Shaking his head, Lance took a shot and said, “Let’s go play Call of Duty.”
Ian caught the ball as it sailed through the net. “Okay, but let’s play with our headsets off. If Ms. Penny hears us cussing, I’m scared now of what she’ll do,” he said, dribbling the ball as he walked over to Lance.
“That’s a good idea,” Lance said. “It just makes me mad when some newb comes in acting like a turd.”
“Not going to argue that,” Ian laughed as they ran inside.
Seeing the sweat-soaked boys running to the back of the house toward the den, Ms. Penny shouted, “Boys!” They both skidded to a stop and turned around. “Go shower before you two pile up on the sofa.”
“Yes ma’am,” they said and took off upstairs. They saw Jason talking on his phone in his room as they ran down the hall. After they showered and dressed, they both ran back to the den and found a plate of cut up fruits and vegetables and glasses of tea sitting on the coffee table.
“That woman is a saint,” Lance said, sitting down.
Turning on the X-box, Ian turned around to see Lance stuffing his face. “She is, and you better save me some,” he said, stepping over the coffee table.
They played till their parents called and talked to them. Their parents told them the airline called and postponed their flight for twenty-four hours because of riots on Oahu and in Los Angeles. The boys said they were okay, and Jason confirmed it. When they hung up, Ian and Lance continued playing until Ms. Penny came in carrying her purse.
“Boys, can you stop for a second?” she asked, digging in her purse. It never crossed either of their minds to tell her they couldn’t pause online gaming, so they just left the game.
“Yes ma’am,” Lance said, grabbing a handful of baby carrots and shoving them in his mouth.
“My daughter just got called into work at the hospital, and I have to leave to watch her kids. Jason is upstairs, and Allie will be home from next door in one hour. If you need me, call, and I’ll come. Understand?”
“Why did she get called in now?” Ian said, looking at his watch. “She works nights, and it’s only three.”
“They are bringing some of the people injured from riots in Nashville out, and they are short-staffed,” Ms. Penny said, pulling out her keys.
“Is it that bad in Nashville?” Ian asked, getting worried.
“No,” Ms. Penny said, shaking her head. “My sister lives there, and it’s only the bad parts of town. She said all the stores are still open, and people are going about their lives.”
Feeling relieved, Ian got up to hug her and said, “You be careful, Ms. Penny.”
“I will, and you two listen to Jason. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said, kissing Ian’s cheek as Lance came over and hugged her. After kissing his cheek, she walked to the front door, and they followed. “Supper is on the stove. Just clean your plates off, and put them in the dishwasher, and I’ll get the rest tomorrow.”
“Yes ma’am,” Lance said, opening the door for her. “If you need us, call, okay?”
“Oh, boys, I’ll be fine. I’ve watched those kids longer than I have you while Ellen worked.” She smiled. “If Lawrence gives you anymore problems, just tell me,” she whispered and winked.
“We will, Ms. Penny,” Ian laughed as she walked off the porch down the steps.
They watched her climb in the van and drive off. “Think we should be worried?” Lance asked.
“I know the combination to the gun safe, so no,” Ian answered as he closed the door.
They walked back to the den. “I know the combination to our gun safe, but something’s not right,” Lance said, climbing over the back of the couch and grabbing his remote.
“There have been riots across the country several times, Lance. At least two or three times a year. What is so different now?” Ian asked, dropping down on the couch.
Not wanting to admit it because it sounded really babyish and totally uncool, Lance said in a soft voice, “Our parents aren’t here.”
Ian shrugged. “They will be here Tuesday instead of Monday, so we don’t have to worry. Whatever happens, we can make it till then. Besides, Ms. Penny will be here tomorrow, and we have Jason, and grown men are scared at the sight of him.”
Feeling better, Lance nodded. “Hey, squirts,” Jason said, walking in the den.
“Hey, Jason,” Lance said and noticed his controller lights were blinking. Getting off the couch, he grabbed some batteries then dropped back down.
