Okay, that's it for Post Mortem for a while. I'm getting requests to finish more of the Anarchy series, so I'll be heading off to do that and leaving Post Mortem up in the air for a while.
Please remember the best way to contact me is deviantART :)
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Post Mortem #1: Waking the Dead, Ch 6
Chapter 6
The day was busy, just like every other. Thomas was going back and forth between restocking and checking.
One of his coworkers, Ralph, happened to be getting a cold and was going home within the hour, leaving Thomas to take his check stand and his shift. He wasn't a huge fan of overtime, and now he had to work from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
Sighing, he texted his mother that he wouldn't be home for dinner, and proceeded toward the stand.
By the time his lunch rolled around he was exhausted, and he still had 7 more hours to work.
The break room was deserted. No one ever spent much time there, even though the place was rather large. To Thomas the back of the store was quiet and relaxing, but to the rest of the employees it was a prison. Tommy certainly didn't hate his job that much. He understood where they were coming from though; it was good to get out for a while. He didn't spend every lunch period in the break room either. He sometimes left to hang out in one of the nearby diners. It didn't matter to him, he just went with whatever he felt like that day.
Taylor strode through the doorway as Thomas got out his lunch bag.
"Hey."
"Hi." Tommy yawned. Taylor was on his lunch as well, but he never spent time in the break room. He said it was too bleak for him.
"Do you want to come with me to Reuben's?" Taylor asked.
Thomas shook his head. "I don't really feel like walking all the way over there."
"Oh yeah, you took Ralph's shift, huh?"
"Yeah. Linda practically begged me to."
Linda was there store manager who absolutely adored Thomas. She reminded him of his grandmother, so he didn't mind her affection, even kind of liked it. His grandmother had died when he was 12, and he missed her greatly.
"Sucks."
Thomas said nothing. Taylor removed his workers apron and grabbed his backpack before exiting the break room, leaving Thomas among his own thoughts.
While he knew or had seen nearly everyone that came through the check stands, the blonde girl now approaching he had never seen before, and she didn't seem like the type to be visiting Riverside. She looked as if she belonged in Beverly Hills, possibly with a Chihuahua in her purse and a guy like Charlie Sheen at her side.
"Hello," she said rather awkwardly. Her personality didn't seem to match her looks at all. She fumbled with her purse as he rang up her groceries, all the while looking uncomfortable and upset about something.
"Hello…" He was supposed to smile and be friendly to all his customers, but there was something weird about this girl.
She finally found her wallet.
"That'll be $36.84," he told her. She handed him the money in a messy pile of bills and change.
"Do you live here?" she asked him.
"Yes." He held back the need to say, of course I do, did you see any other towns around here? It would be jerky to say, and very unlike him, but something about the girl made him uncomfortable.
"Do you know where…" she pulled a paper from her pocket, "Sunrise Apartments is?"
"Sure. If you leave here and turn left out of the driveway, keep going until Birch Street and then turn right onto it. It's on that street, you really can't miss it. It's like one of those Hilton places, with a huge neon sign and stuff."
"Okay, I'll remember that. Thanks."
He finished bagging her groceries. "Do you need any help out today?"
"Oh, no, thank you."
She took her bags, smiled at Thomas, and left Geil's without another word.
By the time his shift was over, he felt as if he was going to fall over. As he approached his bike, he wondered if he really had the energy to pedal all the way home.
Instead of starting straight home, he sat down on the bench just outside of Geil's and rested, putting his feet up and rubbing his forehead.
He could only keep up small talk with the customer for so long, and the mats in the check stand floors really didn't help much. Since he'd worked at Geil's for around two years now, his feet had somewhat gotten used to the near everyday labor, but today they ached like it was his first day.
After about ten minutes, he forced himself onto his feet yet again and mounted his bike.
He'd rarely rode home this late at night. He wasn't used to the the town drenched in full night. It didn't scare him, but it all looked so different in the dark.
He didn't even see the girl until he hit her.
The day was busy, just like every other. Thomas was going back and forth between restocking and checking.
One of his coworkers, Ralph, happened to be getting a cold and was going home within the hour, leaving Thomas to take his check stand and his shift. He wasn't a huge fan of overtime, and now he had to work from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
Sighing, he texted his mother that he wouldn't be home for dinner, and proceeded toward the stand.
By the time his lunch rolled around he was exhausted, and he still had 7 more hours to work.
The break room was deserted. No one ever spent much time there, even though the place was rather large. To Thomas the back of the store was quiet and relaxing, but to the rest of the employees it was a prison. Tommy certainly didn't hate his job that much. He understood where they were coming from though; it was good to get out for a while. He didn't spend every lunch period in the break room either. He sometimes left to hang out in one of the nearby diners. It didn't matter to him, he just went with whatever he felt like that day.
Taylor strode through the doorway as Thomas got out his lunch bag.
"Hey."
"Hi." Tommy yawned. Taylor was on his lunch as well, but he never spent time in the break room. He said it was too bleak for him.
"Do you want to come with me to Reuben's?" Taylor asked.
Thomas shook his head. "I don't really feel like walking all the way over there."
"Oh yeah, you took Ralph's shift, huh?"
"Yeah. Linda practically begged me to."
Linda was there store manager who absolutely adored Thomas. She reminded him of his grandmother, so he didn't mind her affection, even kind of liked it. His grandmother had died when he was 12, and he missed her greatly.
"Sucks."
