Collide

by Shelly Crane

  “I’m sorry. I told you, things are just intense for me. I’m not used to this human...stuff.”

  “I get it, Merrick, ok. I do. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be you right now, but if you’re gonna be here with us, you have got to lighten up. Just because I touch your arm doesn’t mean acid’s gonna shoot out of my human fleshy skin, ok. I’ll try to keep my distance so you’ll be more comfortable.” I turned back around just as the elevator stopped.

  “That’s not what I think. Sherry, I don’t-”

  The doors opened and I bee lined for the bathroom, already holding two bulks of toilet paper. The amount of rejection was enough to last for quite a while. I really wasn’t interested in his reasoning. Repulsion is repulsion right?

  Seeking Roommate

  Chapter 6

  The first people to arrive from the elevator doors, as Merrick escorted them in, was a young couple introduced as Lillian and Michael. Michael’s Keepers name was Mitchell and being only the second Keeper I’d ever seen, looked normal enough. So he was right, there really was no way to tell by just looking at them. He was a little bit older with brown hair and eyes, extremely polite and even shook my hand with no problems and didn’t hyperventilate.

  Lillian was so sweet. Extreme blue eyes and a fluff of blonde hair and pale creamy skin that looked like it never saw the sun. She brought a plate full of brownies and blondies with her. Only the sweetest of the sweet would bring brownies to apocalypse. I loved her already.

  The second group was Polly, the Special and Piper, the Keeper. Polly was loud. Really loud. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen. Piper, who was so far the youngest Keeper, seemed a little... oh I don’t know, prickly, especially for a Keeper.

  Then there was Susan, the wife, Frank, the Special, and Kathy, the Keeper. Susan seemed scared out of her wits, very opinionated and talkatively nervous. Frank only seemed insulted to be under the guardianship of a women. His comment about Kathy ‘wearing the pants and him wearing the skirt in their relationship’ would have been funny except for his tone and was met with silence.

  Next was Margo, the mom, Celeste, the Special and Kay, the Keeper. She was just like every other Keeper, quiet, reserved, waiting, watching, polite but with a shock of shoulder length wavy red hair. Celeste was a tall sweet faced doll of yellow blonde and legs. Add her green eyes and it made her impossibly gorgeous even though she was so young. I smelled trouble before she was even introduced and then I could see it.

  Danny’s eyes bulged from his head. Where was Celeste’s Keeper? Why didn’t she Keep her away from him. He would certainly break her heart and then I’ll feel bad for not intervening. Just because they were the only ones in the same age group that was single didn’t mean they had to play house.

  Then there was a good looking pair of what seemed to be ‘good old boys’. Bobby the Special and Jeff the Keeper. Bobby was good looking but a little round, stocky. Jeff was good looking as well from the short glance I got of him, his skin was the color of barely creamed coffee.

  Bobby was wearing work boots and jeans with a polo shirt, a huge green duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. He met eyes with me first thing stepping off the elevator and I couldn’t help but smile back at his wide grin and cockiness. He cocked his head and winked at me before moving to side to let his Keeper off the elevator.

  And last off the elevator was Sam and his Keeper Lavonne. She was gorgeous, but not her fault, the body was gorgeous. She was probably gorgeous on the inside too and as selfless as Merrick was.

  These weren’t all the ones who had come but the ones I could remember names for and focus on. So many came in at one time, I’m horrible with names.

  As I stood on the wall with Danny and waited for Merrick’s prediction to come true, it literally unfolded right in front of our eyes.

  Not there an hour yet and already bickering over who will have what room had started, loudly. Someone else starting in on one of the Keepers about how dare they drag them down here with all these other people and not have better accommodations than this. That was Polly. The rest ran together in slurs and blurs and a few curses, I couldn’t even make it out anymore.

  I saw Lillian standing right next to Merrick, she even reached over to touch his arm to steady herself when she leaned to ask him something and he never flinched, not even a wince, as he leaned in to listen over the babble.

  I had had enough for today. Things to be put up in the kitchen were calling my name so I tried really hard not to roll my eyes as I turned to leave, but darn it, they wouldn’t listen. As I turned, I heard Susan yelling my name, wrong I might add.

  “Shirley! Do you have something to add here? Don’t you think that a couple of aged people should have the room closest to the bathroom before someone else should?” she called me out and glared at me, daring me to contradict her in front of everyone and darn it.

  I’d. Had. Enough.

  “Susan is it? I think...I think that we’re all stuck down here together and the last thing we need to be doing right now is fighting over rooms to sleep in, bathrooms and accommodations,” I said looking directly at her, then I opened my visual range to include everyone suddenly feeling a wind of inspiration. “Do you all realize what is happening outside? Has your Keepers told you as mine has because for the life of me, if I knew that they had, then there would be no way we’d be having this conversation right now.”

  The huddled Keepers seemed just as interested that I’d spoken up as the rest of them. Shocked even. The adrenaline pumping and lack of sugar and coffee put me on a roll and I couldn’t stop.