“Now, I need you two to watch the ladybug while I go out,” he said, and they both wheeled around.
“What!” they shouted.
“Hey, don’t spaz. I have a date,” Jason said, grinning.
“Who is so important you have to go on a date and leave us alone?” Ian asked as Lance set his controller on the coffee table.
“Melody Hastings,” Jason said with a big grin.
Lance jumped up. “You’re going out for a piece of ass!”
“Hey, just because you can’t score, don’t yell at me,” Jason said, losing the grin.
“Jason,” Ian shouted, jumping up. “Melody has been ridden more times than the roller coasters at Six Flags! We’re in junior high and know that!”
“Hey, you two need to chill, or do I need to tell the moms and dads about the websites you two go on?” Jason said, crossing his massive arms over his chest.
“You gave us the address and the passwords, dork!” Ian yelled.
“So? They won’t believe it. Besides, I’m eighteen, and I can go on them,” Jason said, looking from one to the other.
Ian looked at Lance and nodded. “We want fifty bucks apiece,” Ian said, turning back to Jason.
“Before you leave,” Lance added with a nod.
“You little shits!” Jason shouted, storming off.
Lance glanced over at Ian. “Think he’ll do it?”
“Hell yeah. I would,” Ian grinned. “Melody may be a slut, but damn is she hot.”
Grinning, Lance picked up his controller and put the new batteries in. “I thought you didn’t like Melody?”
“Who cares about liking? We are talking about getting laid and seeing a naked girl for real,” Ian said and heard Jason stomping back to the den.
Jason stopped at the back of the couch and held out both hands. “Here,” he growled. They both looked at the fifty-dollar bills in almost holy reverence. “Well, take them, you little blackmailers.”
Slowly, they reached out and took the bills. “You have a deal,” Lance said, holding up his money.
“I damn well better,” Jason snapped then grinned. “That was pretty good, you two,” he laughed and turned around leaving the room. “If you two keep your traps shut, I’ll throw in another fifty.”
“Whoa,” Ian said, holding his money like it was fragile. “I didn’t think he would go for that.”
“We’ll tell Allie, Jason is in bed when she comes home and make her stay down here with us while we play games so she can’t check,” Lance said, pulling out his wallet and carefully put the bill in the empty slot. “That way, we can get another fifty.”
“Deal,” Ian said, putting his in his empty wallet. “Maybe we can get Ms. Penny to take us to town tomorrow to the sporting goods store.”
“Let’s wait a few days in case she wants to know where we got money from.”
“Okay,” Ian said as Jason came back in, pulling a t-shirt on then putting on a polo shirt.
“Keep the ladybug occupied because she could ruin it. I have my cellphone if you need me. If Mom and Dad call, tell them I was tired after lifting weights and went to bed,” Jason said, walking over to rub both boys’ heads, ruffling their hair. “Thanks, guys. I called over to Carrie’s and told ladybug to come home. After she’s inside, I’m gone.”
They both nodded as Jason walked out. “Let’s get the food on the table so we can keep Allie in the kitchen while he pulls out, and she can’t hear his car,” Ian said.
“We can turn on the CD player in the kitchen,” Lance said, running toward the kitchen.
They put the food on the table and had the table set when they heard the front door open. “Allie, come eat!” Lance said, pouring glasses of tea.
Allie skipped in wearing her smile. “Where’s Jason?”
“He’s tired after his workout and went to bed, so we are in charge,” Ian said, leading her to her chair. “After we eat, you can sit and watch us play.”
“Really?” Allie bounced on her toes, clasping her hands. They usually ran her off because she asked questions about the games as they played.
“You bet, ladybug,” Lance said, sitting down. “We’ll even let you play some.”
“Oh boy, this is great,” she cried out, jumping in her chair as Ian went over and turned on the CD player, filling the kitchen with Beethoven’s Fifth. No one heard Jason leave as they sat down to eat.