Thomas said nothing. Taylor removed his workers apron and grabbed his backpack before exiting the break room, leaving Thomas among his own thoughts.
While he knew or had seen nearly everyone that came through the check stands, the blonde girl now approaching he had never seen before, and she didn't seem like the type to be visiting Riverside. She looked as if she belonged in Beverly Hills, possibly with a Chihuahua in her purse and a guy like Charlie Sheen at her side.
"Hello," she said rather awkwardly. Her personality didn't seem to match her looks at all. She fumbled with her purse as he rang up her groceries, all the while looking uncomfortable and upset about something.
"Hello…" He was supposed to smile and be friendly to all his customers, but there was something weird about this girl.
She finally found her wallet.
"That'll be $36.84," he told her. She handed him the money in a messy pile of bills and change.
"Do you live here?" she asked him.
"Yes." He held back the need to say, of course I do, did you see any other towns around here? It would be jerky to say, and very unlike him, but something about the girl made him uncomfortable.
"Do you know where…" she pulled a paper from her pocket, "Sunrise Apartments is?"
"Sure. If you leave here and turn left out of the driveway, keep going until Birch Street and then turn right onto it. It's on that street, you really can't miss it. It's like one of those Hilton places, with a huge neon sign and stuff."
"Okay, I'll remember that. Thanks."
He finished bagging her groceries. "Do you need any help out today?"
"Oh, no, thank you."
She took her bags, smiled at Thomas, and left Geil's without another word.
By the time his shift was over, he felt as if he was going to fall over. As he approached his bike, he wondered if he really had the energy to pedal all the way home.
Instead of starting straight home, he sat down on the bench just outside of Geil's and rested, putting his feet up and rubbing his forehead.
He could only keep up small talk with the customer for so long, and the mats in the check stand floors really didn't help much. Since he'd worked at Geil's for around two years now, his feet had somewhat gotten used to the near everyday labor, but today they ached like it was his first day.
After about ten minutes, he forced himself onto his feet yet again and mounted his bike.
He'd rarely rode home this late at night. He wasn't used to the the town drenched in full night. It didn't scare him, but it all looked so different in the dark.
He didn't even see the girl until he hit her.
Post Mortem #1: Waking the Dead, Ch 5
Chapter 5
Yuri felt bad for Daniel, but he was still disappointed in him.
Just about a year ago, Daniel's mother and father had been killed in a terrible pile-up on the freeway outside of Glenview. It had been a ten-car pile-up, and his parents had been caught in the middle.
They had been killed instantly, pulverized into their seats like they were part of the car.
In some ways Yuri understood why Daniel had become a drunken mess. It was a horrible tragedy, and Yuri could hardly bear to imagine the same thing happening to his own parents, but he felt there would have been a better way to deal with the pain other than turning to alcohol.
Yuri worried about what his best friend had become. Daniel stayed out all night at the clubs, drinking and swapping spit with girls he'd never met before, and he thought it was all great fun.
If his parents knew what had happened to him after their death, they would have frowned upon him, and no doubt reprimanded him for the awful behavior.
Daniel wouldn't listen to Yuri when he said he was killing himself. All he knew was that the alcohol made him forget.
All Yuri could do was follow what was left of his best friend and make sure he didn't hurt himself, or get into any trouble he couldn't handle by himself. It was hard for Yuri, though. Since becoming an alcoholic, Daniel's old friends had left him, and he had replaced them with other sickly alcoholics that always seemed to be watching Yuri like they were planning something.
They knew Yuri didn't drink, so they didn't understand why he hung out with Daniel all the time, and they obviously didn't like it. All too often they would try to separate the two friends, but Yuri would never let them. He couldn't let Daniel be pulled fully into the alcoholic abyss. They been friends too long; it would be far too devastating.
Besides that, he'd have to move back in with his parents. He and Daniel split the rent of their shared apartment, and without Daniel's drug-dealing income, Yuri couldn't afford a place by himself.
He just didn't know what to do. There didn't seem to be any way to get Daniel sober. At this rate, he was going to die, and Yuri couldn't do a thing about it.
Or his town's impending doom.
***
Ray loved this town. It was perfect. It was like a mini San Francisco, complete with large population of drunken bastards that would have no idea what hit them.
It was like the perfect storm. No one would ever believe the stupid drunkards when they said they'd been attacked by a monster.
He smiled as he swigged his drink. The bar he now sat at was filled with noisy alcohol abusers, just asking for him to attack.
But he couldn't yet. He had to wait until he couldn't any longer. Wolf's orders. He had to stay low, at least until the first infected attacked.
He couldn't wait until the trucks come, though. It would be so…exciting.
Wolf had planned to release a single infected into each town a couple days after the Bloodthieves arrived, just to stir things up a bit; make people nervous, keep 'em on their toes. Then the trucks would come and pour out the infected like a faucet.
That would be fun.
The best part would be that no one would ever realize how bad the situation was, or what it was coming to. After the Bloodthieves knocked out the power to their towns, the poor citizens would have no connections to the outside world. A week after the power outage, Wolf planned for Driftwood to drop his Necrosis Bombs across the largest cities of the world, sinking the world into a state of chaos and death.
With the majority of defensive forces turned to undead, mindless, creatures (what pop culture seemed to call 'zombies'), and the infection spreading like water from a broken dam, the world would surely crumble, along with the populations sanity.
