SUNDAY

“Are you worried about these uncertain times? Do you…”

Click.

You’re so damn sick of these Ground Zero commercials you think as you turn the TV off. If you older brother Ben hadn’t shot his family and himself in a tragic paranoid breakdown you can only imagine he’d be going on about how right he was in building that underground bunker out in your backyard.

You look at the time and realize you’ve spent most of the day procrastinating watching TV even though there’s not much on that interests you on TV anymore. All the channels you used to watch that had interesting shit on them now all have shallow reality shows and quite frankly you’ve got enough dysfunctional family drama going on in real life without needing to watch it on TV.

You remember a time when you could avoid most of the mess by hiding out in your basement. Unfortunately you can’t even do that anymore. Ever since dad drank himself to death, the gravy train of living at home for free came to an end.

Without the help of your dad’s pension checks anymore, your older Amazonian sister Kelly said there was no way in hell that she was going to keep supporting the house on her own unless she was the only one living in it. Seeing as she’s a roller derby bitch as well as an illegal fight club brawler, it isn’t like you or any of your siblings were in any position to argue with her.

Your younger brother Peter, having given up his lofty dreams of being a famous movie director now spends a lot of his time in the garage making amateur porn with various guys he picks up at the clubs. He makes enough money through his website that it keeps Kelly off his back. He seems to enjoy what he’s doing and at least he’s not stealing your clothes anymore.

Your younger sister Donna simply moved out and moved in with your best friend Julie who is still the eternal party girl. Really you’re surprised Julie hasn’t caught every STD known to man at this point. To be honest Donna’s had more in common with Julie than you have for many years now. You’re sure Donna’s a lot happier at a “party house.”

As for you, you didn’t have much in the way of options. Trying to get a job has failed spectacularly in this economy. Though your…”unique” and reclusive personality doesn’t exactly help in that department.

Given some of the junk that’s laying around the house you sometimes wonder if you shouldn’t try to sell some of it over the Internet to support yourself. Seems like a lot of work though and you’re no wheeler and dealer.

Donna suggested that you move in with her and Julie, but that whole scene isn’t for you. As much as you hate dealing with Kelly, you’d also hate having to put up with drunk horny guys (and girls) trying to get into your pants every five minutes, not to mention the loud music, crowds and the ever growing possibility of the cops busting the place for illegal drugs.

Which brings you to your boyfriend Bobby Morningstar who naturally has suggested that you move in with him on several occasions. This would be the ideal solution if it weren’t for the fact that his own family consists of like a million siblings that all live in his cult compound. There’s also the fact that his ex-girlfriend/sister Diana is wicked pissed at you for stealing him away from her.

It’s been an ongoing source of tension between you and Bobby and you wish he’d just leave them all behind and you two could make a life together elsewhere, but his duty to family is strong, as is his faith to the Babylonian Goddess of Chaos, Tiamat which still involves human sacrifices.

Right now you’re having a period of separation with him. Sometimes you think about breaking up with him completely, but then you can’t just dismiss the good times you do have with him. You have that special bond that only a couple could have when one warns the other about their serial killer relative lying in wait for them in the woods. Thank god Bobby took care of your uncle Ed. That had to be the scariest moment of your life dealing with that situation.

Of course none of this delightful recap of past events really helps you. Kelly is starting to get very impatient with you and you fear that your months of stalling are coming to an end.

Kelly’s currently not home, but she’ll be back in a few hours to get a bit of sleep before heading off to her fight club stuff. Continuing to enjoy the time you have to not have to deal with her you go back to procrastinating, which mainly involves goofing off on the Internet, “stumbling” upon a porn site and then using battery powered means to relieve yourself of stress.

Eventually you hear the familiar slamming of the door and stomping around upstairs, which signifies that Kelly is indeed home.

“SUZY! Stop splittin’ the kitten and get yer bony ass up here!” you hear Kelly shout.

You were afraid of this. You clean yourself up a bit, mentally prepare yourself and then head upstairs.

“Hey Kelly…” you start to say, but are interrupted.
“Shut up. I’ve got exactly a couple hours to get some rest before I have to drag my ass to my other job to support this fucking house and it’s a fucking mess! You can’t even clean up around here? Did you even look for a job today? Let me guess you spent the whole day fucking around on the Internet and masturbating didn’t you?”
“Well uh...”
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ Suzy, you’re goddamn useless you know that? The only reason I’m not kicking your ass right now is because I need to save my energy and it would be too fucking easy.”

Before you can even speak, Kelly continues her rant.

“GET A FUCKING JOB! I don’t care what kind! Just be a contributing member of this household like Peter or get the fuck out like Donna!”
“Kelly I’m trying, but I’m just not having any luck in finding anything, can’t you help me out?” you say.
“Help you out? I’m helping you out right now by supporting your ass! I’ve been helping you out for quite some time! In fact I originally suggested that you could probably become a ring girl at the fights, but you said no because you didn’t want to dress up in skimpy clothing and parade around in front of a bunch of drunks.”
“Kelly, you know I don’t want to dress like that in public, especially not after what uncle Ed made me wear that night…”
“Oh here we go, crazy old uncle Ed! How long you going to keep using that as an excuse? Sheesh, the way you go on about it, you act like he raped you. What happened instead? He got killed, you weren’t even touched and you got a fucking boyfriend out of that deal! Some of us should be so lucky to be in a fucked up situation and STILL come out ahead! You know what I deal with on a regular basis? Steroid freaks trying to break my fucking neck that’s what! You think I’d be making a living trading punches with fucktards if I LOOKED like you Suzy? You got the biggest advantage and you’re just wasting it! What the hell is your goddamn problem?”

You can see that Kelly is in full-blown jealousy mode and shows no signs of stopping. Attempting to walk away will only result in her getting physical with you so the only thing you can do is endure the verbal assault.

“This is sink or swim time sis. You either get your shit together by the end of this week or you’re out on your ass! This sheltered girl act is really fucking OLD! You’re a grown ass WOMAN. Start acting like one! Now get out of my fucking sight.”

You meekly slink back to the basement and leave Kelly alone.

You silently mope for a while pondering what the hell you’re going to do next. You then notice that your phone has been under your couch cushions and on silent all day. Bobby apparently has been repeatedly trying to contact you. Even left multiple texts saying that he really wants to talk, but the mood you’re in right now, you don’t want to deal with it.

You don’t want to deal with anything. You just want to be safe in your own little world in the basement. How you miss those days…

Well today isn’t completely over yet. You’ve still got time to salvage some of it. Hell, maybe you can even make a major change in your life.
> You move in with Donna and Julie
Even if you did manage to find a job, it wouldn’t change the fact that you’ll still have to put up with Kelly’s abuse. She’d just bitch at you for something else. She will always find an excuse.

With that in mind, you realize that your options are limited. You’re going to have to move out and go live at the only place available to an unemployed bum like yourself, your friend Julie’s house.

Chances are she’s either passed out, hung over or in the middle of yet another one of her seemingly never ending parties, so you figure calling her will be useless and call your sister Donna instead (who might only be slightly more available)

Ignoring Bobby’s calls, you speed dial Donna and surprisingly she picks up after only a couple of rings. Even more surprisingly you don’t hear any music or noise in the background. Must’ve caught a rare in between party time.

“Hello? Suzy?” Donna asks.
“Yeah, it’s me.” You answer.
“Hey haven’t spoken to you in awhile! How are things? Not too bad I hope?”
“Well…yeah they are kinda. I just got my ass chewed out by Kelly. (Sigh) She’s saying I have to find a job by the end of the week or she’s throwing me out.”
“Yeah sounds like her.”
“You know how hard it is for me to find a job. I just don’t think it’s going to happen by the end of the week and in any case I don’t think I can take her abuse any longer. I’m done.”
“Well you shouldn’t have to put up with her shit. She’s a fucking bullying bitch! I mean that’s certainly why I left.”
“Yeah so I was wondering, could I move in with you and Julie?”

There’s a bit of a pause.

“Well…I mean sure you could come here. I wouldn’t mind and I mean you know Julie would be fine with it, but I know you’re not exactly miss fun and excitement and I think you’re aware of how wild things can get over here.” Donna says.
“Yeah, but anything is better than continuing to live with Kelly right now, and given how big Julie’s home is, I’m sure I can still find a quiet corner to not bother anyone in.” you respond.
“Okay, well as long as you don’t because a buzz killing party pooper, you’re more than welcome to stay here. So are you coming today?”
“I think I need to pack up quite a bit of stuff before doing that. I also have to have some way of transporting the stuff over. I dunno, maybe I can borrow Peter’s car or something.”
“What about Bobby?”
“Uh, no, I’m still not speaking with him at this time. Besides, he’d probably just try to convince me to live in his compound and I’m just not in the mood to deal.”
“Hrm. I certainly understand that. Well, since you said you’re going to have to spend a little time packing up your stuff, I can come pick you up tomorrow. I’d do it today, but the vehicle situation isn’t ideal right now. Got someone repairing my car right now and Julie’s vehicle… well let’s say it’s going to be even longer before . It was quite the part last Friday.”
“I’ll bet. Well that sounds like it’ll work for me. When will you get here?”
“Oh probably sometime in the afternoon. I’ll call before hand.”
“Okay, well I guess I’ll see you then.”
“I’ll let Julie know, she’ll be pretty excited.”

At this point you say goodbye to your sister and you hang up.

You get to packing up as many of your vital things as possible. Really it doesn’t take you too long at all. You didn’t own too much stuff, and stuff like furniture or a bed is going to be provided at Julie’s house though you wonder if you shouldn’t move your bed over there if only because the beds over there are probably like petri dishes.

In any event, you spend the rest of your night in the basement, which will probably be your last night ever here. It seems weird and scary, but on another level you are a little excited. Maybe it was time for a change.

Who knows, maybe you’ll indulge in a little partying yourself when you get to your new home, hell if anyone deserves to let loose a little its certainly you.
> Next day...
MONDAY

“…act now and Ground Zero will provide a…”

Click.

As you groggily wake up, you’re wondering if you should bother even taking your TV with you considering the stations just play Ground Zero commercials half the time.

