At Night's End

by Benham, Tara

  “I love you too Caidee.”

  “Awe, Caidee” Baxlie mooned over the word. I shot him a look that shut him up quickly and caused the others to suppress their smiles just as fast.

  We trekked down through the basement and into the lab towards the hallways we had taken for the training that was months ago. It seemed like ages now. So much has happened since that night, it didn’t seem like reality. We all quieted down once we got to the door that lead to our back property. None of us had been back there since that night. The walk was still as long as I remembered. Ever started humming a song that talked about not having an ending. Eventually we all joined in, and made quick time of the walk to the back exit. I stopped at the door that Micah lead us to and turned to the group.

  “Do you all remember the plan?”

  “Oh my goodness, Caidee.” I was totally going to kill Baxlie. If Henry didn’t first. He was outwardly glaring at Baxlie’s forwardness.

  “You will not make it through this door, let along the night if you call me that again, Bax.” I don’t think I sounded as mean as I meant too. As much as I disliked anyone but Darcy calling me that, it was Baxlie though and he did everything to make us relax usually. I glanced towards Henry and he was smirking at my response.

  “Yes, we all remember the plans. We should be completely safe at least until we exit the fence, so let’s go out now.” Micah had transformed into master again instead of the “secretly – not so secretly-in love with Ever” Micah.

  I gave in and opened the door. Everything looked the same as last time, except there was no leaves on the trees, light snow had covered the ground and the moon was illuminating everything out there. With the light from the moon we should make good time to the fence on the opposite side of where we had just came out. Micah took the lead, and Ever walked quickly to catch up to him so they could talk on their trip to the fence. I decided to chat with Atlas, leaving Baxlie and Henry to socialize with each other, serving them both right.

  “Atlas, did you go to Hardin High?”

  “No, mom and dad home schooled me. I graduated when I was sixteen, which is why I was about to get my certificate as a pharm tech before the virus hit. I worked at a pharmacy for a while before contracting the virus. I thought since I had gone so long, that maybe I was immune.”

  “I didn’t think you looked familiar, but you are the same age as me and Ever. We graduated a year ago. We had just started freshman classes at the community college right before the lock down was issued. We decided, along with my Dad and yours, that we should put our studies on hold. I’m kind of glad now, though it’ll suck playing catch up when or if everything gets back together.”

  “I honestly don’t think anything will ever be back to what was normal before this, but I get what you mean. So do you really think you all can make the inhibitor and get it out?”

  “I grew up around my Dad working from home trying to create cures and vaccinations, as well as other forms of inventions. He may have had us focusing on other things, but you can’t grow up around something without learning anything. So I believe between mine and Ever’s observations and Micah and Baxlie’s understandings of chemistry and medication that we will be able to make the inhibitor.”

  “I grew up these past few years hearing about you from Dad. I believe that if anyone can do this, it’s you.” Atlas gave a shy smile that was sweet without any secret meanings. Just from the short time he had been here, I think Atlas was just a really nice guy.

  “So we still have another thirty minutes of walking or so before we reach the fence. Tell me about the outside. We’ve been in here for lock down since August.”

  “Let’s see. You know what I was studying and doing to earn money. You know my family, well my dad at least. Mom was a stay at home mom, who raised me. I had a boyfriend, he died from the virus about three months ago.” He stopped abruptly and turned to be looking ghost stricken. “Don’t tell my Dad, please. He doesn’t know, though I think he might suspect it. If this medication doesn’t work, I’d like to die without my dad’s disappointment.”

  “Atlas, I promise I won’t say anything, but I think you’re misjudging your dad’s capabilities for loving you. He seems pretty understanding.”

  “I can assure you he’s not. He’s military through and through. Always has been, always will be.”

  “Oh, Atlas, I don’t think you know you’re dad very well. He’s funny, he loves to joke and pull pranks. He’s very caring.” There was a look of shock on his face, like he couldn’t believe these were words being used to describe his dad.