Thinking about the chaos made him fill to the brim with enthusiasm. He ordered another drink.
***
Yuri leaned up against the bar, quiet and depressed.
"You need a drink?" asked the bartender. Yuri shook his head, otherwise not answering. The bartender left him alone and moved on to a happy couple down at the end.
Ray looked over and saw the distressed boy. "What's the matter, there, kid? Too much to drink or not enough?"
Yuri didn't like talking to strangers. Not because of those old sayings, but because he wasn't much of the social type since he'd started worrying about Daniel.
When he didn't answer, the man kept talking.
"Not enough, obviously. Hey, bartender, get this kid a drink. I'll pick it up."
Yuri glared at the pushy man, finally speaking up. "Man, didn't you just see that I didn't want a drink?" He was annoyed now.
"Well you need one."
The bartender arrived with a glass of beer, setting it down next to Yuri's arm.
"I don't want it," Yuri told the bartender, who in turn looked over at Ray.
"Just leave it," Ray said to him, dismissing the bartender.
"What do you want man?" Yuri asked, peeved.
"Nothing. You just looked like you needed a friend."
"I don't need one, especially in you."
Ray was taken aback by the harshness in the young mans voice. The guy must have been having a terrible day.
Likewise, Yuri had never sounded so rude to someone before, but he didn't care this time. The guy was a creep, and he wasn't having a good day.
"Easy there, kid, I'm only looking to help you."
It didn't seem appropriate for this guy to be calling Yuri a kid. He must have been only in his twenties, himself.
"I don't need any help."
"I think that's a lie."
Yuri was getting hardcore pissed off now. "Alright, you wanna know what my problem is?" he growled. "My best friend's parents died and now he's a disgusting drunk who spends all his time with terrible people that he thinks are his friends and he doesn't even listen to his real friends anymore, and I miss him. That's my problem."
"Alright, I see."
"No, you don't. I don't see you having to follow your best friend around constantly just to make sure he doesn't throw up on himself or end up in the garbage bin."
The kid had a point; Ray had never had an alcoholic friend before.
Maybe he could help this 'Daniel' out of his misery.
Yuri felt bad for Daniel, but he was still disappointed in him.
Just about a year ago, Daniel's mother and father had been killed in a terrible pile-up on the freeway outside of Glenview. It had been a ten-car pile-up, and his parents had been caught in the middle.
They had been killed instantly, pulverized into their seats like they were part of the car.
In some ways Yuri understood why Daniel had become a drunken mess. It was a horrible tragedy, and Yuri could hardly bear to imagine the same thing happening to his own parents, but he felt there would have been a better way to deal with the pain other than turning to alcohol.
Yuri worried about what his best friend had become. Daniel stayed out all night at the clubs, drinking and swapping spit with girls he'd never met before, and he thought it was all great fun.
If his parents knew what had happened to him after their death, they would have frowned upon him, and no doubt reprimanded him for the awful behavior.
Daniel wouldn't listen to Yuri when he said he was killing himself. All he knew was that the alcohol made him forget.
All Yuri could do was follow what was left of his best friend and make sure he didn't hurt himself, or get into any trouble he couldn't handle by himself. It was hard for Yuri, though. Since becoming an alcoholic, Daniel's old friends had left him, and he had replaced them with other sickly alcoholics that always seemed to be watching Yuri like they were planning something.
They knew Yuri didn't drink, so they didn't understand why he hung out with Daniel all the time, and they obviously didn't like it. All too often they would try to separate the two friends, but Yuri would never let them. He couldn't let Daniel be pulled fully into the alcoholic abyss. They been friends too long; it would be far too devastating.
Besides that, he'd have to move back in with his parents. He and Daniel split the rent of their shared apartment, and without Daniel's drug-dealing income, Yuri couldn't afford a place by himself.
He just didn't know what to do. There didn't seem to be any way to get Daniel sober. At this rate, he was going to die, and Yuri couldn't do a thing about it.
Or his town's impending doom.
***
Ray loved this town. It was perfect. It was like a mini San Francisco, complete with large population of drunken bastards that would have no idea what hit them.
It was like the perfect storm. No one would ever believe the stupid drunkards when they said they'd been attacked by a monster.
He smiled as he swigged his drink. The bar he now sat at was filled with noisy alcohol abusers, just asking for him to attack.
But he couldn't yet. He had to wait until he couldn't any longer. Wolf's orders. He had to stay low, at least until the first infected attacked.
He couldn't wait until the trucks come, though. It would be so…exciting.
Wolf had planned to release a single infected into each town a couple days after the Bloodthieves arrived, just to stir things up a bit; make people nervous, keep 'em on their toes. Then the trucks would come and pour out the infected like a faucet.
That would be fun.
The best part would be that no one would ever realize how bad the situation was, or what it was coming to. After the Bloodthieves knocked out the power to their towns, the poor citizens would have no connections to the outside world. A week after the power outage, Wolf planned for Driftwood to drop his Necrosis Bombs across the largest cities of the world, sinking the world into a state of chaos and death.
With the majority of defensive forces turned to undead, mindless, creatures (what pop culture seemed to call 'zombies'), and the infection spreading like water from a broken dam, the world would surely crumble, along with the populations sanity.
Thinking about the chaos made him fill to the brim with enthusiasm. He ordered another drink.
***
Yuri leaned up against the bar, quiet and depressed.
"You need a drink?" asked the bartender. Yuri shook his head, otherwise not answering. The bartender left him alone and moved on to a happy couple down at the end.
