The Last Days

|| Chapter 5 ||

Chapter 5: Mae

I squint as I hunt for a parking spot in the crowded lot.

"There!" Rory exclaims, pointing to a spot a row away.

We pull in, then grab our purses to go inside. I grab Jericho's baby and hand it to him. "I'll be back soon, alright?"

He pants happily and settles down in the back seat in response.

With that, I crack the windows and we walk towards the department store, laughing.

I look over my shoulder, just to make sure no one is following us. Sometimes Jeremy's boys hang out in this lot and he might have told them about last night...

"No, I'm serious. He swerved around you two like you were on fire." Rory laughs.

We cut in through a department store, strolling through the bedding section.

"Seriously? Well he wasn't that cute anyways." I laugh. "How is that going, by the way? I read this thing that tattoo artists make bank nowadays. Is that true?"

"Yeah, well, only if it's a really complicated tattoo. And I have to give the parlor like half of my profit so I don't get paid as much." She explains, running her hand over a duvet cover.

"Whatever. You're just trying to make me feel better about---" I pause, silently cursing myself. "Nevermind."

She stops, turning to look at me. "What's going on with you? You've been acting so weird today." She pushes back her bright scarlet hair, her steel blue gaze focusing on me.

I take a deep breath, lowering my voice. "I took your advice. I cut myself off from Jeremy."

She lets out an airy laugh. "Seriously? This is great! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

I peer down into the play area below. Children scream and laugh as they climb on the sculptures.

"The more I think about it, the more I realize Jeremy won't just let me go like that. He practically broke down my door trying to get to me. He's got his guys all over the place and I don't want them to find me."

Her eyes soften. "So come stay at my place. My dad is well... my dad and he wouldn't care."

I hesitate.

Don't ask for help, that's what what weak people do.

"No, I just need to---" I start.

"Mae. You're staying at my house tonight" She commands.

I shake my head. "Just for one night. Then I need to figure things out for myself."

She smiles, and we walk into a clothing store.

"How about this?" She offers, holding a pair of pink, distressed overalls, in effort to cheer me up.

I smile. "Just your style."

She feigns hurt, scowling playfully. "Whatever. You don't even wear colors. Your entire closet is white, black, and grey." She teases.

"No, I..." I try to think of any colored clothes I have. "Okay, you're right. But it's simple, and practical. And all my clothes go with each other."

I pick up a striped t shirt, holding it up to myself. "This is cute."

She turns around, holding a scarf. "We literally just had a conversation about you wearing zero color."

"Pfft. Whatever, I'm buying it." I drape the shirt over my arm and follow her to another rack of clothes.

"So..." I start. "How has your dad been lately?"

"Oh." She mutters dejectedly. "Same guy you met last year. Basically unresponsive and a complete idiot."

"Oh. But he's not... hurting you anymore?"

I remember the time she came to school with her face all swollen and bruised. She had cracked ribs from being kicked in the same place over and over. If there was one person who had it worse than me, it was Rory.

I'm fast, and I've got Jericho, so I manage to avoid Jeremy's beatings. But even when he does get a punch in, that crack head probably isn't half as strong as Rory's dad. The worst I ever got from Jeremy was a black eye.

She looks at me and rubs her arm, then picks up a blue dress. "I'm going to go try this on, what do you think?"

I give her a tight lipped smile. "Yeah. Yeah it's pretty, go try it on."

She smiles softly, then retreats to the changing room.

I run my hand over some colorful high waisted shorts up front, trying to think about if going to Rory's is safer than my house. I pull out my note pad and a pen, scribbling down a list of things.

Pros of living at Rory's house:
-Jeremy isn't there.
-Dani isn't there.
-I get to hang out with Rory every day.

I pause, tapping my pen on my chin.

Cons of living at Rory's house:
-Rory's dad

I try to think of something else, but to no avail. Instead, I circle and double underline the single con.

Because it was a very big con.

I get an uneasy feeling and glance over my shoulder again.

I quickly shut my notepad when I see Rory appear from behind the curtain.

"How'd it fit?" I ask.

"Um, it's kind of tight." She frowns, putting it back on a rack. "It's got these weird straps in the---"

She is cut off by an ear-splitting scream that echoes through the mall for what feels like ages.

I look directly into her eyes and see a mirror that reflects my own fear. I turn to look out of the store, frozen.

A man sprints past us without looking our way, followed my a limping teenage boy. The man looks over his shoulder and trips, sliding into the ground.

The teenage boy limps toward him, and reaches him, breathing heavily. The man screams, struggling to get away.

To my horror, the boy leans down and rips the man's throat out with his teeth. Blood spurts from his jugular as the man gurgles, his eyes flickering shut.

My heart beats faster, and adrenaline pumps through my veins.

The silence that follows hangs delicately in the air, suspended over the glass topped mall like an eerie smoke that threatens to suffocate me.

I tremble, keeping my eyes locked on the boy and the man. I back up until I bump into a clothing rack, sending it crashing to the ground.

The boy slowly looks up at me, his eyes bloodshot, hungry and inhuman. He slowly stands, revealing a deep gash in his side.

I continue backing up, making a mental list.

Get out of mall. Find Jericho. Hide.

With an animalistic screech, the boy barrels toward us, tearing through the store with a violence I'd never seen before.