The First

Chapter 28

Teagan couldn't believe how many emergency vehicles had zipped past them. They still had an hour drive to get to Corvallis and having to pull over every few minutes for the flashing cars got on her nerves. Alyssa's constant internet updates showed they'd closed the OSU campus and locked down the dorms. Even the calmest of their friends had gone ape-shit online. Still, they should be able to find the people running the shelter.

Alyssa pushed between the seats. "We need to stop somewhere. I gotta pee."

"Nice Lyssa." Ellie glared at her. "You'd think you're the preggo. I swear she has the bladder of a ninety-year-old spinster." She looked at Teagan but cocked her thumb toward Alyssa.

"I have to pee too. There's a 7-11 up here. We stopped there on a beer run a couple of times." Teagan pointed forward.

"Good. Hurry the fuck up." Alyssa bounced in her seat.

They pulled into the gas station. The bell dinged twice. No-one came out.

"Full service my ass." Ellie got out and slammed her door. "Good thing you don't need any gas."

Alyssa hopped out of the back seat. "Where's the pisser?" She began tapping away on her phone.

Teagan grabbed her arm. "Inside, c'mon. My eyes are floating." She pulled harder on her arm. Sometimes Alyssa needed to be gently coaxed into doing what she set out to do in the first place.

The girls entered the store. Cold quiet sent waves of needles up Teagan's spine. None of it seemed right. No-one stood behind the counter and no customers wondering about. The restroom sign directly in front of her beckoned and she dragged Alyssa away from a magazine rack, where the latest copy of Seventeen had caught her attention.

She yanked her arm from Teagan's grip. "Wait. I wanna read this."

"I'll be in the bathroom." Teagan felt as if her bladder would burst any moment. Still, a nagging feeling overcame her as she pushed the bathroom door open and locked it behind her. Were they completely alone?

After she washed her hands, she splashed cold water on her face. Hot flashes come with the whole being 'pregnant' thing and she figured that's why she couldn't stop sweating, and her mouth felt like someone stuffed it full of cotton. Through the wheeze of the jet dryer, she heard a scream.

The scream continued as she fumbled with the lock, her hands still not completely dry.

"What the fuck Lyss," she heard Ellie say before she got the door open.

Her gut wrench returned as the door slammed against the wall and she saw Ellie with her arms wrapped around Alyssa, who sobbed into her shoulder. Teagan searched the room for whatever had spooked her.

"Look behind the counter." Ellie flicked her head toward the cash register.

Blood spatter across the linoleum floor behind the counter looked like a macabre psych evaluation card. 'Bat or Elephant ears?' the school counselor had asked. It wasn't a choice she'd wanted to make. What the hell did it mean if you picked one or the other? Her dad had died. The fact hadn't made Teagan crazy. Though she had become quite a psycho for wanting to have this baby.

Her thoughts turned back to the floor and all the blood. An inch at a time she moved around the counter. Not super excited to see where the blood came from, she closed her eyes for a moment. When she reached the edge of the counter she opened them. Sprawled on the floor lay a young man. A rancid smell of death wafted from the body. She couldn't help but dry-heave.