Ray looked over and saw the distressed boy. "What's the matter, there, kid? Too much to drink or not enough?"
Yuri didn't like talking to strangers. Not because of those old sayings, but because he wasn't much of the social type since he'd started worrying about Daniel.
When he didn't answer, the man kept talking.
"Not enough, obviously. Hey, bartender, get this kid a drink. I'll pick it up."
Yuri glared at the pushy man, finally speaking up. "Man, didn't you just see that I didn't want a drink?" He was annoyed now.
"Well you need one."
The bartender arrived with a glass of beer, setting it down next to Yuri's arm.
"I don't want it," Yuri told the bartender, who in turn looked over at Ray.
"Just leave it," Ray said to him, dismissing the bartender.
"What do you want man?" Yuri asked, peeved.
"Nothing. You just looked like you needed a friend."
"I don't need one, especially in you."
Ray was taken aback by the harshness in the young mans voice. The guy must have been having a terrible day.
Likewise, Yuri had never sounded so rude to someone before, but he didn't care this time. The guy was a creep, and he wasn't having a good day.
"Easy there, kid, I'm only looking to help you."
It didn't seem appropriate for this guy to be calling Yuri a kid. He must have been only in his twenties, himself.
"I don't need any help."
"I think that's a lie."
Yuri was getting hardcore pissed off now. "Alright, you wanna know what my problem is?" he growled. "My best friend's parents died and now he's a disgusting drunk who spends all his time with terrible people that he thinks are his friends and he doesn't even listen to his real friends anymore, and I miss him. That's my problem."
"Alright, I see."
"No, you don't. I don't see you having to follow your best friend around constantly just to make sure he doesn't throw up on himself or end up in the garbage bin."
The kid had a point; Ray had never had an alcoholic friend before.
Maybe he could help this 'Daniel' out of his misery.
Post Mortem #1: Waking the Dead, Ch 4
Chapter 4
"You're trucks are ready?"
"Yes sir."
"Only the creations I indicated in your letter?"
"Yes sir."
Wolf appreciated Legion's eagerness, but at times it was too much. Legion did not want to start the apocalypse with small towns. He wanted to use Driftwoods Necrosis Bombs on huge cities like San Francisco and New York City. He didn't understand the value of making the population fear their presence. All he cared about was death (who also happened to be his best friend; Death with a capital D).
Wolf was hoping Legion was being true to his word. Tiny numbers of Driftwoods' abominations were to be sent to accompany the Bloodthieves. Any more than Wolf's instructed number would compromise all their plans. There had to be enough to make the citizens wonder, but few enough so they wouldn't be seen all that often. Of course the police force wouldn't believe the citizens when they said monsters had broken into their home. There would be so few there would be little to no evidence, so they would be simply written off as mistaking an identity of a rabid animal.
"Then send them out."
"Yes sir." Legion took a large radio out of his pocket.
"Go."
***
This was possibly going to be the best money Monica had ever made. Out of all the housekeepers the Denario's had at their disposal, they had chosen Monica.
She would certainly do a good job (of course she never did badly. She was one of the highest rated housekeepers online, and proud of it). She had to prove to them that she was worth keeping for as long as they needed (hopefully a long time). She needed this money for her family.
It was up to Monica to bring income to her family. With two young siblings, her frail mother and father, and even more delicate grandmother living in one house, she had it rough keeping up with the expenses. They had no electricity, and thus light around the home was provided by small candles scattered about the house. Fortunately they still had running water, which was a blessing to the family, and to Monica. She didn't need to worry about work and getting water for her family, or cleaning the water for that matter.
The Denario's were probably the richest people living in Corona Rojo at the moment. They owned a huge, magnificent house at the top of what the locals called "chapitel rocosa", the Rocky Spire, that looked out upon the whole town.
Some of the locals also like to say the place was cursed, that the place the mansion was built on the mountain used to be an Indian burial ground.
The rest of her family believed this, but Monica did not. She didn't have time to be scared by ghost stories and hocus-pocus. She had to take care of her family. They had warned her not to take the job, but she persisted. The Denario's had promised a wonderful amount of money for a Monday to Friday job, and she took it immediately. The money she would earn would be more than enough to keep her family well fed, clean, and maybe even get back their electricity.
***
Dirga smirked at the appearance of the town as the plane descended. There was hardly any colour to it; the houses, the trees, the grass, even the roads were either brown or a light tan.
The place just looked dirty. Dirga, about to be 'Anita' among the pesky humans of Corona Rojo, was not thrilled to be here. No doubt the people that lived there were dirty as well. She may be a bloodthirsty creature, but certainly she could sink her teeth into some cleaner morsels than what obviously lived around here.
As the plane set down in flatlands just outside the small town, the engines kicked up a dust storm probably not uncommon to the area.
Reluctant to leave the air-conditioned cleanliness of the jet, she took her time unbuckling herself, getting out of the seat, and making her way to the door.
The pilot watched her leave happily.
"You're trucks are ready?"
"Yes sir."
"Only the creations I indicated in your letter?"
"Yes sir."
Wolf appreciated Legion's eagerness, but at times it was too much. Legion did not want to start the apocalypse with small towns. He wanted to use Driftwoods Necrosis Bombs on huge cities like San Francisco and New York City. He didn't understand the value of making the population fear their presence. All he cared about was death (who also happened to be his best friend; Death with a capital D).
