"Those two are twins, if you can't tell. The girl is Shy and the boy is Bold." He moved his finger to point at the fat man sitting on the floor by the door. "He's Remus. He picked that himself, although he won't tell us why."
The fat man snorted and turned back to his computer.
Lys continued on the older man in the hallway. "He's…"
"Maddox," Said the old man gruffly.
Lys chuckled and moved on, "Over there is Lydia, she won't let us rename her."
"It's silly." Lydia countered, "What's the point in changing your names?"
"And that's Irvine."
Echo nearly choked when she heard his name. Lys looked at her and chuckled, "I see you can understand why. He does rather look like him, don't you think?"
"Y-yeah…"
Irvine grinned at them and approached. He took Echo's hand in a flourish and kissed it. "It's a pleasure to have you here, Echo. Welcome to our humble hole in the ground. Creatively nicknamed… the Hole."
Echo blushed and tried to keep herself from giggling. Maddox rolled his eyes at the exchange and disappeared back into the bedrooms. Ro also rolled her eyes and soon everyone had returned to what they were doing before Lys and Echo had turned up.
Echo found herself sticking close to Lys as he sauntered over to the couch and sat down next to Shy. Echo wasn't really sure what they expected of her. She didn't know who to talk to or even what she was doing there. Did they expect her to stay there with them, because they all had the dreams? Because they were all 'Chosen', as Lys called it? She settled onto the arm of the couch and placed the wire basket she'd been carrying at her feet.
"Hey! You brought stuff!" Ro cheered as she caught a glimpse of the items. Her eyes danced as if it was Christmas morning and she fell to her knees and started digging through the items. "Hey Lydia, more food." Ro called, tossing the bags of Doritos to the pregnant woman. She caught them easily and stuffed them into the cupboards.
"Oh! And shampoo! I haven't had real shampoo in weeks!" This caught the attention of the two twins, and more specifically Shy, who was now watching with interest as Ro sorted through the things Echo and Lys had managed to steal from the drugstore. She pulled out the deodorant and the bandages, nodding in approval as she set them down. She took a large swig of the Dr Pepper and then let it be passed around. But what really caught her eye was the pack of disposable pink razors and the can of shaving cream. "Finally! My legs are staring to look like a gorilla's!" She grabbed the razors and the shaving cream and rushed down the hall to the bathroom.
"Save some for me!" Lys called after her. He looked at Echo and smiled. She was a little shocked that they would all help themselves to her things like that.
"Get used to it," Lys explained to her, "We share everything here, we have to if we want to survive. Food and small luxuries are scarce for us. We're always on the run from the Hunters, and so we don't have real jobs or a place to stay. We steal occasionally, or work odd jobs. Everybody does their part and we all survive. It's the way we work."
Echo nodded in understanding. It made sense; still, it was something to get used to. Before it had been only herself, her parents and her brother. Then she had lost them all and it was only her. Now she'd suddenly gained nine new people to share with. It was a big leap.
The Dr Pepper had reached herself and Lys, and after he drank about half of what was left he handed it to her. She took a swallow and sighed, dropping the now empty bottle into the wire basket among the items she had just stolen.
Chapter Three
~*Jobs*~
"So how long have you been having them?" Ro asked that night while helping Echo put together a bed with an extra foam mattress and some old sheets on the floor. Lydia had the only bed, Ro had explained, since she was pregnant and all. She also got her own room.
"Having what?" Echo asked.
"The dreams, silly!" Shy cut in with a laugh. "What did you think?"
"I thought maybe you meant the feelings." Echo said quietly.
"You mean like when you feel you have to run?" Ro asked with a frown. "That's more like heightened intuition. The dreams are what's really scary."
"Have you seen the end yet?" Shy asked eagerly. "Did you cry?"
"The end? Lys mentioned that too. What does that mean?"
Ro and Shy exchanged a glance. "So you haven't then." Ro observed. "Even Thena has seen the end." She looked at her younger sister, who was sleeping peacefully next to the door, in the thin sliver of light from the hallway. "How long have you had the dreams?"
