The World's Empire

Alexa uncorked the bottle of wine then wiped a tear from her cheek. It had been a long day at work. She worked in a cubicle from eight in the morning till four at night trying to get people to vote for the Republican Presidential Candidate Daniel Ringwald. Usually, it wasn’t all too bad. Today, everyone had their mood dampened by the freak snow storm that gave them ten inches of snow. It was heavy and wet. Alexa’s manager, Rhonda, was late for work because of the snow and had Alexa run around the office and the town doing errands that she said she didn’t have time for.

Theresa seemed to be the only person in the building who was in a good mood. She danced around the cubicles in her purple, knock-off Uggs showing everyone the hideous scarf she had knitted. It was rusty orange, baby blue, and hot pink. Alexa glared at the exuberant girl every time she came around her cubicle. Theresa had a smile that stretched across her face, and even more when she mentioned her boyfriend. She was happy.

When four o’clock came Alexa rushed to her car. She dropped her keys in the snow before she was able to unlock it. Her fingers were numb from digging in the snow as she drove to the grocery store. It was two days from Thanksgiving and she was going to make herself a good dinner. After spending eighty dollars she struggled through the parking lot with the shopping cart, trying to keep the cart from hitting the other cars. While she was digging in her purse for her keys the cart slid hard enough into her own car to set off the alarm. Embarrassed and shocked she piled her groceries into the car and drove home without stopping at the post office.

Alexa heaved a sigh as she parked in her driveway. She could feel the exhaustion from the day settle over her. With the three bags of groceries in her arms and her purse slung over her shoulder she trudged through the snow to her house. After juggling the groceries into different positions a couple times she managed to open the front door, but not without dropping a bag onto the landing. Alexa moved the bag further into the house so she could shut the door, then set the other ones down next to it. A bottle of wine rolled out of a bag and hit her foot. She picked it up and plopped herself on the couch.

“What an annoying day,” Alexa turned the TV on and hugged her legs to her body. She was too tired to get a glass so she took a gulp from the bottle. She looked up at a familiar face hanging on her wall. He was very handsome; dark hair, green eyes, a slight dimple in his right cheek, and a knee-weakening smile.

“…on Red Alert,” the urgent voice from the TV took Alexa from her dream world. It was the president. “A nation has declared war upon us. They do not belong to any country or land, but call themselves the World’s Empire. The U.S. army has been fighting the World’s Empire across seas, and now they have attacked several cities on the East Coast.”

At this there was a roar of questions from the audience and reporters. The president put up his hands to try and quiet down the crowd. Alexa stared at the screen in awe.

“Stay indoors as much as you can, and do not open the door unless you are positive that you know the person on the other side,” the President started up again. His tone was grave and he looked as scared as Alexa was starting to feel. “The World’s Empire is not made of one nation, nor made with one language. Keep yourself informed about what is going and stay safe.”

With this the President walked away from the podium and left people shouting more questions. The security guards were holding back the mass of people. Alexa drank more of her wine. It seemed impossible that war had claimed the U.S.

She looked up at the photograph on her wall. It had been taken just over six months ago, just before he had broken up with her and left to fight over seas. He was a marine. Alexa hoped that he was okay, and wished that he had never left her. She held the bottle to her lips and leaned her head back to take a long draught of the sweet wine. It only took seconds for her head to feel light.

A loud knock came to the door. Alexa sat on the couch and stared at the door like if she looked long enough she would be able to see through it. The knock came again, but there was no voice on the other side. The president had said to not open the door unless positive about who was on the other side. Alexa grabbed the blanket next to her and wrapped it around her. The knock came again. It was much louder this time and made Alexa’s heart jump. She took another long draught and lay down. The picture on the wall started to swim before her drunken eyes.

A loud crack split through Alexa’s head and then again and again. The door crashed to the ground showing a man stood in the doorway. Alexa screamed and jumped from the couch. She ran into the bathroom around the corner with the pursuer close behind her. After locking the door she grabbed the toilet plunger and jumped into the bathtub behind the shower curtain. There was no knock on the door this time.

Alexa held her breath. She thought she heard the door swing open but knew she had to be mistaken. She tightened her grip on the toilet plunger anyways and held it near her head like a baseball bat. The curtain was wrenched open. Alexa swung the plunger at the man and hit him in the face. She stumbled out of the bathtub and almost reached the door when the man grabbed her by the shirt and hauled her back.

“Let me go!” Alexa shouted and slapped the man in the face. The man bent down and grabbed Alexa by the legs. He carried her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes into the living room. Once he dropped her onto the couch he covered her mouth and spoke softly and firmly. Tears streaked down Alexa’s face. She tried to squirm out of the man’s grasp but he grabbed her wrists and spoke louder. Alexa tried to listen, but couldn’t understand. The wine was making everything fuzzy. She thought it was probably another language. This thought made her even more scared because it could be a person from the World’s Empire.

“Alexa!” the word bounced through her ear and around her brain through all of its different lobes before it settled in the right one. The man had said her name. How did he know her?

“Alexa, it’s me,” the man sounded as though he had repeated this several times. Alexa took a deep breath and blinked her eyes several times, trying to get rid of the tears clinging to her eyelashes. The man was rubbing her back and staring at her. “Alexa, it’s Jimmy.”

At the name Alexa froze. She hadn’t seen or heard from Jimmy since he broke up with her six months ago. Jimmy took his hand off her mouth and released his grip on her hands. Alexa stood up and punched him the chest.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Alexa shouted. She thought she was going to start crying but pushed her anger through instead. “I haven’t heard from you since you broke off not only our engagement, but our relationship completely! Now you break down my door and scare me to death!”

