Chapter 2
4 months, 10 days until Purge night
Nicole threw the door open to one of Logan and Quinn's guest rooms carrying both her and Chloe's bags. She noticed two different beds "woah first vacation where I don't have to sleep on the floor" she quipped "alright you unpack your stuff, Mommys going to do her work"
"Will it really take five months to fix Mr. Reese's elevator" she innocently asked
"Um yes, it's ah ... .It's a big job and I'm really good… ugh the tv remotes on the nightstand" Nicole said desperately trying to get out of this conversation. She didn't like lying about what she was doing, but it was preferable to confessing that she was committing legal mass larceny.
She walked through the penthouse to meet the others, she and Chloe got there pretty early so they should be here soon. The bathroom door opened and an unfamiliar guy with an extended goatee came out "Nicole Bristow" he said with a smile
"Chase Mathews," Nicole said, accepting a hug. His bushy hair, what happened to his bushy hair, other than that he was in pretty great shape "how have you been" she said
"Oh I'm a marriage counselor now" he explained "I listen people complain their problems, I write a lot divorce forms"
"That… sounds fun"
"Yeah it's not" he confessed
Nicole chuckled at this "well I never took you for a bandit"
"Yeah I agree I'm probably not qualified for this it all, by the way here's your wallet back" he said as Nicole frantically checked her pockets "oh I'm sorry did you think that was a hug" Chase quipped handing her wallet back "Oh Michaels waiting in the living room, we came here together"
The two of them went into the living room to find Michael already sitting down. He looked so different, he had a shaved head, a goatee, and had gained about seven pounds. "Nicole it's been some time" he said with a smile, his voice not nearly as high as it was the last time she saw him
"It's nice to see you Michael, hows Terra"
"It ah… it didn't work out" Michael hesitantly confessed
"Yeah, Mr. two divorces everyone" Chase added
"Oh haha" Michael sarcastically played along, Chase and Nicole got a few chuckles from that. To avoid talking about it any further Michael grabbed the remote and started flipping through the news channels.
"With the annual Purge coming up, the so called L.A. Owl vigilante has once again become a topic of discussion-"
"The Purge was supposed to improve the economy but recent studies show that 80% of household's income has plummeted below the national average-"
"Multiple countries in Europe and Africa considering adopting annual Purge like events-"
" 'The Purge that started it all' the all new film coming this Christmas starring Nicholas Cage and Keanu Reeves"
"Isn't there anything on that isn't about The Purge" Michael complained
"See here as the king crab finds its mate" the new show not about the purge went on
Nicole's nerves shivered at sight of crabs "Ehhh, can I change the channel"
"Please don't" Michael said
"Logan, Nicole" Zoey's voice echoed through the hall. She made her way to them in hall and froze in her tracks "Chase" she awkwardly acknowledged
"Zoey" Chase said "glad you could be bothered to show up"
"Same to you" Zoey said, Nicole stayed silent since this clearly the kind of thing you don't ask about
The three of them sat in the living room and caught up while Zoey typed on her computer, scrolling through the schematics of the Snyder building. "Guess who" Nicole swore she heard Quinn's voice, she turned to see Lola wearing glasses.
"Yes I just stopped by to pick up my greatest science award from Finland" she said imitating Quinn in such a horrible performance that the room went completely silent
"Ugh aspiring" Nicole falsely praised
"Couldn't tell the difference" Michael said
"What the hell happened to you, you used to be so decent" Zoey said killing the facade
"I'm still practicing" Lola said in such an insecure way (she swore there were tears in her eyes) Nicole felt compelled to hug her. "Hi Chase" she said smiling
"Oh ugh hi there….. Your hair looks nice" Chase said blushing as Zoey rolled her eyes
Quinn followed her in pulling seven year old Eric in her left hand and five year old Brooke in her right. "It was fine I'm a really difficult role to tackle" she said before taking her glasses back, she had dyed her hair blonde since she last saw her but she still had the same glasses
"Kids go play in the other room, were gonna talk about the social security system" Logan said
"Bye" the boy said before they both rushed into the other room
"I don't know why that always works" Logan said sitting down
The room was silent for a full minute to absorb that information "Alright just out curiosity why'd we have to come this early, we just get some guns and bust in right" Michael said breaking the silence
"Yeah and get mowed down within ten feet of the door" Logan said in a harsh and demeaning way "we gotta sneak in, Honey explain what you heard"
"Got it" Quinn said standing in a place all of them could see her "Alright so, about a week ago my cousin Bernie was going on a date with this hairdresser chick Franchesca, and let me say he really bugged her until she said yes, which is not ok in any way but it was also not worth it because Franchescas also my hairdresser and she gave me a horrible dye job that made my hair look green in certain light-"
"Wrong Details" was all Nicole could say "that was not necessary"
"No no all of this will contribute to the story" Quinn assured
"Really?" Chase said with disbelief
"Yeah so -Franchesca tells him that her mom got into a little trouble with this big creepy Snyder guy, apparently she couldn't pay the extortion Snyders goons ordered and she had to be roped into being the nanny to Snyder nineteen year old daughter, you know the one who posts tic-toks every ten seconds, and while there she always complained to this guy Carenzo who ran the imports into the building which is extremely strict and monitors every literal cockroach that enters, anyways Carenzo was roped into working there just like her and he says to her "I'm ready to just let the purgers rip him to shreds", anyways so after hearing all this from Bernie we met up with Carenzo in a swedish Cafe, you know the one on 5th street, where we arranged for him to put Snyders fortune in the ground but we had to do it in a convincing disguise, which francesca can provide because she intentionally ruined my hair because she's quote 'An Artist'" Quinn finally finished that insanely exhausting story "so what do you think" Quinn said
"Alright" Lola said "so you have a man by the gate who can let us in if we wear disguises that your hairdresser can provide" she said, simplifying the whole plan into one sentence.