Wolf was hoping Legion was being true to his word. Tiny numbers of Driftwoods' abominations were to be sent to accompany the Bloodthieves. Any more than Wolf's instructed number would compromise all their plans. There had to be enough to make the citizens wonder, but few enough so they wouldn't be seen all that often. Of course the police force wouldn't believe the citizens when they said monsters had broken into their home. There would be so few there would be little to no evidence, so they would be simply written off as mistaking an identity of a rabid animal.
"Then send them out."
"Yes sir." Legion took a large radio out of his pocket.
"Go."
***
This was possibly going to be the best money Monica had ever made. Out of all the housekeepers the Denario's had at their disposal, they had chosen Monica.
She would certainly do a good job (of course she never did badly. She was one of the highest rated housekeepers online, and proud of it). She had to prove to them that she was worth keeping for as long as they needed (hopefully a long time). She needed this money for her family.
It was up to Monica to bring income to her family. With two young siblings, her frail mother and father, and even more delicate grandmother living in one house, she had it rough keeping up with the expenses. They had no electricity, and thus light around the home was provided by small candles scattered about the house. Fortunately they still had running water, which was a blessing to the family, and to Monica. She didn't need to worry about work and getting water for her family, or cleaning the water for that matter.
The Denario's were probably the richest people living in Corona Rojo at the moment. They owned a huge, magnificent house at the top of what the locals called "chapitel rocosa", the Rocky Spire, that looked out upon the whole town.
Some of the locals also like to say the place was cursed, that the place the mansion was built on the mountain used to be an Indian burial ground.
The rest of her family believed this, but Monica did not. She didn't have time to be scared by ghost stories and hocus-pocus. She had to take care of her family. They had warned her not to take the job, but she persisted. The Denario's had promised a wonderful amount of money for a Monday to Friday job, and she took it immediately. The money she would earn would be more than enough to keep her family well fed, clean, and maybe even get back their electricity.
***
Dirga smirked at the appearance of the town as the plane descended. There was hardly any colour to it; the houses, the trees, the grass, even the roads were either brown or a light tan.
The place just looked dirty. Dirga, about to be 'Anita' among the pesky humans of Corona Rojo, was not thrilled to be here. No doubt the people that lived there were dirty as well. She may be a bloodthirsty creature, but certainly she could sink her teeth into some cleaner morsels than what obviously lived around here.
As the plane set down in flatlands just outside the small town, the engines kicked up a dust storm probably not uncommon to the area.
Reluctant to leave the air-conditioned cleanliness of the jet, she took her time unbuckling herself, getting out of the seat, and making her way to the door.
The pilot watched her leave happily.
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If you'd like to follow my work on DeviantART, please feel free to make an account, the site is FREE! Then, you can get all my updates, works, and illustrations that won't be available on this site alone.
Thanks for reading!
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All of these books are my original work. This means YOU CANNOT STEAL CONTENT, whether it be characters, storyline or plot, or anything else. If I find you distributing, selling, advertising, or claiming any of my work as your own, I will take action, whatever action that may be needed.
However, as always, fan art and OC's are welcome and appreciated.
DeviantArt and my family have records for all my work, and we can prove it was mine before you decided to steal it, so don't even go there.
Thank you for your intelligence :)
All of these books are my original work. This means YOU CANNOT STEAL CONTENT, whether it be characters, storyline or plot, or anything else. If I find you distributing, selling, advertising, or claiming any of my work as your own, I will take action, whatever action that may be needed.
However, as always, fan art and OC's are welcome and appreciated.
DeviantArt and my family have records for all my work, and we can prove it was mine before you decided to steal it, so don't even go there.
Thank you for your intelligence :)
Post Mortem #1: Waking the Dead, Ch 3
Chapter 3
The morning was calm. Not a cloud littered the ground with shadows, and only a light wind escorted the leaves through the street.
Tommy rode his bike through the swathes of leaves left behind the storm, dispersing them.
He was on his way to the coffee shop to meet his friends. It was a weekday routine they had all agreed on a little over a year ago. Since three out of their group of seven worked at Geil's, it was convenient, and usually a good start to what always seemed like such a long day. The shop itself was placed in a pretty part of town anyway, and only a few blocks from Geil's, making it one of the best hang-out spots for the group.
Thomas very much enjoyed sitting near a window and looking out. Even on overcast days, the town was so peaceful it was hard to feel depressed. The little town square that the coffee shop sat in was always filled with people, and Thomas could name nearly all of them. Having lived in this town his whole life, he'd gotten to know very many of the residents, and since few people came or went, they all knew him as well. It was all very comfortable and relaxing to him.
He could remember one time, while he was in elementary school, a few older boys tried to rob him of his Gameboy on his walk home. He had been terrified and unsure what to do. He'd never had a problem with bullies (at least at this age), and though he'd seen and heard many conversations having to do with solving the issue, he'd never experienced it first-hand. So he ran. He ran all the way into town, all the while followed by the relentless boys, whom he soon realized weren't really after his Gameboy at all, just fresh meat to grind.
He ran into Juno's, a popular deli where everyone knew him, and pleaded to the employees to help him.
They ended up intercepting the boys on the sidewalk outside and calling their parents, who arrived a few minutes later, red-faced and angry.
He never had any issue with those boys again, or any other real bullies since. He merely dealt with the periodic mocking of fellow guys and a few girls who found him to be 'too nice' or 'soft'. Those comments he just rubbed off. He didn't care what they thought about him. And they were so few anyway.
