I had gotten off of work a few hours ago, resting on the porch swing and nodding off to the hearty buzz of those I considered my family cutting it up on my porch. Of course, it's not often you're stationed near a house that you actually own, especially one within enough distance to have a reasonable commute to work every day, so it came as no surprise to me that my house became a hot commodity shortly after our arrival in Texas.
Sarah had put Annabelle down for the night and had chastised us for our volume before heading to bed herself, though she was well aware there wasn't always a guarantee. It didn't bother me one bit though.
Epps was recounting some funny story involving his wife and his in-laws. It was broken up as the pushing and pulling waves of sleep blocked out the words being spoken. I was just about to be pulled into the deceptively calm waters of sleep when an engine roaring down the driveway roused me back, shooting adrenaline through me.
Ironhide pulled up close to the house for the night as Epps hit the punchline and everyone erupted into laughter. Sleep deprivation aside, I cherished moments like these. It had been mental hell trying to adjust to the idea that there was indeed life in the universe other than us, not to mention the questions and answers to it that just seemed to bring more questions. That's not even mentioning that not everyone was particularly happy about the Autobots continuing to reside here on Earth.
But to just have the cicadas and the frogs singing and being able to smell the second rain for the day coming...well that was home. I was grateful to just be able to be home. I was grateful to be able to host my friends for some drinks after work and shoot the shit. Hell, I was just grateful to be alive.
Hide was quiet as he settled in, likely going into stasis for the night. No one batted an eye as this had become our routine. It was nice. It was peaceful. At least it is as long as the massive mosquitos didn't decide to carry any of us away.
When the burning adrenaline had mostly run its course I took a sip of my now warm beer, surprised I held on to it thus far, and settled back into the somewhat uncomfortable swing. Sleep was coming and I was ready for it. It had been such a long week.
I wasn't sure how long I fought for sleep behind my closed eyes, but I was almost on the precipice of sleep yet again when a the familiar call of a Motörhead song called to me. Adrenaline rushed again and I fumbled with my pocket to get to my phone. My limbs were confused between the exhaustion weighing them down and the adrenaline signaling urgency to do something so I absolutely dropped it twice, but I managed to answer it just in time.
I always put it on speaker, and tonight seemed like any other night that she would call so I did. Oh boy I wish I hadn't.
The screams on the other end were haunting. They weren't even screams. Wailing maybe. Whatever it was it shut everyone up.
It wasn't unusual for Maverick to call when she knew I was off of work, so this wasn't anything the guys weren't used to. In fact she would occasionally have a conversation with at least one person. The general consensus was that she was sweet and funny. That is, they thought she was sweet. I knew better. She was an absolute hellion disguised as an angel, but I found it far more amusing to let others learn this on their own.
Normally she called just to check up on Sarah, Annabelle, and myself but clearly that wasn't the case. It was actually strange because she wasn't the type to be scared, so to hear this really freaked me out.
Any semblance of exhaustion was wiped away as soon as it started. I called out to her multiple times, doing my best to ignore the wide eyed stares from everyone around me.
I lost count of how many times I called to her before she stopped and choked some unintelligible noises likely intended to resemble words out at me.
The peace and tranquility was long gone. The cicadas and frogs were even silenced.
"Daddy they killed him! Oh my god he's dead! He's dead!"
The confused faces went from looking at me to looking at each other, then back to me. It didn't matter. The air in my lungs got pulled right out and I was lost for words.
"Please come get me. Please."
She had been through immense tragedy and trauma, but I had never heard her in such a state before.
I mumbled out a half-assed consolation and gave her a rough ETA and she hung up on me. All I could do was stare at the phone in shock. This was a new one. I think for all of us really.
"I guess...I guess just clean up after yourselves. You can keep drinking or not. I don't care. You know where everything is. I ju-...I just have to go."
I had no time to even care what they said or how they looked, I just rushed into the house and upstairs to Sarah to let her know what was going on. She was shocked at the news, but I had no time to acknowledge it or even respond. I had to haul ass to go get her and that's all that mattered to me in the moment.
I had all the intentions to take my own vehicle, but I was stopped almost right as I stepped out by Ironhide in his human like form, offering to take me. My fatigue clouded brain breathed a sigh of relief and I wordlessly accepted.
There was a quiet buzz from the company on my porch as I trekked across the overgrown grass, but it was the last thing I was worried about.
Holy shit, Adam is really dead. Like dead. Deceased. Gone.
What the fuck.
