Project ELE (9 page)

"Shoot." He says while making a fake gun sign with his thumb and index finger. My dad can be a big dork when he wants to.

"Who is ELE?" I don't know why it's been on my brain tonight but I feel like I need to know more about what's going on out there in the world.

He studies me for a long second then says, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before. I wanted to protect you but I can see that now you’re becoming a mature and strong woman, just like your mother." His voice catches but he carries on. "You can handle the truth. ELE stands for Extinction Level Event."

I let out a loud breath. I really don't like the sound of that.

He continues, "An Extinction Level Event is exactly what it sounds like. This is where our planet was headed with the rapid speed that the virus was killing off the human race at." He stares at me as if trying to gauge my reaction.

I nod and say, "I understand."

He gives me a slight smile and then says, "I've known about Project ELE for a while and while I hate that it tore our family in half, I do understand why it was necessary." His face turns grim.

I blink away the tears that start forming in my eyes as I think of all of the people that have died and all of the people outside the safety of our shelters. "Thank you dad." I say sincerely. He looks at me confused and then I continue. "Thank you for protecting me as long as you could. I mean protecting my innocence. I don't think I could have handled that news before all of this."

He looks surprised that I would make such a mature statement. "I love you so much." Is all he says.

"I love you too dad." I sit up and give him a hug despite his apparent stink. "Night."

"Good night." He says and then turns to head once again to the bathroom. This time I don't stop him.

A minute later I hear the shower running. I think to myself about how much my life has changed in such a short period of time. It has only been eight days since my family left our house and headed towards the shelter lines and it has been two days since my family was torn apart. So much happened so fast that I can't help but wonder what changes life will bring me in the future. I don't get a chance to think about it for long because the running water lulls me into a dreamless sleep.

Boring routine, that's what the next month is like. School, work, dinner and bed. We barely have any free time. It didn't come as a surprise that neither Connor, Claire or I got accepted into the Select classes. I don't mind that much because I actually enjoy the mindless activity of running errands in the afternoon. Connor sometimes complains about it though, and by sometimes I mean all the time!

"Look, the pool. Yet another amenity we haven't gotten to use." Connor slouches as we walk by the heavily chlorinated corridor. His grumbling voice expresses his frustration.

"I wonder why they even built these places if we never get to use them." Claire interjects. She usually doesn't complain but sometimes Connor's moods can be contagious. We can't really blame him. My guess is that he's ADHD or something by his consistent nervous fidgeting and inability to remain still for longer than twenty seconds.

I look down at my tablet to check the time and someone rams me in the shoulder knocking me back a step. "Ugh!" I call out and turn around quickly to confront the hit and run offender. "Excuse you!"

Standing there in a red bikini with a towel hanging over her shoulder is Hyena girl. She gets a pinched up expression on her face like she smelled something foul and says, "You need to watch where you're going!"

I look at her incredulously, "Me? I don't think so. You rammed into me with your bony little shoulder." I don't know where that type of attitude came from but there is something about this girl that brings out the worst in me. Claire and Connor come and stand at my flanks to loan me their moral support.

"My shoulders are not bony!" She whines and then looks to one of her swim trunk clad, bare chested 'crew' members for reassurance. To my greatest pleasure nobody acknowledges her petty need for a confidence boost.

"Candy, you did run into her." Zack calls out from behind her. He walks up to me until he's crossed into my personal zone and then some. I blush and take a step back. He seems to take pride in the fact that he's making me uncomfortable. I can't help but feel awkward since I can't even name the last time I saw a man with his shirt off. Not that I think Zack is much of a man but it's still weird nonetheless. "Like what you see?" He asks full of cocky confidence. His only clothing is red swim trunks that sit loosely on his hips and a pair of swimming goggles, which are hanging from his wrist. His muscles almost look painted on and I wonder if he adds makeup to his abs to make them stand out more.

"Hmm," I look him up and down appraisingly and find satisfaction when I see a slight blush spread on his falsely tanned cheeks. I shrug my shoulders and say "Not really."

A livid look passes across his eyes and for a second I get an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. Just like that it vanishes and an amused look takes its place. "Well, I'm sure people of your...social status, don't have many interactions with those of the opposite sex. It's okay to feel nervous around me." A look of utter disgust pops onto my face. He laughs and the Hyena girl, who I now know as Candy, joins in on the hackling.

