Inferno Part 3

~148~ Prepping for the Show

Zoe's POV

When we get in, Ellie immediately comes over to us. "Good, I need you," she says to dad.

"What's up?" Dad asks as he sets the duffel bag down and shakes the snow off of his coat.

"Go help Wes get the generator going. It's already getting cold in here. Wes thinks they can plug Alex's space heater into it to get some more heat."

"Ok. We need to get the heater now before the wind gets any worse," dad says.

Ellie shakes her head. "Alex and Colton are doing that now—Please go help Wes. Taylor had to leave to get Trace and Emma."

"Good. They changed their minds?"

"They got stuck in a ditch."

"What?!?" Dad hisses as he rushes for the door.

"They're fine—They should be here soon. Liam and Mason are at the gas station, getting gas for the generator."

"K. I'll go help," he says as he goes into the kitchen.

"Nolan?" Ellie asks as she looks around.

"Yeah?"

"Grab some lights and you, Raya, Zoe, Ethan, and Gabby start raiding closets and things upstairs. Get all the blankets you can find. I have several blow up mattresses I need you to find too."

Nolan nods as he grabs a lantern. "Where's Luke and Shay?"

"Luke is out putting salt on the driveway, and Shay is with Sasha and Nora...They're organizing supplies in the sunroom."

Nolan nods as he starts walking upstairs, and we follow.

"This is Gabby. She's adopted too," I say with a smile to Raya.

Raya grins at her as she takes a lantern for herself. "We need to join a club, huh?"

Gabby laughs as she nods. "What will our name be?"

It's quite for a moment as we start walking up the stairs.

"We're not cool enough for a name, Gabby," Nolan grins once he gets to the top.

"Kinda sad, but ok," Gabby says as she shoves him playfully.

I notice Nolan look at Raya for a second, and then away quickly. I've never seen him look nervous around anyone before...Except Justin.

"So Raya, you knew Justin?" Gabby asks as we start putting blankets in a pile from the linen closet.

Raya shrugs and puts her light down. "As well as you can, seeing a person once or twice a week."

Gabby looks at Nolan. "Is that weird for you?"

"What?" He asks as he tries too hard to act unbothered.

"That she knows your dad."

"She doesn't know dad well at all. She only really met him when he took her home from the airport. And then once more yesterday when they came over for dinner."

Gabby immediately knows what she did, and bites her lip. "Sorry. I meant Justin."

"Not weird," he lies as he sets more blankets down.

"I'm gonna take the first pile down. I'll be back," Nolan says as he takes the blankets and the lantern and goes downstairs.

"Gabby!" Ethan hisses.

"You'd think I'd know better by now. I really need to learn to think before I speak." She says as she gets more blankets down.

"Having me here is hard for him huh?" Raya asks.