The squad car slid between the lines of the parking space in front of the hotel. It wouldn’t be long before the snow’s half-hearted descent would quicken into a flurry. Tony and Anne stepped out of the car and looked at their immediate surroundings. Mel began to ask the officer a question but the door shut before more than a few words were spoken. There weren’t many cars parked outside and the hotel was rather humble in appearance. Anne cocked her head to place it on Tony’s shoulder. “Well stud, looks like it’ll be a hotel room for today. Want a little S&S?”
Tony turned his head downward to her, “Snacking and snugging? Sleeping and snoring?”
Tony could feel Anne’s head moving up and down while on his shoulder. He added, “Maybe some Switch and sex?”
Anne’s voice came out softly, “Wouldn’t that be a classic horror movie blunder?”
Tony chuckled softly, “Too soon to joke about this? Ah well, those were old rules. Horror has gone so meta and back to non-meta and back again so much this past decade that, if you ask me, rules don’t exist anymore in horror. It’s kinda just, do whatever-the-fuck and include societal subtext.”
Anne lifted her head and shrugged, “Yeah that’s fair. Let’s see what the heck these two are talking about before we become victims of media commentary.”
As the final words left her lips, Mel and the officer exited the vehicle.
Tony smiled at them, “A little pillow talk?”
Mel’s face scrunched in anger, “What in the fuck are….”
Carl interjected with a chuckle, “Woah there bud, a little cavalier talking to an officer, huh?”
Tony put his hands up slightly, “Didn’t mean to disrespect! Sorry, I guess this situation has me feeling like the scales have been shifted a little. It’s like we’re all on the run. You know how in a zombie apocalypse you’ll have a group of rag-tag individuals with different occupations pre-zombie-hellscape? But nobody is out there like ‘Hello officer! I hope you don’t catch me smoking a joint and throw me in apocalypse jail. Get it?”
The puzzled faces on both men answered that question. Anne cut in, “Well, actually Tones, doctors still get called and treated like doctors in the apocalypse.”
Tony swayed his head from side-to-side as he was mulled over a decision, “Yeah ok that’s a fair point. I guess there’s levels to the shit. Anyway, sorry officer, I guess this situation made it feel like we were on equal footing.”
Carl gave a soft smile, “Well just remember, I’m here to protect you guys. Now, to answer your somewhat disrespectful question, Mel was just wondering about our layout.”
Mel joined, “Yeah jackass. I was willing to room with him; give you kids some privacy. We’ve all got our own rooms though, Carl’s will be right in the middle of ours. Gives him access to my room, but he’ll have a keycard to yours as well. Makes me feel more at ease.” Tony nodded in agreement with this plan.
____________________________________________________________________________
Janet and Jessica stared at the mountainous view. Janet turned to Jessica, “How long have we spent looking out at this so far?”
Jessica, without breaking eye contact with the perfect scenery, spoke as if in a trance, “I…. imagine it’s been a few minutes.” She broke out from her hypnosis and looked down and chuckled, “I know it’s been long enough that my fingers don’t feel like they’re attached to my hands.”
“Where are you kids from?”
Jessica sighed with nostalgia, “Arizona. Well, that’s where we’re at for college.”
The officer looked back out to the view, “That’s not too far at all. Ever been to Colorado before?”
Jessica shook her head, “First time for me and my boyfriend. It’s been great aside from the death and fear and all that good stuff.”
A chuckle wedged its way out of Janet’s mouth, “Yeah that’s about right. If those fingers are about to snap off, we can head inside.”
The young student shrugged, “Eh, been cooped up in that house for what feels like weeks. I don’t mind the cold right now.”
Neither minded the silence. Small sounds could intermittently be heard from the surroundings. Jessica had anticipated that these noises would put her on edge, but in actuality she didn’t pay them much attention. She felt safe out here with Janet. A leaf being stepped on was likely an animal. The movements that reached her ears were likely the wind in its pursuit to pick up speed.
The older voice asked her, “Have you kept up with your friends who’re with Carl?”
Jessica turned to her again, “Yes. Group chat. They’re ok, they seem to be handling things pretty well. I think we’re all doing a little more decently than we thought we’d be. Is that weird?”
Janet smiled softly, “No, it just means you’re brave. You’re all brave.”
“Are we though? What if this is all circumstance? What if things have just happened to go down while we’re here? Are we those folks that hear about a disaster in a place we lived at a year ago and decide we want attention?”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Janet raised an eyebrow, “I’m not sure I’m following.”
Jessica looked down at her feet, arms still propped up on the railing of the porch, “Just… you know those folks that talk about some tragedy and are like, ‘Oh it could’ve been me! If I had just been where I was a year ago. If I had just been standing three miles to the left!’ Are we just narcissists who think this is happening to us? These bodies that have nothing to do with us.
“These deaths have probably destroyed someone’s parents somewhere. Someone’s brother or sister. But since a couple arms landed in our vicinity, we’ve made it all about ourselves.”
Janet let out a weaker chuckle than the last time, but a genuine one nonetheless. “You’re a good kid at heart. You all are, if that’s how you’re handling this. It’s ok to admit that horrible things happening to someone else have also led to horrible moments for you. It’s also ok to admit that it’s ok to be scared and worried. You don’t have to feel selfish for caring about what this violence could mean for you.”
“You’re probably right. I’m not sure I’m equipped to listen to that advice right now, but I’m at least able to admit that you bring up a good point. Thanks. I don’t want validation, but it still does feel nice to hear it.”
