Guns & Roses

Chapter 30

                                  [Sheriff]

In the couple days he'd been left to his own devices, Fort Shericus had been rapidly growing. He'd sectioned the room off with blankets, each sector having dedicated care put into their conception.

There was the food sector, which was comprised of the fridge and the island counter, he considered including the stove but didn't trust himself enough to guarantee he wouldn't set the fort on fire.

Next was the entertainment sector, it was the first sector he'd walk into when he entered the room. To the right was the food sector and the left, the sleeping sector. He'd decorated the place with books, little gadgets such as Rubik's cubes, and even a portable radio. He'd decided to take Deimos's advice and try fiddling with it, as it turned out some of the stations he found were fun to listen in to.

Last was the sleeping sector, his favourite. He'd left it mostly the same, though he brought more pillows up and covered the floor with them. That wasn't why it was his favourite, though. While going through the rooms for little Knick-knacks to keep him occupied he found a marker with glow-in-the-dark ink. Once he found it he'd spent most the day putting dots on the roof, unsure if the final product would be as good as he hoped. However once he turned the lights off, it was much better than he could have ever hoped.

While lying down and looking at the roof, it almost looked like a sky of stars greeted him. Sometimes, he lay there when he couldn't think of anything else to do, just to feel like he was back at home, staring into the sky from his backyard.

Sadly, he couldn't come up with anything else to keep him busy, which is when he remembered the book. Sure, Hank said the top floors were theirs, but surely they wouldn't mind him going up to grab a few books, right? Besides, if it went well, they wouldn't even know he was up there.

So, he started creeping up the steps, excited at the prospect of finishing that book. He stayed close to the railing, hoping that sneaking his way up right against the wall would make him less noticeable. Then he reconsidered, if he snuck up wouldn't that make him seem more suspicious?

He froze on the stairs for a few minutes in contemplation, before deciding to walk up normally. He climbed the first set of stairs, taking a quick breather before he needed to go to the top floor. He regret running to the stairs, now that he was leaning on the railing trying to catch his breath.

Once that had passed, he started making his way up the next set. The last thing he expected was to see Hank laying on the stairs, he froze, terrified that they'd get up and threaten him lest he go back downstairs. But they didn't move. So, he hesitantly started making his way up, though much slower this time.

They were sleeping, that's what it looked like anyway. As much as they scared him, he couldn't help but be curious, so he quietly leaned over them, getting just the right angle so the light didn't reflect off their goggles. They were definitely out cold, which seemed a little odd since they were usually hyper aware of their surroundings.

But even with that, he found it strange they'd choose to sleep in a stairwell. That's when he heard something faint. It took him a second of tuning into it to realise it was their breathing. It sounded hollow, and came in quick succession.

Against his better judgement, he wanted to try to wake them, they really didn't seem ok. Gently, he shook their arm, pausing for a second, then being a little rougher when he got no response. They stirred, taking in a slightly fuller breath and moving their head to the side, before falling back into their previous breathing pattern. He was surprised to say the least. They didn't even open their eyes.

He moved his hand to their forehead, only to find it was boiling. Weirdly scared that he'd burn himself he took his hand away. That's when he realised the gravity of the situation. His whole mission was to trap this man, or even better, see to it that they died. And here it was, the perfect opportunity to do just that. He sat down next to them to consider his options.