exclaimed in thick relief, while I struggled to get my
heart beating from the complete scare I’d just had. Those guys just appeared in
front of us like ghosts – I swear to God, I could have wet my pants with
the way they just snuck up on us.
“You
made it,” one of them commented, while I swallowed and tried to wet my tongue.
I think my eyes were still pretty rounded at this point, taking them all in and
realizing that they were looking at me. Pretty intently, I might add. With the
way they stopped, they were facing against us as a group, and I started to get
uncomfortable with the proximity. Some of them had hammers, axes, huge wrenches
– properly armed in a sudden zombie/alien apocalypse.
“Yeah,”
Harley said in reply, and I heard him swallow. Glanced at him and saw that he
looked pretty tense. Like, his neck had these tendons showing, and his face was
this stern frown. His fists were clenched, and he’d taken a step back, holding
onto his axe with one hand.
I
watched the guy from the conveyors walk over, and saw the gun in hand. Oh,
good, he could shoot the Rabid when they converged on us. I guess, if they did.
“Troy…you
made it,” he said, and I recognized that voice. It was the main speaker of the
group, Jeff. He had this ugly expression as he looked from Harley to me. That
onceover he gave me made me so uncomfortable that I unconsciously stepped
closer to Harley, like he could somehow block me from view. It seemed rather
pathetic that I used the scrawny guy as cover.
“Jeff…Travis,
John, Chael,” Harley said tightly in response.
“We
got this safe place for you on the other side,” Jeff then said to me. “John’s
going to take you there.”
“I’m
not staying here,” I said, glancing at this John person when he indicated for
me to join him. “I’m waiting to go outside. I’m going home.”
“It’s
too dangerous out there for you,” Jeff said, exhaling through his nose. “C’mon,
we got one of the rooms outfitted for a few days.”
“No…I’m
– I’m pretty much ready to go, now,” I said. “I’m going home. I have to
go to Reno.”
“She
doesn’t want to stay here,” Harley said, speaking up suddenly. “We’re going to
leave.”
“You
open those doors, you’ll let those things in,” Jeff snapped, and his voice
actually made me cringe. It was too loud. Those things would hear him, didn’t
he get that? “We got all the girls in the hall by Red. We’ll be watching over
them until it’s safe outside.”
“I
don’t want to stay in here,” I insisted. “As soon as Harley opens that door,
I’m leaving! I need to go home!”
“Out
of the way, Troy. Just walk away,” Jeff said to Harley, ignoring me. “It’s not
like you can do anything – you’re one person. You go on ahead.”
I
just thought – NO. No , I didn’t want Harley to leave at that
moment. I knew these guys were up to no good – suddenly, it was like
– I felt like these guys were totally messing up the rules of survival.
They were using this catastrophe for something heinous, and was so blatant
about it - ! And I couldn’t stay here, because I would be part of their ugly
crimes, and - ! Really, what human being thinks this way? How could they just
take advantage of this chaos just to get their rocks off like this?
In
spite of the rising anger and outrage I felt, I also felt terrified. It felt
more real to face off with this monster. Because it felt like I couldn’t
escape. Not with the men surrounding us like this, with me having only Harley
to - !
My
mind was racing, fear made me sweat again. I didn’t know what to do while Jeff
said a few other things. I looked at Harley because I literally couldn’t think
or even force up enough survival instinct to tell me what to do.
He
glanced at me, battling some internal situation of his own – I could see
it in his tense face – and the eye contact we made was a
heart beating from the complete scare I’d just had. Those guys just appeared in
front of us like ghosts – I swear to God, I could have wet my pants with
the way they just snuck up on us.
“You
made it,” one of them commented, while I swallowed and tried to wet my tongue.
I think my eyes were still pretty rounded at this point, taking them all in and
realizing that they were looking at me. Pretty intently, I might add. With the
way they stopped, they were facing against us as a group, and I started to get
uncomfortable with the proximity. Some of them had hammers, axes, huge wrenches
– properly armed in a sudden zombie/alien apocalypse.
“Yeah,”
Harley said in reply, and I heard him swallow. Glanced at him and saw that he
looked pretty tense. Like, his neck had these tendons showing, and his face was
this stern frown. His fists were clenched, and he’d taken a step back, holding
onto his axe with one hand.
I
watched the guy from the conveyors walk over, and saw the gun in hand. Oh,
good, he could shoot the Rabid when they converged on us. I guess, if they did.
“Troy…you
made it,” he said, and I recognized that voice. It was the main speaker of the
group, Jeff. He had this ugly expression as he looked from Harley to me. That
onceover he gave me made me so uncomfortable that I unconsciously stepped
closer to Harley, like he could somehow block me from view. It seemed rather
pathetic that I used the scrawny guy as cover.
“Jeff…Travis,
John, Chael,” Harley said tightly in response.
“We
got this safe place for you on the other side,” Jeff then said to me. “John’s
going to take you there.”
“I’m
not staying here,” I said, glancing at this John person when he indicated for
me to join him. “I’m waiting to go outside. I’m going home.”
“It’s
too dangerous out there for you,” Jeff said, exhaling through his nose. “C’mon,
we got one of the rooms outfitted for a few days.”
“No…I’m
– I’m pretty much ready to go, now,” I said. “I’m going home. I have to
go to Reno.”
“She
doesn’t want to stay here,” Harley said, speaking up suddenly. “We’re going to
leave.”
“You
open those doors, you’ll let those things in,” Jeff snapped, and his voice
actually made me cringe. It was too loud. Those things would hear him, didn’t
he get that? “We got all the girls in the hall by Red. We’ll be watching over
them until it’s safe outside.”
“I
don’t want to stay in here,” I insisted. “As soon as Harley opens that door,
I’m leaving! I need to go home!”
“Out
of the way, Troy. Just walk away,” Jeff said to Harley, ignoring me. “It’s not
like you can do anything – you’re one person. You go on ahead.”
I
just thought – NO. No , I didn’t want Harley to leave at that
moment. I knew these guys were up to no good – suddenly, it was like
– I felt like these guys were totally messing up the rules of survival.
They were using this catastrophe for something heinous, and was so blatant
about it - ! And I couldn’t stay here, because I would be part of their ugly
crimes, and - ! Really, what human being thinks this way? How could they just
take advantage of this chaos just to get their rocks off like this?
In
spite of the rising anger and outrage I felt, I also felt terrified. It felt
more real to face off with this monster. Because it felt like I couldn’t
escape. Not with the men surrounding us like this, with me having only Harley
to - !
My
mind was racing, fear made me sweat again. I didn’t know what to do while Jeff
said a few other things. I looked at Harley because I literally couldn’t think
or even force up enough survival instinct to tell me what to do.
He
glanced at me, battling some internal situation of his own – I could see
it in his tense face – and the eye contact we made was a
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