Mike gave her a squeeze around the waist. “Where you go, I go.”
Annaliese wrapped her arm around him and the two of them headed towards the laughter. It was strange how much a single kiss could change a relationship, but it had. She hadn’t been thinking of Mike in a romantic capacity, not at all, but now she held onto him with a deep familiarity that actually managed to bring her comfort amongst all the darkness of the new and frightening world.
She realised how much his existence made hers better and felt embarrassed that she hadn’t seen him for what he was earlier. He was the only good thing in her life, and she had been oblivious of him.
I’m such an idiot.
After walking hand in hand for a few minutes, they discovered Nick and Eve up ahead. Pauline, Cassie, Alan, and Michelle were also there. It was quite the gathering. Earlier events had apparently been forgotten as all of them wore smiles on their faces and laughed amongst themselves gleefully.
“What are you all up to?” Annaliese asked as she walked between them.
Nick was holding a basketball and tossed it to her. She flinched and caught it, then held it in her hands feeling confused.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” he said. “Throw it in.”
Annaliese looked up at the row of nets inside one of the stalls. She didn’t see the harm, so she reared back and thrust the ball into the air, just like she had as a twelve year old girl on the middle-school netball team.
The basketball hit the backboard and bounced away. Eve leant over the shelf and retrieved it from the floor. “Good try,” she said.
Annaliese grinned. Throwing the ball had been fun and she wanted to try again until she at least made a successful basket. “What’s this all about?” she said.
“It’s about fun,” said Nick. “I think we all need a break from supplies and defences and rations. Time to kick back for an afternoon and try to remember what life is all about.”
Mike walked forward and motioned to receive the ball. “I’ve just been saying the exact same thing. How bout we get into teams to make this a bit more interesting?”
“Sounds good to me,” said Nick.
Everyone else agreed.
Annaliese and Mike joined up with Alan and Michelle in a team against Nick, Eve, Cassie, and Pauline. They took turns making baskets, but it wasn’t long before Nick’s team were several points ahead.
“Were you a professional basketball player in your old life?” Annaliese asked Nick. “You never miss a basket.”
“I used to play a lot as a teenager,” he said. “It’s like riding a bike.”
Mike wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm. “Well, I think we should remix the teams. You lot are whipping our arses.”
“What is going on here?”
Annaliese looked up to see Dave marching towards them with Jan and Renee right behind him.
“Nothing,” Nick said. “We’re just having a bit of fun.”
“Fun? Fun? We have things to do. We all need to be working?”
Eve picked up the ball and looked at him. “Says who?”
“Says me!”
She rolled her eyes. “And who the hell are you?”
Dave bristled. “Apparently, I am the only one looking out for this group.”
Nick spoke next and was immediately met with a glare from Dave. “Look, you’re not in charge of everyone, Dave, and neither was Shawcross. You had your little coup d’état in the restaurant, but the rest of us are going to do what we want to do, not what you tell us to.”
“We’ll end up dead with that kind of attitude. There is danger all around us and you’re playing…basketball!”
Annaliese sighed. She knew Dave had a point, but Nick was right as well. They all needed to let off steam or they were going to end up having nervous breakdowns. “We’re just taking a break,” she said. “We’ll be back to work soon.”
“Now!” said Dave. “You all need to do the jobs assigned to you now.”