10K in the Dome
10K wakes up sweating bullets, having had a nightmare about his fathers' passing.
As he gets up and goes outside his tent to catch some air he sees Norrie, Joe and Barbie standing in front of the Dome looking at the butterflies covering the outside of it and goes over to them.
"What is this?" he hears Barbie asks the two teens.
"Isn't it amazing?" Norrie says admiring the butterflies.
10K arrives next to them and asks, "What's up with the butterflies?"
"We don't know." Joe replies as Barbie touches the Dome and the butterflies on the other side all start to fly away revealing a few soldiers on the other side.
Norrie waves at the closest soldier, getting an awkward wave in return.
"That's new, since when do they notice us?" Barbie asks doubtfully.
"Look, they are bussing in more soldiers?" Norrie asks concerned seeing multiple busses pull up to the Dome.
"No, civilians." Barbie corrects her.
"Hey, that's Frank." Joe says excitedly pointing at a guy in his mid-twenties.
"who?" Norrie asks.
"My cousin, he went away to college before the Dome came down." Joe replies.
"It's been nearly a week and they haven't let anybody near here, why bus the families in now?" Barbie asks.
"Haven't you ever been to camp? They are finally giving us our own visitors day." Norrie tells him.
"Well that's great and all but I'm gonna get a few more minutes of shut eye, I observed the soldiers' half of the night." 10K tells them with a yawn and walks back over to his tent.
"Hey, wait up kid, I wanted to thank you for saving our ass the other day." Barbie says making him stop, while Norrie and Joe listen intently.
"Yeah sure, no problem." 10K says off handedly.
"I gotta asks though, from the way you reacted I take it that wasn't your first kill was it?" Barbie asks him.
"Kill? what happened?" Joe asks shocked.
"He took out the crazed cop before he could gun me and Remi down." Barbie informs them, making the teens look at 10K with shock and fear written on their faces.
"No, it wasn't my first kill. I had to take out a few scavengers that were trying to rob us, while my father and I were hunting, and my pop took me on a couple of bounty hunts, to teach me how to track and take out humans. Being a former sniper, he thought it would be a good skill to have." 10K informs Barbie while Joe and Norrie get even more weary of him.
"Up till now I never had any problems dealing with killing someone." 10K says.
"Up till now? What changed?" Barbie asks concerned, knowing firsthand how taking someone's live can haunt a person.
"It's not really what that changed but who I had to kill." 10K replies solemnly.
"You knew the cop or something?" Barbie asks.
"Not the cop, my father." 10K replies fighting back tears.
"I thought your dad died when the Dome came down?" Norrie asks confused.
"Well yes but he didn't die at the hands of the Dome. He asked me to end his suffering." 10K tells them, looking at his now shaking hands.
"Kid, I'm sure you did the right thing. There probably wasn't anything better you could have done for him." Barbie says gently.
"I know but still." 10K chokes out but leaves and slumps down in his tent, curling up in his sleeping bag looking at a picture of his father guiltily.
"Who the hell kills their own father?" Norrie asks thinking 10K is a psychopath.
"You don't get it do you? I doubt you would have had the guts to do what he did." Barbie tells her.
"Guts? He killed his own damn father." Norrie says shocked while Joe stands there speechless.
"He saved his father countless hours of painful agony with no hope of survival, would you have been able to be merciful and end his suffering?" Barbie tells her annoyed that she doesn't get what happened to 10K.
"I…" Norrie stammers.
"I didn't think so. You better realize that he's only a kid, just like you instead of looking at him like he's a killer. I can't speak for his past but up till now he's only saved people, if I remember your lives included." Barbie berates her and takes off.
"Do you think Barbie's right?" Joe asks Norrie.
"I think so, should we apologize to 10K?" Norrie says feeling guilty at her reaction towards 10Ks' confession.
"Yeah, he seems like a good guy and with how things are looking right now it's better to have some friends." Joe replies.
The two of them make their way over to 10K who in the meantime pulled himself together and is currently changing his shirt, when they walk in.
"Oh guys, I get it if you don't feel save and want me to move my stuff." 10K says emotionlessly.
"No, that's not why we're here. We came to apologize for how we reacted. Barbie explained what you did. I'm sorry you had to go through that." Norrie says supportively, hugging the shirtless 10K who blushes mildly, having developed a crush on the redhead over the last few days.
After a few seconds Norrie realizes that 10K is still shirtless and blushes herself and removes herself from him, pulling her bangs behind her ears while glancing at 10K's body and liking what she sees.
