Necropolis

I opened my eyes, finally. The pain had some what subsided and I could move my fingers and toes again. I was in no condition to get up, but then again, I didn't plan to. It worried me that the pain was gone, but I was still as stiff as a board. I just lied there for a while listening to the sounds around me. I could hear some people talking, though I wasn't sure who. One of them sounded like Kev...where was I then?

My memory struggled to come back to me and was more worried than ever. I know I was somewhere that I didn't recognize, maybe a store? I used my peripheral vision to look around and saw a Costco lable on an upturned bottle of rootbeer. So...ohmahgod, what if I'd passed out and fallen in front of everyone? How embarrassing! I shook my legs trying to bring life into them without much result.

"Hel--!" my voice wheezed and I closed my eyes and managed a painful swallow. "Help! I can't move!" Someone ran to my side, just sitting there staring at me, smiling oddly. Keri. My memories flooded back. They weren't good.

"Just stay still, you'll get control of your legs back soon enough. Just take it easy." Keri said smilng down at her. She tried to say something again but it didn't come out any better. "Hush, talking wont help any either, just relax." She did, finally, and Keri helped her sit up so she could get a better look around. Dave walked over with some blankets and put them down when he saw her awake. Kevin was quiet again, and Jo walked over looking kinda mad.

"How is she?" Jo asked,

"She'll live, it'll take her a little while to get the use of her limbs again but she'll be fine." Keri said heating more water up. "If she takes it easy, I'll give her an hour or two until she can walk again, but I wouldn't quiet suggest it. Hows Kevin?"

"He'll live." Was Jo's short reply. Keri nodded, the girl that had showed up with him obviously had something or used to have something for Kevin, and Jo didn't look like she liked that very much.

"The doctor, wouldn't happen to have a little tylenol? When her limbs warm up they'll hurt a little and she might want some."

"I'll go see," Dave said hurrying off before Jo could, 'Better then Joanna and that other girl getting in a fight,' Keri thought, 'Course, Jo wouldn't do that, she's smart.'

"Thanks," She called after Dave.

Katalyn

I hurried after the girl who was running down the aisles as if Kevin's very life relied upon the knee brace and perhaps it did. In fact, there was a good chance it did. Why did it matter so much to her? Of course, anyone could see they had history but what? When?

"You think this one will do?" She asked briskly, holding out a large knee brace.

"Yeah. Looks fine," I replied, feeling just a little timid.

"Good. You got a name?" Again the words were said quickly so that I could hardly follow the sentence but I nodded in responce as we hurried back.

"Katalyn. Kat. You?"

"Elaina. What's with that Jo girl?"

"Jo? I don't know. I mean, I just met these guys."

Elaina 4:50pm

"Oh," I said, not really sure what else to say. I didn't know any of them either. Just Kevin. And saying you knew Kevin was like saying you were going to be a great doctor because you'd been in medical school for three weeks. You could know Kevin for years and never really learn anything about him. My brother was living proof.

I wanted to say something to the girl heading back to Bernard and Kevin with me, but I didn't know what. What were you supposed to say when it felt like the world was coming crashing down around you? I mean, honestly... zombies in Ashville? Santa Maria. Exhaling and shaking my head, I crossed myself out of habit, rather than devotion as we turned the corner and Kevin and Bernard came back into view.

"How's this?" I asked, holding out the brace to Bernard.

Bernard nodded. "Good. It'll do."

I slumped visibly with relief. I began to sink down to sit on the bottom edge of the bed, but then I glanced over at Kevin and stood up straight again so quickly it was almost spastic.

"How are the peas holding up?" I asked, but the question was aimed at Bernard. "Are they working all right?"

"About as good as peas posing as a fuckin' ice pack can," Kevin answered for him.

"I see. I'll go get something else," I said, and turned on my heel and walked back toward the frozen food section. Maybe I could find a real ice pack and get it into a freezer so we would have later. It appeared we would be here for some time, so it couldn't hurt.