  “The world as we know it is ending. Don’t you see it? I’ve seen it and heard with my own ears. We’re not fighting each other. We’re fighting... extinction. I don’t know about you but I’m not spending what could possible be my last few days on this earth bickering over something as trivial as a bathroom. We should be grateful that we even have that much. We have no idea how bad it’s gonna get for us before this is over and there is no room to be petty with each other. And in fact...I’m sorry, Merrick.” I looked over and up into his dark green eyes, already looking in mine. “About the elevator. I was wrong. I shouldn’t...hmm...I shouldn’t be so sensitive. I’m sorry... I’m going to organize the kitchen.”

  As I turned on my heels and walk out, I could feel at least twenty sets of eyes on me. Not something I’d felt before but that was it. No screaming, no yelling ensued, no one followed after me to refute my outburst as allegations. Quiet shuffling was all I could hear. So no one wanted to hear another rant from the disgruntled help, huh?

  I started stacking the soup cans on the shelf above me, already the guilt and shame setting in, when Merrick came in behind me. I knew it was him before I turned around. He was pretty predictable about some things already.

  He didn’t speak a word, just started helping to put things away, glancing my way quickly every so often. Did he think that was helping, coming to assist me in silence? I was trying to keep my boiling blood under control. How could someone I barely knew anger me so much?

  It wasn’t Matt’s face, it was Merrick. He was hopelessly in my wrath. Apparently so was everyone else. I couldn’t stand it when people were mad at me.

  That wasn’t me. I didn’t want to be known as the crazy lecture lady, not a very good first impression at all. I sighed, feeling sorry for myself and felt Merrick glance over again, but I ignored him.

  At some point I stopped working and twirled a piece of hair, staring at the same box of rice before Merrick interrupted my thoughts with my name in my mind. My glued eyes pried away slowly and I looked up to his across the counter.

  “You did good back there. That’s what they needed to hear. Don’t beat yourself up about it,” he said firmly like he knew exactly what I was doing.

  “Didn’t you know I was gonna do that, mister future seer?”

  “No. You stunned quite a few of us actually. You changed it, because you knew about it beforehand. I told you they were gonna f
ight and so you were prepared.”

  “Yeah well, I think I was a little harsh. I feel bad. I’m not someone who yells at people. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “It was exactly what you should’ve done. They don’t want to listen to the Keepers right now because we’re different but you are just like them. You’ve had just a little more time to adjust than them. They aren’t mad at you either.”

  “I thought you couldn’t read my mind.”

  “I can’t, but I can read your face.” He chuckled slightly. “And don’t worry about earlier,” he said suddenly serious. “You don’t ever have to apologize to me.”

  I couldn’t look away from those eyes. He was so very serious. Intense. He wasn’t looking away either, for once. Was he trying to prove he meant what he said? I felt like I was trapped in his gaze, my breath seemed to be pulled out of me. Somehow, after a few sluggish seconds, I nodded and snapped myself out of it and turned to start on the soggy frozen foods, left on the counter too long.

  I tried to put things on the bottom so Merrick didn’t feel the need to come assist me, the height challenged. I felt him watching me, dissecting my every movement with his eyes, but I refused to look back at him and get swept away again. He stared at me for a long moment before returning to his work.

  I wanted to believe it was just curiosity, seeing what made us tick. Us humans. How and why we react the way we do up close but the way he looks at me... No. He wasn’t human and didn’t even have those kind of feelings. His eyes being so open just tricked me with their depth, making me see something that weren’t really there. He was just curios.

  I took a couple deep breaths to settle myself. What’s with those eyes. Matt never looked at me that way, in fact, I barely remember even that face on Matt at all. And why, if Merrick loathed me so much, did he still take the time to come and try to make me feel better? Must be some Keeper thing. It definitely wasn’t a human thing.

  The Keepers had a meeting to set up some kind of schedule for showers, meals, ect. They decided that females should have night showers while males had mornings. Of course there were complaints but not many and no yelling out in the open like before.

  There were six showers and toilet stalls so that would work. One more bathroom down the hall was parted, female and male already. Thank goodness but that one only had two toilet stalls. Grateful for a stall at all at this point.

  The place was a gold mine for people looking to hide out for while. I didn’t really see where there was much room to complain.

  Everyone seemed to be in agreement for showers and supper was a whatever-you-wanted-to-fix-for-yourself kind of thing. We had too many mixed foods to make huge meals for everyone.

  Most of the people were already in their rooms unpacking. Some put sheets up over the huge windows on each wall of the rooms. Good idea.

  As I walked to check up on Danny, in our room, I saw Susan come out of the bathroom, which was located directly next to her room. She just looked at me and then turned, not looking back before shutting the door. I giggled a frustrated laugh as I started walking again. Some people.

  As I made my way around the corner, I almost bumped into Bobby. He grabbed me with both hands in an overstated motion to catch me as if I would fall. He apologized, his gaze never leaving my face and he didn’t release me.

  “Hey there. Where’s the fire, beautiful?” he asked with the biggest grin.

  “Ha ha. Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. I’m a little rattled, I guess.”

  “Yep. Understandable.” He put his arm over my shoulders and I found myself smiling up at him like a frigging idiot. “We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m Bobby.”

  “Sherry.”

