Ben
"Remember. We got your back. But you have to have ours." Rory said to Ben as they set foot in the alleyway behind their apartment building. It reeked of urine and trash, a combined scent that nauseated his weak stomach. He didn't eat much that evening in the belief that the 12 hours of death would heave it up at the wrong moment. His stomach pinched and he regret that decision regardless of the current justification.
Hockey mask on and wielding her sword in a less intimidating manner than Rory's shotgun, his sister teetered between aggressiveness and noncommitment. Her head swiveled back and forth as she glanced to the rooftops in search of snipers. Too early for drunken shooters thankfully.
He watched enough sniper videos on to know where they traditionally set up and ambushed their targets with varying degrees of accuracy and effectiveness.
"If you see Jackass, don't trust him." Callisto advised. "Probably wants my head for giving him blueballs."
"I want his head for breaking in the apartment door." Ben mumbled to himself. The repairs cost them $350, and they were late on rent that month.
Rory turned her head toward him. "You say something?"
He shook his head.
"Don't pick a fight tonight." She clapped him on the shoulder and crouched, scanning the street for any previously unseen traps and threats.
"I heard you loud and clear, Sis." He answered before wiping a sweaty hand on his pants. He debated between sweats and jeans, settling on jeans because they were thicker. Unlike his sister, he didn't prepare as well as he should have.
They walked to the edge of the alley and glanced up and down the street. No one. Silent as a tomb and equally dangerous.
"Eyes out for traps." Rory instructed him. "Invention is the name of this night."
"So is death. Don't die on me." His sister shot him a dirty look. He didn't care. He wanted to go out on Purge night at least once. It's all anyone talked about at school in the week leading up to March 21. Anyone over the age of 18 was permitted to purge, although the name of the night was lawlessness so being 18 and purging wasn't possible to enforce.
He cracked a crooked smile. "I'd never do that to Mom."
Rory clapped a gloved hand over his mouth. "Talk when its necessary. This means 'go'." She shot her hand forward. "Stop." She cut her flat hand across her throat. "Eyes up." Two fingers toward herr eyeballs and then the sky. "Eyes down." Two fingers toward the ground. "Enemies nearby." She flexed her hand multiple times. "Kill." She made a gun with her fingers and aimed.
He nodded. Flashing them a thumbs up, Ben already planned on buying a handgun for next year. Tommy's machete swung in midair, a whooshing preceding the blade. A ripple of euphoria distracted him from the perverseness of the action. No wonder people talked about this night like they talked about getting high.
"And watch where you swing that." Callisto shot him a dirty look. "Don't want to take off your own leg."
A loud squealing whistle caught their attention. Fireworks blasted off in the middle of the four way intersection. A drunk red neck sat in a lawn chair with a case of beer next to him. Ben squinted and stepped forward but both women pushed him back. A shotgun glinted under the lamplights.
"Fucken Eddie." Rory muttered under her breath.
"THE Eddie?" Ben craned for better view while not trying to draw attention.
"Watch out for his gang." Callisto whispered. "Eddie's a violent thief, murderer, among other things. He sees you, you-"
"-run. I know." He shook his head and wondered if they thought he was twelve years old.
Rory's hand raised to silence them. Four men in redneck hunting gear and automatic rifles entered the intersection. A loud siren pierced the air as a car slammed through the stop sign and veered toward Eddie. Erratic across gunfire sprayed the vehicle and killed a tire. Leaping out his lawn chair, half the beer case tore away with the car. Beer cans bounced off the pavement and sprayed a fine mist. A long string of cursing chased away the uneasy silence.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The driver of the crashed vehicle draped across the front seat angling to the ground.
He flinched as blood sprayed the angry Eddie.
"The night's still young." She promised him. "Stay out of sight. Eddie kills everyone except his goons."
Rory cut down the sidewalk while the gang laid the body on the pavement and kicked his ribs in. Callisto ran after her. Ben nearly tripped over his own feet in haste to follow. They rounded the corner and entered the middle of an epic bitching match.