“Calm down, please,” Jimmy stood up and tried to take Alexa’s hands in his. She turned around and stared at the door that lay broken on the floor.

“That’s how you got into the bathroom,” Alexa said quietly. They had lived together in this house for almost a year before he left. Of course, he knew there was a master key to all the inside doors hidden above the bathroom door. The memories of their life together fled back to Alexa and tears slid silently down her cheeks. Jimmy touched her arm and she slumped to the floor.

“You broke my heart, Jimmy,” Alexa whispered. “I was just starting to be able to live my life feeling confident that you wouldn’t be sitting on the couch when I got home. And now you’re-” she pulled her legs to her chest and lay in the fetus position. Her heart didn’t want to beat in fear that it would shatter. The man who had damaged it so much was standing before her.

“Alexa, I’m sorry,” Jimmy sat beside Alexa and stroked her hair and back. “I didn’t know if I would ever come back. They said the possibility of us surviving more than two months was slim. I wanted you to fall in love with someone else and have a family. Alexa, I just wanted you to be happy when I didn’t come back.”

“But, you’re here,” it sounded like a question. Alexa didn’t know what was going on. She had a head ache from the wine and the crying.

“I came back to save you,” Jimmy pulled Alexa into a sitting position and let her head rest against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. “The war that has been broadcasting on the TV is ten times worse than they are letting on. We have to leave.”

“Oh, okay,” Alexa had closed her eyes when her head fell against Jimmy’s shoulder. Her emotions were against from her trying day and the past fifteen minutes. She vaguely felt the uncomfortable feeling that came with Jimmy’s kiss on her forehead. Somewhere inside her a voice was shouting that he shouldn’t have the right to touch her after he broke her heart. The news that they had to leave because of war didn’t reach her before she fell asleep.

It was early morning when Alexa woke up. Someone was bustling around her room and throwing her belongings into a back pack. The vents from last night came back to her and she smiled. Jimmy had come back. Her heart started hurting again as she remembered what he’d put her through and he hadn’t said he came because he loved her. He still wasn’t hers.

“What are you doing?” Alexa sat up and put a hand to her unusually heavy head. Jimmy rolled up a sweater and shoved it into the pack. She had just picked that up from the dry cleaners two days ago.

“I told you last night we’re leaving,” he answered simply and continues rummaging through her closet and dresser drawers.

“There is no we, Jimmy,” Alexa said flatly. She climbed out of bed and snatched the pants Jimmy was now rolling up. He was sitting on the bed when she returned from getting dressed in the bathroom.

“Alexa, I still love you,” a shiver ran up Alexa’s spine as he whispered this. “I never stopped loving you.”

“Maybe I stopped loving you,” Alexa grabbed a sweater and pulled it over her head. “Maybe I have a boyfriend. Maybe I am engaged again. Did you ever think of that before you broke into my life?”

“Do you?”

“Well, no,” Alexa murmured. “But, that doesn’t mean I am going back to you.”

“As long as you don’t have another man in your life,” Jimmy grabbed the pack and walked downstairs.

Alexa followed him, lusting after the body before her every step of the way. She loved the way his plain white t-shirt was tight on his pecs and arms, then loose enough to give the mere illusion of a toned core. The love she never stopped having for him made her happiness flow all around her. Though she did love him, she didn’t feel as though she knew him enough to like him anymore. A lot changes in six months. Jimmy was now sporting a tattoo on the back of his right shoulder. Alexa could only see the dark color of it coming through his shirt.

“Where di you put the matches and flashlights?” Jimmy opened and shut the drawers in the kithen. “They used to be right there.”

Alexa noted the sad tone in his voice. She hid a malicious smile of triumph and grabbed the asked for items from their new place in the living room.

“Why are they in there?”

“I have become addicted to candles, so I leave the matches in the drawer next to the couch. I thought the flashlight should stay with the matches,” Alexa grabbed some extra batteries and shoved them into the back pack.

The two packed non-perishable food and water. Jimmy was in charge of what was allowed to come and what was not. The whisky and wine was allowed, but the Cheez-its and chocolate were not. The extra batteries were allowed, but Alexa’s favorite pair of shoes were not.

“Jimmy, I want to bring it! I need to !” Alexa took the picture frame from Jimmy. He held her werist and plucked it from her strangled hand.

“You’re not taking it, Alexa,” Jimmy put it back on the shelf and truned to walk away like the matter was solved.

“Yes, I am!” Alexa grabbed the picture frame.

“I command you to leave it,” he stopped where he was. Alexa held the picture to her chest.

“You aren’t in charge of me, Jimmy.”

“Alexa, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it,” Jimmy looked sincerely sorry. Alexa unzipped a smaller zipper on the pack and slipped the picture frame in. When she looked up at him he was tight-mouthed, but didn’t object to her action.

It only took a half hour for them to finish packing. They both noticed the tension between them. Alexa noticed that Jimmy had patched up the door he had broken in the night before. She unconsciously glared at him. There was a scar reaching from his forefinger to his wrist. That hadn’t been there when he left.

The sun was just spreading its rays over the town. Alexa started loading her old Cherokee Jeep, looking around for the car that Jimmy would have used to get to her house.

“I took a taxi,” Jimmy answered Alexa’s confused expression.

“It’s a two hour drive. How much was the fare?”

“It didn’t matter,” he shut the back door and walked around to the driver’s seat. “It was the fastest way to get home.”

Alexa smiled when Jimmy said ‘home’. She sat in the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt, finally realizing that she had no idea where they were going. Or why, for that matter. There was a furrow between Jimmy’s eyebrows. He used to nibble his bottom lip when he was thinking or planning. Now he looked stern and was still as marble.