Chapter 4
It was ten o’clock as the two sat playing with Allie between them. “Why don’t you just call in your airplane, Lance?” she asked. Lance’s character danced across the screen, dodging bullets.
“Because I haven’t earned it,” he said as someone shot him with a rocket. “Damn newb got me with the rocket launcher.”
“Moth—” Ian started to shout then looked over at Allie’s innocent face staring at the screen. “Yeah, he just got me too.”
“Let’s double-team him,” Lance said as they respawned.
“Ian, why are people popping fireworks?” Allie asked.
“What?” Ian asked, dodging a rocket.
“Firecrackers outside,” Allie asked.
Lance looked up as he killed the rocket newb. “I don’t hear anything,” he said, looking back at the screen.
“It’s far off, but I hear someone popping firecrackers,” Allie said, watching the screen, mesmerized by the action. “Ian, there’s a guy behind that truck!” she shouted, pointing.
“Hello, newb,” Ian shouted, launching a grenade.
“Oh man, you blew his leg off!” Allie cheered. When the game ended, they left the chat room and headed to the kitchen. “Can I have some ice cream?”
Lance opened the freezer. “Why of course, madam.”
Ian walked over to the cabinets. “Would you like it served on a platter, madam?” he asked, pulling out a bowl then bowing to Allie.
“Oh yes please,” she clapped.
They fixed her a bowl of ice cream then grabbed some snacks for themselves and carried them back to the den when Lance froze and looked at Ian, who was also frozen in place. “Did you hear that?” Lance asked, and Ian nodded.
“Yeah, that’s the firecrackers I was telling you about,” Allie said, sitting on the couch. “Can I have my ice cream now please?”
“Of course, madam,” Lance said, putting the serving tray on her lap. “Allie, don’t spill it; we’ll be right back with the strawberry syrup.”
They both walked out of the den to the front of the house. “Lance, that was a gunshot,” Ian said, turning off the living room lights.
“I know. It sounded like it was near town,” Lance said as another gunshot went off. “That one was further.”
Ian moved about the front of the house, turning off the lights. “Well, let’s not let anyone know we are here.”
“What if that makes the rioters come here with the house looking empty?” Lance asked as Ian paused before turning off the porch lights.
“Then they get shot, and it sucks to be them,” Ian said, turning off the light.
“Sounds good to me,” Lance said, running upstairs to turn off lights. They met back in the kitchen as Lance grabbed the syrup. “You open up the safe yet?”
“That’s where we are going now,” Ian said, heading to his dad’s office on the other side of the house. Punching in the numbers, Ian opened the massive safe and pulled out an AR-15. “I’m taking this.”
Lance grabbed a Remington 870 tactical shotgun. “Seven shots of buckshot and five more to throw in will stop a tank.” Lance grinned at the five shells on the side of the shotgun in a tactical holder. “Where’s the pistols?”
“Mom had Dad lock them up in the safe in their room, and I don’t know that one.”
“Your mom needs a talking to,” Lance huffed, walking out of the office. They walked in the den and put the weapons over in the corner. They had little fear Allie would play with them since she hunted and understood guns. She even had her own twenty-two. They just didn’t want her to blab about them opening the safe because they were scared.
They sat with Allie as she ate her ice cream, and her eyes started getting heavy. When she neared the bottom of the bowl, her head slumped over on Lance’s shoulder. “Ice cream is little Allie’s kryptonite,” Ian said, taking the platter off her lap. “I’ve never seen her eat a whole bowl.”
Off in the distance, they heard a siren and several gunshots. “Why would anyone in Lebanon riot?” Lance asked, grabbing his unplugged headset and putting it over Allie’s ears so they acted as earmuffs.
“Think I should call Jason?”
“No, not yet anyway. We don’t want to lose another fifty bucks,” Lance said as he got up and walked to the front of the house. Ian followed as Lance stopped a few steps from the windows, looking outside. “There’s just some drunk guy walking down the street.”
Ian moved to his side and saw the man stumbling down the street. “Hey, that’s old man Potter. I thought he quit drinking.”
