Chapter Eleven - Cat
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cat
I DON’T THINK I stopped crying for most of the time I was in the shower, luckily it was easy to disguise the tears with the water cascading over my face. I just let the warmth wash over me with my eyes sealed shut, the drum of the stream against my skin allowing my nerves to start finally coming back down to earth.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that it seemed like life as we knew it was teetering over the edge of a giant dumpster fire, my personal life was dissolving into chaos simultaneously. I had thought killing Harry was going to be a rebirth for me, the first day of my new life, but it really was starting to look like the beginning of the end.
Maybe he’d killed me in the struggle and everything after has been a cruel trick of the devil. My dad was right, I was destined for the fiery below. I couldn’t have hand crafted a finer personal hell if I tried. Was I being punished? Nothing was worse than feeling this small, trapped in the position of being misunderstood day after day.
Stuck constantly being reminded of your shortcomings and blamed for everything that went wrong. The longer I thought about it, the more it angered me. I was allowing them to make me feel this way. They had no idea what happened to me, the things I’ve endured and still managed to come back out on the other side of.
I couldn’t keep letting them get to me like this, letting them see me break down. I didn’t ask to be stuck here with them and I didn’t owe them shit. If they wanted to keep picking at me, let them, I’d faced more fearsome opponents and won. I vowed to myself that this was the last time they’d see me cry. The next time they tried to get me riled up, they’d find out this little kitty had sharp fucking claws now. Plus, I wasn’t alone in this. I had Sadie and she’d already proved she was willing to go to bat for me.
We got dressed after our shower and then headed over to the area they’d set up in a conference room overnight that was now the designated dining area. Utilizing the concessions stands last night had worked in a pinch, but it had been an unorganized mess. Now there were a few tables at the front with soldiers serving breakfast out of food warmers the stadium must have had on hand for catering events. There was also a lot more seating available than before, so the place was pretty packed. After getting our food, we found a table tucked away in the corner of the room and started picking at our food and I found I didn’t have much of an appetite today.
“Are you okay?” Sadie asked me with concern in her eyes.
“Not at all,” I answered truthfully. “I just want to get out of here already. Every minute I’m here is another minute spent not knowing whether Rhiannon is okay.”
“I know. We’ll figure a way out of here soon. It’s been less than twenty-four hours. You said she’s at a cabin by a lake in the woods with your parents, right? I’m sure they’re tucked away, hidden safe and sound,” she placed her hand over mine. “I was also kinda asking cause of what happened earlier, though, you know, with your old friends.”
“Oh yeah, that. Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied. “Again, I just can’t wait to get out of here.”
“It seems like half the city is here, so hopefully that means there weren’t too many infected, that combined with the people sheltering in place. I’m sure we’ll be out of here in no time,” she replied optimistically.
I couldn’t help but admire her positive outlook, but I was having a hard time sharing the same view. All I could think was the fact that our tent mates were from out of town, also I knew for a fact that Jules and Dom still lived in Efferville. Not that I stalked them on social media regularly or anything. There was no way to tell how many people here had been in the city from out of town on a busy Friday night. That, combined with the carnage I witnessed on my way here, I could only imagine what was going outside. I was grateful to be safe, but I couldn’t help the desperation leaking into my bones at not knowing and not being able to say for sure my family was safe.
As more people filed in, I began to look around at just how many people were here. My eyes scanned around the room and caught onto Dom’s staring a hole into the side of my freaking head. I stared back unblinkingly, refusing to back down from the challenge I could see hidden in his gaze. The corner of his mouth tilted up into a smirk, then he said something to the person sitting in front of him with their back to me. They turned around and, of course, it was Jules. I almost didn’t recognize him from behind with how broad his shoulder had become.
As he turned to face me, our eyes met. His face twisted into a scowl before rolling his eyes, then turning back around. Dom just looked from him to me, then chuckled, as if this whole situation was amusing to him. Well, I’m glad my misery is fucking entertaining to him . I flipped him off, then went back to attempting to eat my food. Sadie looked to where my attention had just been. He must have still been staring because she then gave him her middle finger as well. As we were eating, Captain Pearson came in and stood at the front of the room, then put two fingers into her mouth, releasing a sharp whistle that drew the attention of everyone present.
