Red Eye | Season 3 | Episode 3

by Riley, Claire C.

  “Dammit, Barrett. You’ll kill all of us.” Elias pushed him back, taking control of the wheel.

  “I’m trying to save us.” Barrett rolled down his window, pulling the gun from his rear holster.

  I turned in my seat. We hadn’t been fired at since Barrett had forced the truck to take a left. We were in one of the many towns skirting around Vegas. There wasn’t much out of the apocalypse ordinary here. Abandoned cars. Buildings with broken windows. A gas refueler was half out into the road, its driver’s door open and its driver hanging out of the opening, only the seatbelt keeping him from falling to the pavement.

  Barrett leaned from the window, his gun pointed, waiting.

  “Take another left at the next intersection. Then a right at the third light. It’s a longer way into the city, but safer.” He shifted, gun still waiting to fire.

  I turned around to study the scene behind us once again. What was he going to do? Or what was he waiting for?

  “Are you going to shoot the fuel truck?” I asked, waiting for the thunderous roar of exploding metal and gas bursting into flame. I’d seen it in movies hundreds of times. A well-placed shot and boom! Giant explosion.

  Both Nolan and Barrett barked out an awkward laugh, and my gaze went wide. The two men never, or at the least rarely, were on the same page.

  “What?”

  “Not like the movies, sweet cheeks. That tanker, unfortunately, is the low-pressure bulk liquid variety. It’ll burn, but no Hollywood explosion.” Barrett pulled his body fully into the truck and sat back against his seat.

  “We lost them?” Elias asked hopefully as he followed Barrett’s instructions and carried us closer to the city of sin.

  “Don’t jinx us, asshole,” Barrett grumbled back before pointing to indicate yet another turn. “If we get to my safe house in Vegas, then I’ll breathe easier.”

  “Great, Barrett. Lead us straight to a Sins hangout. Brilliant.” Rose’s voice was bitter.

  “For your information, UK, only me, myself, and I know about this place. We’ll be safe as—”

  “Don’t say safe as houses,” I butted in, halting his words. “Just don’t.”

  “We’ll be safe as a career criminal with a stolen kilo of cocaine waiting to hit the streets.” He shifted in his seat to quirk an eyebrow at me and give me his half-cocked boyish grin.

  I couldn’t muster up any sort of response. I just stared at him blankly, and then turned my face to look out the window. I felt… I felt nothing for him in that moment, I realized. Even the rage was quiet at the moment, as if the absence of the gunfire had allowed me a moment’s peace inside my altered, monster-tainted body.

  “On the other side of Vegas there’s a base, Rose.” Nolan was leaned into Rose, whispering. But my hearing was better than it used to be. “Nellis. I know a couple guys that used to work there.”

  “Do you think it will be safe?” Her voice shook, but her hands still gripped the axe handle fiercely. “God, do you think they’ll even still be alive?”

  “Hopefully. And it will be safer than any other place near Vegas,” he confirmed before kissing her gently on the forehead.

  I focused back on the scenery outside.

  If Rose didn’t want me, and I didn’t want to be with Barrett anymore, then I was alone.

  Alone.

  But maybe that was better.

  Maybe it was safer for everyone.

  With each passing day, I had less control over the beast inside.

  God, I’d nearly lost control earlier. In an enclosed truck, with Rose right next to me. I could have hurt her.

  So if she didn’t want to be near me anymore, then the last gift I could give her was to be as far away from me as possible.

  I could make it on my own.

  And, well, if I couldn’t…

  Maybe that was for the best too.

  Gunfire in the distance made all of us except Barrett instantly slide back down in our seats, away from danger. It wasn’t right behind us, but close enough.

  “Relax,” Barrett said, not bothering to even check behind the truck. “Sins wouldn’t give away their position like that.”

  “Unless it was some of those drugged-out kids playing wild wild west,” I reasoned, sitting up just enough to crane my neck and study the road behind us. We were past whatever town we’d been driving through, a stretch of exposed road behind us. “We’re vulnerable here.” I hated how weak I sounded.