“Doesn’t look like it,” Lance said. “Let’s play another game and see if we can still hear sirens. If we do, we’ll call Jason.”
“Fine. I’m going to wipe any newb we find off the screen,” Ian said, spinning around.
They returned to the game but turned down the volume until they could barely hear it and started playing. The game was just underway when they heard Jason’s car pull up. They didn’t even leave the game; they just ran to the front of the house, looking out the side windows to see Jason get out of his car. They ran to the front door, and Ian turned off the alarm and opened it.
The smell of something burning washed over them as they waited on Jason. “That’s a house fire,” Lance said in a low voice.
“Yeah, I remember it when we rode with the fire department to help with our merit badge,” Ian whispered.
“What are you squirts doing outside?” Jason asked, coming up the steps.
“Jason, what’s going on?” Ian asked as Jason pushed them back in the house.
“The riots are here,” he said, turning to close the door and turning on the alarm to lock it.
“Should we call Mom and Dad?” Ian asked as Jason headed to the kitchen.
“No, they are on the other side of the world, and it would only worry them,” he said, turning on the kitchen light, making both boys gasp not from the light but from Jason.
“What the hell happened to your arm?” Lance asked, pointing at a bandage on Jason’s left upper arm.
“Got bit,” Jason said, pulling out a jug of orange juice.
“Melody bit you?” Ian cried out, looking at the huge hickey on Jason’s neck.
Wiping his mouth off, Jason said, “No, some guy that wouldn’t quit beating on my car.” Both boys stared at him. “We were parked down by the river, getting the nasty freak on, and some guy just comes up beating on my car. I got out, and he charged me, so I punched him, then one of his friends came up behind me and bit my arm like a sissy. Neither of them tried to fight me, only grab and bite me like little bitches.”
Lance looked at Jason’s shirt and pants, noticing blood splatters on the front and a long smear on his back. “How did you get blood all over you?”
“Beat the shit out of them,” Jason said, holding up both fists and they could see the bruises and cuts on his knuckles.
“You hit them more than once and didn’t knock them out?” Ian asked in disbelief.
“Shit, they had to be on something, but I finally pounded one in the face till he didn’t get back up,” Jason grinned, pulling off his shirt. “The blood on the back is from Melody. One of their girlfriends ran up and bit her while I was kicking the shit out of the guys.”
“You have to call the police!” Lance shouted.
“Hey dumb ass,” Jason snapped. “I wasn’t supposed to be there.”
“But—” Lance started, and Jason held up his hand.
“We did call the cops, but they put us on hold. I took Melody to the hospital, but there were a dozen ambulances and cop cars there, so I just took her home, and her mom bandaged us up,” Jason said as he pulled his t-shirt off, and they saw several more hickeys on his body.
“Damn, are you sure Melody didn’t bite you?” Ian asked, raising his eyebrows.
Throwing his shirts across the kitchen into the laundry basket, Jason said, “You need to chill, squirt.” He took another drink of orange juice. “Why are all the lights off?”
“We didn’t want anyone to know we were home,” Ian said.
Jason nodded. “That’s good; a cop at the hospital said the rioters were after people,” he said, yawning. “I’m beat, guys. Wake me if you need to.”
They watched Jason head out and heard him walk up the steps. “Should we call Ms. Penny?” Ian asked.
“What can she do? Jason’s taken care of, and the house is locked. If we call her, she will just have to get out in the riots,” Lance said.
Nodding, Ian groaned, “Yeah, you’re right. But be damned if I’m going to sleep.”
“Let’s fix some coffee.”
Ian grinned. “Lots of cream and sugar,” he said, moving over to the coffee pot.
They walked back to the living room at the front of the house and stood back from the windows, sipping their coffee. They both jumped upon hearing a gunshot. “That was in the neighborhood,” Ian said as a faint scream resonated outside.
“So was that,” Lance said with a shiver.
