be a fountain in the middle of a two-story atrium. I remember there being escalators behind it and elevators on the left—cool glass ones that I used to beg Mama to ride over and over and over. Branching out from the atrium, there are four hallways—this one leading to the main entrance, the north hallway that leads to the old food court, and two more on the left and right that lead to the big department stores that Mama always said we couldn’t afford to shop at.
Even though I remember coming here as a kid, there’s no sense of nostalgia. No warm familiarity. It’s so dark and so vacant that I feel as though I’m walking on the moon and being told that it used to be Earth.
As the crumbling edges of the stone fountain come into view, the sound of voices in the distance has me pulling Wes to a stop.
I push up onto my tiptoes until my lips graze the shell of his ear. “Do you hear that?” I whisper. “It sounds like—”
“Freeze!” a voice shouts as the silhouette of a man holding a rifle appears from behind the fountain.
Instinctively, I hold my hands up and step in front of Wes. “Don’t shoot!” I shout back. “Please! Our friends outside are hurt. We just need a place to spend the night.”
“Rainbow?” His voice softens, and I recognize it instantly.
It’s one I’ve heard say my name a thousand different times in a thousand different ways. It’s one I never thought I’d hear again, and after I met Wes, never wanted to. It’s the voice of the boy who left me behind.
“Carter?”
I thought April 24 was going to be a new beginning.
Turns out, it’s just the beginning of the end.
Wes
Carter.
His name on her lips hits my ears like a blaring, screaming alarm clock, waking me from the best dream of my life.
It all seemed so real. I can still feel the heat of her thighs around my waist and see the tears glistening in her big blue eyes when she told me she loved me. When she promised she’d never leave. And I believed her.
Like a fucking dumbass.
The impending apocalypse made people do crazy shit. Some burned entire cities to the ground. Some, like Rain’s psychopathic dad, committed murder-suicides just to get it all over with. And me? I let myself believe the desperate ramblings of a lost, lovesick teenager.
But the four horsemen never came for us.
Reality did.
And from the looks of him, he’s about six foot three.
Even though I feel like the world is tilting on its axis and there’s an invisible knife twisting in my pancreas, I keep my cool as Reality jogs toward my girl.
No, not my girl. His girl.
I’ve done this so many times; it’s almost second nature now. Standing in the Department of Child and Family Services while yet another foster parent gave me back. Standing against the lockers in my fuckteenth high school, acting like I didn’t give a shit whether anyone talked to me or not. Standing behind the bar at work, watching whatever chick I was fucking at the time kiss her boyfriend goodbye in the parking lot.
Fold your arms across your chest. Keep your posture loose. Look bored. You are bored. People are so fucking boring. Yawn. Light a cigarette. Damn, no cigarettes.
Rain doesn’t move as he approaches. She doesn’t lift her arms for a hug, but that doesn’t stop LeBron James from wrapping his four-foot-long arms around her and lifting her off the ground.
My teeth clench together, and my blood fucking boils as he goes to kiss her, but on the outside, I’m the picture of indifference.
Do what you want. I don’t care.
You don’t care.
Nobody fucking cares.
Rain turns her head before his lips can make contact and grunts, “Ugh! Carter, what are you doing? Put me down!”
He’s just a shadow, but the whites of his eyes almost glow in the dark as they go wide and glance over at me.
I smirk and raise an eyebrow, but it’s just for show. Kind of like Rain’s performance right now. I’m not stupid enough to think this means she isn’t going to go back to him. I know she is. I’ve seen this episode before.
“What am I doing?” His voice wavers as he sets her back on her feet. “I fucking missed you! I never thought I’d see you again. And you’re here. You’re … alive.”
Rain shoves him with both hands, and he takes a step backward, more out of shock that she