Scarlett tore off her smoke-laced clothing from the night before and grabbed the pile of clothes.
A perfect fit
. She noticed a pile of clothing on the nightstand next to Ella’s bed as well. The room seemed unreal, a time before the world had gone mad, such a contrast after last night’s hellish escape—from Hades to Disneyland. Her brain found it difficult to comprehend the transition.
Had Paxton and Nate found help? She was too disoriented to make sense out of all the incongruities; everything seemed perfectly normal, yet an unreasonable fear deep within screamed that she was in danger. She ran to the bedroom door with an urgent need to relieve her bladder, but the door didn’t budge. She twisted the knob repeatedly. Suddenly a wave of claustrophobia smothered her. She felt trapped in a dream.
Get a grip
, Scarlett scolded. The door appeared to be locked from the outside. Thinking logically, thrusting back the panic feeling of hysteria, she began tapping at the door quietly, not wanting to disturb Ella.
“Justin, you there?” she yelled in a whisper.
Finally, the door opened. There stood Paxton with a surly grin, “Sleeping Beauty awakens,” his eyes probed as if searching every inch of her body.
Scarlett quickly closed her jacket, feeling violated. “Did you actually lock us in the room?” she accused, feeling her anger rising. But the anger caused her head to pound ever more violently, and her hands rushed to her forehead in an attempt for instant pain relief.
“Making sure the little ones are safe and sound,” he dangled a set of keys in front of her nose.
Then she noticed the lock. It looked like the same type of locks Dean had installed in the hotel rooms.
“The little girl’s room is the next door to your left,” he said, an unsettling grin twitched at the corners of his mouth.
Scarlett absentmindedly pushed her way passed Paxton, “I need the bathroom.” Paxton let her pass, but not without brushing up against her in an awkward moment.
Paxton and Nate were arguing again about something when Scarlett joined them in the kitchen. She was relieved to see that everything was back to normal with the two of them.
Or Not?
The tension between the two men suddenly gave her the willies.
“Where
are
we?” Scarlett whimpered, rubbing her head again. Paxton tossed her a bottle of Tylenol; then, he pointed to an open case of Glacier bottled waters on the kitchen’s black, granite countertop. She mouthed, “Thank you so much,” and she chugged down the entire bottle.
“Is everyone all right? Where’s Justin?” she worried, frowning again.
“Front porch, guard duty,” Nate barked, apparently still mad at whatever had transpired before she had interrupted them.
“What, we have guard duty now?” Scarlett said a bit confused.
“Nate, have you forgotten your manners, offer our guest some breakfast.” Paxton’s sickening-sweet voice oozed like rancid maple syrup dripping from a toxic-coated spoon.
Nate glared at Paxton. “I’m not your little bitch-boy. Don’t
you
tell me what to do,” Nate snarled.
“Shhhhh, can’t you see the poor thing’s got a headache,” Paxton continued in that same sickening tone.
Scarlett didn’t know what the heck was going on with those two, but food sounded absolutely amazing, and she sat down at the white Ikea-like dinette set adjacent to the kitchen counter. The dinette set overlooked the backyard patio, giving her a great view of a child’s playground set; she would’ve loved a playset like that when she was a child. She started to feel comfortable in the homey house after the blandness of the hotel.
Nate shoved a plastic bowl and a box of Cocoa Puffs in front of her.
“Do you have a spoon?” She asked, eyeballing the rather unhealthy cereal box like it was an alien life form.
Who eats this stuff?
“Yes’m’ Miss Scarlett,” Nate shrilled, his high-pitched voice clamored at her head.
Jeez Louise, Nate’s pissed. It must have been some argument.
It didn’t matter, and she really didn’t care at the moment. “So where
are
we?” she asked again before stuffing her mouth with a spoonful of milk-less sugar-balls. The dry cereal went down harshly, but her body thanked her for the calories.
Nate and Paxton exchanged glances. She took another bite.
Come on Tylenol—kick in.