Quinn froze after hearing this "uhh yes" she said nodding. She was clearly a little embarrassed and gestured for Logan to finish the briefing
"Don't listen to them you did great sweetie" he said before facing the five of them "Alright we have a lot to do in the time between now and then. We can get the disguises and fake badges easily, we can even secure some firearms, false documents, and one of his company vans with a little elbow grease and favoritism, but the big thing is securing Quinn's magnetic cables"
"Magnetic cables?" Nicole said with confusion
"Okay so say all five of you break into the safe, we'll say our amazingly chiseled and god like bodies can carry 12 million each" he said with obvious sarcasm "no we're gonna need to steal the safe itself"
"Steal a 40 ton safe, simple" Michael joked in a really aggressive way.
"Yeah well that forty ton safe is also your escape, you'll need to loosen it with explosives before we can airlift it out" Logan mentioned "And I'll be in his personal shelter, so I can make sure he doesn't notice you guys" Logan assured "once you give me the signal I'll sneak away and steal Snyder's yacht sized helicopter "you guys will have to crack the safe and hide inside when I airlift it away"
"That's my job" Chase said "I once cracked a safe into a mob bank and made it rain money all over New York, the people their started calling me Robin Hood Mathews"
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure they'll find something interesting to talk about soon" Zoey butted in
After this awkward moment Michael stepped in "Well I can set up the cables, did a mission like that in the marines" Michael confirmed
"So who gets to keep the yacht sized helicopter?" Chase asked
"So are we in agreement" Logan said
Some were immediately in like Zoey and Chase, Michael and Lola hesitated but nodded. Nicole was in a difficult spot, she could say no right now and avoid any trouble, she and Chloe could go back home. Back to a soon to be evicted apartment and a low paying job and no place to be safe during the Purge. It was a risk but a necessary one "yeah I'm in" she said with a smile
"Alright" Logan said as he clapped his hands "let's get to work"
4 months, 8 day until Purge night
Quinn went through a bunch of her old files and blueprints; going through designs for artificial uranium samples, dissolving plastic, spider murder gas (the GEF did not like that idea at all), and even a blood pressure magnet (not to brag but that one put her on an FBI watchlist). After some digging she finally found what she was looking for, the basic design of a special grenade. She barged into the living room to show everyone; Nicole, Zoey, and Lola were all sitting at the table.
"This is Dustin's son Jessie, he was just born in September" Zoey said with a huge smile showing a photo
"AWWW" Nicole and Lola said in unison
"This is my favorite photo of Chloe at the aquarium" Nicole said showing a photo of Chloe looking at a sea turtle
"AWWWW" Zoey and Lola said in unison
"This is my son Nathan at cub scouts, sold eight whole popcorn cases" Lola said showing a photo of Nathan selling popcorn
"AWWWW" Zoey and Nicole said in unison
"Ugh guys" Quinn said getting their attention "I've got plans for a seizure inducing bomb, is that something your interested in having at your side"
"Oh yeah get on that" Lola said speaking for all of them
"But first" Quinn said "I have a really cute picture of Brooke and Eric at the Sydney petting zoo that you have to see" she said showing a photo the the two petting a kangaroo
"AWWWW" Nicole, Zoey, and Lola said in unison
4 months, 1 day until Purge night
Lola hung in her car parked next to Farid's laundry service wearing an apron. Finally she saw the red Jeep patriot she was waiting for come into the parking lot. She took a deep breath and tried to create a role in her head, she got out and approached the door.
An Italian woman came out of the Jeep Patriot and approached her "excuse me I have an appointment and I'm late for my kids water aerobics" she said giving Lola the code phrase
"Oh Franchesca, I can take your appointment out here" she said giving her code phrase
Franchesca handed over five guard uniforms. She handed her a receipt… that happened to have a huge wad of cash clipped to it. She waved her off and Lola speed walked back to her car.