  “Funny? I’ve never heard him laugh even, let alone tell a joke.” Atlas looked incredulous.

  “Well when we get back from this trip, you’ll have a chance to learn more about him I’m sure.” I was sad that Atlas didn’t know his dad like we knew him. I knew he was strict when it came to training, and maybe he was like that with his son always. I know Micah spoke to him with respect, but I thought it was because of his rank, maybe he was just strict with the guys. I would have to ask Baxlie.

  “Atlas, McCaid, catch up. We can’t enter through the fence until we’re all here.” Ever hollered, and we picked up the pace. We reached the fence about five minutes after Henry and Baxlie, both watching Atlas suspiciously. He noticed it too, and put his arm around my shoulders and grinned and winked at me. The reaction on both of their faces and the instant huffiness made both Atlas and I snicker.

  “Aw, guys lighten up. She’s not exactly my type.” Which sent us both into another fit of giggles. Ever looked amused, and when I got a chance to let her in on the secret, I knew she would appreciate the moment even more.

  “We have to enter as a group, surrounding Atlas to make sure he’s protected. Even with his bracelet, there might be a flaw in the program when it picks up he has the virus. Everyone ready?” Micah asked.

  “Yeah, we’re ready.”

  We stuck Atlas in the middle with each of us at one side of him, with Micah in the front leading. Once in the fence, we stood and held our breaths as it scanned us. Two minutes later nothing had happened still, so we walked the remaining four feet to leave the fence. It had all been quiet on the trip so far, and we were making good time towards the pharmacy. From the fence to the pharmacy was a mile. We had figured it would take about twenty minutes walking, but with the snow, we decided we should probably add another ten minutes to that time. We reached the back of the pharmacy building, after forty minutes because we had to stop twice to let people pass without them seeing us.

  Micah motioned for us to stay in the tree line hidden, while he snuck up and around the corner to see if the street was clear. He got to the edge and must have not seen anything, so he signaled with his hand that we were in the clear. One at a time we made the trek from the trees to the wall that Micah was leaning against. I was the last to go, and by the time I got there we didn’t have much time to plan. The windows in the store had been broken, so we were right to assume that we would probably have to search for the items we needed. Micah and Atlas both had assured us that it would be highly unlikely everyday people would have taken what we needed specifically.

  Micah went in first to check the area, then Henry and Baxlie with Atlas, and Ever and I went in last watching the streets. Baxlie and Atlas went quickly through the remaining medications and seemed to find what we needed fairly quickly. Atlas had put the last of the items in the bag, when Ever and I noticed movement from across the street. Ever did a quick whistle to let the others know to be alert. Micah made his way to front to check out what we were whistling about, and noticed a shadow watching us. The shadow didn’t advance or make any defensive moves, so Micah suggested the group finish scanning the store for necessities, while Ever and I continued to keep an eye on the shadow and the street.

  “Atlas is gay, but his dad doesn’t know.” I whispered to Ever. She gasped loud enough that we were shushed from the back of the store.

  “So he was intentionally egging on Bax and Henry? Oh,
I like him a lot. I hope we can get this inhibitor to work. We need him to stick around. It’ll make for an entertaining time, if he keeps his secret from the boys.” She winked conspiratorially at me.

  “In the middle of crisis, doing security patrols while the boys steal, and you’re worried about entertainment? Ever, I don’t know what I would do without you.” I shook my head and she grinned.

  “Good thing you’ll never know huh?”

  “Good thing indeed.” It was really surreal to be talking so candidly while holding a gun in a store we were stealing from to help save a world of people from a disease my dad helped create. I noticed sudden movement, more agitated than the shadow. I scanned where the shadow had previously been and couldn’t find it. I made a hand signal to Ever to look around and just like that commander mode switched back on. She walked carefully to the other side of the store to see if we could spot the shadow. Just as she was turning back to me, something jumped out at her. She swung, but whatever it was hit her and she dropped.

