by C C Roth
“Yikes, this is creepy,” Navin said.
“Huh, it’s sort of calm and quiet. I like it.”
“You would.”
There were plenty of shoes and clothes left behind but it looked like a jack-in-the-box had popped open and spewed out footwear all over the place. I grabbed a three-inch red heel and dangled it from my finger, trying to look ridiculously seductive.
“Does this do anything for you?” I asked in a breathy voice.
“Yes, it does actually,” he grinned. “So, you should probably put it back.”
I chucked it behind me. “There’s no match anyway. Besides what’s the point in wearing heels? I never got it. You can’t do anything if you’re wearing those spikes on your feet.”
Navin cleared his throat and gave me a knowing look. “That’s not entirely accurate. You can do plenty of things in those shoes.”
“Gross. Guys are so nasty.”
“Yes, we are. I’m okay with it though.”
We climbed around an actual mountain of shoes and several knocked over shelves. Whoever had trashed the place had really gone to town. Even the ceiling tiles had been knocked out in some places, leaving gaping black squares above us.
“Okay, who does this?” Navin asked, looking around us at the devastation. “I mean have you ever once in your life thought to yourself, ‘gee, I think I’m going to go tear apart a shopping mall’?”
I turned my head up thoughtfully, considering the idea.
“Sam, that was a joke. Ugh, never mind. Of course, you have.”
I laughed at his annoyance. “Not everyone is like you, Navin. Sometimes people just need to explode and break stuff.” I jumped onto a shelf then threw myself up to the ceiling, taking a white foam tile with me as I came down.
“Good god, you’re like an angry monkey,” he scowled at me as I jumped up and down and beat on my chest.
“C’mon, it’s fun. Here,” I handed him a boot. “Throw this.”
He gave his “I’m not impressed” face. “Throw it? Why?”
“Because. Just do it.”
“Fine.” He lightly tossed the boot and it landed with a sad thump three feet away.
“Wow, that was awful. Just throw the flipping boot. As hard as you can this time. I am officially challenging your manhood, and as a guy you’re not allowed to back out.”
“That’s incredibly sexist. What if I challenged your womanhood?”
“Huh, that doesn’t sound right. I don’t think it means the same thing.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think that out before I said it. Sorry.”
“Come on, just do it! No one is here. Who cares?” I shoved the boot back in his hands.
“God, you’re annoying. Here, fine. Will this end the conversation?” He looked around the room, smiling as he found his target. “Got it.”
He pulled back like a professional pitcher and really let the boot rip. It sailed across the room and knocked a mannequin’s upper half off the stand, sending the shocked plastic half-woman clattering eerily across the floor.
“I knew you had it in you. Don’t you feel better now?”
“Yeah, a little actually. Now let’s go find clothes so we can leave before you burn this place down.”
“That’s like the third time you’ve said that to me. Why do you always assume I want to set things on fire?”
“It’s just an instinct. Come on, Crazypants. I see the kids’ section over there,” he winked playfully and patted my head.
“Very funny. Ha, ha. Yes, I am short.” I gave his arm a shove and hopped over some more shelves, heading toward the clothes. “Oh, jeans! See you later!” I dove onto a pile and started digging for my size.
“Right, I’ll leave you guys alone. I think I see some stuff over there we could use.”
After five minutes I had managed to rescue three awesome pairs of jeans from the pile and was heading for the next massive mess of threads across the room.
“You finding anything good?” I yelled over my shoulder.
“Yeah, there’s a bunch of t-shirts over here. I’m grabbing some for the guys back at The Home. You?”
“Hell yeah. This is kind of awesome, getting to shop without having a price limit.” I had amassed an armful of outfits and was looking around wondering where to go next. The light pouring in from outside was just enough for the main room, but the dressing rooms would for sure be pitch black.
I shouted, “Any chance there’s a mirror over there?”
“Yeah, why?”
“On my way.” I bounded over, arms full and ready to try on all my finds but stopped short in front of the mirror. “It’s broken,” I said annoyed.
“Yeah well apparently, sometimes people just need to ‘explode and break stuff.’” He looked proud of his full circle moment.
“Don’t use air quotes at me. It’s beneath you.”
“Noted. Sam, you don’t need a mirror just pick your favorites and let’s go.”
“But I don’t know my favorites until I try them on.”
“You’d look great in anything. You look great in the crappy outfit you have on. This is stupid. Let’s go.”
“Aha,” I pointed my finger triumphantly, “you do think my outfit is crappy.”
He laughed and threw his hands up. “It’s not awesome. But no one cares. No one is posting selfies, except for people in LA. I assume they’re always posting selfies even in the apocalypse. But what does it matter?”
I sighed and dropped the clothes on the floor. “Fine, I’ll just take a few. Unless…”
Lightbulb
“What?” he looked at me cautiously.
“You’re here. You could be my mirror.”
He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off.
“Yes, you can tell me which ones fit better.”
I was super proud about finding such an awesome solution to my dilemma that I didn’t bother to wait for his answer. I turned around and tugged my shirt over my head.
