Chapter 18: Appearances

After I made myself a can of breakfast and dressed myself in a white button-up and black jeans, I headed back over to the settlement to start the day. The whole morning I couldn't stop thinking about what Penelope told me. The thought that Molly was suffering only made me more desperate to get her alone. After I was back inside the wall I searched non-stop until I found her. When I did find her she was in the supply alley doing inventory. I ran over to her but realized that I had nothing prepared to say. "Hey. Um. Good morning." 

She placed some rifles on the table in front of her and turned to me with annoyance. "What do you want, Kane?" I was surprised by her attitude toward me and gave her a questioning look. "Is something wrong?" She crossed her arms and she narrowed her eyes at me. "Oh, nothing. I just spent all last night trying to convince my boyfriend that I'm not cheating on him because of you." I could tell that she was serious about being up all night. She looked tired and her irritation only got worse. "Why can't you follow a simple order like searching for supplies in a place that I'm not already searching in? Why can't you keep outside a six-foot radius of me? Why don't you care how I feel about being harassed? You're a real asshole, you know that?" 

She hadn't spoken to me like that before and I was speechless. I just stared at her until she rolled her eyes and stormed away. "The helicopter test is today. Get ready to go." She mumbled. After she left the alley I was in silence until the voices in my head started reacting to the weird event. 'Wow, bitch.' Erin said, clearly offended. 'She had a rough night, but she's an understanding girl. You should apologize to her.' Mary said in a soft voice. I sighed and began to walk out of the alley. "I doubt that'll be enough. She still has a pissed-off boyfriend barking up her tree and it's because of me."

John then came up with an idea. 'Maybe you should be apologizing to James. If you assure him that nothing is going on between you two, then maybe he'll be less hard on Molly.' I shrugged one shoulder. "I'll try. But I'm not sure how credible I am to him. Where is he, anyway?" I walked around the buildings while looking for James, but I couldn't find him anywhere. In a clear area of the main street, the helicopter was being set up and fueled with the gas we found yesterday. Supplies were being packed by Sarah and Jay near the helipad, and I heard that one of the survivors knew how to fly a helicopter. They would be flying us to the island if the test was a success.

 I asked Jay and Sarah where James could be but they didn't have a clue either. After a while longer of no luck, I decided that he would show up eventually and I could talk with him then. I headed to the med bay after the team asked me to pick up first aid supplies for the trip and the nurses told me that their compact kits were in the storage room. I walked down the hall and the echo of the floor from my footsteps made me want to be quieter. My feet were placed on the linoleum in front of the storage room door and I quietly opened it to avoid breaking my eardrums from how loud each echo was.

After I opened the door I saw the compact kit I needed on the shelf next to me. However, once I grabbed it I started hearing a strange sound. The sound was soft but I suddenly knew that I wasn't alone in here. I turned my head and was surprised to see a couple making out in the back. The dude was sitting on a table against the wall and the girl was on top of him. I couldn't see their faces, but I could tell who the woman was by her long curly black hair and ratchet girl clothes. It was Vanessa. I had met her the first week I became a part of the settlement and was instantly annoyed by her. She didn't have any skills or use to the survivors in any way and no one could figure out how she had survived the apocalypse for this long.

She was the type of girl who would dive into a hoard of zombies if she lost a hairpin. She always spoke in a squeaky voice that was clearly not her own, and she somehow was always chewing on a piece of gum even though that stuff is hard to find nowadays. I rolled my eyes as I questioned what crazy bastard would make out with a girl like her. I guess if her personality wasn't fished out of a nightclub bathroom and her hoop earrings were half the size they were now, then I could see how she could be seen as attractive. 

They hadn't noticed me yet and I wanted to stay to see who the poor bastard was. 'How much you wanna bet it's Gary from ammunition? That guy is as desperate as any.' Erin whispered as if they could've heard him if he hadn't. I moved my head to different angles to see if I could get a better look, but after a few seconds, I didn't need to. They stumbled to the side from how intense they were kissing and my mouth dropped to the floor as soon as I saw who was making out with her. I let out all the air I was holding in my lungs from the anticipation as I saw James getting nasty with a woman other than Molly. My exhale made James open his eyes and he stopped kissing Vanessa abruptly as soon as he saw me.

Suddenly, a rush of joy overcame me and I turned my head back the way we came in panic. "MOLLY!!!" I started sprinting as fast as I could down the hall and ignored James's yells that were following me. "Kane! Wait!" I jumped over jeeps and maneuvered around buildings with my heels screeching like tires at every turn. "MOLLY!!!" I continued to yell for her and once I finally saw her I ran so fast I almost flew off of the street. I flew past her and stumbled ungracefully as I forced my body to stop. Molly was shocked as she saw me. "What happened? I could hear you screaming all the way across the settlement." I caught my breath as I tried to answer. "I-! He-! I saw-! I went to get-!" 

James then caught up to us, sporting no breath left. "What, whatever he told you... It is not true!" He gasped for air from running so far and frankly, I was impressed on how he'd been able to keep up. The dick sure was determined not to get busted. He and I then started talking over each other so quickly that it made Molly's head spin. "Wait a second! One at a time! Take a deep breath and tell me what the hell's going on!"