They jumped into the cars and were about to drive away when one of the dead men rise and took out a short gun. He wasn't noticed at first until he shoot I'm the direction of Sam. The man closer to him took the bullet for Sam. He saw it coming and chested it. He died instantly.
At that moment Alpha took his gun and continued shooting at the man until his body fell apart.
They quickly drove off. Most three of the ladies were in Sam's car. He thought about his death because he saw it coming but someone took it for him.
They continued driving until they got to a place with lots of Cactus and a vast land on the side of them. They parked.
"We'll bury him here," Alpha said and strolled towards Sam and Damien who had taken down the dead man and lay him down in the sand with his gun placed beside him.
The others from his park looked puzzled by what happened. Most of them have not seen people dying from gunshots.
"He was a soldier. Who knows him better here?" Alpha asked.
"We should represent him well. We will bury him." He said again. Elizabeth steps forward and started to speak.
"Maslow, the son of Little pipe, was a great man. He never disrespected anyone. He is full of love and he was an artist. A poet and someone you can rely on…"
They buried Maslow close to a cactus and drove away without looking back.
Life moves on and the birds sing on. The broken leaves fly on. In the sky, among winds and among entities wandering about life. Life isn't hard to be In but what's hard are the experiences.
They continued driving, all quietly and most thinking about different things.
When they got to the road leading to the hospital, Sam broke the silence in his car.
"Here we are, Smallsville. Don't mind the way the hospital looked. We are going to restore things."
"This is different," one of them said.
"Yeah, it's different. Civilization, a different kind, happened here." He smiled and looked out to the state of what Smallsvile had been turned into.
"We need to get things right." He whispered to himself and continued driving.
**********
Alpha stepped out of the car and glanced at the building before him. It's a warehouse and he knows Damien will recognise it. They played there when they were teenagers. Running about and doing odd jobs. Then they were part of a park that was later resolved after Aiden got in a fight with Alpha who was doing almost everything wrong. It was then Damien took Alpha seriously, though there have been other occasions too.
The warehouse now looked older with plants climbing its walls and its roof corroded at the fringes. It looked like a no man's land with spoilt vehicles dotted around it.
"This is it, guys. This is going to be our new home." He laughed and moved around.
"We'll operate from here. Damien, you remember this place?"
"Of course, the good old days." He stepped out of the car and walked toward the front end of the warehouse. They have snuck back into Smallsvilla. They are going to start operating from here. The warehouse used to be closer to the road back then but now since it was abandoned forest grew up to it and somehow managed not to get burned by the fire that took Smallsville by storm.
"People, here we are. You'll have to bare with us. We'll operate from here now till we get back to the city. Let's get to work." Alpha said, urging everyone else.
Inside the warehouse, they found a dead computer, files with dust across their timelines, broken chairs and rodents scurrying about. It was like an abandoned railway yard but then the differences are the industrial machines in old railway yards. There are cubicles almost everywhere which shows a larger part of it was office spaces. But then everything died out and life didn't stop moving.
They walked into a space that seemed more secluded from the other. Everything seems to be moving slowly and the day was for them to set up camp.
"It'll be good if we use this place as home. It's secluded." Elizabeth said.
"Yeah, that will be good. We can then use the other spaces for other things." Another person said.
"Alright," Alpha said, "we have our sleeping space. We should get ready for what's next. Sam will get us food from the bower. We'll not be staying here longer. Take that from me."
Sam walked in briskly. His face was heavy with concern.
"I don't think we can stay here." He said.
"What happened?" Alpha and Damien said simultaneously. The others were watching and puzzled.
"I might be right. Since we entered Smallsville, I noticed buildings are marked. The most fallen building was marked blue. Those still standing are marked red. This warehouse is marked blue. They know about It and they are coming for it."
"How soon?" Damien said.
"I don't know. Alpha we need to do something fast. You are the leader here."
When they got outside they found the mark and one of the men quickly calculated the time they had judging from the contract of the paint.
"I think we have nothing less than four hours to be out of here." He said.
"From what I'm smelling, there might be bombs around." A lady said.
Quickly Sam and some others started digging to confirm if there are bombs and surprisingly they were two located directedly below the mark. The timing was accurate. Sam and Damien giggled.
"Man, you are accurate."
"Then we need to move, " Alpha said.
"What's your name again?" He asked the lady.
"Ella." She said.
"Great. Since your sense of smell is stronger now, can you trace the location of this germ cloud?"
"Let's see if that wasn't luck." Sam, Damien and the others started parking out and rushing back to the cars.
Elle sniffled at the piece of clothing said:
"It's a woman's. She's close by. But somehow hidden."
"Thank you, " Alpha said then asked.
"What if they have someone like you too with them?"
"I don't think so. If they do, my sense of smell will be normal."
"Just like every other wolf?"
"Yes."
"Thank you." He said again and quickly ran into the car. He shouted. "Guys, let's move."
***
Their next stop was at the hospital basement. Damian already went in and discovered that it was empty. The building was marked red which means it will live longer. It was nearing twilight. They went into the basement and from there they got access to the underground. Sam took them in. He has been reading Martha's notes. She wrote of this place.
They went in. It looked empty except for some clothes hanging on beds. There are cobwebs everywhere.
"Stay clear Of the webs. This place has been abandoned since it was built. Only a few people knew about it and now you are part of history." Sam laughed.