I was not just avoiding Kevin. That was absurd. I was practically a grown woman. I had no reason to hide from him. Hurt feelings two years ago were no reason to let emotion take over when there wasn't any rational basis for doing so. It wasn't as if he'd broken my heart. We were just kids. No matter how dramatic I'd been at the time, it had been nothing but infatuation. That was all. Nothing serious, nothing life-altering.

I realized I'd been standing in front of the freezer, staring into it without really seeing. My eyes refocused, and I could see my reflection in the freezer door. I was a mess. In more ways than one, it would seem, considering my current train of thought.

Always the drama queen - wasn't that what everyone was constantly telling me? Rolling my eyes, I opened the freezer and grabbed two fresh packs of peas, then headed over to the ice cream section, scanning the types and brands for a moment. I grabbed two pints, each a different flavor, and a gallon of vanilla, then started back to where Kevin was still lying on the bed, cursing up a storm.

Bernard appeared to be doing a final survey of his work. He looked satisfied, considering what we were working with and against. "I know it's not the best, but it will hold you for now," he was saying.

"No shit," Kevin growled. "I have two packs of peas on my fuckin' knee, and they're leakin' all over the place."

"What he means is thank you," I said smoothly, having regained my composure. I smiled at Bernard, whose return smile made me feel better. He seemed like a nice guy. "Do you mind?" I asked, holding up the two fresh packs of peas in one hand.

"No, no, go ahead," Bernard said.

"Thanks." I tossed the leaking packages carelessly aside (neatness was hardly the issue at the moment) and put the two fresh ones around Kevin's knee outside the brace.

I had grabbed four spoons on my way out of the aisle, from one of those handy aisle addendums that places like this seemed to love - get 'em in and get them to buy as much as possible. I now handed a spoon to Bernard and one to Kat, then peeled the lid off the gallon of vanilla and handed it to Bernard.

"Here you go, doc," I said with a smile. "It's not fancy, but you look like you could use some sugar. I didn't know what you liked," I added apologetically to the both of them.

I squatted down beside the bed where Kevin was laying and smacked one of the spoons down on his chest, attempting a teasing smile. There was no telling how well it went, though.

"Elaina," he began tightly. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Vanilla bean," I said briskly, ignoring his question. I set my own pint (mint chocolate chip) down beside me and opened his, holding it out for him to take, one eyebrow raised severely. "Eat," I said.

He didn't make any move to pick the spoon up where I'd set it on his chest. Rolling my eyes I picked it up and stabbed it into his pint, offering it again. "I'm not going to feed it to you," I said, careful to make my tone reminiscent of a scolding mother, and not some coy girl trying to flirt.

Day 1. 4:52pm. Kevin.

I stared at the ice cream in front of me. After two years, she still remembered. It dawned on me that I had no idea what kind of food she liked. I reached up to adjust my hat, but my fingers brushed only my own fuzzy hair. Must have lost it in the scuffle somewhere along the way.

"Fuckin' A...I liked that hat," I muttered. For a second I let my eyes meet hers, and I could almost see her lips form around the words. You look better without it. I looked away. No. Fuck that.

She stabbed her ice cream absently, looking down at it but not eating any.

Bernard shifted awkwardly on the other side of the bed, spooning a bite of ice cream into his mouth. Elaina definitely hit the hammer on the head, or maybe pinned the tail on the donkey--Vanilla Bean ice cream was fuckin' bomb. I reached out and picked up the spoon, pulling out a little chunk of vanilla heaven with it.

"Hey...Doc?" Keri had wandered into the nap-time section, apparently. "We could really use your help--Adara's...well, she's cold. We need you."

Bernard set the ice cream down on the bed, then looked at Keri. "Yeah...yeah, okay." He turned to me and shrugged slightly. "I'll be back in a bit.

I shrugged. "Whatever,man. I'm takin' a fuckin' nap," I said with a pointed look at Elaina.

