SEVEN|
Quinn was scared. He hated to admit it, but he was scared. He was selected to be the leader of this group, and lead he would. He would be the best damn leader he could be. He had already decided that.
Quinn knew he could die. It was a possibility in the desert, it was a possibility back in Perdido Beach, and it would be a possibility in Auburn. He knew what the FAYZ would do to them. He didn't know how this town-in which the kids had no knowledge of a nuclear power plant- got to be in a FAYZ. The FAYZ II. There could be more of them, but no one knew of them. The only reason that they knew of this new one was because Sam's cousin lived there and had his number. Family bonding, he guessed. Sam was like his only family in the FAYZ. They had been like bros, but then he "betrayed" them- he didn't know Drake Merwin would hurt them. Drake was now dead, and to be honest, Quinn was glad.
"Quinn! Get your fat ass up now! Ain't you supposed to be the fucking leader of this little expedition thing? Get your damn ass out of the fucking tent, now, or I'll pound your head into the ground!"
"Orc, I am up, and I am coming. I just need to have a little time to get ready. I don't have any powers, or have you forgotten?"
"No I haven't, weakling, now get the fuck out of the tent."
"Orc, all I have seen you doing is drinking beer all day long. You better suck up the attitude or you'll be in for it when we get back."
"Orc, you know what Sam said-" Brianna started.
"Shut up Breeze. Shut the fuck up, bitch. Yeah, I know what the hell Sam said. And I don't give a damn. I never will give a damn. School Bus Sam may be your leader, but he sure as hell ain't the strongest. And who is that? That's right, me. I could push that bastard out of office if I wanted to."
"You couldn't and you know it. All you know is that you're stronger. You know brute force, and that's it. Why do you think that people far you so damn much? They're afraid you'll do what you did to Bette. They're afraid you'll kill them," Quinn said while he held his ground.
"Why I oughtta..."
"I wasn't through, Orc. Everyone knows that you're the strongest and by far the only one able to go into a field of inert-eating worms. Everyone knows that much. I know that. You wouldn't hurt them. You wouldn't because what you did to Bette really screwed you up. It really screwed with your mind. That's one of the reasons you started to drink so much more than I'm sure you already did. You hated Drake Merwin, just like all of us. You're with Sam for a reason-"
"'Cuz I can't stand that Caine kid."
"And you are good after all. That and they can't give you what we can. They don't have you're booze. They don't really have decent food. So are you going to stop trying to be the boss and let me do things my way, or do you need me to take away the booze."
Orc muttered something unintelligible.
"Good then. We tear down camp and then we set off."
"What direction?" Brianna asked.
"North East."
"Alright. D'ya want me to scout a bit?"
"No, it's too dangerous."
"Aw... but Quinn...."
"No buts, Bri. You can't go."
"You sound like a parent." It was true, Quinn was starting to sound more and more like his father every day. He was one of the few that survived their fifteenth birthday, along with Astrid, Sam, and Caine. Orc was due to be fifteen soon, but Quinn was wondering if he would deliberately take the big leap and leave. He could get all the booze he wanted wherever he would go. Or he thought that. He might just stick for kicks. That's Orc for you.
"Okay, we're done!" Brianna called out. Quinn had barely had a chance to roll his own sleeping bag, and he could see that the others hadn't either. "Well, I'm done anyways."
"Yeah..." Quinn mumbled. "As always you need to beat everyone at everything."
"Yup!" She was possibly the peppiest person in the FAYZ. Both of them. "Can we go now? Please?"
"Geez, Brianna. You're worse than a kid saying 'Are we there yet?'"
"Thank you, Quinn. I try," she grinned ear to ear.
"Yeah, yeah. Get in the Jeep, kid."
"Can do."
A few hours in the Jeep brought them to the closest cave. Brianna was out faster than you could say "FAYZ". She knew it too.
"Nope. Nothing in there. On to the next cave."
"Wait a minute. I'd like to look. I can go where you can't, Brianna," Orc growled.
Brianna shrugged and stepped aside. She didn't want a fight, so she just let him through.
"Whatever."
A few minutes later, Orc came out waving his arms like a madman. "Guys! I found something!"
They got up and followed him back into the cave. In the cave, there was a swirling vortex. "Whoa...."
"Now can I have my beer?"
"It's back in the truck. Can you wait a few minutes? I want to see if you found the portal Sam was talking about," Quinn said calmly. He genuinely was curious about this vortex.
"Fine, but you're going in first, oh Fearless Leader."
"Fine." In truth, Quinn was going to do that anyways. He wasn't going to send one of the girls down there, no matter how much they wanted to. And he needed to gain back his respect again. If he did this, he would be respected in the community.
"Wish me luck..."
"G'luck," Orc shrugged. If Quinn lived or died, he got his beer.
"You'll do great."
"Break a leg."
"Buena suerte," Edillio said hugging him.
