“Kid, you made Laura look hideously good,” the director said, looking at me.
“She does, doesn’t she?” Max said.
“Watch it, or I’ll go over there and knock out your teeth,” I said, staring at him. I even did the whole two-fingers-pointed-at-my-eyes-and-then-pointed-at-his gesture, whatever that was called. My head hurt.
Thank God my death scene was soon, because I felt like dying.
“This will be easy,” the director said. “Do you remember your lines?”
“Lines?” I asked.
“Lines, yes,” he said, sighing.
“Sure,” I said, lying. It was that awkward moment when the only thing that I knew was my name. Laura. Right? Honestly, you could have called me “hey, you,” and I’d have been okay with that right about then. My head hurt like hell, if hell could hurt. Could it? I was delirious.
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “Dylan, we’re ready.”
Dylan staggered over and stood in front of us, and then fell to his knees and sat on his butt. He put the camera on his shoulder and looked through the viewfinder. “Ready,” he said. “Is the light on? I can’t see colors.”
“It’s on,” I said, blinking.
“Good. My head’s playing tricks,” he said. “I haven’t felt this bad since that time I did some mushrooms with—” He stopped talking.
The director dug into his pocket and pulled out a pill bottle. “Laura, when you get to your line about saving Owen’s life for yours, you take your potassium iodide tablet and give it to him. Got it?”
“Got it,” I said.
“And, Owen, you take it, okay?”
“Okay, wait. Do you want me to swallow it?” Owen asked.
“Of course, meta-acting. Anyway, it’s just aspirin.”
“It’s what now?” Dylan asked, dropping the camera from his shoulder.
“Aspirin.”
“I’ve been asking everyone for a pill, and you had them all along.”
“Yeah, do you need one?” the director asked.
“You’re an asshole,” Dylan said, holding out his hand for the bottle.
“You can’t say that to me,” the director said.
“Why not?”
“You know who I am.”
“Yeah, I don’t care. I’m done. I’ll do commercials for the rest of my life. I’m fine with that,” Dylan said, grabbing the bottle of aspirin out of the director’s hand and taking more than the recommended dose.
“Can we get this done so I can go and die now?” I asked, laying my head on Owen’s shoulder.
“Okay?” the director said, holding out his hand for the aspirin bottle.
“Okay,” Dylan said, chucking the bottle at the director’s head.
“Well, wasn’t that mature.”
“Wasn’t that mature,” Dylan mimicked. He put the camera back on his shoulder and pointed it toward Owen and me.
“Action!”
“Are we not going to practice?” I asked.
“Cut! No, I’d thought we’d wing it. And action!”
“Really?” Owen asked. “Not one time?”
“Cut! Honestly, guys, I thought we wanted to get off this mountain for real food, and clean clothes, and a bath, because we all need a bath.”
“Okay,” Owen said.
“Okay,” I said.
The bus driver was outside throwing up what sounded like his insides, but Freddy, Terrence, and Tyson went over to Max and sat and watched as I died.
“Okay, everyone, read. Okay, I’ll take the silence as an affirmative. And action!”
-
INT. FALLOUT SHELTER—AFTERNOON
HANK is blind. HELEN sits beside him. She rubs her thumb against the back of his hand. They are the only ones in the room. The rest have decided to put on gas masks and go exploring into the new wasteland.
HELEN lays her head on HANK’s shoulder.
HELEN wasn’t supposed to come to this shelter. HANK invited her. There are only enough supplies for a certain number of people. HELEN doesn’t even have a gas mask.
HELEN fixes his bandages over his eyes.
There is only one potassium iodide tablet left. It is supposed to help against radiation poisoning. HANK has given the pill to HELEN, but she is unwilling to take it. She loves him so much.
HELEN lifts the bandages off HANK’s eyes and looks at his dead eyes. She moves his head to face hers.
HANK smiles.
HELEN kisses him. She holds the tablet between her fingers. They stop kissing.
HANK brushes the hair behind her ear with his fingers.
HELEN kisses him again, and when she stops for a second, she pops the tablet into his open mouth.
HANK starts to spit the tablet out, but she puts her hand over his mouth.
HANK nods and swallows.
HELEN and HANK kiss.
HELEN fixes HANK’s bandages over his eyes.
HELEN snuggles up against him, her breath shallow. She closes her eyes and waits to die.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“I’d like to say this is garbage. I really like you, Owen, but I would have taken the pill,” I said.
He laughed.
“I’m not joking,” I said. “When the apocalypse does come, I hope that you do realize, in life-threatening situations, we girls don’t always think of the cute boy.”
“Thank you, Gloria Steinem Junior,” the director said, clapping. “I think that was the best dying scene I ever filmed.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“Now can we get off this damn mountain?” Dylan said.
“Yes,” we said in unison.
We packed up the few belongings we had and exited the cave. The fireworks had stopped and it was eerily quiet. And dark, really dark. It was way too early for the sun to be setting.
“Let’s get back to Griffin Flat before it gets dark. Have we been here that long?” Freddy asked, looking at his watch. “Ten- ten. My battery died.”
The keys were in a whole lot of brush along the side of Crow Mountain. And no one was willing to risk their lives to go get them.
“I know the Wright family is down getting nuked on Sixth Street, I know they have an extra car, and I know where they keep the key,” Max said.
“What kind of car?” Freddy asked.
“It goes vroom-vroom beep-beep. What more do you need to know?”