Franchesca made it three steps before a woman stopped her "you know my son's been thinking about water aerobics what team is…"
"Ugh, the Canadian kind Bye!" she said slowly running away from her
3 months, 16 days until Purge night
Logan and Quinn pushed a baby carriage around Tom Lee Park. It wasn't too hard a facade for either of them, but they were still a little nervous. Logan noticed their contact approaching with another baby carriage. Logan greeted her and hailed her over.
Logan opened the carriages cover slightly and saw all the guns and ammunition they ordered inside "woah what a handsome young man" Logan said "would you like to meet Carol" he said referring to the baby doll in their carriage
The contact leaned down to the carriage, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and ripped the dolls head off to find a huge clip of cash inside. She put the dolls head back on and stood back up "well I have to go, congratulations" she continued to over act as they subtly switched carriages. Logan and Quinn sped walked away to put some distance from he
1 month, 8 days until Purge night
Micheal walked up to the snyder buildings guards outside the parking garage "hey" he greeted
"Sir this is a restricted area you can't-" the guard was interrupted by Michael throwing a balloon full of mustard at him and ran
"GET HIM" the guard yelled as they all chased after Michael
Chase came out from behind a corner and snuck up to one of the company vans, he hotwired it and drove off
1 month, 1 day until Purge night
Quinn choked down some water as all four women were gathered together in Logan and Quinn's personal gym "ok if we're gonna pull off a heist, we've gotta be in tip top shape". She said as they got ready to exercise "ok do exactly what I do" she said before pulling her leg up and behind her head
The three pushed as hard as they could, after an insane amount of work they started to succeed. Their faces watermelon red and muscle vibrating from exhaustion "I'm doing it, I'm doing it" Nicole cheered getting motivation from the success
"Nothing can stop me" Zoey cheered
"I'M LARA CROFT" Lola cheered
Meanwhile….
Logan walked to the gym with a six pack of Powerade for the girls
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Logan froze, he may have someone's hospital bill to pay off.
10 days until Purge night
Nicole unscrewed as fast as she could. Only one more screw and the stranger's license plate would be off.
"OH HURRY UP" Zoey aggressively whispered at her while keeping a lookout "I cannot believe I got stuck with you"
Nicole finally got it off. She put it under her shirt and they made an escape
45 minutes until Purge night
Nicole came out of her room in her guard disguise, drinking what felt like her fiftieth glass of water so she wouldn't sweat through her uniform. She could very well die tonight, they all could. But she needed her cut, and Chloe would be 100% safe through the Purge so there really wasn't any turning back.
She found Zoey, Chase, Michael, and Lola all in guard disguises as well. They definitely could use water, they'll have to blast the air conditioning on the way there. Quinn was off to the side messing with some kind of drone. Logan came out in a full suit, tie and briefcase "ok I avoided shaving for three days, does it make me look like an evil businessman"
"More than usual" Lola quipped, Logan scorned at the comment.
Quinn pulled out a large cardboard box to distribute some gear "alright I finished those seizure inducing grenades, remember keep your eyes covered when you use them" she said handing them out. "You'll also need this" she said holding six pens "each one shoots a bullet" she eccentrically said while everyone else seemed more confused
"They only shoot the one bullet?" Chase asked, Quinn nodded
"We have guns…. That shoot multiple times" Lola explained
"And survive a serious firefight" Michael added
"Which you can't do with a pen gun" Nicole added
"Look I spent a month figuring out how to turn a pen into a gun so your each taking one" Quinn enforced
Nicole and the others just took one to be polite, even Logan. Michael almost put his in his chest pocket but decided against it when taking his vital organs into account.
Nicole shook this off and decided that she should speak to Chloe before they left. She entered her room where Chloe tried to turn off GTA 11 without her noticing. And sat down "ugh I'm going to work right now, I'll be perfectly safe and I promise I'll be back in the morning"
Chloe had a strange smile that slowly faded "Mom you be safe alright, please" was all she needed to say. Nicole didn't want to say anything to push her luck, but it was perfectly clear Chloe was smart enough to figure everything out. Nicole instinctually hugged her daughter out of pride and fear "I'll be back" she said as she left the room. She would be back definitely, if Paul Rudd can pull off a heist and make it home to his daughter so can she.
Logan passed her going toward the bathroom "oh this things driving me crazy I gotta go shave".
Once Logan was finished shaving he turned to see Quinn waiting by the door "Hey"
"your not gonna throw this away" he said gesturing to a positive pregnancy test on their counter
"I'll let you do that when you come back to me" Quinn said trying to hold back fear
"I will" Logan assured, hugging his wife