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 commonly 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. Even when they were younger and both held part of the blame, they held their silence like champions. "Don't tell Mom."
She swayed, focused on the mission with the same determination he witnessed directed toward her degree. "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. Danny and his group disappeared from their immediate proximity, but he doubted Danny would let his sister walk away so easily on a night where murder and rape were two of the top ten crimes committed.
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.
Panting, he slowed to an immediate stop after double checking to see the bullet pattern limited to the line of sight at the corner of 2nd and Lexington. His blood chilled.
A pile of bodies mowed down by merciless bullets built up in front of Hertford's Assisted Living. Two soldiers carried a live, calm white-haired woman toward the back of a trailer hitched to a truck. Ben lifted a rifle Callisto pillaged from the soldier and unloaded on the soldiers that stepped away from the woman. Two bangs to his left preceded the partner dropping to their knees then face first to the curb. His heart threatened to remove from his chest. Shooting someone – damn! The power!
A pat on the back and his sister scooped up the woman before she joined her neighbors in the realm of the dead. Ben threw aside hesitation, stripping the soldiers of their government issued assault rifles and extra ammunition as quickly as his inexperienced hands permitted.
A carpet of broken glass lead them into the two story assisted living home. They picked their way toward zigzagged bodies of young men Ben recognized as volunteers who visited his sister two weeks ago. They promised to help on this night, and their sacrifice created a horrific mosaic on the gray tiled floor. Blood seeped around the shards, the shards defining abstract shapes.
"We told them it was hopeless." The old woman explained.
His head whipped towards her. He almost blamed her for this until he remembered his mother's words. 'Don't blame someone else for the actions you take.' These people died to protect, and he wouldn't cheapen their last moments.
"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-" She struggled to breathe. Callisto sagged under her weight. Ben scanned the immediate area for threats and exits. The truck in the street threatened their immediate survival if they did not reach a location of safety. Hiding anywhere in this building increased the chances of survival.
"No." Ben refused. "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 tailed. 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 safety 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 bullet applied to the temple 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.
Breathless and pale, Rory readied her shotgun. "Danny's leading a hunt at his warehouse. The gang is rounding up victims." She rolled her neck and placed her handgun on the bed. Arching back, she flexed her arms above her head and stretched. "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 as he checked under the bed on one knee.
"Hungry more like it." Callisto muttered as she cleared the room and peeked out the black out 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 became a market after last year proved a 'success'. Some organizations claimed that poverty marked over half the individuals killed.
"I didn't overhear anything. My guess – they already have people rounded up." Rory reported solemnly. She cracked her knees, knuckles and back before picking up her hand gun.
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. Has a spine. A vision."
"Shut up." They bumped fists, each enjoying the back and forth more than the killing they committed.
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.
8:30 p.m.
"Cali, have you checked your phone yet?" Rory asked.
They waited outside a bathroom and waited for Ben to 'drain the snake'.
"Why?" Callisto eyed up the corridor, a twitchy trigger finger irritating her. After the short pee break they were returning home to check in with their relatives.
"Danny's got a live feed." Rory held up her phone of a live recording. The video framed the interior of a industrial-type setting. A blood splattered face flashed across the handheld screen before panning away toward the proud killer – a muscular white male donning a black mask. "Guess drugs aren't his own source of income."
She turned away in disgust. What did she ever see in that dirtbag? Aside from his good looks and wad of cash, little recommended him to women. Unfortunately the deadly combination of good looks and free flowing cash pulled women in faster than Callisto warned them away.
"Nice rifles too. Top of the line armor…" Rory whistled. "I know where his money went this year."
Rolling her eyes, Callisto relaxed her guard. "Stop drooling over the idiot and his side hustle. I thought you were on my side, not theirs."
"Sometimes you need to remember where we live, Cali" Rory said and turned toward the opening door. Ben flashed a hesitant grin and slung the borrowed rifle across his shoulder. "Ready to go, Newb?"
He glanced at Callisto. "Mom's cell phone is broken."
"You can knock on the door if you want, but I just need to know if the building is still standing and everyone is alive." Callisto announced flatly. Checking the safety on the rifle, she flexed her hand and willed the twitchy trigger finger to relax. "Turn off that damned feed." She stormed off toward the back exit with a confused brother and frustrated friend.
Rory snapped at Ben, who in return asked what her issue was. The argument lasted all the way to the front door of a ransacked apartment building they called home.