Joy slowly clicked her seatbelt back on and picked up the basket. She reached into her pocket and clicked on Devyn's name, followed by a green phone. Each round of the ring tone made Joy clinch tighter onto her phone.
"Did she answer?" Emma whispered, pushing back a stray strand of red hair.
Joy shook her head as a robotic voice sounded over the phone—she hung up.
Emma licked her lips as the windshield wipers steadily sounded. "I'm sure she didn't go inside yet. You said she would wait for you, right? I'm sure she would have remembered the plan and waited."
Joy nodded as Emma continued to ramble. The speed of her speech increased with each sentence.
"I mean, she can't die now. Devyn is a symbol. She is the reason we—I mean, what will happen? We can't rely on Kevin. No one really likes Kevin," Emma babbled, making Joy smirk.
"Timothy is okay," Joy started.
Emma shook her head. "Timothy is so boring. He also looks like a bloated penguin when he gets angry, flapping his wings around."
Joy laughed, staring down at her phone. "Yeah, Devyn knows it. She can't—"
Her phone vibrated in her hand making Joy jump as the first sounds of her ring echoed in the car. Devyn flashed across the screen, making Emma cheer and Joy instantly smile.
"Hey," Joy answered the phone.
"Hi," Devyn's panting response made Joy sit straighter.
"You okay?" Joy asked.
"Uh-huh," Devyn replied. "Just running. What intersection are you at?"
"Basically at Braeswood and Main."
"Fuck me," Devyn gasped. "You have to be that far?"
"Tell her I know where we can go," Emma cut in.
"Emma says she knows—"
"I heard her," Devyn snapped. "Turn off your damn lights. I can see you. I will be there in a second."
Joy passed on the directive, and Emma turned off the car.
"This is so exciting," Emma whispered. "I just thought I would die becoming part of the Red Eyed Battalion. I didn't know I would make a difference."
Joy looked at Emma with raised and furrowed eyebrows. "You know, that isn't the thing to say after seeing a building catch fire in front of us, right?"
Emma shrugged. "I figure that they will be able to save most of it from burning down since the sprinkler systems still work."
A knock at the window made Joy scream before recognizing Devyn as the assailant. Emma unlocked the door, and she jumped inside.
"Well," Devyn sighed, putting on her seatbelt. "I guess they knew what we had planned."
Emma turned on the car and shrugged. "PoL has contingency plans on their contingency plans."
"That's why they knew the fire wouldn't burn down the whole building?" Joy asked.
Emma nodded. "Yeah, hospitals have ways to contain fires on a floor. I'm sure they made sure everything was in place before starting this one. They wanted to send a message, not tie their own noose."
Devyn sighed while ringing out the water from her shirt. "So, where should we go?"
"Memorial City," Emma replied. "I know some of the guys that run the Red Eye clinic there. They might be able to hook us up with the stuff we need."
YOU ARE READING
Red Eyes
Science FictionDevyn Palmer never really fit into her family. Her grandmother and father were pillars when resettling the living in Houston while battling the undead. Her brother became one of the top protectors at the age of sixteen. While, Devyn sat in a rese...
