Fuel and Fury

I know it's you, Bryce

He was riding as fast as he could, practically flying. He could hear gunshots far behind him, but he just laughed, the wind hitting his face as the small houses finally gave way to the highway. He'd left the pursuers in the dust, his cargo safely strapped to his backseat. They'd never reach him now, and he would deliver the package to his father with time to spare. Becker and Strait had lagged as part of the plan—they had split in different directions—but they better catch up with him soon or else he was going to...

He woke up then, the dark of the highway replaced by the dull peach color of his roof and the roaring wind replaced by the light chill of Midwestern early spring. He groaned as he sat at the edge of the bed, throwing the covers off. Another night, another one of those dreams.

"Shit," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

He picked his phone and checked the time. 5:42 AM. He'd barely slept four hours. It was no use going back to sleep at that point, so he threw on a wife beater and track pants, put on some old sneakers and went out. After walking downstairs, he passed the kitchen, but it was too early for his mother to already be cooking. He went inside anyway to grab an energy bar and, as he was walking towards the front door whilst unwrapping it, he heard a shout behind him.

"BANG! BANG!" The young voice yelled.

"Jesus fuck!" He shouted at the same time he jumped aside, crashing shoulder first into the wall. Pain shot down his arm and his back, and he groaned. After picking up his unwrapped bar from the floor, he turned around with a glare. "Wyatt! What the fuck are you doing up?!"

"I just killed you!" Wyatt exclaimed, holding a toy gun in his right hand and pointing at the energy bar with his left. "That means that the package is mine!"

"The what? Where did you even hear...?" Bryce raised an eyebrow. "Have you been eavesdropping on dad?"

Wyatt nodded rapidly, wearing a toothy grin at the same time he extended his hand. Bryce rolled his eyes and made a point to eat most of the bar in one bite, but tossed the remaining small piece along with the wrapper to his brother. He then removed the suction cup from his right elbow and dropped it on the floor.

Rubbing his shoulder, he said, "I'd have given you more, but now you've made me move leg day to today. Go to sleep, kid. You're eight, you're supposed to wake up at twelve or something."

His brother was too busy chewing to even reply, and Bryce walked out the door. Over an hour later, he came back, now with his legs and back as sore as his shoulder. His mother was out and about in the kitchen, hurrying to make breakfast.

"Hey mom." He only needed a passing glance to notice that his father wasn't there. "Where's dad?"

"He had to leave very early today, even before dawn," his mother answered, focused on her cooking.

"Where to?"

"That's none of your business," she replied, finally glancing at him. "You stink, go shower or you'll be late for school."

"It's not like I'm going to follow him now just because I know where he is, mom," he threw over his shoulder as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Ask me about which colleges I think you should go to! That's a better use of your time," he heard his mother's voice yelling and he chuckled.

"Gross," Anna said as she passed him while going downstairs. "Don't they have showers in that gym?"

"Obviously not, moron. You'd know if you went, God knows you could use some exercise."

"Screw you," Anna said as she reached the bottom. Bryce didn't even need to turn around to know that she was also flipping him off for good measure. She continued, "you wish you'd look half as good as I do!"