by Shelly Crane
The Need For Speed
Chapter 5 - Merrick
These runs get worse and worse. Sitting in the van, waiting for Cain to exit the store so we can pack the vehicle quickly and head back home. I’ve never felt so useless in all my life. But what else is there to do?
I flick the radio from one station to another. It’s what I do on these runs. I started going along with them a few weeks back since we have more people to go into the stores and more vehicles to take, they needed more packers.
This new development did not thrill Sherry in the least. It took much convincing that I would be safe and she even cried a little the first time I left and when I returned.
I had once made a vow to always keep her with me, at all times, and we stuck to that rule for some time. But, after we started making weekly store trips to stockpile supplies, I think it’s better for her to stay at the bunker instead of coming with us. Marissa is with there her and Danny. Both use compulsion and can thwart and enemy if need be. We’ve added a few precautions to the trap door and such as well. As much as I hate leaving her, I mean hate it, but I’ll never tell her that, she’s safer there. But, had it not been for Lily, I’m not sure I could’ve convinced her to stay.
Nothing has been the same since what happened that day, with the fight with the Lighters. She worries about me. She never seemed to worry about me before, thought I was invincible or something. Now that she has seen the death first hand...she worries.
She knows, we all break the same.
I stop the radio on a station blaring some rock tune that I’ve never heard before. I just need to stay awake at this point. I close my eyes for a minute and wonder where Cain is. He’s taking a long time. I try to hurry him along, with some encouragement in his mind.
For the love of all, Cain. If I had a grandmother, she’d be faster than you.
Cain has taught me many things these past couple months. Sarcasm being the main thing, I think. I really only use it on him. He’s been almost a brother to me. Almost catching up to Danny which is saying something. He saved Sherry’s life and has been there for us both more times than I can count. He still puts himself in danger everyday to work at the diner but that’ll soon change when the need warehouses come.
Regardless, I’m probably the most at ease with him than I am with any other human male other than Danny. I can laugh and joke and say just about anything I want and he just rolls with it. Sherry, him and I wind up spending a lot of time together.
I startle as I hear a tap on the window and look up at a human face I don’t recognize. He has dark sunglasses on, though the sun isn’t out and he’s tapping the window with a club of some sort, a night stick.
Ah crap.
I roll the window down lazily and nonchalantly in hopes of seeming uninterested.
“Yes?” I ask.
“You can’t sleep here. You need to remove your vehicle from the premises.”
“I’m waiting for someone. He’s in the store.”
“Why are you waiting out here in the cold? Why didn’t you go in as well?”
I practice the story we made up.
“I’m sick. Not feeling well. Just came along to help him load it all once he get’s done. He’s a whiner. My roommate. If I don’t at least drive him, he complains to no end,” I state and roll my eyes for dramatic effect.
“I see.”
He pauses. I wonder if he bought it. He seems to have.
“Alright, well. This is really against the rules...no manned vehicles. No loitering. I guess I can let you slide this time but the next time, you have to go in with him or stay home. Got it?”
“Yes, sir. Got it.”
He begins to walk away but then turns back.
“Where do you live, son?”
I find it comical that his body can’t be more than five years older than mine but he’s referring to me as son, as some kinda degrading show of authority, I’m sure.
“Out off the interstate,” I answer.
“Where off the interstate.”
“Way out. Off I-70. Near the Casey exit,” I tell the most truth I can without telling it all.
“What are you doing in Effingham? Just shopping?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You boys go to school? College?”
“No, sir.”
I rubbed my eyes with my fingers and yawned, trying to look bored and uninterested.
“What do you do then?”
“My roommate works in town. I don’t do much of anything.”
“You don’t have a job?”
“No, sir.”
“No wonder he’s on your case boy,” he said laughing and shifted from one foot to the other.
“I guess.”
“Your friend sure is taking a long time.”
“Mmhhmm.”
“Why don’t you go in and check on him.”
What the..? What’s up with the third degree?
“If it’s ok with you, sir, I’ll just wait. Like I said, I feel like crap. He should be out anytime. I’m fine waiting here, really.”
He continued to look at me, or I assume he was. Couldn’t tell because of the dark of his glasses where his eyes were actually looking. He leaned back to glance in the van and saw all the seats had been removed. He stilled.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
He returned back to me slowly.
“Expecting a big load, son? How much stuff can two kids need?”
“We don’t need much,” I lied. “We use the van for other purposes. If you know what I mean.”
I had no idea what I was saying. I hope he bought it. I knew human males said things like that, macho stupid things about nonchalant sex and other extracurricular activities.
“Hmmmm. Well, I know what you mean. You need to be careful with things like that. A boy could get himself into trouble.”
Just as I was about to agree I see Cain. Loaded down with two huge mounded shopping carts full.
Crap.
“What’s this?” the man asked suspiciously, as I knew he would. “This your roommate? You lying to me boy? What’s going on here? What do you need all this stuff for?”
As Cain approached, looking weary, I jumped out, grabbed the man while he was distracted and placed him in a head lock, pressing my thumb into the pressure point on his neck. He passed out quickly and I placed him in the van. Cain was less than pleased.
