Love Charms (34 page)

"Then
believe me when I say I know you wouldn't do it," he said.  "It's as
simple as that."

I
stared at him, wrapped up in the novelty of his ideas.  "You're kind of
funny," I said.

"Am
I?" he asked, scrunching up his nose.  "I wasn't really trying to be
funny."

"Were
you always like this?" I asked.  "Before, too?  I don't mean this in
a bad way, but you act very romantic."

"I
wasn't," he said.  "No."

"Why
are you now?"

"There's
no reason not to be.  There's nothing stopping me.  Everything's kind of fallen
apart, you know?  Why shouldn't I just be myself?"  With a mischievous
grin, he added, "I never met a girl I wanted to be romantic with before,
either."

I
blinked once, but just once.  No more than that, not at all.  Pressing my hands
against his cheeks, lifting myself a little off his body, I kissed him.  A
flash of fire burst through my face and my lips, almost too much to bear,
trying to force me away as if I'd pressed my hand against the burner on a hot
stove, but I fought through it.  Our lips met and the fire simmered and
settled, slowing to a constant, thrumming flush.

I
kissed Evan and he kissed me and there was nothing more to it than that.  There
was no reason why we shouldn't kiss and nothing stopping us from it and
everything everywhere else might have fallen apart, but right here and now it
wasn't.  We were complete and together and neither of us was broken.  Evan
believed it and I believed him.

He
said something through our kiss, but I didn't understand him.  I kissed him
more, eager, enjoying the feel of his lips against mine, and then I stopped. 
Backing away a bit, our lips still touching but in more of a brush than a kiss,
I asked him what he'd said.

"Will
you go on a date with me?" he asked.

I
laughed against his lips, giggling uncontrollably.  "Are you serious? 
Where?  What do you want to do?"

"Let's
go see a movie," he said.  The glimmering look in his eyes was magnificent
to me.

I
wanted to get caught up in it all, to ignore everything, but I couldn't. 
"Evan, I think the movie theatres are closed."  This was the nicest
way I could think of to describe it.

"Yes,"
he said, exhaling.  The warm wash of his breath tickled my nose.  "They
are but I had an idea.  It's a secret, though.  Will you come with me?"

"What
about Desiree?" I asked.

Evan
shook his head and his lips tickled mine, side to side.  "She's not
coming.  Can she stay here?"

I
nodded and nipped at his lower lip, sucking it into my mouth and licking at the
edges.  "Yes, she can," I said.  "I'll go on a date with
you."

* * *

"Desiree,"
Evan said.  "Can I talk to you about something quickly?"

After
we cuddled for a moment longer, Evan and I left my bedroom and rejoined Desiree
in the living room.  She sat on the couch, propping her feet up on the coffee
table, staring at the blank TV screen.

"I
used to love these," she said.  She'd found a bag of riceworks rice crisps
and had her hand stuffed into the now-ripped open package.  "Salsa fresca
are the best.  The sea salt ones are nice, too.  Parmesan and sundried tomato
are amazing, but not as good as salsa fresca.  They're all great, actually. 
These ones are kind of stale, but oh well."

She
popped a rice crisp into her mouth and crunched it between her teeth. 
Wriggling on the couch, she made herself more at home.

"So,"
Evan said, "I was thinking... do you mind staying here for a bit while
Sadie and I go on a date?"

Desiree
choked on her crisp mid-swallow.  Gagging the thing down, swallowing hard, she
flung the riceworks bag to the other side of the couch then jumped up, twisted
around, and stared at us.  She tried to speak, but a piece of chip was still
stuck in her throat and when she went to talk no words came out.

She
swallowed again, strained tears welling in her eyes, and finally she managed to
talk.  "Are you fucking crazy?" she asked.

"Um,
no?"

"What
do you expect me to do here?  It's nice and all, but it's not like..."

"It's
up to Sadie," he said, interrupting her, "but if she's alright with
it, I'd like to turn the generator on for a bit.  I'll check the gas level
first to make sure it's fine, but if there's enough for a couple hours, I
thought maybe you could find a movie and hang out and watch TV?  You've even
got some chips, right?"

"These
aren't chips," Desiree said, snatching the bag and holding it up for us to
see.  "These are riceworks gourmet brown rice crisps.  There's a distinct
difference."

Evan
rolled his eyes.  "Whatever."

"Where
are you two going, anyways?"

