Red Eye | Season 1 | Episode 3

by Riley, Claire C

  We all seemed to need to watch the sun rise, slowly making our way over to the window to get a better view. We stood silently and I held on tightly to Sam’s hand, my grip firm. I hoped my hold on her was giving her strength and showing her that I wasn’t going to let her die. That I would protect her for as long as I could.

  As the sun rose higher, we turned our attention to the shambling figures outside. There were more of them now—many more. A small crowd had built around the outside of the terminal, and I stepped closer and looked first right and then left. I felt Nolan and Sam move and do the same. There were blood and body parts and luggage strewn across the tarmac like orange leaves in the autumn.

  “They’re trapping us in here,” Nolan said.

  “Seems like it,” Sam replied darkly.

  “It’s like mob mentality. The more that come, the more are attracted. They’ll get in eventually.” Nolan dragged a hand over his chin and I saw real fear wash over his features.

  “We’ll be fine. We’ve barricaded the doors and exits. We’ve got the cameras to see every inch of this place,” I said, my voice sounding foreign to my ears.

  “We’ve barricaded everything, so we’re stuck in here,” Sam said, her voice resigned. “We’re trapped. If they get in, and the building’s also surrounded…” She shrugged, like she was asking for that carrier bag again, and not a bullet to the brain. She had to get out of that mentality. Had to want to fight to live.

  “Good job none of us are in any type of hurry to go out there,” I replied, choosing to stay positive and ignore her fatalism. My thoughts wandered back to the man we had seen in the airport lockup. “We should go check on the guy we saw on the monitors. See who he is, probably let him out. He might be able to help.” It was a change of subject, but I was also genuinely curious.

  Nolan turned away from the window. “Looks like we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  “We’re going to need more muscle or more gunpower, or if these things ever make it in here, we’re completely fucked.”

  I nodded again and then shuddered and forced myself to look away.

  “Come on,” Nolan said, and we set off towards the security room again.

  Chapter four.

  Sam

  I absentmindedly scratched at my arm, though I knew the itch there had nothing to do with my skin, and everything to do with what was happening to me beneath it. I was changing. My blood was changing. I didn’t know how to describe it and I was too scared to tell Nolan. He was already a breath away from shooting me, and I wasn’t ready to die just yet.

  Maybe I could tell Rose. Maybe…

  Yet I saw in her expression also that she was no longer as sure about me as she’d once been. She cared for me, fiercely I think, but she was still worried that I was going to become one of those monsters.

  Or I already was one… just different from the others somehow.

  “That guy’s been doing pushups for a good hour.” Karla was sitting back in one of the chairs, her feet up on the desk, her large bulk spilling out over the seat as she munched on potato chips. She looked comfortable, however, and it made me wonder if I’d ever feel that way again. “I’m telling you, he’s no good. We need to leave him where the hell he is.”

  “And if the zombies surrounding the terminal get in? What? We just leave him there to die—either as a monster meal or from starvation?” Alexa was standing next to her dad, and she leaned in to the screen to see him better.

  “I’m sure he’s not that bad. Shit, the TSA will arrest anyone who even slightly fits their profiling nowadays,” I said.

  Karla gave me a disgusted side-eye. “You got no idea the kind of crap we’ve stopped from happening by being paranoid. Like I’ve said a million times before—people be crazy. And remember, I got an alert about him.” She pointed at the monitor. “Dude is bad news.”

  Nolan spoke without looking up. “It’s already decided, Karla. We’re going to get him. We’re at least going to speak to him and make up our minds after that. I’m not leaving an able body behind—not if it means strength in numbers. We’re going to need all the damn help we can get.” He was taking inventory of all our weapons again, doling them out as he mentally calculated how much firepower we had before it was down to “villagers with pitchforks”-style fighting.

  “Damn fools is what y’all are,” she muttered. “I’ll tell you how to get there, but I ain’t going.”

  “Then you can stay here with Alexa.” Jamie’s arm tightened around his daughter.

