4

The stubborn man didn't complain about anything for the remainder of the drive. He really didn't do much of anything, in all honesty, much to the delight of the those who just wanted to sleep the rest of the ride away. But Riley, and probably a few other passengers, couldn't shake from her mind what the man saw outside that made him so timid all of a sudden. Whatever it was didn't bother Dietrich, at least not on the same level. He acted the same way as before, just a little bit quieter. He walked up and down the aisle, as much as he was able to, anyway, and watched over the passengers. Riley noticed him stop at her for a second longer than most, and then moved on with his watch.

After several more minutes of awkward silence in the bus, it came to a slow stop. At first, no one made anything of it, thinking if they got their hopes up again, it would be a boy who cried wolf situation, realizing that it was just another stop, and soon they would drive off again. But it wasn't that at all. Riley saw in the corner of her eye, more bright yellow buses, pulled up on the side of a curb.

Everyone was relieved, with the exception of the stubborn man. Dietrich opened the door and stood outside. Without saying a word, everyone got the message. They were getting off here. The people packed up their things and began walking off. Of course Riley was in the back, why wouldn't she be? She had to be the one who came off last. It really coincided with everything else that was happening today. Fortunately, she didn't have much to carry. All she had was her useless backpack and her phone.

All the passengers pushed out of the buss and spilled onto the pavement. It was only now when Riley realized how many people actually came with her. There was at least fifty, maybe even sixty. She didn't even know there were that many people in her apartment.

They were all moved from the sidewalk and into the convention center, escorted by people dressed like Dietrich. At the front doors, two soldiers stood guarding them. Before anyone was allowed inside, the soldiers requested that whoever was next in line roll up their sleeves and pant legs without an explanation as why. It was somewhat of a pain for Riley to roll up her skinny jeans, but they inspected her and gave her a thumbs up, letting her inside.

Inside there was even more madness then there was before. But not in a chaotic way. Hundreds of tired civilians looked desperate to leave, all sprawled out among the floor, lying on blanket beds. On person even had their own cot. Riley had no idea how they managed to bring that in here.

"So what do we do now?" Riley asked a soldier. There wasn't any clear answer on what she was to do next. She thought that she'd have to go check in some place or something like that.

"Just find a place to camp for now. Instructions will come later." the soldier said, walking back to the front to escort the next set of civilians. Riley slumped her shoulders and took a deep sigh. Was this really all that was going to happen? Just sit and wait for it to be over? She wanted to protest, but she knew the most logical thing to do right now was to find a space to stay before even more people come. It'd be best to get one while things weren't so chaotic.

She wandered around aimlessly, scouring among the bodies for a place to stay. One place in particular stood out the most to her. All across the room was an open corner, just waiting to be taken. From behind her, Riley heard the doors open and at least a hundred more complaining people pour in. If she wanted that spot, she would have to make a run for it, despite how many enemies she would make by tripping over random people. She made a colossal leap forward, landing in a tiny empty spot with the same gracefulness of a ballerina. She continued, occasionally kicking the head of someone sleeping, until she was meters away from the sacred spot. Swinging her bag off her shoulder, she tossed it to the corner, then jumped to it. "Claimed." she muttered under her breath with a smile. Maybe things would be finally looking up for her.

She leaned up against the corner for an hour, staring at the seemingly endless amounts of people coming in. She was so glad she got such a great spot. She could feel the gray hairs grow as she watched people struggle for space. Over time, only more and more people shoved their way in, and it was only logical to think what they do if they managed to fit the entire population of Georgia in there.

"Baxter!" a voice shouted from the side. "Baxter, come back!" Riley's head darted over to the voice. It was Corey. Riley saw the same doubtful expression on his face that he had back at the apartment. He desperately peered through the crowd, looking worried. He saw Riley and called out to her.

"Hey Riley!" he shouted. "Have you seen Baxter at all? He just disappeared and I'm really worried he might get lost." She shook her head. Trying to call back to him over the sound of all the people would just be too much stress. Corey sighed and went back to his search.

She sat back and watched the center flood with even more people. In no time, Riley couldn't even hear herself think. Children screamed for attention, some people cried because of everything that was happening, and soldiers barked at some people to stay in line. Riley pulled out her phone and untangled the earbuds that were wrapped around it and plugged them in her ears. She scrolled through her music and picked the loudest song she had, and closed her eyes. But as loud music tends to do, it wouldn't let her do anything that involved her being asleep. The ground was too hard to get comfortable, and she was propped up against the wall with no wiggle room. She couldn't sleep if she tried.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught something that seemed out of place. The overall color of the center was depression. No warm colors could be found. The civilian's pajamas, the soldier's black uniforms, and the gray walls. Riley and her nearly all black clothing wasn't helping either. So when she saw the orange blob dart throughout the crowds, she was surprised.

She sat up, wanting to get a better look at the orange blob next time it came up. She pulled out the music in her ears, wanting all her senses on alert. When she thought about it, it seemed pretty stupid to get excited over something that she thought she saw, but there really wasn't much else to do.

Suddenly, the orange blob dashed between the legs of those who couldn't find a place to sit. Quickly, Riley's eyes followed it until it disappeared into the crowd. The shape was clearer now. It was fuzzy, with bright white feet. It was a cat! She didn't have to be a genius to realize it was Corey's, who was now looking for it in the exact opposite direction. It would be torture watching a poor scared boy shuffle around a crowded scared setting just to find his little cat. It would be nice of her to help him. But if she got up, she would lose her spot, the very thing she was lucky to have and that was becoming scarce now that there was a larger influx of people. Would she sacrifice that for Corey of all people? She could say more about American politics than she could about anything related to Corey whatsoever. She didn't owe him anything.

