playdead

Chapter Twenty-Two

Simon walked in front of the group, looking around at La Vista Street.

The short little houses had front yards only with sand and no grass. The metal fences had bits of graffiti on them, along with some rusting. Trees shuddered and moved above them, because the trees passed the barrier of the fence. Meaning they got hit in the face with leaves every once in a while.

Trailers parked in front of some houses. The smell of cow manure filled the air. Trash bins lay on the ground, spilling trash bags onto the street. Trash was actually everywhere here.

Simon stood next to Breezy and walked on the sidewalk.

"They stopped caring about this place ever since those drug cartels popped outta nowhere," Breezy said. "And slowly...other gang shit was bound to happen."

"Not gonna lie you're explaining it pretty vaguely." Simon replied.

"Meh meh meh! Shut up Simon." Breezy said.

They came in front of a white painted house, one story, with absolutely nothing. No barking pit bulls, no trailers, no gun stashes, nothing.

"This uh...looks, abandoned...?" Teddy said.

"You never know. There could be some drugged lunatic in there." Simon said.

"Yes-siree. I heard there's like, traps in these houses because of how many paranoids people were like 'Oh, gotta protect my good ol' white powder!'" Chase said.

Everyone looked at him disgustedly.

"What? I'm spittin' straight facts...yo." He said.

"Ugh." Breezy said.

Henry hopped over the fence and looked at the house, and looked back at them.

"This looks like a damn shithole." He said.

"The best we got without payin' taxes." Teddy replied to him, hopping the fence.

Everyone else followed suit.

Simon walked up to the door and knocked.

"Really? First thing you're going to do at a drug house is knock?" Breezy asked.

"Yes! I'm being polite as possible!" Simon said.

"Good luck with politeness when they stick a double barrel in your mouth." Breezy said sarcastically.

"'Kind sir, would you please refrain from blowing my brains out?'" Chase said, everyone laughed.

"No ones home. YUT!" Simon said, kicking the door open.

A blast of dust paraded over them, and the sounds of rats scurrying and screeching slowly grew farther away.

"That's not very polite Simon. I'm deducting 50 politeness points." Chase said.

"Right. Says the one who knows everything about crack houses." Simon said humorously.

Simon looked inside. It smelled of dying wood and rat poop.

"House of luxury. Filled to the brim with rat shit." Breezy said.

"I can't see fuckall in here..." Simon said, leaning into the house. There was a hallway that lead to a backdoor, along with two rooms on the left and right. It was dark but windows in the house let sunlight inside.

Simon slowly walked in, with a creaky and crunchy footstep. He walked inside, and looked around with the others.

"This is a kitchen?!" Chase shouted. Everyone came into the right most room and sure enough, there was wooden cabinets and a rusty sink, along with a refrigerator.

"Whatever's in the fridge, I'll pay 20 bucks to open it." Teddy said.

Breezy went slowly to the fridge and pulled her sleeve, so it covered her hand. She grabbed the rusty handle and pulled it, opening the fridge.

Inside was nothing but a barely functional fridge light and bullets.

"Oh shit!" Breezy shouted.

"Gotta keep 'em nice and cold, right?" Chase said.

"These are tiny bullets...it's probably for like a handgun." Teddy said, picking one up.

Teddy opened the freezer on top. Sure enough, a handgun lay on the iron bars of the freezer. It had empty cartridges and other bullets there too.

"What the hell...?" Simon said. "Someone just decided to leave this gun here?!"

"Home defense." Chase said, grabbing the gun. Everyone backed up almost simultaneously. He examined the gun and put it back, closing the door.

"Now then." Simon said. "Should we clean up this house?"

"Ughh! Cleaning?! More cleaning?! I have to clean my damn room everyday because of the lady in my house!" Teddy said. He had a bit of guilt in his face. Almost like he was lying.

"C'mon. It's not gonna be that bad," Breezy said. "One of you guys take of the uh...rat shit."

"Handy man Chase is now poopy man Chase," Chase said. "Shouldn't we go get supplies?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Belle said. "I'll make a list."

"Great. We'll need like...hmm..." Simon said. He paused and thought a bit. "We need maybe some chairs, lamps, any storage things, a broom, cleaning shit, that sort of thing."

"Thank god there's a Walmart like...pretty far from here." Chase said.

"It's a short distance away, don't be lazy Chase." Breezy said.

"I'll go." Belle said, a random piece of paper in her hands. She folded it up and put it in her pocket.

Breezy nudged Oliver. Oliver looked red and embarrassed.

"...I'll...I'll go." Oliver said quietly.

"I will too!" Chase said. "Let's go, gang!"

Chase walked outside, avoiding the rat business, being followed by Oliver and Belle.

"The rest of us...," Henry said. "Let's tryta' clean up a bit. Ain't nothin' good without a good ol' wash."

Everyone inside nodded.

Simon was personally getting really excited about their clubhouse. "Clubhouse." Headquarters. Yeah, that sounds cooler.