Crystal
Reyesent, Washington
6:36 PM
"Ugh…" Preston groaned again and I pressed the ice pack on his head harder in an attempt to make him shut up. "Where's Beebee?" he asked faintly.
"You killed her," I replied for the third time that hour.
"Oh, yeah," Preston responded before yawning and readjusting his head on my lap. I rolled my eyes in frustration, but my attention perked up when I saw Svetlana.
"Svetlana!" I called out, half hoping she didn't hear me. But the Russian woman turned around expectantly and I found myself in an awkward position. Literally. "Um," I wasn't exactly sure what to say, "Is there anything we can do for Preston?" I carefully lifted his head off my lap. Svetlana pursed her lips and shook her head.
"Unless you want to take him to the hospital," she said. "I'm not going to help him."
"But the hospital's gone!" I protested.
"I know that," Svetlana replied, sighing, "Some might say that it was my fault that he got a concussion- but it was the only way I could get him to move away from his position from authority."
"He's 17!" I argued, "You could've just pointed the gun at him and we would've walked away!"
"And I'm 24," Svetlana laughed, "And I'll do more than just point my gun at you the next time you contradict me. Now get the boy off your lap. If it makes you feel any better I'll see if we can put him some place comfortable." Of course she didn't really mean that, "Go get me something from the stock room. I'll be in my office." It pained me a little to force Preston's sleeping body off of me, but I obeyed nonetheless.
I made my way over to the stock room in silence. The sun going down, coupled with the fact that Svetlana refused to turn on the lights in here for some reason made it a little more difficult to see. Today had been a relatively good one. The people of Reyesent had gotten food, although I wasn't sure why Svetlana was allowing that. Yep, other than Preston getting a concussion, today had been pretty good. I arrived at the store room door and put my hand on the handle, preparing to open it, when I heard something drop from the other side. Quickly, I thrust the door open and flipped on the light switch to reveal Yuki holding bags of food. A bandage ran across her face with a patch of dried blood over where her nose would be, but otherwise she looked the same as she had when she left.
"Hey!" I yelled out, running toward her. Yuki took off running through the shelves and I pursued, but not as quickly as I could. Instead, I decided to outsmart her, and pulled out my walkie-talkie. The batteries were running low and (contrary to popular belief) Saper's did not sell batteries, but I was sure I had enough power for a minute. "Derek! Chaz! Yuki's going out the emergency exit in the store room with food! Stop her!" Not knowing if they heard me or not, I dropped the device and picked up my speed. I lunged for the running girl, but missed and fell. I scrambled up just as Yuki got to the door and flung it open, sounding the alarm. Outside I saw a running school bus, the door open and a man with goatee looking out at Yuki in desperation.
Chaz and Derek made it outside as soon as I did and soon the three of us surrounded our former friend. I didn't have any weapons, but Derek had a small pistol and Chaz had his hands. I quickly took inventory of what Yuki had and acknowledged many perishables. I snickered, knowing that even if she did somehow make it out with the food, it wouldn't last for long. "Set it down, Yuki," Derek commanded as best he could without sounding too intimidating.
"Why?" Yuki asked defiantly, still holding her grocery bags. "Just so they can be delivered back to Preston? Just so they can be stored away and never be given to the public?"
"Where've you been, chump?" Chaz asked, his right hand outstretched, "Preston's gone. Finito. Svetlana's in charge now- and she's been feeding the public."
"Svetlana?" Yuki asked incredulously. While Yuki was confused and maybe even appalled, the three of us took this chance to attack her. Chaz grabbed her from behind while Derek punched her in the jaw and I yanked the bags out of her hands, dropping them behind me.
"You're going to need another bandage," Chaz snickered as he let go of the young girl. The sight of headlights on the pavement ahead of us made me turn around to face a bus heading straight toward us. I dived out of the way, as did Chaz and Derek. The bus stopped right in front of Yuki and the man I had seen earlier came out. I watched as he helped her up and then ran over to get the groceries I had dropped.
"Stop them!" I cried as the two marauders began to climb back into their vehicle. Derek immediately raised his gun and shot at the windshield, cracking it instantly. As the bus started to pull away I watched in awe as Chaz ran up to it and jumped, landing ungracefully on the hood of the vehicle. Not wasting a second, he raised one of his fists and brought it crashing down on the metal. The hood was instantly dented enough that a second thrusting in of his hand gave him access to the bus's engine. Realizing what he was doing, the man in the bus started to speed up and swivel the vehicle's front, trying to shake him off.
"Chaz, get down!" Derek yelled as the bus began pulling out of the parking lot. Chaz rolled off of the hood as Derek shot at the bus's windows. Glass shattered on the road and there were a few new bullet holes in its sides, but otherwise it didn't look like anyone was injured.
"Ugh!" I kicked at a loose stone the parking lot in frustration. Chaz was coming back, wisps of smoke coming up from one of his metal hands. Wordlessly, he leaned down and punched the ground in one swift motion. I felt a faint wave of height brush over my face, but it quickly passed. "Is there anything you can do?" I looked over at Derek, knowing he was in the Council.
