Chapter Seven – Acceptance

It perhaps would have made her feel better if she'd stayed up all night, thinking over all the things she'd said to John, but she hadn't - as soon as she'd got under the covers and chugged back the vial of green, she'd fell asleep, and, if it wasn't for the knock on the door that morning, she didn't think she would have woke until after lunch-time.

Before she left though, she wandered around the room a bit more. It was brighter there now, and she peeked her head inside the walk-in-wardrobe, the faint smell of aftershave lingering inside, as if John had been there that morning. The thought creeped her out more than anything, but she let it go. It was his room after all.

But, if she was honest, she'd expected the wardrobe to be filled with clothes, but it wasn't. There were a couple jackets, coats, some shirts, a few pairs of pants, but it wasn't what she expected. And, apart from that faint bit of aftershave, the rest of the room didn't smell the same, it didn't smell lived in. The bed sheets, if anything, they'd smelt stale, as if they hadn't been moved in forever. If this was Johns room, it wasn't where he slept.

Eventually, she opened the door and found Randall leaning over the balcony, looking out over the valley,

"John had to go" he said as he turned to her, "Told me to take you home when you finally decided to wake up",

"Oh" Laurie said, she'd assumed it would have all continued from last night,

"Yeah. Said you guys would finish everything off in a couple days" Randy said,

"Does that normally happen" Laurie said as she leaned on the balcony too,

"Sometimes" Randy said. Sometimes. "Nothing to worry about" he promised as he looked to her "Don't want him etching the wrong thing on to your pretty little flesh now do we" he suggested as he looked over to a few of the men on the ground. The words made the hairs on her arms prickle and she rubbed at them.

"How thorough is he" Laurie asked after a moment,

"Very" Randall said,

"If someone lied, if they changed the truth" Laurie said, not looking at him "Would he know",

"Yes. All he wants is the truth Laurie. Best to give it to him freely than him to take it",

"And what if somebody didn't" Laurie asked, "What if they changed it? Manipulated it so it went against someone else",

"He'd know",

"And",

"Let's hope you never find out".

Back at the house, Frank was the first one to speak to her. It was as if he'd been waiting.

"So, what sins did he brand you with" he asked, his voice full of spite as she walked passed him,

"None" Laurie said, he scoffed,

"Then you must have lied",

"Or, there's so many, he can't decide which one" Laurie said, slamming the door of her room shut and leaving her father on the other side. She had to stop acting like a child, but, if he spoke to her like one, why not indulge him?

"Not a good night, I'm guessing" Tom said as he leaned through her window, Laurie turned to him,

"Uck, I don't know what it was" Laurie said as she sat down on her bed, it had cut open a lot of shit, but, having it out there now, having said it, it felt easier, it felt as if she was starting to accept the fact that she wasn't over all of it, and that was okay. But, it also made her see through her father that little bit more. You could lie to yourself enough that it became reality sometimes.

"Well, don't dwell on it. Get here, I need you to do some deep sea diving" Tom said as he pushed away from the sill,

"I'm not swimming in to that bunker" she told him as she stood. She'd wanted to change in to some clean clothes, but there was no point now,

"We'll toss for it" Tom said back. Laurie followed Tom down, pass the beehives and down to the shed. Ads was sat on the grass, playing on his Nintendo.

"You're gonna waste away in front of that" Laurie told him, "All these places to explore and you'd rather explore the one in your hands",

"Stop trying to be philosophical" Ads said,

"Thanks" she said before turning back to Tom. She smiled as she saw the coin he was holding, "Heads" she said, and they both watched as the ten pence flipped in to the air and landed on the back of Toms hand, his other hand resting over it. He uncovered it.

Tails.

"Cheater" Laurie said. Tom scoffed and then gestured to the ladder down in to the water, "What is it you want me to look for exactly" she asked as she looked down in to the bleakness. How would she even see in there? She turned back to her brother.

They'd never been very in tune with each other. Probably because Tom was high a lot of the time, but it was as if he'd read her mind. He was holding both a pair of goggles, and a torch covered in cling film and tape. It would do.

