DEVILS ♛ C. G. 〖 #wattys2018 〗

T W O / T H R E E

SOTC: Waves — Dean Lewis
• there is a swelling storm / and i'm caught up in the middle of it all •

April couldn't feel her fingers.

It was a strange sensation, really. Pins and needles danced along her knuckles, numbness collected in clouds around her joints.

A crash echoed down the hallway, and her heart jolted into overdrive. Before she knew it, she was sprinting away, like a spooked rabbit, clammy fingers tightening.

She felt a sense of guilt spool from her gut. She considered turning back. She considered correcting what she had just committed.

But the adrenaline high, it was flushing her face, it was making her legs pump faster, her smile grow wider and more wicked. Pieces of hair stuck to her forehead like spider's legs.

Another chill arced down her spine and her lungs began to sing, to howl.

No, she was nearly a poltergeist, vanishing from corridor to corridor. She was invisible, invincible, as her stuffed pockets bounced against her chest.

What a slippery bastard she had become.

Her father would be proud.

♛ ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛

Carl heard the door snap open like a mousetrap, and froze. His head drifted upward cautiously. Viewed April fiddling with the knob's lock.

Something seemed different about her.

She turned, and he could discern why—she was heaving, breaths dropping from her mouth like lead. Lips curled like a scythe.

Carl stood. Carefully shifted his balance, then let a curious smile onto his face. "What did you do?"

April's mischievous laugh filled the room. Then she brought her fist up, unfurled it to display a small metal key.

She met his gaze again. "When the time comes, your friend is free."

Carl released a disbelieving breath. Took the key from her fingers and studied its surface, printed with a numeral at its head.

He shook his head, dropping the key in her hands again. "You're insane."

Her smile glimmered. "There's more where that came from." She began to unload her pockets—ammo cartridges, logbook pages, folded blueprints. "This should be a good start."

Carl looked at her in disbelief.

She could only grin, sadness and excitement married perfectly in her eyes. "Carl, you better prep your ass."

Then she walked past, to the window at his back. "I'm about to tell you everything."

Carl swallowed. Still a bit of doubt swilled in his veins. What if this was still an act? What if she was simply stringing him along for a greater purpose?

But the items, the crinkled pages, the key... it was hard to deny.

He sat gingerly at the edge of her bed, heart quickening. "Promise me, no lies."

"No lies," she affirmed, sitting down in front of him.

Her hair was a mess, sticking up in tangles that looked like pinestraw. Her ripped jeans, her baggy long-sleeved shirt, the bags slung under her eyes. 

She nodded. "No lies," she promised again, pursing her lips like an omen.

♛ ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛

"The people I love," April started, her insides churning. "I can count on one hand. Including the dead ones.

She took a breath, voice leveling. "My mom died when the shit hit the fan, so I was left with only my father. And that was a big thing for a twelve-year-old, even during the apocalypse. Especially during the apocalypse.