“Where are we going?” Alexa turned down the music as she spoke. “I never got around to asking you last night and this morning I was too irritated to.”

“Chicago,” Jimmy accelerated and merged onto the highway. He didn’t say anything more.

“Why are we going to Chicago?”

“To get away from Vermont.”

“How long are we going for?” Alexa looked out the window. She an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach and hoped it would go away at Jimmy’s answer. He looked at her and grabbed her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers.

“We’re not coming back, Alexa,” he spoke quietly. Alexa’s hand was limp in his. “I have been fighting these people overseas for the last six months, and it has been going on for a year before that. The World’s Bastards, or whatever they call themselves, have infiltrated every sect of our governments, and other parts of society as well. Their plan of attack has been in progress for several years, if not decades. It is going to become evident very soon to every person living in this country that the safety in the U.S. is gone.”

The sun was now shining down on Alexa, but she felt as though her blood had frozen and she was stuck in this moment of time. She thought about how she should have worked for Rhonda without complaining, how she should have told Theresa how great she did on her first scarf, how she shouldn’t have been so stressed about dropping her keys in the snow when Jimmy had been fighting killers and risking his life in India.

Sirens sounded behind us. Jimmy pushed down the gas and zipped in between cars. The cop car was following them, but not too closely. Another cop car merged onto the highway just ahead of them. He turned his sirens on and tried to push them into the guardrail. Alexa held tight to her seat and shouted for Jimmy to stop. He slowed down and let the cop car park behind him, then he hit the gas and cut in front of a car which swerved to avoid hitting him and ran into another car. There was a five car pileup with the two cop cars caught in the middle of it. Jimmy smiled and kept going.

“Why didn’t you just pull over?” Alexa’s heart was thundering in her chest with her pumping adrenaline.

“It would have taken too much time,” Jimmy turned on the music. “Besides, it doesn’t matter. I took your license plates off before we left. Even with a warrant they won’t be able to find us.”

Country music was the only thing that Jimmy would listen to. Alexa suffered through it, repeating to herself how much Jimmy went through in the past six months. It was midday when they entered New York, and Alexa tried hard not to cry when she saw the sign.

“Good bye Vermont. Good bye home,” a tear managed to squeeze out from her closed eyelids as she said good bye aloud. Jimmy rubbed her hand and whispered something sweet and soft. His voice was soothing to her.

“Jimmy, I’m hungry,” she mumbled. All she really wanted to eat was a big piece of chocolate cake with thick frosting on it.

“Soon,” he turned down the music.

“What does that mean?”

“It means we will eat soon,” as he spoke he turned into the off lane and entered the tiny town. “We have to make a stop first. When that is done we can eat somewhere.”

***********************************************************************************

The road was lined with broken down houses and dirty children playing in the gutters with boats from old newspapers. A little girl sat on the curb with a matted pony tail hanging down into a puddle. When the black Jeep stopped at the stop sign a block away she stood up and stared at it. It looked no older than a 2015, but was several years older than she was. The woman in the car stared at her with pity as she passed by.

The little girl watched the Jeep until it disappeared around the corner and ran the opposite way. Her house was built in the alley with a dozen pieces of scrap plywood. She pushed aside the blanket door and tip-toed passed the man sleeping on the floor with an empty bottle of whiskey in his massive fist. An old woman was dunking a flannel rag in a pot of water.

“Grandma,” the little girl whispered. The old woman touched the girl’s cheek and smiled at her excitement.

“What is it, honey?”

“A pretty car drove by,” she moved her hands in the air and described what the Jeep had looked like. Her grandma had taught her the alphabet, but she couldn’t read. She drew the letters of the name of the car in the dirt. Then she told her grandma what the people looked like, especially the lady.

“Where did they go?” the grandma was as excited as her granddaughter now.

“Over near Frank’s garage,” the little girl cocked her head to listen to the noise now coming from the other room. “They looked like the same kind of people that took Lisa to the city. They are Rescuers!”

“Who are Rescuers?” a deep voice erupted their conversation. The little girl scooted closer to her grandma and started helping wash the clothes.

“She just saw a new car, that’s all,” the grandma was looking down into the dirty water. The man stared at the little girl and then back at the grandma. He beckoned the girl to come forward and he grabbed the back of her neck.

“If you think anyone is going to come rescue,” at this point the drunkard emphasized his point by squeezing the little girl’s neck and making her scream as he laughed, “you’re so wrong. This little is going nowhere. And do you know why she is going nowhere?”

The grandma didn’t respond, but put her hands together as if she were praying. The man laughed and pushed the little girl forward.

“Nobody wants you. Not even your own God damned parents want you.”

Tears streamed down the little girl’s face as soon as the man walked away. She had crept around his sleeping form minutes earlier, making no sound at all, but she wasn’t quiet enough. The grandma hugged her tight. They both knew that something had awoken the man while he had been in a drunken stupor, and now they were going to have to suffer his anger until he passed out again. The grandma wiped the tears from her daughter’s face.

“Don’t believe Jack,” she wrapped her arms around her again. “I love you so much, little one.”

*******************************************************************************************

“Uh…J-Jim?” the mechanic stuttered when he saw them on his doorstep. “Wh-what are you um…what the hell are you doing here, man?”

Alexa stood a step behind Jimmy. She watched the mechanic’s face go from caramel to white, and from white to crimson. He looked petrified at seeing Jimmy.

“You owe me, Don,” Jimmy grabbed Alexa’s hand and pulled her into the house with him. Don was soon following them into the house, begging Jimmy that this wasn’t what he thought it was.

“Jimmy, what are we doing?” Alexa whispered urgently.

