Five Seconds

Newt

Andy

The mall was an empty dark void. Shadows crawled up the walls, swallowing the building. It was strange seeing the centre of a city so dark and quiet. It was a polar opposite to the mall Parker and I had ventured through days before.

"You ready?" I whispered.

"As ready as I'll ever be. You be smart with that iron. We don't need any more deaths than we already have."

I was surprised Parker would actually utter those words, but I couldn't agree more. The smashed doors that were once glass stood like the esophagus of a demon. Instinct made me pull it open slowly, and I was thankful it made no noise. I clicked on a small flashlight and led the way.

"Think there's a mall directory?" Parker asked. Every syllable thundered through the cavernous space.

Slowly but surely, Parker's humour was crawling back from the deep dark hole it had surrendered to. Yet somehow, it did nothing to brighten my spirits. Maybe it was stress, maybe it was everything catching up to me. Whatever it was, every little thing he did to brighten the mood, or remind the world he was still his old self, irked me. At least I was good at keeping my mouth shut.

We passed by a lingerie store, and Parker let out a wolf whistle.

It took everything I had not to slap him. "You're so immature."

"Hey check out the jewelry. Want anything?" he pointed at a store across the hall.

"Parker, we are here for one thing only. We need to get in and out as fast as possible without being seen," I reminded him.

He strolled across the messy hall. "Mm but that ring totally has your name on it."

I rolled my eyes and looked down at the blue and red tiles. "Jewelry is stupid."

Parker dramatically let me know how much he was offended in a single gasp. "It's all free you know. We can take anything we want. Toss me that tire iron. I'll get you those earrings there. Wings for an angle."

I pursed my lips together and prayed it was dark enough he couldn't see – this was the most inappropriate time to blush. Newt let out a low grumble. "My ears aren't even pierced," I said quietly.

"What!"

"Parker shut up we are on a mission!"

"I cannot believe it. I had my ears pierced for a while. Everyone pierces their ears. Actually, we could probably find a piercing kit here..."

I left him to ramble to himself at the dumb sparkly store and continued on forward with my dog, the only boy I needed – and could deal with.

I stopped when I found a store in our favour. "Hey Parker, look. A shoe store. We should get you some hiking boots if we're making such a long journey."

We entered the shoe store and in mere moments Parker already had three pairs of shoes out to try on. I was completely baffled.

"Are you an expert on shoe stores or something?" I asked.

"You know Andy. Maybe you're so crabby because your shoes don't fit right."

He reached for my foot and I kicked his hand away. "Oh, go to hell."

Parker picked out another pair to try. They were some sort of boot. Something like a cross between a duck and a moose. "You're actually considering walked around in public with those?"

"They're grungy, it's a style. They're cool."

"They're gross. How about these." I tossed him a runner.