Page 3

Linda

That night, I woke up several times feeling all hot and bothered.

I couldn’t remember the dreams, but my body knew they were good.

I’m sleep-deprived now, though, and it probably wouldn’t have happened if I had had any nookie this past year.

I’ve just been so busy with my studies, it wasn’t really a priority.

Fantasizing about hot professors was the most I afforded myself.

Ugh, I wish I had my trusty bullet vibrator.

Though a part of me can’t believe I’m thinking about orgasms when it’s been days since I spoke with my parents amid a gosh darn alien apocalypse.

“Want some coffee?” Noa’s voice pulls me out of my daydreams.

I sigh when the smell of caffeine invades my nostrils. “Yes, please,” I say eagerly.

Our fingers brush as she passes me the mug, filled to the brim with the dark brown liquid of life, and I feel my cheeks igniting.

As the older girl’s lips spread into a mischievous smirk, I look down and let my hair cover my burning face.

That only prompts her to sweep my tresses back and behind my shoulders.

“Don’t hide that beautiful face,” Noa murmurs. I raise my eyes to meet hers. “I have something for you,” she purrs with a smirk.

My eyebrows lift. “What is it?” I ask after a moment of hesitation.

She brings her other hand forward from behind her back in an exaggerated ‘ta-da’ movement. On the palm of her hand lies a purple rose sex toy. I gasp when I realize what it is and cover it with my own palm, frantically looking around to see if Axel saw the object. Thankfully, he’s nowhere in sight.

“What are you doing?” I hiss, scrabbling to wrap my fingers around the toy, then quickly pocket it.

Noa chuckles, the sound tugging on some neglected part inside me. “I grabbed a few toys from our last supply run.” She licks her plump lower lip. “Surprisingly, people aren’t thinking about sex toys while the world is ending.”

I snort despite being embarrassed as hell. While the shelves barely have any non-perishable food items left, most having been taken by the looting mobs during the first day, non-essential objects were left behind.

“Anyway, I thought you might like to have it,” Noa finishes with a wink. I gape at her. Wait, did she… hear anything last night? What am I supposed to say?

“T–thank you,” I stutter, feeling my blush crawl down my neck to my chest. Noa’s eyes follow, causing a different kind of heat on my skin.

“You’re welcome,” she quips. When she meets my eyes again, her lips stretch into a wide smile. “Don’t worry about being quiet with it.”

My jaw unhinges. Did she just… what?

Before I can embarrass myself further, the radio squawks, the white noise interrupted by high-pitched whistles. Axel enters the room, the lower half of his face covered in shaving cream, a razor in his hand. A voice breaks through the static.

“ All civilians are ordered to make their way to the nearest major military outpost. Secure locations have been established for food, medical aid, and protection. Travel is dangerous. Move carefully, avoid large groups, and stay off main roads when possible. If you encounter hostiles, do not engage unless you have no other choice .”

The three of us exchange looks. Is this for real?

“ Repeat. This is a standing order for all civilians. You are not alone. Help is still out there. ”

The message repeats two more times and then gets interrupted halfway through the third iteration, the signal cutting out.

“Do you think the military sent that?” I ask hopefully. “I mean, it could be some bad people wanting to ambush survivors on the roads, right?”

Noa nods thoughtfully and Axel actually smiles at me. “You’re starting to sound less like a clueless brat every day, Winnie.”

“Gee,” I say, giving him my best droll look. “Thanks so much.”

“Eglin is the closest,” Noa hums. She exchanges a look with her brother. “We could siphon the gas from the other cars in the garage, pack as much as we can.”

“It’ll be dangerous as fuck,” he says with a shake of his head. A dollop of shaving cream plops onto the floor, dripping down from his chin. It’s then that I register that he’s not wearing a shirt. His chest is covered with tattoos and both of his nipples are pierced. Why is he so invisible to me?

“But it’ll be just as dangerous staying here soon,” Noa counters. “It’s a miracle no one broke in here to rob us yet. Or worse.”

I shudder at her implications. I was under this illusion of safety between the walls of this building.

We heard looters and fleeing people outside over the last three days, but no one was interested in coming in here.

That’s going to change fast now that there are next to no supplies left on the shelves.

“We should try,” I voice my opinion. “I can’t imagine anywhere being as safe as an Air Force base.”

Noa scans my face with a calculating expression. What is she thinking about? Finally, she nods, then spins around to find our backpacks.

“Axel, why don’t you go get the car ready. Linda and I will pack up our shit.”

I guess it’s bye-bye sink baths and a roof over our heads. We’re leaving.

***

Tallahassee is fading into the distance behind us, and with it, most traces that the invasion even happened; there’s no rubble, no dead bodies, and we’ve hardly even passed any live ones either.

Some houses and storefronts have smashed windows, but if you can overlook that and the eerie lack of traffic, you could almost convince yourself it’s just another day.

Well, it might be easier to pretend if I weren’t surrounded by canned food, clinking together every time Axel takes a turn too fast.

“Slow down, dummy, poor Linda’s like the candy in a pinata back there.”

Of course, Axel just snorts at Noa’s words and doesn’t apologize.

But he maybe takes the next turn a smidge gentler.

I look out of the window, wishing I could enjoy the views of the Apalachicola and Lake Talquin forests, wishing this was just a road trip with friends, as unlikely as the friendship may be for me.

We decided to take the state highway rather than the interstate, shaving off a few miles of travel and avoiding what’s likely to be every still-functioning car in the area.

We just don’t know if we can trust other desperate people around our supplies.

When I hear rumbling in the skies, I immediately forget about Axel’s driving skills or lack thereof.

I stop breathing, my chest locking up, ribs squeezing tight.

I’m completely paralyzed by the fear that more alien spaceships are about to appear, using us for target practice.

I clutch at my chest when fighter jets fly over our car, heading toward the city we just left.

Axel slams on the brakes and we all turn to look out the rear window.

“Where do you think they're going?” I ask after a moment of us gaping soundlessly.

Before either answers me, shockwaves from explosions rock the car. We share a wide-eyed look.

“What about the people?” I whisper breathlessly, thinking of the tens of thousands of inhabitants likely still sheltering in the city.

Axel grimaces. “If any are left there, they’re fucked.”

“Why would they be destroying our own infrastructure?” I chew on my lower lip, my mind racing.

Noa clears her throat. “Maybe the aliens overran the city?”

I shake my head and tug on the elastic at my wrist. “I still can’t believe they’d just kill people like that.

They barely gave us a chance to evacuate.

” If we were just a little bit slower… Just th inking about it is enough to make me want to snap the elastic right off.

I feel equally glad we left and terrible for the people who stayed.

“If we can rely on anything, beautiful, it’s that the military has a questionable definition of the greater good,” Noa says.

As we talk, plumes of smoke darken the sky above Tallahassee. Axel turns around first, and the car starts moving again, taking us further away from the warzone.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”