#us22

“Looked about like it,” Gil confirmed. “All kinds of ‘em wanderin’ ‘round, keepin’ guard. Thought we heard some human voices, too.”

“Prisoners?” Leah asked.

Marlon shrugged. “Could be.”

“We have to do something,” Abigail said. “We need to save them.”

“Now, look,” Gil said, his hand in the air as if to stop her. “I’m all for helpin’ you guys out if our paths cross, but I ain’t ‘bout to go raidin’ some Shadow Bastard HQ.”

“There’s more to this war than we realize,” Leah said. “They have headquarters. They have prisoners. And there are survivors. There’s something bigger at work here, and we need to stop it if we can.”

“Lil’ lady,” Gil started. “That’s right brave of ya, but yer a fool. This is above all of us, whatever it is. We don’t stand a chance against ‘em. We can fight ‘em off by the hoards, but that’ll only get us so far.”

“Don’t you think it’s at least worth a look?”

“It’s suicide,” Alex said.

“You know,” Maru chimed in. “They’re using an old warehouse for their headquarters. In fact, the government used to test weapons and bombs way out here. The floor plans for all those warehouses are essentially the same. We could easily sneak in if we wanted to.”

“This one’s a brainiac,” Alex said.

Maru narrowed her eyes at him. “You’ll thank me later when we can get in, rescue a bunch of people, and get out in less than twenty minutes.”

“I can hack the alarm system and any computer systems they have in there, too,” Sebastian said.

“Brainiac’s brother,” Alex muttered.

Sebastian ignored his comment. “They’ll never know we were in there.”

“Unless they see us,” Demetrius muttered.

“Dad’s a chicken shit.”

“That’s enough from the Peanut Gallery,” Demetrius hissed at Alex.

“So, it’s settled,” Abigail said. “We’re saving some people.”

“We could bring down the entire building while we’re at it,” Maru said.

“I didn’t go approvin’ no plan, here,” Gil warned.

“Good thing we don’t need your permission,” Najia said.

“Gil doesn’t like it when he’s not the one to come up with the good plans,” Marlon said with a smirk.

“Can I weigh in on this plan?” Harvey spoke up. “Where do I come in? Preferably hiding in the car?”

“Take my dad with you,” Maru said, rolling her eyes.

“You brought your dad to the party,” Alex said. “You gotta deal with it.”

“Demetrius and Harvey stay with the car,” Gil said.

“Alone?” they stammered.

Gil and Marlon turned to each other.

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Gil suggested.

Their hands bounced in the air. Marlon sent out paper. Gil had rock. Gil grinned. Marlon rolled his eyes and climbed into the Hummer.

“Let’s do this,” Gil said enthusiastically.

“Oh,” Harvey said. “Okay. We’re doing this. This is happening.”

“C’mon, Doc,” Marlon shouted.

Harvey, Gil, and Alex climbed into the Hummer. Demetrius, Sebastian, and Maru piled into their car while Najia, Leah, Abigail, and Shane took to the SUV. Najia slid into the driver’s seat and Abigail in the back. Shane reached for the passenger door, but Leah pushed him out of the way and slid quickly in.

“I don’t think so, stud,” she said to him.

Shane rolled his eyes and took the seat in the back besides Abigail.

“Nice ride,” he muttered.

“Thanks,” Najia said. “I thought it was time for a change.”

“You blew up my car.”

“It was my car.”

“I’m gonna miss her. We had some good times in that car.”

Leah turned in her seat and narrowed her eyes at Shane. “I’m watching you.”

“Jeez, what the hell did you tell them?”

“That you’re a serial rapist.”

“Ah,” Shane said, leaning back in his seat. “I was hoping that secret would never get out.”

“You were right,” Leah said, turning back around. “He is an ass.”

Najia smiled. “You get used to it.”

“So, you talked about me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Abigail said.

“There’s way too many hormones in this car,” Najia muttered.

“Don’t worry,” Leah said. “I won’t jump your bones.”

Najia gripped the steering wheel as they drove towards the warehouse. Leah, Abigail, and Shane continued to argue relentlessly with each other, but Najia tuned them out until they arrived just outside the warehouse.

Despite the relatively flat desert, the road rose and fell and rose once more, bringing them to the top of a small mountain that homed a mini city. Various buildings lined the road ways, and just on the outskirt, sitting on the edge of a cliff, the warehouse that marked the headquarters of the Shadow People.

They turned off their headlights as they climbed the mountain, the road twisting this way and that until they found cover along a piling of rocks, acting as a man made rock wall. The eleven survivors gathered between their cars and peered over the wall as their plan began to take shape.

“This is suicide,” Demetrius said.

“Once Sebastian disarms the building, we follow Maru through,” Gil instructed.

“These warehouses are all one floor,” Maru said. “Our best bet will be to find a way in behind the building. I’m going in blind, here, but I think if we can get around, I’ll be able to pick out the best way in quickly.”

“I shouldn’t have let them watch so much tv,” Demetrius muttered.

“This isn’t our first break in,” Sebastian said.

“But Dad is definitely the guy that trips and breaks something loud,” Maru said.

“They don’t tell you that you lose control of your kids when it’s the end of the world,” Demetrius said. “I can’t even ground them.”

“Get in and get out,” Marlon said. “I don’t care if you come out with no one. Do what you can, but for crissake, don’t get caught.”