  “Dad, don’t leave me again.” Alexa pulled away from him, looking away from the monitors and the stranger we were going to spring from airport jail. “If something happens, I’d rather it happen while we’re together.”

  “If something happens, I’d rather you be right here, locked in this room. And I’m not arguing over it—not this time.” He turned away from her, his back giving another note of finality. I could see tears in Alexa’s eyes when she looked back at the monitors for a moment, then walked over to the wall and shrugged down against it to sit on the floor, her arms wrapped around her legs, which were tucked into her chest.

  “Great. Karla, Alexa, and—” Nolan was interrupted by Trent stepping forward, his hands shoved into his pockets and his head sort of hung forward a little like he wasn’t feeling well.

  “I’ll stay too, Nolan. I’m not feeling so hot.”

  Immediately we all looked at Trent. Rose spoke first, what we were all thinking. “You didn’t get bit at some point, did you? Are you hot? Fever?”

  “I’d have noticed if he got bit,” Nolan interjected.

  “Why? Because you’re completely incapable of making a mistake, Nolan?” Rose snapped, her gaze flitting to me, unspoken words obvious behind her eyes.

  “Shit, calm down.” Trent raised his head and his hands. “I’m not bit. I’m just tired. Exhausted, in fact. And admit it, I’m not the most graceful person to have on any sort of mission.”

  I looked him up and down, taking in the Hawaiian-print shirt and holey shoes. I felt like an asshole to admit, even mentally, that he was right.

  “Someone should stay with Karla and Alexa anyways.”

  “We don’t need some man to—” Karla began, raising her body out of her chair and looking like someone had just burnt her Saturday morning toast.

  “I’d feel better if Alexa had two adults watching her,” Jamie interrupted Karla, leaving her sputtering and offended.

  “Fine, that’s settled. We don’t need to waste time standing here fighting over who’s more capable. This isn’t some feminist rally for equality. It’s about surviving, and you either can hold your own or you can’t. It doesn’t fucking matter if you’ve got a dick.” Nolan was checking over the gun he held.

  For once, I found myself agreeing with Nolan. I didn’t really know how to feel about that. “All right then, Nolan. I’m ready.” I kept my voice steady as I looked around the faces of those who were going: Leon, Rose, Nolan, me. I really hoped the man in the cell was worth the risk. I mean, Nolan could eat shit for all I cared, but Rose…and I liked Leon, for as well as I knew him.

  A few minutes later we stood out in the hall again, listening to the door close and the locks click on the other side. Jamie had tried to hug Alexa goodbye, but she’d refused to move from her position against the wall.

  “She’ll forgive you,” I said to Jamie, who was looking like the world rested on his shoulders. “I could never stay mad at my dad for very long.”

  He smiled at that. “I know I don’t always do the right thing by her, but I just want her to be safe.”

  “Come on,” Nolan barked, already a few yards ahead of the rest of us.

  Leon and Rose walked side by side after him. I stayed with Jamie, who seemed reluctant to leave Alexa behind, like her words were resonating with him now—if something bad happens, I’d rather it be while we’re together.

  We made our way slowly, following the dir
ections that Karla had given us. With each step, I wondered if we’d run into another zombie. And if we did, would that zombie attack us? Would it only attack the others? What would it mean if that happened…?

  Maybe it was a fluke that the zombie hadn’t tried to kill me before. That was it. It had to have been just a lucky break.

  “We’re getting close. Keep your eyes open. These things could be hiding anywhere.”

  “Yeah, that one that came after me was hiding behind a plant,” I said, without thinking. I didn’t want to draw attention to what had happened. Leon didn’t even know about it.

  “What one? When was this?” Leon turned around slightly, glancing back at me.

  “A while back, before we met you,” Rose said quickly, looking at me with a shut up stare.

  “Oh,” Leon murmured, turning back around. “Shit, though, if they know how to hide, that could be trouble.”

  “I don’t think it was exactly hiding, Leon. More like it mindlessly stumbled into a bush, then smelled fresh food nearby.” Rose shrugged off his worry, further covering my ass.