When he arrived at the coffee shop, Taylor was already there, accompanied by his 'not-girlfriend', Sierra, and Cruise's girlfriend, Olivia.
Cruise and Sierra's brother were no where to be found.
"Hello," Thomas said casually as he pushed his bike into the rack on the sidewalk. His friends had chosen an outdoor table this time, shaded by a lush tree and lined with a few bushes in front.
"Hey." Taylor scratched his head, fixed his hair. Sierra was sitting right next to him. He was hoping he looked decent. He hardly brushed his hair this morning. He woke up late, hardly had time to brush his teeth before he had to jam.
Such a dumbass... he thought, inwardly slapping his forehead. Of course, the day Sierra decides to sit next to him he has to make such a screw-up.
Thomas smiled, reading his best friend like a book. He always thought it was funny how awkward Taylor was around Sierra, not in a jerky way, but in a, hey, I'm your best friend, I have to bug you, kind of way.
Taylor had never even had a girlfriend, so of course he didn't know how to act. He had short blonde hair that stuck up like he slept in hair gel all night, and dark brown eyes that always seemed to look rather vacant. Accompanied with the fact that he was scrawny and slightly seemed to resemble an emaciated dog, or maybe even an insect, he wasn't too attractive to girls. He knew he wasn't very attractive, too, and so he mainly kept to himself, and avoided most girls all together.
Thomas was kind of the same way, though certainly not unattractive. And he didn't try to avoid girls, really. Taylor was even awkward around female customers at Geil's, whereas Thomas had no problems talking to the opposite sex. He just had no idea how to ask a girl out. Besides that, he'd never really found anyone special. Sierra was sweet, and funny, but he wasn't wanting a romantic relationship with her. He known her for too long, it would almost seem awkward if they were to date. Besides, he still wanted to see if Taylor would ever find the balls to ask her out.
He sat down across from Sierra, diagonal from both Taylor and Olivia.
"What was up with the wind last night?" Olivia asked the moment he sat down. He had forgotten about it nearly all morning until she brought it up.
"That was weird, wasn't it?" Taylor answered. "It was perfect out all day until then."
"It pushed me off my bike," Thomas told them.
Sierra gave him an amazed look. "I know, right? The tree in my backyard? That huge branch that points out toward the mountains, it broke right off! Smashed our lawn-mower. Good thing I guess, my dad didn't really want to fix it, but damn! " She shook her head. "That branch was about as big around as Cruise and it looked like it just snapped like a twig."
"That was crazy scary last night," said Olivia.
"You don't think there's going to be a tornado or something?" asked Taylor. Sierra looked at him skeptically.
"If there would have been a tornado it would have been last night. And today is beautiful. There's hardly any wind, just a breeze."
"That's what it was like yesterday, too!" Taylor argued, then shut his mouth. He couldn't argue with Sierra, couldn't risk deterring her from him. She was the only girl (besides Olivia) that would ever hang out with him. But he knew his statement spoke the truth.
"Yeah, I know…It's just very unlikely."
Olivia smiled at someone over Thomas' shoulder. He turned to see Cruise pulling up his old '76 Jaguar. The thing ran like piece of crap, spitting out smoke from the exhaust and stalling every so often, but Cruise had to keep it. It's a Jaguar, dude, he'd say. Besides, I'll get it fixed one of these days . It had been about two years since that statement.
He slammed the door shut and started up the sidewalk toward their table, winking at his girlfriend and shooting a brief smile at the rest of them.
"'Sup Tom Cruise." Taylor smirked.
"Shut up, stickbug," Cruise retorted. It seemed rude, but stickbug was actually a somewhat affectionate name for Taylor, coming from Cruise. They had grown up next door to each other for years before Cruise's house got burned down by vandals; a rarity in Riverside.
Cruise had nearly black hair and brown-grey eyes, just like the actor with the same name (and yes, Cruise's first name was Tom. He preferred be called 'Cruise' because the name wasn't common, and for Thomas' sake), but a build slightly larger. He worked out at the local gym at least three times a week after work, which gave him a status among peers as 'popular', though most people knew he was an ass. Popular kids just don't care, as long as you're 'cool', which Cruise apparently was.
Thomas often wondered why Cruise hung out with them. Taylor he could somewhat understand, having lived next to each other and played around a bunch as kids, but other than that it was strange. He assumed it was because Olivia liked them, but even that was strange, because she was one of the 'popular' kids in high school as well. 'Populars' didn't hang out with people like Taylor, or Sierra, or even Thomas. Thomas had relatively level status in high school, Taylor a bit below, and Sierra a little popular, even somewhat well known for her skills in art. But there was no real reason as to why Olivia chose them to hang out with.
Maybe she was actually smart and realized how boring the popular kids can be. Maybe she secretly made fun of them behind their backs. Maybe it was just a combination between Cruise's friendship with Taylor and Olivia's fondness for Cruise.
Olivia smiled lovingly at her boyfriend of three years. "Hey. We were just talking about the wind last night."
"Crazy shit," he answered. "I woke up and my Jag was completely covered in leaves and shit."
"Probably where it belongs, bro," Taylor said to him.
"Fuck you, stickbug. She's beautiful." He turned to Olivia. "Like my other girl."
Thomas rolled his eyes as they kissed. They never seemed to get the message that PDA among their friend group wasn't very welcome. It was just awkward.
