It takes Casey longer than she anticipated to get Alex moving. She tried to stay patient, to convey a sense of urgency but she knew the longer they stayed in the house the more danger they were in.
Her heart goes out to the blonde; she knows she is struggling emotionally, and this isn't easy for her. She doesn't want to leave the home she shared with her wife and son, and Casey doesn't think she is fully convinced that they are in danger.
Casey finally found a backpack after nearly a half hour of searching. She walks into the living room where Alex has her head in her hands on the couch. "I need you to help me. Do you guys have boots? If so, please find them. Get some warm clothes - whatever will fit into a backpack. Do it now, please."
Alex raises her head and looks at Casey. "I don't want to leave."
Casey sighs, turning around to face her again. "Okay, you need to listen to me. I know this is hard as hell. I get it. But we cannot stay here. That man that saw us - that is what they do. They go looking for women. He could have just been someone walking through, yes, but we can't take the chance that he wasn't. We still have some food and supplies here and the men who were here before know that. We have to leave. I promise we will go find Olivia, but we can't do it from here." She pauses. "There's things I know that I'm keeping from you right now for your own good but what I am telling you right now is that we have to leave, no question. If they take us we will never find Olivia."
Normally Alex would have some type of rebuttal to being told what to do. She doesn't let anyone make her decisions for her, let alone someone beneath her professionally. Had it been five months ago, she would have had certain words for Casey.
But all the fight has gone out of her now. She has no strength to talk back or ask questions. Her heart is broken. Instead, she just does what she is told, going to gather as much as she can.
"Do you have another backpack?" Casey asks desperately, the one she managed to find nearly bursting at the seams from being full when she zips it.
Most of the clothes had been taken but Casey managed to grab what she could, as well as what was left of medical supplies.
Alex blinks a few times as she drops two pairs of boots in front of Casey. "Just…Noah's…" she says, her face pale.
Casey swallows. It's not ideal, but they need a second backpack. Gathering her courage, she goes into Noah's room to retrieve it. Her heart breaks when she sees his unmade bed and breaks even more when she dumps out of the contents of his backpack onto the bed and is staring at his school boxes and binder with his name and little sketches.
She starts to tear up and quickly wipes her eyes before she leaves his room.
She feels a renewed sense of vengeance and silencing vows to make whoever did this pay.
One she returns to Alex in the hallway, Alex takes a step back as if the backpack were radioactive.
Casey intuitively knows what's wrong and tosses her the one she just packed. "It's okay. You don't have to carry it."
"We can't take it," she says softly. "Please. I can't look at it everyday."
The right thing to do would be leave it behind and not subject Alex to the heartache of having to look at it.
But the right thing and the necessary thing are different at this moment, and Casey chooses what is necessary.
"I'm sorry, Alex. I really am. But we need it."
Alex stands there silently while Casey rushes around the kitchen, finding anything she can that is sealed and shoving it into the bag. There isn't much, but it would get them through a few days at least.
Next she goes to the living room and says a prayer that the extra gun and ammo are still in the place Olivia left them. Casey shoves the sofa a few feet away and reveals them, letting out her breath in relief.
Under the sofa had been the perfect hiding place after all. She tosses the ammo into the backpack, makes sure the safety is on the gun, and hands it to Alex.
Her mind suddenly goes back to when she first found her in the kitchen and how she had wanted to shoot herself. Casey isn't entirely sure that her state of mind is any better now, but she has to trust it is.
Alex holds the gun, visibly swallowing harshly. "I still haven't had enough practice."
"We'll practice. But you need to have one. We both have to be able to defend ourselves, and each other."
Casey goes over everything in her mind that they could possibly need. It's going to get colder and the coats and sweaters she was able to find will have to do. She had grabbed antibiotic ointment, bandaids, Tylenol - all that was left in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. A lot had been taken.
They both trade their shoes for boots. Olivia's boots are slightly too small for Casey, but they are much warmer and much more supportive than the shoes she has now.
Alex goes into Noah's room and Casey gives her privacy. She knows she needs to say goodbye again. A part of her is nervous that she may try to hurt herself again, but she pushes those thoughts aside. They must be able to trust each other.
