3035: The Last Stand

Dinner and Escape

We clambered down into the basement. It was dark, but we were lucky.  There were several lanterns, and some lighters. We lit one lantern and laughed in our luck. The room was stocked with food. Good food. And there was a electric stove, on the wall. We even had beds. Little cots that we could rest on. But there were only two. I picked my sister up and put her on the bed. She smiled and lay down. I turned to Aukai and pointed at the bed.

"The guest of hounor will stay there. Got to make him happy. I said and laughed when he failed to get on the bed, falling on his backside. I found a spot close to the oven, where I could be warm while I slept. Hawke did the same, but on the other side. I started to look through the food. I did that for a while, occasionally gasping when I found something good. Then I saw the best thing. A box of " turkey dinners?"

"What's turkey?" I asked.

"Its was a flightless bird, usually eaten for a fancy dinner with your family." Aukai said.

"Oh." I said, angry he answered and not Hawke.

I had a comment just for him. Later.

"Who wants some?" I said as I pulled the box out of the bag.

I opened it and looked inside. There was a big meaty bird shaped thing, attached to a platter, with a box of "stuffing" next to it. I put the turkey in the stove and turned it on. The holographic screen came up, and I entered 'turkey dinner', and it began to warm up. I put the stuffing on the side, and sat next to my brother. He said nothing, and neither did I. We just sat there, for what seemed forever. I was saved by the timer ringing on the stove. I put on a oven mitt and pulled it out, and we were immediately assaulted with the delicious aroma. They gathered around and I took a knife from a bag that said knifes. I took the biggest one and cut off pieces and doled them out. We all grabbed a fork and dug in. We were all almost finished, when a extremely loud bang echoed overhead. My sister screamed and I jumped on her, protecting her with my body. Aukai hid under a cot, with my brother protecting him with his arms. We waited and waited. Nothing. I took my sisters arm and we shuffled over to her cot. I left her and ran to the door. I put my hand on it and it felt hot. I locked it. I ran around the room, looking for another exit. I found none.

"There... has to...be one!" I said, mainly to myself. I looked up and down left and right. Nothing. Then I thought of a crazy idea. I pushed the stove over a couple inches and saw a latch.

"Help me. I found a way out." I called.

My brother came over and together we moved the stove over enough to open the trapdoor. It was long and narrow. Big enough for a grown man to fit through, if of course he was underweight. Lucky. Suddenly, I heard voices, and a pounding on the door.

"Grab what you can carry and hurry!" I whispered. I took a backpack from the pile, as did everyone else, and stocked it with lightweight foods. We scrambled over... get it scrambled, food joke... to the door and made a barricade in the door way. I started over to the trapdoor. I opened it easily, and helped my sister into the cavern. Then Aukai, followed by my brother. Thinking fast, I eased my self down into the hole, pulling the stove almost completely over it. With great skill and a lot of practice, I wrenched the stove over the opening, just as I closed the hatch, just missing my hand. I fell backwards on my back. My brother offered me a hand with a smile.

"Good work. They'll be to stupid to find that for awhile. Let's go." he said.

"No one grabbed a lantern, did they?"

They all stared at me shocked and angry.

"I got my NVS, just follow me."

For those who don't know, NVS stands for Night Vision Scope. It goes on one eye, so you can see in the dark, and have one normal eye. I took out my gun and took the lead. I traced my hand against the wall, and the others did the same. My sister stumbled, and I looked over my shoulder at her. She smiled, and gestured forward. We walked for about a couple kilometers. Eventually, we saw a bright light overhead. Everyone started toward it, but I held up my hand. I backed up a few meters and signaled to them to join me.

"Here's what we'll do. I'm going to go first, and make my way up. If I give you a signal, a snap of my fingers, its all clear. You will wait far back just in case. If its clear, the order is Hawke, Aukai, then Ky. If I'm caught, stay back, be quiet." I tiptoed away, and my sister asked a important question.

"What do we do if you get caught?"she asked

"Its obvious. Take Aukai to safety." I said

"But..."

"Then and only then, you're going to rescue me." I smiled, winked at her and climbed up out of the cavern. I looked back and saw the group creep into the shadows. I turned around and saw nothing. I waited two minutes, and reached into the tunnel to snap my fingers.

"Freeze!" A voice said. I heard a weapon whirr above me. I stopped mid snap. I turned slowly, to see a young man pointing a gun at me. I giggled and acted stupid. I turned and yelled Freeze in a deep voice. It doubled as a secret message to tell them to stop. I turned back to see him staring at me like I was insane. I giggled and  took a step forward. He raised his gun and I giggled again. I walked right up to him and put my hands on his shoulders. I made him lean down, almost to kiss me, than took my knife, and stabbed him, once, twice, three times. He collapsed on the ground, and I snapped my fingers frantically. The group hurried up. They saw the man on the ground, and Aukai put a hand on my shoulder. I sheathed my knife and shook off his hand.

"Let's go." I said, stepping over the carcass. I found his vehicle, and we all climbed in.

"Where to?" I asked, since I was driving.

"Safety." My brother and Aukai said at once.

Damn. We all knew what that meant. I started the car and drove off, reflecting on how I killed that man. That was sick. I thought. He would have killed me if I didn't. I thought back. It was still wrong. I'm never doing that again. But as it turns out, that's what I did, time and time again.