Red Tide² ━ FTWD

CHAPTER 9: S.O.S.

RED TIDE

chapter nine: s.o.s.

[ season 2, episode 4; blood in the streets ]

DAY 21

Meghan's legs were tucked up underneath herself on the bench, knees digging into the cushion. Above her, the night sky dazzled with a hundred pinpricks of light, blinking once overhead, and again in the waves. Her head lolled back as she watched them. She'd taken to mentally tracking the patterns, the stars in southern California far different than the ones she'd grown up with in the Northeast corridor of the United States. It was a respite that was sorely needed, especially after spending the last couple days listening to Alicia gripe about losing her iPod — which no one had seen heads or tails of aboard the ship.

That, she thought, and the fact she'd barely slept since they left LA. Whenever she closed her eyes, a new horror awaited.

Meghan had hoped her dream about Caitlyn was a one-off, but had been proven wrong time and time again in the days since.

The dreams were never the same. Sometimes they were as vivid as her first, other times shifting and formless, a sense of dread lurking just under the surface. They always ended the same, though — with Meghan shivering in bed with clammy hands, feeling like a stranger to herself. Slipping out of her own skin like clothes that didn't fit quite right anymore. Too tight in places, and uncomfortably loose in others. At once strangling and drowning her.

So she'd taken to watching the stars. Tonight, Ofelia had joined her.

It was something resembling a routine they'd fallen into — Meghan would try and fail to fall asleep, get up around 2 or 3AM and stand watch until she finally felt bone-tired enough that she could pass out where she stood. And until she did, Ofelia would quietly join her. She still hadn't determined if it was an act of solidarity or simply the older woman seeking company, but either way, she didn't complain.

Being alone with her thoughts too long was never a good thing. And conversation came easy, where Ofelia was concerned. They batted around safe, comfortable topics that barely skimmed the surface of everything burning around them. A moment of peace on their scorched earth. For her part, Meghan was happy to let Ofelia take the lead — had always been more of a passive observer rather than ringleader in social situations, anyway. She'd learned the hard way that her natural bossiness and perfectionistic tendencies, while helping her to excel in school, did not lend themselves toward making friends.

"You told me a lot about Vermont, but you never told me why you all were in LA," Ofelia said. "I mean, I know why your family was — Madison made that pretty clear." Meghan cringed at the memory of that first dinner, and the older girl withheld a snort as she continued, "But before that, why LA?"