Casey sits on the couch and intends to give Alex the time she needs. She waits about a half hour before she hears a noise in the back of the house.
She can't quite put her finger on what she's hearing. It sounds like animals on the deck, which is not an unusual sound. Three weeks before they had all been terrified in the middle of the night by noises that turned out to be a raccoon scurrying around the deck.
She gets up off the couch and walks to the kitchen. She keeps to the wall, and strains to listen. She hears it again - footsteps. Unmistakable footsteps.
She sees a shadow in the sliding glass door and then hears voices. "You're sure there were two of them?"
"…said their dog died."
"This is where Bruce was killed. We thought we had cleared the house."
They are talking again, but Casey can't hear what else is being said.
She should be scared, but instead she's angry. She's gripping the doorframe so tight her fingernails are digging into it. She would love nothing more than to open the sliding glass door and shoot them both. End their useless lives.
But instead, she rushes to Noah's room. Alex is sitting on his bed, and without a word Casey grabs her by the hand and pulls her to her feet. "We need to leave - right now. Someone is here. On the deck. Grab your backpack and let's go."
Alex says nothing. Her body goes rigid but she does grab the backpack from the living room floor and straps it on. Casey sees her hands shaking as she holds onto the straps.
Casey motions for Alex to get flat against the wall just as they hear the slider door opening. She hits the wall opposite Alex, pushing herself into it as tightly as she can and holding her finger to her lips to signal Alex to be absolutely quiet.
They hear footsteps in the kitchen. "Someone cleaned up. He was here. And a boy. We took his mother."
Olivia. They are the ones that took Olivia.
Casey is closer to the kitchen than Alex so she knows Alex didn't hear those words. But she sure did, and she's filled with hatred once again.
They walk further in the kitchen and Casey knows they can make it out without being seen. She wildly motions for Alex to go out, but Alex is standing there like a deer caught in headlights.
Casey takes a deep breath and rushes towards her, grabbing her by the shoulders and physically forcing Alex out the broken floor length front window. Alex trips on the landscaping as soon as she is out, but Casey pulls her up and tells her to keep moving.
They both start taking off across the side yard – when someone steps into their path.
A young man, maybe in his mid twenties. He looks shocked to see them, his mouth dropping open. His shotgun hangs at his side and he fingers it but does not raise it.
Casey clicks her safety off, prepared to shoot if need be.
The man looks to the house, and then back at the women. "You guys need to get out of here. Now."
Casey is shocked by his words. Something about his honest face she trusts, and she feels herself relax.
She has no idea why he would be letting them go but she is grateful. "I won't hurt you. Just go."
Casey nods. She gestures to the woods across the property and tells Alex to run there as fast as she can and she will catch up. It takes a little prodding, but she does take off running.
"Thank you," Casey says, keeping her voice low.
He nods at her. "Not all of us are here voluntarily. Take care. Stay away from houses and get out of the city."
Casey starts to run, when something stops her and she turns back around. "Where would they take someone? A woman who was taken. Where would they take her?"
He looks at her sympathetically. "Someone you know was taken?"
Casey nods. "A friend. Where would she be? Where can I find her?"
He looks at the house, and then back at Casey. "Chesterfield."
Casey has no idea what that means. Is that a city? A place? She had never heard of it before.
She's about to ask when someone grabs her from behind. They hold her tight, pinning her arms behind her. She struggles to get away, but she's held tight. She was taken by surprise and hadn't anticipated being grabbed.
The man who helped her looks surprised and takes a couple steps back.
"David!" Casey's captor screams, practically in her ear. "We got one of them! Dylan, go inside and let David know I've got her out here."
The young man looks apologetic, but he does as told and goes inside the house.
Casey struggles to get away again and feels hot breath on her ear. "Don't struggle, sweetheart. I've got you now."
His words send a chill down Casey's voice and she doesn't stop struggling until another man comes out of the house.
He's dressed all in black, his dirty thick boots thudding as he walks down the sidewalk towards them. David, Casey assumes.
"Hello there," David sneers. "Where's the blonde?"
Casey glares at him. "I'm not telling you anything."
David seems to be expecting that answer. "Don't worry – we won't hurt you. Your kind are extremely valuable to us."