Bernard nodded, and Elaina blushed slightly. She set her ice cream down as well.

"I think I'll come with you, Bernard," she said.

"Great--I could use a hand anyway," he replied. He, Keri, and Elaina walked off, the latter giving me a glance over her shoulder.

I glared at the ice cream sitting nearby, blaming it for every one of my problems today.

Day 1. 4:55pm. Tazin

Noticing that most of the group had navigated away from the big guy, Tazin thought perhaps now was time to introduce himself. He was getting bored, and this guy looked irritated, which would be fun. Everyone else was doing important stuff, as they imagined it, leaving the guy holding his peas against his wound. Tazin smirked. Life was so good, even when zombies were chilling outside. In a world where painful injuries were treated by the ancient Bag of Cold Peas remedy, there could always be hope. Maybe not the useful hope of, say, staying alive, but, at least the smaller hope of say, laughing at somebody's expense.

With that thought in mind, Tazin stood slowly, waiting for the other lingering people to drift off. It wasn't that Tazin didn't like groups (which he didn't, but he could cope). He just thought it would be easier to get one person to acknowledge him without too much fuss, than to get interrogated by a group of high-octane, half-dazed people worried about getting food and not being food at some point in the near future.

His katana sheathed and tucked at his side, Tazin moved slowly towards Bag-o-Peas Guy, as he'd been cristened in , sort of from the side, then nonchalantly seated himself on the floor, generally within his range of vision. The guy didn't seem to notice; he was too busy staring rather angrily at some ice cream, as if it had just slapped him in the face or something. He reached for the ice cream, and his fingers squeezed around the pint as if he were restraining his fingers from choking it to death. My, aren't we feeling writerly, Tazin chided himself.

The Bag-o-Peas lifted his ice cream with a kind of angry jerk, as if he were going to toss it like a weapon, then rethought the action and just set it on the floor, and set the spoon beside it. He had noticed Tazin during the action, but hadn't said anything, apparently too concerned with being angry at the ice cream, and, Tazin had gathered, the other girl, the one Tazin had mentally dubbed Mother Hen, from his earlier observations.

"Ice cream and peas," noted Tazin. "Good combination."

The guy looked at him vaguely, and made a face. "Who the hell are you?"

"I dunno. I like ice cream. So, are you turning into a zombie?"

"What the fuck kind of question is that?"

"I dunno. You got hurt, I don't know how. If you are, let me have that ice cream. You can keep the peas though, anyway."

He closed his eyes, then opened them. "I gotta be fuckin' dreamin' this."

"No, I'm your conscience, and I'll be your guide, so, give me your ice cream?" suggested Tazin, trying his most winsome grin.

"A fucking smartass. Do you have a name, smartass?"

"Tazin," he replied, still grinning.

"Great. Tarzan is my conscience. I'm the luckiest asshole in town."

"That's Tazin, and I was going to call you Mr. Bag-of-Peas, rather than asshole, unless you had some other suggestion?"

The guy looked at him glumly. "I'm Kevin, and I am not a babysitter."

Tazin laughed. "That's okay. I can take care of myself . . . But seriously, if you don't want that ice cream, Jane, Tarzan will oblige."

Day 1. 4:45pm. Adara


I reached out for Keri's shirt and pulled her closer to me whilst really trying to help myself up.

"We have to get out of here!" I whispered furiously. She gripped my hands nervously and pulled them off of her shirt.

"Why? What happened?" she seemed a bit suspicious herself and I was glad that she had an open mind.

"Someone locked me in that freezer, someone not something. It wasn't a zombie." I tried to stay calm, the images flashing in my mind.

"A person?" she asked, her voice rising a little. "One of us?" I shook my head and she relaxed a little. "How do you know?"

"When I was banging on the glass, I saw someone walk by, they were smiling at me, taunting me almost. Zombies don't act like that do they? I didn't think think they really had minds." She shook her head slowly and I lied back down on the ground feeling weak and dizzy.

