I nervously fiddle with the creased edges of the paper, not really caring that they were fraying. I’m not really sure how I feel about what happened in the field or if anything really happened at all. It’s just not something I want to dwell on.
I feel my eyes burn, probably a mixture of exhaustion and emotional overload.
Elie draws out a long breath and I feel my heart squeeze, “I don’t think I have the energy to do this so soon, guys,” he whispers. The flyer advertised that the so-called freakshow would happen later in the day at 5 PM. Seeing as it’s about three in the morning, and we still haven’t gotten any sleep, Elie probably figured it was best that we skip the showing at five, and go instead to the second showing at 7 PM.
A corner of the flyer tears and falls into my lap. It’s crimson red with swirls of blue, rippling into a deep purple lined with stars. The tear is purple with a single, dying star. I let it fall to the ground.
“Well,” I begin carefully, “I see your point, but I can’t help but feel like we might miss something if we wait until the second showing. Maybe we should just find a place to crash for a bit, and then go at five.”
Sheila’s eyes widen a bit as she gives me a look of pure incredulity. “Um, what? No. You remember our talk about the importance of beauty sleep? I need my sleep as do you and everyone else here. I am almost one hundred percent sure that neither one of us will be up to going at five.”
Jayne gives a murmur of consent from the driver's seat, and Dev pairs his answer with a large snore coming from the seat in front of me.
“Fine.” We find another motel farther out, a good ways away from the gas station we had gone to before. It might still have been just as unsafe as the first, but we are all too tired to care. I know I am.
Dev dumps the bag in a corner of the darkened room and reaches to flick on the lights. “Wait!” Sheila gasps, “I don’t think we should turn on the lights, there might be someone out there. Let’s just--let’s just go to sleep.”
Everyone crashes, dropping to sleep almost instantly until I’m left to stare at the ceiling. There’s not much I can say about it. It’s almost like it had been sprayed with sand--bombarded and gutted until it flaked. I can’t really be sure what it’s made out of, but I know that if I stand on the bed, I’d be able to touch it. It would feel bumpy, it would catch on the skin of my fingertips and draw enough blood to highlight crescents and upside-down thorns.
The blanket seems to grow heavy and press hard on my chest, I waste no time in kicking it off and onto Sheila. “Dude,” she hisses, “What is your problem?”
“I can’t sleep,” I whisper.
She groans, “Well, I can. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to sleep.” she half-heartedly throws my half of the blanket back over me. With a sigh, she turns onto her side so that she’s facing away from me.
“Wait, Sheila.” I grasp her arm.
“What now?”
“I don’t know. I just--I think I need to talk.”
She immediately turns serious and sits up. “I’m listening. Oh, wait,” she pauses, and a smirk lights her face, “Is this about the whole thing after Elie left the car and you went after him? Because I actually do want to know about that.”
I shoot her a glare, “Do you miss your family?” A pang of homesickness hits me, making my stomach clench.
She recoils slightly, “What? Woah, where did that come from.”
“I mean, I haven’t been really able to think about it, but it feels odd being away for so long,” I explain.
Her bottom lips quiver and I hear the sheets whoosh as she shifts. The floorboards creak as her feet touch the ground.
“Shiela?”
There’s no answer.
“Sheila, you good?”
“I’ve never actually had actual parents, per se. I’m a foster kid, I’ve just gone from one house to the other since first grade. That’s why I never really thought twice before leaving. I had always told myself that the first chance I got, I would leave. And I did. I never--I never really let myself get close with any of my foster parents, no matter how nice they were, and none of them decided to keep me.” A tiny lilt of repressed laughter pierces the air. “I’ve honestly had more fun with you now than I have ever had in my whole seventeen years of life. I feel like I belong somewhere, that I matter. I have a purpose in trying to stop this virus. After we do stop it, and we will, I really don’t know what I’m going to do. But for now, I’m good.”
I feel my heart break slightly for her, I want to tell her that she’ll find herself eventually, no matter how long it takes, she will. And when she does, I will still be there with her. “Sheila--”
“Let’s go to sleep, I’m tired. We have to get rest for the show.”
I might have protested if I had the energy, but I feel my eyelids drooping.
“And Elodie?” Sheila adds.
“Hmm?” I try to make it sound like I’m fully alert, but it comes out more as a grumble.
“If you even utter a word about this, I’ll . . . .” She doesn’t manage to finish as her voice slightly falters.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I mutter. Seconds later, I’m fast asleep.
***
I manage to catch a few hours of restless sleep and when I finally fall into a deep sleep, spindly rays of playful sunshine tickle my eyelids, penetrating through my sleep. I pull my eyelids open with difficulty and feel my eyes water with the weight of my swollen eyelids. Rubbing sleep out of my eyes, I wake to see that the sun is just setting. We have an hour before we have to leave for the show.
Looking around, I see that no one else is awake. I take advantage of this by taking a shower, before letting myself wake the others. Not one of us has the energy to talk, and everyone takes a shower in a heavy silence as we dread the thought of going to the “freak show”. Well, everyone but Dev. He claims that showering is for losers. He will be sitting in the trunk of the car, I decide. There is no way I would condemn myself or any of the others to smelling him and his nervous sweat for the rest of the ride.
There is little protest from the others as I propose the idea, and Dev grudgingly climbs into the back of the car. It actually looks pretty comfortable, the only downside being that it lacks a seat belt.
Feeling more than a little nefarious, I whisper to Sheila to drive over every pothole. An equally nefarious smirk widens her lips and she claps me on the back--her silent way of congratulating me for birthing such a ‘rebellious’ idea. I sit shotgun, Sheila in the driver’s seat, and we’re off.
Slashes of red streaking the sky that run parallel to our car are slowly watered down and fade into a familiar darkness. We are about to crack this thing. I can feel it.
***
Author's Note:
AHHHHHH, so the friendship bond needed to be strengthened and I realized that Elodie's family has never been mentioned, which is completely unrealistic, and this is my crappy way of compensating *cringes*
I hope this give you some insight on Sheila and I hope this wasn't to dry lol. M'kay, I'll catch ya later, bye.
♥️♥️♥️
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Lunar Virus ✔️
Science FictionElodie's life changes at the turn of a doorknob when she is forced into joining a secret organization that claims to be protecting the Earth from aliens. But with every step she takes, she finds the organization, or the facility, as they call it, be...
