by Simone Pond
“What kind of things?”
“Mandated viruses that will kill off a lot of people. Dropping bombs on every city and neighborhood across the country. Messed up shit.”
“That won’t happen here. It’s the nation’s capital. The White House and all that.”
“I’m surprised it wasn’t first on their list.”
“What list? What are you talking about?” I jerked away and leaned against the passenger side door. The moment I’d been dreaming about for the last two years had just turned down a dark road. I didn’t want to believe him, but I knew he was telling the truth.
“Listen, Toni. There’s not much time. I came to get you so we can get the hell outta town. Tonight.”
“What? I can’t just leave my home. My sister and friends.”
“If you stay, you’ll die. They’re gonna wipe out everything and everyone.”
I didn’t want to cry in front of the boy I’d been crushing on. I wanted to be a strong woman capable of handling anything, but I was cracking right down the middle. How could I leave my little sister and my best friends? What about my parents? They were annoying and strict, but I loved them. I couldn’t leave them behind to die. But I also wanted to be with Matt. Could I have it both ways?
He took my hand again. “I’m sorry to break it down like this, but it’s better to know the truth than get blindsided. These pricks are using the Repatterning to kill us off. We need to fight back and try to survive this genocide.”
I wiped away some tears with my free hand. I was a slobbery mess, but Matt didn’t seem to mind. “Genocide is a strong word.”
He kissed my fingers and then my wrist, sending ripples of endless chills up and down my arm. My chest swelled and I could’ve burst wide open.
“Wait, Matt . . .” I mumbled, making a half-assed attempt to stop him.
“We’ve waited long enough,” he whispered.
He was right about that. And if he were running off to the Shenandoah Mountains, I might not ever see him again. I wasn’t going to miss my chance––again. He pulled me closer and kissed my wet cheek. His soft lips gently made their way to my mouth. My body quivered from the top of my shaved head down to my toes. The energy sparked between our bodies.
“Do you feel this?” I leaned back, letting his lips move down my neck.
“Oh, I feel it.”
Our energy was like a gale force swooping down from the mountains. He pulled me through the small opening between the front seats. We landed in the backseat, where there was a lot more room to spread out. I had kissed a few boys at dances and parties. I had even come close to giving myself to them, but nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to the ecstasy that accompanied Matt’s touch. I stretched out on the backseat, ready to let him take my dangling thread of virginity. His lips moved from my mouth to my neck, while his fingers reached under my shirt, caressing my waist and inching lower. The zipper of my shorts went down.
But then he stopped.
He pulled himself off and jumped into the front seat, leaving me sprawled out and unfinished.
“Holy shit.” He panted, smoothing his hair back into place.
I sat up, extremely irritated. “What’s going on?”
“You father’s here!”
My heart froze. “Oh, man.” I zipped my shorts and readjusted my bra.
The rap at the window rattled the glass. Matt slowly opened the door.
“Hello, sir.”
“Is my daughter, Antonia, with you?” My father’s voice remained steady, but I could hear his blood boiling.
Matt looked back at me and I nodded. I wasn’t getting out of that one.
“Yes, sir.”
“Send her out, please.”
Matt opened the side door.
“Hi, Dad.” I got out and stood in front of him.
“You’re past curfew. Not just mine, but the mandated curfew. What the hell are you doing out here, Antonia?”
“I was, um, I was . . .” I couldn’t stop thinking that I was about to have sex in the backseat of the minivan before he interrupted the moment.
“She was helping me, sir.” Matt cut in, taking my father’s attention off me, so I could pull myself together.
“With what? Fleeing before you’re supposed to ship out on Monday?”
“That’s pretty accurate. I’m not about to go forward with that crock of shit draft. Pardon me, sir. But I’m not going out like that.”
“And you thought you’d involve my daughter?”
“Well, I guess I wanted to, um . . .”
“He needed me to help sneak his mother out of the house, Dad,” I blurted. “He can’t be seen in public. Not with the Planners watching.”
My father eyed us both for a few moments, assessing the situation like any ex-military man would do.
“I’m not buying it. I’d bet my last dollar that Matt came to get you and make a run for it.”
Damn, he was good––a human lie detector.
“Not entirely true, sir. I was hoping to convince a bunch of people to make a run for it. I came for Toni first.”
My father’s stern eyes bore into me. “And you were actually considering this plan?”
“I hadn’t made my decision yet. I wanted to make sure he was a good kisser first.” I tried to break some of the ice frosting the air.
My father didn’t find my quip funny. Instead, he grabbed the back of my neck and pushed me toward our house. I looked back at Matt. He mouthed something, but I was never good at reading lips. My father shoved me along, not saying a single word, which was way worse than when he yelled. Before we got to the front door, I glanced down the street one last time, but the minivan was gone.
Matt was gone.
“Consider yourself on restriction for the rest of the summer.” My father slammed the door and bolted the lock.
“But summer hasn’t even started.”
“Call it a preemptive strike.”
“I hate you,” I muttered under my breath.
“No you don’t. You hate rules.”
He was right about that. Especially rules that were completely ridiculous. Like mandated curfews, or young boys being shipped off to fight in some fake war.
In my room, I fell onto the bed and cried into the pillows. After a few minutes, the door quietly opened and Andi came in.
