Radioactive

"I'm breaking in, shaping up.. This is it, the apocalypse."

---

As soon as those words left her mouth, Amaryllis turn on her heel, and fled across the apartment, sending empty coke bottles and bags of chip flying into the air. "We need to get stuff together!"

Taking her lead, Harper threw open the front door, crossing the hallway to her own apartment. She fiddled nervously with the keys before jabbing it into the lock.

Clothes and makeup were scattered across the bed when Amaryllis joined her frantic best friend in her apartment. "Wait, are you seriously taking your curling iron?" She asked in amusement, pulling the item out of her backpack.

"You know I take pride in my appearance." Harper snapped, tossing a t-shirt across the room.

"Yeah, no, you're not taking this. We don't have time for this."

Harper joined her by the bed, snatching the iron from her hand. "Do what I want." She muttered, shoving it back into her bag.

"No." Amaryllis pulled it out again, this time refusing to let go when she tried to take it back. They wrestled back and forth for a moment, before Harper released her tight grip, "whatever."

Amaryllis grinned, reaching back into the waist band of her pants. "Good, I was about to take out this bad boy."

Harper flinched away from her when she pulled out a sleek, shiny black gun. "What the--" She tripped over a book carelessly placed beside her bed.

Amaryllis shoved the gun into her waistband again. "I live in New York. You've gotta do what you gotta do."

"Okay.." Harper said, obviously a bit unsure as she rose unsteadily to her feet. "Fine, no curling iron. Happy? I'm throwing away my good looks for you."

"We have to get going, Harper. We don't have time for this."

Harper muttered in agreement, zipping up her backpack. "We need other essentials. Things to get us by." She opened her closet, and started digging through the clutter on the floor--the only sign of mess in the entire apartment--and came back with a shoe box. She dumped the contents on the bed, and Amaryllis gaped at the money strewn across the pillow.

"Are you serious? You had all this and never helped out when we ordered pizza?"

Harper rolled her eyes, "It's five hundred. It was for savings. Most of it is from my cousin who lives with us. Five bucks for not telling mom when she snuck out. Ten for not telling about the time that she came home drunk."

"You only charged ten for that?"

She held up a fifty dollar bill, "fifty for puking all over my rug."

"Atleast you made a profit. Hang on, I have some money too." Amaryllis swept out of the apartment, still laughing.

Harper busied herself with putting all her money into her bag, and then took her backpack into the kitchen. She knew it had been best to limit herself. Packing light was the only option. She shoved some water bottles in her bag, setting some on the counter for Amaryllis to put in her own bag. She searched through the pantry, stuffing as many granola bars, poptarts, twinkies, pringles, and other easy, individually packed things. When Amaryllis rejoined her, she shoved some of the food and water into her bag.

"We should get going. Who knows how long we've been oblivious to this?"

"Oblivious?" Amaryllis questioned, throwing her backpack over her shoulder.

"We don't watch the news. We don't pay attention. How long has this zombie thing been happening?"

"Are you seriously locking your door?"

Harper shot an annoyed glare in her direction. "I eventually wanna come back to my apartment. A zombie apocalypse can't last forever."

"Yeah, well, we don't know that." Amaryllis said bitterly. But she followed her friends lead, fished her keys out of her backpack, and locked her own door.

The elevator seemed to take forever, and Harper blamed it on her growing anxiety. When it opened on the first floor, Amaryllis stepped out, but Harper stayed rooted to the floor.

"Uh, are you coming?"

"I just--" Harper fidgeted nervously, "This is my favorite song."

"..What?"

Harper motioned upwards, towards the elevator speaker. "This song is my favorite."

"Oh my gosh." Amaryllis had to lunge forward to keep the elevator door from closing, grab her friend by the shirt, and jerk her out of the elevator. "Don't be scared. We have to keep our heads on our shoulders--"

"Exactly and if we go out that may not happen--"

"Get yourself together."Amaryllis snapped suddenly. The ferocity in her voice made Harper snap her mouth. "We have to keep control of ourselves. This whole situation is a lot more than anyone would want to handle. But we have to get to California."

"Which is--"

"Far away, I know. But if you don't stop, I am going to hit you." Amaryllis let go of her, realizing that an elderly couple waiting for the elevator were giving them weird looks. With a sheepish grin, she brushed off her shoulders. "Sorry."

"You're right." Harper fixed the backpack strap, flicking her hair out of her eyes, her face suddenly set with determination. "Let's go. I've got money for the bus. We have all we can bring."

"I forget stuff everytime I leave my house. This won't be any different." With a resigned sigh, they left the elderly couple to find some other teenagers to gawk at.

They pushed open the lobby doors, squinting at the blinding sunlight. The streets were busy. Cars honked, and drivers yelled out of their front windows to get the traffic moving. Although it wasn't very affective. The sidewalks were complete chaos. People were pushing and shoving others to get where they needed to go. Someone screamed not far off, making Harper flinch. They stood in the lobby entrance until someone inside yelled at them for letting all the cold air out. As soon as they stepped out onto the sidewalk, they were shoved along with the current of people. Amaryllis had to fight to stay upright as a balding man shoved her off the curb. Harper grabbed her arm, hurriedly pulling her friend out of harms way. These taxis weren't stopping for anyone, lest they be a good paying customer. "Okay, getting a taxi isn't going to be effective." Amaryllis assumed, pushing through a crowd of teenagers.

"We could get a bus. The one by Hillshire. We have--holy crap, five minutes to get there."

"There's no way."

"Run!" Harper shouldered her way passed a middle aged man, who gave her the finger. "You are not a very nice man!" She shouted over her shoulder, almost running into a pole before she regained her balance.

"This way!" Amaryllis shouted, dodging into an alley. Harper followed obediently. Water dripped from a nearby tap, creating an echo-y sound that made them feel as if they were in a movie. They took the turn at a sharp pace, and Harper slid on a puddle, nearly slamming into the brick wall of the adjacent building.

"Stop being clumsy," Amaryllis ordered breathlessly. The alley ended, sending them running into the wide stream of people again. People weren't much friendlier on this street. Harper landed on her butt twice before they got to Willshire.

They slid to safety at the crowded bus stop. People swarmed the sidewalks, hardly giving the teenagers room to catch their breath. "Just in time. There's the bus." Harper gasped, putting her hands on her knees.

Amaryllis clutched her stomach, nearly collapsing on the eldery people that occupied the bus stop bench. One of them rudely elbowed her in the stomach. The bus pulled to a stop at the curb, and the bus stop was suddenly swarming with people as they fought to get on. Harper ducked in front of an old man, and hoisted herself up the steps. Amaryllis was at her side by the time she shoved the money into the box that the driver lazily motioned towards. Both girls collapsed into a seat, their breathing slowing, and their heartbeats regaining their usual speed.

"We're going on an adventure." Amaryllis said, leaning back against the patched seat.

Harper turned her head to look out the window. The bus door closed, and people, who made it to the bus stop late, threw themselves at the sides of the vehicle, their angry faces plastered against the windows, their fists banging uselessly against the metallic sides. "An adventure just isn't for me."