White Noise

I wasn't a fan.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I was appreciative of the introductions, of Logan trying to include us in their little “bat cave” as she'd called it. But it was the way that the survivors looked at us as we walked in – the way they stared, and the way Scarlett seemed oblivious to all of it.

Logan said something about showing Scarlett around, and she looked at me as though expecting me to tag along. But not yet, not before I established my escape routes, not before I knew my immediate surroundings.

The room was...for lack of a better word, massive. There were people darting around, not really focusing on whatever they were doing, rather watching us like hawks. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on edge.

“Well...at least it's safe,” Peter muttered from beside me. I jumped, not realizing he was so close to me.

“Yeah,” I snorted. “Maybe for now.” My eyes wondered the room, past the dirty couches. One door with a sheet taped over the window sat between the couches and the wall lined with tables. “One exit,” I muttered to myself, before turning back to the doors we had just come through. “Two exits.”

Peter nudged my arm, and pointed up. The upper level of the building seemed to have a walkway leading all the way around, leading to what used to be offices, I assumed. At each of the four corners, there were fire escapes. “Six exits,” I sighed.

“I wonder what's in those offices, though,” Peter said, eyebrow raised.

I shrugged. “After Hot-Head Gabe wanted to put a bullet in my pregnant friend, I'm not sure I want to find out.”

We started to walk towards the couches, and I took note of this wide open space. There wasn't much privacy, that's for sure. We took a seat on the couch closest to the door we'd entered through, and Peter sighed.

“What?” I asked, looking at him.

“It's just...I mean, technically Scar asked before we came here,” he bit his lip. “But we've never made such a big decision in such a short period of time without all of us discussing the pros and cons. Don't get me wrong, Holland, I wanna protect Lila too. I'm just wondering if...I dunno.”

I shrugged. “I can't speak for anyone but myself, Peter...but I don't really think Lila should have been the one to really make that call. And I don't think Scar should have put it on her like that.” I took a breath, readjusting the beanie on my head. “The thing about Lila is she's always going to go where the people are. Her thought process since the beginning is that if there are other survivors, they'll all band together to take care of each other. I'm learning that it isn't quite like that...” Images of Ryan, bloody and splayed across the basement of that house, caused me to shudder. “In any case, I need to make sure she's safe.”

One of the truck guys from our little standoff passed in front of me and Peter, handing us both a bottle of water. “Why don't you guys get some rest? You both look like hell.”

“That's a polite thing to say to a stranger,” I laughed, accepting the bottle. “Name's Holland. This stud here is Peter. And you are?”

“I'm James,” he smiled, extending his hand. “Sorry about our little stand-off earlier – Gabe doesn't really know how to be around people.”

Peter snorted, and we both shook James' hand. “We don't take it personally,” he said. “Just kind of glad to be on solid ground and not be aimed at.”

James was far more charismatic than the other truck guy, and far friendlier than Gabe – then again, I think even zombies were friendlier than Gabe. After our introductions, James walked off to the tables and I rested back against the couch. After a moment, James came back with two blankets – one for me and one for Peter. We accepted thankfully, and he stalked off silently with a small wave.

As the sunlight dimmed, battery powered lanterns and candles were lit throughout the building. I had a hard time staying awake, and didn't truly relax until I heard Peter snoring next to me.

But it wouldn't be as easy as going to sleep – rather, I'd be fighting my mind as images of Ryan and nightmares plagued me.

It was the same scene over and over again, him dying in my arms, and then coming back as something much worse, and then he'd whisper in my ear, “Get out!”

After seeing that so many times, I bolted awake when Peter shook my arm. “Holland? You need to hear this.”

I groggily stood, following closely behind him in the now almost fully dark warehouse. He gently pushed the door open, leading me outside where the moon shone bright and lit the ground around us. He signaled for me to stay quiet, and we snuck to the corner of the building – where Gabe had disappeared to earlier that afternoon.

A peak around the side showed a small shack, which we could see was lit by candlelight, and two people talking. One of them was Gabe, no doubt. The other...I couldn't quite tell, but I think it was the other truck guy.

“I'm telling you, having a baby in this world is just...not smart,” Gabe guffawed. “I can one hundred percent guarantee that they already carry the virus. These children are going to infect all of us, you mark my words.”

“Well now that you mention it,” the other guy spoke, “the little baby has been awfully feverish and nibbly since she got here.”

“We gotta kill them,” Gabe said bluntly. “Besides, we don't need to be wasting supplies on these pregnant whores just because they can't keep their legs closed. It's the end of the world, who has time to fuck?” He laughed to himself, and slammed a bottle down on a table. “Why should these bitches get to eat for two when I don't even get enough to eat for one?”

“Amen,” the other guy spoke.

I looked at Peter, eyes wide. “What the fuck?” I mouthed silently.

“'m thinking we kill Trudy first. She's such a bitch.” Gabe laughed. “That little redhead, though? She's a hot piece of ass. Maybe we could have some fun with her before we end that shit, too.”

My blood started to boil, and I turned around quickly. I didn't want to hear any more. Peter followed me as I walked back into the warehouse. I searched everywhere on the ground floor before heading up the stairs, looking through the windows of all the offices until I found familiar faces. Lila, Sasha, Natalie, and Darren all sat around a table with James and a few others, including Logan and Sawyer. Where was Scarlett? In the middle of the table was a couple of candles, putting off a dim light through the room. I opened the door and stepped inside, taking a seat next to Lila. Peter pulled up a chair by James.

“So, you grew up in New York?” Lila asked James, after linking her arm through mine when I sat down.

I didn't want to spend time on this small talk, I needed to talk to Lila. I needed to talk to Scarlett. We needed to go.

“New York?” Scar echoed from the door. “As in...the city? The state? When did you leave?”

James shook his head. “I got separated from the people I was with when it started. After a couple of days on my own, I heard what the government was going to do, so I decided to head as far south as I could.”

Scarlett's eyes were wide. “What do you mean, what the government was going to do? Who were you with?”

Sasha then leaned up, covering her mouth with her hand before making eye contact with Scarlett. “Scar, no...”

“I need to know, Sasha!”

James looked at her hard. “You didn't know? The government was trying to do damage control. Bombing all the major cities...or, at least trying to. They managed to get New York, Las Vegas, San Diego, Hollywood...places like that, before they were infected themselves.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Scarlett asked.

I could only watch as the scene unfolded in front of me, as I held in my own information I wanted to share with Scarlett. I wasn't aware she had any connection to New York at all. I was going to ask Peter, but then James spoke again.

“Sorry, hun. New York is gone.”