  It made me think of when I was younger—about eleven, because that was the age my instructor would allow us to start pointe. After a full week of trying to dance in the brutal shoes, I’d finally managed to graduate from demi and three-fourth pointe positions. I’d wobbled in the air on unsure ankles. Despite being a skilled dancer, this was a whole new world.

  A new elevation.

  And I’d had the sore, bruised toes to prove it.

  I’d whined to my father, who’d quieted me quickly with his words—

  If I wanted to be a dancer, I’d have to accept the pain that came with it.

  If it became too hard, and I wanted to quit, then he’d support me.

  But he knew that dance was as integral to my person as the very marrow in my bones.

  He’d known I’d never quit.

  I just needed to know I could, if I wanted to.

  The tinted glass of the rear window exploded into the cab in a spray of sharp, glistening shards.

  “Shit!” Nolan yelled, yanking Rose down even further, their bodies nearly wedged into the space between the front and back seats. I joined them, shaking the memories from my head.

  Adrenaline spiked through my body.

  And my vision became tinged with pink. I fisted my hands, digging brutally into my palm with ragged nails.

  As I tried to control myself, I blinked slowly, and breathed even slower. When I refocused on the world, I caught Rose staring at me. She looked away quickly.

  But she could not run away from my monster in this small space.

  And neither could I, no matter how badly I wished to.

  “The state line isn’t far. There’s a big outlet mall right as you cross into Nevada. Lots of buildings. We can lose them there.” Barrett leaned out of his still open window and fired several shots behind us. A soft pop and then a screeching whine had us covering our eyes as he pulled back into the vehicle and checked his weapon. “That’s one out of commission. Bullseye.”

  “Yeah, only about half a dozen more,” Elias barked, maneuvering around a busted minivan.

  “Apocalypse is a bang-up time to become a glass-half-full kind of guy, Elias.” Barrett gave the driver a wry smile, and then shoved his body back through the window to do more damage.

  Chapter Eight.

  Rose

  “Pull in there!” Nolan barked at Elias, pointing out of the right-hand side window towards what looked to me like a caravan graveyard.

  I mean, they were bigger than caravans, but I couldn’t remember the word for them at the moment. Besides, that’s basically what they were.

  We weren’t at the mall that Barrett had talked about after a heated debate between Nolan, Elias, and Barrett. I stayed out of it since I didn’t know my way around this country and also didn’t want to be responsible if my idea ended up getting us all killed. Sam hadn’t said anything in a long time, but I’d caught her watching me every once in a while. She looked so sad and I wanted to comfort her, but refused to back down on my stance.

  She had been willing to leave me and Nolan to die.

  She’d traded her safety and her happiness for ours.

  There was no coming back from that.

  No matter how much my heart ached each time I saw her face.

  “An RV ain’t going to be as fast as this truck, Nolan, or did that beatdown you took mush up what little brain cells you have left?” Barrett growled, turning to glare at Nolan beside me.

  “There’s a workshop where we can hide this truck, and then we can camp down in one of the RVs for th
e night and lose your buddies, asshole. Besides, this truck isn’t going to get us much further,” Nolan said, and even though he was ten steps from heaven after being almost killed in the arena, he sounded fierce and mean and Barrett glowered in defeat.

  “He’s right,” Elias chimed in as he pulled into the RV center and followed the road down towards the entrance. “This thing is almost out of commission. I think they hit the gas tank and we’re leaking fuel. Not to mention that we’ve got no back window anymore. I say we hide this truck and take an RV.”

  “Fuck!” Barrett snarled, leaning back in his seat. He was not the type of guy who liked following someone else’s lead. He was being a sore loser and I wanted to scream at him: “We're in the middle of the end of the fucking world! Grow up! What you want doesn’t always matter!”

  But that last thought made me glance over at Sam.