'Your kind'. Casey wants to vomit at the words. She's never been so disgusted or filled with hate.
"You killed an innocent child," Casey says, staring David in the eyes. "A child."
David looks away, as if he feels momentary remorse. But it's gone in an instant and he's sneering again. "That was me, yes. Wouldn't have been my first choice. But he got in the way."
Anger grips Casey's chest and she screams, kicking desperately at him. The man who holds her laughs as his grip tightens, getting a rise out of her vain struggling.
"You bastard!" she yells, trying to twist out of the hard arms that are holding her.
Casey's doesn't like to feel helpless. It's not a situation she's often in and it's not one she does well in. She would love to be free right now, beating this man to death, and then shooting him.
But instead, she's held tightly and forced to look at him.
"Got in the way? He was a child! You piece of shit!" she screams again, and as she tries kicking once more the man who holds her tightens his grip on her arms, applying pressure until she feels like her arms are going to break.
David leans in and leers at her. "Lady, my friend will break your arms. He doesn't care, and neither do you. You don't need them anyway. Not where we are going to take you."
You're not taking me anywhere, Casey says silently. She would fight to the death before she would let anyone take her alive.
Casey's mind spins, trying to come up with any way she can get out of this. She cannot let them take her. Alex and Olivia are counting on her.
David turns his head. "Dylan – come back out here please."
The young man appears again, glancing momentarily at Casey and then at David. She can tell he doesn't like what is going on but he can probably do little to stop it.
David leans towards her again, almost right in her face. "You have one chance to tell us where the blonde is."
It's Casey's turn to sneer. "Or else what? You said we are valuable to you."
He puts his fingers under Casey's chin and forces her to look up. She feels dirty every place he touches her, and her stomach turns.
"You're less valuable. Blondes are worth more."
Casey can't believe this is happening. Is this really what this world has come to? Blondes are 'worth' more? More supplies and money? And what do they do to these women they sell and trade?
Casey doesn't even want to imagine.
Her heart is about to beat out of her chest. She's terrified, afraid of what is going to happen to herself and to her friends.
But she has to stay calm. She has to come out on top. She can outsmart these men; she knows she can.
"You going to tell me?" David asks. He gives her a few seconds, and then punches her across the face.
He doesn't punch her as hard as he could, but it's hard enough to get the message across – and it hurts. Casey closes her eyes and turns her head to the side, but she refuses to cry out. He repeats his question and then hits her again, this time harder. And this time she tastes blood.
She closes her eyes again and still refuses to cry out. She won't give him the satisfaction that he's hurting her. He hits her again, harder this time, and this time Casey feels a tooth piercing her skin.
"Okay man," Dylan says, stepping forward. "She won't be able to tell us anything if you hurt her too badly." He has a sympathetic look on his face, and she swears her mouths the word 'sorry' to her.
Her face hurts and she still tastes blood, but Casey refuses to be defeated. She turns her head and spits out blood and then looks back at David. He doesn't hit her again, but he looks like he wants to.
"If you don't start talking, I'll get out the wrench and remove your teeth one by one."
Casey can tell by the sinister look on his face that he's serious. A chill moves through her body and she swallows harshly. She has to tell him something.
She looks at the house. "She's inside," she lies. "I told her to hide."
The delay will buy Alex more time. Maybe she can find somewhere to hide in the woods. Or maybe she can get to someplace safe.
David seems satisfied. He nods and turns to Dylan. "There is a gas can in the garage. Has a bit of gas. Torch the house. We will smoke that bitch out."
Dylan hesitates, his eyes going to Casey. Casey nods, as if indicating that no one else is inside. He has a sad look on his face as he goes to retrieve the gas can.
Casey can feel her lip is swollen, and David reaches out and touches it gently. "I marked you up. Ahh, that's too bad. Pretty girl like you shouldn't be marked up."
She would put a bullet in his brain right now if she could and not think twice about it. She's put many, many men like him in prison before. And now, they get to run free, claiming any victims they want.
Casey makes a silent vow right there and then that she will free them all. Not just Olivia – but every woman who has been taken and is being exploited.
She will make this man pay.
Casey watches as Dylan goes into the house with the gas can. She doesn't see much of anything when he comes back out but he reeks of gasoline.