"Well, was it a woman or a man?" she asked. I didn't know how that would really help us but I told her anyway a little excited that I was remembering things.

"It was a man, kinda tall, not bad looking."

"You were seeing him through the ice on the glass..."

"That doesn't mean anything." I said defensively. I knew that he was good looking! I didn't know why I was fighting over this... I should be trying to find a way that I could get up and get out. I'd hate to be trapped here.

"Kev is here, right?" I recalled hearing his voice.

"Yeah, and some others. I don't know who they are though." I raised a brow and then wished more than ever that I could spring up and see what was happening. I was always nosy. It wasn't a very desirable trait.

"Could you tell the others for me?" I asked.

"We can't move. You and Kev can't even walk."

"What happened?" I wasn't completely surprised that Kev had gotten hurt, hell, I couldn't remember a time where he didn't come back from somewhere with some sort of injury.

"His leg is...I don't know, but it's bad." I nodded (or whatever awkward movement my head made) and then thought for a moment. Was there anything that we could to protect ourselves? We could be more careful, stay by each other until we could leave? Whatever the option, the rest of the group had to be warned.

"Just, just tell them about it 'k? We wouldn't want anyone else to be locked in a freezer." She nodded and then pushed herself from the ground and in the direction of the others. I sat there in silence for a while hoping she came back soon.

Day 1. 4:48pm. Joanna.

Jo stayed by Adara. She had sat down next to her -- or, rather, had collapsed while trying to sit down. She closed her eyes tightly against the lights. At least the girl's quiet. Hoping Keri would bring the doctor back with her, she held her head in her hands.

She thought she heard Kevin scream earlier, but couldn't be sure it wasn't just a hallucination.

A few minutes later, she heard people coming back: there was Keri's voice, concerned yet steady; a man's voice, soft and reassuring; a woman's voice, worried and full of Spanish flavor.

This last one hurt Jo's head the most.

She dared to open an eye against the searing lights. Before anyone else could speak, she reached out for the doctor. "Mm-medicine. God. Aspirin. Anything. Migraine."

"I saw some migraine medicine on our way over," Elaina said, too loudly for Jo's taste. "I'll go grab it."

The girl's footsteps padded away, and the doctor came over and knelt down between Jo and Adara. "Did anything bring this on?" he asked the former.

"Stress. Zombies. Shit." Jo closed her eyes again, wrapping her arms around her head. "Take care of Adara. Locked in freezer. Someone did it."

Keri took over from there, and Adara added what she could. Jo felt her eyes watering, and she tried desperately not to throw up.

She never thought she'd be so anxious for the Spanish girl to return.

4:48pm Day 1
Dave

Dave decided he needed to check something, no one had noticed him go and he wouldn't be gone too long. People don't generally lock themselves in freezer if they can help it. Someone had done this, and first thing he noted after shock was the security camera keeking right at them. It was a long shot, sure., but he was sick of not being able to help. The cameras in Costco were on seperate circut and monitored by someone inside the building. He swung round, was there a person watching them all right now.

He increased the pace, not caring how much noise his feet made against the linolum. The ailes he passed through were a blur. This place was huge but he was postive office be nearby. He was too far away to hear anyone. Every shadow that looked human caused him to swing round, always though some inanimate objects. Dave swore under his breath, 'No one was gonna stare at him or anyone in there so called sactuary.'

He saw a door up ahead and ran up the stairs his boots clanking against the hard steel stairs. The whole room smelled of rotten meat. He pushed his coat over his mouth and nose to mask the smell.

Fatigue was starting to effect him and he bent down exhausted, finally he felt safe no cameras were on the stairs. Once he stopped for about two minutes he continued running up last flight of steps and saw a sign on the door clearly saying 'Private Security Staff Only'

He sighed, well least he'd been right.

Katalyn

I followed Elaina towards the medicine section where she began grabbing various items. First it was just migraine medicine but then she started filling her pockets with other bits and pieces.

