Atomic | Eddie Munson

9

This chapter contains mentions of intrusive thoughts and self harm. Read at your own discretion.

Katherine woke up early the next morning to prepare for the picnic. She got busy making sandwiches as the oven preheated. Robin had mentioned that she had been craving a cake, so Katherine was going to surprise her with one. She mixed up some batter and portioned it out in the pans before putting them into the oven.

While she waited for the cake to finish baking, Katherine cleaned up the living room from the night prior. As she reached for glass of water on the coffee table, she noticed a glint of silver. One of Eddie's rings was sitting beside the glass. It was a skeleton hand that was wrapped around to form a ring shape. It must have been the one that he slipped on her finger last night. She picked it up and rolled it between her fingers. It didn't fit any of her fingers, but was close to fitting her thumb.

She ran up to her room and found a plain chain necklace. She slipped the ring onto the chain and clasped it around her neck so that she would remember to give it to Eddie the following day.

Katherine continued getting ready for the day, pulling on a black t-shirt, jeans, and a dark green flannel. She tucked the ring on the necklace under her shirt. After finishing her makeup, she put her hair into two space buns and pulled out two blonde strands from the front to frame her face.

The timer for the cake went off, so Katherine went back downstairs to take it out. She made a blueberry filling and a lemon frosting for the cake as she waited for the cake to cool, knowing that she, Robin, and Steve all loved the flavor combination.

Once she assembled and frosted the cake, she put blueberries around the outside with mint leaves for decoration. Katherine looked down at her work, satisfied. She glanced at the clock. 11:30.

She packed up the food she prepared into a basket and sat at the kitchen table to put on her shoes, waiting for Steve. After a few minutes, she heard the honk of Steve's car horn.

Katherine grabbed her bag and the picnic basket and went outside. Steve sat in the car, waiting for her.

"Morning," Katherine said, setting the picnic basket gently on the backseat. She climbed into the front seat of the car and placed her bag at her feet.

"Good morning. Did you sleep better last night?" Steve asked as he pulled out of the driveway.

"Yeah, I did. I think I was so exhausted I didn't have the energy to dream," Katherine replied.

"Not quite how dreams work, but okay," Steve responded. Since when did he know anything about the science of dreaming?

The two were at Robin's shortly after, who stood outside with a picnic blanket and tote bag in her hands. She rushed over to the back seat and got in the car.

"Guys! I'm so excited for this!" Robin exclaimed. Steve and Katherine couldn't help but smile at their friend's excitement.

"I know, Rob. You've been talking about this for two weeks," Katherine said.

The three drove to the quarry, singing along to the radio. Katherine danced along theatrically with Robin as they sang, causing Steve to laugh. Anybody they passed would never guess that these three happy teens had a lifetime of trauma and had been tortured by Russian spies earlier in the summer of that year.