"Where's Freddie?" Thomas asked Sierra as soon as the make-out session was over.
"At home. Says he's sick."
Freddie was Sierra's hypochondriac brother. He always thought he had some kind of disease or severe illness that would somehow kill him or make him so debilitated that he'd wish he would have died. Even when he had a minor cold or flu bug, he'd ask to see a doctor to make sure it wasn't a prelude for something more deadly. He happened to be very well known at Riverside Hospital for that reason.
"Uh oh," Thomas muttered.
"Yup. He found a tick in his hair last night. Says he's absolutely sure he has Lyme disease. Drove him crazy when mom said she wouldn't take him to the hospital."
"I'm surprised he hasn't walked there already."
"Me too."
After they'd had their coffee and a few various food items, it was near time for Taylor, Thomas, and Cruise to go to work.
Olivia gave her boyfriend a goodbye kiss on his way to his car, while Taylor and Thomas played homosexual.
They were holding hands while they walked down the steps to the sidewalk, exaggerating the sway of a girls walk and smiling too happily.
This was just a friendly thing they did, since they were in the same boat with the girl issues. Sierra and Olivia both thought it was hilarious. They did it quite often, too. They both found it entertaining, especially doing it after Cruise and Olivia.
Cruise was aware it was partially to mock his and Olivia's love, but he did nothing about it.
When Thomas got to his bike, he and Taylor hugged, holding each other in their arms for an extended amount of time. Cruise glared at them from his car and quickly pulled out into the street.
"Hahaha," Taylor laughed. "Well, I'll see you later." He slapped his best friend on the back and took off back up the steps to sit next to Sierra. Thomas shook his head, smiling. Taylor was so hopeless when it came to Sierra. He definitely wasn't her type, she was just being nice.
Tommy took off, jumping the curb down into the bike lane and starting towards Geil's.
The morning was calm. Not a cloud littered the ground with shadows, and only a light wind escorted the leaves through the street.
Tommy rode his bike through the swathes of leaves left behind the storm, dispersing them.
He was on his way to the coffee shop to meet his friends. It was a weekday routine they had all agreed on a little over a year ago. Since three out of their group of seven worked at Geil's, it was convenient, and usually a good start to what always seemed like such a long day. The shop itself was placed in a pretty part of town anyway, and only a few blocks from Geil's, making it one of the best hang-out spots for the group.
Thomas very much enjoyed sitting near a window and looking out. Even on overcast days, the town was so peaceful it was hard to feel depressed. The little town square that the coffee shop sat in was always filled with people, and Thomas could name nearly all of them. Having lived in this town his whole life, he'd gotten to know very many of the residents, and since few people came or went, they all knew him as well. It was all very comfortable and relaxing to him.
He could remember one time, while he was in elementary school, a few older boys tried to rob him of his Gameboy on his walk home. He had been terrified and unsure what to do. He'd never had a problem with bullies (at least at this age), and though he'd seen and heard many conversations having to do with solving the issue, he'd never experienced it first-hand. So he ran. He ran all the way into town, all the while followed by the relentless boys, whom he soon realized weren't really after his Gameboy at all, just fresh meat to grind.
He ran into Juno's, a popular deli where everyone knew him, and pleaded to the employees to help him.
They ended up intercepting the boys on the sidewalk outside and calling their parents, who arrived a few minutes later, red-faced and angry.
He never had any issue with those boys again, or any other real bullies since. He merely dealt with the periodic mocking of fellow guys and a few girls who found him to be 'too nice' or 'soft'. Those comments he just rubbed off. He didn't care what they thought about him. And they were so few anyway.
When he arrived at the coffee shop, Taylor was already there, accompanied by his 'not-girlfriend', Sierra, and Cruise's girlfriend, Olivia.
Cruise and Sierra's brother were no where to be found.
"Hello," Thomas said casually as he pushed his bike into the rack on the sidewalk. His friends had chosen an outdoor table this time, shaded by a lush tree and lined with a few bushes in front.
"Hey." Taylor scratched his head, fixed his hair. Sierra was sitting right next to him. He was hoping he looked decent. He hardly brushed his hair this morning. He woke up late, hardly had time to brush his teeth before he had to jam.
Such a dumbass... he thought, inwardly slapping his forehead. Of course, the day Sierra decides to sit next to him he has to make such a screw-up.
Thomas smiled, reading his best friend like a book. He always thought it was funny how awkward Taylor was around Sierra, not in a jerky way, but in a, hey, I'm your best friend, I have to bug you, kind of way.
Taylor had never even had a girlfriend, so of course he didn't know how to act. He had short blonde hair that stuck up like he slept in hair gel all night, and dark brown eyes that always seemed to look rather vacant. Accompanied with the fact that he was scrawny and slightly seemed to resemble an emaciated dog, or maybe even an insect, he wasn't too attractive to girls. He knew he wasn't very attractive, too, and so he mainly kept to himself, and avoided most girls all together.
Thomas was kind of the same way, though certainly not unattractive. And he didn't try to avoid girls, really. Taylor was even awkward around female customers at Geil's, whereas Thomas had no problems talking to the opposite sex. He just had no idea how to ask a girl out. Besides that, he'd never really found anyone special. Sierra was sweet, and funny, but he wasn't wanting a romantic relationship with her. He known her for too long, it would almost seem awkward if they were to date. Besides, he still wanted to see if Taylor would ever find the balls to ask her out.
