Annual Purge || tøp

Chapter 6: Cops Are After Us

Jenna, Maddy and Will were all there to greet Debby at the airport. It is quite not right to say that they weren't happy to see her, they were, but it seemed that they were more concerned than glad. They were not smiling, nor were they flailing them arms around like maniacs when they caught sight of her. They simply waved and called her name, motioning her to come over quickly.

The atmosphere in the airport was so heavy, despite all the people that are walking around minding their business. You could almost see this looming cloud of grey and blue cast onto the crowds, silencing their happiness or any excitements, if you were there, of course.

"Glad you're safe," Jenna said, giving Debby a small, brief hug before they all got out of the airport and towards the parking lot, where the four of them got into Will's car. None of them really said anything as he drove. There was this uneasy feeling in all their stomachs, like butterflies, but not exactly butterflies, more like moths.

But on the way, Debby couldn't help but blurted out, while holding Jim tight in her arms. "I saw someone in the airport... that looked kinda like Josh."

Will almost hit the brakes.

Jenna gasped. "Wha- Really?!"

"No! I mean, like, not really!" Debby stammered. "I don't know, he covered himself up in black and I... don't know. He was on the same flight with me. He had a mask on, and he had blue eyes, too. Actually, screw that, I think he was wearing contacts. And he sounded a bit like Josh..." She paused. "And Jim was acting weird around him..."

"What if that was Josh?" Maddy asked.

"But it would also be awkward to just, straight up ask someone if they're Josh Dun." Will said. "Besides, Tyler and Josh are missing and they on the top of the list, police are looking literally everywhere for them. I actually heard someone in the grocery store talking about how they're top suspects now."

"What?"

"Didn't you hear?" He continued. "Both of them have criminal records. And now the police, and the FBI, and whoever the heck is in the investigation, they might be putting that theory on the tip of the tongue."

"Shit," Debby mumbled under her breath.

"Calm down, we gotta pull this together." Jenna said. "If that was really Josh, then great, now we  have a clue where he might be. If not... we'll just keep searching."

Everyone agreed.

-

"So you're saying, that you met Debby and Jim at the airport, went on the same flight, and you think she knows who you are?" His friend, dressed in a black hoodie with a red Adias jacket and driving the car, asked him. The friend's eyes shifted back and forth quickly, checking him and the road and the other cars all at the same time.

Came a tiny timid "yeah".

"Why didn't you just pick another flight? I gave you enough money for that." His friend asked again, but he didn't seem mad.

"I was already in the gatehouse, dude," He said. "Besides, maybe she just thought that a stranger coincidentally happened to look like me. Doppelgängers exist, don't they?"

"That's not important," His friend argued. "If she suspects you and, or tells the others, we're busted. We've gone this far, there's only two ways: going home and going to jail, again. The first option's already out the window, because the fucking cops aren't looking for us anymore, they are after us now."

He fell silent for a little, before looking out the window. "So what are we going to do?"

His friend was quiet, too.

"We'll have to reveal our identities eventually, but keep purging as we hide ourselves from the cops."

"The Clique has already turned their back on us."

"I know, but we're keeping the name. We'll tell the internet about our Annual Purge."