ONE
Zach (continued)
Find out more about Waterfall HERE.
Our
particular gated community outside of Philadelphia had become one of the refuge
sites. Now we had armed guardsmen protecting our gates as the threats of national
and international terrorism continued to grow. I’d heard that several of the
upstream water sources had been hijacked by militia and the like. Most of the
water had already been poisoned by industry years ago, but the few good sources
left were now being targeted. I wondered if that’s why our rations had been
reduced.
“What
are you looking at?” snapped the soldier.
I
hadn’t realized how long I’d been standing there so I quickly replied, “Just
trying to figure out if it’s worth hurting my Jeep to back over you.”
“You’re
an ass,” he said.
I
gave him my one finger salute and jumped in the car. Revving the gas a few
times, I checked the rearview mirror to see if the soldier was going to move. I
don’t really know why he hated me so much. We’ve had this thing going on now
for several months and it had become part of the routine.
Just
as he started to walk away, I gunned it. Flying backward out of the driveway,
my squealing tires caught the attention of several guards and refugees camping
along the streets. I laughed at their appalled looks and waved as I passed by.
Vee’s
house was only two blocks away and we almost always drove together. We’d been
friends since middle school and practically inseparable that entire time.
Although recently, Vee had been acting weird. We didn’t have many classes
together this year, and I’d been so busy with football that we only really saw
each other on our ride to school.
I
pulled into her driveway and laughed when I saw her burst from the bright red
front door. Angry blue eyes glared at me under layers of dark makeup. A
ridiculous streak of pink stood out against her black hair and the gothic
outfit was something new.
She
yanked open the passenger door and threw her bag inside. “You’re late.”
“And
you forgot that it’s not Halloween.”
She
huffed and climbed in the Jeep. A few seconds later she snapped her head around
and raised her eyebrows. “What?”
I
chuckled again. “You going to tell me what’s going on here?”
“What
are you talking about?”
Reaching
over, I lifted the piece of pink hair. “When did you do this?”
She
slapped my hand away and crossed her arms. “It’s called fashion, Zach.”
Laughing,
I continued. “And what’s with the Beetlejuice eye makeup? You’re scaring me.”
A
hint of a smile developed at the corner of her mouth before she snapped her
angry façade back into place. “Are we going to sit here all day?”
“Relax,
Vee,” I said, putting the Jeep into gear and starting our drive to school.
“Stop
calling me that. It’s Vivienne.”
Find out more about Waterfall HERE.
I am SOOO excited for this but reading it bit by bit is such a tease...
ReplyDeleteThanks <3