"You guys look amazing!" I squeal as Sam fiddles with the cuffs of his sleeve. Tom, Peter and Milo all look down at the suits and ties. It's been awhile since anyone's dressed up this nice and it's pretty obvious that they're not used to wearing something other that casual and running attire.
"Does this mean we're done?" Milo asks, and I huff at him, slightly annoyed at his impatient tone.
"I suppose. You've all found your outfits and we managed to find matching ties for you all. I'm thankful there's not too many groomsmen because this place has obviously been raided before." I sign, taking a small moment to admire everyone in their outfits, mostly Sam... especially Sam. "Well, go change then, but don't just shove everything in your bag. I don't know how to dry clean yet and I don't want wrinkly clothes at my wedding."
"Bossy, aren't you?" Peter asks, and I laugh.
"Always. Now go change."
"Great." Sam checks his watch. "We should be home just in time for dinner."
"No, you'll be in home just in time for dinner," Summer corrects, and I mentally smack her when Sam frowns before turning to me questionably.
"What's she talking about?"
"Oh, right," I say, rubbing my arm nervously, my mind flying with curses. "I guess I didn't tell you. Nicole, Summer, Jody and I are going dress shopping. They need bridesmaids dresses and I need a gown. There's a shop a few blocks down."
"You want to do that now?" He asks, and I shrug.
"Why not? It'll save us a trip."
"We've been out awhile, Five," Peter says as he crosses his arms. "Sure you want to test your luck and run into some zoms?"
A scoff leaves my lips. "We've only been out of Abel for an hour and a half, and that's only because someone," I send a pointed look at Milo, "went into the 'Employees Only' area and got lost."
He sends me a glare as his cheeks turn pink, but he stays silent. I look back at the others.
"Plus Nadia's watching on coms, and she'll let us know if there's anything coming. We won't stay out too long."
"You're going dress shopping," Sam deadpans.
"I'm not picky. I'm only going to wear it once and I like a lot of different styles, so it shouldn't be hard for me to find one. And we already know the colors for the wedding so finding bridesmaids dresses shouldn't be hard to find either. I can alter them once we get back."
He lets out an unsure noise, and I grin knowingly.
"You're just mad because you know I'm not going to let you see my dress before the wedding."
He doesn't say anything, but the look on his face tells me everything I need to.
"You know it's tradition."
"It's a stupid tradition."
I shrug. "Still a tradition."
"Are we going to get to see it?" Milo asks, tipping his head to the side while gesturing to Peter and Tom. I hum in thought for a moment. They don't really look like they care that much either way.
"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess. I'll let you see the dress when we get home if you want."
"What?" Sam asks, looking betrayed. I almost laugh at his dramatics. "That's not fair."
"How is it not fair? I'm not getting married to them, so they can see it." I give him a pointed look and he huffs in reply. Jody and Summer giggle silently while Nicole looks at him smugly. I snicker. "If it makes you feel any better, Phil never saw me in a wedding dress either."
He glares at me. "Shut up."
"We'll see you at home," I say with a laugh as I and my bridesmaids walk towards the exit. I give Sam a little wave of goodbye as he heads to change back into his running attire with the others. I have to hide my smile as I see the slightly annoyed look on his face as he turns to watch us go.
We immediately head off to the shop a few blocks down. I can't hear anything that would lead me to think zombies are around, but Peter was right that I tend to push my luck, which is not good since I have very little luck to begin with. Still, the streets are quiet today, and if there hadn't been scouts sent out beforehand I'd almost believe it to be too quiet. With everything that has been going on with Sigrid and the V-type zombies now outside and A.N.N.I.E. having reactivated the Glass Protocol, quiet runs bring out a great deal of suspicion from me.
But today I've tried to push all those thoughts from my mind. Today is about me finding a wedding dress, nothing more. It's been awhile since I've worn any formal dress, especially one like this. I did attend a few weddings before the apocalypse. My church had quite a few young couples that got married, so I have faded memories of white veils and cream flowers and overly sweet cake. A part of me wonders if anyone from my church is even still alive. I wonder if anyone from my town is still alive besides some of my family members.
If they are, I wonder what they had to do in order to survive.
I wonder if anyone from there would attend my wedding if they could.
When we reach the bridal shop, I'm overwhelmed by white. Surprisingly, even though it is clear that others have been here in the past, much has been left untouched. Different fabrics and styles, various dresses in length and detail, but all the same color.