  “EVER!” I ran quickly over to check on her and noticed someone standing above me.

  “Girl you will give me whatever you have on you right now.” A deep menacing voice came from behind the masked shadow. I made to stand up with my gun in my hand, but he was quicker. He had it pointed at my head before I was fully standing. “NOW!” He growled.

  “I don’t have anything. I swear, except for this gun.” I noticed slight movement behind where he was standing in my peripheral and shook my head infinitesimally hoping that whoever was behind him knew not to do anything, at the same time hoping he didn’t notice.

  “You have others with you, or you wouldn’t have been watching the streets. They have something that must be of importance if they needed guards.”

  “We came to get band aids, alcohol pads, Tylenol, anything we could find. We don’t have any money. It just me, my friend there you knocked out and my little brother.”

  “Tell your little brother to come out and bring me what he has then.”

  “Atlas, bring the man the bag please.” The gun was starting to hurt from where he was pushing it to my temple.

  Either he was either very scared or a great actor. He timidly walked from the shadows from the left of me. He handed the gunman the bag.

  “Open it, show me what you got, now boy.” I don’t know if he thought this was intimidating calling us by our gender, of it was just how the shadow spoke.

  “There’s cotton bandaging, Tylenol, aspirin, Klonopin, alcohol and stitching kits. As well as some candy I found in the back, sir.”

  “Hand it to me slowly, then back up quickly.”

  Atlas did as he was told, and came to stand beside me and in front of Ever, who was still not moving. He still assumed a scared stance, but from my training of reading body language, I also knew it was one of protection over Ever. I honestly was relieved that he had sense enough not to give him the real bag.

  “You think you’re smart don’t you. Throwing in a few things like the psyche meds, but I know this isn’t the real bag. I wasn’t born yesterday. Now give me the real bag.” He pressed the gun harder into my temple.

  “Alright, fine.” Atlas went to the back of the store and grabbed the bag. “Here, it has Vicodin, some muscle relaxers and cash from the register. Take it, just let me sister go. We will leave and you can have the stuff.”

  “You think I’m going to let you all just leave here? This is my turf. I’ve been cleaning these streets for weeks. You can’t just show up and take stuff from me. I’ve claimed this area as mine.” He cocked the hammer as he spoke, and my stomach started rolling. I had been trained to escape situations like these, but I was nervous. There were others around who would get hurt if I didn’t do something right. I closed my eyes, and took a few deep breaths. Just as I opened them a second time, I saw blood splatter on my face from the gunman. Someone had shot him from the side, whoever had been in my peripheral. I jumped back quickly and Atlas caught me. Henry and Baxlie ran over to where Ever was laying and quickly tried to pick her up.

  “Oh, thank goodness for Micah.”

  “Don’t move Ever, I need to do an exam.” Micah said quickly before adding…“It wasn’t me, I was coming around to sneak up from the other side when I heard the gun shot.” Micah said, he came from the other side of the building.

  “Who was it then?” I looked around and saw the shadow moving back across the street again. I took off towards them to see if I could catch them. “Please, stop. I just want to thank you.” The shadow continued to move under they reached a set of trees that hide them somewhat. I drew my gun up and entered the trees with caution.

  “You wanted to thank me, but you have your gun drawn on me now?” A quiet voice came from the shadows.

  “Thank you for saving me. I am grateful, however I’m not dumb enough to follow a stranger without some caution.”

  “I’ll give you credit for being cautious, but I don’t know about not being dumb. You snuck into a shop on a claimed street.”

  “I haven’t been out, I didn’t know about anything being claimed. Can’t you come into the light?”

  “I could, but I won’t. You don’t’ need to know who I am.” Either the shadow was a woman, or a soft spoken small framed guy. I was going with woman.

  “Is there anything I can do to repay you for saving me?”

  “Can I have the two fake bags and the cash?”

  “How do you know those were fake bags?”

