The Chosen Ones

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

When Matt walked through the door Shannon was standing right inside, eyes wide with hope. Casey then appeared from behind him.
"Oh thank fucking God." Shannon said. "Don't ever pull that shit again." She hugged Casey.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."
"I do." Shannon replied. "We're all thinking the same thing. Let's just do this together, with a well thought out plan."

Shaun just scratched his head. "It's down to us four. I gotta say, I'm starting to like our odds."
Shannon put her arm around him. Matt smiled. He would go to war with these three any day, and that's what they were going to do.

Tyler came running out when he heard Casey's voice. She caught him and he wrapped his little arms around her.

"I didn't think you were coming back." He said, smiling.
"Would you miss me?" Casey asked.
"Yes!"
"Well I guess I'm staying then." She said as she kissed his cheek. She turned to Matt. "Okay, so let's hear it. What's your plan?"

The four of them, plus Tyler, gathered around the kitchen table as Matt began laying out the details.
"Now we know they leave that house at 9:00 and come back every night at 11:00. Bill said they go downstairs and do a ritual or something. We get into the house when they leave at nine o'clock, set up explosives, in places they can't see. Then we wait for them to come back and go downstairs, that's when we light the house on fire and blow it sky high." He explained. "No survivors."

"Wait, blow it up how?" Casey asked.
"When we go in when they leave we also bring supplies in with us, hide them in closets or something." Matt continued. "Gas cans, propane tanks, whatever. I saw a couple big pieces of furniture we can push in front of the basement door so they can't get out, and we'll make sure the door is doused in gasoline."

"What if they do get out?" Shannon asked. "You're going to have over twenty people pushing on a door, do you think a couple pieces of furniture will keep them trapped down there?"

"I thought about that." Matt replied. "I don't think they will, those couple pieces are old and heavy, they're solid wood, not to mention the basement door will be on fire. But if we're worried about it I can bring rope, tie it to the doorknob and to the staircase. But if they do happen to get out, you and Shaun will be outside. Once you see the house on fire you two can position yourselves around the outside of the it, anyone that runs out, shoot them, just don't stand there too long, you don't want to be near the house when it blows." Matt explained.

"Where will you two be?" Shannon asked.
"Me and Casey will stay inside and hide after we all set up, once the cult comes back and goes downstairs we'll pour the gas, set up the propane tanks that we hid, barricade the door and set the fire. Once we do that me and Casey will run upstairs. There is a huge tree outside the second story window out back. We go out that window and climb down. We won't be able to go out the front or back doors, the whole first floor will be up in flames."

"I mean..... it could work." Shaun said.
"Not your worst idea." Shannon said.
"Where do we get the gasoline and all the propane tanks?" Casey asked.
"We know a guy who can get that stuff." Matt said as he looked up at Shannon.
"Zipper." She said, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

Zipper was a guy they went to high school with. He owned an auto body shop in town and knew how to get what they needed. He got his nickname in high school by people jokingly saying if you needed someone "taken care of" he would be the guy to do it, then he'd "zip up" the body bag.

"Zipper?" Casey repeated.
"Nickname." Matt told her. "We'll go see him tomorrow, and we'll do this thing the day after."
"Should we at least tell Phil and Gab what we're doing?" Shannon asked.

"No, the less they know the better. They're out. We tell them and Phil might try to help us, and that's not what he wants." Matt said.
They all agreed.
"Tyler, what do you think?" Shaun asked him.
The little guy hadn't been listening to a thing they said. He was playing with Matt's phone and didn't even look up.

"All this going on because of him and he has no idea." Matt said in disbelief as he smiled.
"If these powers he's supposed to have turn out to be real, and he does change the world, it'll be worth it, just to know Bill didn't die for nothing." Shaun said.

Matt felt a little guilty that Shaun was the only one there that didn't know Tyler had tapped into some of his abilities. He decided to tell him before they carried out the plan, but not now.

Matt once again ended the night on the back porch. He sat on the patio sofa, looking up at the stars. It was surprisingly warm, no chill in the air like the previous nights. The full moon lit up his backyard, and at that very moment, for some strange reason, he felt entirely at peace.

He heard the door slide open. He didn't even need to look over, he sensed her immediately.
"What's up there?" Casey asked, noticing his eyes to the sky.
"Peace and quiet." He said, smiling as he looked over at her.

She came over and laid on the sofa, letting her bare feet hang off the edge as her head rested in his lap. She smiled up at him, her eyes again glowing a beautiful shade of blue.
"Make yourself comfortable." He teased.
"Why thank you, I think I just did."

They sat for a minute not speaking, just enjoying each other's company.
"Can I tell you something?" Matt asked her, breaking the silence.
"Of course."
"I'm glad you broke into my house."

She laughed. "Best decision I ever made."
"In two days this will all be over, we'll either have won or we'll be dead." He said. "I want you to promise me, right here, right now, that if we make it through this, you'll stay."

He rubbed her cheek with his hand. She touched his in return. She was done fighting it. She didn't want to be anywhere else except right here with him.
"I promise." She said, softly.

He moved his hand under her head and pulled her up towards him and kissed her, which she was more than happy to return.
Matt stood and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he made his way into the house and carried her up to his bedroom.