  What he wanted obviously did matter. It mattered to the one person who I thought would be by my side until the very end. Until we couldn’t go any further, and we gave up the ghost. Together.

  But she’d chosen Barrett.

  I had to stop dwelling on it, had to stop caring.

  It felt impossible though.

  Elias pulled the truck to a stop by the entrance. The blue and white sign that had once been cheery and inviting was now broken. A huge chunk of the wood was missing, like something had hit it at full force. Most of the sign’s large letters were either missing completely or were scattered on the ground in front so now all the sign said was C G WO.

  I stared up at it with worry. Like everything in this world, it was broken and frightening and I was automatically untrusting of this new unknown place. Who knew what had happened here and what remained behind? Sometimes it was better the Devil you know, but with the news that the fuel tank had been hit, there was no choice but to dump this thing and hide out here now.

  The gates to get to the RVs were locked, and Barrett automatically jumped out to take a look. He grabbed the thick chain which was wrapped around the lock and gave it a little tug before letting it go and coming back towards the truck. He moved to the back of the truck and rummaged in the boot before coming out with a hammer and storming back towards the gate. He raised the hammer and then slammed it down on the lock, hitting it with surprising accuracy and strength. It broke on the third hit, and Barrett tugged the chain away and slid the gates open.

  Elias drove our truck in through the gates and Barrett closed them after him, loosely wrapping the chain around them to keep us protected. Elias kept on driving towards the right and then parked round the back of the building, away from prying eyes. Only then did I take a breath.

  “You okay?” Nolan said automatically as Elias opened his door and climbed out.

  I glanced sideways to Sam, and she took the hint and opened her door to get out. I nodded at Nolan.

  “Yeah, I just need a moment without someone shooting at us,” I replied.

  “I hear that,” he agreed. “Come on, let’s check this place out. Hopefully it will be as safe as it looks, and maybe we can bed down for the night.”

  His words lingered in the air between us and a blush worked its way up my cheeks. He stared into my face, and for a moment the world went silent as we let some semblance of peace settle between us.

  So much had happened recently, it was hard to take stock of it all. But the one thing that had remained was Nolan. He’d been my friend and my protector. And somewhere through all of that, something else was blossoming.

  In a world of so much death, where everything was falling silent, something beautiful and profound was awakening between us.

  Barrett slammed his fist against the window three times and we both startled. “Come on, stop getting all dewy eyed and help us get the fuck out of sight before the Sins find us. We’re backed into a damn corner here, and since this was your smart-ass idea,” he said, glaring through the window at Nolan, “you can take responsibility for this little life-or-death situation we’ve got going on.”

  Nolan held his middle finger up against the window and I smirked as Barrett shook his head and moved away.

  “Come on,” Nolan said, opening his door for us to both climb out.

  The heat hit me like a force field, and I sucked in the arid Nevada air with a shiver. Something pungent and vile hung on the breeze, and that spelled trouble, but it didn’t smell like it was super close. At least for now.

  My skin was dampened with a light sheen of sweat as Elias and Barrett handed us each a gun to hold and we moved back around to the front of the RV center. I still had hold of my axe, though why I was so reluctant to let it go, I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like I was eager to swing it at someone’s head or anything, but no matter how much I wanted to drop the violent thing, I couldn’t. My fingers curled around the handle, gripping it tightly to my palm. The gun, on the other hand, hung limply in my grasp.

  We moved slowly around to the front of the building, sticking to the hot metal sides like glue, our eyes and ears alert for any danger, both zombie and other. Sam trailed behind me, and I wondered briefly why she wasn’t up front with Barrett. Had he sent her to the back to be safer? He was sexist as sexist could be, and it wouldn’t surprise me if, even after all this time and seeing how strong women could be—especially Sam—he was still acting like the alpha male in charge. I glanced behind me, unintentionally catching Sam’s gaze and wishing I hadn’t. Her eyes were pink, like the stench of death in the air was making her ravenous, and I automatically moved further away from her.