"Might as well grab a few supplies," she said by way of explanation. I nodded, wishing that I'd held onto the hot chocolate flask but it was back with Kevin, beside the bed. Much use he would make of it.

"I'm hungry," I realised aloud. "I think we should eat after this."

"Good idea, let's go back then." I nodded and we hurried through the store, liberating ourselves of the medicines before explaining our plan to the people gathered there.

"Food sounds good," Bernard decided. "In fact, that could have contributed to your migraine." Jo, who was busy swallowing pills with the aid of a bottle of water, did not reply but there was a general buzz of agreement and enthusiasm.

"I think we should try to make a decent meal while we're here. We could get those little gas burners from the camping section and cook pasta," I suggested.

4:58, Day 1

Angie opened one of the freezers and pulled out one of those little glass bottles of iced coffee, desperate for some caffeine. She shook it three times, tore the plastic off with a minimum of swearing, and downed it in almost one go. She grabbed one more for the "road" and headed back to where most of the others were. She'd known these people, at least some of them, most of her life. She'd gone to school with them. She'd worked with them during the summers, or seen them around town on her few nights off. She hated them all.

If only she hadn't come back from New York! Sure, Teddy would have been left alone in the house with his parents' zombie-infested corpses, but he'd be alive, not--not--

Her grip tightened on the glass bottle, and she slumped down with her back to a freezer, relishing the cool feel of it behind her. Nearby, Kevin was glaring at a boy who didn't look like he could be out of high school yet, and was talking to Kevin with admirable cheerfulness. Angie watched him with weary curiosity, entranced by someone who could crack such truly terrible jokes in the middle of a disaster like this. As she caught a glimpse of his face, she thought she recognized him--he'd been three years below her in high school, the kid with the katana. Rather strange, but he'd never gotten on her nerves, which was more than most Ashville natives could say.

"Hey, Miyamo," she said when Kevin had finished giving him a mildly disgusted scowl. "How well does that sword work for you, with these things around?" She could feel her own pistol cold against her skin, where she'd tucked it into the waist of her jeans at the hip. It hadn't done her--or Teddy--any good at all.

Dave closed his palm over the handle and turned the knob. The door stuck, he took a wild guess and decided that the door was jammed so he edged back slowly. Aiming his shoulder and bulk at the door he pushed. This time it swung open-with nothing to balance on he fell over.Wincing in pain he thanked god he hadn't fallen on the metal.

Dave stood up, scanning around first thing that hit him was the low drone of computers. Next he saw a discarded seat wheeled away from screens. He counted at least ten screen. Now if he was right should be able to rewind the cameras.

Walking to the door he closed it and just in case he saw a dead bolt and pushed that in place. This may take a while. Cracking his knuckles he sat down and exhamined each screen mentally figuring out how it all worked. He pressed a button labled '1' seeing some of the gang. Continueing with this he noted everyone in the building. This reminded him again that this wasn't fun and made him resume his job. He searched through all cameras until arriving at freezer cam. He analysed the buttons trying to find way to rewind back. He pushed himself to ignore his fears, finally finding rewind. He flicked the button and watched as the whole event was all done in reverse super fast.

Finally he saw what he needed to see. He press play and watched as he saw Adara go up to Freezers to get something. He noted she kept looking around. He swung round his nerves beginning to fray.

He turned once more to cam and saw what he'd came to see. He watched as she walked in to get something, of what it didn't matter. A person approached over to the freezer and calmly but firmly closed the door. Dave knew they'd known someone was in. The person walked off and was gone before she was at window, she stood there before fading from iced up doors.
He took a deep breath and paused the video.

Dave stood up and went over to the desk there was unused CD ROMS he took one and walked back over to screens finding the hard drive he inserted the disc and began the burn. fifteen minute it estimated. He sat back and relaxed.

Day 1. 4:54pm. Bernard.

