Obviously I'm a few days late in wishing my Christmas-celebrating readers a Merry Christmas, but in any case, here it is:
The holiday chapter of The Fade.
Enjoy!
*** ***
"I think we should split up and go shopping," Ori says, drawing everyone's attention from the movie on the ginormous TV.
"Shopping?" Sander asks with a sneer.
"Yes, shopping. Christmas is tomorrow, you idiot. And there ain't nothing getting in the way of my holiday festivities. Not even the Fade."
Lis and Jamison nod in agreement; Sander continues to scowl.
"Any other Scrooges?" Ori asks.
Maeve reluctantly raises her hand.
"Okay, well, no one blames you. You can stay here and watch TV all you want."
"Cool." She stays slumped on the couch, just as pale and fatigued as she was a week ago. And those cuts on her arm haven't healed properly either.
"I'll keep her company," Sander says, throwing his feet up on the coffee table.
"Whatever. So... I guess there's not really any need to split up further then. Who wants to drive?"
Jamison's hand flies up immediately, no surprise there.
"Then it's settled. Let's get shopping!"
***
We wind up back at our vacated grocery store, wandering around in the dark.
It's easy to pick out crappy gifts for my friends, but Beck and Kerris, who I barely know and feel obligated to get gifts for, prove much harder to shop for.
I decide on a bag of Doritos for Beck and a nice scarf for Kerris.
I find Jamison and Lis at the checkout lanes, packing their items into plastic bags.
"Any clue where the others are at?" I ask.
Lis shrugs as Jamison says, "Nope."
"Alright." I drop my own things in a bag before climbing up to sit on the counter. "You guys find anything good?"
"Hey! I'm not telling you what I got!" Jamison says indignantly. "It's supposed to be a surprise!"
"Okay, okay, a simple yes or no would've done it, scrud."
"I found a football in the sports section," Lis says with another shrug. "I thought... Well, I hoped Sander might... you know. I hoped he might appreciate it."
"I'm sure he will. He's your brother. He'll appreciate anything you get him."
We sit around another half an hour, Ori and Beck eventually joining us.
When it's been another hour and Kerris still hasn't returned, we're all a little agitated.
"Do you know where Kerris is?" I ask Beck.
He shakes his head and resumes biting his nails.
"Want to go looking?" Jamison asks.
"Might as well."
He goes left; I go right.
I've nearly reached the back of the store before I see Kerris' collapsed form on the floor.
YOU ARE READING
The Fade
Science Fiction"Can you not see what's going on around us? People are disappearing without any warning. Is that funny to you? Does it not worry you at all that you could be next? Does it not scare you that you could wake up tomorrow, and I could just be gone? Beca...