David nods at the man holding Casey and he pushes her onto the ground, taking her by surprise.
"Go into the woods. Make sure it's clear. If she did run, that's where she would go."
Casey feels panic spread through her body. She hopes against all hope that Alex found a place to hide and isn't standing out in the open where she can be easily found.
She reaches for her gun, prepared to end this in a blaze of glory. But a sharp look from Dylan stops her as she climbs to her feet. She turns just in time to see her captor take off towards the woods, carrying a rifle. A predator on the prowl for its prey.
"Take care of her," David waves wildly to Dylan. "Get her back to the truck."
Casey realizes at that moment that he doesn't know she has a gun. If he did, he would be treating her as more of a threat. A smile breaks out across her face, realizing she can turn this around in her favor after all.
Flames start shooting up from the house as Dylan grabs Casey and starts walking her across the yard to the neighboring driveway. He leads her quickly. "I'm going to let you go," he whispers. "But come with me for now."
Casey stops in her tracks and looks back at where David stands. He now has his back to them, watching the house.
Casey feels a renewed purpose. She reaches into her belt straps and removes the gun. This time her hand doesn't shake.
She's going to kill him. She's going to let him experience the terror and pain that Noah – and probably others – experienced.
"Don't do it," Dylan says calmly, knowing exactly what she plans to do. What she has to do. He could read it in her face and in her body language. "He always has backup. You approach him with that gun and you'll be shot where you stand."
She is torn in two directions right now. If she follows her heart, there's a chance she will be injured or killed, and Alex will be alone and will likely never find Olivia. But if she just runs away, then it's like condoning what's happening. It's allowing it to happen.
She's always believed in justice. She can't just run away.
She stands up and flicks the safety off her gun again. Her shoulders are set and her body tenses, preparing for what she's about to do. She looks at Dylan and says, "Thank you. But I know what I have to do."
She gets two steps past the driveway when her conscience makes her stop.
She thinks of Olivia and Alex, the only two people she has left in the world. They are both counting on her. Olivia needs to be rescued, and Alex needs to not give up and be reunited with her wife.
She can't betray her friends. Not in this way. She can't let Alex down, and she can't let down Olivia. They lost their son – they can't lose each other too.
She will make David pay. Just not today.
She tucks her gun back into her belt straps and starts jogging towards the driveway again when Dylan catches her arm.
At first Casey thinks she has been tricked. This was all a trap, and Dylan was acting to get her to trust him.
But as she looks into his eyes, she can see his motives are sincere.
"You are going to want to find the sports arena in Chesterfield," he tells her. "That's where she will be."
"Hey!" David shouts. His voice can barely be heard over the sounds of the fire raging behind them. "Dylan! What's going on?"
Dylan glances up, and very quickly pushes his gun into Casey. "Take it. You can always use an extra. Now get the hell out of here and find your friend. Now. And do not look back."
Casey takes the gun gratefully and doesn't hesitate. She books it through the bushes and past the burning house, keeping to the side yards of the neighboring houses as she heads for the woods.
She hears three gunshots in succession behind her and instantly knows that Dylan has paid the price for his good deed.
Tears burn her eyes as she runs. That's the world she lives in now. One where helping others gets you killed.
2.
Alex feels like she has been running for hours. Her backpack feels heavy on her back and her calves ache. She stops and puts her hand against a tree, trying to catch her breath.
Her lungs burn and she coughs several times. The air quality makes any type of prolonged physical activity exceedingly difficult right now and she feels like she's going to gag as she struggles to return her breathing to normal.
Where the hell is Casey? Wasn't she right behind me?
Once her breathing slows, she strains to listen for anyone or anything. She's too far away to see the house now but she had run straight into the woods. She figured Casey would be able to find her.
She's tired; physically and mentally. She hasn't eaten in days and the dizziness catches up to her as she stands in one place. Her stomach hurts and her heart aches.
She sits down on a log, the events of the past few days catching up to her. She buried her son today and then had to flee from her home. It's not an easy thing to accept. Her wife is missing and as such, a large part of her heart is missing as well.
She thinks about Olivia. She hopes she knows that Alex loves her and hasn't stopped thinking about her. She hopes she knows she longs for Olivia to be with her, to be in her arms, safe from the evils of the world. Olivia always made things better.