You look at the time and see that you’ve slept for most of the morning, but it doesn’t matter considering your sister isn’t going to pick you up until the afternoon. You just hope that she remembers to come get you period. While your sister isn’t as flaky as Julie, she still doesn’t have the greatest sense of responsibility.

You also check your phone and see that Bobby’s still trying to reach you, but you still don’t feel like dealing with him. MAYBE later, right now you want to focus on one major decision at a time and moving out of a place where you’ve lived your whole life certainly qualifies.

All your stuff is packed and ready to go, and since you can’t do much more until your sister gets here, you just wait.

As you continue to wait, you start to get anxious. You start to worry if you’re making the right decision or not. You start to pace in your room weighing all the pros and cons of what you’re doing.

“Ugh, this is so stressful…I need to calm down…” you say and start unzipping one of your packed bags to get old reliable to relax you.

20 minutes later…

“Hey Suzy?! You down there?” you hear Donna call from upstairs.
“Huh? Uh what?! Yeah! Hold on!” you exclaim and stop your stress relief session.

As you hurry to get dressed, Donna continues to call down to you.

“I called you know, why didn’t you answer?”
“Uh, I guess I didn’t hear it. Sorry about that. Be up in a minute.”
“I thought you were ready. What were you doing? Splittin’ the kitten down there?” Donna laughs. You don’t answer; you just finish dressing and grab your bags.

When you get upstairs, Donna greets you. She’s wearing a shirt that is obviously trying to call attention to her small breasts and pants that are one size too tight to make her ass look like its more filled out, but she’s dressed fairly conservative all things considered.

“Were you just taking what’s in your bags? Because we could probably put more into the car.”
“Nah, I need to get out of here now. I mean maybe later I could get someone to come get my couch or some of my furniture though.”
“Okay, but really I don’t think you’ll need to, Julie’s got spare beds and such. Plenty of space you know.”
“Yeah I know. Let’s get going.”

You and Donna leave the house and after throwing your bags in her car you and her are soon on your way.

Along the way Donna puts on some music. She takes mercy on you by not listening to that techno dance crap that you hate so much, but instead listens to the bubble gum pop crap that you hate slightly less.

“So…I found an area of the house where I think you’ll be happiest at yesterday.” Donna says.
“Oh? Is it the basement?”
“Hah, nah. That’s being used for other things. I was thinking of Julie’s dad’s old office on the far left of the house. I mean Julie never uses it, and besides a few people wandering from the main party to have a quickie in there it’s never used anymore.”
“Gee, you make it sound so appealing.”
“Well it’s either that or one of the upstairs bedrooms and I can’t promise you won’t be disturbed on regular basis there. At least with the office you can lock it and it’s far enough away from the usual party grounds.”
“I guess it’s the best I can hope for, thanks I guess for thinking ahead.”
“No problem. You know I’m glad you’re coming to live with us. I mean I know you probably don’t believe it, but I missed talking with you. Julie’s fun and all, but even I get tired from partying ALL the time.”
“Well thanks Donna…hey this is like the twelfth police car I’ve seen pulled over and cops arresting someone.” You say looking out the window.
“Yeah, I dunno if you’ve noticed since you tend to hang out in the basement most of the time, but there’s been an increase in crime which also means an increase in the cops using that as an excuse to be assholes… like this. Shit!”

Nothing like talking something into existence. A cop car puts on its siren and a bullhorn tells you to pull over. You briefly worry that your sister isn’t going to pull over, but she does. Swearing and sighing the whole time.

Doesn’t take long before a policeman approaches the vehicle.

“Alright where are you going in such a hurry?” the cop asks.
“Nowhere. I wasn’t even speeding!”
“Is that right honey? Not according to my radar you weren’t. Besides, you ignored a stop sign back there. I think you need to step out of the car.”
“Are you kidding me? There wasn’t a stop sign!”
“Aren’t you supposed to ask for her license and registration first?” you add.

The cop suddenly points his finger at the both of you.

“The both of you need to shut the hell up right, before I run you both in for obstruction of justice. Now both of you out of the car now!”

Your sister looks at you like she really wants to just try to turn the car back on and try to drive away, but you both know that wouldn’t do any good save for getting yourselves in a whole lot of trouble.

The cop calls over his partner who looks equally uncompromising. He tells him to search you, while he starts searching the car while he puts Donna up against the car and starts patting down Donna.

“Getting a good feel, you bastard?” Donna remarks.

The cop frisking you is slightly better, since you don’t get your girl parts molested, but he certainly comes close. He snickers a bit as you tense up from this indignity.

After you and your sister have been frisked. They tell you both to go sit on the curb with your hands locked behind your heads while they search the car.

This is a bad situation anyway since you’re obviously dealing with two asshole cops, but who knows what the hell Donna’s got in her car which will give them even more of an excuse to march you off to jail.

Speaking of which, Donna whispers to you.

“We need to run.”
“What?” you ask in a whisper.
“Those two fuckers are going to find something in the car.”
“You’re driving with illegal drugs in the car?”
“Not that much, well at least I don’t think I am…hell I’m not even sure, but I can’t take that chance! We gotta run!”
“And where the hell are we gonna go?”
“I dunno! We could probably still hide at Julie’s house.”
“You’re joking right? That place is probably the first place they’ll look! Shit, Donna! I knew I shouldn’t have left the goddamn basement today!”
“Look…they’re pretty involved in searching right now. If we ran we could probably at least lose them until we came up with a better idea.”

You get the impression Donna is going to run no matter what and you can’t see how that’s going to be a good idea in any way. You’re also concerned that if she runs and you stay, these two cops will just pin everything on you (whatever that may be).

Still, if she sees that you’re determined to stay, maybe she’ll keep to her common sense and won’t run too.
> You run
It’s really not what you want to do, but if Donna does have drugs in her car like she thinks she does, it’s going to be bad for you whether Donna runs or not.

You knew you shouldn’t have left the basement!

“Alright, alright, let’s do this, but I don’t think we should run to Julie’s house. I just don’t see it being a safe haven.” You whisper.
“Okay, okay, I know where we could run to and hide out for awhile. Got a friend by the name of Tina, she works over at the strip club.”
“Great. Which one?”
“Kitty City, you know where it is?”
“Why the hell would I know where a strip club is?”
“Because we’re going to meet up there! If we run, we can’t run in the same direction! We’ll get caught for sure!”
“We’re probably going to get caught anyway!” you say.

Your voices start to catch the attention of the officers.

“Hey! Quiet down the pair of you…HEY! COME BACK HERE!” one of the officers shouts as Donna runs off!

You’re so surprised about her deciding that was the time to start running that you don’t even get the opportunity to stand up from the curb before one officer is already chasing Donna and the other has already pulled out his pistol and commanded you to stay put.

You meekly put up your hands and lower your head in an attempt to show you have no intention of running.

“I’m not going anywhere. Don’t shoot.” You say nervously.

The officer sees that you really aren’t a threat puts his gun away, pulls you up roughly by the arm from the curb and throws you into the back of the police car before calling in on his radio about Donna being a runner.

While you’re breaking down in tears and worrying about the worst, the officer who threw you into the back of the police car finishes searching Donna’s car. Eventually the other officer comes back as well looking a little worn out.

After talking a moment, one of them opens the car door.

“Alright, I didn’t find anything in the car, so why the hell did your friend run?”
“I…I really don’t know…officer…” you say.
“Don’t fucking lie to me or this is going to go very badly for you!” the cop warns and its enough to cause you to yelp a little in fear and begin to cry again.

“(sob) My sister…thought you were going to…(sob) find drugs in the car…so she thought it would be better to run. Please I was just driving with her (sob) to find a new place to live! I’ve never done anything (sob) wrong in my life! I’ve…”
“Alright, alright, shut the hell up and stop your crying. Shit. (Sigh) Well what do you think?” the officer asks his partner who is still trying to catch his breath.
“Did you call in about the bitch running?”
“Yeah, but I dunno if anyone’s going to bother chasing down some junkie whore, since it sounds like everyone’s got their hands full especially now that a riot’s broke out at the mall. In fact we’re supposed to go down there and help.”
“Another fucking riot?! What the fuck is going on in this town? Someone put something in the water?”
“Seems like it. So what do we do with this one? I mean she’s clean and the car’s clean so…”
“(Sigh) I dunno. I could think of a few things, but we probably don’t have time for that right now.”

The officer that chased Donna looks into the backseat at you. He’s being as intimidating as possible and despite him being red in the face and winded it’s working.

“All right blondie, this is your lucky day. Due to the rest of this town seemingly losing its goddamn mind right now and the fact that you’re clean, we’re letting you go. You can take whatever belongings you have in the car, BUT we’re still impounding it if only because your junkie sister made me fucking run several blocks trying to catch her ass.”
“Got it. And thank you.” You say and start to get out of the car.

Both of the officers help you out…but it isn’t out of kindness. The pair of them take the opportunity to grope your chest and your ass as you step out of the car.

“Now I suggest you gather your shit, and take your pretty little ass home.” One of the cops says with a leering grin while other laughs.

You really aren’t in any position to argue, fight or anything else. You hate the fact you just got molested, but you know that if you give them any sort of lip, they’re going to do much worse.

You quickly get your bags out of Donna’s car and run away from the scene without looking back. When you’re far enough a way, you find some place to sit down and reflect on your situation.

You try to think of the positive first and that’s namely things could’ve been a lot worse you. You have no doubt that those cops would’ve done more than just feel you up had they been in a less generous mood. So you’re glad you didn’t get jailed, raped or worse.

But then you think about the negative. First off is your sister who fucking LEFT you there. No hint, no “Now!” no clue at all that she was going to choose that particular time to run. Granted you froze up when it came time to run, but she didn’t even look back. You don’t exactly have the best opinion of her right now putting you in a situation like that.

Second of all you don’t have a new place to live now or at least you aren’t where you were going to go. As far as you know the offer to live at Julie’s is still open, but it would quite the walk to go there now. A walk that you don’t particularly want to do given the day you’ve had, in fact you’d rather just go back home.

Of course the problem with going back home is you can’t stay there so you’re going to have to go someplace else eventually. Of course maybe Peter would let you borrow his car, but so far your track record with your siblings this weeks hasn’t been great.
> You walk to Julie's house
You might as well continue to Julie’s house. Going back home is just prolonging the inevitable. Also if your sister shows up at Julie’s, you’d like to give her a piece of your mind about her just ditching you like that.