He sat down across from Sierra, diagonal from both Taylor and Olivia.
"What was up with the wind last night?" Olivia asked the moment he sat down. He had forgotten about it nearly all morning until she brought it up.
"That was weird, wasn't it?" Taylor answered. "It was perfect out all day until then."
"It pushed me off my bike," Thomas told them.
Sierra gave him an amazed look. "I know, right? The tree in my backyard? That huge branch that points out toward the mountains, it broke right off! Smashed our lawn-mower. Good thing I guess, my dad didn't really want to fix it, but damn! " She shook her head. "That branch was about as big around as Cruise and it looked like it just snapped like a twig."
"That was crazy scary last night," said Olivia.
"You don't think there's going to be a tornado or something?" asked Taylor. Sierra looked at him skeptically.
"If there would have been a tornado it would have been last night. And today is beautiful. There's hardly any wind, just a breeze."
"That's what it was like yesterday, too!" Taylor argued, then shut his mouth. He couldn't argue with Sierra, couldn't risk deterring her from him. She was the only girl (besides Olivia) that would ever hang out with him. But he knew his statement spoke the truth.
"Yeah, I know…It's just very unlikely."
Olivia smiled at someone over Thomas' shoulder. He turned to see Cruise pulling up his old '76 Jaguar. The thing ran like piece of crap, spitting out smoke from the exhaust and stalling every so often, but Cruise had to keep it. It's a Jaguar, dude, he'd say. Besides, I'll get it fixed one of these days . It had been about two years since that statement.
He slammed the door shut and started up the sidewalk toward their table, winking at his girlfriend and shooting a brief smile at the rest of them.
"'Sup Tom Cruise." Taylor smirked.
"Shut up, stickbug," Cruise retorted. It seemed rude, but stickbug was actually a somewhat affectionate name for Taylor, coming from Cruise. They had grown up next door to each other for years before Cruise's house got burned down by vandals; a rarity in Riverside.
Cruise had nearly black hair and brown-grey eyes, just like the actor with the same name (and yes, Cruise's first name was Tom. He preferred be called 'Cruise' because the name wasn't common, and for Thomas' sake), but a build slightly larger. He worked out at the local gym at least three times a week after work, which gave him a status among peers as 'popular', though most people knew he was an ass. Popular kids just don't care, as long as you're 'cool', which Cruise apparently was.
Thomas often wondered why Cruise hung out with them. Taylor he could somewhat understand, having lived next to each other and played around a bunch as kids, but other than that it was strange. He assumed it was because Olivia liked them, but even that was strange, because she was one of the 'popular' kids in high school as well. 'Populars' didn't hang out with people like Taylor, or Sierra, or even Thomas. Thomas had relatively level status in high school, Taylor a bit below, and Sierra a little popular, even somewhat well known for her skills in art. But there was no real reason as to why Olivia chose them to hang out with.
Maybe she was actually smart and realized how boring the popular kids can be. Maybe she secretly made fun of them behind their backs. Maybe it was just a combination between Cruise's friendship with Taylor and Olivia's fondness for Cruise.
Olivia smiled lovingly at her boyfriend of three years. "Hey. We were just talking about the wind last night."
"Crazy shit," he answered. "I woke up and my Jag was completely covered in leaves and shit."
"Probably where it belongs, bro," Taylor said to him.
"Fuck you, stickbug. She's beautiful." He turned to Olivia. "Like my other girl."
Thomas rolled his eyes as they kissed. They never seemed to get the message that PDA among their friend group wasn't very welcome. It was just awkward.
"Where's Freddie?" Thomas asked Sierra as soon as the make-out session was over.
"At home. Says he's sick."
Freddie was Sierra's hypochondriac brother. He always thought he had some kind of disease or severe illness that would somehow kill him or make him so debilitated that he'd wish he would have died. Even when he had a minor cold or flu bug, he'd ask to see a doctor to make sure it wasn't a prelude for something more deadly. He happened to be very well known at Riverside Hospital for that reason.
"Uh oh," Thomas muttered.
"Yup. He found a tick in his hair last night. Says he's absolutely sure he has Lyme disease. Drove him crazy when mom said she wouldn't take him to the hospital."
"I'm surprised he hasn't walked there already."
"Me too."
After they'd had their coffee and a few various food items, it was near time for Taylor, Thomas, and Cruise to go to work.
Olivia gave her boyfriend a goodbye kiss on his way to his car, while Taylor and Thomas played homosexual.
They were holding hands while they walked down the steps to the sidewalk, exaggerating the sway of a girls walk and smiling too happily.
This was just a friendly thing they did, since they were in the same boat with the girl issues. Sierra and Olivia both thought it was hilarious. They did it quite often, too. They both found it entertaining, especially doing it after Cruise and Olivia.
Cruise was aware it was partially to mock his and Olivia's love, but he did nothing about it.
When Thomas got to his bike, he and Taylor hugged, holding each other in their arms for an extended amount of time. Cruise glared at them from his car and quickly pulled out into the street.
"Hahaha," Taylor laughed. "Well, I'll see you later." He slapped his best friend on the back and took off back up the steps to sit next to Sierra. Thomas shook his head, smiling. Taylor was so hopeless when it came to Sierra. He definitely wasn't her type, she was just being nice.
Tommy took off, jumping the curb down into the bike lane and starting towards Geil's.
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