"About two weeks," Echo said softly, "Maybe a bit longer. I kind lost track after…" She cut herself off. She was about to say 'after my mother died' but she didn't feel ready to share that, not yet. Luckily, Shy and Ro didn't push her on it.
"Then you'll see it soon. It's really scary. I couldn't sleep for three days the first time I saw it. But after a while the dreams start to be monotonous, and they don't bother you as much any more."
Echo chewed on her lower lip and glanced warily at the other girls. "What is this 'end' you're talking about?"
Ro sighed and looked at Shy again, "It's the end of the world."
Echo didn't sleep at all that night.
~
The residents of the Hole, as it turned out, were early risers. Probably as a result of the terrifying dreams they all shared. Echo dreamed a lot of the attack on the Olympics, of the attack on New York years earlier, often seeing it through the eyes of a victim, leaping from the flaming building and plunging fifty stories down to their death. Upon impact, she would sit bolt upright in her bed and wipe the sweat form her brow, still feeling the heat of the flames and her stomach in her feet as she shivered.
Sometime during the night Athena had woken up from her dreams and crawled into bed with her sister, her tiny body wracked with sobs. She spent the rest of the night sobbing and shaking and hiccupping. The sound made Echo's nerves tingle and it terrified her. Had Athena dreamt of the end? Was this what was coming for her if she ever dared to close her eyes again? Why were they chosen to endure this torment? She pondered these questions all night.
She finally got up after she heard Lydia and then Irvine shuffle out of their rooms, take quick showers and then clamber about the kitchen.
She pulled herself to her feet from the floor, stopping a moment to let the dizziness pass when all the blood rushed to her head. She found them cooking, conversing softly so they wouldn't wake anyone before they were ready. Lydia was cooking eggs while Irvine sliced a mountain of apples.
"Morning sunshine." Irvine said with a grin as she stumbled into the kitchen, her feet still unsteady at such an early hour. "Morning," She croaked. "Are you guys always up so early?"
"Yes," Lydia answered, "We make breakfast for the group. Did we wake you?"
Echo shook her head 'no' and then offered to help. Lydia smiled warmly at her. "You could put on some coffee if you'd like. Or do you prefer tea?"
"No, coffee is fine."
"Don't worry about being a bother, the twins and Maddox both drink tea so I'll be putting the kettle on shortly."
"Oh, well in that case…"
Lydia grinned and quickly filled the green kettle with water and placed it on a back burner to boil. Echo found the coffee, with Irvine's help, and started to make some in the ancient coffee machine on the counter. She and her father had often drunk coffee in the wee hours of the morning before anyone else was up and read the newspaper. He would take the sports and business sections, and she read the comics, culture, opinion and classified sections. She always loved to look at rental property and job offerings in the classifieds. Or the personals were always entertaining. It was like a bonding time for them. Neither ever said anything, but they had this silent understanding. Echo never felt closer to her father than when they weren't speaking. But that was a long time ago.
Glancing at the clock, she saw that is was nearly six AM. She was surprised at how quickly after six people started appearing from the rooms. By six thi
rty, everyone but Athena had crawled out of bed and loaded their paper plates with scrambled eggs and sliced fruit, eating it with plastic forks.
"No use for real dishes," Lys told her, "We move around too much and they just break."
They sat on the floor to eat, since they lacked a dining table. Echo had tea and felt oddly comfortable squished between Lys and Shy on the floor. She sipped her tea and savoured the flavour. She hadn't had tea in what seemed like ages. Maddox drank his with half a cup of milk and piled high with sugar; funny, because she had dubbed him a coffee, black, kind of person. The twins took theirs black, though, and they gulped it down as if it wasn't burning their tongues.
By seven Athena had emerged from the girls' room, still looking rather pale. She grabbed a plate and sat down between Lydia and her sister and said nothing. No one said anything, but they shared the same concerned look on their faces. Perhaps they had heard her crying in the night as well. She had undoubtedly dreamt of the end.