“Jimy, I can’t do it,” Don ran his hand through his balding hair and fidgeted before he spoke again. “It is not safe. Not for you and definitely not for me.”

“How would you know that?” Jimmy watched Don sit heavily in a rickety chair. Don spread his fingers across the table and looked helplessly up to Jimmy. Alexa thought he looked like a child asking for help to do a difficult homework problem.

“They took my finger Jim!” Don burst into tears as he showed Jimmy the round nub of his left ring finger. “You know that ring was special to me. I never did get to marry Kelly. She died two weeks before the wedding. But, I have worn that twenty dollar piece of jewelry since she gave it to me fifteen years ago.

“I was black mailed into helping them. It wasn’t really black mail. They said if I didn’t help them they would kill Kelly’s daughter. I always felt as though she were my own, and treated her that way too. You see? I had to help them Jim! Or they would kill Michelle!”

Jimmy patted his friend’s back and looked thoroughly confused. Alexa was standing in the corner of the little kitchen with a blank face. The harder she thought the more she was positive that she had never met or heard of the man that was no sobbing into his arms.

“Don,” Jimmy pulled out another chair and sat with his elbows on his knees. “Who are you talking about?”

“The World’s Empire,” Don’s voice shook with fear when he said it. “I have been helping them. They would steal someone’s car and I would have to paint it and make new license plates. I would have to make a new car. In the past month a couple of marines of come through asking for the same thing you are asking for. And I did it, Jim. I help my country when I can.

“They found out, of course. The World’s Empire did. One night I came home and I heard Michelle screaming in her room. I rushed in and she was tied to a chair. They pinned me to the ground, pulled my wrist behind my back and told me that I was too important to be killed, but a punishment was needed. I bit my lip until it bled when the cut my finger off. Michelle’s screams were filling through my head.

“Jim, I just don’t think I can do it. I’m sorry.”

Jimmy nodded and his face was emotionless. There was a pang of sadness in Alexa’s heart when she realized she could no longer see or sense what Jimmy was feeling. They used to be so in sync that she would have no doubt that he felt mad of frustrated or sad about a situation. Right now she had a feeling that he was like a computer, testing the pros and cons of anything he may say next or propose to do.

“I understand the position you’re in, Don,” Jimmy stood up now and leaned against the wall opposite Don. “Do you have a car?”

“Jim, if you take my car they will track you. Even if you take the license plate off you will have to find someone else to make alterations and they will catch you there,” Don was standing up now.

“I didn’t mean for me,” Jimmy answered. Don looked down then up at Jimmy with a face of shock. Jimmy nodded. His confidence flooded the room and flowed into Don, who returned the nod.

“Okay,” Don said. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

Alexa sat on a moth eaten couch that had permanent imprints in the seat of it from someone sitting in it for hours on end. She watched the two men work on her car in the closed garage. They had the music, but only loud enough to cover the noise of the machines they were using. Her stomach growled, but Jimmy didn’t hear her say so. He didn’t notice when she fell asleep across the broken arms of the chair.

***********************************************************************************************

“What is this?” the man shouting was holding a bottle of McCormick’s Vodka. The small amount left was sloshing dangerously up the sides of the glass as he staggered towards the little girl. She dashed to the door but was held up short.

“Ah!” the little girl screamed as the drunk pulled her to the ground by the back of her shirt. “Let me go, Jack!”

“What is this bag for, huh?” You planning on running away?” Jack slurred his words at the little girl. She curled herself into a ball on the dirt floor and tried to pretend that it was only a nightmare.

“Answer me!” Jack shouted at the little girl. He shoved her aside with his foot and left the shack. There was no one outside on the streets. The only life that could ever be seen was children with broken souls or rats searching for food. This little girl had a broken soul, and that was the only reason that Jack kept her around. Money could be made from the little girl when she grew old enough to work for the World’s Empire. He kept the grandma around because he didn’t want to have to deal with raising the child.

The last drop of vodka rolled down Jack’s tolerant throat. He swore and chucked the bottle into the gutter where it shattered. The World’s Empire paid greatly for information that would be of any use to them. Right now, Jack had information that would give him enough money to supply him with alcohol for a couple of weeks.

After living in this decrepit town for over thirty years, Jack knew how to work almost everything. He pushed his tongue into the corner of his mouth and looked over his shoulder. The telephone booth had been old when he was a child. Jack always thought it was a miracle that it still worked. When he was sure that there were no left over cops lurking around he put the ear piece to his ear, held down the number 0, and punched the bottom of the machine several times until there was a dial tone.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

“Terry’s Barbor Shop,” a man answered the phone.

“I need to talk to Mr. Bennett,” Jack leaned against the wall of the phone booth. He was starting to feel tired from all the alcohol he had drank.

“I’m sorry, but here is no Mr. Bennett here,” the man’s voice was firm. “Would you like to make an appointment?”

“I have information for Mr. Bennett about two Americans in this town,” Jack said urgently. “I…uh…I heard they may be Rescuers, or something like that.”

“Stay on the line, I will get Mr. Bennett right away,” the man answered. Jack sat on the concrete floor and held the phone to his face. He felt nauseous and wanted another drink of whisky.

“Hello, this is Mr. Bennett,” a thick accent came on the line. Jack got onto his knees with his excitement. He told Mr. Bennett about the Jeep that the little girl had seen and where she said they had gone. Mr. Bennett was very interested about the location of this car and the two people.

Jack fell onto all fours as Mr. Bennett spoke about the reward he will get for this news. Mr. Bennett knew where Jack lived and would make sure that a good sum of cash would be left in his place of residence for his help.

“Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Bennett,” Jack imagined the sum that he would soon see, and smiled as he thought of all the whisky he would be able to buy.