"You should join us." Candy says. "Oh wait, you can't! You have to work!" She cracks herself up so much that she snorts like a pig. I can't help the giggle that releases after that. She stops and glares at me with her hands on her bony hips.

"Well, if you do ever get a day off, you should hang with us." Zack stares at my nametag, which is located on my chest; quite convenient for him. "You can bring your friends too, Willow." I cringe at the way my name sounds on his lips.

"Thanks but no thanks." I say as I turn and walk in the opposite direction. I feel better after I put some distance between us and shake off the slime that they lathered on.

"Eww! He was totally undressing you with his eyes." Claire says with an appropriate amount of distaste.

"Yeah, I feel totally scandalized." I say while wiping my sweaty palms on my scrubs. Intense conversations like that make me nervous but I feel good that I held my own.

"I should go and pulverize that rich boy's face!" Connor looks like he might just do it so I wave him off.

"Nah, they aren't worth it." I smile at him and pat his back reassuringly. I watch as his face calms down. Over the past month Connor has taken on the protective big brother role over Claire and me with zeal. Well sometimes I wonder if it's more than a big brother role with Claire, but I won't mention that.

I look at the timer on my tablet. "Crap! We are going to have to run. One minute and thirty seconds!" We all take off running down the winding hallways towards Headquarters. We barrel through the Admin office doors a minute late. Everyone turns and looks at us. Well, everyone except Alec. He appears to be intensely focused on his computer and he doesn't acknowledge that we came in late. Phew! I already got a tardy last week when I was late for class; I don't need a second one.

Alec looks up a moment later and his emerald eyes seem to settle on me. I shift side to side nervously while chanting in my head: You didn't notice. You don't want to give me a tardy. I guess my Jedi mind tricks worked because he stands up and addresses us as a group. "Good afternoon everyone. We will only be having a short meeting today as I have a lot to do. I have some good news though. We have finally gotten approval to allow you a free day once a week. These days will be staggered throughout the team and should be handed out next week. Now it's important that you know that you can lose your free day if there are any performance issues, reprimands or excessive tardies." I swear his eyes settle on me again for just a second and I hold my breath until he moves on. "With that said, get to work." We all turn to leave and he moves back to his desk.

I pull up my assignment list for today. Looking at the screen I do a double take. When I realize that what I'm seeing is accurate I stomp over to Alec's desk. Waving my tablet in my hand I ask, "There must be some mistake."

Alec looks up at me and continues typing as he talks, which sort of impresses me but mostly annoys me. "I'm sorry, what exactly are you referring to?"

"I'm referring to the twenty-five assignments that you've given me." I huff out but add a "sir," at the end.

He cringes at the 'sir' part but then replies, "There was no mistake." He looks back at his computer and continues typing rapidly.

I've noticed an unexplained edge between Alec and I over the past month so I usually try to steer clear of him when I can. Not today though, I won't be dismissed that easily. "No!" It slips out before I can think better of it.

He stops mid type and stands up from his chair facing me. "Excuse me?" He places both of his hands on his desk and leans forward so that his green eyes are within inches of my face.

I stand my ground. I'm not going to back down. "This is more than double my usual assignment count and double the workload of any other runner. That isn't fair."

He raises his eyebrow and with a gleam in his eye he says, "Life isn't fair, Willow."

I always figured that Alec wouldn't remember my name since I've never heard him speak it out loud. I don't let my astonishment or the interesting tingle I felt when he said my name deter me.

"So you are punishing me for working fast?" I ask fuming.

"This is not a punishment. You have a time frame that you work and we are simply filling that time frame."

"Well then I will just slow down and work at the same speed as everyone else." I throw my hands up in the air to further show my dissatisfaction.

He cocks his head sideways. "Look, I know that you finish your work early and then help your friends. You don't think that things like that go unnoticed do you? Like I said, this is an hourly job not an assignments based job. You will do what is asked of you."

I roll my eyes and huff out a disgruntled "Whatever!" Then I take my tablet and my first delivery parcel and head out the door. I swear I heard him yell out something about insubordination but I didn't stick around to listen. What's he going to do, fire me?

Just to spite him I work faster than I ever have and still finish thirty minutes ahead of everyone else. I walk in through the door and hand him my tablet so he can upload the signatures for the deliveries I made. I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror to the right of his desk. Some curls have fallen loose from my ponytail and my cheeks look pink from exertion.

