“Oh my god, what's it say?” Cleo exclaimed as she moved toward her brother and snatched the phone from his hand.
“It says 'where are you.' Now will you give me the damn phone so I can text them back?” Micah told her with annoyance.
“Wait...” she stammered as she looked down at the screen with wide brown eyes.
He scoffed, “You got something better to do than be rescued tonight?”
“Look at the name,” she said with disbelief as she turned the screen back toward him.
“Adan... Jacobs?” Micah asked as he looked back at her questioningly. “Wait, didn't you fuck him on some show, then decide to fuck him in real life too?” he asked upon realizing where he'd heard the name before.
“Shut up,” she retorted, looking down at the screen again. “It can't really be him. There's no way, right?”
“The chances of not one, but two overblown actors somehow surviving the apocalypse and then just happening to find each other through an SOS text? Doubtful,” Micah denied, wearing a skeptical look as he returned his eyes to the phone.
“He was the star of that show I guested on, you know,” she defended.
“All the more reason it's doubtful someone like him could ever survive this shit. Guess you'll have to find another fuck-boy at the end of the world. And I doubt I'll ever be that desperate. Sorry,” he retorted with a smirk.
“God, death would be better than being stuck here with you,” she complained, as she read the text once more.
“Well, there's the door,” Micah gestured to the freezer door once more.
She just shook her head at him before taking a breath and beginning to tap on the phone screen.
Adan and Aura both nearly jumped when the text he had just sent was replied to. Aura squeezed him tighter as he lifted the phone once again.
“What's it say?” Aura asked with hitched breath.
Unknown: “OMG, Adan, is that really you? It's Cleo! I nvr thought I'd c u again!”
Adan looked down at the words on the screen with disbelief being the most prevalent of many emotions on his face at that moment.
“Who's Cleo?” Aura asked as she read the words on the screen and looked up at him questioningly.
Adan swallowed an even bigger lump in his throat then as he approached that answer through the continuing shock of hearing from any other survivors at all, let alone, someone he had known personally.
“Um, the only Cleo I know, really, is a girl who did a guest spot on my show last season,” his words were a near whisper as he continued to stare down at the text.
“O...K?” Aura stated, watching as his face seemed to have lost a bit of color. “So, I guess you two were friends?”
Adan felt the sudden urge to clear his throat before finding a response, “Yeah, I mean, we went to a few premieres together, and stuff,” his volume dropped even more as he gave the answer.
“So... you dated her?” It was Aura's voice that was nearly a whisper now, her blue eyes cast down as she moved back from where she had been holding him close as they had awaited that return text.
“You know... I didn't really, actually date her per se,” he just shook his head and swallowed again. “But I can't believe she's the one sending these messages. That just doesn't seem...” Adan then paused as another thought occurred to him, “Unless it's her half-brother. He was some majorly top level hacker from what I...” his voice trailed off as he looked back at where Aura appeared to be on the verge of another panic attack right then. “Aura?” he asked worriedly.
“You didn't really date her but you know all about her hacker half-brother?”
“Well, I mean they kinda hated each other. Cleo was always bitching--”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Always?” Aura latched onto that part of his sentence.
Adan looked away again as he took a deep breath and looked back down at the phone, at a loss for any other words right then.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Text your ex back,” Aura told him after another moment of silence between them.
“Aura...”
“Are you really gonna let my anxiety problems keep you from helping the only other survivors we've discovered in three months? Really, Adan?”
“Well, I mean, can we even actually help them, really?”
“She's your ex!” she returned with a look of disbelief.
“Not exact--”
“Adan.”
He sighed heavily and turned his attention back to the phone, trying to decide on what he could even respond with, all things considered. Finally deciding not to directly address the particulars of how they were acquainted, Adan chose to concentrate on the previous message from them:
Adan: “Are you guys really running out of food? Where are you even?”
Adan finished the text by repeating the question he had asked in the previous one.
“Just gimme the damn phone, Cleo,” Micah said as he grabbed it back. “You can do all the rest of your catching up with lover boy after we get the fuck outta here,” he grumbled as he began texting back:
Unknown: “It's Micah now. We're holed up in the ruins of some mall an hr east of LA. Seen enough horror flix to know the best spots to hide. But after 3 mos, food's getting slim. Do u got a safe place, hollywood boi?”
Adan let out another worried breath and glanced over at Aura once more. She was now sitting at the opposite edge of the bed, eyes down. She appeared to be just waiting for him to relay the rest of the conversation to her, if he deemed it necessary, anyway.
Adan: “semi safe, but we're 90 mins from LA. Not sure if it would even be poss to tell u how to get here or come find u. prob lotsa poison air & mebbe aliens too btwn us still”
Unknown: “F this txt shit, I'll call u”
“He's gonna call. Guess that'll at least be easier one-handed,” Adan filled Aura in on the conversation, though she still didn't look back his way. They both jumped slightly when his cell rang a moment later; a sound neither of them had heard in months.
“Hollywood boi?” Micah's voice greeted Adan as he warily accepted the call.
“Or just Adan,” he responded with another deep breath.
“Yeah, whatever. Now where the hell--”
“Oh my god! Hi Ade!” Cleo's unmistakably high pitched tone called out in the background of the call, causing a slight cringe to pass over Adan's face when he glanced back at Aura once again.
“Could you shut up while I try to save our asses, again?” Micah growled back at her before continuing to speak into the phone, “Now, where exactly is this semi-safe spot of yours? And how safe is semi-safe?”
“Well, it's a bunker that--”
“A bunker?” Micah interrupted, sounding almost impressed, and also a bit hopeful. “I guess eccentric rich bitches can be useful. No wonder she was into you. Daddy issues, am I right?” Micah teased as Cleo glared and punched his arm.
Gritting his teeth, Adan replied, “I can see why you and Cleo got along so well.”
“Alright, alright, I'll try to play nice. I'm just hard-coded to automatically hate anyone my sister would like. But considering I need you to help get us out of the shit, I'll look past your questionable taste in women. Now, how do we get to you?"
“Even if I could give you the exact coordinates, it'll likely be near impossible to get here safely. Either the plants, the aliens, or just not having enough supplies to get here in one piece at all might be a little problematic. It's why I wasn't even sure if I should text you back at all. I didn't wanna give anyone false hope,” Adan returned sadly.
“I've managed to keep me and my... wonderfully capable sister alive for nearly three months out here. Don't underestimate me,” Micah told him, sounding as confident as he could, considering how dire things really were getting for them at that point.
“But aren't you like a hacker, or something? With the world wide web gone now, I doubt your skill set is that useful anymore,” Adan had to at least get one dig in.
“I found your ass, didn't I?” Micah replied without missing a beat.
“Yeah, but only because I happened to turn my phone on after like your eightieth text,” Adan retorted.
Then Cleo took the phone to interrupt their jabs, “Listen, I hate this asshole too, but he has managed to get us this far, so just tell us where you are and I'm sure he'll find some way to get us there.”
“Ah, I love you too, sis,” Micah replied in the background, insincerity dripping from his tone.
Cleo just rolled her eyes, “Besides, I haven't seen you since the lock down started. Sucks that you had that birthday thing to do that weekend. Otherwise, you and I would've probably ended up running from the aliens together, instead of me ending up with this jerk,” she continued, sounding way to bubbly in spite of the topic, and the entirety of the situation in general. “So believe me, if it's possible to get there, we will. I promise,” she assured with a smile.