"So," I say, looking at the far side of the store. "Do you guys want to shop for bridesmaids dresses first or do you want to help me pick out a wedding dress first?"
A hallway leads off to the separate part of the store for bridesmaid dresses, and even from here the colors of turquoise, navy blue and blood red scream out in contrast to the white.
"I'd say bridesmaids dresses," Nadia says over my headset. "You'll probably want to go home after trying on dozens of wedding dresses."
I nod. "Yeah, you've got a point. Come on."
I lead them over to the far side of the store. Jody and Summer look around at the colorful dresses, excitement dancing in their eyes at the idea of actually getting to dress up like before the apocalypse. Nicole keeps a neutral face, but I can tell she's interested. Summer casts a worried glance over at Nicole before heading off. She doesn't like being around her, having been in the Torrencers and ran away from it. She tends to stay away from Nicole for that reason, and I can't say I blame her since it's hard to tell where Nicole's loyalties lie sometimes.
Still, I head off to look at some of the bridesmaids dresses, feeling drawn in by all the bright colors and silky textures of soft, never worn fabric.
"Pick out whatever you think will look good," I call out as I run my hand over a sleeve of one dress. "Just make sure it's teal so it'll match the color scheme."
"Do you want the dresses to be long or short?" Jody asks a few aisles down.
"Uh, long would be preferred, I think."
"Please," Nadia says. "I really don't want to have one of the dresses riding up while I'm in my wheelchair."
"I'm sorry you weren't able to come with us," Summer says.
"Well, I am with you, in a way, but I understand why I can't."
"When did you say you'd have that bike again?" Nicole asks.
"A few weeks."
"You could have said," I say with a slight frown. "We could have waited."
"Your wedding is in two months. And with everything that's happening it's best to not wait. I'm able to give my views on the dress and we don't have to worry too much about measurements since you know how to sew, and Nicole does too."
"Well, I know how to sew, but it's a lot harder with my hand," Nicole replies, and though she tries to hide it, I can hear the slight pain in her voice. I don't comment on it, knowing she'll deny it anyway.
"Yeah... but I think long dresses are best. Plus Maxine said she would like a longer dress since she's so tall and short dresses tend to ride up on her."
I nod, continuing my search. I find a few bridesmaid dresses I like. Most of them are simple with long flowing skirts made with soft fabrics that will be easy to wash and alter. The main differences are the tops. One of my chosen dresses has spaghetti straps, another short sleeves, and another strapless. I hand the dresses to the girls, who have also found a few dresses they like. They head off to the dressing rooms, and I can hear them talking to each over my headset, saying how much they think I'll like this pick or that one.
"Well, hurry up," Nadia urges, a bit of giddiness in her voice. "There aren't any cameras in the dressing room so I can't see how it looks until you come back out."
I try not to laugh, but it's nice to hear the happiness in their voices. For the first time in awhile we're going on a run for something fun instead of something vital. The last time we did that was when we went to gather things for Sarah's welcoming party when she was born. And it's safe to say that did not go well.
I turn my head, ready to grab a magazine that's been left to collect dust while I wait for the others to change, when something-a dress- catches my eye from the bridal gown side of the shop. Standing, I head over to it, wanting to get a closer look. I hadn't seen it coming in. I wasn't exactly looking at any of the mannequins, but now that I have...
I run my fingers along the lace sleeves, following the pattern towards the neckline. It covers the top, and bits of the lacy pattern flows down the skirt, but less so. From what I've seen in the magazines it's a mermaid dress with a sweetheart neckline. I unconsciously touch my chest, where the burn scars used to be from when Tom rigged a car to explode when I opened the door. Thankfully those scars are gone... but I wonder if that would be more of a problem since everyone knows what happened last year, and scars aren't supposed to fade that fast. Of course, those burns did go all the way up my neck, and I don't exactly wear scarves except during fall and winter, so people must have not noticed.
This dress does have the back covered though, meaning no one would see my fading scars on my back, and I feel like that would be worse than what happened last year.
So I grab the dress from the mannequin and sprint off to the bride dressing room. The room's dusty, and smells odd from lack of use, but there are no zombies, thankfully. I'd hate to run into one halfway into putting this dress on. I shrug off my backpack and take off my holster, but not before taking my gun out of it. It's harder to take a gun out of a holster when it's not fastened to you, so it's best to keep it out of the holster so I can grab it if a zombie or some stranger with unsavory intentions manages to break into my dressing room. I set my headset aside as well, not wanting it to fall off while I'm changing.
