Trapped in Apocalypse Chapter 8
Luke and Sammie were in the room, watching the footage of Kate's interview. She was getting rather intimate with Michael. Luke turned away. "Geez can't you mute this? Or better yet, end it?"
Sammie turned the volume down. "There."
Luke avoided eye contact with the screen. "If she only knew."
"That Michael is evil. Not sure that would matter." Sammie said.
Luke glared at her.
"She's not going to forgive you, so why even try to be heroic and save the day? When she sees your face, she'll slap it." Hannah said.
Vincent entered the control room with a bowl of popcorn. "Anything interesting happen while I can gone?"
"Geez-really?" Luke asked him.
Vincent shrugged, "whatever." He put a handful of popcorn in his mouth.
"Kate and Michael hooked up." Sammie said.
Vincent coughed he got popcorn kernels on Luke.
Luke looked at the other four screens. One was turned off. Two were blank. Their names were labeled on the frame of the screen.
Sammie looked over at Luke. "Hey," she calmly, "you're the one who insisted on coming back here. You could have moved on-"
"How can I? They're trapped!" Luke said.
"This is almost over." Sammie said.
Kate walked quietly to her room after her interview. She avoided contact with anyone and made a beeline to privacy.
Hannah entered Kate's room a moment later. "Bizarre guy, huh?" Hannah said.
Kate smiled nervously. "He's something." She covered her mouth to hide her smile.
"So how did it go? Do you think you passed?"
"I certainly hope so." She muttered. She turned away and sat on the bed. She covered her mouth again. "I Uh..." her face scrunched up.
Hannah sat on the bed beside her. "What? Did you tell him off? Reveal something? What?"
Kate confessed what happened in the interview.
Hannah covered her mouth. "Oh my-Wait." She lowered her hand, "you better not be messing with me."
"I'm not." Kate pushed her.
"Okay then." Hannah said. "Woah."
"I know." Kate buried her face in her knees. "What did I do? I mean I know what we did. It was... it was," she looked at Hannah who looked eager to learn more, "none of your business. I've never just jumped on somebody like that. I don't even know him. Oh, what have I done?" She hid her face again.
Hannah took her hand. "There, there. Don't feel bad about it. I mean, it has been a while." She smirked at her.
Kate pushed Hannah again.
Shortly after Hannah left the room, Kate got another visitor: Michael.
She sat on her bed with her legs under the covers. Still in her grey uniform and hair down, she looked at him nervously. "Oh. Hey."
He closed the door and walked over to her. "We didn't get to talk after..." he smirked. "How are you?"
"I'm good." She said. She looked down.
He walked over to her and sat at the edge of the bed. "You don't have to feel guilty about what happened."
Kate glanced and him, then back to hands. She fidgeted with her fingers.
"Neither of us are married. We didn't break any rules."
"Yeah, except Venable's rules." She muttered. "Oh my God." She buried her face. "She's going gave me executed for this."
Michael smiled and placed hand on the bed. "Don't worry about her."
"Okay, I'll try," She said, sarcastically.
He smiled and looked down.
"You must think I'm some sort of slut." Kate said. "The thing is, I've never done anything like that before. I mean, we just met and I-"
"Shh, Shh." He said. He placed his hand on hers. "I don't think that at all. In fact I came here to know more about the girl who jumped me." He smiled at her.
Kate smiled back and looked down to hide her blushing cheeks. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything. Before the apocalypse and during. Your deepest desires and darkest secrets."
Kate began with her life in the foster system. "I've moved all over the state. Even spent some time in Boise. It's not been easy to connect with people... well, usually." She talked on and on and he listened. "I had been living with this one foster mom for a while now. Two years actually and all the other foster kids. I shared a room with this older girl who was dead set on getting a scholarship and 'getting out' as we would call it..."
She got up and showed him her stash of books under the bed that she shared with Hannah. "Right now I'm rereading these books because what else are we going to do?"
He looked at her book collection. He held up Station Eleven and have her a look. "You chose these books?"
"No, Hannah did. Why?"
"This book is about an apocalypse." He waved the book.
Kate smiled. "Yeah, I skimmed that one. Too real."
Later in the conversation, they both sat up on the bed, with goer legs cross crossed. "Now that I've poured out myself, I want to know about you." Kate said.
Michael told her about living with this women who looked after him when he was a teenager. "She was the only person who ever really cared about me. My own family turned me away."
"Mine too." Kate said. "My mother chose cocaine over me."
"Blood doesn't make a family. It's those who look out for you." He said.
Their eyes locked on each other again. She shifted her glance at each of his eyes.
He leaned in and kissed her. Kate kisses him back, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck.
When he pulled back, he stared at her silently.
She looked at him, confused.
"Don't eat the apples." He said.
"What?" Kate asked.