"Yeah, sorry I also didn't mean to freak out like that." Joe apologizes while 10K puts a shirt on.
"It's OK. I probably would have reacted similarly if I were in your shoes." 10K replies.
|later that morning|
Norrie, Joe and 10K are on their way to the spot where they can meet the people from the other side of the Dome.
"Shouldn't we get your moms?" Joe asks Norrie.
"Why? It's not like any of their phony L.A. friends are gonna make the trip." Norrie replies.
"Well you never made it to where you were headed, someone probably is worried."
"Hmpf, who cares. I just can't wait to meet your folks and tell them you're shaking up with an underage girl, two lesbians and a teenage hunter." Norrie says amused and they stop just behind the crowd having gathered at the Dome with Joe looking around intensely.
"Who are you looking for?" Norrie asks.
"I'm looking for Angie." Joe tells her.
"Who's Angie?" 10K asks.
"My sister." Joe informs him.
"You said she's a flake." Norrie says.
"Yeah she is, but she'd definitely come to this." Joe murmurs.
"Norrie? I think that guy's looking for you right?" 10K tells her pointing at the man holding up the name 'Norrie Calvert'.
"What the hell?" Norrie says as she goes over to the Dome with 10K and Joe in tow, looking at the man who is grinning at her and shows her a message saying 'Hello Norrie, my name is Michael. I'm your Dad.'
"No, my mom said I came from an anonymous donor." Norrie says but the man gets out some pictures with Norrie as a Baby and one with him and Norrie's mother. Making Norrie stare at him confused when her two mothers arrive.
"Norrie, where the hell have you been?" Caroline asks concerned.
"Mike?" Alice asks seeing Norrie's father looking at them.
"So, it's true? This guy's my dad?" Norrie asks shocked.
"Norrie it's complicated." Caroline says.
"No, you told me the records were sealed. That we couldn't even look for him. All these years you've been lying to me." Norrie says close to tears.
"How dare you, you have never been anything to this girl and as soon as the camera's show up you decide you have a daughter?" Alice screams at Michael.
"I hate you, I hate you all so much." Norrie tells them and runs away tears flowing out of her eyes, while her mother's look after her, feeling guilty.
"I'll keep an eye on her, don't worry." 10K tells them and runs after Norrie.
Norrie is rushing through some woods crying, when she slips a muddy spot and falls down.
"Norrie are you OK?" 10K asks concerned, having been right behind her for a while but decided to give her, her space for now.
"Do I look OK?" Norrie asks sitting up with tears in her eyes and her clothes having mud all over them.
"OK, come on let's get you home so you can wash up." 10K tells her, helping her up.
"Oww, I think I twisted my ankle." Norrie says wincing at putting weight on her left foot.
"Great, this day really couldn't get any worse. First I hurt one of the few people I actually like, then I find out my dad is only a creep who wants to be on TV and my moms lied to me for years and now I twisted my ankle." Norrie curses, sitting down again and pulls up her legs to her body, crying into her jeans with her head pressed into them.
10K sits down beside her and puts his arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm gently.
"It's gonna be OK." He says soothingly.
"How is it gonna be OK huh? I'll never have a father, I won't be able to trust my moms for a while and we're going to be stuck under this Dome forever." Norrie yells.
"It's OK, let it out." 10K tells her and pulls her into his chest, where she cries even harder.
"Why couldn't they just tell me?" She asks him sorrowfully.
"I don't know but I'm sure they had a good reason." 10K tells her.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you." Norrie says still sobbing but slowly getting it under control.
"It's OK. I can't imagine how you must feel. But come on, let's get you home." 10K replies getting up.
"How? I can't stand on my left foot for long." Norrie asks poking her foot to see if it still hurts and wincing at the contact.
"Alight, hop on." 10K tells her kneeling down in front of her with his back turned to her.
"Are you crazy? You can't carry me all the way to Joe's house." Norrie says.
"Sure I can, like I told you, you haven't seen anything yet." 10K replies, smirking at her.
"Alright, but don't come whining to me, when you get back pains tomorrow." Norrie tells him and gets on his back.
10K gets up, now carrying her piggy back style and makes his way to the McAlister farm.
|about an hour later|
"Wow you weren't kidding." Norrie exclaims, still being carried on 10K's back, having her arms around his neck while he holds her up by her thighs.
"See, you've got to put some faith in me." 10K says grinning at her.
"I'll try." She replies while he lets her down and is now supporting her left side, while she hops into the house with him.
"So, where is your room?" 10K asks.
