Fever Dream Red

38

It was then I became aware of someone on the side of the road. They weren't dying. They just had their hand stuck out.

They were hitchiking in an apocalypse.

"Stop the car." I said.
"Hmm?" Doug asked in confusion, putting the brakes down nevertheless.
"Someone's hitchiking."
"...It's the end of the world. What are they doing that for?"
"Ask them." I looked out of the window to see a tall, thin girl about my age approaching the car.

Her hair was wild and in overall choas. Her ears were astounded with piercings all over the place. She was wearing a long skirt, boots and a vest top eith a grey jacket hung around her frame.

I could tell she was going to be a rough ride as she knocked on the car to check people were even in there.

I sniggered. How could you not?

Doug opened the car door in response to her knock.

"Hello?" Doug almost asked. I think he was just bemused with the whole situation.
"Hi! I'm, um, sorry. For this." She motioned at herself.
"It's okay?"
"It's just I'm all alone. I have no idea what to do. You know, apocalypse and all that?"

She waved absentmindedly at the sky and giggled heartily. To my surprise, Doug giggled too.

He turned around to Alfie and pleaded.

"Please can we take her?"

I looked at her up and down. She was a bit...kooky, but in the best way possible.

"Why do you want to take her?" Alfie asked. He was meant to do so in a hushed tone, but it wasn't really all that hushed because the girl waved back at Alfie.

"She's cute." Doug answered.

We all looked at him in concern, given he was almost twice her age.

"Not like that. I mean, puppy cute."

"So.... can we keep her?"
"Don't think that's the right wording." I interjected.
"You know what I mean."

Alfie tuned Doug out for a minute.

"I'm sorry. What's your name?"
"Chloe."
"Okay Chloe...get in."
"What? Just like that?"
"Yep."
"You could be kidnapping me."
"That's just the risk you gotta take."
"He's not." I piped up from the back."Trust me."

She looked at me with a sense of trust and I wondered then how anyone could ever betray it.

She got into the back back. She didn't have a seabelt on and she was knelt in the boot.

"That can't be comfortable." Skye remarked when we set off.
"It's better than being alone." Chloe muttered.

I understood what she meant. I couldn't imagine walking through this silent and broken world with no one to warm your sould or provide comfort to you.

It was then I was glad I was with people. Sometimes they messed up, sometimes they annoyed me, but at least they were there.

"What's your story then?" Doug asked, his eyes casting to the windshield mirror.

Chloe cleared her throat.

"Not much. My sister died of the disease and I had nowhere else to go. For the past few days I've been walking around and raiding stores. Then I wanted to find someone. I figured that if I waited there long enough someone would appear. And you did." She beamed at us happily. I could imagine this was like a dream come true.

"Sorry. About your sister." Sunny almost mumbled.
Chloe shrugged with a scent of sadness. "It's okay. She could be a real meanie when she wanted to be."
"How long were you waiting?" Doug asked Chloe.
"Three days. I think. You kinda lose count."

Alfie turned around properly then.
"You're one of us now, Chloe. We stick together, alright."
"What, like family?"
"I guess."
"So we're not friends, we're family?"
"I guess..."

Chloes giggled. Doug did too.

"What's your story then?" Chloe asked.
"We got forced into a cult."
"Woah."

"Tell us more then."
"Who's going?" I asked.
"I'll tell." Alfie decided. "Do you know where Gloomy Cay is?"
"Doesn't everybody?"
"Well. We are from there. They all came from an orphanage on the island. I adopted Sunny. Well, me and Doug adopted Sunny."

Alfie pointed at Sunny and Doug as their names were mentioned, and it struck me that we had't even properly introduced ourselves.

"We all left when things started getting spooky. Anyway, when the apocalypse happened we all came back. It was abandoned and we figured that it was the only place we could remain safe."

"We were all set to leave when we were stopped by this guy on the road. He told us to go to The Base, and we agreed. We were forced to stay and live there, for a while anyway. But someone was murdered, and in all of that we all escaped."

"So there's people still there?"
"Yes."
"Aren't you going back for them?"
"We can't risk it."
"That seems pretty rude behaviour."
"It is." I pitched in, overcoming a wave of guilt and sadness about my decision.

How could I forget so easily about Inez? She was still there, coping with whatever Nick was doing or wanted or saying. It was purely selfish of me to go off and leave her like that. She wouldn't just leave me.

Chloe smiled at me sadly. If anyone should be sad it should be her. That's what I told myself.

"We had to. We didn't want to be stuck there forever." Alfie explained with a certain undeterminable dullness.

"What was it like?"
"Okay. It was comfortable and everything. We had a beach, a pool and gardens. It wasn't a prison. It was just so boring. We were given such little freedom. It wasn't our life to live."

Chloe nodded like she didn't really understand. She didn't. We had all been in a unique situation. How could we expect her to understand?
The car ride remained void of noise after Chloe's questions. She remained at the back, cross legged and picking at her fingers. None of us bothered her.

We liked Chloe. I did, anyway.