Chapter 3: Preparations
Cami ran faster than she thought possible with her brother running beside her. She took his advice and did not look down. She only looked forward at the coming building roofs. Sam had their mother's shock pistol clenched in his hand. Cami had ditched the broom handle after the first jump. Sam was leading her in an erratic way to throw off anyone who was following on the ground. The two kept moving until Cami pulled Sam back. She was gasping for breath and so was Sam.
"Can't…go…. any…more…" Cami laid down on the roof of the building, gasping.
Sam fell over next to her. "Who…they?" He gasped out.
"Don't…know." Cami stopped speaking after that; it took too much effort.
Sam was quiet too. Each of them was listening carefully for any sounds of any pursuers. Slowly the ability to breath returned to both Sam and Cami. Sam sat up and slowly looked over the edge of the building. He saw only normal people who were going about their daily business. Sam realized that he and Cami had jumped over the rooftops to the other side of town. The fear had made the running seem a lot shorter and slower than it actually was.
"Where are we?" Cami had sat up and she was still in the middle of the building.
Sam knew she was too scared to look over the edge. "Around the library." Sam was looking for a way down.
"Wait, really?" Cami asked astonished. "We ran that far? I managed to jump to that many buildings?"
"Apparently." Sam spied a way down. "Cami, we need to get down using that ladder over there. Can you do it?"
Sam saw Cami tense up. "I-I don't know." Cami mumbled.
"Come on. One step at a time." Sam pulled Cami over to the ladder. "Look at me and empty your head of everything. Think about the time that Dad told us the story about fighting a dragon in China and keep your eyes on the sky, not the ground."
Cami was concentrating on her breathing and the story that her father told her. Black magic had animated the stone dragon and her father had fought it and won. Cami didn't think it was real, but she had loved to hear the story. Sam went first down the ladder and Cami followed. She looked at the sky and the clouds. One cloud was shaped like a question mark or a cane.
"One last step." Sam said suddenly interrupting her thoughts. "Good job." Sam said when Cami was on the ground.
"I hate being acrophobic." Cami growled under her breath as she and Sam slipped into the crowd.
"I know." Sam said understandingly. "We need to get back to the house."
Cami stopped walking and gave him an incredulously look. "Are you insane? That's the first place anyone would look for us!"
"Yeah, I know, but do have a better option?" Sam retorted.
"Finding out if Mom's okay! Or did you forget that?" Cami asked nastily.
"Cam, this is no time for a fight!" Sam said with just as much anger as Cami. "We can't afford to argue at a time like this!"
Cami lapsed in angry silence. Nevertheless, she still followed Sam throw the crowds to the house. During the walk back home, Cami and Sam both tried to appear relaxed and still keep an eye out for anyone suspicious.
After about a paranoid hour of walking, Sam and Cami were hiding in the bushes looking at their house. Two officers dogs were still there and the crime scene tape was still up.
"Do you think they're real cops? I don't recognize them. They could be some of those people who were at the police station." Cami whispered.
"Or they could be real cops." Sam said matter-of-factly.
"If they were real cops, why aren't they at the station? It was surrounded and the alarms went off. I would think the alarms would be hooked up to a computer or something that automatically alerted all units, don't you?" Cami eyed them suspiciously. "I don't think they're real cops."
"Okay, fine. We'll stay out of sight." Sam sighed. He had hoped that the cops around their house would have helped them. "Let's go around back. Maybe the back door isn't covered."
They crept around the house, as the sky began to darken. Another dog was guarding the back door.
"Oh, great. Got any ideas on how to get in?" Sam asked.
"I always leave a window unlocked." Cami said as she crept back to the side of the house. "Just in case I'm ever locked out."
"Does that happen often?" Sam asked as he followed Cami to the side of the house.
"More than you think." Cami looked up and down the house. Unluckily, the window was in plain sight of back door guard. "We need to distract him, somehow. Got any ideas?"
"A shock pistol blast would knock him out, but it would also alert the others." Sam said. "Do you think we can handle it?"
"Do it. One will most definitely come to investigate. Shock him too, while I get the other guy." Cami suggested. She picked up a stick off the ground. "If I can't knock that guy out with a stick, run to where I am and shock him too."
"Of, course. I get the hard job." Sam muttered as he took aim. When he had a clear shot, he nodded at Cami to take position by the front door guards. Cami nodded back and crept towards the front door guards. The light of the shock blast was even visible in front the house.
"What?" The first dog asked unnerved. "You stay here." He said to the other dog cop. The first dog pulled out a gun and slowly crept around the house. The remaining dog watched him go and Cami took her chance. She silently jumped out and wacked him with the stick. The guy fell to the ground as Cami saw the glow of another shock pistol blast from behind the house. There was the sound of running footsteps and Sam appeared with the gun pointed at the unconscious dog.
"You did it?" Sam asked with surprise.
"Why phrase it like a question?" Cami asked, amused. She trotted over to the window and yanked it open. She pulled herself in and held out her hand to help Sam.
Sam spoke as she pulled him in. "It's funny, you're an awesome climber, but you're acrophobic."
"I didn't choose to be acrophobic." Cami said defensively. "Be careful, there's broken glass on the floor."
Sam and Cami carefully made their way across the room and to the stairs. The door to the stairs had been closed so it did not have any glass or shrapnel or anything on it. Sam and Cami wordlessly went into each of their rooms.
Sam looked around his room. His two soccer balls were stuck in the corner so they wouldn't roll around. His books were on the shelf organized by author's last name. Little knick-knacks were strewn all over the top of the bookshelf. The bed was unmade and covered in papers that Sam was using for homework last night.
Cami looked around her room. Her books were stacked by her unmade bed as they always were. Posters of dancers and music groups covered the rose-patterned wallpaper. Cami couldn't bring herself to pick anything up.
Cami slipped her hand into her pocket then recoiled. She felt something in her pocket. Cami pulled out an envelope and remembered. She had pulled it out of her father's safe earlier.
"Sam!" Cami cried. She ran into his room. "Sam! I've found something!"
"What?" Sam nearly crashed into Cami when she came running into his room. "What did you find?" He asked when both of them steadied themselves.
"This! I found it in Dad's safe!" Cami said excitedly waving the envelope in Sam's face.
Sam took the envelope and read the label. He looked up at Cami. "Dad has a safe?" He asked.
"Yeah. Come on! Open it!" Cami was jumping for joy.
"No, not yet." Sam slid the envelope into his pocket. "We've got unconscious guards outside. We need to get what we need and get out." He said when he noticed Cami's shocked face. Cami nodded after a moment and ran into her room.
Cami shoved some clothes into her bag and all the money she had. Cami looked around her room for anything else that could be of use. She then got another idea and walked into her parents' room. Cami opened her father's bedside table's drawer and pulled out a box with an electronic keyboard. Cami typed in the code and pulled out her father's shock pistol and holster. Cami strapped it to her belt and went back into her room to get her bag.
When Cami scampered out of his room, Sam yanked his bag out from under his bed and shoved clothes into it. He emptied his box of spare change and dollar bills into his bag. Sam put his hand on the top of the shock pistol that was in his pants' pocket. He wished he didn't need it. Sam slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out of his room just as Cami was coming out of hers.
"Ready?" Sam asked. Cami had her backpack on her back and their father's shock pistol on her hip.
"Yeah. Let's get out of here." Cami climbed down the stairs with Sam behind her. She slipped out the open window and looked at the unconscious guards as Sam slipped out into the night air.
Sam and Cami exchanged glances and ran with almost silent footsteps away from their home.