Bernard groaned inwardly as he tucked into the vanilla ice cream. His logical side was content; he was fulfilling his body’s need for energy and that was all it was interested in. His taste buds, however, were getting ready to revolt. Bernard hated vanilla in ice cream, or any other food, but he didn’t dare go and swap it for another flavour. It seemed a little trivial under the circumstances.

“Hey, Doc!” A new lady edged cautiously towards them appearing worried about approaching the bed. Bernard waved her forwards, his mouth full of ice cream.

Let’s see what she wants. I wouldn’t mind an excuse to get rid of this liquid shit.

“We could really use your help—Adara's... Well, she's cold. We need you,” she seemed a little apprehensive about addressing him so Bernard tried to make her feel at ease. He set down the ice cream triumphantly.

“Okay,” he nodded to her and then turned to Kevin, “I’ll be back in a bit.”

The large man shrugged and showed indifference but Bernard was still concerned. He glanced over his patient’s leg again and adjusted the packs of peas slightly. Finally he nodded, satisfied that he could leave him for a while. He was walking over to the new woman when Elaina spoke up.

“I think I’ll come with you, Bernard.”

Bernard frowned. Was it best to completely abandon Kevin? He might sleep then, but then again it was adding unnecessary danger to the situation. Bernard was aware of the silence and decided to make a quick decision to avoid making the situation awkward.

“Great,” he smiled convincingly, “I could use a hand anyway.”

Flushing inside, he hoped no one had noticed his mistake. How could he know he would need help if he didn’t even really know what the situation was. From the new lady’s description, he could be treating a fever, hypothermia or someone complaining of a slight chill. Luckily even if anyone had noticed his error, they didn’t comment on it.

“Grab some sleep, Kevin,” Bernard called back as they walked off. A distinctive enunciation of the letter ‘f’ told him that Kevin might not be in the mood for sleep.

“So,” he spoke to the new woman but she didn’t realise he was talking to her at first. “So, what’s your name?”

She glanced at him, realised he was speaking to her and then grinned self-consciously. Her face took on the beginnings of a frown for a moment before she answered.

God. These people are forgetting themselves. What the hell have they been through?

“I’m … Keri,” she smiled again, showing no awareness of her slow response. Bernard chose not to bring it up.

“Well then, Keri, what seems to be the problem with Adara?”

“See for yourself.”

They rounded the corner and were met with a bundle of blankets and limbs. From within the sheets a fragile life shivered and a pair of frosty eyes turned towards them. Bernard immediately cursed his failure to bring the medical supplies with him. What had he been thinking? That perhaps it was all exaggerated? No. He’d been arrogant and now it was biting him back. He knelt at her side and his training took over.

“Hello, my name is Bernard Grahams. I’m a doctor. What’s your name?”

Keri seemed surprised at his question but she didn’t dispute it. Bernard was testing his new patient to see how conscious she was. As it happened, she was unexpectedly alert.

“I’m Adara. We have to get out of here. Someone shut me in a freezer!”

Bernard nodded as if he’d been listening. He was far to occupied with his diagnosis to actually listen to the poor girl. From her tone, the degree of hypothermia was not severe but as he held his hand over her forehead he noticed that her head wasn’t as warm as the rest of her body.

“Ok, Keri wasn’t it?” She walked over and Bernard pointed at Adara’s head. “Time for you two to get to know each other a little better. She’s going to rest her head on your stomach, Keri.”

The two women looked at him with expressions of astonishment and disbelief. Bernard grinned and nodded.

“We need to warm her up slowly but quickly.”

“Oh, that sure makes sense, Bernard.”

“Seriously, body heat is perfect for this!”

Teeth grinding, Keri lay down and let Adara lie back upon her. Soon Keri was giggling and Adara was shivering. Bernard smiled and helped Elaina wrap the blankets around any exposed area of Adara. Despite his carefree attitude, Bernard was a little worried.

She’s only just started shivering again? God. She must have been very cold. It’s a miracle she’s still alive. Ah well, shivering’s good. She’ll be fine as soon as we get her temperature back to normal.

