“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you are,” she counters, and points to his chest. “Your sash says so.”
Theo looks down at the black and yellow biohazard “Handshake Plague Survivor” sash, and then promptly tears it off. “Who fucking gives sashes out for surviving a fake plague?” he grumbles.
“Normally, we don’t, but Remi insisted you guys would really like them. We tried to get the crowns she insisted on too, but they didn’t arrive in time.” Sheriff April informs us.
The three of us pin our glares on her, and Remi has to swallow the bubble of laughter that tries to crawl out of her throat. She bites her lips and attempts to look contrite. “Sorry, I thought it would be funny to make you macho alphas get sashed and crowned.”
I narrow my eyes at Remi. “Wait, when did you guys even talk? We’ve been in quarantine this whole time,” I ask in confusion, which I’m starting to think is going to be a permanent state for me at this point due to this fucking insane town filled with insane people.
“Easy,” Remi chirps proudly. “Flashlight out the window at night doing morse code. I also arranged for the Robisson’s car to get towed back and repaired. We can go get the rest of our stuff from the mechanic any time.”
I stare at her, completely at a loss for words. I put my hand up to my face and start rubbing at the headache forming behind my eyes. Of course she knows morse code. She was raised in a doomsday cult—militia—I correct myself, as if somehow Sheriff April is going to hear my thoughts and set me straight again.
“Crowns?” Theo pipes up, pulling me from my scattered thoughts.
Remi nods, her grin breaking through. “Yep, tiaras. The big beauty queen kind. I felt you G.I. Joes earned them after your stellar performance. Which I now know...wasn’t a performance.”
“Why didn’t you say something about all of this?” Theo asks her.
She throws up her hands. “Like I said, I thought you knew! Enders take this stuff super seriously. They don’teverbreak character once they’ve been given one. Believe me, my whole childhood was spent trying to get people to do just that. I did try to get you guys to come clean with me. I asked logical questions about how you knew this was the end of the world, yada, yada, yada. I tried to trip you up, but you all had solid answers and arguments. What was I supposed to do? I thought you were in on the game.”
I shake my head and run a frustrated hand through my hair before turning to Brant and Theo. “We need to talk,” I announce, and they both nod their heads in agreement. Remi chews on her bottom lip at the expression on my face, but I can’t look at her. She glances between us and then turns to her dad. “Let’s umm…just give them a minute,” she mutters.
The three of them walk back inside the gymnasium, leaving us alone. Brant takes off his glasses and squeezes the bridge of his nose while Theo whistles low. “Okay, well...I fucked up,” he admits.
“Ya think?” I fire back.
Brant steps between us before we can get into a shouting match in the parking lot. “Let’s just keep cool,” he says, looking between us. “Whatever happened, already happened. Let’s just be thankful that we didn’t actually hurt anyone or get hurt ourselves.”
I rub a hand down my face. “This is fucking insanity,” I say, before whirling around to start stalking away.
“Where are you going?” Theo calls at my back.
I turn on my heel to face them again. “Where do you think? I”m getting in my truck, I’m gonna go get my shit, and then I’m getting the fuck out of here.”
Theo’s face flashes with anger and hurt. “Just like that?”
I point towards the gymnasium, where we can hear more applause going on. “This place is like porn for apocalypse preppers. I’m not just gonna stick around and be in their twisted, paranoid fucking cult.”
“Doomsday militia,” Brant mumbles.
“Really?” I say dryly.
“Look, I know we just got the rug yanked out from under us. I know you’re pissed. But no one purposely deceived us. This is just...how they live. They like to prepare for the end of the world. In the grand scheme of things, is that really so bad?”
“Did you drink from the fucking punch bowl?” I snap. “How can you be okay with this?”
He runs a frustrated hand over his scalp. “Fuck, I don’t know, man. Endstone is fucked up, yeah, but...so is the rest of the world. So they like to prep. Is it really that bad once you start to think about it?” he challenges me. “It’s like…” he looks around, trying to search for the words. “It’s like the entire town just plays pretend for a few weeks every year. It’s not the end of the world.”
“Nice pun,” Theo snorts.
Brant rolls his eyes. “I’m just saying, just take a minute and think. Try not to let your fucking anger rule you for once. Do you really want to give everything up? We’ve done so much better since moving to Endstone, and we all know it,” he says, his eyes level with mine. “Don’t fucking try to lie to yourself, Madix. Endstone has been good for us, despite its crazy townspeople, and even despite this.”
I shake my head and stare at the ground, unable to believe what I’m hearing. “You’re fucking crazy to even think about staying here.”
“Why?” Brant challenges. “Just because it’s outside of the social norm? Newsflash, Madix, we’re all in a relationship with the same fucking girl. We’re fucked in the heads with more damage from our time in the service than any of us want to admit. We’re already outside of the norm. We wouldn’t have come here in the first place if that weren’t the case.”
Shaking my head, I wave him off. “I’m out of here.”