“Fuck this; I’m playing a game,” Ian mumbled, walking away from the window. “You joining me?”
“Not yet. Let me finish my coffee,” Lance said, taking a sip.
As Lance stood looking out the window, he heard Ian changing disks and soon heard the Resident Evil theme playing quietly from the den. “Ian, you’re very weird,” Lance mumbled, looking over at Carrie and Jennifer’s house.
He grinned, thinking of Jennifer. Lance wasn’t blind or stupid. Jennifer was hot on so many scales it should be illegal. But her dad worked for the Attorney General, and even to Lance’s young mind, that was enough to turn him away. Ian could care less if Jennifer’s dad was on the FBI’s most wanted list.
“Hope they’re okay,” he mumbled, sipping his coffee as another gunshot sounded off close, making him jump. Then, he heard gunshots closer and looked down the street past his house and saw the flashes as someone shot rapidly at a person following them. Lance took a step closer to the window, watching the person running down the street popping off rounds behind them.
When a person darted from behind a car, tackling the shooter, Lance jumped back as the person that was chasing the shooter dove on the pile. With the full moon and street lights, he could see they were fighting, but the two seemed to be trying to bite the shooter as the shooter hit at them. As one leaned down, Lance heard a scream and knew that the shooter was a man on the ground.
As two more people came out of the shadows and joined the pile, one of the attackers lifted his head as the others leaned down, making the man scream again. “What the fuck,” Lance mumbled, stepping closer to the window. The group was several houses past Doug’s house which was across the street and a lot down from his house, but Lance swore the fronts of the attackers were now soaked in blood. “Did he stab them?” he asked out loud as the attackers lowered their heads again.
Seeing movement out to the corner of his eye, he turned looking past Jennifer’s house to see a group of people stagger down the street. “Shit,” he mumbled, stepping back as his heart started beating out of his chest. Making a quick count of nineteen, Lance watched the way they moved.
Their bodies weren’t moving fluidly like normal people but instead with small jerks. The group wasn’t running, but they damn sure weren’t walking either—more like a trot. Lance knew he could easily outrun them but noticed another group coming off the main road in the subdivision, turning down their street that was slightly bigger, and they were fast-walking.
Stepping back from the window, Lance almost dropped his coffee mug as his hands trembled. Setting it on a small table, he looked over to the open door of the den and saw the light from the TV pouring out. Moving over to the door, he watched Ian shoot the zombies on the game then looked back at the window at the crowd moving past the house. Walking into the den, Lance grabbed the remote and turned the TV off thinking the people outside were moving like the zombies on the game.
“Dude, I was kicking ass,” Ian snapped, and Lance stepped over, putting his finger on Ian’s lips. Ian’s eyes got wide as Lance stepped back into the living room, easing up to the window, almost expecting the crowd to be gone since the game was off, but the last of the group was in front of the house. “What’s wrong with them?” Ian whispered beside him.
“I don’t know, but they are attacking people out there,” Lance whispered as a gunshot popped off across the street, and the crowd converged on the house.
“That’s Mr. Baker’s house,” Ian said, moving closer to the window.
“He should’ve stayed his ass inside,” Lance said as the group closed in on a lone figure in the front yard shooting at the group with a pistol.
Slap
they heard in the sitting room beside them as a bullet slammed through the window into the wall. “That idiot shot into the house.”
“Lance, they are attacking him,” Ian said as the group dove on the figure.
“I’m calling the police,” Lance whispered, running for the phone as screams erupted from across the street.
“Think I should wake Jason?”
“Let’s get the police here first,” Lance said, picking up the phone and pressing 911. He listened to the ringing for several minutes. “I expected them to answer faster than this. They do on TV,” he said, looking at the display and seeing he had been listening for six minutes.
Hanging up the phone, Lance looked up as Ian eased up the stairs, afraid his footsteps could be heard outside. Lance followed him up and found Ian standing outside of Jason’s door, tapping softly and whispering, “Jason, we need you.”