Your walk to Julie’s slowly starts to become a worrisome endeavor. You see several fights along with a number of other officers arresting folks. You also see a couple of bad car accidents. While you try to avoid large groups of people, you’re still in the danger zone of what almost seems like chaos on the streets. Those two asshole cops weren’t joking when one of them said it seemed like the entire town had lost its mind.

As you quicken your pace to Julie’s in an attempt to get through this madness quicker, a large teenager that’s running from something runs right into you while he’s turning a corner. The pair of you fall on the sidewalk.

You’re a little dazed, but before you can even recover the teenager is upon you.

“You stupid fucking bitch! Gimme yo’ shit!” he shouts and punches you in the face and then proceeds to attempt to rip your backpack from you, though he’s having a hard time seeing as it’s firmly strapped to your back.

The teenager gets frustrated and stops trying to rob you and then just seems to be focused on abusing you. You feel several kicks going into your side and then your face. You plead for him to stop and curl up into a ball, but he’s not even listening, it’s like he’s possessed or something because he actually starts laughing.

“There’s that motherfucker!” A voice shouts. You don’t see who it is due to you being curled up and having your eyes closed wishing you were elsewhere, but you soon feel the weight of several someones stepping and falling all over you. The pursuers of your assailant have caught up to him and you are now unfortunately being crushed in the resulting dogpile.

You desperately attempt to crawl away feeling the pain of several fists, elbows, knees and feet randomly hitting you in the process. You just want to be home.

You manage to crawl out from under the pile and then scramble away as fast as you can only to stumble on your bruised wobbly legs in the middle of the street. It is then where your luck only gets worse when a speeding truck slams into your body which goes flying a few feet in front of the truck only THEN to be run completely over by the same truck which doesn’t stop at all.

Your misery is put to an end under the heavy weight of the truck’s tires causing the innards from your mangled body to squeeze out like a tube of toothpaste and painting the street red.


It’s really not what you want to do, but if Donna does have drugs in her car like she thinks she does, it’s going to be bad for you whether Donna runs or not.

You knew you shouldn’t have left the basement!

“Alright, alright, let’s do this, but I don’t think we should run to Julie’s house. I just don’t see it being a safe haven.” You whisper.
“Okay, okay, I know where we could run to and hide out for awhile. Got a friend by the name of Tina, she works over at the strip club.”
“Great. Which one?”
“Kitty City, you know where it is?”
“Why the hell would I know where a strip club is?”
“Because we’re going to meet up there! If we run, we can’t run in the same direction! We’ll get caught for sure!”
“We’re probably going to get caught anyway!” you say.

Your voices start to catch the attention of the officers.

“Hey! Quiet down the pair of you…HEY! COME BACK HERE!” one of the officers shouts as Donna runs off!

You’re so surprised about her deciding that was the time to start running that you don’t even get the opportunity to stand up from the curb before one officer is already chasing Donna and the other has already pulled out his pistol and commanded you to stay put.

You meekly put up your hands and lower your head in an attempt to show you have no intention of running.

“I’m not going anywhere. Don’t shoot.” You say nervously.

The officer sees that you really aren’t a threat puts his gun away, pulls you up roughly by the arm from the curb and throws you into the back of the police car before calling in on his radio about Donna being a runner.

While you’re breaking down in tears and worrying about the worst, the officer who threw you into the back of the police car finishes searching Donna’s car. Eventually the other officer comes back as well looking a little worn out.

After talking a moment, one of them opens the car door.

“Alright, I didn’t find anything in the car, so why the hell did your friend run?”
“I…I really don’t know…officer…” you say.
“Don’t fucking lie to me or this is going to go very badly for you!” the cop warns and its enough to cause you to yelp a little in fear and begin to cry again.

“(sob) My sister…thought you were going to…(sob) find drugs in the car…so she thought it would be better to run. Please I was just driving with her (sob) to find a new place to live! I’ve never done anything (sob) wrong in my life! I’ve…”
“Alright, alright, shut the hell up and stop your crying. Shit. (Sigh) Well what do you think?” the officer asks his partner who is still trying to catch his breath.
“Did you call in about the bitch running?”
“Yeah, but I dunno if anyone’s going to bother chasing down some junkie whore, since it sounds like everyone’s got their hands full especially now that a riot’s broke out at the mall. In fact we’re supposed to go down there and help.”
“Another fucking riot?! What the fuck is going on in this town? Someone put something in the water?”
“Seems like it. So what do we do with this one? I mean she’s clean and the car’s clean so…”
“(Sigh) I dunno. I could think of a few things, but we probably don’t have time for that right now.”

The officer that chased Donna looks into the backseat at you. He’s being as intimidating as possible and despite him being red in the face and winded it’s working.

“All right blondie, this is your lucky day. Due to the rest of this town seemingly losing its goddamn mind right now and the fact that you’re clean, we’re letting you go. You can take whatever belongings you have in the car, BUT we’re still impounding it if only because your junkie sister made me fucking run several blocks trying to catch her ass.”
“Got it. And thank you.” You say and start to get out of the car.

Both of the officers help you out…but it isn’t out of kindness. The pair of them take the opportunity to grope your chest and your ass as you step out of the car.

“Now I suggest you gather your shit, and take your pretty little ass home.” One of the cops says with a leering grin while other laughs.

You really aren’t in any position to argue, fight or anything else. You hate the fact you just got molested, but you know that if you give them any sort of lip, they’re going to do much worse.

You quickly get your bags out of Donna’s car and run away from the scene without looking back. When you’re far enough a way, you find some place to sit down and reflect on your situation.

You try to think of the positive first and that’s namely things could’ve been a lot worse you. You have no doubt that those cops would’ve done more than just feel you up had they been in a less generous mood. So you’re glad you didn’t get jailed, raped or worse.

But then you think about the negative. First off is your sister who fucking LEFT you there. No hint, no “Now!” no clue at all that she was going to choose that particular time to run. Granted you froze up when it came time to run, but she didn’t even look back. You don’t exactly have the best opinion of her right now putting you in a situation like that.

Second of all you don’t have a new place to live now or at least you aren’t where you were going to go. As far as you know the offer to live at Julie’s is still open, but it would quite the walk to go there now. A walk that you don’t particularly want to do given the day you’ve had, in fact you’d rather just go back home.

Of course the problem with going back home is you can’t stay there so you’re going to have to go someplace else eventually. Of course maybe Peter would let you borrow his car, but so far your track record with your siblings this weeks hasn’t been great.
> You walk home
Really after the day you’ve had so far, all you want to do is go home and hide out in your basement, so back home it is.

Your walk home isn’t entirely uneventful. You see several fights along with a number of other officers arresting folks. You also see a couple of bad car accidents. While you try to avoid large groups of people, you still are paranoid about someone to try to rob you or accost you in some way, but fortunately you manage to keep your head down and look as unassuming as possible.

It isn’t quite chaos on the streets, but those two asshole cops weren’t joking when one of them said it seemed like the entire town had lost its mind.

By the time you get back to your own neighborhood, it’s starting to get dark, though your area is actually rather quiet compared to most places you passed through. You just hope Kelly isn’t home because you don’t really feel like dealing with her right now.

When you get home, you see Peter’s car in the driveway. Kelly’s vehicle isn’t here though, so it looks like you won’t have to put up with her and that’s at least one good thing that’s happened to you today. (Besides the not getting raped part)

Upon entering the house, it’s in same condition as it was when you left, though now you’re hearing a lot of grunting and sounds of ecstasy coming from the garage connected to the house. You imagine Peter is in the process of filming one of his shows again.

Not wishing to hear your brother squeal like a pig as he gets fucked for the pleasure of his viewing Internet public, you waste no time in heading down into the basement and settling back into your usual routine in your room.

You know this isn’t going to be permanent, but for now at least you can not worry about the pandemonium that’s going on outside. You just wish the TV wasn’t playing so many Ground Zero infomercials.

Hours pass as they do and just as you’re getting ready to fall asleep, you suddenly get a phone call. It’s Donna. You almost don’t even bother answering, but you’re curious to see if she’s calling from jail and if she’s delusional enough to think you’ll actually bail her out.

“Hey sis, where you at?!” Donna asks. Sounds like music in the background so she must not be in jail.
“I’m at home, no thanks to you just ditching me like that!” you say.
“You said you were going to run, like I was! Didn’t you do it?”
“No, because by the time you took off without at least giving me a signal, one of those assholes was ready to shoot me. So I had to suffer through getting threatened, thrown in the back of a police car and groped a lot more severely than the first time they patted us down.”
“Oh geez…they didn’t...um…”
“No, they didn’t do that. Though I suspect if that had happened I wouldn’t even be alive to talk to you right now. Your car didn’t have any drugs in it by the way, but they have impounded it and I’m pretty sure they still have you on a watchlist or something for evading arrest.”
“Shit. Figured something like that might happen.”
“Hm, Yeah and I’m an idiot for nearly going along with your plan, but hey I guess everything went okay for you, I hear the party music in the back so I’m guessing you’re whoring it up with Julie so I’ll let you go so you can have your fun.”
“Hold on Suzy. First of all I’m not at Julie’s. I’m at Kitty City like I said I would be. Second, I can’t even get a hold of Julie. She’s not answering her phone. Now of course she could just be busy, but if I got some sort of warrant out on me, then maybe going back there isn’t the best idea right now. I’m thinking maybe I should stay with my friend Tina instead. She’s a stripper that’s entertained at some of Julie’s parties in the past. She’s got room since she kicked her boyfriend out of her trailer.”
“Uh huh, well that’s great for you. Glad to see you’ve once again landed on your feet despite evading arrest. Goodbye.”
“Suzy, wai…”

You hang up. You half expect Donna to call again, but she doesn’t which you’re glad because you’ve run out of patience with her for the day.

You settle down for the night and get some sleep, trying to put this horrible day behind you.
> Next day…
TUESDAY

“…if you act now you’ll get a free…”

You groggily grab the remote to shut off the incessant noise of the Ground Zero commercial on the TV screen.