"I
asked Sadie if she'd go to the movies with me."

Desiree
stared at him blankly.  Sticking her hand into the crisps bag, she pulled out
one of the triangles and plopped it into her mouth.  Chewing, staring,
swallowing.  "Alright, let me get this straight.  You want to have me sit
here and watch a movie while you two go see a movie?"

"Yes,"
he said.

"At
a theatre, I'm guessing?"

"Yes."

"I
didn't understand it either," I said.  "Evan says it's a
secret."

"It's
in the bag, isn't it?" she asked.  "That's why you brought it.  I was
wondering about that."

Evan
panicked for a second, wide-eyed.  I laughed because it seemed completely out
of character for him.  He always seemed so tough and strong and sometimes
somewhat reckless, but not right now.  Maybe he was like this sometimes, I
thought.  Maybe I would see more of him like this in the future.

"
Please,
Desiree
," he said.  "Don't say anything else."

"Sure. 
Fine.  What do I care?" she said.

He
relaxed and looked more normal again; more confident and like himself. 
"Alright.  Is that good then, Sadie?" he asked.  "We can bring
some gas with us when we come back.  There's a gas station right by the
theatre, so it won't be too hard.  Your generator should only use a gallon or
two for the couple of hours we're gone.  I know it's a lot for you, but I have
some other ideas for the future."

For
the future, he said.  With me.  Us, here, together.  And with Desiree, which
was fine.  I liked it.  I thought I liked them both.  I knew I liked Evan, but
Desiree seemed alright, too.  She sat there, eating the rice crisps, watching
us, guarded.  Maybe once she and I got to know each other we'd get along well? 
Before all of this, she seemed like the kind of person I would have liked being
friends with.  Now, I didn't really know, but I thought I could.

"It's
alright with me," I said.

* * *

Evan
and Desiree had left their bags outside, but Evan brought them in before we
left.  Two duffel bags with a few pairs of clothes and some other things he
wouldn't let me see.  Desiree teased him about something in them, but I wasn't
sure what exactly.  She and Evan skirted around the issue, almost infuriatingly
so.

I
wanted to know now!  After months of being by myself, with little to no
excitement besides my books and the day to day confusion, it was nice having
them around.  They joked and laughed and talked as if nothing was amiss.  I
stayed nearby, quiet, watching Evan move around my borrowed house as easily as
if he'd lived there for years.

Every
so often he came close to me and touched me.  Nothing too much, just little
displays of affection, but I adored them.  Fingertips brushing against my cheek
or a light touch on my arm.

Before
we left he took a two-way radio from one of their bags and put it on the dining
room table.

"What's
that?" I asked.

"We
needed to take it with us," Evan said.  "Just in case something
happens, mostly.  If we need to get in touch with the camp, that's how we'll do
it.  Not that we'll need to," he added, "but I figure they might want
to get in touch with us, too.  Better to have it around so we don't miss anyone
calling for us.  If they think we're lost or something they might send someone
and... yeah, that wouldn't work out so well."

"Right,
right," Desiree said, browsing through a rack of DVDs.  "If they try
to get in touch with us while you're gone, I'll handle it.  I'll say you're out
foraging or something."

"Thanks,
Desiree.  Seriously, I appreciate it.  I know this isn't what you wanted,
but..."

He
looked at her and she looked at him and I thought I saw something between them,
some unknown expression, but I couldn't tell what it was. 

"Really,"
he said.  "Thank you."

She
gazed at him for a second with soft, warm eyes, then she turned back to the
DVDs.  "You don't have to thank me," she said.

We
left then.  Evan took one of the duffel bags with him, strapping it around his
shoulder, while he held me by the waist with his other hand.  With the heavy
beating sound of the generator as our backdrop, we walked down the driveway and
towards the open roads.

The
movie theatre he wanted to bring me to was nearby.  There was one in the city,
too, but that one probably wouldn't go too well.  If we could get inside without
being noticed, it might be fine, but even getting near there without being
noticed was a chore.  The others meandered around all parts of the city,
basking in the nothingness and desolation.  They occupied the benches outside
the theatre and might have even broken in and taken up spots inside.

I
didn't know for sure because I hadn't gone there in a long time, but it was
definitely possible.  Likely, too.  Nowhere in the city was very safe.  The
university used to be, where Evan and I first met, but with the lock and chain
broken on the front gates, it probably wouldn't be safe for much longer.

