September 24th

The Morning After

White light flooded Alex's eyes. He groaned and rolled over. He had a terrible hangover, and the bright sunshine was not helping any. Slowly, so he didn't agitate his migrane any more, Alex sat up and opened his eyes. He was sitting in the forest. "Must have been one hell of a party," Alex thought. He tried to stand up but his head started throbbing, so he sat back down. Then it all came back to him. The gunshots. People screaming. Running away. He felt his stomach turn and barely held back last night's beer. He sat there, with his head in his hands, wondering what he would do now. Jake's dead, and now he's on the run from the cops. Alex couldn't believe it. All these years of staying out of drama and now, just a few months into senior year, he had somehow managed to singlehandedly create a disaster that would most likely tear his quiet little town apart.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing. Alex answered it. It was Sam. "What now," he sighed, preparing to be bombarded with all kinds of questions. "Oh Alex, thank goodness you're okay, I was starting to get worried!" Sam said breathlessly.

"Yep, I'm fine, I just have a major hangover," he said.

"Oh, you poor thing! Let me come and pick you up. Where are you?" Sam gushed.

Alex knew something was wrong. Sam would have usually responded with a sassy reply. Why would she be so...enthusiastic about making sure he was okay? He dug through his bag and opened up a granola bar. "I can get home fine, Sam, now you sound just like my mother." Sam laughed a somewhat forced laugh. Alex smiled a little as he took a bite of the granola bar. Delicious.

"No, you can't go home by yourself, let me come pick you up," she insisted. Alex couldn't quite place what was wrong, he couldn't think through the throbbing migrane tormenting his head. Maybe it was him imagining it. Or maybe she wanted to get into his pants. Either way, it was strange. Alex took a few more bites of the granola bar. "Where are you Alex, you shouldn't be out God knows where as hungover as you are. Let me pick you up," Sam pleaded with him, trying to get him to change his mind.

Alex sighed and finished the bar. She wasn't going to let up, was she? "Ugh, fine, you win," he said, resigned.

"Yay! But you still haven't said where you are, so how can I pick you up?" Sam said with that extreme pep in her voice. Alex's gut told him that something was definitely wrong and that he should hang up right now.

It's only Sam, he thought, what could be the harm? "To be honest, I don't even know where I am," he answered.

"Oh, come on, any identifying features near your location? Any?" Sam asked with a voice that sounded like she was in pain. Alex frowned. Sam never talked that stilted, ever. Something was really wrong.

"Okay, Sam, I'm gonna come pick you up now, you don't sound too okay." Alex worriedly responded. He wasn't sure what was going on, but something bad was happening to Sam. As he was gathering his things, he heard police sirens howling in the distance. The wails kept getting louder and louder.

Shoot, they were onto him! "I'm gonna have to call you back," Alex said breathlessly as he hopped on his bike.

"Alex, wait," he heard Sam call out before he ended the call. He started pedaling his bike vigorously in the general direction of the lake. He was dumbfounded as to how the police already knew where he was heading. Yes, he wasn't that careful because he was extremely drunk the night before, but how could they have known the exact highway where he was? The town was big enough where there were many ways out of there. Besides, wasn't the police usually extremely slow in figuring out who did it and catching them? So how were they already after him? Behind him he could faintly hear police officers tromping through the woods. Alex pedaled harder and pushed the bike as fast as it could go. If he could just make it to the lake...

Alex glanced behind him. He could see the officers chasing him with their dogs. Once he got over the hill he would be home free. The bike strained and whined as he pushed it to its limit. Alex could hear barking in the distance. As he stole a glance back he saw the hounds gaining on him. That gave him the energy he needed to power over the top of the hill and speed down through the forest, skillfully dodging trees. Alex rocketed out across the highway, causing a car to swerve around him. He crossed into the woods on the other side, hurtling towards the lake. Alex skidded out onto the dirt path and raced towards the one place where he might be safe, though not for long. He screeched to a halt in front of Cabin Number 10 and hopped off the bike. He yanked open the screen door and rushed inside.

The memories came flooding back. That cabin was practically his and Jake's second home. Alex smiled weakly as he hurtled around the cabin, grabbing what he needed. He tossed more food rations into his bag and snatched the maps out from the bookshelf. He darted into the bedroom, and felt around near the lowest bunk for the floorboard that was ajar. There it was! Alex wedged his fingers under the loose board and pulled up. There was the $500 dollars in cash they had left for an emergency. As he pulled up the wad of bills, he felt cold metal brush his fingertips. Could it be...

Alex went back into the floor and poked around. He pulled the black metal up. Yes, it was. He felt the pit of his stomach drop as he reached back in to check on one more thing. There it was, the heavy cardboard box. It took Alex all he could to not leave his breakfast on the ground for the second time today. He sat there for a second, then shoveled the money, Glock, and .45 ammo into his pack. Jake's planning had finally paid off now. Alex smiled as he shouldered the now-heavy sack and dashed out the front door. And just as quickly as he had come, he was gone.

Alex straddled the bike and reached into his pocket for his phone to dial Sam. She picked up on the first ring. "Oh my goodness-" Alex quickly cut Sam off.

"Listen, Sam, the police are after me, so I probably won't be able to talk for a while. I'm not sure if I'll ever be back again. I guess this is goodbye. Tell my mom I love her," Alex said mournfully. There was a long silence on the other end of the line. Sirens wailed in the background, reminding Alex that he didn't have much time to talk. "What is it?" Alex asked.

"I was the one who sent the police after you."