  “Well, Sherry, I know we just met and all but...I want you to know you can come talk to me any time you want to or need to. We’ll get through all this. You’ll see.”

  “Thanks, Bobby. I really appreciate it,” I said just as Merrick rounded the corner.

  I immediately pulled away from Bobby and gave us at least a two foot buffer zone. I had no idea why I did that. Who cared if Merrick saw Bobby hugging me? Merrick stopped for just a second, looking surprised but then composed himself and made the corner not looking at either of us.

  Bobby had been making a point to touch, look, stare, or speak to me at every opportunity since that afternoon. Every opportunity, which I liked at first but it was amazing how quickly it started to get old. There was no TV, no couches, no where to escape down there. We were all just kind of in each other’s space so I tried not to blame him too much, chalking it up to boredom, but it was more than that.

  I was cooking some lunch in the kitchen when Bobby came in looking fiercely confident. He came up to me while I stirred my pot and brushed his shoulder against mine.

  “Hey there.”

  “Hey,” I answered trying to sound normal.

  “What are you cooking in here?”

  “Clam chowder.”

  “Hmm... You know clams are considered an aphrodisiac.”

  He said it so calmly and easily that I thought he must be serious so I replied just as calmly.

  “I thought it was oysters, not clams.”

  He laughed loudly throwing his arm over me and squeezing my shoulder.

  “Girly, I was just joking. What kind of guy do you think I am.” Then he winked at me and grinned.

  I was completely and utterly lost so I chuckled a bit, hoping to cover.

  “So, what do you do?” I asked to change the subject.

  “Construction. HVAC.”

  “Oh. Hmm. Well, do you like it? Or did you, rather?”

  “Yep. It kept the ol’ guns-a-blazing.” He grinned and lifted his arm not around me and flexed his bicep, making the muscles jump up and down.

  Oh boy. My view of Bobby was quickly going down in a blaze of flames.

  At lunch the next day he grabbed my hand in the kitchen like we were a couple already while I waited for the soup to boil. I finally was able to pry myself from his grip and practically ran to my room with him calling after me that he’d see me later. As cute as the guy was, he was a little grabby and had seemed to already have claimed me in some way. Hmmm. I didn’t like that.

  I did mine and Danny’s laundry, cleaned my room, again, cleaned the bathroom. I was so incredibly bored already and it was only week one.

  By the time I got to the kitchen that night, the kitchen was full of bustling and, to me, looked like unintentional and intentional shoving. Oh boy. This was what happened when civilized people got shoved into confined spaces together. Civility went out the window, if there ever really was any. I decided to wait until later, not craving more conflict.

  Maybe everybody was just having a hard time adjusting. It was quite a blow, finding out our loved ones were in danger and being hunted something we couldn’t even really defend ourselves against, just hide from.

  The basketball room was empty so I settled myself on the floor and laid down on the freezing hard linoleum, more tired than I realized. If I closed my eyes I would miss dinner, and so will Danny, because all he knew how to do is microwave soup. I saw Merrick walk by through the glass but didn’t stop. He seemed startled to see me in there alone, lying on the floor but kept on going.

  The haunting silence was all around me. I wished I could have my ridge for a minute, some of the noise, the lights, the old feeling of calm I got from it.

  Then a gust of wind. Looking up I saw Danny standing in the door.

  “Whatya doing in here, shorty? It’s eating time.”

  “Yeah, I’m just letting the trough empty out a little bit.”

  “You know, I can’t believe you did that. That’s not like you,” he said as he came to lay down beside me and I knew what he was referring to. My earlier outburst. He’d been sleeping all day since then and hadn’t had a chance to rake me over the coals about it yet.

  “I know. I feel terrible.”

  “They all need to grow up a little if you ask me.”
r />   “I’m sure they won’t ask you. And look who’s talking Mister I slept all day... I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “No! I mean it was great! They needed to hear that. They’re scared and they need someone to tell them how it is. We can’t have a panic and melt down every time some one gets upset or their feelings hurt.”

  “You sound like someone else I know.”

  “What’s with Merrick?”

  “You noticed that too, huh?”

  “Yeah. He’s...anxious.”

  “More like disgusted. I bet he couldn’t wait to take a shower this morning and wash my human stink off.”

  “What are you talking about?” He rolled over on his side facing me, putting his head on his elbow, so I did the same.

  “He just freaks... I had to lean against him in the car and I thought he was gonna have a coronary. He doesn’t like human contact apparently.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Nothing, just that being in a human body is different and intense for him. Whatever that means.”

  “I’m sure it is different but, Sherry, I don’t think he didn’t want you touching him.”

  I saw where he was going with this.

  “Danny, that’s sweet, but you didn’t see his face. I promise you that my touching him was not something he enjoyed.”

  He chuckled like he knew a secret.

  “Well, I’ve seen his face since he’s been back. He couldn’t keep his eyes off you while you were ranting out there and just now in the hall...he just looks so...strangely confused.”

  “Yeah, it is strange and he was staring at me because everyone was. I was a complete freak out there. I feel bad for him I guess, but he’s gonna have to get over whatever it is, if we are stuck down here together, ya know.”