  I realized, with such a profound sadness that it caught me by surprise, that there really was no trust there anymore. I pushed the thoughts and feelings to the back of my mind; thinking about Sam and her betrayal had a way of making my heart hurt that I couldn’t explain. I’d lost everything in this…this…apocalypse…yet the loss of her friendship was the worst of all. More so than the loss of my family and friends back home, because at least I could pretend that they were alive and okay, even if my mind told me I was wrong.

  But with Sam, she’d betrayed me.

  She’d turned her back on me.

  She’d left me for dead.

  And worse still was that she didn’t seem even vaguely apologetic about it. Only miserable because she was fighting her weird monster urges.

  Barrett let out a single short, sharp whistle that drew everyone’s attention to him and he pointed towards the corner up ahead. Nolan nodded, and I guessed this was some army code for something. Elias had already gone on ahead and Barrett quickly followed suit, with Nolan and I and then Sam.

  The place had been locked up tight, but there were still smears of what could only be blood on the ground at our feet and I stepped cautiously, not wanting to make any noise and attract anything to our direction.

  I was still hoping and praying that we’d left the Sins and all of their depravity behind when the roar of vehicles sounded out in the distance and Nolan grabbed me to duck behind an RV. Sam had no choice but to follow, and I pulled myself to Nolan’s side and as far away from her as possible.

  “Sins,” Nolan breathed out, and I nodded. “Think they’re driving on,” he added, peering around the side of the RV. I leaned forwards to look and watched as a small convoy of vehicles sped by. One particularly large truck drove down the short drive towards the RV entrance and I held my breath, my adrenaline burning through my veins in worry as it came to a stop. The truck idled as the driver's door opened and a man I didn’t recognize but understood to belong to the Sins stepped out and took a brief look around. He headed to the front entrance of the RV center and pulled on the doors. They rattled under his palm as he tugged on them, but they were still securely locked and he stepped back and looked up at the falling signs before glancing left and right, eyeing the chains wrapped around the locks on the fences.

  A loud banging suddenly came from inside of the RV center and he jumped back, startled, before giving his head a soft shake and climbing back in his truck, apparently satisfied that this plac
e was only filled with zombies and not us.

  For once I was grateful for the hungry undead.

  The truck did a three-point turn and sped back the way it came quickly, rushing to catch up with the rest of the convoy, and I loosened my grip on my axe and breathed a sigh of relief.

  Barrett and Elias popped their heads out from around an RV further up and Elias gave a thumbs-up sign.

  “All clear, let’s move,” Nolan said, and took off in their direction.

  Once we were back as one group, we huddled together to talk out a plan of action.

  “Clearly there’s something ‘round here,” Barrett said, jerking his head towards an undistinguishable mass of bones that had been picked clean.

  “Zombie?” Elias asked.

  “Or animal,” Barrett said. “Who knows. Whatever it is needs finding and eliminating so we can try and rest a little easier tonight. The Sins won’t give up looking for us, so we’ll need to get back on the road tomorrow and head to my place in Las Vegas, but we can rest tonight.”

  “Once we find whatever monster is in here with us…” I said darkly.

  Barrett’s mouth pulled up into a dark smile. “There are many monsters in here with us, darlin’. We’re just trying to find the one that’s the most immediate danger.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, my grip tightening on my axe once more.

  Whatever happened, I wanted him dead before this thing was over.

  He deserved it more than anyone I’d ever met, and I wouldn’t care if I was the one to have to do it.

  The thought was startling to me. My hate for him was more vibrant than I’d realized.

  Could I really do it?

  Could I actually kill Barrett?

  Put a bullet in his brain…an axe to his skull…a knife to his heart.

  I knew with certainty that I could, and I felt a small portion of my soul wither and die before floating away on a wisp of air.

  This world, these people, they were changing me. They were making me a survivor, someone who could and would overcome the odds, but they were also changing me in the most brutal of ways. I was becoming more of a monster than perhaps even Sam was.