"Kevin."
The room was deserted save for the two soldiers sitting on one of the beds. Everyone else was either fighting to control Stark's Pond, training or hanging out in the government-controlled part of town.
"Kevin."
Kevin sat on the bed, staring off into space. Billy waved a hand in front of him.
"Hey, speak."
"Hm, what?" Kevin said.
Billy frowned.
"Is everything alright? After the fight at Stark's Pond yesterday you've been all weird. What's up?" he asked.
"No, no, I'm fine." Kevin said, waving him off. "I'm fine. Just thinking.
Billy raised his eyebrow.
"Really? Because you've been thinking in this exact same spot for the past hour."
"What!?" Kevin exclaimed, jumping off the bed in a panic.
"I've actually only just come back from the Raisins place a few minutes away." Billy continued. "I came back and you were just staring at the wall. Kinda creepy."
Kevin walked to the window, looking outside. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, which still managed to look dreary with all the smoke in the sky.
"You should totally come to Raisins by the way." Billy said. "Great wings and the waitresses are as hot as the food."
Kevin briefly considered this.
"Yeah, sure." he agreed. "What time is it?"
"Half one," Billy said.
"Lunchtime," Kevin said, walking to the door of the room. He looked back and saw Billy looking at him, puzzled.
"Where are you going?" Billy asked.
"Raisins."
"I've already eaten mate. I'll go do some training or something."
Kevin shrugged.
"Suite yourself. See you then."
He walked down the corridor of the building and down the stairs. He made his way through the living room and emerged onto the street. The morgue looked over the surrounding area. Soldiers walked up and down the street, some marching, others just idly walking. Kevin set off at a walking pace down the road. Then, it hit him. He didn't actually know where Raisins was. He tapped a passing soldier on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, d'you know where Raisins is?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah." the soldier said. "Two streets away. Turn left at the end of this one, then right at the end of that one. It's on the right."
Kevin thanked the soldier then continued on down the street. He turned left at the end and narrowly avoided being hit by an armoured car which drove past. He stuck up his finger at it then walked down the second street. He passed a building which had collapsed partially. A couple of soldiers were clearing rubble. He stood and watched them for a bit then walked to the end of the street where he turned right. He spotted the Raisins restaurant and crossed the road, running the last bit to avoid being hit by a civilian car. The driver, a man in a blue chullo hat, stuck up his finger while the person in the passenger seat, who had wild, blonde hair, shrieked. Kevin watched them drive away, thinking he could remember them from somewhere. He shook the thought out his mind and entered the restaurant. He looked around and spotted Seth and Tait sitting at the back. He walked over to them. Seth spotted him and waved him over. He pulled up a chair and sat down.
"Where've you been all day?" Seth asked as Tait wolf-whistled to a waitress nearby.
"Just thinking." Kevin said.
"Took a while to do that." Seth said. "Hey, have you tried the wings here. Flipping delicious!"
He looked around.
"Could say the same thing about the woman," he added as a waitress came over.
"Alright turds, take your orders."
Kevin spun around in his chair so fast it startled Tait, who jumped backwards. The waitress seemed unfazed, however. Kevin rapidly searched his memory for who that voice belonged to...
"Hey, I'm talking to you, turd!"
Kevin gasped. It was the girl who he had thought about everyday since he had run away, the girl he had said a tearful goodbye to before he left.
It was Shelly Marsh.
"Just order! I don't have all day."
"I'll have the, uh," Kevin said, searching Shelley's face for any sign of recognition. She no longer wore her headgear and her hair hung down to her shoulders. Even now, he felt his heart flutter in his chest.
"Uh..." he continued.
"I'll have the chicken wings basket," Seth said, butting in, "with the vanilla ice cream shake and my friend here,"he said, pointing to Tait, "will have the wings basket and a Moka Cola."
Shelly wrote it down.
"And you turd?" she said, turning to Kevin.
"Uh, the...the basket?" he said.
"It's not a trick question, dumbass," she said. "Anything to drink with that?"
"Uh, Cola," he said, more quickly this time.
Shelly wrote it down, then walked off.
"What's up with you?" Seth asked. "She isn't that good-looking."
"Just, just didn't know what to order, that's all." Kevin said.
The three idly chatted for a bit, until their orders came. As they ate, Kevin kept looking over at where Shelly would be, taking orders from around the room. Eventually, Seth tapped him on the shoulder.
"Oi, your fries are going cold." he said.
"They were already cold." Kevin replied.
"What I mean is, are you gonna eat them or not?" Seth asked.
"No, you can have them." Kevin said, looking back over to where Shelly was talking to a man who looked quite drunk. As Seth continued to talk to him, he watched the man slink an arm around Shelley's waist, pulling her closer. Shelly resisted but the man pulled forcibly. Kevin stood up.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Leave her alone!"
The man turned to look at him and in that moment Shelly socked him him the face. He yelled and let go as she pulled away. Kevin suddenly noticed everyone was looking at him and he coughed awkwardly.
"Uh, excuse me." he said.
"He walked quickly to the exit and walked down the road. However, he stopped when he heard someone calling out.
"Stop! Wait!"
He turned around and saw Shelly running after him. He felt his heart jump. Shelly ran up to him and looked at him, a mixture of happiness and disbelief on her expression.
"K-Kevin?" she said.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a siren and Kevin and Shelly looked around to where sirens were blaring.
"Bombing attack!" Shelly said. "Follow me! Hurry!"
Kevin ran after Shelly, who took off as the first explosions sounded.
There! See! Saturday! I published on time! There's a first time for everything after all! Anyway, next chapter around...next Saturday? I dunno, hopefully.