End of the Line | Part 1

by Levi, Casey

  “I found some first aid supplies, and a few flashlights. Did you get anything?”

  “Just a few canned goods. Jesse found a gallon of water in the pantry.” Reed did not look at her as they started walking.

  By the time they were done searching the third house, Kristen felt overwhelmed. They had not gathered much of anything through the houses, and by the massive mess they were in, she assumed that they had already been raided. There was still no sign of Aran and Julie, and she had to fight back the fear for the worst. She knew that they could be anywhere, but how far would they be willing to travel before giving up their search for Brady?

  Kristen stopped in the entryway of the house they were in and leaned against the wall. “We should stop and take a break.”

  “You can stay here with Jesse and Zac, but I’m going to finish searching the houses.” Reed picked up his pack and headed for the door.

  “Reed you need to take a break. Eat something, and rest for a while.” Kristen placed a pleading hand on his arm.

  He took in a deep breath, and she knew that she was not going to be able to stop him. “I’ll be back in about an hour.” He swung his pack over his shoulder.

  “Then I’m going with you.”

  “Fine.”

  Kristen put her backpack on and followed Reed out the door. They walked in silence as they headed for the last two houses at the end of the street. The sky had turned into a dark gray by the time they reached the houses, and she wondered if a storm was coming. It would be a positive change from the burning sun. She thought.

  Once again, the house came up empty, and she was beginning to wonder if it was even worth it to search the last house. All she could begin to think about was finding her friend’s and getting the hell out of there. She did not like this, and something about it all was giving her an unsettling feeling.

  Kristen needed a break and pulled her pack off her shoulders. She opened it, pulled out a water bottle, and drank the last few gulps she had left. Placing the bottle back, she sat down on the base of the staircase.

  “Do you want to stay here and rest while I go-”

  She snapped her head up. “No. Reed I’m not going to stay in some house by myself. We should not be splitting up more than we already have. This is dangerous.”

  Reed avoided looking at her and stared out the open door. “Kristen you look exhausted. You can just head back and rest with Jesse and Zac.”

  “I’m not leaving you alone.” She could not believe him right now. Why did he seem like he wanted to get rid of her?

  “I can take care of myself you know?” Reed turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow.

  She was astonished by his change in mood suddenly. “Just give me five minutes, okay?”

  Reed set his pack down and sat by her on the stairs. He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. She wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes. She felt herself relaxing against him and wished she could rest for more than five minutes.

  A loud crack of thunder roared through the sky, and Kristen jumped into Reed. He stood up and walked over to the front door. Another crack of thunder lit up the sky, and the rain started to pour down. She walked over to the door and stared out at the darkened sky.

  “We should get going.” Reed picked up his pack and walked out onto the front porch.

  She grabbed her pack and followed behind him. The rain was pouring down, drenching everything within a matter of seconds. Thunder roared across the sky as lighting began to streak the gray clouds. They both stepped off the porch and began to run back to the house where they had left Jesse and Zac. As they ran, Kristen could feel the water sloshing into her shoes, and they were both drenched from head to toe.

  The rain felt cold against her skin as she ran, and she welcomed the cool feeling. She loved the rain, but with the added thunder she wanted to hurry and get inside. As they approached the house, another flash of lightening lit up the sky and Kristen almost cried in horror. She grabbed a hold of Reed’s arm and pulled him down behind a car that was parked a few hundred feet from the house.

  “What are you doing?” He looked over at her in confusion.

  “Reed, there is someone in front of the house.” She tried to speak through her rapid breathing.

  “What?” His confusion grew more, and he turned away from her to peek his head around the car. “I don’t see anything. It’s too dark.”

  “I swear I saw something when the sky lit up.” Kristen crawled up next to him and peeked around the car. She could not see anything either, but she knew that she had seen someone.

  “Come on. We need to get to the house.” Reed grabbed a hold of her hand.

  Kristen stood up from behind the car, but something grabbed a hold of her arm. She let out a shrilling scream and tried to fight off whatever had grabbed her. Her struggles were no use, and she could feel the burning of tears as she let out a sob. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  “Kris it’s me. Aran.”

  As the words processed in her mind, she stopped and looked up at the man. Sure enough, standing in front of her was Aran and Julie. She wrapped her arms around them both and hugged them as tight as she could. Thank god they were together again. A sudden thought came to her, and her happiness faded quickly.

  “Where’s Brady?”

  “We couldn’t find him anywhere.” Aran let go of her and stepped back.

  “Yeah. We think he might have found a car and booked it to Vegas.” Julie chimed in

  “Dammit.”

  “Well there’s nothing we can do in this weather. You guys have a place?” Aran said looking at the houses.

  Reed turned and pointed to the house in front of them. “That one. Jesse and Zac are already inside.”

  “Well we can rest there until the storm calms down. Then find a car and head to Vegas.” Aran said as they looked at the house.