Alec looks at me appraisingly and if I didn't know better I would think that look showed a hint of admiration and perhaps something else. He plugs my tablet in, types some stuff on his keyboard then unplugs the tablet and hands it back to me. "You can go ahead and leave now that you're done."

I've never been allowed to leave earlier than the end of my shift so I look at him for an explanation. When one doesn't come I turn and walk out.

That night after dinner I lie down to try and get some shuteye but have a hard time falling asleep. I replay the conversation we had and worry that perhaps I will have a reprimand tomorrow. I was honestly surprised that he didn't give me one today when I returned, nor did he even mention anything. It's no surprise that once I fall asleep I slip into dreams of Alec with his bright green eyes and jet-black hair.

****

I was still a little nervous when I walked into work the next day with Connor and Claire. I looked at Alec expecting him to rehash yesterday’s events but he didn't. Instead he smiled at me. Heat flamed my cheeks when my brain conjured up last nights dream. I pushed it far to the back of my mind and looked down at my tablet. My assignment list was reduced down to fifteen. I look up at Alec who stares at me for a fraction of a second and then releases us for work without hosting his usual pep rally meeting.

Today I got my assignments done in my usual speedy time frame and reverted to helping Connor and Claire with theirs. Having gone back to a normal routine, the day went by fast, as did the remainder of the week. Every morning we checked our tablets in restless anticipation of our first free day. We've been crossing our fingers that we will get the same day off. The odds look to be in our favor since everyone has received their free day this week except for us. Hopefully with tomorrow being Sunday, which is also a no-school day, we will finally get our day of rest!

I was excited when I woke up this morning and saw on my tablet that today is in fact my first free day. My dad wasn't so lucky. He still has to work. We both head over to breakfast together and down our cold oatmeal before my dad has to report for his shift. Not sure what else to do with my time, I stay seated at the table and make arrangements for Connor and Claire to meet me up with me. While I wait I browse the amenities app on my tablet trying to get an idea of what we should do.

Someone clears their throat next to the table and I look up to find Alec standing beside me. “Oh, um, hey.” I stutter. I’m still not quite sure how to address Alec. I mean, he is my boss and all, so our conversations tend to be a bit awkward.

“You mind if I sit?” Alec asks.

I shake my head no, even though I do kind of mind.

He sits in the seat across from me. Alec tipis his fingers and leans forward. “Look, I know it’s kind of awkward and all, what, with me being your boss, but I was hoping maybe we could hang out sometime?” His question catches me totally off guard and my jaw drops open. I watch as he grimaces and shifts in his seat, looking exceedingly uncomfortable.

“Yeah,” I squeak a little uncomfortably. What should I say? No? I clear my voice. “I mean sure, that would be cool." His green eyes light up just a little. What the heck I think to myself. "Um, I’ve got some friends meeting me here soon; well, you know Claire and Connor. We were planning on doing something today, not sure what, but you’re welcome to tag along if you’d like.” Tag along? Does your boss ‘tag along?’ I mentally kick myself and look to the floor.

Shockingly he agrees, “Yeah, hey that sounds great. You know, I have to be quite honest with you. This sucks.”

“Excuse me?” I ask a little hurt by his words. We've hung out for less than a minute and he already thinks it's lame.

“No, wait, that’s not what I meant. What I meant to say is my job sucks.” Okay, awkward, I think. “I mean, some people might think being in charge is cool, especially at my age, but in all honesty, it’s just flat out lonely. People respect you and all, but they don’t want to necessarily hang out and be friends. It makes me feel old even though we are all in the same age group.”

Connor and Claire walk up behind Alec and stop mid-step. Alec continues to talk about loneliness and pours his heart out while they approach the table cautiously. Claire jabs Connor lightly in the ribs and gestures her head towards Alec. They both squelch a laugh and I try widening my eyes at them letting them know to chill out.

Connor gets a huge grin on his face and begins doing a silent version of the running man behind Alec’s back. I look to Alec who seems to be oblivious of their presence behind him. Claire puts her hand over her mouth squelching her laughter.

She waves her hands at Connor to get him to stop and looks back over at me. She then proceeds to act like she’s taking a seat and tipis her hands in front of her mimicking Alec. Connor nearly loses it and steps back away from us, hand over his mouth.

