Part 21 (1/2)
”Christy?” I knelt beside her, gently touching her shoulder as if she were made of gla.s.s. The tender gesture seemed absurd, considering what I'd been doing to her just a few moments before. ”Honey? Are you okay?”
She slapped me across the face, catching me by surprise. Her face glistened in the flashlight beam-tears and sweat and bile.
”Get the f.u.c.k away from me, you son of a b.i.t.c.h!”
Her shriek was hoa.r.s.e. Her voice didn't sound like it usually did.
I held up my hands. ”I'm sorry, baby. I am so f.u.c.king sorry. It wasn't me. One minute, we were arguing, and the next...I'm sorry.”
She took a deep, stuttering breath and sobbed.
”I know,” she whispered, shaking her head. ”I know. I felt it too, while we were fighting.”
”We all did,” Russ agreed. ”It took everything I had not to shoot you, Robbie.”
”What the h.e.l.l do we do?” I glanced at each of them. Out in the pet store, the animals continued to bark and yip and whine. ”I mean, how the f.u.c.k are we supposed to fight this? We're losing our minds here.”
”We've got to stay away from each other as much as possible from now on,” Russ said. ”Stay away from everyone.”
”Too much negativity, man,” Cranston added. ”Negative emotions are no good. They just bring on bad karma.”
”Yeah,” I said. ”I'd say this is some pretty wicked f.u.c.king karma, Cranston.”
Christy wiped her eyes with her s.h.i.+rttail. ”So we just stay away from each other?”
Russ nodded. ”From everybody. No one is safe anymore. All it takes is some little thing, some perceived slight or offense, to set us off. We can't risk that. We'll go back together, but once we reach the building, I think we should each stay in our own apartment for a while. And if I were you two, I'd consider sleeping in different rooms for a few days at least.”
Before we left, the four of us freed the trapped animals. Some were too sick or weak to move. These we placed on the floor, trying our best to put them in areas that would provide shelter-under desks, counters, and displays-until they had the strength or will to move again. Others scampered out the open door or ran around the store. We released everything-the dogs, kittens, hamsters, gerbils, mice, rats, snakes, frogs, and lizards. We even released the hermit crabs and a terrarium full of crickets that were meant to be food for some of the other pets. Surprisingly, they didn't turn on each other immediately. I'd figured the snakes would go after their prey right away. Instead, they seemed sluggish and disinterested. A few of the more active cats chased after the rodents, but the smaller creatures scampered to safety. The only pets we didn't free were the fish, because none of us could think of a way to safely transport them to the town pond. Cranston suggested releasing them into the sewer, but none of us bothered to try. By that point, we were too tired and still distraught over what had happened in the back room. We opened all the food we could find and dumped it in scattered piles across the store. Then, after making sure the door was propped open, we left the store. The crazy scientist's corpse was still lying on the sidewalk. Amazingly enough, he was still bleeding. I hadn't realized just how much blood a human body contained until that moment. We went around him, but Cranston stepped in a pool of blood and left brownish red tracks in our wake.
Christy reached for my hand. I was shocked at first, surprised that she'd want anything to do with me after what had just happened. She didn't say anything. Didn't even look at me. But when she reached for it again, more insistently the second time, I accepted. We walked together, holding hands. It was enough.
I noticed something else as we began the long trek home. The streets had been mostly quiet on our way downtown. No longer. There were all kinds of sounds indicating activity, but all of it was happening out of sight-in buildings and alleys and side streets.
In darkness.
We walked in silence, but all around us, the shadows were alive with screams.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
For the next week, Christy and I lived together but apart. We stayed separated, afraid to get too close to each other in case one of us snapped and tried to kill the other. Oh, don't get me wrong. We didn't spend all of our time apart. We still talked and stuff. But for the most part, we kept our conversations short and focused only on noncontroversial stuff. Anything that might have sparked a disagreement between us, no matter how stupid or trivial, was avoided like dynamite. The only time we discussed anything more in-depth than small talk, was when we first got home from the pet store. That night, we discussed our feelings and emotions. I apologized over and over again, and Christy kept telling me that she forgave me. Thing was, I didn't feel forgiven. Not by her, and not by myself. I could still see the fear in her eyes-a newfound distrust. I knew it well. I felt the same way about myself. I didn't know me anymore. Didn't like me anymore. Didn't trust myself anymore.
Despite everything, Christy stuck it out. She apologized, too-for lying about her reasons for going to the pet store, for endangering us all, and for never telling me about Brandon. She insisted once more that she'd never slept with him, that it hadn't been like that between them, and I told her that it didn't matter.
And so we stayed, spending our days and nights together but apart. Or maybe I should say spending our nights together, since there were no f.u.c.king days. Time was just one big night. One big after dark. You know that old saying, ”it's always darkest before the dawn”? Well, it was true.
Except the dawn never came.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
There was a knock on the door a few days later. When I opened it, Russ pushed past me and dashed inside. He was out of breath and appeared nervous and worried.
”What's wrong?” I asked.
He held up a finger, silencing me, and glanced into the living room. ”Is Christy here?”
”Yeah. She's pulling marijuana seeds out of her bag and trying to plant them in with the house plants.”
”Christ. Still with the weed? Even after the cl.u.s.ter-f.u.c.k at the pet store?”
I shrugged, then nodded.
”How's she gonna grow them? There's no sunlight.”
I shrugged again. ”She thinks she can s.h.i.+ne the flashlight on them a little bit every day. She's desperate, you know? Somehow I don't think our connection is gonna have any more weed for a while. In truth, I don't even know if he's still in town. And that Brandon douche bag is gone, too, I'd imagine.”
”Seems like a waste of water.”
”Yeah. But it keeps her happy. What else am I gonna do?”
”I don't know. Do what you have to do, I guess. How you guys been holding up?”
”We're okay. You?”
”Surviving. This separation s.h.i.+t is hard. I've been ducking out once a day, walking the streets and seeing what I can find out. It feels good to talk to people, even just for a little while.”
”What if something happens? What if they p.i.s.s you off and you snap?”
”Then at least they were a stranger, and not a friend, like you guys or Cranston.”
”That's true,” I agreed. ”Still dangerous though, dude.”
”s.h.i.+t, Robbie. You have no idea.”
”What do you mean?”
Russ paused. He seemed to be debating whether to continue, so I prompted him.
”What's on your mind, Russ?”
”I don't know if Christy should hear this or not. Maybe we should go upstairs.”
”Why? Is it bad?”