my face.
I wet the blonde shaggy hair all over until I am satisfied and feel cleaner than I have in a long time. I turn the knob until the water stops running. I straighten up. I walk over to the hand-dryer that appears much out of date compared to the new touch-screen driers that Nebraska had all over their bathrooms. I study it for a second, trying to figure out how this version worked. After much debate I do the only thing that makes sense and press the big, silver button that is rusted brown. Air floods out of it so I stick my head beneath it—using it as a hairdryer.
I come out to see Bay looking over the women's rack of clothing, her thick hair mostly dry and pulled back in a ponytail. She must have had the same idea about using the hand-drier for her hair.
The color of Ohio is a reddish-pink color, which stands for the 'Caring State'. Ohio sent off care packages to the remaining states on a regular basis before they were destroyed, selecting a few families in each state to send these packages to. My family had been one of the few that received these care packs. I don't know if they continue to do that now that their state has been demolished, but it's a kind gesture.
I watch as Bay selects a long-sleeved v-neck from the rack that seems overly low-cut for her taste. She selects a pair of dark-denim jeans before going into the dressing room, giving me a side-glance and a sly smile.
I walk to the men's side of the store and pick out a red long-sleeved shirt as well and a pair of black jeans. I disappear into the changing room next to Bay's and change from the grungy, West Virginia clothes that I've worn for months and change into the fresh, crisp, clean clothes with much relief.
When I come out I catch sight of Bay. The shirt she selected makes her curves more prominent than the blue shirt she had been in from West Virginia. My breath stops in my throat, having to look away as she picks out some black combat boots and begins to put them on her feet. She glances up at me with a smirk.
"I do like that shirt on you. Compliments your muscles." She chuckles, a hint of sarcasm to her voice.
"Oh gag." Ridge says, proceeding to stick his finger in the back of his throat to make a gagging noise.
I smirk to myself and walk over to her. I am tempted to grasp her hips but I know better. I clear my throat nervously. "You'll need a jacket." I stumble over my words as I speak.
The funny thing about the states in 2117, is while we are assigned colors, we know better than to wear pieces that clash. So majority of the colors are that of the state, especially when it comes to houses and cars. But when it comes to clothes, people are more lenient on color choices. All shirts must match the state color, but pants and shoes, and sometimes jackets, can be different colors to avoid a "fashion disaster", as my step-mother called it. The only state that would never deviate from their set colors was the Pure State. Pure in heart, pure in actions, which I guess they think being pure all the way around means conforming to the world around them. I couldn't agree any less.
"Found a nice black one over there." She points to the far wall. "It's lined with fleece, appears super cozy."
I walk to where the jacket is and grab it down for her. I come back over to her and hand the jacket to her. She takes it from me and slides it on, zipping it halfway up.
She glances around and points to a black zip up jacket across the way. "That one would look good on you."
I laugh and select the jacket per her request, getting it one size bigger than I typically wear because I like my jackets big, but not too big.
"Alright." I chuckle as I slide the jacket on. I stroll over to the shoe rack and select pair of red sneakers, "Is that all we need?" I ask, lacing up the shoes.
She nods, her ponytail lightly swishing back and forth as she does. "Mhm."
"It's on the house." The clerk's nasally voice says from behind us.
I turn around to look at her and smile a little. "Thank you."
The woman winks in reply. I raise my brows, noticing she still seems adamant on flirting with me. I vomit a little in my mouth.
"Have a good day." I say, trying not to make it sound forced.
"Oh you too, sugar." She smirks as her eyes graze over my body.
I get shooed out of the building by a red-cheeked Zachary.
"What a slut." She growls once we are outside.
"Bay!" I raise my brows, jaw dropping. I still laugh, though, even through my shock at her outburst.
"What? She was." Bay rolls her eyes, "Anyways, let's just—" She falls silent and looks over my shoulder with wide eyes.
"Zachary?" I glance over my shoulder. My breath flees from me, shoulders slouching at the sight.
Her hand slowly creeps towards the pulsar that is secured in her back pocket. She gives Ridge a side-ways glance.
"Now would be a great time to use your magical Jotunn powers to get us out of this Cliff."
We are surrounded by several Warriors within seconds. Their helmets are removed and tucked beneath their armpits. Glassy eyes stare back at us blankly before three words fall from their mouths.
"Baylee Areaux Zachary."