Chapter 16

That was how Alyx found himself on the crappy couch in the dorm, Sam practically nesting next to him, buried under a blanket with a mountain of Chinese food on the rickety table in front of them, and a bad monster movie starting on the TV. It was a pretty great approximation of Alyx’s ideal night in, though for the first time he wasn’t alone and had someone other than Mick joining him. It wasn’t a great date, but Mick pulled him aside, whispering about another mission, before sending them both back to the apartment.

He was also texting Alyx pretty regularly, which would seem to defeat the purpose of him and Paxton needing to be alone, but Alyx was somewhat afraid to ask. But he also wasn’t sure what to talk to Sam about and they had lapsed into an odd but comfortable silence, lacking the awkwardness that had been there the first movie night with the whole group.

“So, what are we watching?” Sam pulled a paper carton onto her lap and twirled her chopsticks in the mix of beef and broccoli.

This was something Alyx could talk about. “This is the movie that is widely considered having re-started the American B-monster-movie revival. Most monster movies were farmed out and re-dubbed from Japan.” Which was where Alyx had discovered his love of terrible monster movies while being stationed there briefly.

Sam chewed thoughtfully, slurping some saucy meat into her mouth.

“But… what is it?” She asked just as the title screen popped up and Alyx gave her a tight, nervous smile, wondering what she would think. “Anaconda? It’s about an undiscovered giant snake in the jungle that eats a bunch of people.”

She chortled, shoving a bite into her mouth. “Thouns coo.” Which he translated as ‘sounds cool’ and he exhaled in relief. Not everyone was into bad monster movies.

They sat in mostly silence as the movie unfolded, the sounds of a jungle, some gunfire, and people screaming as the snake ate them, underscored by slurping and asking to pass different cartons around. Sam laughed at several points, and when it ended, she gave him a sleepy smile. “That was pretty cool. The right amount of campy and silly and gory.”

Alyx nodded, “If you like that, there are a bunch more of varying quality.” He stood, scooping up the containers that still held food, closing them and moving to put them in the fridge, as Sam patted her stomach with a groan, lazily grabbing empties and tucking them in the trash.

“MMM… So good. I haven’t eaten like that in a long time.” She sighed happily before taking the DVD out and putting it in the case. “Do you have another one, or…”

“Yeah…” Alyx crouched next to her and held up two options. “Frankenfish or MegaCroc?”

The sharp sound of Sam’s laughter jolted him to look up at her and she just shrugged. “Those are ridiculous names. You pick your favorite.”

He nodded. The names did get rather silly, but that was part of the fun. “Frankenfish it is!”

* * *

Sam woke up in the dark, unsure of what startled her. After Frankenfish, they both turned in, Sam to her new solo room and Alexander to his-former/now-Paxton’s room. But it was still a small dorm with thin walls and after a moment of sitting in the dark, she heard it. A thump and a moan.

Though Sam was attuned to sounds like thumping and banging thanks to her childhood, for the most part, she was able to ignore things happening rooms away. It was the moan that did it. It wasn’t the sound of someone going to the bathroom who stubbed their toe, something she would easily ignore and roll over before going back to sleep. It was a guttural sound, pain mixed with terror.

It was the kind of sound that you got out of bed for, a sound that made you wonder if someone was dying. So Sam slipped a ratty bathrobe around her shoulders and peeked out her door. The living room was empty, dark. Sam huffed, waiting a moment to see if it was just some drunk students in the hall, but then it happened again, echoing from the room across the shared space.

“Alyx…” Sam slipped across the floor, shivering at the cool surface on her bare feet, and knocked gently. “Alyx, are you okay?”

Nothing.

Swallowing, she twisted the knob and peeked in. Even in the dim light, she could see something was wrong. The bed was empty, all the blankets pulled off and wrapped around Alyx as he sat rocking in the corner. “Alyx? What’s wrong?”

His head snapped around, looking at her with wild eyes as he started muttering to himself. Things about guns and sand and losing people. Scary things she didn’t understand. Then he lunged at her and she screamed, darting back and slamming the door before bolting to her bedroom.

Snatching her phone, she dialed Paxton, simply because he was first on her short list of contacts.

“What the hell, Sam, it’s like three in th-” He groggily answered just as something heavy, probably Alyx, thudded against her door and she screamed again. “What? What’s going on?”