Ben
He envisioned the streets during the day – people ignoring the stop sign at Westlake and 4th; cell phone drivers cruising down the trap house road common known as Constitution Boulevard; drug dealers working the streets and undercover cops trying to pose as buyers and suppliers; cars backed up at the construction dragging on for months. The usual honking horns, loud music, and occasional wailing of sirens vacated tonight's streets.
The sound of nothing struck fear into him.
They picked up the pace at the corner of 3rd.
"You okay?" Callisto asked him softly.
He detected the concern and appreciated it. "Don't tell Mom."
"Didn't plan on it."
"Are you okay?" He asked.
She shrugged far too casually for it to be a first time occurrence. "It's all good."
"What if he follows us?" Ben glanced over his shoulder.
Her head turned as well. "Don't get cornered."
Don't get cornered. Simpler said than done. A siren lurched through the night air about their heads. Callisto dove for cover at the corner. Ben lined up with a lamp post. A spray of bullets peppered the curb behind them.
"Run!" She shouted at him.
Propelled forward by survival instinct, they quickly skid to a stop and gaped in horror at the pile of bodies of the elderly and disabled haphazardly piled in front of the back of a semi-truck's trailer. Soldiers carried a live, calm white haired woman toward the truck. Ben ran at them, firing erratically. Cursing under her breath, Callisto pursued. She dropped the partner before Ben finished off the startled target.
Tucking her arm under the old woman's, Callisto glanced furtively over her shoulder toward the truck. If anyone heard it, they were taking their time.
Entering through doors containing small shards of broken glass, they picked their way toward bodies of young men Ben recognized as volunteers who came to his sister a month ago. At the time he didn't know for what but now he knew exactly what for. Protection.
"We told them it was hopeless." The old woman explained simply.
"I asked for help this year. I didn't expect people to actually help." Callisto answered him. "Where are the others?"
"In the basement. I slept through the role call. I should pay for my slip. If you just leave me in my room-"
"No." Ben said. "We'll take you to the shelter."
"The doors won't open until 7." The woman argued. "Please just let me sleep the night through. I have earned my death. You have not."
His sister's jaw worked back and forth, and her mind furiously attempted a solution he wanted to support. "Where's your room?" She finally asked.
Following the woman's directions, Ben lead while his sister and the old woman followed. They entered a small room cluttered with furniture and a twin sized bed. With help Callisto lowered the woman into the covers.
"Could you lock the door on your way out?" She asked one last favor.
Consenting to her request, the siblings faced each other. Ben handed over one of the rifles he claimed from the dead soldiers. "We need to ensure the safe room is locked." Old people tended to be forgetful, and he didn't want to risk the lives of others for face value of someone's account.
She clapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him to lead the way.
An unearthly quiet dominated the two story building. A ticking clock in the main corridor startled him, his sister chuckling at his expense. He kept head down and eventually stumbled upon the stairwell to the basement. Emergency lighting along the base of the walls lit up a divided basement with the safely room in the back. Constructed of concrete and fitted with a keypad and video monitor, Ben relaxed. The people inside were safe as long as the metal door withstood.
"This can't hold everyone." He gestured to the size of it.
"The pile of bodies outside attest to that." His sister said as she checked the equipment and sniffed the air for gas. "We should clear the building. Give Rory time to reach us."
Agreeing, Ben checked his watch. 7:45. "Floor 1 then Floor 2."
She lead this time. Peeking through the vertical narrow window in the basement door, she cleared the limited field of view. Inching the door open, she slid out onto the first floor and motioned Ben to proceed with caution. They walked slowly down the left wing clearing bedrooms one by one. Left, right, left, right, left, right.
"Poor bastard." Ben remarked at the sight of an overweight man shot dead in his own bed. Someone unplugged the breathing machine – before or after the killing he didn't know.
Callisto callously brushed it off.
"Does Mom know?" He asked as he cleared a small bathroom.
"About?" She stopped to drink a cup of tap water.
He faced her. "About the sexual assault."
She gulped down the water. "No and if you'll tell her I'll string you up by the balls and make you beg for mercy."
He didn't doubt her seriousness. Their mother worried about the already. He'd be the last person to add onto her anxieties. Paying bills on minimum wage while attending schooling and hoping that the jobs were still there when she graduated was hard enough. Callisto worked her way through community college and Ben planned to take out student loans.
Their life was hard enough without the full truth coming to light.
"Is he dead?" He asked.
She nodded and never looked away. "Killed the bastard myself. First time I ever killed someone." Her hand shook and she and refilled her cup gulping down water like it was alcohol on a Friday night. "I don't like killing, Ben. No one should. But Eddie – he's insane and no one wants to institutionalize him. There's the gangs that migrate from the city for sport in the town. You have the general crazies. Looters. What we're seeing is tame because we're not near stores."
Ben glanced at the dead body once more. "Let's get out of here before it comes back as a zombie."
"DO NOT tempt Mother Nature." She punched him in the arm. "Last thing we need is zombies in the mix."
He chuckled. "At least Eddie won't be destroying the town for fun."
"I prefer that to a zombie Eddie."
Putting on his serious face, Ben breathed. The smell of death would stay with him forever if he survived this night.
Callisto
She almost shot Rory in the face.
Coming face to face with Rory in a room in the right wing, the siblings thanked the stars they weren't trigger happy. "A word of warning." Ben scolded.
She smirked. "Danny's leading a hunt at his warehouse. The gang is rounding up victims." The smirk died away at the seriousness of the news. "You're not on the list, but I am. And Layla."
"Layla isn't in town."
"Thank God for that." Rory said. "I sprinted here after they left the alley. Almost ran into the last soldiers, got picked off by a sniper-"
"We did too." Ben sympathized. "I had no idea people were this kill happy."
"Hungry more like it." Callisto muttered as she cleared the room and peeked out the curtains.
Ben relaxed his weapon. "And they didn't know you were hiding?"
"Thankfully no." Rory leaned on the divider splitting the bedroom between two residents. "The soldiers cleared the building and moved on, by the way."
"It's a good thing they didn't use night vision." Ben pressed his ear to the door.
Callisto sat on the bed and rested her feet. She focused her thoughts on what was important and not whose bed she currently used. "They do. We were probably downstairs when they 'cleared' the building. Which means we need to stop Danny."
"How?" Rory demanded.
She shrugged. "Have they found anyone yet?"
She heard about countries restricting people from traveling to the US during Purge night. Purge tourism increased exponentially after the first four years. The deathlist of individuals consisted of elderly, children, or those with a deathwish like herself. Some organizations claimed that poverty marked over half the individuals. Tourists like those with Danny targeted people like her and Rory.
"I didn't overhear anything. My guess – they already have people rounded up." Rory reported solemnly.
An uncomfortable silence settled over them until Ben opened the bedroom door. "We clear the building and then check on Mom. Then we stop Danny."
"Onward." Rory encouraged.
Callisto handed over her rifle to Rory and lifted the spare off Ben's back. "I like this Ben. Dad would be proud."
Dad didn't need to die. If he stayed with us-"
"Old argument, different time." Callisto pat him on the back. "Let's clear the building, Chief."
They swept through the rest of the right wing, Ben in front, Callisto in the middle, and Rory in the rear. The upper floor devastated them as the soldiers didn't even bother to drag the people out. Most were shot in their beds. Rory swore to never become obese while Ben vowed to seek revenge. Callisto just prayed for the souls departed even though she wasn't particularly religious.
Bloody footprints marked where they've been and where they headed.