  The four of them started for the house, and as they neared the lawn a loud crashing noise sounded from inside the house. They looked at one another and started running up the lawn. Kristen busted through the front door and looking around Jesse and Zac were nowhere in sight. Another crashing noise came from upstairs, and with no time to waste the four of them started running up the stairs two at a time. When they reached the top floor, they split up, and headed in different directions.

  Kristen and Reed entered one of the side rooms, ran through it to another opening that led to a bathroom, and through that room to the other side room that linked with the bathroom. When they reached the room, Kristen stopped abruptly in her tracks. There, standing no more than ten feet in front of them stood Brady. He turned in their direction as they approached, and then he took off running out of the room. A loud thud came seconds after, and she and Reed ran out the door to find Brady lying flat on his back. Looking up, Kristen felt her eyes grow wide with shock as Aran stood there standing over Brady with a bat in his hand.

  “Is he dead?” Julie muttered, and Kristen looked back down at Brady.

  Reed leaned over Brady to feel his pulse. “No. Just unconscious.”

  “Where the hell did he come from?” Aran asked, still holding the bat at his side but ready to swing.

  Julie peeked around Aran. “I say we find some rope or tape and tie him up before he gets us all killed.”

  “Agreed. You two find something while Aran and I watch him. And find Jesse and Zac.” Reed stood up and looked over at Aran.

  * * *

  Reed sat across from Brady, holding the bat to his side as he watched the unconscious man. The same man who had tried to kill them and had left them twice now. He did not know what Brady was up to, but he was going to find out. Brady made a groaning sound, and Reed gripped the bat tighter.

  “Hey?” Reed nudged Brady with the end of the bat. “Wake up.”

  Brady made another groaning sound as he tried to lift his head, and Reed nudged him again only this time harder.

  “What. Where am I?”

  “Brady, I
need you to wake up.” Reed leaned forward and tapped him on the cheek.

  Brady lifted his head up and fluttered his eyes until he was able to open them. His whole body tensed, and he tried to stand up from the chair. He began to fight against the tape but stopped as Reed lifted the bat to his chest.

  “You’re not going anywhere, so you can stop trying to break free.” Reed warned.

  Brady only struggled more. “I haven’t done anything, so let me go.”

  “What are you still hiding from us professor?”

  Brady huffed out a breath and leaned back in his chair. “I have told you everything that I know.”

  “Hmm. There is more than you told us.”

  “Well there’s not.” Brady scowled at Reed.

  Reed sat back and stared at Brady. The thought of beating the answers out of him crossed his mind, but would that even get Brady to talk? Reed slowly narrowed his eyes, and the motion caused Brady to shift nervously in his chair.

  ‘Good. Let his mind race a bit.’ Reed thought as a smile spread across his face, and an idea began to form.

  He stood up from his chair and walked towards Aran, who looked more than willing to carry out any plan he had in his mind. He handed him the bat as he walked into the other room. As soon as he seen Kristen and Julie, they both jumped up from the kitchen chairs they had been sitting in seconds ago.

  “Did he say anything? What is going on? Where’s Aran?” Kristen bombarded him with questions.

  “Which question do you want me to answer first?” He raised his hands up. “He hasn’t said anything yet, but don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll reconsider in a few minutes.”

  “Why? What are you going to do?” Kristen narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Just leave it to me and Aran.” Reed leaned down and kissed her forehead. He did not wait for her to reply and walked back into the other room.

  When he returned, Brady was hunched over in the chair. Reed shook his head, but when he got closer, he could see a streak of blood dripping down the side of his face. Brady looked up as Reed got closer, and Aran punched him across the face again causing Brady’s head to snap back.

  “Anything?” Reed walked up next to Aran.

  “No. He won’t talk.” Aran bit out.

  Reed turned his attention back to Brady. “You’re only going to make this harder. Now, what are you not telling us?”

  Brady turned his head and spit towards Aran and Reed. “I’m not telling you shit, so go ahead and kill me.”

  “We’re not going to kill you, but I’ll tell you one thing. If you don’t start telling us what we need to know, then after Aran here is done with you, you’re going to wish we had killed you.”

  Brady looked up at Reed through swollen eyes. “It doesn’t matter. Even if I did tell you, you’re all going to die.” Brady began laughing in a high-pitched devilish way, and Reed felt the cold chill crawl down his spine.

  “Knock him out. We need to talk.” Reed turned and left the room with Brady’s laugh taunting him the whole way.

  20

  Chapter Twenty

  Kristen sat on the front steps of the house. The rain slowly dripped to an end as night fell upon the sky. Brady was still unconscious, and everyone had drifted their own way for the night. In the morning they would be finding a car, and then heading to Vegas with Brady. She had not thought of it earlier, but where was the lady Brady had been traveling with? Had he killed her? Or had he left her somewhere else to fend for herself too? Kristen did not know, and she was not sure she wanted to know either.

  She took in a deep breath of the fresh air from the rain and leaned her head back against the porch railing. So much had happened so fast, and she felt like in some ways luck was on their side. Twice now they had found Brady or, should she say he had found them. At that moment, the front door opened behind her, and caused her to lose her thoughts.