“What the hell?” Cain asked as he began to frantically unload the carts.
“He made us. I had to do something. Let’s hurry before he wakes up. We’ll drop him off somewhere. Like last time.”
“Gah, Merrick. I can’t leave you alone for five minutes,” he teased.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first human I’d had to drop on one of our trips to town. Of course, no one knows that but Cain and I. And I’d prefer it to stay that way. Times were getting desperate and I didn’t want Sherry or anyone else to freak out when we were so close to the need warehouse deadline and needed these trips now more than ever.
“That was quite a bit longer than twenty minutes, pal. What happened?”
“I had a problem with the credit cards. Most of them are empty now or not enough to cover this amount of stuff. Took me a while and they were starting to wonder about me. This was a tricky trip. That’s for sure,” he said as he pushed the mans legs further in to start loading the bigger boxes of toilet paper and rice. “Oh, and by the way. If you had a grandma, there’s no way she could beat Maggie, ok.”
I chuckled.
“I’m sure. Well, it’s almost over. Coming to town won’t be necessary at all anymore. For me anyway.”
“Yeah. I don’t know what I’m gonna do when I can’t work. I’ve worked everyday since I was fifteen. That’s eleven years, in case you’re Keeper mind can’t keep up.”
“Well, I’ve worked everyday for six thousand years. All day, every day, no sleep. So stop whining.”
“So, you’re an old man. That’s what you’re saying?”
/>
He lifted an eyebrow at me so I threw a bag of rice at him and he laughed as it hit him in the stomach, making his ‘oof’.
We got everything loaded and I started the van. A while later I pulled the van over behind an old house on our way out of town to drop off the nosy man. I laid him out comfortably in the grass, though it was yellow and scratchy. I’m sure it provided him no real comfort.
We left him there, with his sunglasses still intact and on his face. As I pulled back onto the road Cain began to question me about Lillian. Which I was grateful for. I always hated this long ride and welcomed the distraction.
“So. I came home last night from work and Lillian was asleep on the couch. Her head was in Mitchell’s lap,” he scoffed.
“So?”
“So? He had his hands on her,” he said like he was disgusted. “In her hair and on her back. He was asleep too. They looked a little more than cozy.”
“Mitchell was Michael’s Keeper. She’s close to him, it’s not uncommon.”
“Yeah, like you and Sherry? That’s what I’m worried about. All these woman are jumping on the Keeper wagon. What about the ones of us who are left, huh? What about me?”
“Well, they can’t help it. They can just see how wonderful we are. It’s just pulls them in, like a fish on a rod,” I said grinning at him.
I loved to goad him. Even though he knew I was doing it, he’d take the bait every time.
“Bite me. And. I saw her talking to Miguel in the hall this morning. I wanted to punch his stupid grin right off his face.”
“You really like her? You just met her yesterday.”
“I like her, I’m not saying I want to elope,” he said and gave me a look that said ‘like you’.
“Well...I don’t know. She hasn’t said anything to Sherry about either of them. I wouldn’t be too worried yet. Like I said, it’s not uncommon for humans to have close relationships with their Keepers. Most of them are different, special in a different way. He lost his charge and she lost her protector. It’s natural that they would team together and become friends. They had no one else.”
“I know. I’m being shallow but I can’t help it. I feel like I’m in a fish tank and all the food is slowly being gobbled up by the other fish. Man, she is hot though, isn’t she? When she came out of the shower...ah, I thought I was having a heart attack. Gorgeous.”
“She’s alright.”
“Oh come on. I won’t tell Sherry if you say another woman is hot.”
“I think she’s pretty, yes, I might agree with gorgeous but, it’s not the same gorgeous you’re thinking of.”
“You want to explain that to me further, mister vague.”
“Well, I have Sherry, so I don’t care what other women look like because I have everything I need. When someone is completely in love with you, it just blocks everything else out. Sherry is like...a creature from my dreams. Like she was made for me.”
Cain stays quiet for a minute, I only assume pondering over what we’ve said. I bet he’s thinking about if he’s being shallow with Lillian or he really likes her.
“Well. I hope I know what that feels like someday,” he said quietly looking out his window.
Cain had told me about his fiancé, the woman he was engaged to before all this happened. She had an affair, cheated on him with her boss, a lawyer from some big time national firm. She was enthralled with him because he’d been in a commercial and she had talked non-stop about it while she was at home. Apparently, she’d been more enthralled than Cain had realized. He caught them in the act of not working, in her office...on her desk.
I wonder if that’s what he’s thinking about. I wonder if I said the wrong thing.
We’re almost home now and we stay quiet the rest of the way. I think about Lily and what she’s doing right now. Probably trying to talk Sherry into something like a snack of pickles and syrup. And Sherry. Sweet Sherry has such a hard time resisting. It’s adorable. All of it. I can’t believe it’s mine.
I glance in the back and double take. I see something I’ve never seen on these runs before. Actually never seen one in real life before either.