  “Honey, I’m not dumb either. I don’t care what you really searching for, because I know who you are, so I’m hoping it’ll be for something good, but I could use the items in the other bags.”

  “Okay, let me go get them, I’ll bring them back to you.”

  “Don’t. Just leave them behind the counter. With Bucky dead, I can claim this street now. Just know I might not be as nice next time.”

  “Understood. Again, thank you.”

  I made my way back to the store where they were trying to wake Ever. Micah had done a quick field exam and determine she probably had a concussion. They decided to take turns carrying her back to the house as opposed to waiting for her to wake. Carrying her would get us back to the fence and the house late. Johnnie would not be pleased to hear what happened, and I doubt we’d be allowed to leave again. I did grab some chips and candy to take back to the house as a treat. I made my way over to Atlas.

  “How did you think so quickly to have fake bags?”

  “It was Henry’s idea for the first fake bag. The second bag is something all of the pharmacies have in case they are robbed. The pills are labeled as I told him, but they’re sugar pills. I’m so glad you’re okay McCaid. I hope Ever will be okay too.”

  “Ever’s tough she’ll be fine. I’m just glad nothing else happened.” Henry still hadn’t come to speak to me, neither had Baxlie. As a matter of fact, they hadn’t even acknowledge me. I was hurt and mad. I could have been killed and they didn’t seem to care. In the back of my mind I knew that wasn’t really true, but I wasn’t think in my right mind right now.

  “I think they’re mad at you for not using your training to save yourself.” Atlas whispered. I think he is very observant and quick to figure out situations.

  “You might not believe me, but I was just about to do something, when the shadow woman did it for me. I would have done something sooner, but I had to figure out how to handle it without hurting anyone else. All of you in the store are important to me. I was trained to save myself, not a group.”

  “Got it, but still you should have at least tried. They both love you, give them time they’ll get passed the fear and anger soon and come appreciate that you’re alive.” I bumped his shoulder in thanks. We had stopped at the fence and tried to decide the best way to get through without having to Ever’s healthy body to help.

  “She will still register as healthy, we should be fine. We can’t risk having them turn the fence off, so it’ll have to work.” Baxlie knew what we were all thinking.
/>
  “We should be on the monitors by now, which means we should be met by everyone at the door as soon as they notice we are carrying someone. Let’s get through quickly.” Micah said.

  We stepped in as a whole again. Once again it scanned and let us pass. We had just got passed the five feet when we heard a noise. We looked up to see Johnnie barreling towards us. He was moving quicker than I had ever seen him move. He must have noticed that we were carrying someone on the monitors like I thought.

  “What happened? How’d she get hurt?” He had her in his arms and was checking her pulse. You could hear his sigh when he released she wasn’t dead. Johnnie started moving towards the house rushing us along quickly, still demanding an answer.

  “She was knocked out when she and Ever were held up gun point. The gunman was trying to get our stash we had just taken. He said we were on his street and I guess technically he considered us stealing from him.” Atlas said.

  “GUN POINT?!?” Johnnie roared as he spun to face us. Still holding Ever he was trying very hard to keep from shaking her but his arms were shaking from fear, or anger, I couldn’t really tell. “Well that settles it, no more outings.”

  “Johnnie, we were trained for these situations. We’re fine. Ever will be fine, she probably has a concussion and will have a headache, but we’re all alive.” I spoke confidently hoping to decrease his anger and fear somewhat.

  “So much for training.” Henry whispered giving me a stare that could kill.

  I glared back at him, hoping that Johnnie didn’t hear him. Baxlie was nodding though so I assumed he heard and agreed. Atlas gave me a knowing wink but didn’t say anything. Johnnie took a quick look at me, but seemed to decide not to respond. He turned back to head towards the house, and his pace indicated we should follow. As I was about to enter the door someone grabbed me back. I let the other pass. Atlas was the last to walk through the door and noticed that I was waiting back. He whispered he stay if I wanted him to, but I told him I’d be okay. He nodded and went in with the rest of them.