“Sorry.” She sat next to me. “I’m not a very good sister leaving you like that. But I didn’t wanna get in trouble.”
“It’s not your fault. I should’ve come home first, then snuck out.”
“Was it Mrs. Wesson? Or Matt?”
“What do you think?”
She smiled and we both laughed.
“What did he want? To bang you before he ships out on Monday?”
“He’s not going. He’s going to Shenandoah with some other people. They’re hiding in the mountains before . . .”
“Before what?”
She was too young to hear the truth, but I couldn’t lie to my sister. “Before the end of everything.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The Planners are going to use some mandated vaccine to kill us off, then they’re going to burn everything down.”
Andi started crying. “Why? For what?”
I put my arm around her shoulder. “I don’t know. Matt didn’t get to tell me that part. We got kinda distracted.”
She looked up, grinning through her tears. “Did you do it?”
“Almost. Until Dad showed up.”
“Gross!” She laughed, shoving me away.
Something clicked against my window. The sound was familiar, like a small pebble hitting the glass. Lynn had used that tactic many times to get me to sneak out with her. No way would I leave the house again and risk getting caught; I was already in enough trouble. She’d have to turn her skinny ass around and go back home. I gently opened the window and peeked down to the grass.
Matt stood there, waving for me to come down.
“You�
��re crazy,” I whispered through the screen.
“Is it Lynn?” Andi poked up behind me. “Oh, no,” she groaned.
“Quiet, or the sergeant will hear you.” I pinched her arm.
“Ouch!” she shouted.
We froze, waiting to see if our father had heard us. I held up my finger, instructing Matt to chill the hell out for a minute. Andi tiptoed out of my room and back to hers before we got caught. A harsh silence filled the room. There wasn’t any other movement in the house, so I figured my father was either asleep, or consumed by the news channel. I went back to the window and peered down to Matt.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He folded his arms across his chest, smiling. “I’m not leaving without you.”
The moonlight beamed in his eyes, and I was right there with him. It was like we were being sucked into a tornado that was spinning across the galaxy. The feelings were unstoppable. We had to be together. Nothing could get in our way, not my ex-military father or the dipshit Planners.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“This whole thing. It doesn’t seem real. You coming back for me. Running away together, like Romeo and Juliet.”
“They didn’t run away together. They died.”
“Hmm.” Not quite the ending I had written about in my diary.
“You and I––we’re gonna live. But we gotta leave. Like now.”
Andi had crept back into my room and nudged my arm. “Tell him I’m coming too.” She pointed to her pink suitcase.
I held back my laughter, wondering what she had packed. I pictured a stack of fashion magazines, her hairdryer, and her favorite shorts that had been getting a lot of airtime.
“Are you kidding with that? You’re taking a pink suitcase to live in the mountains?”
Before I could stop her, she leaned out the window and called softly to Matt, “I’m coming too.”
He gave the thumbs up.
What was I supposed to do? I wanted to live, but I didn’t want to leave my parents or our friends behind. But if I didn’t do something, I’d miss out on everything. “Is this really happening?”
“Come on, sis. We’re kinda out of options.” Andi went to my closet, pulled out my backpack, and tossed it to me. “Pack.”
“What about Mom and Dad?” I asked.
“You know they’d never leave this house. They’ve been here for over twenty years. They’re going down with this thing. We’re young and still have a lot of living to do.”
Staring at my little sister, I was shocked and awed by her bravery. She was willing to walk away from everything she loved to go live in the mountains. Her courage inspired me. I shoved some clothes, running shoes, a blanket, and my diary into the backpack.
I looked at her pink suitcase. “You don’t have your hairdryer in there, do you?”
“No. But I did bring a towel.”
The two of us slipped out of my bedroom and made it downstairs without getting caught. She grabbed a box of crackers from the cabinet, and I got a few bottles of water. I scribbled a short a note to our parents, keeping my emotions intact. There was no time for sentiment.
In the yard, Matt was waiting with a huge smile. He kissed my cheek and took Andi’s pink suitcase. We stuck to the shadows, making our way down the street toward the minivan.
“I think we should get the girls,” I said.
“We can try,” Matt said. “But if they don’t wanna come, we don’t have time to convince them.”
“Agreed,” I said.
He put the minivan in neutral and let it roll down the street. Once we were far enough away from my house, he turned on the ignition and drove through the back roads to Lynn’s house.
“What about your mom?” I kept watching the back window to make sure we weren’t being followed.
“She’s not coming,” he said.
“Why not?”
“She’s gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Sleeping pills.” He pressed his lips together and stayed focused.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay? I mean, of course you’re not okay. I’m sorry.” There was nothing else I could say to make it better.
“I’m just glad you’re here.” He grabbed my hand and held it tightly.
“You guys aren’t going to be all lovey-dovey are you?” Andi yawned from the backseat.
“Go to sleep,” I said.
We pulled over and parked in a cul-de-sac near Lynn’s house. I looked up at the moon. It was almost full. I wanted to kiss Matt again, but I knew once we got to the mountains that we’d have more time. We’d have a lot more time.
Books By Simone Pond
THE CITY CENTER
THE NEW AGENDA
THE MAINFRAME
THE TORRENT
VOICES OF THE APOCALYPSE: SHORT STORIES
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