"So, any requests?" Lys asked as he finished. He looked around the room and waited for someone to answer. Maddox spoke up first. "We need some men's shaving cream. I don't want to smell like that flowery stuff."
"We're running low on milk and eggs." Lydia said reluctantly. "I'd go to the supermarket but I'm low on cash and I need that money to buy some baby things. You know it's coming any day now."
Lys nodded as he took note of the items in his mind.
"Bold and I still request green tea. This orange pekoe stuff tastes like crap." Shy piped.
"Duly noted," Lys said with a smile. "Any other necessities you want me to pick up?"
"Get a job," Maddox grumbled, "I'm tired of being a criminal."
"Yes, yes," Lys sighed. He looked down at Echo and said "He says that to me every day, but it never happens."
"More shampoo and razors." Ro offered, "We'll run out soon but it's not a priority."
"Blankets," Said Bold, speaking for the first time since Echo had met him. "It'll be winter soon."
"Great. I'm going to take Echo out and show her the ropes. See you all back here later. Come on, Echo." He offered her his hand and helped her to her feet. "Grab your backpack and empty it. We might need it."
Echo nodded and did as she was told. She stepped into her shoes and followed Lys out the door. As they were leaving she was sure she heard Irvine calling "And get some beer!"
~
Echo already knew most of what Lys called 'the ropes'. She'd stolen enough with her mother in order to survive. When the Hunters had first appeared they didn't have time to pack anything. They just hopped in the car and drove as fast as they could. The others were already dead. There was nothing they could do.
Her mother took all of her money out of her bank account, and Echo did the same, but most of their funds had been drained somehow, and all they ended up with was $74.19. It was a pathetic amount of money. They used it to buy bread and peanut butter and a few articles of clothing. They couldn't use their ID or debit cards any more because then they would be found. They had to keep moving and so they quickly picked up the art of shoplifting. It still made Echo queasy to think about stealing, but she pushed the feeling down. 'You don't have a choice.' She told herself. 'You don't have a choice.'
"Maybe we could just find a job or something." She offered weakly.
"You're welcome to try." Lys said indifferently. "Find yourself a paper and flip through the classifieds. There's not much there for someone who changes their city of residence every month or so."
"Every month? Is that how often the Hunters find you?"
Lys nodded solemnly. "Sometimes even more frequently. We pick up people as we go along. Sometimes we lose them to the Hunters. Sometimes they survive the run, sometimes they don't. Last time we lost four to the Hunters." Echo could see his hands clenching at his sides. "My brother was one of them."
Echo looked down. "I'm sorry. I…I know how you feel."
"Of course you do," He said, forcing a smile. "We all do. There's not as person among us who hasn't lost someone to the Hunters. They always find us before we learn to listen to the feelings. That urge to run is there for a reason, you know. It's to protect us."
"And what about the dreams?" Echo asked. "What are they for? Are they protection too?" There was a bite to her voice and she knew it. Lys ignored it and shrugged.
"Maybe. They're probably more of a warning of what's to come. Shy told me you haven't seen the end yet. You will though." He looked up at the sky and grimaced, as if in pain. "The dreams tell us of what's to come. They warn us of the end of the world, so we can survive it."
Echo stopped dead and stared at him, "How do you know all this?" She demanded, "What makes you so sure?"
"I don't know. But it seems to be the most popular opinion. Why else would we dream of the end of the world?"
"I don't know. Maybe we're all just crazy."
He laughed, but there was no humour in his voice. "I don't think so, Echo. The end of the world is coming, and for some reason we've been chosen to survive it."
They started walking again, and this time they were silent. Echo was glad for the time to mull over what Lys had suggested. Chosen? To survive the apocalypse? It sounded a bit too far-fetched to her. Which was probably why she didn't have much trouble believing it. His unlikely theory did explain the incredible things that were happening to her. And she didn't mean 'incredible' in a good way. What would she give to just go back to the way it was before? She wanted to be one of those people milling about the street, blissfully ignorant of what was going to happen to them all.