Who is making things better for Olivia now? Who is there to sooth the tears of losing her son? Of being taken from her wife? The answer is no one, and that answer hurts Alex deep inside.
They should be grieving for their son together. Not fighting for their lives separately.
Suddenly Alex hears rustling behind her and she stands. She sees a flash of black, and immediately steps behind a tree.
She presses herself into that tree so hard she almost becomes a part of it. She watches the man lurch into the clearing, clutching a rifle. Her heart is beating so loudly she fears he will hear it and it will give her away.
He's looking in all directions, and Alex holds her breath, preparing to be spotted. She's not sure the trunk of the tree is wide enough to conceal her.
She moves slightly – and steps right on a stick, breaking it in half.
The man immediately looks in her direction, and Alex backs up away from the tree, knowing she has to run again.
She takes off. She's weak from sorrow and hunger but she moves as fast as her body allows her to move; which isn't much.
He easily catches her not even a hundred feet away, grabbing her by her backpack, causing her to scream. He yells at her to stop, slamming her down on the ground so hard the wind is knocked out of her.
Alex covers her face with her arms. If she is about to die – or have something even worse happen to her – she doesn't want to look at the person responsible.
She hears a shot, and then a thudding sound. She lies there perfectly still, holding her breath, not sure what's happening but not wanting to risk sitting up.
She's taken back to that day on the street, where she lost herself for the first time. She waits for a searing pain from a bullet that doesn't come.
And then, "Alex. It's okay. Come on."
The familiar voice pulls her back to the present and she sees Casey leaning over her, offering her a hand to help her stand. She has blood all over the front of her jacket and as Casey pulls her to her feet Alex finally snaps out of her daze.
"Are you all right?" Alex asks, genuine concern in her voice when she notices that Casey is pretty roughed up.
Casey makes the mistake of looking down at the man she shot. It was a good shot; a kill shot, Olivia would say. She got him right in the back of the head.
She's never killed anyone before, and she feels cold as she bends down to collect his rifle. Her entire body is shaking. "I'm fine," she says to Alex as she stands back up.
Alex's eyes go wide as she sees the dead body lying there but before she can say anything, Casey is telling her to keep going, that they have to get as far away as possible.
They walk in silence for the next hour or so. Once they come out of the woods they start walking on a dirt road, not really sure where they are going. They are both lost in their own troubled thoughts.
They walk until they come upon an antique shop. Alex recognizes it; she's been there with Olivia.
Without a word, Casey goes to the back door and tries to open it. It's locked, and she immediately tries to kick it open. When that doesn't work she goes around to the font, Alex following her.
The front window is broken out and they go inside, being mindful of the shards of glass.
The shop is empty. The shelves are in disarray but there is a lot of merchandise remaining. Alex doesn't figure that antiques on are high on looter's lists. As she passes the front register she sees the drawer open and coins all over the ground. Someone had robbed the register.
Casey finds what appears to be the office. There's a couch and Alex sits down, needing the rest badly.
Casey is standing next to the couch, a faraway look in her eyes. The events of the past few hours are weighing heavily on her and she drops her backpack on the floor. She looks at Alex, her face suddenly pale. "I – I need a minute, okay? I need to be alone. Please let me be alone."
Without waiting for an answer, she walks briskly from the office and doesn't stop until she's in the back of the shop where there are shelves of what appears to be overstock. She knows she's out of earshot of Alex, and she slides down against the wall, hot tears stinging her eyes.
She's remained strong for Alex for the past couple of days but now it's her turn to break down. She cries in sorrow for Noah, in fear for Olivia, in uncertainty for her and Alex. She looks down at her shaking hands; the hands of a killer.
She took a life. She took it in an instant, without even hesitating. How is that okay?
How are they going to get through this, and find Olivia?
She doesn't have the answers to her own questions, and she lets the tears consume her until she can't feel anymore.
The adventure to find Olivia starts in the next chapter. And to answer the guest review on the last chapter - this will always be a Alex/Olivia story. But Alex's relationships with other characters - including some yet to be introduced - are necessary for her character development. And no, none are sexual.
Any predictions?