"Maybe," Derek replied, obviously disgruntled, "I guess it depends on what they're going to do with all that food."
"How about eat it?" Chaz suggested sarcastically, coming over to join us while waving his hand in the air, trying to air it out.
Derek shrugged, "Maybe," he said, "Does Svetlana know about this?" A gun fired into the air was our response. Two minutes later the three of us were standing in the manager's office, along with the rest of the Saper's employees. Svetlana was determined to stare us down for a good minute before she finally spoke up.
"How did she get in?" She asked, not blinking. Nobody spoke up and I soon realized that both Chaz and Derek were looking at me. I looked up and saw that Svetlana's attention was primarily focused in my direction as well.
"I don't know," I admitted softly, shaking my head. Svetlana cocked an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "She must've gotten in through…" I trailed off, not sure if I should continue.
"Gotten in through where?" Svetlana asked, suddenly interested.
I gulped and replied, "There's a door that's not really used in the loading dock any more, in the back," I explained, "Last week, before you came, we found a way to get in using that door, more or less crawl through a packaging room, and then come out in the store room."
Before Svetlana could reply, Derek turned around and started heading for the door. "Where are you going?" she asked, making the blond boy turn around.
"Home…?" he replied, slightly unnerved.
Svetlana narrowed her eyes, "Home?" she asked, "Why?"
Derek looked down at his watch, then back up at the woman, "Because it's past closing time…" he replied.
"Closing time?" Svetlana asked incredulously. "As in abandon this place for the night? It's hardly dark out. Besides, the minute we leave is the minute this whole place is hoarded. You saw what just happened. Are you telling me you actually left the building during the days I wasn't here?" Derek nodded slowly, not daring to blink. "You're staying here." Svetlana closed the matter and Derek sullenly returned to his spot between myself and Ray. "And as for the girl who took food out of the store," Svetlana returned to the original problem, "I want Crystal, Derek, and Chaz to go after her, find her, and bring her back here."
"But we don't know where she is." I spoke up, cursing myself after I did, but not stopping, "And what about Preston? I thought you said we'd find a better place for him."
"We can find a better place for him right now, if you want." Svetlana replied, pulling a machine gun up from behind her desk and heading over to the door. I stared in horror as she walked through the doorway and over to the wall Preston was lying against. "Goodnight, Esquire boy." Before I knew what I was doing I barreled myself into Svetlana's arm, making the deafening shot land a few inches away from Preston's chest. The gun swung back around and I was struck in the face, the blow sending me backwards. I stumbled back and fell for the second time that day, feeling a sickening pulse in my jaw. I brought my hand down from my cheek and discovered with grim satisfaction the bit of blood that stuck to my skin.
I was about to get up when Svetlana's foot connected my stomach, smashing my head down onto the floor in the process. The air left my body and I struggled to get it back. I felt something hard pressed against my bruised cheek and braced myself for the bullet when a voice, strong and clear, rang out against the sound of my defeat. "Don't kill anyone, Svetlana." I was as surprised as my attacker was.
Through my dizziness I looked up and faintly made out the small shape of Claire standing behind us. Svetlana's foot came off of my stomach as she turned around to face the scared girl. "I'm sorry, Claire," she replied condescendingly, "But I already have." I got up and rubbed the back of my head.
"Just for contradicting you?" Claire asked, a little less bold this time now that Svetlana's attention was directed right at her. Svetlana raised her weapon to strike the younger girl, but as she brought it down she hit only thin air. The next second, Claire was behind her- the second after that, back in front of her. And finally, she was gone. I turned around and caught a glimpse of her running behind a shelf, but Svetlana was not so lucky as to catch that glimpse. The woman sighed and looked down at something below me, smirking despite the fact that Claire had gotten away.
"What am I going to do with this?" she asked herself, "I can't have people seeing a dead body the next time they come in shopping." I looked down at what she was looking at and took a few steps back, not daring to breathe. In fact, I don't think I could breathe if I tried. I was staring down at a bruised girl's cold body, a bullet hole formed right in her left cheek, a trickle of blood running down her right. Her eyes were shut tight in fear. I looked down at my own hands: they seemed solid enough to me.
"Hey!" I yelled at Svetlana, waving my hands above my head. Nothing. My murderer just walked away, leaving me alone with Preston and my body. Correction: leaving me alone. I slowly crept over to Preston, still sound asleep despite the commotion, "Preston…?" I reached out a hand to brush the bloodied hair away from his face, but to my dismay, my hand went right threw him. A tear stung my eye as I stumbled back, trying not to believe what was happening.
Despite my better judgment, I looked back at where my body lay. There was no doubt about it; I was dead. I ran over to the front of the store and ran right through the window. I stopped right in my tracks. People I had never seen before were walking, seemingly without purpose, up and down the streets. Some were smiling and talking to each other, but they were in audible. There was a blond boy sitting at the base of Saper's, his head hanging in his hands. I looked up and saw the light resemblance between him and the rotting body still taped to the wall, the sign "STARVATION IS YOUR ONLY OPTION" still hanging there. "Is anyone there?" I yelled up to the darkening, foggy sky. Nobody heard me.