“No. Thank you, Jack,” Mr. Bennett said. The line went dead. Jack leaned forward and threw up in the corner of the telephone booth.

******************************************************************************

“Wake up,” Jimmy’s voice entered Alexa’s dream. “Alexa, wake up.”

“Where are we?” Alexa pushed herself up from the soft bed and looked around. The room was barely big enough for the twin bed. Jimmy was sitting on the bed with her, not having enough room to stand. She thought she had been stuffed in a closet.

“We’re still at Don’s,” he stroked her hair and scooted her into the corner so he could lay down next to her. “Man, this is a small bed.”

“Just like our first one, remember?”

“I could never forget that. We had to sleep on top of each other,” they both laughed at this. It ended in silence. Jimmy cleared his throat. “Don and I just finished altering the cars. We leave in an hour.”

Jimmy briefly told Alexa about the changes they made for her Jeep and Don’s Toyota Tacoma. They first made new license plates for the both of them; ones that were not registered to anyone, and they were Texas plates. Jimmy said this was so that they wouldn’t get pulled over for not having plates. There were two sets of extra plates in each vehicle. The tires of each car were switched, the Jeep was painted a deep blue, the Toyota was painted gold with a blue number seven on the right door, and the shapes of the vehicles were altered; the Jeep looked smaller than it used to and the Toyota had a longer bed with a taller cab.

“How is this going to work?” Alexa asked after Jimmy’s explanation. “If Don worked for the World’s Empire, then won’t they know what he can do with the vehicles? People will just be on the lookout for odd-looking vehicles.”

“Don never did that for them.”

“How did you know? You never asked?”

“He wouldn’t betray me. If this skill went public, then everyone would want it done. They could have their vehicles look like whatever they wanted,” Jimmy swung his legs out of the bed and stood up. “I was the one who perfected the trade. I taught Don how to do it.”

“What was that?” Alexa whipped her head over her shoulder and looked into the back seat. Her heart was racing with fear that something bad was going to happen to them before they even left the town.

Jimmy didn’t answer. He put his finger to his lips and turned on the music. Alexa kept looking into the backseat.

“It’s nothing,” Jimmy nodded to the road, “just one of the sounds an old vehicle makes.”

Alexa looked to the road where Jimmy was nodding. They had driven around in a circle and stopped back in the driveway. Don was still loading his truck. Michelle was sitting in the front seat holding a doll. Jimmy put his finger to his lips when Don opened his mouth in confusion. Don ran to the passenger door of his truck and whispered something to Michelle through the window. Alexa held her breath.

It was getting dark now. Jimmy pulled a pistol out from under his seat and stepped out of the Jeep. He left the door open and walked around to the back. Alexa felt the cool breeze and ducked her head to her knees in case there was danger. She hoped that’s what Don had told Michelle to do too.

Jimmy pulled the hammer back on his gun and opened the back door. His and Alexa’s bags were stuffed in the back with a blanket covering them. He poked the blanket in several spots with the point of his pistol. Don stood next to him with a shotgun and nodded. Jimmy pulled the blanket from the car.

“Mercy, please!” a scream came from the back. “Please! We thought you were Rescuers! Don’t hurt the girl!”

Alexa scrambled out of her seat and ran to where Jimmy and Don were standing with their loaded guns pointed at the same dirty girl she had seen on the sidewalk earlier that day, and an old woman that was crying hysterically. Don’s gun wavered in his hand before he rested it against his shoulder. Jimmy stared at him as if he were crazy.

“Don, put your gun up!” Jimmy commanded. “Lady, what are you doing in my Jeep. Stand up. Girl, you too.”

With one hand Jimmy patted down the grandma and with the other he held her at gunpoint. The little girl was shivering and crying. Her thin hand was waiting in the air for her grandmother to grab it again.

“Jimmy! Stop that right now!” Alexa shouted and tried pushing Jimmy’s gun arm down. He grabbed her with his free hand and spun her into a tight grip close to his chest with his gun on her temple.

The little girl screamed. Alexa tightened her lips and breathed out her nose. Jimmy let go and took a step back.

“What the hell are you doing? I have a gun!” Jimmy was astounded at what he had just done, and even more so by what Alexa had done.

“Look at them, Jimmy,” Alexa bent down and scooped the little girl in her arms. From reflex the grandma’s arms went with the little girl, but she settled to keep them crossed over her chest, as if it would keep her intact. “You don’t have to search this poor, old lady. And you most certainly do not have to search a child!”

“They could be a part of the World’s Empire, Alexa! You don’t know what happens in war!”

“And you don’t know what happens in life! Anymore,” Alexa hesitated as she spoke. She saw Jimmy’s face fall. “They thought we were Rescuers, Jimmy. They need us to help them.”

Jimmy looked at Don who had already lowered his gun again, then at the grandma who held her hands in prayer with her eyes closed, and ended on Alexa who was holding the little girl in her arms and rubbing her fingers. His eyes locked on the little girl’s deep brown eyes that were deeply shadowed. Her face was thin and looked faintly yellow and green in spots. He compared the width of her arms and knobby knees to the children he had seen sleeping in the streets of India.

“Fine. Fine,” Jimmy unloaded his pistol and put the bullets in his pocket. He gave the gun to the grandma and crossed his arms. “What the…erm…heck, were you doing in my car?”

Alexa smiled at what Jimmy had done. She barely stopped herself from laughing when he tried to edit his language. Don was smiling also.

“God praise you,” the grandma looked at the gun and then at Jimmy. The tears in her eyes showed Jimmy a part of life that he had been missing out on. “The little girl saw you this morning and told me you were Rescuers. The man we are living with is a horrible man.”

