Thunder and Storm

Marriages and Cigarettes

SALLY.


I watched the others playing in the snow. It was refreshing to be out of that stuffy cave. They were having a snow fight. I wished to join them but then I wasn’t sure if they wanted me to.

“Why are you all by yourself here?” Hakeem asked as he sat beside me on the fallen tree.

There was a storm last night. Most of the trees in the meadow were uprooted. Luckily, we were safe in the cave and had heard nothing.

“I could ask you the same question. I’m sure Ash would very much like your company.”

His cheeks reddened at my words and I nudged him with my shoulder. “Look who’s blushing. You like her, don’t you?”

“It’s not what you’re thinking,” he said and I nodded. He was obviously lying.

“Okay, maybe I do. I mean who wouldn’t, look at her, she’s so pretty.”

“I think she likes you too.”

“You think?” He wrung his fingers together and chewed his lip.

“Of course, Hakeem. Gosh! You’re so blind.”

“Well.” He shrugged, “Maybe she does.”

I heard a bark and running feet on the snow. Max ran to me and jumped up, barking excitedly.

“Hey, Maxy.” I patted his head and he licked my hand. I picked him up and placed him on my lap.

“Hey, doggy.” Hakeem waved at him and tried to pet him. Max growled and snapped at his hand.

I chuckled. “I don’t think he likes being called doggy.”

“Noted.” He dipped his hands in the pocket of his jumpsuit. Most of them were still dressed in the jumpsuit issued to us at the Underground.

“So when are you going to tell her how you feel?” I asked as I played with Max’s ears.

“Tell her? No, I can’t tell her that. We just met last week, I want to know her better.”

“Or you just want time to plan how many kids you want to have with her and how your wedding is going to be like,” I teased.

“What? No,” he protested indignantly and I laughed, hitting him on the shoulder. He smirked, giving me a side glance.  “Maybe.”

I snorted. He was so whipped.

“What do you think Cameron and the rest are talking about so seriously?” he asked and I followed his line of vision.

Cameron, Ryan and Hiro were standing by a tree away from the others playing in the snow. They were having a heated conversation.

Cameron looked up and our gazes met, I smiled and raised my hand to wave at him. He looked away and my heart clenched. It felt like a dismissal.

He dipped his hand in his pocket and brought out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, took out a cigarette, lit it and took a drag from it. I gasped. He smoked?

I remembered once when rumors had circulated school that he had been caught smoking in the boiler room and had been suspended from school. It wasn’t a rumor after all. I kept forgetting he was Cameron Downing, the delinquent. I should do well to remember that.


CAMERON.


“We were there once and barely escaped. The only reason we got away with it was that they weren’t expecting us. We had the advantage of surprise which we’ve blown now,” Hiro said heatedly.

“Hiro is right, Cam. I don’t think it’s wise for us to go back there,” Ryan said.

I took a long drag from my cigarette. “She keeps getting worse every day. Nothing I do works. We must’ve missed it or something but I’m certain the cure to the virus is back at that military base.”

“Have you thought about whether there’s no cure at all? A lot of people have died because of it already, I don’t think there’d be a cure and it wouldn’t be released,” Ryan said again. I felt like punching his face.

“There is a cure,” I grounded out. “You can’t see it but I’m telling you there’s a bigger picture.”

“You keep saying there’s a bigger picture and all we’ve been doing is hiding out in a cave, fighting off hunters after us and eating crappy food raided from stores. I’m sick of it,” he shouted. Hiro said nothing.

“There is a bigger picture. Jeff was right,” I said.

“Jeff is crazy. If he wasn’t crazy, they’d have believed him and there would be others out here searching for the cure and not us.”

I threw my cigarette on the floor and it died in the snow. “Jeff is crazy? We’ve stayed with the man since we got to the safe house. Have you forgotten what he did to save us?” He didn’t say anything.

“We have people hunting us out there and they seem perfectly fine, not infected. Ever wonder why that is? Jeff told us there was a cure and he was right. It’s pretty fucking obvious.” I glared at them and stormed off.

I walked up to Sally and took out another cigarette, lit it and lifted it to my lips.

“Come on, Max.” I reached out to him.

“I don’t think it’s good for him to be around smokers,” Sally said. She had a look in her eyes that I didn’t appreciate. Scorn.

I blew out a breath. “It’s cold and I need the heat,” I explained.

She lifted a brow. “I thought you don’t feel cold.”

Well, fuck shit.

I took another drag from my cigarette, bent and puffed it in her face. She coughed and I took Max out of her lap. “I don’t and I also don’t need to explain anything to you.”

I walked off. Max whined in my arms as we walked away. He looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Who the fuck does she think she is looking at me like that. Like she’s beneath me,” I said to him.

Fuck her. Fuck them all.

I didn’t need any of them. I could do this on my own. I took another drag from the cigarette and placed Max on the floor, letting him follow me. Everyone always had something to say about me and it never bothered me before. They didn’t know me and certainly didn’t know the shit I went through every day back at that hellish town. But having her look at me like that hurt.

I entered the cave and cranked my neck. My shoulders were stiff. Creating that storm last night took a lot out of me. It didn’t make me feel better, I just felt tired and angrier than ever.