You grab your phone to check the time and see that once again you’ve slept through the morning as usual. You also see that Bobby tried to call you, but you’re still not in the mood to call him back. Though if you don’t secure a place to live you might not have a choice. Still as far as you know the offer to live at Julie’s is still good, you’re just not sure about how well that’s going to go over now.

While you’re trying to ponder your next move, you get a call. It’s Donna again. Might as well get this over with.

“Donna, this better be good, because you’re not exactly my favorite person right now.” You say answering the phone.
“Whoa! Hold on Suzy! Don’t hang up!” Donna exclaims.
“Say what you got to say.”
“Okay, look first of all I’m sorry about what you had to go through. I know that had to suck for you. I shouldn’t have convinced you to run anyway. It’s obvious now that was a stupid plan in the first place since I didn’t even have anything in the car. (Sigh) Last night when I was sleeping on a beer soaked couch in a trailer hiding out from the cops I sort of had a revelation of how my choices in life had lead me to that point. I also sort of realized that if I probably continue on this path it’s only going to get worse.”

That’s rather philosophical of your sister, and it’s enough to keep your attention.

“So I’ve decided that I need to do something with my life and make it better, so I got a job.” Donna says.
“A job? How the hell did you get a job so quick? Doing what?” you ask.
“I’m going to be a stripper at Kitty City! The owner was offering me a job yesterday and I already was getting tips from guys who mistook me for one of the strippers here anyway. So I figured why not? In fact I’m on break right now.”

Why are you not surprised?

Donna continues before you can even speak again.

“Now before you judge, starting a new life takes money and let’s face it, I don’t have exactly many useful skills that are going to earn me a lot of cash in a quick amount of time. I figure I can earn enough to save and figure things out as I go.”
“Hm, well that’s great and all, but why are you telling me all this?” you ask.
“Because this is my new start and like I said I feel bad about convincing you to go along with my plan yesterday. Besides, don’t you still need a place to stay? You can come live with me!”
“I thought I was already going to do that by moving in to Julie’s.”
“Nah, I’m not going back to Julie’s. Too much temptation to go back to my old ways there. I’m moving into one of the trailers at the trailer park.”
“Wait. You just started working as a stripper. How the hell did you manage to get a trailer already?”
“I secured one after…um talking with the park owner this morning. Look, that’s not really important right now. What is important is I got a deal on a fairly good one and it’s big enough for two of us. It might be a little rough going at first, but I anticipate after a few weeks of teasing these degenerates here, we’ll be living fairly comfortably, if not in the lap of luxury.”
“I dunno. While I’m still pissed about yesterday, it does mean a lot that you’re making this pretty generous offer. I don’t know about living in a trailer park though. I mean aren’t you worried about the kind of people there? In fact I can imagine a lot of the type that Kelly associates with come from there, do you really think its safe?”
“Safe as opposed to what? Growing up in our household? We had a fucking paranoid psychotic older brother, a sadistic bullying older sister and at one point a goddamn SERIAL KILLER uncle living in our house. At least the hostile rednecks around here won’t be living under our roof! Besides, it really isn’t as bad as you hear.”

You find that a little hard to believe considering you’ve heard more than enough stories about the trailer park outside of town. Donna might not think its bad, just because she was living there overnight.

“I just don’t know Donna. I mean I wasn’t exactly looking forward to dealing with the non-stop partying at Julie’s, but I’d at least feel a little safer there than I would at the trailer park.”
“Huh, don’t be so sure of that. Julie pretty much has gotten to the point where she has an open door policy to let any creepy weirdo that walks in off the street in the house. It’s actually amazing someone like Uncle Ed hasn’t come in and killed us all. Are you heading over there sometime today?”
“Well if I can secure a ride over there I will.”
“Okay, well if you do get over there could you let Julie know that I’m moving out? She’s still not answering her phone. I’m going to have to make arrangements to get my bigger things, but maybe you could help me get some of my smaller items when I get over there tonight?”
“Well, I suppose I could.” You say.
“Great. I knew I could count on your Suzy. (Sigh) You really are the good one in the family sis. It’s so unfair that life hasn’t been better to you. Once again I’m really sorry about what happened yesterday. It’s nearly time for me to go out there and shake my ass again so I gotta go. Just…think about what I said okay? If you change your mind about your future living arrangements just come with Tina and me when we go over to Julie’s tonight, or I guess if you’re really feeling adventurous you could always go over to the trailer park yourself. Just go to the owner’s trailer with the big signs around it and mention my name and he’ll let you in my new place. He’s sort of letch, but he’s old so he mostly confines it staring and making the occasional comment. Don’t worry about it.”

After another sincere apology about yesterday, Donna finally hangs up leaving you now with a new option.

Donna seems to be genuinely trying to change her life in her own way. You almost can’t believe it was Donna on the phone at all. Maybe some sort of pod person replaced her.

She also seems to be really making an effort to make things up to you, which is surprising as well. It’s always a rarity in your family when you actually try to help each other out.

Still, you’re not sure about this whole living in a trailer park business for several reasons, but you suppose you could give it a little thought at least. In any case, you need to get a ride to wherever it is you’re going to be heading to and that means seeing if your brother Peter is going to be just as accommodating as your sister currently is.

You head upstairs and knock on the door to the garage.

“Hey, um Peter? You busy?”

You don’t get an answer right away, but eventually you do after more knocking.

“Yeah, yeah, hold on!” Peter says before answering the door. He’s only peaking his head out, so it’s very likely he’s naked.

“Um, sorry to interrupt whatever it is you’re doing, but I need a ride to my new place.”
“I thought you moved out yesterday.”
“Yeah, there was a slight hiccup in the plan yesterday. Anyway, can you give me a ride over to my new place?”
“(Sigh) I’m kinda in the middle of recording something. I’m assuming you’re going to Julie’s?”
“Yeah…I think.” You say.
“You think? You don’t know if you’re going to live over at Julie’s place or not?”
“Well…Donna got a new place of her own and I’m still not sure if I should just move in with her yet.”
“Donna got a new…look you know what? I don’t give a shit about any of this.” Peter says and then closes the door.

You think that’s the end of it, but he opens it up again, but this time only his hand with some keys in it are coming out.

“I’m not your personal taxi service. Here, take my car and return it tomorrow or at least by Thursday. Now don’t disturb me again!”

You take the keys and Peter slams the door. This is probably the most helpful he’s been in…well ever.

You go back and repack some of your bags and drag them to Peter’s car. After loading everything up in the backseat you pull out of the drive way and wonder which way you should go.
> You drive to Julie's house
While you haven’t quite ruled out the possibility of living with Donna, you don’t think you’re quite ready to go driving over there yourself and putting up with some old guy perving on you today. If you do decide to go over there, you’ll do it later tonight.

Besides, you want to see just how bad it might be over at Julie’s before making a decision.

A few minutes of driving to your destination and you’re sure of one thing being pretty bad, the roads! Once again there are cops everywhere, but also ambulances and fire trucks racing to their various destinations too. You nearly turn around and head back home, but eventually you make it to Julie’s neighborhood, which is thankfully not in the midst of anarchy.

You pull up to the driveway and get out of the car. You figure you’ll assess the situation before making a decision of whether you’re going to stay or not.

You sort of expected to see a few people drinking on the porch or at least hearing loud music as you walk up to the door, but so far it doesn’t sound like any sort of party going on or at least not an overly rowdy one, which is odd considering how people have been acting in this town for the past few days.

You knock on the door, but get no immediate answer. After a few more bangs you finally get an answer, but it isn’t Julie.

“Hello.” A man says in a flat tone and almost seems to be studying you. He looks like he might be around your age, but he doesn’t look like the sort that would be at one of Julie’s parties. He’s very “ordinary” looking.
“Hey. Where’s Julie at?” you ask.
“Julie? Oh yes, the owner of this house. Well, I don’t really know. I remember seeing her yesterday, but then she left with some guy and I haven’t seen her since. Of course this being her house she has to return sometime right? Would you like to wait?” the man asks opening the door further to invite you in.

Something about this guy feels a little “off” to you.

“Wait, who are you?” you ask.
“Oh I’m sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Johnny. I was at Julie’s party yesterday. Guess you could say I got a little tipsy and decided I shouldn’t go home in that condition, so I flopped out in the basement. I’m not the only person who did that apparently considering some of Julie’s other guests are still here as well.”

You peer inside and see that Johnny is indeed speaking the truth. A couple of people are on the couch playing some sort of video game.

“So now that you know who I am, I have to ask who you are.” Johnny says.
“I’m Suzy and I’m Julie’s friend.” You say.
“I see, well come on in, I’m sure when Julie gets back she’ll be pleased to see you.”

You enter the house and the place is in a lot better condition than you would’ve thought for a party house. Johnny quickly closes the door and locks it. Causing you to immediately look back.

“You never can tell what weirdo will show up with unlocked doors and all, right?” he says.
“Indeed.” You say still getting an uneasy feeling about this guy.
“So, you’re one of Julie’s friends. Guess you’re a real party girl, just like she is huh?” Johnny remarks almost in an accusing fashion.
“Hardly. Are these all the people in the house?” you ask, pointing to the stoners playing video games and completely ignoring you and Johnny.
“Yeah, I mean there were some other people here earlier, but these lot are all that’s left, beside myself. Julie’s pretty cool about letting people just crash here even if she’s not around.”

With Johnny creepily hovering near you and the stoners babbling about inane shit, you already realize that this is not going to work for you.

“Alright, everyone get out.” You say, but the only one who even hears you is Johnny.
“What?” Johnny asks.
“Look I hate to be rude, and you probably didn’t know this, but I’m moving in here. Now when Julie is here, she can have all her little drug addled party friends over as much as she likes, I mean its her house after all. But I’m not going to put up with them while she isn’t here! So I want everyone out, you all can come back later when she’s here. Whenever that is.”

Johnny’s still the only one who is even paying attention and his facial expression on your stance hasn’t changed.

“But if it’s Julie’s house doesn’t she have final say in what goes?” Johnny asks.
“Yeah, well when I see Julie, I’m going to have a little discussion with her about our new living arrangements.” You remark.

Once again Johnny just stares at you, it almost feels like he’s staring through you. It makes you uncomfortable to say the least.