  No, Rose wasn’t second-guessing me. She wouldn’t turn on me.

  “Why don’t you all try and keep quiet and pay attention to what we’re doing?” Nolan snapped, and we all clammed up and kept moving forward, eyes and ears searching for danger. He was right; we needed to be quiet and pay attention.

  I breathed easier when Nolan ran Karla’s security card on the reader and opened the hallway that led to the airport lockup.

  “What if he’s obviously—I don’t know, a terrorist or a psychopath?” Leon asked Nolan as we headed to the left, down a hallway that terminated with a large sign that said “Chief of Airport Police.”

  “Then we leave the fucker to rot and we move on,” Nolan said simply. His nerves were fraying for some reason, his patience wearing thin. I wondered why, as so far he had seemed to be the only one holding it fully together.

  Rose left Leon to move back to me and Jamie. She took my hand, now that we were safe out of the main terminal into somewhere we thought the monsters couldn’t get.

  “Jamie, can you give us a minute?” she said, looking at the father.

  He nodded, moving up to join the men while we fell a few feet more behind.

  “Are you okay, Sam?” Rose squeezed my hand, but her eyes didn’t meet my own.

  “I’m fine,” I said. Then I really thought about it, really took a moment to study the way my body was feeling and acting. I didn’t feel as hot as I had before. The burning was almost gone, just a murmur that could be ignored. I wasn’t shaking from the fever breaking over and over again, just to come back in full force. I itched, an odd sensation that crawled over my entire body. And my eyes hurt a little, like the bright fluorescents were midday sun and I was looking straight up. Overall, though, I really felt somewhat better. “Honestly, Rose, I feel better than I did before.”

  “You promise?” She did look at me then, her forehead wrinkling a little as she stared deep into my eyes, like she was hoping I wasn’t lying.

  “I promise.” But I couldn’t put my heart into the words, not when I saw how her body visibly relaxed. She was more worried than she let on. Not worried for me, but worried about me. I had to try and understand where she was coming from, though, what with the situation we were in. And I cared about her enough to die at my own hands, if it came to that, to keep her safe. So what if she was contemplating killing me if I turned, when I was already resigned to swallowing the bullet myself.

  “I’ll do the talking.” Nolan’s voice again, quiet and certain and with no room for anyone to protest. I thought Leon would be a better choice; he seemed more relaxed, easier to talk with. He’d put the prisoner at ease, maybe get the truth out of him just by being kind. Nolan, on the other hand, was likely to hold a gun to the guy’s head and demand answers. I wasn’t sure that was going to be the best route.

  We filed through the door beneath the police chief sign, finding ourselves in an oddly shaped waiting area not unlike what you’d find in an average city precinct. I’d seen one, once, after having my purse stolen after a matinee show.

  “All seems quiet in here,” Jamie said, walking over to what appeared to be a secretarial window. He slid the glass open, leaning in to check out the area behind the wall. “Nobody back there that I can see.”

  “Good,” Nolan said, moving to a door adjacent to the service window and once again using Karla’s key card to open the door. The ping of the light changing from red to green made my heart jump into my throat. I didn’t know why…like something subconscious was trying to warn me. But everything was empty in there. Quiet. The only thing breathing was the man in the cell we were going to see.

  We moved down two more hallways until we terminated at a room designated “LAPD holding.” Nolan didn’t hesitate, opening the door and breezing into the room that was partitioned into six glass-front cell units.

  It was seconds later that the incarcerated man was at the glass, his eyes watching us, his face stoic. He said nothing as we approached.

  “We’ve come to let you out, if you’re worth it.” Nolan bit each word off, like they were little warnings. Small bombs dropped on a night that promised an atom explosion.