“Sam, what the hell? No, I am not playing dress up with you. This is not…”
“What? It’s not appropriate?” I looked over my bare shoulder to talk but he’d turned around, hiding his eyes. “I don’t think appropriate matters anymore, Navin.”
“Of course, it matters. God, Sam if—"
“What’s the big deal?”
“Your brother is a giant, that’s the big deal and I don’t think he’d appreciate me staring at your naked body.”
I giggled, enjoying his discomfort. “I’m only a little naked, Mike isn’t here, your eyes are closed and besides, it’s just you.”
He suddenly turned around, a scowl on his face. “What do you mean, ‘just me’?”
I tugged a tank top down before he could get a look at anything too valuable. “I don’t know. It’s just, we’re friends, right?”
He stepped toward me, looking a little pissed.
“Friends. What you mean is you wouldn’t think of me as more than a friend, so you don’t care about being naked in front of me.”
“What? I don’t know I just don’t think of you like that. I don’t think of anyone like that really.”
His stare paused me from reaching for a pair of pants. Something was churning in his brain, I could see it. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to yell at me or not, but I had obviously pushed the wrong button…or the right one. His eyes were intense and I was finding it difficult to look away, but I didn’t know if I wanted to either. A flutter in my chest made me breathe in sharply as if I was startled, but I must’ve been having a temporary lapse because nothing ever startled me.
“Navin, I…”
“Don’t. It’s okay,” he said.
He took one more step forward, sending another flutter through me as he closed the distance between us. His face was only inches from my own.
“Sam, I don’t want you to strip in front of me like I’m your best girlfriend because I don’t want to be just your friend. And you don’t need to try on any of those
clothes because like I said, you look great in everything. You’d look great wearing nothing too, but I’d rather see that when it means something more to you than just using me as a mirror. I see you, Sam just the way you are, and you are amazing.” He searched my face for a response.
Crap.
It hadn’t occurred to me to think of Navin as anything other than a partner in crime. In my mind he was taking over the empty void left by Nia; someone to confide in and act ridiculous with. I’d been moving in fast forward ever since we left the cabin so the idea of something romantic between us just wasn’t anything I’d thought about. But standing that close to him, I was starting to think about it pretty quickly. He was undeniably handsome and tall and sweet. The sudden realization piqued my curiosity as something crept up inside me, and it wasn’t my cold friend…it was something else altogether. I suddenly felt very aware that I had just been a little naked a moment ago and heat rushed into my cheeks.
His mouth turned slightly as he saw the color in my face, “So you do get embarrassed. That’s good to know.” He ran his hand along my arm, sending another wave of something foreign vibrating through me. “Sam, I don’t expect you to feel the same way about me. But I at least want you to think about it.”
“Thinking is overrated. It takes too long.” And before I knew it, I had reached a hand up to his neck so my lips could meet his.
A heat washed over me and I melted into him, letting his long arms envelope me and pull me in. I lost myself for however many blissful moments that kiss lasted. It was completely new territory and the adrenaline rush pummeled me in fantastic waves. Feeling his body against mine was a thrill I hadn’t felt since hanging off a moving train. I was immediately addicted, and I wanted more. More tentative touches, more of his hands on my back, more exploring his suddenly delicious lips. More everything. I had never kissed a guy like that before so I didn’t have anything to compare it to, but I thought it was probably the best kiss anyone has ever had in the middle of a war-ravaged shopping mall.
────♦────
We left the mall with a trunk full of new clothes and some other handy finds for The Home like shoes, socks, and a bunch of sweatshirts; all Navin’s idea. He was thoughtful like that whereas I was pumped just to have jeans that fit right. We didn’t talk about the seriously steamy make out session in the clothing store, but we couldn’t ignore it either. I was twirling on the inside and judging by the grin on his face he was feeling the same.
“You better stop smiling like that or Mike will punch you the second you walk in the door.”
That did it. His smile dropped. “Crap. I’m a terrible liar, Sam. Like really, really bad.”
“Yeah, we’ve met. It’s not one of your strong points.”
His hands twisted nervously on the steering wheel as his brain went into hyper drive.
“Okay, so I’ll just not talk to Mike. Or look at him. Or be in the same room with him.”
I chuckled. “Um, we’re trapped in this house together for a while and we sleep in the same room.”
“Oh god, yeah we do. Crap, what was I thinking?”
I leaned over to the driver seat and gave his cheek a kiss, nuzzling his neck. “Maybe you were thinking you wanted to kiss me.”
His breathing changed and he didn’t look so nervous anymore. “You’re going to get us killed of you do that again. I’m trying to drive.”
“Do what? This?” I playfully made a trail of kisses on his neck, giggling as he turned the car awkwardly around the corner.
He shook his head. “You’re such a pain.”
“I hear that a lot.”
“Okay, I’m pulling over. We need to talk about this.”
“No talking. It’ll ruin it. Just pull over.”
He rounded the corner and slammed on the brakes almost sending me into the dashboard.
“Geez, I was just messing with you.”
“No. Sam, look,” he said pointing in front of us.
I turned straight ahead, immediately annoyed. “You have got to be flipping kidding me.”
“Again?” Navin asked bewildered.
