The Long Way To Reno (20 page)

Not
even a moment later, Nate was crumbling to his knees, and this pulpy noise
caused us all to jump. My eyes widened as I realized what had happened, looking
down with a dazed expression as what was left of his brains spilled out right
next to Alex. The three on the ground scrambled for cover, and I was frozen
because I had just processed what had happened to Nate – I turned in
reaction, automatically looking for the shooter when another bullet pinged
noisily off the truck's grill.

THEN
I ducked with a shriek, hands over my head. Bullets showered the area, and I
scrambled to cram myself against the truck's wheel, watching as Harley pushed
Emmy underneath a sedan. Alex rolled flat on the concrete and covered his head
with both hands. Harley reached for him, and time froze at that moment – seeing
him react instantly to protect these two kids, of no relation to him, made
something snap in me.

He
single handedly hauled Alex off the pavement and pushed him next to Emmy
– from a standing point, they were hidden. He went for his gun, and he
winced for a brief moment as he bumped that knee – I knew at that point
it was up to me to step up. I felt intense fear and anxiety hit me, nearly
knocking the breath from me. I knew I had to do
something
– I knew
it was my turn to
help
people, especially him.

I
figured since Nate was hit from the side, the shooter was coming from the ramp
nearby – I didn't have much time to think about what I was doing as I saw
Harley getting to his feet. I scrambled to mine, and just
ran
for the Legends
mall. I figured, in the back of my mind, that if I could get the attention of
the shooter, they wouldn't see Harley and the kids. They'd see
me
, and
maybe he could, like, shoot them because they were focused on me – it
made sense in my mind.

Bullets
hit the cars I ran past – I shrieked and hollered, covering my head with
my hands, and ran like these dudes were right behind me. It felt like all my hairs
were standing on end as glass shattered, and I felt shards of stuff hit me from
all sides. They were hitting the concrete guardrail, and I could hear them
shouting directions to each other on intercepting me. The crack of gunfire told
me they had assault weapons, and this continuous release of firepower had my
mind snapping to visions of Modern Warfare, Call of Duty moments – they
wanted to freaking
kill
me - !

I
ran without looking back and hunched my shoulders because I knew if I made
myself a small target, they couldn't hit me that quick.

I
heard gunfire coming from behind me, and the soldiers' startled shouts. I
chanced a look, tripping ungracefully over some decorative flowerbush. But once
I righted myself, sputtering out dirt and snow, I saw that Harley was shooting
each guy that was caught in his sights. One by one, under the crack of that
rifle, a soldier fell.

There
had been four of them, and as Harley searched for any signs of more, I spit and
coughed out the debris I'd inhaled, rising slowly from the wet ground. As I
wiped my face, struggling to catch my breath, Harley coaxed the kids out from
their hiding spot and hurried them in my direction.

"Goddamn
you!" I heard him shout angrily. I had to admit, in my rattled mind, that
his angry shout sounded a little…well, hot. Like a man. I had to look twice
just to make sure this was the same guy that I'd left the warehouse with.

I
tried to look indignant, but he cursed up a storm as he hobbled up to us,
pausing briefly to look through the dead guys' pockets, packs, for valuables.
It gave Emmy enough time to squeal and hug me tightly.

"You're
so
awesome
," she whispered. "They didn't even look our way
when you took off!"

"Just
like I planned," I coughed, but Alex was giving me a look that told me
otherwise. I spit the last of the dirt out as Harley caught up to us, glaring
at me as he reloaded what looked to be a beautiful Spaz 12.

"Quit
running off like that!" he snapped.

"You're
welcome," I said sweetly. "Dear."

"I
can't even take you seriously when you look like that," he muttered,
striding ahead. I wiped my face once more, finding that more dirt was caked
around my cheeks and mouth, and I grumbled about it. Once I realized we were
still headed towards Scheels, I looked back at the mangled freeway, giving a
low sigh of frustration.

"Well,
at least we don't have to hear Nate whine, anymore," I muttered, Alex
snorting before we received the look of fury from the guy with the hunting
rifle. Alex blamed me for it with an expression of consternation, but I didn't
care. I was totally right – they were all
thinking
it.

:
:

            I
should have figured, with the way the Ferris Wheel sat in the mangled freeway,
that the insides weren't as intact as we thought. But I was wrong. It looked as
if something massive had just piled the very insides of the building into this
weird, huge mound that was tucked inside the center. It pushed outward into the
shopping area with a mangled, worm-like appearance. At first I wondered if it
were a garden of some sort, the way the mounds were set.

            Then
I realized I didn't want to know what was planted underfoot.

            I
turned and examined my messy reflection in what was left of the tinted windows
that had once been entrance doors. The other three ventured into what space was
available to them, gaping at the damage. I was embarrassed by my appearance,
frantically wiping dirt from my forehead, chin and mouth.

            "I
don't think we should be here," Emmy muttered, reaching out to Harley's
pack and hiding behind him. "It feels weird in here."

            "Like…almost
like there's electricity running closeby," Harley murmured. "Like a
transformer."

            "A
robot?" Alex asked curiously, causing me to whip around, thinking about
the mechas I'd seen.

            "No.
I guess it's the base where electricity is sorted and – "

            "Oh.
Duh."