The grandma started crying hard again. She took the little girl’s hand and kissed it for several seconds. Alexa looked at Jimmy and knew she didn’t want to hear what was going to be said.

“He drinks every day. He uses all the money I make and uses it on booze,” the grandma wiped her nose on her sleeve. “Oh, excuse me. It is never her fault. She is always the one closest to him when he is in a bad mood.

“Darling, it is never your fault. Do you understand me?” the grandma lifted the hair from the girl’s face to see her eyes. The little girl nodded slowly.

“Please, get in the car,” Alexa was already carrying the little girl around the car. She buckled her into the car and wrapped her up in the blanket that they had hid under. “We’re taking you with us.”

The grandma climbed into the Jeep and buckled herself next to the little girl. She laid the girl’s head against her chest and attempted to untangle her hair with her fingers. Don was back in his truck and gave Jimmy a two finger salute before he drove off. Alexa opened her door and was held back by Jimmy.

“We can’t take them,” Jimmy’s eyes were cold and mean.

“But we are,” Alexa’s courage was quavering. She had never seen this look in the man she had had so much love for.

“No, we aren’t” he straightened his posture and looked down on Alexa. His six foot two inches was very intimidating to the five foot nothing woman.

“Have a heart, Jimmy,” Alexa challenged. Jimmy opened and closed his mouth. He didn’t say anything that could be considered a word. His frustration was billowing behind his eyes. Alexa could feel his grip on her arm tighten.

“Let go,” she tried to make her voice as cold as Jimmy’s was. His eyes widened and he let go.

“Oh, God, Alexa. I’m sorry,” Jimmy apologized and walked to his side of the car. He punched the side of the Jeep before he hopped in. “Please believe me. Alexa, I am sorry.”

Alexa looked at the sorrow coming from his eyes and patted his hand. She turned the radio back on and turned to see the little girl fast asleep in the grandma’s arms. Jimmy sped out of the town and onto the highway.

“Thank you,” Alexa patted Jimmy’s hand again and watched the road. The streetlights were passing as a blur of mixed colors. It was as dark as it was going to get; the best time to be running away from someone. Jimmy wove his fingers between Alexa’s and brought her hand to his lips.

They drove for several hours. Alexa drifted in and out of sleep, checking on their passengers each time she was conscious enough to do so. Jimmy had his eyes glued to the rear view mirror. Alexa would fall asleep wondering how they didn’t run off the road. Other than the static of the radio system Jimmy had installed earlier that day, there was no noise.

The Jeep slowed to a stop at a small motel, and the Toyota next to it. The little girl in the backseat popped her head up from her grandma’s lap and looked out the window. She had never been out of her town, and this one-story building was more grand a building than she had ever seen.

“Alexa,” Jimmy shook Alexa’s shoulder gently. “Alexa, let’s go.”

Alexa looked at the motel and groaned. It was not her idea of a nice place to stay. She helped Jimmy carry the bags inside and settled the little girl and grandmother inside the room. When Don and Michelle came into the room she looked at the one bed and shook her head.

“How is this going to work?” Alexa asked Jimmy who dropped the last bag onto the bed.

“How is what going to work?”

“There is one bed and six of us,” she waved her hand around the room in case he didn’t see the other bodies. “It’s like a broom closet?”

“We have two rooms, Alexa,” Jimmy unzipped his duffel as he explained. “We will all stay in this room for the night. The other room is a decoy. Just in case we were followed or anything.”

“Does Jack know where we are?” the little girl looked fearfully at the door and ran into her grandmother’s body. “I don’t want to see Jack ever again!”

“No, no, no,” Alexa knelt next to the child. “Don’t worry, sweetie, he won’t be coming here. Nothing bad will happen to you okay?”

The little girl nodded. The grandma’s smile was full of gratitude. She was murmuring a prayer under her breath. Alexa smiled in turn and sat on the bed where Jimmy was submerged in his duffel to his elbows. He heaved the duffel off the bed and onto the floor where he sat and started to rummage again. The little girl jumped up onto the bed next Alexa.

“What is your name,” Alexa asked the little girl.

“Molly.”

“That’s a very pretty name. How old are you, Molly?”

“Eight years and seven months old!” Molly exclaimed. Alexa’s smile faltered. The little girl looked almost three years younger than she really was. She was short, and very skinny. It looked like most of her teeth were still baby teeth.

“Are you hungry, Molly? I’m going to get some food,” Alexa sat herself cross-legged in front of one of the duffels. She knew there was a little food in the back packs, but she hoped there would be food in one of the four duffel bags.

“Alexa, don’t open that,” Jimmy said from behind her. Alexa ignored him and pulled on the oversized, metal zipper on the duffel. The bag fell open and Alexa gasped.

“Jimmy!”

“I told you not to open it,” Jimmy scooted over to where Alexa was gawking at the assortment of guns he had brought with them.

“Where did you get all of this? Isn’t it illegal or something?” Alexa stared at him in amazement. Jimmy laughed.

“What do you think I did as a marine? I shot gun, Alexa. I was able to sneak these away with me,” he smiled at Don who had just started loading all of his guns. Together, they had a good amount of fire power.

“Why is he loading them now?” Alexa watched Don and then heard a click at ear and Jimmy was doing the same thing. “Why are you loading now?”

“Alexa, we are in war. Now, we are known enemies to the World’s Empire because we have helped a prisoner of theirs escape,” Jimmy picked up a small hand gun and tried handing it to Alexa. “Do you want one?”

“Hell no! What kind of question is that?” Alexa looked at the door and the window. “Don is a prisoner?”