“All right. You’ve got a point. I wouldn’t want a bunch of strangers just wandering around in my home either. I’ll get out of your hair, as for these guys, I can get ‘em to go.” Johnny says and then suddenly shouts at the stoners that everyone has to get out of the house and starts ripping controllers out of their hands.

“Hey!”
“Not cool dude!”
“You dick!”
“Sorry guys, but as the old saying goes, you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. Come on, let’s move it.” Johnny says and eventually the stoners grudgingly shuffle off to leave. Johnny follows behind them.

“When you see Julie, tell her it was an excellent party last night.” Johnny says and flashes a brief smile, which comes off more creepy than friendly. You don’t even reply, you just shut the door and lock it, glad to be rid of everyone.

Remembering that your sister said that if you did live here, you’d be sleeping in Julie’s dad’s old office. You explore that room first. When you get there it looks pretty much like the same office you remember being in a few times when you played over here. It’s definitely convenient that it has a small private bathroom leading from it as well as a couch that apparently folds out into a bed.

After assessing your possible new digs, you decide to go retrieve your bags from the car. You unpack your bags and haul them into the house and head on into your new room.

After getting a little bit settled, you figure since you’re all alone in the house, you might as well do something that usually puts you in a better mood. (and you sure could use it)

While you’re in the middle of it, you suddenly think you hear something. You call out thinking that maybe Julie is finally home, but when you get no reply, you just check to make sure the door to your room is locked. If Julie does come home, you don’t want her suddenly walking in on you.

After getting back in the mood and taking care of your needs you wash up a bit and return to your usual routine of…well doing nothing at all.

Hours pass and eventually you start to get hungry so you head to the kitchen in the hopes of finding food. You manage to find a few bags of junk food and some unopened drink in the fridge. Once again while you’re doing this, you swear you think you hear noise. You call out again to see if anyone is here, but there is no answer.

Given that it’s now nighttime you’re a little on edge. You know its probably just the house making creaking sounds, but with all the bullshit that’s been going on out in the streets lately you’re just a little paranoid.

Just as you’re heading back to your room, the front door suddenly opens! It’s Donna and some other young woman who looks a bit on the trashy side.

“Shit! You scared me.” You say.
“Why didn’t you pick up your phone? I tried calling you before I got over here.” Donna asks.
“I…I guess I had it on vibrate and didn’t hear it.” You say.
“Hm. Well I see this place is practically a tomb. I take it Julie isn’t home?”
“Nope, I haven’t heard from her either.”
“That’s really odd…”

Suddenly the trashy young woman speaks up.

“Hey Donna are we picking your shit up or what? You know how fucked up it is out there right now and I’d like to get home before it gets worse.”
“Oh yeah, better get to it. Suzy, this is my friend Tina.” Donna says and heads upstairs.

“Hello.” You say to Tina, but she just grunts at you and heads back outside to her car.

Remembering that Donna wanted you to help her move some of the stuff, you head upstairs to her room.

“Your friend Tina isn’t very friendly.” You ask.
“Yeah, well if you were a horny guy with a hundred dollar bill, she’d be really friendly towards you. Anyway, she’s always been cool with me ever since I’ve known her, plus she helped me get the current job I have.” Donna says as she packs away items.
“You need anything for me to carry down?”
“Yeah, but not yet. Really I’m thinking I’ll get most of this stuff later when I have a day off. Right now I just want to get the hell out of this town, it’s getting nuts out there!”
“Yeah, it was pretty chaotic out there earlier on my drive here. So how was your first day?”
“Not bad. As strange as it may seem, it actually was calmer in the club than it was outside. Though having bouncers helps in that area I suppose. Still a couple of fights did break out.”
“Shit. You okay? Are you sure the job is safe?”
“Oh I’m safe. Like I said, there’s good protection there. Honestly I’m more concerned with the drive TO the club, but I imagine whatever is going on will die down eventually.”
“Hope so.”

Donna finishes packing a bag and starts to pack a new one and you stand there silent until you hear a noise from downstairs causing you to jump a bit.

“Are you okay?” Donna asks.
“Yeah, what the hell’s that noise?” you ask, briefly stepping out of Donna’s room to look over into the living room.
“Probably Tina.”
“No, she’s not down there and besides she went back to wait in the car.”
“Well maybe she wandered back in briefly…you seem a little stressed.”
“I dunno. The shit’s that’s been going on in town and I guess being alone in the house at night has got me a little jumpy. Sort of concerned that Julie hasn’t come back either.”
“Mmm, well that IS odd. I tried calling her again earlier too with no luck. Have you thought anymore about coming to live with me? I told you it would be fine and I know you think the trailer park isn’t safe environment, is this town really any safer right now?”
> You go with Donna
While you’re still not entirely sure about the trailer park, you have to admit the since you’ve been here in the house you’ve felt a little nervous at times. Almost like you feel someone is watching you. Silly of course, but maybe leaving town is a good idea if it’s getting as chaotic as it has been.

You just hope you’re making the right decision.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll come with you.” You say.
“You will? Great! Seriously, things will be better between us. I’m still really sorry about yesterday Suzy, here.” Donna says and hands you a bunch of money.
“What’s this?”
“It’s some of what I made today. Oh don’t worry, I still got a lot. I’m telling you with the money I’m making, we might even be able to find some place better to live in a few months! Okay, well I think I’m all packed, go grab your stuff and meet me in Tina’s car. Oh wait, I saw Peter’s car out there. Are you going to follow us in that instead?”
“I suppose so, it will probably be less cramped.” You say and head downstairs to your room while Donna follows and heads out the door.

It doesn’t really take you long to throw your stuff in your bags since you didn’t really unpack that much. Just as you’re loaded up, you once again feel like you’re being watched. You spin around and see nothing.

“You’re giving yourself the creeps Suzy. Nobody’s here.” You mumble.

Just as you are exiting your room, it’s a minor miracle that Donna comes back in through the front door.

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?” you hear her scream from the living room. This causes you to pause just long enough that the assailant who was going to ambush you when you left your room losses his advantage.

However, he’s still intent on killing you though and nearly succeeds in grabbing you, but you manage to back away in time.

As you back away you get a good look at him now and he’s not unfamiliar to you. It’s Johnny, but this time his face displays an utter hatred towards you.

“Fucking whore! You think you could get away? I heard what you did in here earlier! I got something I can shove up in there to make you feel like you’ve never felt before and never will again!” Johnny screams and swing his knife at you.

You continue to back away, but there isn’t much room so you go around the desk for temporary relief, but even if you make it into the bathroom and lock the door you’ll just be trapped in there.

You’re so busy trying to survive, you completely forget that Donna is still in the house, but you soon remember when she runs in the room and clobbers Johnny in the back of the head with a small lamp.

“Fuck…shit…” Johnny says crumpling to the floor. He’s not dead, but Donna’s too busy calling to you to run to finish him off.

“Suzy! Come on! Get out of there!” Donna shouts and you waste no time in doing so.

Just as Johnny struggles to get back up, Donna throws the lamp at his head and follows you.

In all the excitement you forgot if you have Peter’s keys, but Donna just shouts at you to get into Tina’s car as you exit the house.

As you both pile into the car, Tina is more than a little surprised.

“What the fuck? Why are you two…”
“Just drive! Drive! Drive!” Donna shouts.

You’re squashed a bit in the backseat with all the bags and panting heavily, but you’re glad you got out of there. Thought you’re understandably still shaken up.

“We need to tell the cops!” you shout.
“Tell them what? Have you seen this town Suzy? You think we’re going to get any help? Shit, I probably still got a warrant out on me!” Donna says.

Meanwhile Tina is getting annoyed about being out of the loop.

“Will one of you bitches tell me what the fuck is going on?! I mean this is my car and I’d like to know if we’re planning on getting shot at!” Tina snaps.
“We’re fine. Well not fine, but nobody’s shooting at anyone. Some nut case with a knife was in the house and tried to kill my sister.” Donna replies.
“And you didn’t kill him?”
“No, I mean maybe. Shit, I dunno. I smacked him in the head twice with a lamp, but I don’t think I killed him.” Donna says.
“(Sigh) You should’ve finished him off. I would have.” Tina says.
“Tina, I’m not in the mood right now okay?!” Donna shouts.
“Fine. Fine. I’m just saying you better watch yourself in the future. Anyway, I need to focus on getting us through this bullshit going on in town, because we could still be getting shot at.”

The rest of the drive is in relative silence, broken up periodically by Tina swearing at the road situation and your sister asking if you’re okay since you’re so quiet.

Your quietness is due to still being shaken up by what just occurred and also because you just don’t have anything to say at the moment and are just hoping you get to where you have to get to in peace and in one piece.

After a long drive, you eventually reach the trailer park. You look out the window at the various rundown trailers in the darkness and think “So this is what my life has come to.”

Finally you stop at one towards the further end of the park close to undeveloped land and just regular wilderness. One thing you sort of were expecting was the drunken revelry of several hillbillies, and while you did see a few sitting around with some bottles in hand, it’s actually pretty quiet.

“This is your place right Donna?” Tina asks.
“Yeah, thanks Tina.”
“Hm, well just be ready to go in the afternoon tomorrow. I’m not waiting around for you.” Tina replies.

As the pair of you get out and unload your bags from the car, Tina studies you a bit.

“Y’know blondie, you’re not bad lookin’. If you ever loosen up a bit, you could easily get a job at Kitty City too. I think the school girl look would work for ya pretty well. You kinda got that innocent look.”
“Yeah I don’t think so.” You say.
“Hm, suit yerself. I’m just tryin’ to help YOU out. Whatever.” Tina remarks and backs the car up and swings it around to head back to her own trailer.

“I still don’t like her.” You say.
“Heh, well I’m not surprised. Come on, let’s get inside. I’ll give you the grand tour.”

Naturally being a trailer, the “grand tour” doesn’t take long. Donna tried to make the place sound better than it is, but it’s better than you thought it would be, so it’s not awful. She points out the couch which will have to do for your sleeping accommodations.