"Puta cabeza de crack. Mi hombre no te necesita. Soy todo lo que necesita."
"Perra, ¿dónde está a las 3 de la mañana? ¡Conmigo! Tu culo de perra llamándolo sabiendo muy bien dónde está."
Two women half dressed and waving around weapons dangerous in more capable hands stood on opposite sides of the street shouting at the top of their lungs. Rory veered around them as if this were normal.
"Vete a la mierda."
"No. Vete a la mierda."
Ben let out a whistled, dragged by his arm along the same path Rory chose. "What are they saying?"
"Don't know. Don't care." Callisto let go after they neared the alleyway.
The rumbling of large trucks disrupted the relatively non-violent bitching.
Callisto grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the alley. They hunched between two dumpsters shoulder to shoulder.
His heart thumped so violently he thought it'd explode from his chest. His sister sat still as a statue. He bet she'd slap him hard if he touched her.
"We're supposed to be protectors." She whispered softly, so softy he believed that he didn't hear her.
Soldiers, because that's what they looked like to him, marched along the street. Two bullets rang out, the screams of the dead women an afterthought on the minds of the killers. A chill ran down his spine and curled in his gut. Murderers. The weight of his machete anchored his hand and deadened the euphoria.
A long semi truck slunk by harmlessly.
He hoped to never end up in the videos. In fact, he swore he'd never watch another video from that site. Once this night was over, he was joining the Anti-Purge club.
Callisto
She shook so hard she almost dropped Darling onto the ground.
"We're supposed to be protectors." She whispered in an attempt to calm her rising frustration. It came as no surprise to her the government participated this night. The NFFA's prayer, blasphemous to the core, said it all. They wanted bloodshed and death, not peace or a strong economy. If the economy stood on its own merits, Purge night and the 28th amendment wouldn't exist.
Her brother turned his head toward her but said nothing. The truck's tail end gradually disappeared from their immediate sight.
"And they have machine guns in the back of their trucks and SWAT teams. We're a couple of lone kids." Rory hissed at Callisto across Ben.
"What building are they going to hit now?" She insisted stubbornly.
The poor suffered the most this night. Statistics proved 50% of the elderly over the age of 60, and 76% of the elderly 70 and older died each year. The elderly population significantly dwindled in the last two years, happily annotated by the government and hushed by the government controlled media. The internet, restrictions aside, let slip facts here and there. Most citizens refused to participate, but the 1% - they participated.
"I'm not watching innocents die out here, Rory." Callisto pulled away from the wall. Ben shoved her back into it as a soldier circled back. Her hand gripped his.
Closer the masked soldier inched toward their hiding spot.
"Did you piss yourself?" Rory sniffed the air around Ben.
Ben let go of Callisto's hand just in time for the soldier thrust a rifle in their face.
She lunged forward and tackled the soldier to the ground. Knee pads banged off pavement. Darling plummeted toward the man's unguarded neck. Rory aimed for the soldier's head, twisting away the barrel at the last second as Callisto's head bobbed into view. They struggled too long for the soldier to not gone unnoticed!
Her arms shook. If – she – just – pulled a -superman!
She flinched away from the spray of blood. Ben dislodged his machete from the man's face. "You okay?"
"Grab the rifle and check for other weapons." She whispered breathlessly.
Multiple men walked into the alley from the back end. Callisto looked up and paled. Face painted in mocking war paint, Danny Voske lead the small gang towards them. Her hand slipped toward her pistol.
"Hello beautiful." He called out far too loudly. His face screwed up and he looked away from the dead body.
Her eyes shot toward the street the truck advanced down. No one entered into view. She pressed a finger to her lips. He cocked his head and nodded toward the street.
Ben checked the safety on the rifle. Callisto pat down the dead body quickly. Stripping down the corpse for its armor, she didn't flinch away from the blood that stained it. Ben's eyes traveled down the alley toward a group of men creeping through the dark. Rory tucked herself behind the dumpster.
"Purging alone this year, Cali?" A familiar voice called out.