Tom looked with her, "From what I gather, the key to this shed is down there",

"Let's hope it's just sat on a table somewhere then" Laurie said. She took off her shirt and her shoes, so she just had her tank-top and jeans on, tossed them to the side, and then descended the ladder. She dipped her foot in as she reached the water, "It's freezing" she said, looking at Tom who was peering down at her, he shrugged at her. Laurie turned the flashlight on and, with a few seconds to compose herself, she lowered herself in to the water further, giving herself time to adjust before emerging herself completely.

Using the flashlight to guide her way, she swam in. From what she could see, it was narrow, but longish, it had some things sticking out of the wall she couldn't really make out, some sort of shelves, and, there on the table in the far corner. Miraculously. Was a key. She grabbed it just as she felt her ears pop; and, as she turned, she saw some sort of blockage, the hidings of another room, but she could feel the pressure in her lungs now, and quickly, she hurried back for the surface.

Laurie took a deep breath as she hit the air.

"I got it" she breathed out, holding on to the ladder as she took a few more deep breaths before lugging herself out, her clothes soaked and weighted, almost as if it was trying to drag her back down. "I got it" she repeated as she reached the top, only to find herself the only one there.

Even Ads had gone. Pulling herself up, Laurie turned around, looking this way and that to see if she could see them, but they were nowhere in sight. Eventually, she shrugged at the empty space and slotted the key in to the shed door. The door fell back in to place as she pushed it open. On the wall, there was some sort of power circuit, and then a lever. She pulled the lever down, hoping for the best, and, after a moment, she heard some cranks turn and hoped that whatever was happening, it was improving the situation and not making it worse. She pushed the door open to Tom and John walking passed the bee houses,

"Managed it then" Tom said when he saw her,

"Yeah" Laurie said, her heart starting to pound as they got closer. He said she had time to think. John looked at her, a confused look on his face as he took her in,

"What did you manage" he asked as Tom went and looked down in to the bunker, watching the water start to lower as it spewed out of the pipe up top,

"Bunker was flooded" Laurie said, she looked away from him, watching as the pipe expelled the last of the water and Tom shone the torch down. From what he could see, there looked to be a few inches of water at the bottom, but he was already calculating some sort of plan that included him, Ads, Laurie, and a load of buckets,

"Is there much of anything down there" John asked, walking over to look,

"I couldn't see to good, but there was stuff there. There's another room as well, I think, but it was blocked off" Laurie told him; she still hadn't moved yet, but she made herself follow them down.

Tom had been wrong, there was about a foot of water left inside.

On the walls were bunk beds, shelves filled with sodden tins and boxes, the table was rusted and buckling, but, at the end, the blockage was still intact, wooden boards covering over the room yonder.

"If we had a drill or something" Tom suggested,

"Their flatheads Tom" Laurie said as she brushed her finger over them; she got her hands between two and pulled. At first, it didn't budge, but then she felt it buckle and the board came off, pushing her backwards and in to John, "Sorry" she said quickly as he pushed her back to her feet, he smiled when she glanced back at him quickly, no hint of fuss on his face,

"Well done little sheep" he said. He reached past her and pulled at another, the wood sodden and, with a more precise yank, it broke in his hands, crumbling in to pieces. Laurie pulled another one downwards and it just popped off, door frame and all. Eventually, enough of the planks were gone so that Laurie could slip under it and in to the next room.

There was money all over the floor, soaked, but maybe dryable, a black and yellow safe that looked locked shut, and then, some magazines whose the pages fell out and splashed back in to the water.

There was also some ammo on the units, all soaked through and probably unusable, a jar of nails, a few black cases she wasn't sure what they would be used for, and a hand-gun which she picked up and looked over.

She'd never held a gun before, she'd never had the need. But, something told her that one day, she would, whether it was to indulge in her sin fully and do all the things she imagined herself doing, or, to wash it all away. Maybe both. This one though, was just as sodden and wet as the ammo.

She heard another one of the boards come off from the door and turned to John ducking through.

Her stomach did a bit of somersault inside as he looked at her, he was almost as drenched as she was now, his jeans sticking to him and the bottom of his shirt dripping wet. Hell, she had to look away, compose herself for a minute and remind herself that the guy scared her a little, she turned back to him as he was looking over the work tables,

"You said I had a few days" she said eventually. He turned to her and she passed him over the gun,

"You do" he said as he opened the chamber and shook it, watching the gun powder drip out from the bullets that had rotted inside, "I'm here for your father", Laurie looked away from him then, hoping he hadn't caught the worried look that she knew had crossed her face,

"Good luck with that one" Laurie said quietly. She kneeled-down next to the safe, crouching so she wasn't sat in the water and turned the dial, wondering if the code to it would be anywhere close. One of Ads XBOX games had told her that codes and pins were usually within twenty-metres of their lock.

