The Herd

Chapter 11

     When I awoke the next morning, the first thing I did was throw my alarm across the room. It hit the wall and shut up almost instantly. I don't normally do this, but I wasn't necessarily looking forward to that day.
     After what happened last night, Noah is bound to be coming up with another plan, which means we're bound to have a headache of a time. Not only that, but I wasn't looking forward to the intense heat in the room between Ben and Noah. Antonio sure, but he tends to ignore everyone and bully the robot dummies downstairs when he's upset. Noah, on the other hand, likes to make things difficult... for everyone. And dammit is he annoying.
     Ben just becomes violent.... more than usual of course. Which is saying something.
     Lucky for me, is was Sunday. Which means, it's our free day. We can do whatever we want without any chores or responsibilities. No forced training, no forced dinner making or dishes washing, nothing. Which means, I have a date with my girl today.
     I sat up off the bed and yawned. After a good long stretch, I stood up and walked to the bathroom. After freshening up, I left the room wearing black jeans, a black button-up shirt, with a gray shirt underneath, and my gold chain necklace. I walked down the hall as I strapped on my watch and slid my phone into my right pocket.
     The only ones in the living room this morning was Catherine, Cameron, and Damien with Kahu laying down under the coffee table. Luna was in the kitchen making herself a bowl of cereal.
     Damien and Cameron were playing Mortal Kombat: Hell'sX. Catherine was sitting on the ground while she ate her own cereal with Kahu's chin slightly on her leg.
     "Morning people." I said.
     "Hey." They all said in unison. Cam and Damien payed no more attention but Catherine noticed my fancy getup.
     "Ooh, where are you going?" She asked.
     "Going to see Jewel for today." I said as I walked through the living room and across the kitchen.
     "Oh, yeah?" Catherine chuckles. "Well tell her I said hi, and have fun!" She waved her hand. "But not too much!!"
     "Yeah," Damien shouted. "I have money on Noah having the first kid!"
     "Brah!" Luna exclaimed from the kitchen.
     They laughed as I left the house and walked through the garage. I went down the road, passing the yard, until I made it to my car. A beautiful green Tesla Roadster. It was parked next to Ben's white Toyota Tacoma, though it was bigger, my car had more glamour.
     I pushed down on a button I had connected to my key chain, and the fence started to slide open. I got into my car and rolled out of the yard. When I got out to the street road, the fence closed on its own, allowing me to drive off.

     After an hour or so, I finally made it to my girlfriends house. I parked the car and made my way up her front door steps. Before I could knock, her roommate, Leila, opened the door with her signature The fuck you want? look on her face. Her black hair was pulled back into a bun with a single strand hanging over her right eye. Her blue eyes were full of I-can-rip-your-tongue-out-from-your-mouth-and-feed-it-to-your-vagina-spiders-before you-can-wince fire. She wore a baggy gray hoodie and black skinny jeans. Her skull earring stared their ruby eyes into my soul alongside hers.
     Leila was an interesting character. Though Jewel doesn't know, she's a professional hitman. Or... hitwoman. We've bumped into her before during missions. On the streets, everybody calls her Tomb. I assume it's because that's where you'll end up if you're on her opposing team. We have a mutual understanding, but she always looks like she wants to rip one of our heads off. She's the only girl I know who I might say is scarier than the Ashley from the Jocks. Ben and Kap always mention that's she reminds them of someone named Thalia Grace. I don't know who that is, but they're always laughing about it.
     "Hey." She said. "C'mon in. She's not ready yet so you can chill around until she comes down." She turned around and walked away, leaving the door open for me.
     "Thanks." I said, walking in and closing the door behind me.
     From the front door, the living room was straight to the left. To the right was a small kitchen, and in between the two was a flight of stairs. The brown carpet and the white walls were filled with furniture and pictures of either Jewel's family and friends, or Leila's.
     "There's coffee on the counter if you'd like." Leila said as she stepped up the stairs.
     "Alright, thanks." I replied.
     On the couch, on the far left side of the living room, a dog laid down asleep. Thank god too. Highlander, Leila's dog, wasn't the nicest if pets. He was only ever comfortable with people he was familiar with, like Leila and Jewel, but with the people? Well, anybody else he'd try to rip to shreds.
     Highlander was a mix of Doberman, giving him his black and brown color scheme, but his retriever gave him a thicker build and a tail. He wasn't skinny like a Doberman, instead he was very muscular, though he did have those large ears that would perk up when he hears something. Thankfully, Jewel says that he's a heavy sleeper, and it would take the scent of another dog to wake him up. That wasn't exactly good news because I always feared he'd attack me if he could smell Kahu.
     I stood their awkwardly, praying that Highlander wouldn't wake up. It was a few minutes, but my woman finally appeared at the top of the stairs.
     She wasn't wearing anything too much, after all, we weren't going to a ball or anything, but she dazzled me just like she always does.
     Jewel had her long brown hair hanging low to her collar, and her smile popped almost as much as her beautiful brown eyes. She wore blue skinny jeans and a buttoned black and gray flannel. Her brackets and necklace rang as she walked down the stairs.
      "Hey." She said.
     "Hey.." I said as if I had never seen her before. Then I came to my senses and cleared my throat. "Ready to go?"
     "Of course. By Leila!" She shouted.
     I rushed us out the door as Highlander woke up and ran at me growling.
     Once the door was closed and we didn't have Highlander or Leila to worry about, I took Jewel's hand and gave her a kiss. She smiled with a faint blush before looking to the car.
     "So," she said. "Where you taking me?"
     "Oh, nothing special." I said, walking down the front steps with Jewel short behind me. "Doing the casual. Going the the movies. Mall. Maybe to the park after."
     We walked across the walkway to her fence. "Sounds perfect." She smiled.