"Upstairs." Norrie tells him and he swoops her off her feet, carrying her up the stairs bridal style.
"It's the door on the left." She tells him, and he helps her to her door.
"Will you be OK, or do you need help?" 10K asks her.
"I don't know, just wait here and I'll try it on my own.
"Roger." 10K agrees and sits down on the stairs.
"After a few minutes he hears a painful yell from inside Norrie's room and rushes over to help her.
Once he opens the door he sees her lying on the floor, dressed in a pink bra and panties and with clean jeans halfway up her legs.
"What happened?" 10K asks worriedly, fighting down his blush and helping her up, sitting her down on the bed.
"my leg gave in when I was putting on my pants." Norrie says embarrassedly.
"Ok, come on, I'll spot you while you put on your pants." He tells her and helps her up, holding her up on the left side, so she doesn't put weight on her foot while Norrie pulls up her pants.
"Thanks." Norrie sighs out as 10K helps her sit on the bed again, where she reaches for a clean tank top and puts it on and 10K hands her his Jacket which she gladly accepts since her only sweater is the one she fell down in.
"Well if I wasn't embarrassed before, I sure as hell am now." Norrie says quietly.
"You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You're drop dead gorgeous and you can't help that you hurt your ankle." 10K replies blushing up a storm.
"Thanks." Norrie says shyly.
"Come on let's get you downstairs and see if Phil has any new information." 10K suggests and picks her up, carrying her downstairs where he lets her down on the sofa before turning on the radio.
"This is a prerecorded emergency broadcast. At 1. 15 pm today the military plans to launch a powerful missile at our town in hopes of destroying the Dome, we advise everyone to come to the cement factory to seek shelter." They hear Julia's say over the radio
"Well, looks like you were wrong, today just got worse." 10K chuckles nervously.
"Great, now what do we do?" We barely have an hour left until the missile hits." Norrie asks.
"Well I think we should try to get to the cement factory, your mom's should probably be there and you should be with them when the world comes down around us." 10K tells her and picks her up piggy back style again and starts to run out of the house and heads to the cement factory.
"Do you really think you'll get there in time with me on your back?" Norrie shouts.
"We won't know until we try, and there is no way in hell I'm leaving you behind." 10K shouts back.
|1.12 pm|
"Looks like we won't make it in time. I'm sorry." 10K tells her stopping to catch his breath and looks at a clock next to them.
"Great so this is it? We get trapped under the Dome just to get blown up?" Norrie says disbelieving.
"Looks like. Well for what it's worth I'm glad I got to know you." 10K replies.
"Yeah, me too." Norrie agrees.
10K lets her off his back and goes over to an abandoned van, obviously already sucked dry of gas and smashes in a back-door window, opening the door from the inside while Norrie leans against the car.
"What are you doing?" she asks him.
"I'm trying to give you a fighting chance, however small it may be." 10K replies and swipes the glass shards out of the back. He helps Norrie lie down diagonally in the back of the van and gets in himself, before closing the door behind them and closing the smashed in window with a wooden door he got off the street.
10K then turns on a flashlight, since it's now dark in the back of the van with the windows blocked by the door and moves over to her and lies down on top of her, looking at his watch.
"What are you trying to pull?" Norrie asks outraged.
"Calm down, I'm not trying to pull anything, I'm trying to keep you steady and shield you from the blast should we be so lucky to not be instantly pulverized." 10K explains while handing her the flashlight.
"Why are you doing all this for me?" Norrie asks surprised.
"I told you already the other day, I like you. I don't expect you to like me back but that won't stop me from acting on how I feel." 10K tells her, looking at his watch again.
"OK, close your eyes it's about to hit." He tells her and pushes with his arms and legs on both sides of the van to keep him and Norrie steady should they get blown away.
Not long after they hear a boom and feel a slight vibration.
"Huh? That's it?" 10K asks doubtfully and after a minute or so he removes the cover from the windows and opens the van doors, helping Norrie outside where she leans on his shoulder again and they look upwards, seeing some smoke and smudge on the outer edge of the Dome.
"Looks like we won't die today after all." 10K says smirking and turns to Norrie, who grabs his head and pulls him in for a passionate kiss.
"Wow. Wha.." 10K breathes out when they stop the kiss to get some air.
"Shut up, It's my turn." Norrie says putting her index over his lips, silencing him.
"I won't go as far as saying I'm just where you are yet but I like you too and if you really want to I'd be more than happy to see where this is going. So what do you s.." Norrie says before 10K interrupts her with an enthusiastic Kiss which she quickly replies.