“Yeah, for sure.” Janet’s voice wavered a bit as her body showed small traces of tremors. It was the kind of night that would remind a poet of lost love or being spurned by the object of their affections. It was beautiful outside, but very cold.
Before looking back to the mountains, Jessica smiled and said, “A lot of good that puffy jacket is doing you. Heck, a lot of good living here has done, huh? You’re shivering like crazy.” Janet feigned a smile, but her face slowly turned into sternness as she nodded in agreement.
____________________________________________________________________________
“You talked to your folks any?”
Tyrone picked his head up; a trance broken in which he was transfixed on the wood floors. “Yeah, I gave them a little ring earlier this morning. They’re worried, but I think they’re more worried about the storm.”
“That makes sense. I mean, we’re still in this state of limbo. Not quite victims, not quite bystanders.”
Tyrone exhaled as a breathy snicker escaped him. “You been working on that line delivery?”
“Was it dramatic enough?”
“It was perfect, my guy. What about you?”
Evan took a swig from the cup of water he had been filling in the kitchen. He rubbed the remaining droplets from his lower lip and nodded, “Yeah. My dad had something he wanted to ask me but my mom distracted him with something. Been a little while now, though.”
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Evan checked his phone to see who was calling and raised his eyebrow while bobbing his head, “Speak of the devil and he appears!
“Hey dad, you wanted to talk about something?”
Tyrone watched Evan pace as he spoke with his father. “Ye- wait really?” The paces continued for a moment longer and then he stood still. “You’re sure it’s still there?”
Evan turned to Tyrone with a giddy smile. He hopped over to his parent’s room. Tyrone got up to follow his friend and see why he had this strange happiness take over him. Evan’s voice was faint from the room but the volume rose as Tyrone walked closer.
“You know that decapitated head you have here in the room almost gored me…” the muffled voice was becoming more defined, dictation clearer. Tyrone walked into the room and saw Evan searching under the bed, his parents’ drawers already open with their contents jostled.
“I don’t see it dad, you’re sure it’s here? One… one second, give me a second dad. A second. One second? Have you heard of a second? A SECOND FATHER OK THANK YOU.” Evan put the phone on mute and chuckled to Tyrone, “Ok so good news and bad news.
“The good news is that my dad has a gun here. The bad news is that he doesn’t know how to let me interject in a conversation. Oh and he forgot where he put it, so could you check the other rooms and their drawers just in case he put it in another bedroom?”
Tyrone pursed his lips, “He forgot what room? Your dad playing dangerous games here haha.”
Evan nodded and then unmuted his phone, “Ok dad what’s up we can continue this conversation.”
Tyrone had turned around and was exiting the bedroom when Evan called out, “Wait wait wait,” Evan muted the phone again and looked at his friend, “this jackass is fucking with me. He was playing dumb, this guy clearly does not realize how stressed we’ve been hahaha.”
Evan got back onto the phone, halfway to exasperated, “Ok dad enough of the stand-up routine. Where the heck is the gun? Yes dad I’m aware of gun safety. Yes dad it’s not a toy. Yes dad I understand that I shouldn’t be looking to utilize this because ultimately the act of taking a life will leave a life-long mark on my psyche and conscience that I may never be able to get over. Yes. Ok thank you where is it?”
Tyrone was beaming due to this exchange. He enjoyed this respite from his anxieties. He shook his head, took a brief glance at the “decapitated head” that Evan had run into earlier in the trip, and turned back to him. This time, however, Evan wasn’t smiling.
“No dad, it’s not there. It’s not- it’s not because I already checked your closet. The first morning we spent here I checked that closet because that’s when this shit started. Sorry, sorry dad I’m on edge I didn’t mean to swear. There’s nowhere else?” Tyrone’s eyes kept darting from Evan’s face to the random spots in the background. It was as if he was trying to analyze the room and see where the hidden artifact was; a game of iSpy. Unfortunately there was nothing to find.
“Dad, there has to be another place. Ok… ok I understand……. That’s a good idea, I’ll do that. Where’s it at? Top left? Ty, can you check the top left corner of my folks’ closet? The bullet box is there.” Tyrone nodded in confirmation and briskly walked to the closet. His hands shuffled through clothing and pushed aside a few smaller boxes filled with stale air.
He turned to Evan, “I can’t find anything here dude.”
Evan stood up, hand still holding his phone but now next to his thigh, “What the fuck? My dad forgetting something small is one thing, he does that. But he wouldn’t forget about a gun. He’s only adamant about things when he’s certain and he was adamant about where he put his gun.”
Tyrone scrambled for a solution, “Look at these dead ass animals bro he probably took that rifle out, blasted one, came back and did whatever that shit is that they do to animals after getting hunted.”
“I’ll call you back dad,” Evan hung up and looked back towards Tyrone, “Dude the most traditionally manly shit my dad does is wear mid-shin high socks and mow the lawn in thirty dollar sneakers.”
Tyrone’s face showed confusion and Evan continued, “My dad doesn’t hunt. This is just rich people shit. Adds atmosphere or whatever the hell my dad said about it. My dad owns a handgun, it’s just a glock. He’s not hunting shit. But that means he’s had this gun for years and he’s never had to use it. So he’s never had to move it.”
Tyrone understood what this meant, “So you think this gun might be on the move now, huh?”
“I do. But who fucking took it?”