But soon, her sympathetic side overtook her. It was clear that even from afar, that Corey's lip was beginning to quiver. It was a sad sight. When Riley was younger, she accidentally left her back door open and her cat was lost too. She remembered how devastated she was back then, and knew Corey enough to know he had a small pain threshold when it came to small fuzzy animals, yet she didn't even know his last name.

Riley sighed and sat up, swinging her backpack over her shoulder, she made her way down the sea of bodies, keeping her eyes peeled on the orange tabby. It was a fast little devil, Riley even picked up her pace to stay in the same ballpark as it.

Ever so slightly, she was getting closer. Close enough to make it to the shallows of the crowd. She halted when she reached a pair of glass doors, where she cornered the cat. It didn't even notice her at first. It casually walked up to the glass and propped it's tiny white paws on them, bopping on it as if it wanted to catch a fly. Creeping up on her toes, Riley snatched the cat by it's belly, causing it to squee in surprise. She smiled at the cat, and looked up outside the glass doors, where she stared directly into the backs of two soldiers. At first she couldn't see it, but there was someone in front of one soldier, which he in turn treated with hostility. He reached for his sidearm, and Riley felt a tap on her shoulder, making her jump. She whipped around, cat still in hands, and saw it was another soldier.

"Ma'am, please step away from the exits. It's for your safety." he spoke, as a faint pop could be heard from outside the doors. She peered out of the corner of her eye, and saw one of the soldiers bent over, pulling something aside, while the other looked to be on high alert.

"Yeah sorry." she said, still looking back. "Just had to get my cat."

The expression of relief on Corey's face when she brought back his cat was priceless. He looked like a puppy who just found out their owner got home. "Ohmigosh Riley thank you so much!" he managed to sputter out. He nuzzled the tabby, who in turn tapped Corey on the mouth with a fuzzy paw. Riley chuckled at the sight, and again, Corey was on the verge of tears. He propped the cat up and threw fifty more thank yous at Riley.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked.

Riley shrugged. "Oh, no. Don't stress over me."

Corey thanked her a thousand times more, until finally he wandered off, stroking his cat. Riley smiled at the sight once more and went off to go back to her corner. More people sorted their way into the convention center, and it had nearly reached it's limit. Not stepping on anyone was impossible, and as she walked to her corner, she gave up saying sorry to everyone she kicked.

She made it back to her corner, and not so surprisingly, her spot was taken. A middle aged man sat in his pajamas, armed only with the clothes on his back. He glanced nervously at the side door where Riley found Baxter.

"Hey." Riley said, catching his attention. "I don't want to sound whiney, but you're kinda in my spot."

"Oh, my bad." he responded. "But I really think it'd be better if I stayed."

He response was surprising to Riley. She was somewhat shocked her might decline her.

"Well, again, I don't want to sound like a first grader, but I was here first."

"You shouldn't have gotten up."

"What?"

"If you wanted this spot to keep, you should've stayed in it."

"Hey, I was helping a friend! It wasn't even that long!"

"Oh well. Not my problem."

Riley's nostrils flared. She tightened her hands into fists and took a large step in front of him.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Spot."

The man chuckled to himself. "It's just a place on the floor. Why is it so special to you?"

"Do you see anywhere else to sit here? Who knows how long were going to be here? I'm not standing in one spot for hours."

"Well, I'm not either."

"I don't care. I was here first."

The man stood up close to Riley, towering at least a foot above her. She was caught off guard by his height, but only saw embarrassment if she backed down now. If she ever remembered a childhood lesson, it would be to never show weakness in a fight. Her uncle taught her that when he found out about a bullying problem she had at school. His exact words were "Don't let those bitches walk over you like a welcome mat."

They both got in each other's faces. It was like a game of poker, trying to figure out if the man was bluffing a fight or not. She could feel his smelly morning breath on her face, and nearly cringed at the smell.

"Mark? What's going on?" a feminine voice asked from the side. Both Riley and the man turned at the same time. It was a woman, holding the hand of a tiny boy, most likely her son. The boy look horrible, worse than the stubborn man when he came back inside the bus. His skin was pale, and his eyes were surrounded with dark circles like a raccoon. Immediately, the man pushed past Riley and crouched down in front of the boy.

"Hey buddy. Do you feel any better?" he asked. The boy shook his head.

"No." he murmured. "I threw up in the bathroom."

"Aw, buddy." the man leaned in and hugged the child. "Well, don't feel too upset. When you throw up, it's just your body's way of getting rid of all that bad gunk, so it's actually a good thing."

"But it feels gross."

"I know, but we have to bare with things like that. They may not be good on the surface, but in reality, they are helping you more than you know."

It didn't take long for Riley to put two and two together. While to boy went and threw up in the bathroom, to which the man scavenged for a spot to sit and rest to sick boy.

Only one thought ran through her head: Of course they had to have a sick child. They just had to throw in some extra guilt in there just to make her feel bad for wanting to turn them away. She sighed and turned away, off to go do the impossible and find an empty spot. As the woman comforted her son, the man called out to Riley.

"Hey." he said. She turned around. "Thank you." She put on a plastic smile and walked off.