Grateful for the mask, she checked Darling's edge against the soldier's shirt. "Ben and I decided to purge together this year." She replied coolly and flipped up her mask. "The gang's smaller. The dealers going door to door collecting fees?"
Danny advanced toward the end of the alley and peeked out. "You're in the clear."
"They only march toward low income buildings." Ben said. "We live in one. Mom's not safe. We should head back, Cali."
Sheathing Darling, Callisto bristled under the concern. What if they were after the building her mother lived in? What if they were going to attack Hertford's Assisted Living? "We should check in on the Home first. They're more vulnerable. Mom's higher up." Her eyes drifted toward one of the men in the back of the gang rolling his neck dramatically.
"Not tonight." Danny flashed a big grin.
Ben launched himself at Danny. The pair fell back into the middle in a mess of limbs and fists.
Gunfire in the distance startled her out of the spell of disbelief. She ran toward the corner and peeked for a better view. Back pressed to the wall, she breathed deeply. Fuck, fuck, fuck! This couldn't be any worse than it already was!
She yelled at the touch of a hand on her shoulder. The handsome stranger chuckled. "I have weapons, you dick!" She threw a punch and nailed him in the shoulder. He rubbed it tenderly where she tapped him through the black jacket he wore.
"First year on the Purge Tour. Did I miss anything?" He leaned in too close for her comfort.
Turning her back to the street, she crossed her arms. "You're not bloody yet. And you're with him." She glared at Danny fending off blows from above as Ben poured his anger into each blow. "Enough! Act you damned age!"
Pulling Ben off Danny by the protective vest, Callisto stumbled back into the dumpster and caught herself before she slammed into it. A string of cursing escaped Ben's mouth.
Two purgers dressed in ghoulish masks and black robes dashed past and stopped to stare at them curiously. Ben flipped them off and ducked a punch from Danny. Callisto threw herself in between the two, arms thrust outward at each body. "One more punch not aimed at a government soldier and I will kill you both myself. Grow the fuck up and move out, Ben."
"Next time, arsehole." Ben shaped his fingers into a gun and cocked his hand back. Readying the rifle, he fell in step behind his sister. Callisto inhaled and exhaled.
"Next time I tell you to not start something, you don't start something, idiot!" She slapped him upside the head. He winced. "Waste of energy."
"I'm a waste of energy?" Danny blocked her path.
She crossed her arms, the urge to thrust Darling through his chest and disloyal heart growing. "No. I said causing trouble with you was a waste of energy. It solves nothing and no one benefits. Ben, are we clear?"
He walked to the street, peered around the corner, glanced both ways twice, and then motioned for her to join him.
She dropped her mask back down. Walking past him, she connected with his shoulder and their eyes locked. She prayed they left right after her so that Rory could follow safely. Exposing Rory now was suicidal. They stepped out onto the sidewalk and hastened toward their mother's apartment building and Hertford's Assisted Living.
"What's the plan?" Ben whispered.
Her jaw clenched and hands hurt from curling into a fist. She loathed this night with a fiery passion. Already two women died – quickly by the state of their bodies sprawled on the sidewalks and the pool of blood staining the cement. "We visit Hertford's Assisted Living and then move on to help Mom." She answered seriously. "How'd it feel to hit the bastard?"
"Can we go back? I have a few more punches to throw." He jerked his thumb back at the group of seven men, all armed and geared up for Armageddon. "The door. Jabs about your degree-"
"Fuck him. He's a dealer anyway. He only cares about the green." She shook her head, braided hair firmly pinned in place on top her head. All buttoned up and ready to check on the most vulnerable citizens in the town, Callisto intended to reinforce her reputation as defender of the weak and helpless. "Although the color of money is a soft green that would look nice paired with a black or white. Can't stand brown."
He laughed at her and caught himself before he stepped right onto a drain. "One day you're going to design my home."
"If we can afford one."
"Don't talk like that." His voice dipped and a hint of sadness slid into their exchange. "I know the odds, but we have to have the faith."
She held out her fist to him and bumped knuckles.