Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

siren. Right in front of all the kids hanging out in front of the school. They all looked, pointed, and laughed. It was so humiliating! Given her history, and the events from two years earlier, the last thing Noella needed was to be brought to school in a cop car. It reminded people of the things she hoped they’d someday forget if she could manage to fly under the radar long enough.
    “I wish someone woulda told me I had to be up early,” she said.
    “Oh, I’m sorry, Missy. I’ll tell Josie to try and schedule her sickness in advance from now on so Princess Noella’s not inconvenienced.”  
    Princess Noella?! She hated when he said crap like that. She was about as far as you could be from a princess, especially given all the rich, stuck-up snobs in her school. Those girls are princesses!  
    Randy’s voice cracked into a laugh. “Get up, giddy-up, and get in the shower. No one was ever around to wake me and I learned to unbury my head from the covers just fine. Five minutes is more than enough time. It’s not like you’ve got more than four outfits. Pick one, rub some Teen Spirit on your stink patches, and get downstairs before I turn the engine.”
    “10 minutes, Randy.” Noella growled. “You’re telling me you couldn’t have given me 10 minutes?”
    Anger flashed on his face and his voice went electric. “Excuse me? Is that how you talk to someone offering to do something nice for you? Sheesh, kids today are so ungrateful!”
    Noella stared at Randy, holding his eyes and making him gaze into the hate she could never voice. Sometimes, she wished he would just hit her, so maybe Josie would wake up and see what a jerk he was. But Randy had been too cool to ever let his anger get that out of hand. He somehow managed to snow Josie over, balancing his verbal abuse evenly with this charm, but Noella could see, maybe even feel, the monster lurking below, the monster that fed on their misery and drank theirs like a drunk in an alley. Between his erratic mood swings, obsessive compulsive attention to detail, and penchant for ruling the roost like a prison warden, their lives always revolved around not doing anything to set Randy off. It was like constantly walking on a carpet of eggshells. And for some reason this morning, she felt like dancing all over them and cracking them to powder, just to see if she could push him over the edge.
    His flash of anger vanished, replaced by a wide, faux smile barely masking his contempt. “Well, you could just take the bus,” he said, his smile a hook, waiting to see what it might catch.  
    “You know I don’t like to take the bus,” Noella said.
    “That’s your fault. You just need to learn how to stand up to those bitches. Problem with you, Noella, other than your questionable wardrobe of funeral attire, is that you let life happen. Girls ain’t gonna pick on you if you do something to change it.”
    “Yeah, whatever,” Noella said. “What do you know about what I’ve gotta put up with?”
    “Oh, right,” Randy sarcastically nodded. “What do I know? I’m just a deputy. What would I know about handling violent people? Take the bus, and learn to stand up for yourself. Otherwise bullies are gonna be pushing you around forever. Mark my words, Missy.”
    Missy ... another one of the things he said which had a way of crawling under her skin   and burrowing into her brain.
    “Fine, I’ll take the bus,” Noella said to the biggest bully she knew.
    It was just as well. The girls on the bus were cruel, but at least the trip was short. Going to school with frizzy hair and feeling funky was not an option. She’d rather put up with a few minutes of catty crap than feel like crap all day. Besides, the girls on the bus were in the minor leagues when it came to her list of enemies. Her real enemies were far too popular to ever be caught dead on the bus. They either took new cars their parents got them, or rode with their boyfriends (in cars bought by the his parents). So maybe the bus wasn’t as bad as she remembered.
    “Well then, I’m outta here,” Randy said. “Remember, if you kill one of the girls, I’ll have to arrest you, but I promise you won’t get grounded at home. So try and keep it to fists and hair pulling, eh?” Randy winked, then disappeared down the stairs and out the front door.
    Noella rolled her eyes and shut her door, his Old Spice still lingering in her nostrils.

    **

    Noella showered and then texted Mako to let her know she would