Page 62 of Calico Descending

Waking on gasp, Neela looks around, eyes wide in terror, and I stroke her hair, with my fingers set to my lips. “Shhh.”

As if she understands what’s happening, she nods, and reaches across her bloated body for the other strap.

“Where do we go from here? How do we get to the loading dock?” I ask, busying myself with the final strap.

“At the end of this hallway, take the staircase down to the first level, but don’t head through the doors. There’s a panel across from the staircase that leads to the circuit room. From there, you can access the dock.”

“How the hell do you know this?”

“It’s where Kenny and I …” Her lips flatten and stretch to a devious grin. “Our first time.”

“You had sex?”

She shrugs, crossing her arms over her chest. “I guess you could call it that. Only lasted a minute, or two.”

Snorting, I shake my head. “When? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were busy with your … behemoth. Which … I’m still trying to wrap my head around how that works.”

Now I’m the one trying to hide a smile. “It works.” I reach out for Neela’s hand, helping to steady her as she slides off the bed.

The curtain snaps back to reveal the guard, with his gun pointed at us. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Wait. Just wait a second.” Roz glances over at me, and if I had to guess, she’s trying to avoid another murder, as she steps in front of me, toward the guard.

The sound of the gun going off is unmistakable. Once. Twice. Maybe that’s just the noise in my head, though. I remember that sound vividly, from when the horde of Ragers invaded our camp, and my mother tried to fight them off with bullets, before running out. I remember hearing it when the bullet hit my sister, and I watched her dragged off on a trail of blood.

I look down to see drops of blood on the white tiles below me, but when Roz falls to her knees, my body turns cold and numb, as if it’s punctured my lungs.

I drop to the floor beside her, and catch her head before it cracks against the tiles.

Through sharp pants of breath, she trembles, her face turning pale, as she lifts her head, setting her hand to her stomach. “Oh, shit,” she mutters.

I follow the path of her gaze to the blossoming patch of red at her stomach.

Shock beats through me, as I gather her up onto my lap. “Oh, no. Oh, no. No, no, no.”

“Get up.” The guard spouts off a command that’s distant to the clamor inside my head while I stare down at my friend through a blur of tears. “Get the fuck up now!”

In my periphery, I see him raise his gun, point at me, but I don’t take my eyes off Roz. “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay,” I whisper, drawing her up higher.

She flinches and cries out with the movement, and I don’t even realize how much I’m shaking, until I try to draw a strand of hair from her face. For a brief moment, I’m fourteen again, reaching out for my sister beside me.

The guard racks the chamber of his gun. “I’m not gonna tell you again, girl. Get the fuck up.”

Eyes closed, I hold my friend, who shivers in my arms, and I wait for the bullet.

A sharp grunt draws my eyes open, and I turn to see Valdys releasing the guard’s newly snapped neck, as he falls to the floor in a slump.

Tears spill from my eyes onto Roz’s forehead, while I stroke the stubble of her shaved head. “We’re going to get you out of here. I won’t let you die in this place. You’re going to be okay.”

She lifts a shaky hand, setting it against my arm that’s wrapped around her, and tips her head back, smiling up at me. Each breath becomes more shallow, and she frowns, as if she’s mentally counting down the last of them. “Do you … remember ... “ Quick pants interrupt her, and she coughs, jerking in my arms. “When we … used to reminisce about sleeping … under the stars?”

My lips quiver, as I nod through tears. “Yes.”

Thin lips stretch wider, and she blinks away the tears that stream down her temples. “Just think … Cali. When you’re … lying beneath the stars out there … I’ll be looking down on you.”

Her breaths turn rapid, on the cusp of a wheeze, and her arm falls from mine. One long exhale, and her eyes turn vacant, pupils dilated. She stills as the life visibly fades from her face.

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