“Cain. What is in the worlds is that doing in here?”
He glances back and smiles.
“A surprise.”
“Lily is gonna freak,” I said happily, smiling too.
“I know. I can’t wait.”
Little White Lies
Chapter 6 - Sherry
“Lillian. You don’t have to do that. You just go back in there, rest a little bit. It’s ok, I can do it. I don’t mind,” I insist for the fifth time.
“I want to. I need something to keep my hands busy. Besides, I have nothing else to do, since I didn’t go on the run today.”
Lillian was being stubborn and insisting on washing hers and mine and Merrick’s clothes as payment for borrowing clothes to sleep in last night.
“Ugh! Fine, but I’m helping.”
We had been going at it for almost ten minutes about these dang clothes. Lily was napping soundly in her room. Her cute room, I might add. We let her color on the walls with whatever we could find. She drew ponies, rainbows and butterflies. Typical little girl stuff, except for the watermelon. She loves watermelon. She asked me to help too, so I drew a little girl with a doll.
Merrick also got Cain to pick her up a new doll on one of their runs. Miley is now sitting on the shelf in the commons room. Couldn’t bare to part with it for good so we stored it for later. She loves the new doll even more I think. She aptly named it Joy.
Cain also picked her up some crayons and coloring books along with Calvin and Frank some more puzzles and an electronic handheld game with rechargeable batteries. Cain is the go-to guy for whatever you need. He can get you just about anything.
So Lily’s room is littered with pictures and drawings and full of color. Especially purple, her favorite color. Calvin and Franklin started bunking together to give their parents some privacy and they took their makeshift tent from the second room and placed it in their new room together. Miguel showed them how to make it camouflage with some permanent markers.
It took forever! But they finally got it done and were so proud of themselves. Miguel and Ryan even helped them rig it to stay more securely to the walls and ceiling. They were ecstatic. I don’t think we saw them out of their room for two whole days.
“Well, you can help if you like but it’s only fair if I pull my weight around here. I don’t need any special treatment.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. But there’s nothing wrong with you just taking a day or two to recuperate. I know it’s rough out there with everything that’s going on.”
“No need. But thank you. You know? I missed you, Sherry.”
We walked back into the laundry room with our last armloads of clothes. Lillian grabbed Mitchell’s clothes, who was in with Max going over some Keeper stuff, from his room to wash as well. Hmmm...that’s sweet.
“I missed you too. I hated us having to separate before. It didn’t seem right.”
“I know. I never had any brothers or sisters growing up. Never had any cousins. My family was really small and private. We stayed home a lot and I went to a small private school so... It was neat to me, for us to all be piled in that basement together. Like now I guess. I know ya’ll probably hate it but, it’s nice to have so many people to talk to.”
“I like it. I mean, the circumstances suck. But, I didn’t have a big family either. But I have one now.” I smile thinking about it. “This is a great group. You couldn’t ask for better people. I think you’re gonna like it here,” I say as we begin to place the clothes in the suds in the big utility sink.
So, total, we have Lillian’s, mine, Merrick’s, Lily’s, Mitchell’s and Cain’s clothes to wash. Cain works so much and goes on every run and trip there is so I always do his laundry for him. It only seems fair. When the heck would he have the time to anyway?
“I think so, too. Everyone’s been really helpful and c
onsiderate.”
“I saw you talking to Cain yesterday,” I threw out very casually, hoping she wouldn’t catch any undertones.
“Yeah, he showed me around. He’s really nice.”
“Yeah, he is.”
“You two seem close. He said you both had been through some stuff together.”
“He saved my life.”
“Really?” she said, her hands stopping. “What happened?”
“Long story. Short version, Cain and I we were tricked by Lighters into going outside to help someone, got trapped in a cave out behind the store, almost froze to death and we faced a battalion of Lighters and Markers and the Taker himself after he kidnapped Lily and Calvin.”
“Uh...whoa.”
“Yeah. Anyway, Cain carried me when I broke my leg.” I motioned to my walking cast. “He also found the cave we stayed in. Then later on that day, he rescued us after our van when in the river.”
She blew out a long loud breath.
“Mitchell said ya’ll had had some excitement but I had no idea. That sounds terrible. Doesn’t look like ya’ll had much more luck than us after all.”
“We have but, well, unfortunately, all that happened within a one day time span. So...Mitchell. How’s he? You two seem to be kinda close.”
She’s rubbing the shirt up and down the grate but staring up at the vents with the clothes blowing in the wind as they dry. She’s off somewhere else but she still answers my question. I wonder if where she is in her head is good or bad.
“He’s great. He has been a Godsend since Michael died. He was upset, like me when it happened, Michael being a Special, his Special and all. But he has kinda taken back up the Keeper thing with me. He watches out for me. It’s nice.”
“I see. And now you’re doing his clothes for him.”
Her eyes snapped back to attention, then focused on me.
“Well, yeah. He’s busy and I’m just sitting here so... It doesn’t mean anything, Sherry. Honestly. He’s my friend and I just like doing things for him.”