I strip down, toeing off my shoes and socks and kicking them aside along with my shirt and pants. I slip the dress on, struggling to zip it up a bit. I can hear the others outside calling for me, but I ignore them and focus on getting my dress on, thankful that it's actually my size and I won't have to alter it if I decide I want it.
Once it's zipped, I look at myself in the mirror. I'm speechless, eyes widening in shock. I stare at my reflection for so long the face back starts to feel like it's no longer my own. I've never really thought of myself as beautiful, but here in this dress... Even with my hair in a messy ponytail, slightly sweaty from the run and face tinted pink from the exertion, I feel normal, like a normal person getting married, not someone trying to scrounge together a wedding in an apocalypse. Tears sting the back of my eyes, and I give a watery smile that my reflection returns.
I hear the door squeak open, and I turn around, ready to grab my gun.
"Callista? Are you in-" Jody cuts herself off when she sees me, and Nicole and Summer stare at me with wide eyes. They're all wearing different bridesmaids dresses, probably wanting me to pick which ones I like best. "Oh."
I hear Nadia's voice faintly through my headset, and I immediately grab it and put it on.
"Have you found her? There aren't any cameras in the dressing rooms," She says.
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, we found her," Summer answers. I wring my hands out nervously.
"What do you think?"
"Come out here so Nadia can see it too," Jody says, and I carefully walk out of the dressing room, grinning when I hear a small gasp through my headset.
"Does that mean I look good?" I ask, and Nicole replies by tapping Summer on the shoulder, making her flinch.
"Go get a veil," She commands, not noticing the fear in Summer's eyes. Nicole sneers at her when she doesn't move. "Don't just stand there. Go!"
Summer runs off, grabbing her dress and pulling it up to keep it from tripping her.
"You look amazing," Nadia says, and I can't stop the smile that spreads on my face from her praise, "but I thought you wanted to wait and find bridesmaids dresses first."
I laugh a bit sheepishly. "Yeah, I did-I mean, I didn't really care what we did first, but this one caught my eye and I thought I could get it on before everyone else had tried on their dresses so..."
I take a moment to look at everyone in their dresses. Most of them look flattering on the wearers, but I know certain styles others might not enjoy. After I choose the ones I like the most we'll have to get Paula and Maxine to come in and give their opinions. Even though they aren't technically my bridesmaids, they will still be a part of the wedding, helping Sarah and Adora be the flower girls. I want their dresses to match, or at least be similar, but I also want them to wear something they like.
Summer returns with a veil, and she hands it to Nicole, not meeting her eyes. Nicole either doesn't notice or she just doesn't care about the older girl's worried demeanor. She walks over to me and places the veil on me. She has some trouble with it because of her hand, but she has a height advantage which makes it a little easier.
I step back into the dressing room, the veil covering my face. I can still see, somewhat. It's a long veil, stopping just at the top of my ribs, and it's fastened securely in my hair by a sparkling pin. I'm sure it will look much better when my hair is pinned up. I won't be able to do anything too fancy since my hair only goes past my shoulders, but I think anything would be better than the poorly done ponytail I'm currently sporting.
"This is the one," I say with a nod, my smile bubbly and silly and my laugh giddy like a child's.
"Are you sure?" Jody asks. "You don't want to try on any other dresses first?"
"I don't need to. I already know I'll come back to this one." I turn back to them. "But I do think I may take a bit longer to pick out which bridesmaid dresses I like. Help me get this dress off and bagged so we can get started on that."
•
I take a plastic cup from Adora, pretending to drink whatever drink she wants me to believe is in there. "Mmm, yummy. Thank you."
I hand her back the cup and she waddles back over to the kitchen set where Sarah sits, opening and closing the plastic door that holds plastic cookware. Maxine watches her from a few feet away, seeming to only half listen to the few teenagers that are trying to play cards with her.
It's one of the things I like about the Rec Room, how it's for any age. Because of the few add-ons it's more of a Rec Building now, but it's nice that it's not just for small children. Many teenagers and even adults come in here to have some fun and take a break every now and again. I even see Milo playing Connect Four with Phineas in a corner of the room. It's good. Milo needs a break. He's been drawing less and less, too concerned about becoming a better runner or helping out Veronica in her labs. This is the closest he's probably had to a break in days, which doesn't sound too bad, but he is only sixteen.