“If he is forced to work for them, then I would say so,” he caulked the pistol Alexa had rejected and put it on the ground. “They will say one of two things. Either that I have released their prisoner or that I have stolen one of their workers. Whichever way they put, they will be coming eventually.

“Alexa,” Jimmy took Alexa’s face gently in his hands. “The food is in the duffel on the other side of the food. I’m not sure what is in there because we took it from Don’s house, but there are at least two cans of Spaghettios.”

Alexa nodded and went to the duffel bag Jimmy had told her to. Molly was still sitting on the bed, staring at the guns that were being laid out one by one. There were five guns laid out before Jimmy picked one and started putting them all away. The grandma had her hand on Molly knee and was snoring on the bed right next to her.

It didn’t take long for Alexa to give up on making Spaghettios. There wasn’t a kitchen in the room, and the only thing that could be considered a table was more like a footstool. She didn’t know how to open because there was no can opener in the duffel she was looking in and she was too scared to look in the others. There were ten metal forks laying at the bottom of the bag that she pulled out and rubbed hard with the bottom of her sweater.

“I can’t do this!” Alexa groaned and sat on the floor with the can of Spaghettios rolling away on the floor. Jimmy picked it up and grabbed the knife that was hanging at his side. With a swift twist of his wrist he plunged it into the can and cut the top off. Alexa glared at him as he wiped the reddish orange goo from his blade onto his black pants.

“Your welcome,” Jimmy smiled and sat with his back against the wall. Alexa had forgotten how irresistible that smile was; the left side curled up and his eyebrows rose just enough to make you think he was challenging you to stop that smile. She didn’t want to stop it.

It wasn’t the best meal Alexa had ever eaten, but the cold noodles, soaked in processed tomato sauce was the first food she had eaten in more than twenty four hours. Molly ate her share like she had never eaten anything in the last couple of weeks. When Alexa thought about, it was very possible. She wanted to hold the child and erase all the bad things that had happened to her throughout her short life. The bruises on her face would continue fading, but she knew that the memories they left would never go away.

****************************************************************************

“Mr. Bennett, they have just stopped at a motel just outside of Warren, Pennsylvania,” a young, Korean man looked up at Mr. Bennett as he spoke.

“Good,” Mr. Bennett nodded and walked over to the desk. He looked at the map spread across his desk and snapped his fingers. “You, radio George and tell him to set up blockades at five mile intervals for fifty miles from every exit that goes to that motel. Tell him to send a group of five to the hotel.”

“To do what, sir?”

“What do you mean to do what? Kill them!”

Mr. Bennett looked back at the map and guessed it would take only an hour for the motel to be reached. He wasn’t sure if he wanted all four to be killed. The mechanic had to be killed because he was not trustworthy, but his daughter could be useful. He didn’t know where the other two people came from. It was impossible that they were Rescuers though. He would’ve heard about that.

“Mr. Bennett?”

“Huh?”

“There is a phone call for you, sir,” the man offered Mr. Bennett the phone and received a waving hand. “It’s Jack. He says he has another tip off for you.”

At this Mr. Bennett grabbed the phone and cleared his throat. This man had given great information before, but a couple of hours too late. Hopefully, this time it wouldn’t be too late to utilize his information to the fullest.

“Uh…hello? Mr. Bennett? “

“Yes, this is Mr. Bennett.”

“This is Jack.”

“I know. What is it you know, Jack?”

“There was an old woman and a little girl that were living in the same house as me…” Mr. Bennett stifled a laugh when he heard this. The place that the man lived could never be considered a house. Maybe a lean-to, but even that was pushing it.

“Yes, Jack. Go on.”

“Well, they are gone. I have a hunch that they left with those…uh…those Rescuer people.”

“You do, do you? Why do you think this?”

“Well, Mr. Bennett, sir. I had found a bag before I had called you last time. The girl had a plastic bag. It had some rags in it. But, now she is gone. And her grandmother is gone. And…and so is that bag.”

“Well, it does sound like they may have hitch-hiked somewhere,” Mr. Bennett sound amused. They definitely couldn’t kill six people in a motel without causing more attention than wanted right now, especially of a child and an old woman. “Thank you, Jack. I will repay.”

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Bennett. Thank you so much. I do enjoy my last payment.”

“Of course you do, Jack. Good bye,” Mr. Bennett hung up the phone and radioed the men that were on their way to the motel to kill everyone. The plans had to change slightly if he was going to win anything from this situation, and he always won.

************************************************************************************

“Jimmy, there ten miles away!” Don shut the door and ran to Michelle.

“How do you know that?” Alexa questioned. Her heart stopped at this impossible information.

“The radio in the truck is tuned to the frequency that the World’s Empire use,” Don explained quickly. He ran his fingers through his few hairs. “What are we going to do? I knew they were going to catch us!”

“Don, it’s okay,” Jimmy patted his friend’s back and sat on the bed. “I knew they were going to catch us too.”

“What? Jimmy? You betrayed me?” Don’s eyes were large and he looked heartbroken.

“No, of course not, Don,” Jimmy took Alexa’s wrist and gently pulled her onto the bed next to him. He looked into her eyes and spoke straight to her as he talked to Don. “The more we kill, the easier it will be. They will come here. They will break into both of the rooms. Everyone will be in this room. There won’t be too many men, though. They will try to take the girls and the women and make them servants of some sort. We will be killed.”

“Jimmy, you said this wouldn’t happen,” Don groaned. He sat on his heels and put his head in his heads. “I am sorry Michelle.”

“When they come, the little girls and the grandma will be hiding under the bed with me. Don, you will be in that closet, and Alexa will be lying on the bed-” Jimmy was cut off by Alexa’s outburst.