"Should
we get candy?" Evan asked.

"I
don't think I can eat it," I said.

"Do
you want to get some anyways?  We can pretend.  Relive the movie-going
experience, right?"

"I
love sour candy.  And chocolate and peanut butter and caramel."

"How
about Turtles?"

"Oh! 
I love them."

"Let's
see if they have any."

* * *

We
walked into the ruined gas station.  Evan set his duffel bag next to the
entrance and tried the door.  It opened when he pulled it, so he pulled it all
the way open and invited me inside.  I smiled at him and accepted his
invitation.  As soon as I went in, I reached back to take his hand and pull him
in with me.

This
was so nice, so regular.  I wanted to laugh.  It was like a normal date night. 
I'd gone on dates, though not too many, and none of them were like this,
though.  This was what I wanted them to be like, but none were.  The two of us,
casual, going to a gas station before a movie, buying cheap candy and sneaking
it into the theatre with us.

It
was the kind of thing I did as a teenager; the kind of thing I wanted to do as
an adult, but it wasn't acceptable.  Adults have different rules and do
different things and we can't have fun on dates.  They're very technical, dates
are, and we need to act responsible and guarded.

Evan
and I weren't like that, though.  We were fun, he was fun, this was fun, and I
loved it.  I led him to the candy section in the dark storefront of the gas
station.

They
had small packs of Turtles with two candies per package.  I grabbed one and
stuffed it in my pocket.  Evan grabbed four more and put them in his.

"I
think that's too many," I said, grinning.  "Who's going to eat them
all?"

"You
can never have too much candy," he said, informative and silly. 
"God, I haven't had any in so long.  I'll probably get sick from eating
too much.  You're going to have to carry me home."

"You
better not," I said.  "I'll leave you behind."

"What,
really?  You'll leave me behind?"  He backed away, feigning indignation.

But
even though he'd stepped away from me, he held my hand in his, keeping me
warm.  Our arms stretched out towards one another as if he was offering, and I
was accepting, an invitation to dance.

"I'll
do it," I said.  "I'll leave you and go back home and Desiree and I
will have a girl's night to ourselves."

Evan
laughed.  "Wow.  Harsh."

The
gas station attendant stumbled out of the backroom to greet us.

Evan
saw him before I did and his head jolted around, eying the man.  Confused, I
looked, too, and then I realized the problem.  Pale, shambling, staring at Evan
with an intense, cool gaze, the man saw something he liked in my date.  The gas
station attendant was one of them, like me, but he didn't look willing to
reason with either of us.

The
man sprang into action.  Disregarding the easy way out from behind the counter,
he threw himself over the counter itself.  Sliding across dust and debris, he
fell straight over the clerk's counter and crashed to the ground.  His body hit
the tiled floor with a slapping smack, but this wasn't enough to stop him. 
Barely pausing, he pushed himself off the ground with his hands and stood back
up.

The
other man dove for us, for Evan, disregarding the aisle rack between him and
us.  The rack teetered on edge with the full weight of our attacker pushing
into it and then slowly started toppling towards us.  Evan grabbed my arm and
pulled me, flinging the both of us out of harm's way.

The
attendant slammed into the ground, a mess of flailing limbs and candy strewn
across the floor.  When he fell, he'd cut his hand open on the top of the
rack.  Thick blood pooled with the unopened, scattered candy wrappers.  The man
tried to push himself up again like he'd done when he leapt over the counter,
but his hand slipped in the puddle of blood and he fell back to the ground.

I
stood there, shaking.  I'd never had to deal with this, with being attacked
like this.  True, he didn't want me, but I was with Evan and it was somewhat
the both of us involved.  We'd escaped from the others in the university
courtyard yesterday, but it seemed like something else entirely.  Not as
dangerous, not as close.  More impersonal, like I was watching it happen on the
news.

I'd
been scared then, too.  Scared for Evan, worried he'd become stuck on the
ground and unable to climb that tree, but he hadn't.  He survived and he was
here with me now on our date.  Our date, and...

"Sadie,"
he said.  "Come on."

Evan
and I hastily walked towards the entrance to the gas station, keeping a wide distance
between ourselves and the man on the floor.  Stuck, his clothes clinging to the
rack, hand unable to find purchase on the blood-slick floor, he flopped
around.  He stared at us as we left, though.  His mouth moved slowly, trying to
form words, and his eyes followed Evan's every step.

