Armageddon, Texas by Tommy Zurhellen

Author:Tommy Zurhellen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atticus Books
Published: 2015-02-19T03:02:11+00:00

“Stevie plus Geraldine,” she read. “It’s inside a heart.”

“I think that was the symbol to show two people were in love.”

She traced her finger along the curved edges of the heart, saying the same words with wonder under her breath a few times: Stevie loves Geraldine. Stevie loves Geraldine. Stevie loves Geraldine.

“There is more,” the boy said, pulling her away.

At the other end of the room, an open door led to a smaller chamber. A sign screwed into the metal door read TRAINING ROOM. Inside the cramped chamber, two raised tables covered with blue cushions ran parallel to each other. There were empty shelves on either side, a few empty containers strewn about.

The girl looked around the cramped room and started yawning, suddenly worn down after a day filled with so much walking. “This seems like a good place to make camp for the night. How much of the hemp seed do we have left? I’m starving.” The boy tossed her the bag of food and she put a handful in her mouth, chewing quickly. She washed each swallow down with a swig of her water jug. “You two hungry?” she said, holding out the bag, her mouth half-full.

Dog shook his head, then hopped up on the left table and circled a few times, testing the cushion with the weight of his paw. “This one’s mine,” he said, dropping down in the middle. “For dogs only.” His eyes shut almost immediately. He began to snore loudly.

The boy and the girl looked at one another.

“I guess this one’s for the humans,” Adam said, slipping off his pack. He found a bare spot on the shelf above their bed for the lantern. Its candle would run out soon. He rolled his new jacket off his shoulders and let it slump to the floor. His shirt was drenched with the day’s sweat and rain, so he slipped it over his head and draped it on the back of a metal chair to dry.

From the door, the girl watched him as he moved in the flickering shadow. She decided she liked the way his hands always hugged his thin waist when he was preparing to do something. In the dim candle light, she decided he was handsome. She wondered if they would still be friends if there were hundreds of other kids their age around this prison, instead of only two. Eve kept watching as he hoisted himself up onto the tall cushioned table and slid over until his right arm was pressed against the concrete wall, leaving her most of the space on the bed.

She smiled at that. He reached over for his bag and propped it behind his head as a makeshift pillow. “Good night,” the boy called out, his voice already heavy with sleep. “Do not let the insects bite you.”

Eve finished eating and hopped up beside him, blowing out one of their candles before taking off her own soaked shirt and laying it on the same chair to dry. In the darkness, she slid down against the boy and lay completely still, her arms rigid.

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