  “Oh, yeah? Well, that’s just dandy,” the man casually said, his Texas slur distinct. He moved to lean one shoulder against the glass and cross his arms, like we were standing outside talking about football rather than meeting in a jail cell during an Armageddon. “I told them they had the wrong man, after all. Tell me, where is everyone? They all seem to have high-tailed it to Tucson while I’ve been left to rot. Damn profiling system’s the problem here. My record’s squeaky clean.” He cocked a half smile at that, his large mouth threatening to take over his rugged face. I got the distinct impression that his record shouldn’t be clean.

  Nolan said something else, something cutting and sharp, but I wasn’t listening. Instead I watched the man intently, almost memorizing every inch. He was tall—not basketball player tall, but tall enough to automatically lean down when he went beneath an average-height doorframe. And he was built, muscles outlined beneath the shirt and brown leather jacket he wore. He had one leg crossed in front of the other, the tip of his cowboy boots touching in a T pattern.

  His leather-tan skin wasn’t just from being out in the sun, I realized, seeing the near-blackness of his long, braided hair and the deep chocolate of his eyes.

  I felt myself blush when I realized he’d noticed me studying him. And I blushed deeper when he gave me a nearly imperceptible wink.

  “Listen, you can either let me out or leave me. I’m not a bad guy.” The jailbird shrugged. “I simply fit the bill for a daily seize. I wouldn’t hurt a June bug.”

  “What’s your name?” Rose asked from beside me.

  “Barrett.”

  “That a first name or a last name?” Nolan moved toward the glass, trying to look menacing.

  “It’s a name,” Barrett replied, again looking for all the world like he was just having a casual stay in a motel where the room service sucked.

  “What are you in here for?” Rose asked suspiciously.

  Barrett gestured to himself and gave a sly smile. “Why do you think?”

  We all fell silent as we tried to decide what to do. The truth was, though, we couldn’t just leave him there. Even if we wanted to.

  “So tell me,” Barrett asked, running a hand through his hair, “where the fuck is everyone?”

  “You don’t know?” I said, stepping closer, dread sinking in my gut like rancid fruit.

  Barrett’s smile slipped and he shook his head. “All I know is that I was minding my own damn business when I got my ass dragged in here. Alarms blared shortly after and no one’s been back since. I haven’t eaten in too damn long and the toilet is backed up with shit.”

  Rose looked back at me and then across to Nolan. He seemed defensive about the whole thing. Like he really didn’t give a shit what Barrett said—either way he d
idn’t trust him. And Barrett sensed that from him.

  “Look, man, I’m starving. Let me out of here and I’ll be on my way. You never have to even see me again.” Barrett stood up straight, the hard angles of his face going even harder.

  “How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Nolan asked. “It all sounds like bullshit to me.”

  He was right, at least to an extent; it did sound like bullshit. But Barrett also had a right to know that the world had gone to hell. He had a right to survive too, didn’t he?

  “How do we know he’s not telling the truth?” Rose stepped over to an array of buttons, fast realizing she needed the security card again. “Give me the card.”

  “We don’t, so we go by our guts, and my guts are telling me you ain’t worth shit, Barrett,” Nolan growled out.

  Barrett laughed. It was a deep, rippling sound that echoed around the small space. “Well my guts are telling me that I shouldn’t have had that last burrito, but sometimes we do whatever we want to do regardless, right?” The large man’s dark eyes narrowed and a slight sense of menace entered his expression.

  “Give her the card, Nolan,” I said.

  Noland and Barrett stared at each other for long seconds, until finally Nolan handed Rose the key card.

  When the glass slid away, Barrett took a moment to roll his shoulders and crack his back, like he had all the time in the world and it didn’t smell like shit and hell in his cell. Then he smiled, and stepped past the barrier to join us. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  No one said anything.

  “What? Afraid you’d open the door and I’d turn into a serial killer?” He chuckled after he said it, looking at each one of us in turn. “I’m only the big bad wolf when I need to be”—he focused on me then, a twinkle in his eyes—“and right now, I’m neither in the bedroom or on the battlefield, so you’re all fine.” He looked me up and down as he said it and a shiver ran through me.

  He walked away, toward the door to leave the cell units, and Leon and Akhira stepped out of his way.