Plus, spending some time with Phineas may help strengthen their relationship. The younger boy has begun to resent Milo after constantly blowing him off, and with Penelope... gone, Milo is the closest person Phineas has to a friend. Very little children his age know sign language, and most aren't considerate enough to keep turned to him so he can read their lips. That communication barrier is what's kept him from making many friends here. There are a few people he finds himself talking to, but most of them he's never really referred to as his friends. It worries me sometimes.
Adora brings me another empty plastic cup, and I take it, pretending to drink from it once more. When I hand it back to her, she smiles and giggles before going back to fetch me another drink. I can't help the soft smile that appears on my face because of it.
From the corner of my eye I spot Sam and Paula walk in and head straight over to Maxine. I don't really hear what they say, nor do I care to. Adora's brought me her cup back yet again and I would hate to disappoint her by not drinking from it. But I notice when I look up that Sam is watching as the little redhead waddles back over to the kitchen set where Sarah sits. She hands Sarah the cup, who grabs it, stares at it for a moment, then places it into the drawer before closing the door. Adora stares in what I think might be shock before sitting down beside her.
I glance up at Sam, who makes eye contact with me and offers a small, amused smile. I do the same before standing and walking over to the three, my hands in my pockets.
"What are you guys talking about?" I ask.
"We were just thinking of taking Sarah out for a walk," Maxine says, looking around. The teenagers that were playing a game with her have completely given up on including her, it seems, though she doesn't seem to mind. "It's beginning to look a little crowded in here."
I don't have to take a glance around to see that she's right. Many kids and teenagers have finished up with their chores and are free to do as they please for the day, so the first thing they do is come here, seeking some type of fun to distract them from the fact that they'll have to get up and do their work and chores all over again tomorrow, and the next day and the next. This is the place to come to to forget about the apocalypse and settle into the new normal. Because of this, it tends to get overly crowded in the afternoons.
"Do you mind if Adora and I join you?" I ask, glancing over my shoulder. Adora is opening the cabinet door, only for Sarah to close it. I can only imagine how long they will repeat that cycle before one grows bored of it. "I'm just asking because, if you take Sarah away, Adora will probably start screaming and throwing a tantrum and I don't know how long it will take to calm her down."
Paula nods. "I suppose that would put a damper on today, which would be a shame since you were able to find your wedding dress and the bridesmaids and groomsmen outfits without any trouble from zombies."
"A once in a lifetime event, I assure you," I laugh, noticing the slight damper in Sam's mood when my dress was mentioned. I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop the shit-eating grin from appearing on my face as I turn to him. "Everything okay, babe?"
He narrows his eyes at me. "You think you're funny, don't you?"
"I think I'm hilarious, in all honesty."
He rolls his eyes, seeming equally annoyed and amused.
"The wedding's less than two and a half months away, so the wait's a lot shorter than if we were getting married before the whole apocalypse," I point out. "Besides, it'll be worth the wait, right?" I look at Maxine and Paula, who got to see my dress when they came in the coms shack to give their opinions on the bridesmaid dresses. They both nod, to my relief.
"I still think it's a stupid tradition that I have to wait," He huffs, and I shrug.
"I mean, yeah, but you know why that tradition was made, right?"
Same shakes his head.
"It was so the groom wouldn't have second thoughts. It was common in 'the olden days' or whatever, so to keep the groom from backing out, he wasn't allowed to see the bride the day of the wedding until the ceremony took place. That's also why brides wear veils."
"Where did you learn that?" Maxine asks, tipping her head to the side.
"You learn a lot of interesting facts when you're searching Roufflenet."
"I didn't think you looked at Roufflenet that often."
I hesitate. "I... don't, but books can get boring after awhile."
It's a good enough lie, it seems, because Paula and Maxine accept it. Of course, even if they didn't, they couldn't really accuse me of anything. There are multiple computers in Abel. They just are rarely used because power isn't something we can just spend without thought.
Still, people do get on Roufflenet for their own reasons, and mine are mostly just to find information on Project Glass, or on the Original and what we were supposed to be. My searches always come up fruitless, and because of that I look up random stuff to cheer me up before scampering off to go annoy Peter or Tom or Jaime, if he's in Abel that day.
"Now I really think that tradition is stupid," Sam grumbles, "in our case, at least. I definitely do not plan on backing out."
"That's great," I reply. "Still not going to let you see the dress until the wedding day."