Unflipping believable.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. In the middle of the road, lying in wait, was the same damn group of hipsters we’d just run into two days ago. They must have worked off a system of scouts using walkie-talkies to let the group know where to set up an ambush. Smart, really. The scout radios back and tells them which way their target car is headed, and the ambush group cuts them off. Easy, efficient, smart. What wasn’t smart was not recognizing our car. I mean they had just done this to us, and it hadn’t gone well at all.
Navin rested his hand on the gear shift. “Umm, should I just go?”
“No. This is ridiculous.” I put on my mask and gloves and made sure my rifle was loaded.
The guy I’d shot in the foot was all bandaged up and standing out in front with a cane. Not an intimidating look. He sighed heavily with recognition when I stepped out of the car with my rifle drawn.
“Why do you insist on bothering us?” I asked.
“Dammit, it’s you. You messed up my foot, kid!”
“Yeah, well you were being rude.”
“Look, I’m just trying to keep my people safe and fed. Why don’t you just hand over your supplies and then you can go.”
“You must be a slow learner. You’re going to let me go? Really?” I looked around at the suspenders, horn rimmed glasses, and sharp angled bangs staring back at me.
What the hell.
Without thinking I marched up to him quickly. I didn’t stop until my barrel was the only distance between us. He stumbled backward, losing his balance on his bad leg.
“What is your name?” I demanded.
“Axle.”
“Well, Axle. You should be ashamed of yourself.” Then I reached my hand back and slapped him hard across the face. I mean the sound of it echoed down the street. His crew of lazy legging-clad followers stood frozen, their guns still trained on me. “Stop bothering us, Axle. It’s really annoying. You have almost ruined a nearly perfect day for me.” I gave him the finger then skipped back to the car. No one shot me. No one even moved.
“Do something!” Axle shouted to the people behind him.
“What do you want us to do?” glasses asked.
“Maybe try shooting at them?”
“I don’t know, shooting a gun would be really dangerous. We’ve never actually had to shoot anyone before, Axle.”
“Well now you do! Shoot her! Are you just going to let her walk up here and slap me?” He was shouting and turning in a half circle on his bum foot, staring in disbelief at his useless posse. They all shrugged unanimously.
“Geez, poor guy,” Navin said. “I feel sort of bad for him.”
“Eh, feel bad for his pants. C’mon let’s go. They’re not going to do anything.”
“Who are these guys anyway?”
“Axle’s Hipsters.”
“That sounds like a crappy indie band.”
“I think it was a crappy indie band actually.”
The jokes were flying out of us the whole way back. It was surreal to think I hadn’t noticed Navin that very morning, but I suddenly couldn’t take my eyes off him. I had been so bored being stuck at the warehouse, stuck at The Home, and stuck in a non-fight with Mike that I was super grateful for the distraction. I’d found a new way to feed my internal adrenaline junky and it was pushing for more. Navin practically had to slap me off of him as we pulled up to the rainbow house on State Street.
“Okay, just be cool. Please don’t give your brother a reason to strangle me. Please?”
My grin was wicked, “I’ll really, really try but only because you’re cute when you’re begging.”
His face did not relax, “Why don’t I feel better?”
“Chill out. I’ll ignore you, okay?”
“Okay, good. I can do this. I’ll just act normal. I can do that.”
I giggled. He looked like he w
as having a legit panic attack and his face was anything but normal. This was basically the best day ever. I had a new wardrobe, an adorable guy to kiss, and I got to torture Navin. Things were really looking up.
6 Always Here
We woke in the middle of the night to a blood curdling scream echoing through the house. The type of scream that sends terror rushing through your body and sets your fight or flight in motion. Without hesitation we all bolted out into the hall and down the stairs to see what could possibly be happening to this poor soul. Most of the house had done the same and the tiny hallways were soon jam packed with onlookers as the scream continued to come from one of the bedrooms. Suddenly Mitchell appeared, his face concerned but stoic as he parted the children and dashed into the room. The screaming stopped and we all exchanged worried looks as we tried to figure out what the hell was going on. I pushed forward and peered into the dark room, a candle was the only light available and it cast an eerie glow, distorting shadows and faces. Mitchell sat on the bed next a young girl who was sobbing quietly as he rocked her back and forth in a gentle hug. A girl about my age came out and waved everyone off.
“It’s just Alexis. She’s fine.”
Most of the kids nodded and shuffled back to their rooms as if that were explanation enough.
“What happened? Is she okay?” Mike asked.
“Yeah. She has night terrors sometimes. It’s a real bitch to wake her up but Mitchell always calms her down. It’s fine. We’ve got this.”
He nodded and turned away, but I couldn’t help but stare at this girl who was so visibly shaken up. Her scream had sent my adrenaline into overdrive and I was almost let down to find there was no treacherous under-the-bed monster for me to battle. I waited by the door and watched as the girl lay back down after another reassuring hug from Mitchell.
“Is she okay?” I asked as he joined me in the hall.
“Mostly,” he closed the door behind him. “Alexis was in a bad situation before coming to us two years ago. She’s still dealing with a lot of trauma.”