            "Look
at my hair!" Emmy exclaimed as I walked over to join them. Her blond hair
was pulling upward, as if she were touching one of those electric ball-things.
As I grew closer to them, I definitely felt the effect – it was a freaky
charge of power in the air, making my skin tingly and my ears ring. I blinked,
looking for the source of the energy.

            "I
think we should go," Harley then said slowly. "There might be some
downed power lines in the area. If we can't see it, we might get fried
accidently."

            "Good
idea," Emmy said hastily, heading back towards the doors. Alex hurried
forward, towards what looked to be a bunch of clothes. He cheered once he saw
that it was a black hooded sweater with that Jordan guy on the front. Harley waited
for him to pull it on while I caught sight of a black, glittery light coming
from behind some support beams. I thought it was one of the massive fish that
had swum in the tanks near the registers that Scheels boasted – I tried
not to feel sorry for something that probably didn't have a brain.

            We
began walking towards the Sparks Marina, the stench of smoke making me cringe.
The kids hurried on ahead, looking through cars that had been parked in the lot
– most of them were uplifted and scattered about, almost like something
massive had picked them up and tossed them towards the freeway. As a result,
there were things lying on the snowy concrete – purses, clothes, sports
items, cellphones. People. I tried not to look at the dead people, their rigid
bodies looking like bloated mannequins with stiff limbs splayed about and
gruesome injuries staining the snow.

“That
thing was huge,” Harley muttered, jaw tensing. “Back at the warehouse? I don’t
see why they needed anything else to finish us off if those were tearing the
city up.”

“Gundams
are weapons of war,” I said. “This
is
war, right?”

He
gave me a confused look, then decided he didn’t want to know what a Gundam was.
“Not if one side didn’t even have a chance!’

“Psh,
sure we do. Look at us, now, Hurl. We’re
living
. And this is America,
undoubtedly, we’ll round up the troops and kick ass,’ I said with confidence. I
reached into my messenger bag, withdrawing my compact and chapstick. I took a
few moments of applying before putting things back with a confident pat over
the straps. “It’s only a matter of time, actually.”

He
snorted and rolled his eyes, adjusting his pack.

 “In
all the games I’ve played, there’s a hero out there, waiting to save us.
Everything has a hero – we just need to make it until then.”

He
gave the sky a look that made me feel insulted. The one that was then directed
at me made feel small, and I immediately felt like an idiot. I hated that
feeling. So I scowled.

“I’ve
never met someone so
delusional
,” Harley said, sounding incredulous.
“Honestly, you’re like – the outside is one presentation, but now that
you’ve opened your mouth, you’re this…sometimes, I feel like just walking away
from it. Y’know?”

I
grit my teeth. For some reason, I felt hurt, but at the same time, I convinced
myself not to take this guy’s words to heart. He should be thankful I even gave
him a chance. All guys like him wanted a girl like me – otherwise, why
were Asians in such popular demand?

“I
might be an idiot, but who’s the
idiot
that made it this far?”

“With
our
help!”

I
grit my teeth again because…he was right. Then I was angry because I couldn’t
even come up with a comeback to that, and I glared at my feet. I just wanted to
go home. I wanted to go home to mom and dad and feel like I was somebody,
again. I wanted to feel comfortable knowing that people wanted me around, and
patiently dealt with my ‘stupidity’ in a way that didn’t make me feel so
crappy.

“It’s
a little sad,” Harley interrupted my pity-party, glancing at me, “that you got
this far thinking that you’re valuable for your physical attributes, when everyone’s
focused on survival. Honestly, there’s no depth to you. Your personality sucks.
You’re shallow, vain, and obviously
delusional
, if you think we’ll make
it out the way that you described. You can’t kill zombies with lipstick or cute
clothes, Edith! Our future is uncertain! Any of us could get killed at any
moment, and what are you going to do, then?”

“You
are a dick that I should’ve never paid attention to,
ever
. I could make
it on my own! Home is
right
over there! I don’t need you guys to get
that far!”

“Well,
if you really think so, then you go on ahead,” he snapped, pausing. “I don’t
see the point of going out of our way to go that way!”

“What’s
going on?” Emmy asked, venturing over and looking at us with a bewildered
expression. “Why are you guys fighting?’

I
felt my eyes stinging, again. I felt uneasy and hurt because I didn’t like the
way Harley was talking to me. I didn’t like being reminded that I wasn’t worth
anything other than my looks. It was like I was being told this all over again
by my exes, and I felt that small part of me cry out for my parents.

“She’s
fucking delusional!” he exclaimed, glaring at me.

“He’s
a fucking prick!” I snapped.

“Guys,
c’mon, whatever it was, we don’t have to do this,” Emmy pleaded as Alex joined
her. “We need to stick together.”

“I
can’t work with someone like her! I don’t feel like losing my life because she
thinks cartoons and movies will save us!”

“This
man is depressing and dull, and he can’t bother looking outside the box!”

“The
box you’re looking out of is straight out of a mental institution!”

“I
think we’re all just freaking out because we’re tired, we’re stressed out,”
Emmy interrupted, coming between us. She immediately started crying, and I
frowned at her, wondering if this show would even work on an idiot like Harley.
“I don’t want you two to fight anymore! I’m fucking attached to you guys - ! I
don’t know what to do without either of you!”