“You wanna help me find some hot drinks?” he asked Elaina as soon as they’d attended to Adara. “I mean, ice cream isn’t going to be much help here.”

“Sure,” she replied and stood up. Bernard looked about, unsure of where to start.

Day 1. 4:59 pm Tazin

"Hey Miyamo. How well does that sword work for you, with these things around?"

Tazin was pondering some other witty comment to bug Kevin with when the question took him off guard. Who knew him around here? He hadn't noticed anyone . . . Nobody still at Ashville High, certainly . . . If anybody would ever go there again, of course . . .

He looked up to see a girl, a few years older than him, with the look of a college student layered beneath the horror she had no doubt faced so recently.

"Oh, hi, there . . ." He had absolutely no idea who she was, which made him hate himself a little. When an older, pretty girl knew your name and you scarcely recognized her, that was good reason to hate yourself in any guy's book, Tazin noted. He was abyssmal with names, of course . . . But usually remembered faces. He figured she must have gone to his school, maybe a senior when he was a freshman, he guessed. He hoped he was right, because it was the best guess he had, and his only chance at successfully BSing without feeling entirely lame. Then, he realized he had been sitting for about thirty seconds looking at her blankly, and realized he had already ruined the game. So, he grinned.

"You don't remember me, do you?" she snorted, shaking her head.

"But, of course I do! You're that one girl, who I knew from high school," he said cheerfully.

"I didn't really know you," she replied. "I only remembered your last name because it sounds like bad Spanish."

"Me llamo," he said, nodding. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"I bet you do."

"It does very well."

"Huh?"

"The sword. It's really an ideal weapon for fighting zombies. Of course, it was more fun to read about in the daily ZedHead, than to do it in real life, I realized," he said with a shrug.

"I could imagine. I -"

"I do remember you," he lied, banking on his earlier guess. "You went to Ashville High. You were a senior my first year there; that's how you knew me."

"Uh huh. And you never could have guessed that, since it's the only school in the area, and one of the simplest explanations for how I knew your name. I'm sure that has nothing to do with it. What's my name, then?"

Tazin glanced at Kevin, who was gloating, quite pleased with his embarrassment. He shrugged inwardly to himself. This was the beauty of being a smartass. You could get away with pathetic lies and lame charm.

"Oh, that's easy. I know your name so well, I could never forget it. I know exactly what your name is. I mean, seriously, I know it so well, I won't even insult myself by telling you." Tazin turned to Kevin. "What's her name?"

"On your own, smartass."

"Right." He flashed a shaky smile, and took a guess. Patricia. She looked like a Patricia. "You're Patricia, certainly."

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Call me Angie."

"Weird nickname for Patricia, you have to admit."

"I agree."

"Patricia is just a sort of generic term of affection, you know, in Japan. Miyamo, being Japanese, not Spanish, so . . . Yeah. And, in some dialects, Patricia means Angie, too."

She gave him a disapproving look, and shook her head again with a smirk. "How could I ever doubt you?"

"Of course, you couldn't," replied Tazin, smiling widely.

"Fuckin' smartass," said Kevin.

Day 1. 4:56 p.m. Elaina.

“You wanna help me find some hot drinks?” he asked me as soon as he'd attended to Adara. “I mean, ice cream isn’t going to be much help here.”

I nodded. "Sure." I stood up, brushing off the back of my pants. Not that it was really going to make any difference... I smiled a little sheepishly. "The ice cream just happened to be in the vicinity," I said, by way of explanation.

Bernard shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said, and the funny part was, I believed him.

My smile turned from sheepish to genuinely grateful. "I'm glad I met you, Bernard," I said to him quietly. "You've already done a lot for all of us. You seem like a really good person."

He flushed slightly, and I patted his arm and headed off in search of food and hot drinks. Maybe I could even find an outlet and plug in a coffee maker. God knew we could all use a hot cup of coffee, even if it was only five in the afternoon. Or tea. Either one would do the trick right now.