     The beginning of the day was amazing. I nice one hour ride to the movies was full of conversation and laughter. We talked about her new job and how her boss was a really fun woman. She even offered to let Jewel offer a job to Leila. Of course in Jewel's knowledge Leila is a jobless scrub, and had no idea how she gets her money. Personally, knowing how she gets her money, I can see why she turned down the offer.
     Whenever Jewel asks about the guys, it's always the same story I tell her. I try my hardest to keep her out of the mix with us and our "jobs."
     To her knowledge, Noah is a co-manager to a computer store. Antonio is just someone to call for yard work, like a yard hit man for the right price. Ben is bartender at a bar that actually doesn't even exist. Kap works as a dog trainer who's party writing as an author. Damien's a rookie electrician, and Cameron's a guitar store manager. Thankfully, she never asked to visit them at work. If she had I would need the guys to book it to where I say they work... and then to pretend that they work there.
     The movie after the drive was worth us as well. Heaven's War was a movie about a man with PTSD and slight insanity working himself through his problems in life. Safe to say, it was a great movie. Especially because it made Jewel cry and I got to comfort her. It wasn't good that she cried... it's just... uh... anyway-
     After the movie we drove our way to the mall. Naturally, it was packed as always. Cars packed the parking lot, and people crowded the building and crosswalks. Just the way we liked it. The amount of people made the world look... happy. Didn't seem empty or sad. Seeing people enjoy each other and laugh at the mall filled Jewel with happiness. I liked it.
      We walked through the building, passing the numerous shops and stores along the sides, and mini stands in the middle of the walk halls. We decided to stop for lunch at a restaurant in the mall called Kuchi's. It was a cute little restaurant that sold a various amount of foods from American burgers, to Asian orange chicken. It was Jewel's favorite place for lunch.
     "Hey, Cal." I say to the young man at the cashier. He had dirty blonde hair that poked out from his pink cap that matched his pink and black uniform for the restaurant. His black glasses glistened when he looked up from his phone.
     "Oh, hey guys." He said with a surfer dude's smile. "The normal I assume."
     "Yes please." Jewel said.
     I pulled out my wallet and handed him the money. He pushed a few buttons before ether cash register popped open. He danced to Dancing With Myself that played through the speakers as he placed the money.
     "Kendra!" She shouted into the back kitchen. A young woman, I think a year younger than Cal, walked out from behind the coffee machine. She had curly blonde hair and green eyes like her brother. She also wore similar clothes except with an apron.
     "Oh, hey guys." She said smiling.
     "Hey." Jewel and I said in unison.
     "One Kuchi Burger with fries and extra sauce along with a large fruit punch for Jamesy here." Cal said writing it down on a small notepad. "Then a Funny Bowl, union rings, and a medium Root Beer for his woman." He ripped out the paper and handed it to his sister.
     Weird restaurant, I know. But the food is great!
     "Roger that." She picked the paper from his hand and went back from where she came from.
     "Thanks guys." I said as I took Jewels hand and lead us to a table.
     There were three tables and two other counter tables along each of the walls. A father and his daughter sat at the table closest to the entrance, so we settled on the table closest to the Cashier's counter.
     Jewel sat down but just before I did, Cal called me over. I walked over to grab our drinks and said a quick thanks. I handed Jewel her root beer and sat down with my fruit punch because I don't drink soda. Judge as much as you want.
     "Well." Said a voice from behind me. "Look here, man."
     I turned around to see a man pull a chair from the middle table and sat down, facing me. His friend sat on the other side.
     Curt Yi-Lang and Ronald Camila.