"Get..."
he said, his voice like crunching charcoal.  "Get him.  Hold him."

I
did, I held Evan.  I squeezed his hand tight and shivered and we ran outside to
safety.  Before we left, Evan grabbed a package of sour gummy worms from a
small display case sitting by the windowed walls.

"Evan..."
I said once we were outside.  "I think this was a bad idea.  I don't think
we should do this."

Evan
picked up his duffel bag and hefted it across his shoulder as if nothing had
happened.  "If you want to go back, we can, but..."

I
did and I didn't.  I wanted to go anywhere but here, be anywhere else, safe and
comfortable.  Warm, laying my head on Evan's chest, listening to the constant
beat of his heart and feeling the air go in and out of his lungs every time he
breathed.  Here, or home, or the movie theatre, or anywhere.  I didn't care as
long as the others weren't there.

I
was one, but I wasn't, and they scared me.  I scared myself.  Why was this
happening?

"Sadie,"
he said, tone sharp.  "We've got to leave.  Now."

"What?"
I asked.

I
didn't need to ask, though.  As soon as I did, as soon as I looked up at him, I
saw them.  More of the others were surrounding us.  Just a few now, lured by
the commotion in the gas station most likely, but if we stayed much longer
there'd be more.

The
hill, though.  I could go, I could run, but to make it to the movie theatre we
needed to trek up a steep, hilly road.  At the top, surrounded by trees and
overlooking the outskirts of the city, was the quiet, discount movie theatre. 
They'd stayed open despite the rising costs and the growing popularity of the
inner-city theatre, but they stopped offering newer movies and only showed ones
that had stopped playing at most major cinemas.  That was before, at least.

It
was quiet, out of the way, and would've been a perfect getaway, except neither
Evan nor I realized we'd encounter the others here.  Like myself, they must
have roamed around and decided this was a good place to stay.

Was
the theatre full of them, too?  I couldn't think of any reason any of us would
want to hole up there, but I had my borrowed home and maybe they had their
theatre.  Maybe Evan and I had done exactly the worst thing possible.

"Can
you make it on your own?" he asked.

"Evan,
what?  You can't leave me."  I clutched at his arm, squeezing tight,
pulling at the cloth of his shirt.

He
leaned down and kissed me on the nose.  Light and gentle, nothing more, but the
sensation of it made me freeze in place and gaze up at him.

"I
won't leave you," he said.  "I'm going to distract them and lure them
away.  They won't go after you.  I'll come as soon as I can, alright?  You get
to the theatre and I'll be right there."

He
kissed me again, this time on the lips, and I nodded, unthinking. 
"Evan," I said.  "Please..."

"Nothing
bad will happen," he said.

The
others approached us faster now.  The man in the gas station had almost
entirely removed himself from the rack and was crawling towards the door, still
hoping to grab onto Evan.  We needed to move now, to do something, and if I
stayed and objected any longer, we wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Alright,"
I said.  "I'll wait for you."

"Here." 
Evan grinned and handed me the plastic package filled with sour gummy worms. 
"Hold onto this for me.  I promise I'll come back for it."

Some
kind of love deal, like in the books and the movies.  Unfortunately every movie
I'd seen where they had something like that, it usually ended in tragedy.  Evan
would promise me he'd return, give me this packet of candy as assurance, and
then he'd never come back and I'd be stuck with only a bag of gummy worms as
remembrance of him.

I
laughed, but I didn't feel very happy.  "I don't like this," I said.

"I
like you," he said, "and that's all that matters to me right
now."

* * *

It's
such a simple thing to climb a hill.  I'd driven up this hill before, too. 
Before all of this happened, when I went out with friends, we came to the
discount theatre and gorged on popcorn and cheap soda.  It wasn't the best
place ever, but I liked it here.  We could watch a movie or two, one right
after the other, while still supplying ourselves with plenty of snacks and
drinks.  It cost less for all of that here than it did just to get tickets at
some of the higher tech places.

I'd
driven up this hill, but I'd never walked up it.  It wasn't too bad by regular
means, but in my current state I struggled.  Keeping a firm grip on the package
of gummy worms, holding them tight and practically mashing them in my fist, I
marched up the hill.