“Guys, I’m serious. Where the heck are we?” she repeated, not in the mood for their juvenile behavior.
What is this, flippin’ first grade?
Her elementary students behaved better than the two of them.
***
Paxton was so lovin’ it, keeping Scarlett clueless, savoring the moment, that moment when she’d finally realize she was—HIS. He enjoyed toying with her; he couldn’t wait to see the disbelief, the pain, the fear in her eyes when she realized that she belonged to him now, and there wasn’t a thing in hell she could do about it. He was the bossman now, and he’d do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, as many times as he wanted. So Paxton stood there smiling sweetly at her, savoring the moment—waiting to spring it on her like a clever panther lusting over its long-coveted prey.
“We got here early this morning. Don’t worry, we made sure it’s zombie-free. It’s a great place to hang for a while,” Paxton said vaguely.
“When are we going to check out the hotel? And what about Dean and Luther?” she asked.
Paxton, aware that Scarlett was still under the effects of the Quaalude he’d given her decided:
No, Scarlett Baby, you’re not ready yet.
This was all foreplay to him, and he relished every second of it as he continued his charade. “We already went there. The hotel’s crawling with Zs, we better wait a while,” Paxton lied, enjoying the moment.
LuLu stomped to the kitchen, giving everyone a dirty look. She grabbed a box of cereal from the counter and poured herself a bowl.
Scarlett scraped her bowl for one last bite, “If you guys don’t mind, think I’m going to lie down until the Tylenol kicks in. I can help Justin with guard duty later.” Scarlett left the room holding her head in her hands.
“Man, you gonna let her walk off like that?” Nate shook his head.
“Nate, patience is a virtue. Nothing’s worth having if you don’t have to work for it. Gotta wait for it—wait for it, until the moment’s right, and then—BAM!” Paxton struck his first hard on the table.
“Wha da fuck, you psycho are something? I want Ella—tonight!” Nate demanded.
“Nate, follow my lead.” This time, Paxton gave him a warning look that could kill. Paxton knew how far he could push Nate. And Nate was getting close to his breaking point.
Careful now.
If he could keep Nate distracted a little longer . . . to Paxton they were all characters in his very own screenplay, and he was the sadistic director.
Everyone’s gonna have to play the Paxton way. I’m lovin’ every fuckin’ minute.
LuLu gave them both a look that could peel the paint off the wall as she threw her spoon down on the granite countertop.
“Wha you lookin’ at ho,” Nate spewed, “Shit, we don’t even need this bitch no mo’—now we got ourselves some prime-pussy,” Nate said, glaring at LuLu with abhorrence.
LuLu’s eyes widened. Paxton could see the hatred and terror consuming her.
This is one fantastic Mother f’in day . . .
***
It was almost dusk when Scarlett finally dragged herself out of bed again. The pain of her throbbing head had eased to a dull ache. Ella was no longer in the room, and Scarlett selfishly hoped she was preparing a huge feast for them all; she was absolutely famished.
Scarlett found Ella in the kitchen stirring a pot of something that smelled fantastic. “How you feeling, honey?” Scarlett worried, giving Ella a comforting, happy-to-see-you hug.
“Blah blah blah, I got up about an hour ago, and do you know those two ordered me to make dinner?” Ella said with furrowed brows.
“Aw, men. That figures. How’s Justin?” Scarlett asked.
“He seems quiet, for Justin—that is,” Ella said.
“That was a terrible experience last night. I’m sure we’re all still recovering from it,” Scarlett said, hoping to put Ella at ease. She lingered over the stovetop wishing she could simply inhale the dinner. “So what’s for dinner?”
“Not you too?” Ella smiled.
“You spoil us with your wonderful cooking. “Do you happen to know where the Stockton Boys are?”
Ella shrugged her shoulders and didn’t answer.
Scarlett opened the front door of the house to find Justin on the porch.
“Hey you, how the heck are you?” Justin asked. He seemed relieved to see her.
