The Long Way To Reno (31 page)

            Harley
shoved him, and Chuck had to catch himself. I almost choked on a startled gasp
and remembered to be as quiet as possible.

            Chuck
stared at him for a few moments, then said low, “I’m not leaving without
you
.
Not again.”

            He
then turned and walked away. I wanted to disappear. I had no idea how to handle
the situation at all. I’d had no idea how just how
significant
I’d been
to Harley, with all our words and fights. Yeah, I knew in the beginning that he
had it for me. But to have so much adversity with his father
over
me? To
fight
for
me? No one had done that before.

            I
couldn’t recall any man other than my own father fighting for me, but dad
always did for fatherly things, things that he had to do. None of my boyfriends
had made me such a big deal – I was a materialistic
thing
to them,
and this was a role I’d cultivated because I believed in it. Now that things
were different…now that this world was different…I was stunned because it was
obvious that I was more than that to this dork that I’d barely even noticed in
the beginning.

Chapter Seventeen

“What
are we going to do?” I finally managed to ask. He looked over his shoulder at
me, almost like he’d forgotten that I was there. Rearranged his moody
expression for something else. He then busied himself with snatching my hand,
examining the blisters there and giving me an impatient look.

Without
even saying anything, he threw off his backpack and withdrew a red medical
pouch. I don't know, it was something suddenly romantic as he doctored my hand
without me whining about it. Truthfully, I was so occupied with other things
that it didn't even bother me.

            “Let’s
go to the mountains. Out of the city, away from all these things. We’d be safe
from all of this down here,” he said slowly, carefully spreading a cool gel
over the burns on my palms and fingers.

            I
gave him a startled look. “I couldn’t do that – “

            “Why
not?” he demanded, ripping open packets to unravel ointment covered cotton
pads. He was extremely gentle in his handling – I felt embarrassed by the
feelings caused by it. “It's safe up there, Ed! They’d have to work to find
us!”

            “I
haven’t found my parents yet, Harley.”

            As
he hastily wrapped my hand with gauze, he was freaking
lecturing
me.
There was something significant happening between us, and he was
lecturing
me. “It’s not safe down here, there’s people out there trying to kill us, and
these
things, and we’re running out of supplies and clean water - !”

            “Like
there’s more supplies up there?” I asked incredulously, unable to imagine
survival in the mountains the way that he could. To me, it was impossible. I
couldn’t see anything but rocks, trees and a severe lack of flushing water.

            “We
can live off the land, Ed. It’s not that hard. There are ways to convert that
water into safe drinking water, and there’s plenty of animals, and - !”

            “I’m
not leaving this city to go live in the dirt somewhere!” I exclaimed, pulling
my hand back once he was finished with taping the ends of the gauze. I then
pulled away because I was dazed over my sudden horror of romanticizing him bandaging
me up. Out in the hall, he continued to spew his reasons why we should be
living in the mountains.

            “You’re
living in the dirt
here
! All the food we’ve been able to get is running
out!”

            “There
are millions of homes that has non-perishables, and besides, what about other
things,
girl
things that a guy can’t understand - ?” It was horrifying
to imagine that time of the month in the wilderness. What if I attracted
bears
?

            “You’ll
be safer up there than you ever would down here!” he ended up shouting at me.
“You can’t stay down here, there’s nothing here for you to stay for! Your
parents are dead, you don’t have anybody else - ! I want you to be
safe
- ! That’s the only way I can think of to try to keep you safe!”

            I
fell silent for a few moments, his desperate voice ringing down the hall. Both
of us were embarrassed by the emotion in his words. I felt like running away,
horror cascading through my limbs. His words were
way
too intimate. I
was scared of those words. I was scared of his feelings. I was scared that
something had happened that I hadn't even been
aware
of.

            “You
don’t have to yell at me,” I then muttered.

            “All
I can see around me are these things waiting to hatch. I want to get out from
this place, away from the city, and be safe somewhere where there isn’t a
rotting body to worry about. But I don’t want to move on without you, Ed. I
want you to come with me. I don’t want to stay here. There’s no chance here.”

            I
needed to find my parents. I couldn’t make any huge decisions until I did. I
thought of them now, wondering what they would think about us living in the
mountains with Harley and his family. Could they do that? Would they, with me?
Could I make myself go with him if dad didn’t want to?

I
doubted dad would agree to this so easily, trying to imagine what he’d think of
this guy, who was so opposite of what we were used to. My family and I are city
people. We don’t venture out beyond city limits to explore the sagebrush. We
like paved roads and convenient twenty-four hour choices.

             He
watched me for a few moments, and I really had to wonder what this guy saw in
me. I just didn’t get it. I treated him like shit, I was obviously above his
standards, yet he looked at me
completely
. When did that happen? Why?
After all the shit I gave him, when did he start putting me in front of his own
needs? Was this normal in survival situations?

I
still wasn’t sure how to handle it, so I looked down at my feet instead. "I
don't get you," I managed to eke out. "When did
this
happen?"

Harley
reddened before responding awkwardly. "Uh, well…things make sense,
sometimes, in – in weird situations. I don't even…like…know. Stuff."

"You
must like being treated like shit," I said.

He
rolled his eyes. "To be honest, I liked you until you opened your mouth."

I
gave him an accusatory scowl. "You have an Asian fetish."