“Well Suzy, I know this is kind of a weird way to end the night given all that went down, but I’m really tired and I need to get some sleep, but before I do, did you need to talk about what happened?” Donna says.
“Probably, but what good would it really do? I mean I’m starting to wonder if I’m a magnet for serial killers at this point. Uncle Ed, my ex, this asshole we just barely got away from…Oh shit! Julie!” you suddenly say thinking about the grim implications of what might’ve happened to her.

Donna’s face drops a bit too.

“Fuck. You said you haven’t been able to get a hold of her at all?” Donna asks.
“No. Shit, that sick fuck probably killed her!” you exclaim.
“Now we don’t know for certain. She could be…”
“I KNOW for certain. That creepy fucker told me a story involving her leaving the house when I met him earlier today. He probably lied and actually killed her. Oh fuck this is bad. I mean I know I grew apart from Julie…but goddamn it…” you say getting a little teary eyed.

Donna tries to console you, but she’s starting to get upset too. Really you haven’t seen her get sad for quite some time. Your sadness over the very likely loss of your friend is almost like a bonding experience. In between the tears you thank Donna for saving your life.

“(Sniffle) Hey, you might’ve saved mine had you not called me to move out in the first place. I mean without you, I might’ve been very partying with that sicko and he could’ve killed me as well as Julie. (deep breath) Okay, tomorrow you come with me. I’ll try to convince Tina to drop you off at the police station. Hopefully you can make a report or something and we can at least get those corrupt fucks to look into it. Assuming things have settled down in town that is.”
“Things have been really fucked up lately.”
“Yeah, I dunno Suzy. I don’t place much stock in end times bullshit, but I guess those Ground Zero commercials they’re constantly blasting on the radio is starting to make me think something big is going to go down, though maybe it is already.”
“Seems like it with the way my luck is going.” You say.
“Hey, don’t worry sis. We’re going to get through this, no matter what comes our way. You and me. This is a brand new start for us, remember?”

This uncommon optimism does make you smile a bit at the fact you don’t have to deal with all this yourself.

“Okay, Donna. (Yawn) I guess I better get some sleep. It’ll be a big day if I’m to make a report tomorrow. Thanks again for saving me, I’m never going to forget it.”
“Hey, like I said, you probably saved mine as well. Good night Suzy.”
“Night Donna.”

Donna heads off to her bed and you eventually fall asleep on the couch.
> Next day…
WEDNESDAY

“…act now and spend your life in the comfort of…”

“Oh shut the hell up…I already know the world is going to hell in a hand basket.” You hear Donna say while she turns off the TV as you groggily wake up from the couch.

“What time is it?” you ask.
“It’s past noon that’s for sure. Still a few hours to go before we have to get ready to leave.”
“Oh. How long you been awake?”
“Hm, not long. The shower’s all yours though, I’ve already used it.”

You sit up still getting used to your new surroundings

“Hm, you were right, it really isn’t what I thought it was going to be. I was expecting to hear the sounds of drunken hillbillies arguing and shooting off guns when I woke up. It’s actually pretty quiet.” You say gathering so clean clothes.
“Heh, well I can’t say that probably won’t happen around the holidays, but like I said, I think you’ll find that even the trashiest of people aren’t acting like stereotypes all the time.” Donna replies.

You nod and head off to take a shower. While you wash up, you try to mentally prepare yourself for your trip to the police station today. Part of that involves relaxing yourself and relieving yourself of tension in the usual way that hasn’t failed you yet…

A few minutes later…

“SUZY! SUZY! GET DRESSED WE GOT A FUCKING SITUATION OUT HERE!” you suddenly hear Donna say as she beats on the bathroom door.

As startling as that is, what you hear next is even more so due to a loud bullhorn.

“THIS IS THE NATIONAL GUARD. THIS AREA IS NOW UNDER MARTIAL LAW! ALL INHABITANTS WILL EXIT THEIR TRAILERS AND AMASS IN THE CENTER FOR OBSERVATION! ANYONE ATTEMPTING TO RUN OR RESISTING WILL BE SHOT!”

So much for putting your mind at ease.

“Alright! Alright! I hear what’s going on! I’m getting out!” you shout.
“Hurry!” Donna says.

You stop your shower, grab your clean clothes and start getting dressed as quickly as possible.

Tina is looking out one of the windows when you exit the bathroom.

“There are a couple of military trucks with a bunch of guardsmen out there. I don’t know what’s going on, but this is really bad. Shit. This has gotta have something to do with what’s been going on in town.” Donna says.
“They want us to go out there too.” You say not being enthusiastic about that idea.
“Yeah, fuck that. It’s probably just so they can kill us easier if we’re all huddled up in a group or worse, maybe they want to round us up in those trucks for some sinister purpose.”

Odd that Donna always thought your older brother was a kook for talking like that on regular basis, but she sounds more like him than ever right now. To be fair though, this is all pretty strange and you’re not exactly trusting of the situation yourself.

“Well what are other people doing?”
“Some are coming out and some are staying in. In fact more are staying in than coming out, but that’s hardly surprising. The folks around here aren’t exactly fond of the government.”

“EVERYONE OUT OF THEIR TRAILERS NOW! THIS IS NOT A CHOICE, IT’S A FUCKING ORDER!”

You and Donna look at each other.

“This isn’t going to end well. Maybe we should run.” Donna suggests and you nearly laugh.
“Yeah, because the plan to run worked SO well for me last time!” you say.
“Okay this is different, we really would be running off together. Come on, do you really think those soldiers out there are any better than those cops that pulled us over? In fact they sound worse!”
“Well you got a point there, (sigh) okay so what’s the plan? We just step out the trailer and run? They already said they’re going to open fire on anyone who does that.” You say.
“Yeah, but we’re lucky since we have a trailer at the end of the park. We could probably make a run for it and hide in the wilderness behind the park.”
“That simple huh? How long are we supposed to hide out there? I don’t know how to survive in the wild and unless you been secretly reading up such things, I don’t think you do either.”
“Well I don’t fucking know! I’m just trying to come up with suggestions here! Fuck Suzy, I’m trying to help YOU out as usual.”
“Thanks. Thanks for that Donna. Real helpful right now.”

“EVERYONE EXIT THEIR TRAILERS RIGHT FUCKING NOW! THIS IS YOUR LAST FUCKING WARNING OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE AND THESE RUN DOWN PIECES OF SHIT WILL BE YOUR GODDAMN COFFINS!”

You look out the window briefly and see the few people that have exited their trailers are being shoved roughly in the center of the park. Some of the guardsmen stand nearby pointing their rifles at them, but nothing more yet.

A few more of the guardsmen are starting to spread out and move about the park. It looks like they’re preparing for combat.

And then suddenly you see one of the locals kick their door open and yell something at the top of their lungs while blasting one of the soldiers with a shotgun before getting riddled with bullets.

Then all hell breaks loose.

“Get down!” you shout and you and Donna are both getting as low as you can on the floor. Gunfire, shouting and screaming is all you can hear and you’re praying that a stray doesn’t go through the wall and hit you.

Donna apparently has the same idea.

“Suzy, we gotta get the fuck outta here!”
“Donna we go out that front door and we risk an even bigger chance of getting our asses shot off! We need to just stay low and behind as much shit as possible! Maybe your bedroom or the shower in the bathroom would be…”

A couple of bullets go through the windows overhead and small shards of glass sprinkle to the floor.

“That’s it, I’m not fucking staying here!” Donna yells and starts to crawl to the door of the trailer.
> You run with her
While it didn’t work out the first time, there really isn’t any reason to not hesitate to run now. The soldiers are obviously out of control and it’s possible they’ll just line you up and start shooting you. You stand up from your crouching position and run over to the trailer door.

“Suzy, what the hell, keep the fuck down! They’re still firing out there!” Donna exclaims as you step over her.
“Donna, you’re the one who said you wanted to get out of here quickly, well we can’t waste time! Now get up and let’s go!” you shout and grab the door handle.

You open the door, which to your surprise reveals a soldier who was just about to open the door. Startling the soldier, he loses balance backwards a bit, but he doesn’t lose his trained instinct to defend himself unfortunately for you.

The guardsman fires and you take several bullets to your body. You’re dead before you even hit the floor of the trailer as your sister screams at this sight.


WEDNESDAY

“…act now and spend your life in the comfort of…”

“Oh shut the hell up…I already know the world is going to hell in a hand basket.” You hear Donna say while she turns off the TV as you groggily wake up from the couch.

“What time is it?” you ask.
“It’s past noon that’s for sure. Still a few hours to go before we have to get ready to leave.”
“Oh. How long you been awake?”
“Hm, not long. The shower’s all yours though, I’ve already used it.”

You sit up still getting used to your new surroundings

“Hm, you were right, it really isn’t what I thought it was going to be. I was expecting to hear the sounds of drunken hillbillies arguing and shooting off guns when I woke up. It’s actually pretty quiet.” You say gathering so clean clothes.
“Heh, well I can’t say that probably won’t happen around the holidays, but like I said, I think you’ll find that even the trashiest of people aren’t acting like stereotypes all the time.” Donna replies.

You nod and head off to take a shower. While you wash up, you try to mentally prepare yourself for your trip to the police station today. Part of that involves relaxing yourself and relieving yourself of tension in the usual way that hasn’t failed you yet…

A few minutes later…

“SUZY! SUZY! GET DRESSED WE GOT A FUCKING SITUATION OUT HERE!” you suddenly hear Donna say as she beats on the bathroom door.

As startling as that is, what you hear next is even more so due to a loud bullhorn.

“THIS IS THE NATIONAL GUARD. THIS AREA IS NOW UNDER MARTIAL LAW! ALL INHABITANTS WILL EXIT THEIR TRAILERS AND AMASS IN THE CENTER FOR OBSERVATION! ANYONE ATTEMPTING TO RUN OR RESISTING WILL BE SHOT!”

So much for putting your mind at ease.

“Alright! Alright! I hear what’s going on! I’m getting out!” you shout.
“Hurry!” Donna says.

You stop your shower, grab your clean clothes and start getting dressed as quickly as possible.

Tina is looking out one of the windows when you exit the bathroom.