  “Hey Kris.” Julie said sitting down next to her.

  “Hey.”

  “What are you doing out here by yourself?” Julie looked at her with worried eyes.

  “Just getting fresh air. Plus, I don’t know if I can be in the same house as Brady.” Kristen nervously bit her bottom lip.

  “He’s not going anywhere this time Kris.” Julie tried to reassure her.

  “I don’t know Julie… something doesn’t feel right, but I can’t figure out what…” Kristen let her voice trail off. She did not want to worry Julie or anyone else for that matter, but something about the situation did not sit well with her.

  “About Brady?”

  Kristen did not answer her right away because she was not sure she wanted to talk about it. She did not understand her feeling herself, so how could she explain it to her best friend? Kristen stood up from the porch step she had been sitting on and waited until Julie stood up to stand next to her.

  “I just have a feeling that something very bad is going to happen.”

  * * *

  Reed could feel his frustration growing. Aran and he had been trying to get Brady to talk for the last few hours since he had woken up, but nothing seemed to be working. Obviously beating the man was not working, but what else could he do? He would not mind beating him around a little more, and especially after what he had put him and his friends through. He has had enough of Brady pulling them around on strings, and so if the man was not going to talk, then they would take him to Vegas and get their answers.

  He knew deep in his gut that Brady was still hiding something, and for all he knew it could be anything. What was so important that the professor would rather take a beating than talk? If the world really had gone to hell, why was it such a big secret?

  Then a thought suddenly came to him. ‘What if the secret wasn’t his to tell?’ Things had just got a little more complicated with that thought, and if it was true, then who was Brady trying to protect?

  * * *

  When Kristen walked into the house, she found Reed and Aran standing by the door frame of the living room. She looked past them to Brady, who was slouched over in the chair she and Julie had duct-taped him to. She still disliked the idea of him being under the same roof as them, but they still needed answers. Kristen had decided that she would try to stay up all night to keep a close eye on him. There was no way she was going to let him get away again.

  Walking further into the room, Kristen looked from Aran to Reed. They were just finishing a conversation, but by the look on their faces Kristen wondered if Reed was being honestly with her about everything.

  She looked over at Brady again. His brown hair fell slightly over his face, and his eyes were closed. He still wore the same khaki pants, but his shirt was replaced with a dark gray one. There were dark stains on the front of his chest, and that was when she noticed the blood dripping from his nose. She bit down on her lip. She did not like the idea of beating the answers out of him, even if he had tried to kill them.

  Kristen went to step forward but decided against it. She tried to read Reed, but his features where set in stone. He looked as though something was bothering him, and Kristen wondered if it had something to do with what he and Aran had been talking about.

  “Where were you?” Reed’s deep voice brought her out of her thoughts.

  “I was outside.”

  “Kristen you shouldn’t be outside when it’s dark. Anything could’ve happened to you.”

  “I doubt it, but okay boss.”

  “Dammit Kristen. This is not the time to be a smart ass.” Reed snapped at her.

  Kristen looked up at him. She wanted to be mad at him for snapping at her, but she could not help but think of how sexy he looked when he was mad. She had to shake the thought from her mind. “I’m serious Reed.” She paused. “I think he did something to her.”

  “What are you talking about?” He eyed her suspiciously.

  “The lady he was with in the store. I wouldn’t be surprised since he had tried to kill us.” She shifted her weight back and forth.

  She watched Reed
as he looked around the room, and then back down at her. He opened his mouth, but then snapped it closed. Kristen could see his frustration as he tightened his jaw. He was holding back from her, but before she could question him, he leaned towards her and lowered his voice to barley a whisper.

  “I think there is something much bigger than this going on, and I think Brady is trying to protect someone.”

  “Protect someone?” She said it louder than she had meant to, and Reed harshly hushed her. “Sorry… What do you mean? Protect who and why?”

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head and turned to look at Brady. “But whoever it is, they could be watching us.”

  “What?” Kristen’s eyes popped open wide at his statement. She looked around the room as if they were really being watched, but she just shook her head no. That could not be. Someone could not be watching them, could they? She looked up at Reed who had turned back around to look at her. She cleared the nervous lump that had formed in her throat.

  “How did you come up with that accusation?”

  “You didn’t see the look in his eyes. And the way he was saying shit… there is something seriously wrong with that man.”

  “Okay.” Kristen could not believe the fear Brady had inflicted upon Reed. He was not someone who feared much. “So, say someone really is pulling the strings with Brady. How do you expect us to take him to Vegas to find answers? He could be disposable, and then we are back to square one.”

  “Disposable?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Yes Reed, disposable. You know, kill him. Whack him off.” Kristen made a hand motion of slicing her neck open.

  “Yes, I know what you are saying, and please do not say whack him off. That just sounds dirty.” Kristen could tell that he was trying to hide a smile.

  “Well whatever. You get the point.” She looked past him to look at Brady again. “So, what are you planning on doing with him?”