“It’s just with my dad being who he is and all, it can be tough, you know?” My attention focuses back on Alec and I nod my head in understanding trying very hard to keep a straight face but not feeling like I’m succeeding. I honestly didn't hear half of what he just said because Connor started dancing in place again. “You know what’s really interesting Willow?” Alec asks with a raised eyebrow.

I try harder to concentrate on him and not on what my friends are doing. “No, what?” I ask.

Alec lets a small grin appear on his face. His voice raises a few decibels, “It’s interesting that Connor and Claire think I can’t see what they’re doing behind my back. Yes, that’s interesting.”

Connor stops mid running man and Claire closes her mocking mouth immediately.

“Oh hey guys! I didn’t know you were standing there.” Alec says in mock surprise placing his hand over his heart.

I bury my head in my hands. Oh my gosh, can it get any more awkward?

“How--” Connor begins to ask but Alec doesn’t give him the opportunity.

“See that metal tray dispenser right there?" He points to an area right behind me. " Yeah, I could totally see you the whole time.”

A crimson color spreads across their faces as the realization dawns on them. Alec shakes his head, “It’s cool. I would have done the same thing.” He gives a small chuckle as Connor and Claire try and pull their heads out of their butts. “Really, it’s all good.” Alec says trying to reassure them again.

I bust up laughing at the calamity displayed before me. All heads turn to me, but I can’t help it. That had to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. It doesn’t take but a moment before everyone is laughing with me. Connor and Alec exchange some kind of macho male handshake. Then both of my friends join us at the table.

"So what are we going to do today?" Claire asks.

"I vote to go swimming." Connor chimes in.

"No." Claire and I both say simultaneously. This is our first time to hang out with our boss. I'm thinking that bikini's and swim trunks aren't really appropriate in this situation. Plus, I didn't get to shave my legs this morning so that idea is definitely vetoed.

Connor looks mildly disappointed. He suggests a second option, "We could see a flick at the theater."

Everyone looks at each other and we shrug at the so-so idea.

Alec checks something on his tablet then says. "Well, if you are into Historical films we can go check it out. Today they are playing back to back documentaries of World War I, World War II and World War III."

"Oh that sounds like a blast." I say sarcastically.

"I don't hear any genius suggestions from either of you." Connor says a little sourly.

"I guess that leaves shopping or bowling. Since we get paid crap money we might as well check out the bowling alley." I open my eyes wide and hold my breath when I remember who is sitting at our table.

Connor and Claire give me that look that says, 'dude, pull your foot out of your mouth.'

"I mean, um..." I start to say but Alec waves me off.

"Look, I know you all don't get paid squat. I make only a little more than you do. I understand." He looks around at all of us who still look semi uncomfortable. "Let's pretend for today that I'm not your boss. That I'm just another kid like you trying to have fun."

"Kid." Connor harrumphs.

Alec turns to where he's facing Connor better and asks, "Just how old do you think I am?"

Claire says under her breath, "Old."

Alec raises his eyebrows to Connor.

Connor finally responds. "I guess like twenty or so." He cringes a little worried that he may be treading on the wrong turf with his boss.

"Ha! I'm only seventeen." Alec says.

"You're not even a legal adult?" Claire asks then adds curiously, "How did you get this job then?"

"Like I said in our first meeting. I've been helping out at my dad's business since I was fourteen. I pick up fast and I was managing shifts by the age of sixteen. It was only natural that my dad gave me a shift when he was assigned his position as lead administrator." Alec says. "Anyhow, I may be mature when it comes to work, but I still know how to have fun."

I blush when his green eyes settle on me.

"Sounds good. Let's go check out the bowling alley then." I say and stand up. Anything to get out of the strange eye contact thing that Alec was doing to me.

Everyone follows suit and we take the elevator to the fourth floor to check it out. I've never been bowling before but I've seen it done on television and in movies. It looks like fun. The elevator lets out in front of the pool area and my nose fills with that strong smell of chlorine. I look in the windows and notice it's extremely crowded today. I guess a lot of people are off this Sunday.

We follow the hallway down until we hear the sounds of balls hitting pins and crowds cheering. Twenty lanes are lit up in neon colors. We go to check in at the registration booth where a skinny teenager with a liberal peppering of freckles on his face tells us that all of the lanes are full. He adds us to the waiting list without asking, which is running about an hour long. I look around to the others for suggestions.