He put his hand on her wrist. "Don't eat the apples. Fake it. I'll find you after the party." He got off the bed.
"Wait, you're not going?" Kate asked him.
"I have something I need to do." He stood by the door. "Until we meet again." He left the room.
After Michael's interview with Mallory, Michael retreated to his room, halting his interviews again. He performs a satanic ritual to communicate with his "father." His father responds, but not about Mallory.
"I'm proud of you, son." The voice says.
"How? I have failed. A witch got away. Mallory."
"Not that girl. The other one." He told him something about Kate. "You have done well, my son."
During the party, there was dancing with a variety of songs, from the 70s. The grays had to stay on the sidelines and watch. Hannah pulled off some dance moves, while staying at her station.
Kate scooted closer to Hannah. "Hey. Don't do the Apple bobbing. Say you're allergic or-"
"Hey, you're still on duty," Mead said coldly.
Everyone took a turn Apple bobbing and held their apples in hand. Once everyone had a turn, even the grays, they all took a bite at the same time.
Kate pretended to eat her apple and faked chewing. An awful feeling hit her gut, not knowing what would happen to the others.
About a minute later, everyone started coughing, bowing over in pain and vomiting. Kate pretended too, hurling over. She looked over and saw Hannah fall to the floor. Kate covered her mouth and fell over too. She continued the act, with tears in her eyes.
After Michael had Mead shoot Miss Venable, Michael ran back to the ballroom and held Kate. "Kate?"
"I'm okay..." she spoke. She stared at Hannah and then at Mallory. "They're all dead... the apples were poisoned..." she looked at him. "How did you know?"
"I knew Miss Venable was going to do something to secure her spot in the sanctuary. She failed-"
"She killed everyone!"
"I meant she didn't secure a place there." He helped her stand up. "There's not much time. I have gas masks by the entrance. We need to go. If you have any belongings you wish to take, make it quick."
Kate looked at him, puzzled.
"Go. Quickly!" He said. He put his hands on her shoulders. "You can grieve after we leave."
"Okay, Okay." She said. She headed up the stairs. At the top of the balcony, she saw an arial view of all the bodies. Back in her room, she quickly grabbed a bag and filled it with a few of her books. In the bathroom, she packed a hairbrush, toothbrush, and soap.
"I should have been on that plane!" A man said, standing in Kate's doorway.
"Who are you?" Kate asked.
"My name is Brock. My girlfriend ditched me in Santa Monica but I didn't die. I survived." He had blisters all over him. His hair was receding and thinning out.
"That wasn't me." Kate said.
"I know, but you are all to blame. Why do you get to live when I have to suffer?" He said. He raised a knife up.
Michael quickly entered the room and killed the man. He grabbed his knife and stabbed him in the heart. Michael twisted the blade in his chest before pulling it out. Brock dropped to the ground. Blood poured out of him.
Michael stepped over his body and Kate ran over to him. She embrace him, wrapping her arms around him. He held her in his arms. He looked down at her. "Are you ready?"
She nodded. "Let's get out of here."
The walked down the hallway, side by side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder while she placed her hand around his back.
As they walked down the stairs, the music on the phonograph changed to "She's a Rainbow" by The Rolling Stones. Michael's face intensified.
The both stopped at the same time.
"We need to get out of here." Michael said.
Miss Mead met them downstairs by the entrance.
"We're not alone." Michael said to here.
"I can shoot any intruders who arrive." Mead said.
"That's not going to be strong enough. We need time." He said.
"What's going on?" Kate asked.
Michael snapped his fingers. "The secret passageway in the kitchen."
"Good idea. I'll hold them off." Miss Mead said.
Michael shook his head. "No, come with us. We'll need all the power we can get."
Miss Mead nodded.
Michael grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her along as they ran to the kitchen. He pushed the heavy counter back, making a loud screeching sound.
Kate went over to help him but he stopped her.
He put his hand on her belly. "No. I don't want you to hurt yourself." He looked at her and then down at her gut.
Kate looked down at her belly. "Why did you just look at my belly as if..."
Mead arrived and helped Michael move the counter all the way back.
Michael started down the secret passageway and turned back to Kate. He held his hand out to her.
She started at it, skeptically. "Answer the question."
Suddenly the front door swooshed open and hit the wall. Michael's eyes widened. He climbed back up to the kitchen and carried Kate, then ran back down the secret passageway. Mead pressed a button at the bottom of the steps, moving the counter back in place.
Meanwhile, Cordelia, Madison, and Mertyl returned. They awoke from their slumber underneath the earth. They entered the ballroom, covered in bodies. "Find our sisters." Cordelia said.
They went around the room, and Cordelia brought back the witches there: Mallory, Dinah, Coco and Hannah. They each gasped awake. Hannah wiped vomit off her chin.
"Hang on," Madison said. "Where's Kate?"
