Angel Among Roaches

20. Hush

        +++

After a long trek through the scorching midday sun, they finally made it back to the trench. From the distance they could see a few middle-aged men shoveling next to part of the low roof. They could only imagine that this was where their rooms were going to be. Although none of that seemed to matter since they all were still caught up on what had happened.

Once they had descended the Chevy door hatch, the young man named Paul came up to Angel. "Goodness, what'd you do to them? They look like they an army of ghosts or something." He laughed slightly as he looked at them with intrigue.

"I'd shut your mouth if I were you, Paul," she threatened, saying his name like he were a worm.

He looked down at the girl, seeing her cold expression. "Hey, what's gotten into you?" His face then turned sullen with a realization. "The mission went south, didn't it?"

She then glared at him, her eyes turning from ice into fire. "'Mission?' We're not an army. We don't have some righteous cause. We're just pieces of sand that slipped through the cracks and decided to cling to the earth, okay?" With that she stormed off, heaving large breaths as she disappeared into the now thinning crowd of people. Although she hadn't yelled, the words she spoke had been so strong that they left their impression of all who heard her.

Paul turned to face Ben. "What happened out there?" Overwhelming concern suddenly filled his eyes, his chest heaving and his fists clenching, compelling Ben to take a step backward.

"A couple casualties," Lily interjected plainly before she slowly walked over to the filled pot of food, her backpack now at her side.

Paul began to scan over the newcomers who had went with Angel and Lily, his expression turning to some form of fatherly compassion. The teenagers had a certain look in their eye as if they were children that had fallen off of a bike for the first time. "You can set down you packs," he said as he grabbed the strap of Rachel's bag before sliding it off without any resistance from the girl. "There's some washing water down the hall. You can go wash your hands and faces, then come back to eat." He gestured to the edge of the room which connected to the long corridor. After no one moved, he sighed. "Follow me; I'll show you." He sounded reluctant as he began to lead them along as if they were helpless chicks.

+++

The day had gone just as slowly as it came, the sun setting in the horizon and everyone shutting their eyes for much-needed rest. Although tonight was different than the last. The sense of security all of the teenagers had felt seemed to have been etched away into perpetual unease. The girl Veronica whom had gone with them was asleep, as well as Zachariah and Rachel. Although it took them a long time, they finally faded into an unrestful slumber.

Ben listened to everyone's deep-breathing that seemed to rise and fall in unison, making things seem calm. However, they were not. Although most had succumb to sleep, Peter still sat up, fully awake as he stared at the cracked floors. Ben saw him from across the room, but remained laying down. He stared at the scrap metal ceiling, wondering what the sky looked like on the outside as he tried to forget his tormenting thoughts and questions burning a hole in his head. Were they really safe, and was coming here best for their survival?

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard the faint stomp of shoes on the ground. He turned his head slightly to see the dim form of Angel walking through the sea of sleeping bodies. Although it was faint, he could see an expression of pain on her face as she glanced at all who lay there as she passed over them. She didn't seem to notice Peter still awake and he barely acknowledged her in return. Once she safely made it across the room she began to climb the ladder attached to the wall and opened the hatch door, climbing out and closing it with barely a sound.

Ben glanced over at Peter who was gazing up at the hatch in the corner with a puzzled expression. Although it was dark, Peter's eyes were illuminated by the glass above with the light of the moon descending upon him; they seemed to filled with an empty pain. With a sigh, Ben sat up and slowly stood to his feet. He walked over to Peter, dodging those who slept. "Can't sleep," Ben questioned in a whisper as he sat down next to him. Peter nodded. "Me neither."

Peter scooted over to be able to better see his friend. "Ben," he spoke hesitantly, "why do you think they killed all they found in our bunker that day, huh?" Peter looked at Ben with the most distraught face he had ever seen.

Ben's expression fell from tired to merely depressed. "I don't know." His voice was low and dry in tone. "Someone didn't want us to make it." He stared at the wall in front of them as he shrugged slightly.

Peter did the same as his friend spoke. "I used to hate our life," he responded in a weak voice, "when all we did was live down there. All of the metal everywhere, the low ceiling, not being able to run far, or have privacy. I hated reading books all day since they always talked about places outside. I was so excited when, after all that happened, we were finally able to leave. I was so excited to see all the grass, the trees, the tall buildings and cars. Now I've seen almost all of them, and I hate it even more." He looked down at his hands which were intertwined and resting on his knees.

Ben let out a slightly crazed laugh. "I actually thought of escaping," he said with a shake of his head. "There were times when I was your age I actually packed my bags, but my mom always caught me, and I'd chicken out." He shook his head again, a small smile curling its way onto his lips at the mention of his mom. "I was convinced I'd be happiest if she were dead... but now," he trailed off, his voice becoming low again. "I guess I got the freedom I was looking for. I just didn't imagine it coming like this."

Peter glanced at Benjamin with pity before staring forwards again. "I don't think anyone gets what they want anymore. All because some selfish idiots had to prove themselves."

Ben whirled his head to look at Peter with narrowed brows. "What do you mean?"

"I overheard someone talking about how a war broke out because people were segregated in how they thought the world should be run, so they resorted to atomic warfare. That's what I heard anyways. Maybe someone was talking about a book or something." Peter shrugged in a mopey way.

Ben's eyebrows un-furrowed slightly as he seemed to contemplate this. "Did you hear anything else? I thought no one was talking to us about it."

"They're still not. Like I said, I overheard it."

Again a sigh escaped his lips. "We'll find out what happened soon enough."

Silence began to stretch on, the night beginning to seem almost calm to the two boys. Ben stood and walked back to where he was originally sleeping and sat down, resting his head on the ground. The room began to fill with a relentless breath of sleep, beginning to take Ben with it.

Faster than it came, it went. Suddenly the hatch door was whipped open, Angel jumping down, not bothering with the ladder. Her eyes were wide as she jumped up to close the door, then again to lock it. She gazed over at the room where she now saw Ben and Peter sitting up at attention. With a fearful tint to her face she put a shaking finger to her lips. "Sh."