How It All Ended

Chapter 13

In the darkness, I was only able to count four people. They looked like they were mulling about the front porch of one of the nearby homes. Shauna, Amber, and I could be spotted by them easily if we stuck around long enough. The three of us had to get out of there and the sooner we did, the better.

"Back up," I whispered to Shauna and Amber. I whispered to them so quietly, I wondered if they even heard me.

We inched backward, trying to disappear from the gang's view.

"Get in between the houses," Shauna murmured.

And that's what we did. Once Tommy's thugs were out of our view, we practically collapsed on the ground we were so relieved that we weren't spotted by any of them. But the three of us weren't out of the woods yet. We needed to find a new shelter.

"Now where can we go?" Shauna whispered.

"Far the fuck away from Tommy's gang," I replied.

"Yeah, no shit. That would be ideal, Dom."

"Let's just keep moving," said Amber. "Before those people back there find us."

"Good point," I replied to Amber.

Rather than try to get into a house and risk Tommy's crew hearing the noise we might make, the three of us quietly hopped into the backyard of the home behind us. We figured we were far enough away from Tommy's crew to try and get into the garage and lay low for the night. We were pretty worn out and we needed the rest. Amber sat lookout while Shauna and I tried to open the garage door.

Shauna and I lifted the door off the ground just enough so that Amber could slide underneath and get inside the garage. Shauna followed, then I did. Me and Shauna slowly lowered the garage door, trying our hardest not to make any sounds.

The interior of the garage was empty and cold. Shauna, Amber, and I huddled together in the center of the garage's floor to try and stay warm. With Amber and Shauna asleep, I pretty much stayed up the whole night, looking out of the garage window and watching for Tommy's crew to show up.

"Are you still awake, Dom?" Shauna asked me quietly as Amber was still sleeping.

"Yeah," I whispered back.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Not really. Too paranoid."

Shauna giggled. "It's okay. I think Tommy's crew shouldn't find us in here."

"We can't stay in this garage forever."

"I know."

The sun was starting to come up. We were beginning to get some light inside the garage. I got up off the floor and went back over to the garage window.

"What's going on out there?" Shauna asked me.

"Nothing much. More of the trees that are around here are dying," I answered.

"What the hell is the deal with that?"

I shrugged, "Wish I knew. I'm not a scientist, Shauna. In case you haven't noticed."

Shauna frowned at me. "Really? I could have sworn..."

"Sorry to disappoint you."

Shauna giggled quietly as she didn't want to wake Amber. "What did you do? You know, before things went to shit."

"I worked at a pharmacy not too far from here."

"You a pharmacist?"

"Midnight cashier."