"Bye." Quinn stepped into the vortex. He was encircled by beams of colors and rays of light. He closed his eyes and the next thing he knew he was in a hotel room. It wasn't as fancy as Clifftop, but it was a hotel room.
"Holiday Inn," he read on the pen by the beds. "Auburn, New York." He had made it. He made a note of the room he was in as he stepped out, putting a book in before the door closed fully. Room 512.
He rode down the elevator and got lost a few times before he found his way out. There was a line of kids running on a street to the right of him. He assumed that was where the school must be.
He sprinted down the street he was on- North Street- to the street that he saw the kids on, which he found to be called Genesee Street. There were more kids than he had seen in Perdido Beach- ever. They were coming in all directions, some from South Street, some from North Street, some from Genesee Street. He plowed his way through people, trying to get there as fast as possible. A day had passed since they had gotten Morgan's call.
"Uh, excuse me- do you know where I can find a Morgan Carter?" Quinn asked a boy who looked to be around fourteen years old, close to fifteen.
"West Middle. Where we're all headed, surfer dude."
"I have to get there now. I'm not kidding. My friend, Sam, is her cousin and he told me to get to her and then get back to him through the portal-"
"Portal? What portal?"
"The one at the Holiday Inn..."
"Oh, where are you from?"
"Perdido Beach, California."
"The place where all the kids disappeared?"
"Yeah, but from our point of view, all the adults disappeared."
"My name's Emmett. Emmett Rogers."
"Quinn. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta get through, like ten minutes ago."
Quinn continued his way through the crowd, pushing his way to the front. Eventually he got there, but not without earning a few fingers and being tripped a few times. Turns out there would be an Orc wherever he went, even if Orc wasn't really there.
"Excuse me," Quinn said to a girl near the edge of the side walk "I need to talk to Morgan Carter. Do you know where she is?"
"Up front."
"Thank you."
Once again, Quinn pushed himself to the front of the crowd on the grass. "Morgan Carter?" he called out.
"Yeah?" said a girl who was standing two feet in front of him. "What d'ya want?"
"Um...you're cousin, Sam Temple sent me."
"And you are...?"
"His friend Quinn."
"Oh!" she said. "I remember you. You two were always playing some prank on me when I was in Perdido Beach."
"That would be me."
"Is he here?"
"Well, no. I have to get back there so we can get here to get some food and shelter... No one else came, there are four others in my group- Orc, Edillio, Brianna, and Dekka. I was the one who took the risk and came here. Do you think someone could come with me back there? I kind of need help getting around..."
"Understandable. I can't go, because I know what's happening, and I have my cell on to call you guys, Evan was the one keeping the crowd in tow, so he can't go... Mel and Jake could go, but they shouldn't..."
"What?" said a guy, Quinn assumed he was Jake. "I'll go."
"And you can't let Sir Crash-a-Lot go without supervision," another girl, who he assumed was Mel, said while elbowing Jake in the gut. "I'll go."
"But you two made the crowd listen-"
"And you and Evan can handle them with the help of Emmett, Brittany, Alexis, and Connor. You know that, even if they are all from different schools. Who knows- Jordan might even throw in a 'Shut the fuck up!' every once in a while. Morg, you're better than me at handling people. I'm sure Jake can survive a day or two without you."
"Jake is not-"
"Well, we best be going," Quinn nervously said.
"Stay," Morgan said. "You two aren't going. I'll go because I know people. Jake, I suppose you can come with me."
"Sweet..."
"Not sweet. It's for survival. Lead the way, Quinn."
"All right."
The trio was off, back to plowing their way through the crowd.
"Nice. I know you love me," Jake teased her.
"Jake if you say that again so help me God I'll-"
"Can we get something to eat before we leave? I mean, something perishable that we can eat here and there, because if I eat and my crew doesn't, I'm a dead man walking."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to stop at Wegman's before we leave. We have to walk there, though, so don't complain, Quinn."
When they got there, Morgan started to give the orders. "Jake, peanut butter and jelly. I'll get the bread. Quinn, you follow Jake. He'll bring you to the bread. Okay? Okay. Let's go." They split up and got what they needed. Two loaves of each kind of bread, two jars of jelly and two jars of peanut butter.
"That'll cover us and the four that are waiting for you, hopefully. Anything else?"
"Yeah. Diapers and cough syrup. Oh, and some Prozac."
"Alright then. You'll grab the diapers, and I'll see if I can find the Prozac. Jake, grab the cough syrup."
"Can do."
"This'll tide Mary over," Quinn said, returning with the diapers.
"It better."
"Can we go now? I've never been to California," Jake said.
Morgan exchanged a glance with Quinn that said "he's always like this. Get used to it." She then slapped him.
"Shut up Jake."
"Let's go," Quinn said, "before you two start to make out."
"I don't know about her but I-"
"Shut up Jake!" Morgan and Quinn yelled at him.
He shrunk back. "Okay..."