Evermore - Troy Otto

three

     "Thanks," Evelyn heard her friend thank the room service employee. The two had been holed up in their hotel room since the shopping center incident happened. Ethan justified it, saying it would be safest there until the public's rightful panic calmed down a bit. Only by then would Ethan feel safe enough to drive the two of them back to their home in Los Angeles, but it didn't seem like that would come any time soon. The sickness was only getting worse.

     "Hope you like chicken sandwiches," Ethan shrugged and smiled at his best friend. Evelyn thanked him and unwrapped her arms from around her pulled up knees.

     "Can you turn on the TV?" Evelyn asked once she was done eating her dinner. The cannibal, sickness, outbreak thing never failed to find a way to make her queasy, so she needed to wait until she had a full, digested stomach to face reality.

     Ethan nodded. He turned on the news for what felt like the twentieth time that day. The two watched with anxious eyes as the news anchor named off yet another group of people who had gotten attacked up in Burbank.

     "Ev..." Ethan started. He knew they were both thinking the same thing.

     Evelyn's head dropped into her hands. She could already feel her food starting to make it's way back up. "We're gonna end up broke if we keep spending here, E."

     "Evelyn, we can't go back right now. I mean, Burbank! Do you know how close we live to Burbank?" Ethan shouted, clearly stressed as can be. Evelyn sighed and shook her head. She was so torn.

     "I'm gonna call Tara," she spoke lowly as she reached for her phone.

     "You really think she's gonna pick up?" Ethan started, "It's almost been a week, Ev."

     "So, what? You know how Tara is, she's probably just playing some stupid prank on us for leaving her with her niece."

     "Evelyn..."

     She froze at the severe tone. "What?" she couldn't help but ask timidly. Ethan didn't get serious, ever. He was always cheerful, kind, and supportive— even when comforting Evelyn about her messed up childhood on the ranch. When he spoke like this, Evelyn knew it was something super serious.

     "I called Tara's mom last night, and I surprisingly got through to her..."

     "What? When?"

     "When you were asleep, but that's besides the point. She booked a plane ticket to L.A. as soon as she could when she realized Tara wouldn't pick up the phone. well she went to your apartment and..."

     "And what, Ethan?" at this point, Evelyn felt her whole body begin to heat up and shake. Tara was alright, she had to be. They hadn't heard her name on the news, so she had to be fine. She was staying at their apartment with her niece and when they got back, everything was going to be normal.

     "Tara's missing."

     "What do you mean Tara's missing?" Evelyn's fearful, breaking voice almost made Ethan's heart break. Beside him, Tara the first friend Evelyn made as she was building the foundations to her new life. Since she introduced Tara to Ethan, the three were always together. No matter what, when, or where. "Are they gonna find her?"

     "I don't know, Ev... apparently the police department is super busy with all the attacks and all these missing people's cases. I don't know if they're gonna find her," Ethan took slow steps toward Evelyn, who sat in silence, trying to process what she was just told. "I know I probably should've told you another way... but I couldn't keep it from you any longer."

     "How? I tried calling her the day after we got here. Things couldn't have gone bad that quick," Evelyn spoke through her shocked tears.

     "That's just how this works, Evelyn. It sucks, but we know what we have to do."

     "You think it was the virus?" Ethan could barely hear her low voice.

     "Yeah, I do," that was when Evelyn lost it. She sobbed and sobbed so hard that it felt like she couldn't breathe. Ethan only wrapped his arms around her, holding her and wishing he could take all this sadness and grief away from her. Of course, there was a chance that Tara's disappearance had nothing to do with this virus, but he was raised to be a realist— and with the way city people are, he was happy to be. "We can't go back, Evelyn. Tara could be dead all because she went outside, if it didn't catch her anywhere else."

     "But we can't stay here, Ethan," Evelyn choked and hiccuped as she tried to get her words out, "what are we supposed to do? Hang around the pool and catch a tan while people are dying? We'd just be waiting for it to get us next."

     "We'll figure it out, Ev," he whispered and held her tighter. He allowed her to cry in his arms until she fell asleep, which took a lot longer than what they thought. How evelyn was able to get some rest was a mystery. For the past few crazy nights, Ethan struggled to even get just an hour.

     Evelyn woke up to a dark, silent room. Ethan wasn't in his bed, and Evelyn wondered what he was doing up at— she looked at the clock— three in the morning. Stepping off of the bed, Evelyn took baby steps as her body and mind were exhausted from what it'd just been put through only a few hours before. She paused in her tracks when she saw Ethan leaning on a chair that was being used to barricade the door. "E? What's going on?"

     The boy quickly turned around at the sound of her voice. He looked panicked, and it made Evelyn's stomach churn. He hurriedly raised his finger to his lips to silence her. Noticing the confused and scared look on her face, Ethan grabbed her by the shoulders and led her away from the door. "A lot has happened since you fell asleep. Everything is down; cellphones, radios, landlines, and now television. I really don't know how you slept through all the screaming, but as of right now this place is full of infected people. So as soon as the sun rises, you and I are getting out of here as soon as we can. Got it?"

     Evelyn was at a loss for words. She could barely comprehend what ethan had just told her. Part of her was frozen with fear and the other with pure disbelief.

     "Do you hear me, Evelyn?" He let out a harsh whisper. She nodded with terrified eyes. She just could not believe how fast things went wrong. "Good. I packed what was left of your things so at sunrise we can book it," a couple days earlier, Ethan demanded that Evelyn pack all her mostly unnecessary items into his car, in case they needed to make an escape like this. Evelyn prayed that it wouldn't come to it, but she must still have terrible luck.

     "E?" Evelyn whispered.

     "Hm?"

     "Where are we headed?"

     "..."

     "Ethan."

     "I have an answer, but you're not gonna like it."

a/n
so hey guys i'm sorry this
is so rushed but i feel like
you just want me to get to
the point so i did LMAO
let me know if you enjoyed
wc: 1230
08.16.22 / 08.18.22