"0108" John said as he turned around, ducking under the wooden planks again and back to the other side. Laurie turned the dial, 0 1 0 8, and it clicked open. She turned back, to ask him how he knew, but he was already gone. She opened it up, finding a couple wads of dry cash, a couple more black casings, and a bag of what looked like weed. She stuffed it in her pocket just as Tom ducked through awkwardly, almost falling face first in to the water as he ended up in a crawl,

"He looks good wet, doesn't he" Tom said as he waded over,

"You're insufferable" Laurie said as she picked up the money and stood up,

"I think we should go buy me a bee-keepers outfit with that",

"No, I think I need pizza" Laurie said.

John left the twins to their bunker and walked back to the house, to where Jackie was trying her hardest to reach something on the top of the cupboards and Frank was sat at the table near the window, reading a book. His brothers book. He looked up eagerly as John walked in, only for his face to dampen as he saw how wet he was,

"Oh John, I'm so sorry" he said quickly, "You wouldn't think those children of mine were adults the way they act", Jackie looked over, a gliny in her eye as she took him in,

"It's no problem" John said, he walked over to look out the window, "Frank. Are you ready" he asked after a moment,

"What" Frank asked, confused,

"Are you ready to confess" John turned to him,

"But you haven't finished with Laurie yet, ha-",

"That's between me and her" John said, he smiled, "We'll finish that off, but now, it's your turn". Frank was taken-a-back for a moment, but quickly, he pulled himself back and smiled.

"Of course it is" Frank said, "Shall we go".

"So, are you ready to bare your soul. Confess your sins" John asked as he sat down opposite Frank. He'd swapped sides, sitting in the chair Laurie had sat in. Perhaps he could see more of the man she did that way.

"I am". He looked over at the smaller table next to them, a small case sat on top of it,

"Well, I'm waiting" John said, he leaned over the table, resting his chin on his hands, a smirk on his face as Frank looked over at him warily, he chuckled before he began,

"Where do I begin. Huh" he looked to the door he'd come through and then looked back at John who still hadn't said anything more. Still waiting. "I've done many a things in my life" Frank said, composing himself as he sat back in the chair, crossing his leg over his knee, "I've saved lives" he shrugged, "But", he tilted his head from one side to the other, as if he was weighing it all up, "I've also done things I'm not truly proud off. But, they were never without reason" he sat up more, John bit the inside of his cheek as he leaned back, still listening, his face still the attentive smirk, "The world, it tried to destroy me and I would not let it. Even my own family tried. My wife, you've seen the way she is. She salivates over men like wolves to meat. My daughter, my only daughter" it sounded so heart-felt it may have convinced another man, "Left me to burn" John turned his head slightly, "She didn't tell you that did she" Frank said, he sighed, shaking his head, "The world, my family, it dragged me through hell, but I came out. I was stronger than it, than the world. And I had to take a stand. My methods. Maybe they weren't the right way to go about things, but it worked. Fear is powerful, and I needed it. I need-"

"Stop. I know what your sin is" John said, he leaned forward, looking stomach-turningly happy with himself,

"What" Frank asked, confused, "Everything I've done has been to protect myself, to protect my family from themselves",

"Pride"

"No, it's not-"

"It is. You're so full of pride, you forgot your duties as a husband, as a father" John said, he also couldn't be bother to listen to anymore of his bullshit, "To atone, you will bear the mark" he stood up and walked to the small table, brushing his fingers over the case, "You will see what pride does to the people around you, and you will not raise a voice, or a fist, to your family again" he opened it up delicately, picking out the tattoo gun and stroking it with his thumb, he looked over to Frank, smiling, "Only then may you march with us unto Eden",

"I think you're wrong" Frank said,

"That's the pride talking", he took out a cloth from his back pocket,

"I don't",

"Don't make this any harder Frank" John pulled out a bottle of green liquid, if he had to listen to people confess all the time, he had to find some enjoyment in it, "The hardest part is accepting it".

Thanks to anyone who's read this far and the review VickQueen! It's always nice to know that people want more!