They stopped off at a coffee shop and grabbed a newspaper that someone had left lying on a table. Echo immediately began flipping through it, looking for anything that would give them some quick cash without requiring a commitment to the job. There wasn't much. A lot of people wanted experience for management positions, there were a few simpler jobs, but nothing that would suit their needs.
"Find anything?" Lys asked coyly.
"No," She scowled.
"I told you, it's not as easy to find a job as you think. Athena goes around and offers to rake leaves for five bucks a yard, if you want to go try that."
"It's better than stealing." She sighed.
"I know you're uncomfortable with this," Lys started, "But you're going to have to suck it up. We've got no other choice."
Echo smiled at this. "Yeah, I know. I just wish there was a better way."
"So do I."
Then an employee of the coffee shop came over and told them that if they weren't going to buy anything they would have to leave. They left reluctantly and resumed their aimless walk, looking for a target that neither of them had hit before. Finally they found a suitable place decided that they would do what they had done yesterday.
Echo would go in first and start collecting items off the shelf, trying to stick to the list but Lys said it was alright to take something else if she thought they would need it. Lys would come in a few minutes later and look at the magazines. Echo would make sure her shoe was untied beforehand and stop to tie it when she was finished. Lys said that he would wait until she was done tying her shoe so she wouldn't trip over the laces while they were running. Then he would grab the basket and take off, with Echo close behind.
It was practically foolproof. Echo entered the store and started browsing, this time feeling a lot calmer than she had yesterday, although still a little sick. She collected razors and more shaving cream, a couple bottles of shampoo and a handful of chocolate bars from the shelf. She kept browsing for a few minutes, taking random things that caught her eye but being careful not to go too crazy. She looked at Lys once while he entered and was careful not to look at him again. She emerged from the aisle, bent down to tie her shoes and probably faster than it had happened yesterday, Lys was upon the basket like a ravenous dog and was out the door.
"Hey! Stop!" She shouted once before taking off after him. She did not yell again so she wouldn't attract too much attention. The clerk
at the store ran with her about halfway down the street before giving up and turning around, probably to call the police. Lys made a detour through a mall, and Echo followed him. She was dismayed to find that the floors had been freshly waxed, and her feet refused to get a good grip on the floor and kept sliding out from under her.
They dodged people and skidded around corners as fast as they could manage until Lys looked back at her and motioned for her to change directions. She was confused but didn't argue and took the opposite hallway from him. She soon discovered why he'd done it. Around the corner a security guard caught sight of Lys, running at top speed with a wire basket from some store under his arm and thought it was suspicious. He quickly took off after the boy, slipping and sliding even worse than Echo was. It was really quite a comical sight, but there was no time for that now. She kept going and decided to meet up with them from the other side.
It wasn't long before she could hear the guard shouting and people yelling as they jumped out of the way of the boy and the guard. Echo kept running, doing her best to pick up as much speed as possible as she barrelled down the hall towards Lys. She grabbed the basket from him as they passed each other and kept running around the corner. The security guard was confused but quickly recovered and pulled out his walkie-talkie, his suspicions that the two were thieves confirmed. Echo ran for the exit and cursed when she saw that three more guards were coming to block the exit. But it was too late to stop now. She quickly chose her target and ran straight at him with all her might. The guard braced himself for impact, spreading his legs apart and holding his arms out, ready to grab her. She smiled; he was doing exactly what she had hoped her would. At the last second she dropped down and slid between his legs. 'Thank God for freshly waxed floors.'
Lys appeared for a moment to take the basket from her, leaving her arms free so she could scramble to her feet and burst out of the mall after him. She knocked over an old lady in the fray, but didn't have time to stop and apologize. She had lost sight of Lys but she wasn't worried. She would see him back at the Hole later. She decided that she would take a roundabout way back to the Hole after she threw the guards off her trail. The police would be on them soon so she would have to act quickly.
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