One Day at a Time - (Season One)

Chapter Five: Camping

Martina was relieved when they got home to discover that they were able to miss the riot that broke out in the city. Apparently the police had shot an unarmed homeless in the streets. The number of police shootings had been increasing over the last two weeks, and people were not happy. Hell, Martina was not happy about it either. Life was difficult enough without trigger happy coppers firing at people without a thought. At least Martina was not pulling any shifts tonight at the Walmart, she wasn't really feeling up to leaving her home right now with all the brutality happening outside. Especially since working would mean leaving Lukas with Mrs. Peyton next door.

Something about the situation going on outside was making Martina's hair stand on its end. Something was not right. And she did not want to be separated from her brother if shit hit the fan. For now, though, Martina was going to try put it out of mind as she snuggled with Lukas on the couch and watched Iron Man -for the millionth time- as they snacked on their cold sweat treats.

Halfway through the movie, Martina received another call. She sighed in annoyance before getting up, promising Lukas that she'd be right back, and picked up the phone after a moment. She hadn't recognized the caller ID, so it probably wasn't one of her bosses or Mrs. Clark again.

"Hello? Who is it?"

The other line was silent.

"Hello?" she tried again.

"M-Marty?"

Shit.

"Marty! It's Nick! Where are you? Are you at home, god please tell me your home! Listen some bad shit is happening right now, you need to get Lukas and-"

Her head was spinning, "What- Nick, Nicky! You need to relax for a minute! What happened?"

Nick groaned, "Are you at home?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Good! You need to pack your bags! Enough supplies to last us a couple of months and then head to my mom's house. Listen to me, Marty! I know- I know that you don't have a reason to trust me- especially after what happened, but please, trust me on this." he whispered brokenly.

Her heart was racing in her chest, "Okay." she agreed, Nick let out a relieved sigh, "But you need to tell me what's happening Nick. Where are we going?"

"The desert." he gasped out, "The police shootings and the virus that's been going around are all connected. Glo-Gloria, you remember her?"

Did she ever. Martina had hated that blonde bimbo since they were in high school, she was one of the bitches that hooked Nick up with drugs in the first place, "Yeah. I remember her."

"She killed two people!"

What! How the hell could Gloria kill anyone! The blonde bimbo was thinner than a rail and more fragile than a goddamn reed! "How-"

"Listen, Marty! Gloria didn't just kill them, sh-she was eating them! I saw it happen again a couple of minutes ago. Ca-Calvin died and then he turned into one of those things. My family, we're getting the hell out of here. Heading for the desert until all of this shit dies down. Marty, you need to come with us! Please! I know- I know that I hurt you, but please! I'll never be able to live with myself if something happened to you and Lukas!"

"Okay, okay..." Martina murmured, "I'm coming, Nicky. I need like forty minutes to pack some bags and get over there. Do you have your meds? I can stop by the pharmacy and pick some up-"

"NO!" Nick shouted before he calmly spoke once more, "No, no I'm fine. Please just hurry and be safe. If you see anyone acting funny, don't go up to them, just run, okay? Promise me!"

"Alright, alright." she placated him, "I promise. I'll see you soon Nicky."

"Good, okay good. Just hurry."

"Nick!" she exclaimed before he could hang up, "I-I have something important to tell you when I get there, so- be good til I get there."

Nick snorted, "Aren't I always? Hurry!" before hanging up.

"What's wrong Marty?" Lukas asked as he fidgeted nervously. Martina hadn't even noticed that he had stopped watching the movie and moved to her side.

She breathed in deeply as she crouched down to his level, "We're gonna go camping with Nicky for a few days. So I need you to go get your duffle bag and start packing some of your clothes alright?"

Lukas nodded excitedly before darting off, "Okay!"

Good, good. At least someone was excited about this development.

Martina was only grateful that she'd decided not to unload the car from all of her new purchases when she got home, at least now she wouldn't have to load it all back up. She quickly moved into her room and grabbed the duffle bag she had under the bed for camping purposes and zipping it open. She threw in half of her underwear drawer and a plethora of socks, before tossing three pajamas into the bag. Martina decided that the majority of the clothing that she was bringing with her would be those that would stretch as her pregnancy advanced.

All of the maternity clothes that she'd bought so far were quickly folded and dropped into the bag, baggy shirts and leggings soon made their way in there as well. Martina hovered over some of her favorite cotton dresses before deciding that she may as well bring some since they were comfortable and threw in some sweaters/cardigans since it could get cold at night, especially in a desert before zipping the bag closed and throwing it in front of the door.

She made a toiletry bag with shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, and toothpaste (even the extra two tubes of toothpaste), and all of the medications she had in the cabinet. She grabbed the other duffel and quickly folded two towels inside before adding sunblock inside of a ziplock bag to the pile. Martina folded up two thin blankets as well as two heavier blankets and squished them in. Her extensive first aid kit was also added into the mix before she grabbed some of their more normal camping supplies like the two sleeping bags, lanterns, extra batteries, flashlights, compass, spare ziplock bags, flint, and fire starter until nothing else fit in the bag.

Martina then went to help Lukas finish packing his bag. Her little brother had predictably added more toys than clothes into his bag, so she helped him choose four toys he couldn't live without before adding the proper amount of clothing. She packed up a lot of the baggier and bigger clothes that'd been given to them by the Peters family next door in case Lukas went through a growth spurt while they were gone before stuffing his pillow in there. In a plastic bag, she packed Lukas' and her own hiking boots, both of their trainers and flip flops. Now all that was left was packing up a box with all of their canned goods and actually leaving.