“There are a couple of military trucks with a bunch of guardsmen out there. I don’t know what’s going on, but this is really bad. Shit. This has gotta have something to do with what’s been going on in town.” Donna says.
“They want us to go out there too.” You say not being enthusiastic about that idea.
“Yeah, fuck that. It’s probably just so they can kill us easier if we’re all huddled up in a group or worse, maybe they want to round us up in those trucks for some sinister purpose.”

Odd that Donna always thought your older brother was a kook for talking like that on regular basis, but she sounds more like him than ever right now. To be fair though, this is all pretty strange and you’re not exactly trusting of the situation yourself.

“Well what are other people doing?”
“Some are coming out and some are staying in. In fact more are staying in than coming out, but that’s hardly surprising. The folks around here aren’t exactly fond of the government.”

“EVERYONE OUT OF THEIR TRAILERS NOW! THIS IS NOT A CHOICE, IT’S A FUCKING ORDER!”

You and Donna look at each other.

“This isn’t going to end well. Maybe we should run.” Donna suggests and you nearly laugh.
“Yeah, because the plan to run worked SO well for me last time!” you say.
“Okay this is different, we really would be running off together. Come on, do you really think those soldiers out there are any better than those cops that pulled us over? In fact they sound worse!”
“Well you got a point there, (sigh) okay so what’s the plan? We just step out the trailer and run? They already said they’re going to open fire on anyone who does that.” You say.
“Yeah, but we’re lucky since we have a trailer at the end of the park. We could probably make a run for it and hide in the wilderness behind the park.”
“That simple huh? How long are we supposed to hide out there? I don’t know how to survive in the wild and unless you been secretly reading up such things, I don’t think you do either.”
“Well I don’t fucking know! I’m just trying to come up with suggestions here! Fuck Suzy, I’m trying to help YOU out as usual.”
“Thanks. Thanks for that Donna. Real helpful right now.”

“EVERYONE EXIT THEIR TRAILERS RIGHT FUCKING NOW! THIS IS YOUR LAST FUCKING WARNING OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE AND THESE RUN DOWN PIECES OF SHIT WILL BE YOUR GODDAMN COFFINS!”

You look out the window briefly and see the few people that have exited their trailers are being shoved roughly in the center of the park. Some of the guardsmen stand nearby pointing their rifles at them, but nothing more yet.

A few more of the guardsmen are starting to spread out and move about the park. It looks like they’re preparing for combat.

And then suddenly you see one of the locals kick their door open and yell something at the top of their lungs while blasting one of the soldiers with a shotgun before getting riddled with bullets.

Then all hell breaks loose.

“Get down!” you shout and you and Donna are both getting as low as you can on the floor. Gunfire, shouting and screaming is all you can hear and you’re praying that a stray doesn’t go through the wall and hit you.

Donna apparently has the same idea.

“Suzy, we gotta get the fuck outta here!”
“Donna we go out that front door and we risk an even bigger chance of getting our asses shot off! We need to just stay low and behind as much shit as possible! Maybe your bedroom or the shower in the bathroom would be…”

A couple of bullets go through the windows overhead and small shards of glass sprinkle to the floor.

“That’s it, I’m not fucking staying here!” Donna yells and starts to crawl to the door of the trailer.
> You stay in the trailer
Running or rather planning to run didn’t work before so you’re not even going to entertain the idea now.

“Donna, get the fuck back here! You might be about to outrun cops, but you can’t outrun a bullet!” you shout crawling backwards towards the bathroom.
“Suzy, you need to stop being so scared all the damn time! NOT running before is why you had to suffer through what you did last time! If you’re smart, you’ll come with me!”
“Donna, I’m telling you, it’s going to be bad if you go out there!”
“It’s gonna be bad if we stay…AAAH!”

You’re already inside the bathroom when you hear Donna scream, at first you think she got shot, but it’s something equally as bad.

The moment she was opening the front door, so was a soldier, trying to look for respite from the shooting. You peak around the corner and see him barge in and pick Donna up by the hair.

“Get up! Get up you fucking trailer bitch!” you hear the soldier shout.

Donna whimpers and begs to be let go. You think you hear a slap followed by another. You slink back into bathroom as panic wells up inside you.

“Fucking trash, you got a weapon on ya? Where the fuck is your boyfriend? He in the back waiting to ambush me? Well fuck that! Come on out you goddamn redneck! Got your bitch here or is it also your sister? Fuckin’ inbreds!”

You hear Donna continue to plead and exclaim she lives alone and that she has no weapons of any kind. The guardsmen doesn’t sound completely convinced and you hear him pushing Donna and exclaiming for her to head towards the bedroom swearing the whole time about his shitty assignment, you know its only a matter of time before he discovers that you’re here.

You hastily look around the bathroom, but there isn’t much here in the way of weapons except a can of your sister’s hairspray. Maybe you can blind him, though you’d need to time it just right.

Taking a deep breath, you get near the entryway of the door prepare the can…

Your sister passes by and sees you out the corner of her eye, but makes no indication that she’s seen you.

“Just keep going. If there really is nobody in the bedroom, then we’re just going to hide out in the back for a while and then…ARGH! SHIT!” the soldier exclaims as you unload the hairspray in his eyes as he starts to pass the bathroom entrance.

Fortunately he drops his rifle in the process of his sudden blindness, which you quickly snatch up. Donna is still scrambling to get up and get out of the way, meanwhile the blind soldier is backing up trying to fish his pistol out of his holster.

“Fucking…shit…I’m gonna kill all of you inbred trash! I’m…”

You don’t wait around for him to possibly carry out his threats; you don’t think about it, you just shoot. The rifle kicks a bit and you hurt yourself in the process, but your assailant with several new holes in him is in even worse condition. He drops his pistol and slumps backwards in a bloody heap.

For a moment you just stand there in disbelief on what you’ve done. You just killed a man. Even if it was life and death, you still killed someone.

“Suzy! Get down, they’re still shooting out there!” Donna shouts from the bedroom entrance.

You get down on the floor still clutching on to your killing tool and crawl to the bedroom. You feel a bit weird, but not sick.

You and your sister hide behind her bed, huddled close to each other as the shooting and general mayhem out there continues for what seems like a very long time, but in reality it’s only about fifteen-twenty minutes.

As the gunshots die down, you can hear the victory hooting and hollering outside which is then followed by more gunshots probably fired in victory.

For a moment you and your sister stay down for a little while longer, but eventually the pair of you get up. You just sit on the edge of the bed trying to wrap your head around everything that just happened.

Donna on the other hand peeks out one of the windows.

“Well, I guess our side won.” Donna says.
“Not sure if that’s going to be a good thing in the long run.” You say.

Donna doesn’t pay much attention to your statement, but instead heads to the main room of the trailer. After a few moments, you gather your strength and follow her.

She looks at the dead soldier on the floor and you do as well.

“Well, I guess it’s true what they say, you never know if you can kill someone or not until you have to.” Donna remarks.
“Or want to.” You add.
“Well anyway I’m glad you did. Shit, that was fucking intense. The weird thing is how well worked together in the situation I mean I lured him to the back and you ambushed him.”
“Yeah, well I suppose we already had several run-throughs of dealing with hostile assholes this week. We were bound to get it right eventually.” You remark.
“Heh, I suppose so…well no point in letting this asshole stink up the place, let’s drag him outside.”

Donna gets his legs and you get his upper body and drag the soldier out of the trailer. As you do so, you notice his rank is that of a high-ranking NCO. You wonder if he was the one in charge of this detachment.

When you get him outside, Tina is just walking up with a scruffy looking man wearing a cap and clothing that doesn’t look like its been washed in days. He carries a shotgun over his shoulder.

“Well fuck Donna. Did you actually kill one of those fuckers?” Tina asks.
“Not me, my sister did. This asshole barged into our trailer and Suzy shot his ass.”

Tina looks a little impressed.

“Is that so? Well maybe I misjudged you blondie. Maybe you’re not the innocent wallflower I thought you were.”
“I didn’t take any pleasure in it, if that’s what you’re implying.” You say defensively.

“Of course you didn’t. You saw a threat to your family and home and you took care of business. It’s what any right thinking American SHOULD do when the fucking government tries to impose its will on folks. They tried to do it here, well they didn’t fucking succeed. We showed them that, but I reckon there’s gonna be a lot more trouble comin’. Believe it.” The man suddenly says.
“Who are you?” you ask almost in an accusing tone.

Mel doesn’t really look offended, but Tina speaks up before he can.

“This is Mel, my…significant other.” Tina says.
“Significant other? What the fuck are we fucking faggots? Life partners and all that shit? Just say I’m your goddamn boyfriend. Shit, I’m practically your husband with as long as we’ve been together.”
“I hesitated to call you my boyfriend because I don’t know where we exactly stand right now and until you buy me a fucking ring and propose, you’re definitely NOT my husband!”
“Pftt, I told ya, I see no reason for a piece of paper handed out by some bean counter to tell me how I feel about ya, let alone some piece of jewelry. Besides, we fight all the fucking time and always get back together, so stop bein’ a fuckin’ drama queen.”

At this point Tina and Mel start to argue and not wishing to get in the middle of it, you and Donna start to walk back to your trailer. When you get inside Donna starts finding bags and begins putting away clothes.

“What are you doing?” you ask.
“What’s it look like? I’m packing up my shit and getting ready to get the hell outta here. It’s apparent that you were right again, about this place. It’s not safe here.” Donna says.
“At this point, I don’t think its too safe anywhere. At least the immediate threat here has been eliminated.” You say.

Donna stops packing.

“Wait a minute. Are you serious? This can’t be happening. I mean YOU of all people. Are you seriously considering staying here?”
“I don’t know. I mean would I like there to be a better option? Yes! But what options do we really have Donna? We don’t even have a fucking car to leave in and I doubt very seriously anyone is going to let us borrow a vehicle now. We’re going to be on foot, heading to god knows where. I mean WHERE are we going to go? Back to town? With all the bullshit going on there? Into that wilderness where we can slowly starve to death due to our lack of survival knowledge? Further down the road where we’ll run into who knows what? I mean everything seems so chaotic right now and I want at least a stable chance of survival. Your plan has always been to run and so far it hasn’t worked out very well either for me or you. Maybe we need to dig our heels in and tough it out if only for a bit.”