They all laughed too. Sam has been funnier lately. He wasn't like that before but the more he gets involved in things the more open he becomes.
"Then we don't have to worry about bed space," Alpha said.
"We have enough here. You can sleep anyhow you like." Sam said and laughed. The others with them aren't used to talking much because of the culture they grew up in. They only want to do things.
***
Lastly that night, they sat around Alpha to discuss the plan. They don't even know Elvira was the one controlling things. They don't even though Withney had been out of her cavern. They don't even know Lillian had gotten her right leg amputated. They don't even know she is the fortress getting better. They don't know about the poet boy. They don't know about his plan. They don't even know he's already on his way to the bunker located in the fortress through another pathway.
***
"We plan, to plan to fail. In that case, we will do the needful. The needful is to make sure we are not dead. If you die, you failed. Elle, approximately, how many were they?"
She sniffled for a while then came up with a number.
"They should be around 2000 in the pack."
"Wow!" Sam said. Damien held his right hand.
"Man, we can do it."
************
Georgina couldn't take the news when it reached her that their cars drove into the forest to reach the warehouse. She knew her men were aware of the markings and wouldn't in any way go near the warehouse. She paced around the office looking at the man reporting the occurrence to her. He's fat and with a pot belly and a human.
"I followed them into the forest to know who they are."
"Who are they?" She asked and sat in the chair.
"When they came down, the faces weren't clear at first, but when I looked closely It was Alpha Aiden, Damien and Sam, the fortress' gatekeeper."
"They are alone?"
"No. I saw some other people. I don't know them and there are women among them too."
"Is that all you saw?"
"Yes, that's all. I left there when I noticed they might see me."
"You did the right thing but you'll need a lesson."
"I'm what? I'm only here for the token promised."
"You shall get it."
She called in one of her men and asked him to shoot the man. He was shot down in the backyard.
"Sucker!" She said. "If others offered him a token, he'll have sell us out."
"Exactly, ma'am."
"What is the timing of the warehouse bombs?"
"The last time I checked, it was five hours."
"So it'll be out in 30 minutes. That's good. Scout the place afterwards."
She walked back into her office and on her way stopped by to visit her friend Lillian who is getting better from her wounds and with such a bulging strength she continued living. But before Georgina went back into the office she informed her of the poet boy.
"He might come around. I saw ambition in that boy's eyes."
"Wow! The poet boy is going to die then." She smiled.
"Before then, let him read some poems to me."
"Sure if you want. But where can we find him?"
"If the bower isn't destroyed, check the bunker. I think he could be seen around pubs too. The boy is taller with large eyes and kinky hair."
"Alright. Let's see to that."
***
Catherine and Sarah were moved from the bunker into another cell. It was a maddening experience and somehow they managed to continue living with It. Their mouths are gagged and their hands hang out with cuffs holding them to the wall. They had no idea what time it was. The cell had no windows to indicate whether it was day or night.
Georgina walked in. She held her phone up and asked them to listen. Elvira was shown to them in a video call.
"Catherine and Sarah, this is Elvira and out rightly Georgina and others know you are my twin sister but then they know we are not allies. They know you are in love and working with Aiden. They know you see yourself as some sort of hero. Your selfishness made you watch your aunty die. I won't call her mine because I never really related to her. You allow our father to die. You single-handedly brought the enemy and his park into our fortress because of your stupid feelings for him. You don't know Aiden, I was the one he fell for. Mind you I have nothing to do with him. I'll give you an offer and you'll be free. Join my park or you die. Think about it. I'm giving you a day to do that."
The call ended and Georgina hardened her face. Her imposing forehead looked like it was going to fall off.
"Someone will bring you a note to sign later if you agreed." She said and left the room.
***
Immediately she left, Catharine burst out crying. She couldn't contain it anymore. It was like she was broken and probably will continue being broken. She looked at Sarah who was trying to console her with her eyes and found out that she was crying too. The world is tearing them up, feeding them epiphanies and making them long for the betterment of things.
She rolled her eyes and did the same. That became a connection between them. And right there she thought and accepted that sometimes your family will be the one against you. And sometimes those who aren't family will be your real family.
She closed her eyes and remembered the past. She could not focus on anything until she reached a time when they were children and Sarah was with her in a park and they were playing with a toy. That made her happy with herself but then their current situation is worse.
When Is Alpha coming back? She said in her mind. At least they've found him. She knew Elvira said the truth and she accepted it. We are all selfish.
At the same time, Sarah was thinking about their situation, her mother and about the strange feelings she started having for Damien since they got into the cell. She has been having nightmares. She has been seeing dark things in her dreams and she has been starving.
Then simultaneously both of them started thinking about the children. They wish to know what has been happening to them. They wish to know everything about them.
Knowledge makes us happy or sad and sadness makes us continue living with everything.
Catherine and Sarah thought about all these and more. They could not even think about any other things but the cyclic situation they are in. Life continued like that and they hope to be out of it soon.
***
Georgina sat down and she released her breath waiting for the bomb to take off. She laughed at everything and the bomb took off. The warehouse caught fire and everything there started burning.
Yesterday was unbelievable for Whitney Dikkorp. She had been speaking with the worker and telling them why John and Middie needed to come out and speak. But then she noticed that John was looking at her without saying anything.
She needed to see his reaction and that of Maddie too. The goal was to trigger them and made them do things the masses will see as wrong and that way they can vindicate them.