He groans, and Maxine snickers as she heads over to pick Sarah up. As soon as she does, Adora's face drops, her brown eyes following Sarah as she's lifted into the doctor's arms. I quickly sweep Adora up, just to keep her from thinking her friend is being taken away from her. A frown still stays on her face, but she doesn't have the 'I'm about to start screaming like a banshee' face, so I'm thankful.
I fix the hat on her head, making sure it covers her little ears. Even though the weather isn't terribly cold outside, I've noticed Adora is a lot like me in the aspect that she is always freezing. Plus if the wind is too cold or blows too strongly she'll get an ear ache, which would result in hours of screaming.
As we all head for the door, it opens, revealing a very unhappy looking Veronica.
We all pause, confused. Veronica never visits the Rec Building. There are too many people, too much noise. She says she doesn't see how anyone could find enjoyment here. She rarely takes time for enjoyment anyway, but even when she does, she doesn't come here.
That's why, "What are you doing here?" is the first thing I say to her.
She replies with a blank look, pushing her glasses up. "I'm looking for Milo. He was supposed to help me and Nadia with our research. He's late."
"He said he'd do that today?" I ask, and she nods. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Her tone holds a slight bite in it, her annoyance showing through. I clench my jaw, reminding myself that it would be wrong to start yelling at a child while I have my one-year-old in my arms. Thankfully, Sam jumps in.
"I think the reason why Callista is asking is-well, because we went looking for clothes for the wedding. We scheduled that run today because we were told everyone else was free, runners and operators."
"Well, he must have forgotten and Nadia must have not seen that as much of a chore. Even so, I don't see why going for a run to try on clothing would have him too exhausted to come help in the labs."
"A run takes a lot out of a runner, Veronica," Maxine says, her voice calm. Still the dark haired girl scowls, bitterness swirling in her eyes. "You've gone on runs with Callista before. It doesn't matter their purpose. Running drains people."
"I've gone on runs and I've been able to go right back to work afterward. And what I mean is, I estimate most of the time spent shopping was without an accelerated heart rate, unlike some of the runs Milo and Callista have gone on. He should be well enough to come help, and if he isn't, then he should have said so. Plus that run was for a wedding, which have very little impact on Abel, whereas my work could affect the entire world."
While she is right, I can't help but be the slightest bit offended by her words. "Well, excuse me for wanting to be prepared for a ceremony that will definitely increase moral."
She stares at with a neutral expression. "I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but what I'm saying is the truth. My work is more important than your run to find clothing for a wedding that, if you're honest with yourself, you're simply having for the sake of tradition. You and Sam already act like you're married, and I can assume you've done everything a married couple would do in the circumstances of the apocalypse, so this is just for tradition's sake. It means nothing."
Sam noticeably flinches, and I feel a rising anger in me, but I force it down. She says it with such neutrality, which makes it almost worse than if she said it with anger or malice. She speaks it as if she believes it to be fact, because she does.
I swallow down the bile that rising in my throat, burning and tasting bitter on my tongue. I point over to Milo and Phineas. "He's over there if you want to talk to him. Just don't give him any shit over helping with my wedding, because he wanted to be a groomsmen and this does mean something to him, even if it doesn't mean anything to you."
Veronica nods, not acknowledging my anger. She instead turns on her heel and walks over to the brunette playing Connect Four with the younger boy.
I don't stay to see how it plays out. The heat simmering under my flesh makes me feel ready to explode even though Veronica's comments were snarky at best. I know I probably shouldn't be as angry as I am, but her saying that, and Sam's heartbroken reaction...
"Are you two okay?" Paula asks as we leave, heading... somewhere. I honestly haven't been paying attention to where we're headed. "What she said-that's not true. Weddings still mean something in an apocalypse."
"I know," Sam says, his smile forced. "She probably didn't mean it like that. She sometimes doesn't realize how harsh she can come off. Plus she's really passionate about her work, so this seems like something we'd do for fun, ya know?"
"Doesn't mean she should say it," I mumble, taking Sam's hand in mine and carrying Adora with one arm. I sigh, knowing I shouldn't argue it because Sam will come to her defense. He believes she's just misunderstood, and that she doesn't understand these types of things because she's... Veronica. "Let's just go to the park or something. It's peaceful there. Quiet. And there we can watch the kids play without any know-it-all teenagers spouting off about our wedding."
A/N: Guess who's not dead! Me! I just finished with finals and passed with straight A's! Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!