Donna sits down on the couch processing your words. She probably can’t believe you’re even thinking this way, and to be honest you can’t either. Maybe killing another human changed something within you and you’re not willing to just sit around and be a victim anymore. You’re going to DO something to improve your situation. Anything.

“Okay, I get what you’re saying. And yeah you’re right that it’s going to suck walking to wherever our unknown destination is going to be and we don’t know where we would go, but I’m just saying it HAS to be safer than staying here. I mean if we do stick around, what if the government sends another group of soldiers here? It’s going to look mighty suspicious that the last group they sent isn’t here and will probably be really bad for us. If we leave, we can at least distance ourselves from this mess. I dunno, I mean at this point I’ll stick with you no matter what you decide, I just think we oughta get the fuck outta here.” Donna advises.
> You leave the trailer park
It isn’t going to be pleasant to leave, but Donna does make a good point about the foolishness of sticking around here after the massacre of military personnel.

“Okay Donna, I guess maybe you’re right. I’ll pack and we’ll head out.”
“Well maybe it won’t be completely hopeless. Maybe some of the others here will be leaving too, we might be able to go with them or catch a ride for awhile at least.”
“Hm, I don’t hold out too much hope, but I’ll let you take care of that, just let me know when you’re ready to go, because I’m going to have to figure out what I need and can take with me without collapsing from exhaustion.”

While you struggle with what clothing you can do without and what items you’re going to need, Donna finishes packing and leaves the trailer to presumably go charm a ride from someone.

A half hour passes and Donna returns just as you’re finishing up packing and she doesn’t look in the best of spirits.

“I take it, it didn’t go well?” you ask.
“I can’t believe at least ONE of these rednecks isn’t so damn stupid to want to stay here! But no, everyone of these dumb fuckers are insisting on sticking around trying to make this place into a fortress or some shit.”
“Not one fell for your charms?” you ask.
“What are you getting at?”
“Well I figured you were offering something in return…”
““Offer?...Oh yuck! Suzy! Seriously? Do you think I’m just that much of a whore?!” Donna asks.
“Well I mean I know you’re free spirited enough not to give a shit about that sort of thing. I mean that IS how you got this trailer up front isn’t it?”
“Okay, first that was different. Second that was REALLY unpleasant! Anyway, looks like we’re walking. Even Tina wasn’t willing to help out.”
“Hardly surprising. So which direction are we walking?” you ask.
“What do you mean? There’s only one way to go. I mean you aren’t suggesting we head back to town do you?”
“Well the other direction will eventually lead to Security City and I can’t imagine it’ll be any better there.” You say.
“That’s still a very long way off Suzy, I mean maybe we can find refuge somewhere else first, like a truck stop or something.”
“I just hope we aren’t rounded up by passing military on the road. Oh well I guess we’ll find out. At least we got a couple weapons from that asshole who tried to kill us earlier.” You say.

And with those words, you and Donna leave the trailer, which was once to be your new home and make your way out of the park. Seems like ever since you left home, you’re doomed to not stay anywhere for very long. You hope this isn’t a sign of things to come.

As you leave, you see that Donna was right in that the park residents are indeed trying to barricade this place up by putting vehicles in strategic locations. You don’t see how such a plan can possibly stand up against a real attack by the military, but they’re determined not to be run off.

“So you’re leaving Donna?” Tina asks on your way out.
“Yeah, I don’t think this place is for me and my sister. You sure that you want to still stay here?”
“No point in doing so yet. Besides, Mel is actually getting everyone’s ass in gear to prepare this place for more potential trouble. It’s the most motivated I’ve seen him in…well since he first sweet talked me into spreading my legs for him and that was ages ago. Really I dunno why y’all are leaving. It’s only going to be worse out there, but suit yerselves. Good luck I guess.” Tina says and leaves the pair of you.

Leaving the trailer park behind, night has already begun to fall as you walk along side the road.

Ten minutes in and Donna breaks up the silence.

“The road is pretty deserted. There hasn’t been any traffic in either direction since we started walking.” Donna says.
“Hopefully it stays like that, seems like every time more people show up more problems crop up.” You answer.
“Yeah, I guess it does seem that way. Bet you’re wishing you were in the basement right now.”
“Got that right. No use wishing it was so though. Those carefree days are long gone now.”
“Heh, as are my own carefree days of partying everyday. A few days ago I was just starting to think that maybe I had been wasting my life and needed it to get back on track to do something productive. Now? Looks like I didn’t waste anything seeing as the world appears to be going to shit.” Donna adds.

You agree and the pair of you continue walking. The stars are a lot brighter without the streetlights of the town around. You look up at them on several occasions never really admiring the “heavens” before. You get the impression even Donna is starting to admire them. Really until this walk, you’ve never really realized just how rural of an area you lived in before.

Hours pass and both of you are tired, not just from the walking though, it was an “action packed” day earlier for the pair of you after all. In the far distance though you see the shape of what looks to be several structures.

“Hey Donna, looks like something is up ahead. It’s really dark, but I think those are tents or something.” You say.
“Yeah, wonder what that is.” Donna says.
“Maybe we should hang back until morning.” You say.
“Why?”
“Because who knows who the hell is over there. I mean maybe that’s a military encampment. We go walking in, and soldiers could suddenly surround us. Or worse, they see us stumbling in the darkness and shoot us on sight believing we’re intruders. Both of us are pretty tired anyway, I think it would be best if we approached this with clear eyes and in the daytime.” You say.
“Hm, okay you might be right about that. Where are we sleeping though?”
“Looks like the great outdoors. Come on let’s get off the side of the road. We don’t need someone running us over in our sleep.

You and Donna head off the road and deeper into wilderness, though not too much. You try to find a spot that seems “good” and then you realize you’re in the damn wilderness without even a sleeping bag, there is no where to sleep that’s going to be “good.”

“Well I guess here will do. Use your back pack as a pillow and try to get comfy.” You say laying down.
“Ugh, I can only imagine the things that are going to be crawling on me in the night.” Donna says.
“Yeah, things suck all over. Hey why are you getting so close?”
“You got both weapons! I’m not sleeping too far from you. Besides, it’s fucking cold out here. We’ll stay warmer if we sleep near each other. Did that with Julie once when her heating system was broken for a week.”
“Yeah, well you better not start cuddling or worse grinding on me.”
“Geez Suzy, that’s sick! You’re my sister for fuck’s sake.”
“Good, glad we understand each other.”

As you attempt to get as comfortable as possible Donna keeps moving so she’s partially touching you, despite the fact you’re trying to keep apart. Eventually you give up and just try to focus on sleeping.

“Suzy?” Donna says.
“What?” You answer.
“I’m glad we left and are seeing this through together.” Donna says in such a way that you haven’t heard her speak before. Almost like a little kid.

“Yeah, I’m glad we’re seeing this through together too.” You say.

And with those words, you drift off.
> Next day...
THURSDAY

“SUZY! WAKE UP! GET UP NOW!” you hear Donna scream followed by her pulling and shaking you.
“Wha…the fuck?!” you utter completely confused. You’re even more confused when Donna grabs the rifle near you and fires it, succeeding in smashing her shoulder due to being unprepared by the kick back and not holding it right in the first place. She cries out an obscenity and drops the rifle.

While you still aren’t completely sure of what’s going on, you do look in the direction that Donna was firing and see what she was firing at.

Several people are loping in your direction snarling and generally making unpleasant sounds. You don’t know who they are or what’s wrong with them, but you follow Donna’s lead and pull your pistol to fire at them.

You aren’t exactly the best shot in the world, but after a couple shots you clearly hit the closest one in the chest, who stops temporarily, but then recovers until you hit him again, at which point he falls. It doesn’t deter any of the others though and they just continue to run at you.

Meanwhile Donna gets off another shot, but misses wildly. Seeing their numbers and knowing you don’t have the skill or the ammo to deal with these obviously insane people, you tell Donna you and her need to run and you don’t need to do it twice.

You and Donna run towards the group of tents still in the distance. You still don’t know if it’s a military encampment or what, but the key thing is it’s in the opposite direction of those things chasing you.

You’re about half way towards your destination and your sister becomes a horror movie cliché by falling behind and then tripping and falling on her face.

“Suzy!” you hear her scream and you turn around to see several of those things almost on her.

You run back and shoot a couple of them, but by the time you grab her hand to help her up, one of them manages to grab her and bite her shoulder.

Donna screams pierce your ears and you blast the thing in the head splattering its blood on you and Donna. The two that you shot (but failed to obviously kill) at this point have recovered and are already attacking you and Donna.

You’re tackled to the ground and you just barely manage to keep the thing from biting you by putting your forearm against its throat as it desperately tries to bite your face off. You get a good look at the thing at this range, while its dirty, crazed and making the animalistic growling noises, it looks completely human. Rabies perhaps?

In any case you manage to get your pistol arm free of the thing’s grip and bring your weapon to its temple and blow its brains out. It slumps on top of you and you’re quick to get out from under it.

Meanwhile, Donna is on the ground again screaming for you to help her and her assailant chewing on her leg. You wonder helping Donna’s even an option at this point. Donna’s badly wounded and there are still several of those things coming at you, not counting the one currently munching on Donna’s leg.

You don’t know what these things are except they look like dirty rabid humans. And maybe that’s all they are, but if there’s anything you’ve learned from situations like this is those same clichéd horror movies is when someone is bitten…

Donna’s eyes widen as soon as she realizes that you’re aiming at her. You don’t give her time to do anything else before you pull the trigger.

Having done the grim task of putting your sister out of her misery, you run back towards the tents though you’re in a bit of a daze at this point.

The noise you and those things have caused, start bringing out the occupants of the tents, or at least whoever is using them. You see a few figures with rifles, possibly in uniforms. It’s apparent that they’ve caught sight of you and your pursuers and are yelling something at you, but again your brain has partially “shut down” after killing your sister so you’re stilling running towards them, ignoring the fact that they’re ready to open fire. It wouldn’t matter anyway, since it isn’t like you can run backwards with those things chasing you.

Bullets whiz in your direction missing you; at first maybe they AREN’T actually aiming at you and are aiming at the creatures chasing you. Maybe your luck is changing.

But then you catch one in the head. You don’t even feel it. You just drop like a sack. The military wasn’t taking any chances.