“Much better. Still have a bit of a headache and a sore throat from the smoke. Justin, thank you so much. I think you saved my life last night. If you hadn’t been there, I think the smoke inhalation would have killed me,” she whispered, not wanting Ella to overhear.
“You’re the one that figured out how to get us out of there. I couldn’t have gotten Ella out of there by myself. And then Nate and Paxton were there just in time,” Justin said somberly.
That got Scarlett thinking, “Hmm, Paxton and Nate just happened to be there, below the balcony to my room.” She paused a moment deep in thought, remembering. “And, LuLu was already in the parking lot when
we
were still trapped upstairs. Why didn’t
she
warn us?” Scarlett wondered out loud.
“Uh, maybe she was already downstairs when the fire started. When I got up, both stairways were blocked by the fire. So I guess she must have been downstairs before the fire. She was probably watching a movie in the lobby and fell asleep. She does that sometimes,” Justin offered.
“I don’t know, call me paranoid, but something’s off here,” Scarlett said, thinking about it.
“Seen any creepers, I mean zombies?” she corrected herself knowing full well how Justin liked to make sure she used the official terminology, he being the official Zombie Expert and all.
“No, it’s been quiet here, and that’s hecka odd. ‘It’s the end of the world as we know it,’ ” he sang a verse of the old R.E.M. song.
“How close are we to the hotel? I was thinking of checking it out. What if Dean and Luther find the place deserted?” Scarlett said, already planning her next move.
“Ye-ah, Dean’s gonna freak,” Justin rolled his eyes.
“So you want to go with me to check out the hotel? We should leave a note or something for Dean and Luther to meet us here,” Scarlett decided.
Justin crammed a handful of potato chips into his mouth; the crunching sound caused her hunger pangs to grumble even louder. Then he took a long gulp of Mountain Dew.
On the wicker table, next to Justin was an opened bag of Lay’s Potato Chips. “Hey, where’d you get the chips and the soda?” Scarlett reached over to grab a handful of chips. Justin snatched the bag, keeping it just out of her reach.
“Pretty please with sugar on top,” Scarlett smiled giving him what she hoped was her cutest smile. She hadn’t had potato chips in months. “Where’d you find chips that aren’t expired—”
“Who said they’re not expired?” Justin quipped.
Scarlett leaned over him and grabbed the bag. “They expired in October . . .” she said in her mom-voice.
“Are you for real—after what we’ve been through, the end of the world and flesh-eating monsters rising from the dead . . .”
“Zombies, we call them zombies,” she mimicked.
“Really, I’m not so worried about dying from expired potato chips,” Justin retorted.
“Point taken,” She said and nibbled on a chip.
Wow
, her taste buds zinged. “Where’d you find these anyway?” she said, enjoying the salty crunch she missed.
“Like the whole garage is full of freakin’ junk food. I thought I’d died and gone to Geek-Squad heaven.”
“There’s food in the garage?” she questioned.
“Like tons of it!”
“Don’t you think that’s peculiar?” she thought out loud, something definitely was not right.
“Ye-ah, boxes and boxes of food. And supplies like toilet paper and stuff, even gasoline,” he munched.
They both grabbed another handful of chips.
“We should leave Dean a note to meet us here. He’ll likely have a heart attack when he doesn’t find us at the hotel,” Scarlett said sarcastically.
“Uh, Scarlett, there’s something you need to know,” he hesitated. “Um, ye-ah, we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
“What? What do you mean?” Scarlett saw an uneasiness flickering around the corners of his eyes. “Well . . .” she prodded, still wondering how the garage could be full of supplies so soon; they had just arrived.
“Last night, Paxton and Nate—” he hesitated, “drove us to Sacramento.”
“What! You’re flippin’ kidding me?” but she didn’t see any signs of his usual smirky-ness. “Why the hell did they do that?”
Now, I’m pissed.
“Why didn’t you stop Paxton?” she scolded.
“Like, how exactly was I supposed to do that? Paxton’s way bigger than me. And, and, he’s the one with a gun,” his voice faded into the early evening breeze.