It
was, perhaps, the length of an average city block.  A row of trees lay on
either side of the road, keeping things confined and in perspective.  The
theatre and the city had gone through a lot of effort to keep the road nice,
too.  No potholes or huge cracks, and very nicely paved for the most part.  A
pretty good road on an otherwise fairly steep hill.

I
stumbled up it, feeling like I was losing ground with every step I took.  Once,
twice, another.  Up, but not far.  Minutes passed.  Maybe hours.  Days?  No. 
Evan's heat lingered with me and I remembered myself because of that.  His kiss
on my nose, then on my lips.  The feel of his hand on my arm, leading me out of
the gas station, keeping me safe.

Yes,
of course I was safe.  I had nothing to fear right now.  Evan was the one
fleeing for his life, leading the others on some chase.  What was he thinking?

What
was I thinking leaving him?  What could I do, though?  Something, nothing,
anything?

This,
I decided, was a problem.  Yes, my life kind of sucked right now, but what of
it?  Life was never the greatest for anyone ever.  Everyone had their issues,
right?  I had mine, and, I mean, I felt like it was pretty bad right now, but
it could be worse?  I didn't really know how, and I hoped I never learned how,
but it could be.

I
could be dead?  I am dead, I thought.  Sort of.  Not the most uplifting of
thoughts.

I
heard a scream and spun around.  Staring down the hill, I looked for the source
of the noise.  Nothing.

More
screams, loud, out of pitch, singing voices yelling into the late afternoon
air.  Words, sounds, desperate pleas.

It
wasn't Evan; I doubted Evan would scream.  The others chasing after him did,
though.  They formed some semblance of words, vague insinuations of thoughts,
and they chased after him.  I didn't know where and I couldn't see them.  I
only heard them.

My
heart felt tight and cold; colder.  I kept walking.  I had Evan's package of
sour gummy worms, and no matter what the books or the movies dictated, I knew
he'd come back for them.  I didn't even know if he liked them, didn't know why
he'd grabbed them except because I said I liked them.  Evan would come back, I
knew it.

I
reached the top of the hill and entered the theatre parking lot.  Where was I
and why was I here?  I don't know, didn't know.  Was I meeting friends?  I
forget.  Do I go inside, wait?  Where's my car?  Did I walk here?  What for?

I
had something in my hands and I looked down to see what it was.  My keys,
probably, except, no, it was a package of sour gummy worms.

Evan
gave me these, I remembered.  I felt cold now, lost, a little confused, but I
knew why.  Evan gave me these and he was going to meet me at the theatre.  The
theatre was right in front of me, just a short walk through the large parking
lot.

I
went to the entrance, hoping to sit down and wait quietly, but someone else was
already here.

Wearing
a red movie employee outfit and holding a broom in his hands, sweeping side to
side right outside the front door, stood one of them.  Me, us, the same,
everything.  His soft blue-ish grey skin glistened in the light of the
afternoon sun and he worked tirelessly, slowly, sweeping the front of the movie
theatre.

He
saw me coming, saw me standing there, gaping, and then he smiled.

"Hello,"
he said.  "Welcome to the Cineplex."

"What?"
I asked.

"The
movies are unfortunately running late right now.  I couldn't say when our next
showing will be.  You're welcome to come inside if you want?"

I
stumbled forward, confused, holding my sour candy tight.  "Excuse
me," I said.  "What's going on?"

He
sighed, sounding upset.  "Come inside and I'll explain."  With a
huff, he added, "I guess."

* * *

I
went in with him, though I wasn't sure why.  I was positive he was the same as
me, but then not, too.  Or, he was exactly like me and not too much like them. 
Confused, yes, and he walked with a slight awkward gait, but he managed fine. 
He held the glass door to the theatre open for me and waited for me to step
inside, then he followed along after me.

Bright
and glowing, lighting up the movie theatre lobby, an old-fashioned popcorn
machine sat behind the ticket counter happily popping and puffing up dried
kernels of popcorn.  The fluffy, soft, buttery snack jumped around inside the
machine.

It
looked so strange and regular.  I stared at it, dumbfounded.  How did it work? 
We had no electricity, nothing.  Everything was gone, except this theatre
looked nothing like that.  It looked fine, actually.  Complete and not
destroyed and maybe a bit isolated save for me and the movie man, but honestly
it wasn't bad.

He
walked behind the counter and reached for a popcorn bucket.  Opening the door
to the machine, he scooped popcorn into the bucket, then placed it on the
counter.