He
cleared his throat again, squinting at his shoes. "Not at all. But it was
just…when were separated that first time, it was…weird not arguing with
somebody that made me lose my train of thought."

I
think that was one of the most flattering things I'd ever heard from a guy. A
compliment on my
character
, and not on my physical attributes. This was
the first time I truly didn't know what to say, or even knew how to accept it.
I stared at him with my mouth open, unable to say anything because my mind was
a blank.

"I
don't even know what that means," he then said hastily, ruffling his
boring brown hair. "It's just…so annoying, really. It's like an obstacle
course with you. Women are supposed to be easy, and you're the most difficult
one of them all. I could almost hate you at the same time for being such a…such
a bitch."

I
managed to get my wits back, swallowing tightly. I even felt myself blushing.

"And
of course, you take it as a compliment," he said, almost a complaint. I
couldn't help but chuckle.

"I
am flattered beyond all words," I said over someone’s rising shouts from
down the hall. I was too focused on the man in front of me to even bother
looking for the reasons behind those building voices. "I don't even know
what to say."

"Please
consider leaving the city," he then said.
“It’d be easier than trying to survive with those things out here. Up
there, there’s not many bodies. We can handle the elements, we know how to
protect ourselves. There’s plenty of food, and uncontaminated water. These
things would have to travel rough terrain to get to us, and there’s no
guarantee that they would. Why would they focus on small groups of people when
they have more to ambush down here?”

            He
made sense, I guess.

            “I
don’t know why you would try so hard for me, Harley, I really don’t. It kind of
freaks me out,” I muttered.

            “I
guess…I guess I don’t want to live with regrets, anymore,” he said with a
shrug. “Not when things can happen so quickly. I think it’s appropriate to
just…get things out there, before it’s lost and…and then always looking back
and
wishing
…”

            Things
did happen quickly. Things had changed significantly since that First Night.
Life wasn’t what it was a year ago. I would have never imagined myself
surviving like this – hadn’t ever pictured myself even making it past an
opening cut scene. But here I was.

            Before
I could say anything, those shouts I’d heard earlier grew louder, with alarm
laced through words. Both of us looked down the hall to see what the hell was
going on, and that’s when the gunshots rang out. People were suddenly running
and screaming, and the halls were filled with panic.

This long, ghostly howl lifted above people’s screams. It
clearly wasn’t human. It made my blood run cold. It did not have a Rabid tone
to it – it was something new. Similar howls began to rise up within
various areas of the school. The men with guns panicked, eyes wide and guns
swinging around as they started running for the door, caught up in the chaos of
the other survivors. Everyone moved as a startled flock, almost shoving and
pushing each other in order to escape the confines of the building. Amid the
startling alien screams were those of humans, being slaughtered by unseen
things.

            Slamming
into us, Sandy grabbed my arm and shoved Harley, Emmy latching onto me. I
hadn’t even seen them approach, having been overwhelmed by the noises and
chaos. All I saw were slivers of the First Night, utterly terrorized by how
fast paced the attack had been. Almost like I’d lost myself in that memory,
frozen by how vivid the pictures, smells and sounds were. Good thing Sandy was
there, shouting words I couldn’t translate because I was such a startled mess.
She guided us into the office we’d been in minutes earlier, and took cover
behind the desk there. Shutting the door and locking it, she caught her breath
while Emmy and I crouched low to the floor, holding onto each other with
superstrength caused by fear. Harley fiddled with his jacket, hastily adjusted
his rifle strap so that he could check the chamber.

            Through
the windows, we watched survivors flee the incoming creatures, Sandy lowering
herself to a crouch within the door’s only solid panel. Above and around her,
solid black humanoid creatures crawled the walls, pounced through the air with
chilling shrieks, taking down people with ease. People were being killed beyond
that glass, screaming in horror and fear before dying at the claws of these
things. They moved so fast that I couldn’t quite make out their features
– plus I ducked my head so they couldn’t see me, either, and I shook
uncontrollably as I listened to people die.

            A
set of doors opened from our right, revealing Benson as he hissed at us to stay
low and follow him. I pushed Emmy ahead of me, needing something to do.
Otherwise I’d have stayed clutching that desk leg forever, and knowing that the
teen needed guidance helped me. Sandy crawled along behind me, and Harley
followed. Benson prompted us to our feet and gestured at another doorway, this
one leading into the medical offices. It was dark and we couldn’t see a thing,
so Emmy and I waited near the doorway for the others.

            Once
he returned, Benson used a flashlight to lead the way through some overturned
tables and supplies. I reached out, fumbling with shaking hands, to grab what I
could, stuffing them into my hoodie pockets. Sandy grew annoyed with my task
and pushed me to keep me moving. At the other end of the room, Chloe propped a
door open and hissed at us to hurry up.

            “Did
you see dad anywhere?” I heard Harley ask her in a low whisper, as Sandy pushed
me and Emmy through the doorway and guided us towards the outside. It was stark
cold, the school grounds were seemingly empty – but the night air echoed
with alien shrieks and the screams of the living. It was not a comforting
sound. It made me want to cram myself back through that doorway and find a
place to hide.

            Before
I could look to Sandy for more guidance, she was up on her feet and hissing at
me and Emmy to follow. We did, Emmy holding onto my hand with the strength of a
man, almost making me cry out. Benson came up behind us, shielding us as he
encouraged us to run. The other two brought up the rear, and we were racing
across the empty school grounds for the perimeter fence.