“Good morning everyone,” the room fell silent as she addressed us. “I just wanted to come down here and give you all a little update. We want to keep everyone informed, as we don’t want you to feel as though you’re being kept in the dark here. I also want to reiterate that although we still cannot currently allow anyone to leave yet, you are not prisoners here. During intake we had to quarantine a few people who were suspected to have the infection. We’ve had a few of those succumb to the virus over the night. We have a list of names of the individuals that have passed. If anyone had persons from their party sent to the infirmary, please see me for the state of their current condition. If anyone has any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask the surrounding commanding officers and they will relay the message. Thank you for all your patience and cooperation at this time.”
Then she just walked off out of the room without another word. You call that an update? All around me were people talking in worried tones. I can’t imagine things were going well if a tight, clipped ‘Hey, more people died and you can’t leave, see ya later’ is the best idea they had for reassuring us.
No mention of whether they’ve been able to contain the spreading within the city or when we’d be able to all leave. Whatever I had for an appetite was gone now. Sadie had inhaled her food before the shit speech even started, so I suggested finding somewhere quieter to spend the day now that it was beginning to get rowdy in here.
“Last night, I heard the guards talking to one another about how one of the infected turned, almost escaped, then bit three combat medics before they managed to put him down. Now they’re being quarantined too,” I overheard a guy conspiring with his buddy sitting next to him when we passed by on our way out of the room.
Hearing that didn’t give me the warm and fuzzies after the rushed spiel we were just fed. On the ride over here, we had heard the soldiers transporting us ‘put down’ infected by shooting them in the head. So did the people last night naturally succumb, or were they euthanized like rabid animals as well? I felt like while we weren’t prisoners, we were far from being free or well informed.
Every minute I spent here made me more on edge, like I was walking through a haunted house waiting for something to jump out and snatch me up. It felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something big was coming. I just hoped I’d make it out of here before shit really hit the fan.
There wasn’t much to do around here to pass the time. I had packed my kindle with me for the weekend and had plenty of books downloaded but I kind of felt bad being antisocial. Sadie and I divided most of the day sitting up in the stands, people watching and walking around, exploring all the areas that were open to us. Any room that had windows was secured and guarded, so if it weren’t for clocks and regular mealtimes, it’d be hard to know what time of day it was. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t secretly searching for a means of escape on our walks, but this place was locked up tight.
After dinner, I was starting to find myself slipping into a sour mood. All I wanted was to go back to the tent, lay in bed and read until sleep found me. Desperately craving to pretend I was anywhere but here and get my mind off the constant thoughts whirling through my head. I was getting a headache from wracking my brain, weighing all my possible options of escape. I was having a hard time simply sitting here and waiting for someone else to save me. Things never worked out for me unless I fought tooth and nail to ensure it.
I was just about to walk through the threshold of the tent when I noticed Sadie and I had been followed back. Jules was a few paces away. He’d stopped approaching when he saw me notice him. Earlier when we had run into him, I’d been unable to look at either of them for too long, not wanting them to see my reddened face from crying. Now I just stared at him for a long moment, taking in all his features.
His soft black hair was longer than I was used to. Where it used to be shaggy and boyish, his waves were now tousled and sleek, stopping just above the nape of his neck. His steely gray eyes shined brightly with the contrast against his golden skin. He looked like a Greek god, with his strong nose and sharp jawline. The last time I’d seen him, there were still traces of the boy I’d grown up with, but now standing before me was a man.
It was easy to get caught up in old emotions. I had to hold myself back from running and throwing myself into his arms despite how irritated I was with him. I’d dreamed of this moment so many times, him coming crawling back to me, begging for forgiveness and telling me nothings changed for him.
This was reality, though, and I couldn’t just forget all the transgressions that had occurred between us two. No matter how badly I wanted things to go back to normal, it just wasn’t meant to be. Plus, it was pretty clear he and Dom were the ones who felt slighted. I softly shook my head and took a few steps into the tent.
“Wait, Cat, please. Just talk to me for a minute. I’ll play nice, I swear,” he pleaded.
Sadie popped her head out of the tent with a scowl upon hearing his voice, but I assured her it was okay, I’d be fine and she went back inside reluctantly. I didn’t want to cause another spectacle of ourselves, so I started making a path for the upper seating area of the stadium I’d become fond of. Being that high up above everyone else gave me a sense of security and I wanted privacy for whatever conversation we were about to have. We had a lot of history between us and whatever needed to be said was no ones business but ours.