"We can wait," Alec says. "I don't mind."

Everyone else shrugs so I take that as a sign to go and find a table. I find one near the back and take a seat. Everyone else follows except Alec who has been intercepted by someone playing the guess who game. Newly manicured French tip nails are attached to the long skinny fingers covering his eyes.

"Guess who?" A girl calls out from behind him. I can't see her but when she lets out a hideous giggle I 'guess who' immediately.

"Ugh! It's Candy." I sigh but remain in my seat.

"Perhaps if we stay completely still and don't move an inch she won't see us." Claire says jokingly.

"I don't think she's worried about us seeing her. She seems to have her paws all over Alec." Connor laughs and watches the scene with pure amusement.

Alec doesn't seem too happy to be temporarily blinded so he just removes the hands and turns around. "Oh, hey Candy." He says blandly.

"Hi ya Alec! What are you doing on this fine Sunday?" She says in a sort of southern drawl that sounds completely fake.

"I'm hanging out with some friends." He looks back and gestures at us.

Crap, we've been spotted. I think to myself.

"Those are your friends?" She asks with repulsion.

Alec surprises me when he says, "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

I hate to admit it but I love the shocked look Candy get's on her face.

"Well, I was just thinking that since you finally had a day off you would want to hang out with me or the guys." She rubs her index finger down his chest in a gesture that makes me want to puke.

To my delight, Alec removes her finger from his chest. "We don't really hang out anymore so I figured it was time to make some new friends."

Her mouth drops open for the slightest second then she closes it abruptly. She makes some annoyingly high-pitched shrieking sound and turns on her heal to stomp off.

Alec comes over to the table and looks at me curiously. "Wow, I haven't seen you smile like that, ever."

I quickly wipe the expression off my face, not realizing what I was doing.

"It looks good on you." He says and I look away shyly.

"So what was up with you and Barbie?" Connor asks.

"We went to school together. Her brother and I were on the same football team. That was back before we started predominantly doing our home schooling." Alec answers.

"Well it looked like she has the hots for you man." Connor playfully punches Alec on the shoulder.

"I guess so. We hung out a few times, but she's not really my type." Alec looks over to me ever so briefly and I feel a strange fluttering sensation in the pit of my stomach.

Claire looks over her shoulder and says, "Great, here comes her whole posse. Maybe we should just head out."

"Good idea." I would like nothing better than to keep my distance from Candy and especially from her brother Zack. He gives me the creeps.

We pass by them without saying anything. I feel Zack's stare as if it's burning my flesh but I look directly ahead and pretend that I don't see him. I do feel Alec stiffen ever so slightly next to me. I hadn't realized he was walking so close to me before then but I can tell that something put him on edge.

The tension in our group doesn't relax until we are back in the hall.

"So that idea seems to be botched. What's our next course of action?"

"We could go to the library." I offer.

Connor and Claire look at me like I'm nuts but Alec says, "That sounds great. I've been wanting to check to see if there are any good books in there."

I smile up at him. Alec continues to pleasantly surprise me. He's not the cold hard boss I thought he was.

We head down a flight of stairs to the Library. When we walk through the double doors my eyes are immediately focused on the countless books lining the walls. All four of us waste no time diving into the shelves. Thankfully they’re categorized by subject area.

“Hey guys,” I say. “Come check this out. There’s a whole section related to this mountain.” The bookcase is labeled with a sign stating: Local Selections. I pick a random book from the shelves and flip through it. Boring! All it has in it are blueprints to the sewage systems and a bunch of information that I couldn't care less about. Before I reshelf it, I look at the sewage map again. Something about it strikes a cord in my brain but I can't put my finger on it. I close it a moment later and move on to the other books. To my disappointment, I continually come across one boring instructional manual after another. Where's the murder mysteries or the science fiction? I look around at the other sections in the small library but don't see anything of interest. They range from indoor farming to, world history and the history of F.E.M.A. Not one single non-fiction book to be had in here.

I huff my breath sending my hair billowing from my face. With my back against the wall, I slide to the floor in an act of defeat. In less than an hour we have ran through the only activities that this shelter has to offer. There's got to be something else to do in this place. Connor, Claire and Alec all shelve the books they were looking at and come sit at my side.