“Am I bait or something? I could get killed!”

“You’re a distraction,” Jimmy continued to look into Alexa’s eyes. He held her hand and stroked her arm. “You will say that you are all alone and that I was just giving you a ride. They won’t believe you. They will look under the bed, and when they do I will kill them with my knife. Don will come from the closet and shoot however many he can. If there are any left when I come from under the bed I will kill too.”

Everyone was silent as the plan unfolded. Alexa was chewing on her thumb nail. She knew that Jimmy knew she couldn’t lie. Her cheeks would turn red and her breathing would be uneven, and then she would studder with anything she would try to say. Alexa watched the grandma hug Molly and the tear that rolled down the wrinkles on her face. She looked even more scared than Alexa felt.

Don was sitting on the floor with Michelle’s twelve year old hand in his. He was talking softly to her. Alexa guessed he was trying to reassure her about what was going to happen. Jimmy was still stroking the length of her arm with his fingers. He was staring at the design on the blanket now. There was a stain of some sort on the intricate flower. He traced the loops and swirls of the black thread with his eyes. The thicker, golden thread made the trails flown by the black bees from flower to flower.

“Don, get in the closet,” Jimmy stood up and adjusted the blade at his hip. He grabbed his shotgun and caulked it. “Girls, grandma, get under the bed please. Alexa lay down and watch TV.”

The orders were followed quickly. It seemed as if everyone was holding their breath as they did so. Alexa was confused about where Jimmy knew Don from. Sometimes she thought they had been in the military together, but then at other times Don was so scared and unsure that Alexa didn’t think that he would have had the guts to go into the military, especially not the Marines where Jimmy was.

“Alexa?” Jimmy touched her cheek softly with his finger.

“Yeah?” the word was more of an exhalation of breath than anything. Alexa’s skin warmed to his touch and wanted to kiss him.

“Be safe,” he kissed her on the cheek and then on the neck. She watched him intently as he crawled beneath the bed. “Everyone be silent.”

Alexa was skimming through the television channels when there was a knock on the door. The TV stayed on the cooking channel. Rachel Ray was making a salmon dish with salad.

“Jimmy, I can’t do this,” Alexa hissed as quietly as she could manage. She wasn’t sure where he was beneath her, but hoped that he could hear her.

“Alexa, I’m right here. I won’t let anything happen to you,” Jimmy’s voice was firm and confident. “I promise.”

“Who is it?” Alexa called when the knock came again. There was no answer. Someone kicked the door and the flimsy lock busted revealing three men carrying AK-47’s. Alexa screamed and scrambled into the furthest part of the bed. She knew they would come in, but she was still petrified.

“Don’t be alarmed, ma’am,” the tallest man said. He had pale skin and auburn hair. “We are looking for some people. Can we ask you some questions?”

“Y-yes…of course,” Alexa tried to relax. The fat Hispanic man was staring at her with his gun pointing at her head. She swallowed and took a deep breath. The third man looked Italian. He was taller than Jimmy and boasted huge, brown biceps.

“We have information that says you checked in here with a man. Where is this man?” the auburn hair asked Alexa.

“Oh, he was just my ride,” Alexa said. She knew they could tell she was lying. “He dropped me off on his way to Colorado.”

“Hmm,” the Hispanic man took a step closer to me. He looked trigger happy and Alexa felt like she was going to faint soon.

“May we look around then, Miss?” the Italian man started walking towards the closet. Alexa’s fear elevated by the way she was addressed less formally this time. She just became less important in this situation.

The Hispanic man didn’t let go of his gun when he got onto all fours to look under the bed. It happened just as Jimmy said it would. Once the man was on the ground Jimmy speared him with his blade and the Italian man opened the closet door and Don shot him twice in the head. Jimmy crawled out from under the bed on his back and shot the third guy in the chest and Don shot him in the throat from behind the Italian corpse.

“Get down!” Jimmy pulled Alexa off the bed and pushed her to the floor. Two more men entered the small motel room. Jimmy bent down and charged at the man with the eighteen inch dreadlocks who took a shot at him. He hit him hard in the stomach and smashed him against the wall. The other man looked Native American. He hit Jimmy in the back with his elbow. Don shot the man in the back.

Alexa watched the confusion in the doorway. The Native American’s dead weight was on Jimmy. A gun shot went off. There was smoke rising from between Jimmy and the man with dreadlocks. Alexa stood to her feet. Jimmy and the other man fell to the ground with the dead Native American on top of both of them.

“Jimmy?” Alexa spoke just above a whisper. “Jimmy!”

There was no response. Don looked from Alexa to the pile of men. Alexa ran to the pile. She took the Native American’s weapon and rolled him off Jimmy with it. Jimmy was lying on top of the other man, whose eyes were open and roving around the room. Alexa held the gun to his chest and looked into his eyes. They were not scared or remorseful; they were blank.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. He didn’t respond, just blinked his eyes. Alexa pulled the trigger and allowed three shots out of the automatic.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Jimmy shouted. Alexa dropped the gun and jumped back. Don stepped forward.

Jimmy rolled over and stood up slowly. He looked at the man on the floor whose chest was destroyed. Alexa slapped him and sat on the bed.

“What the hell are you doing?” Alexa shouted. She thought she was going to cry with fury. “Why didn’t you move or say something when I called your name?”

“The damn Indian knocked me out!”

“He is not Indian, Jimmy. He is Native American!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry I used the wrong name for the son of a bitch who wanted to kill all of us!”

“I thought you were dead!”

“I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen.”

“You have broken promises before, Jim-” Jimmy grabbed Alexa’s waist and pulled himself closer to her. His lips formed to hers as hers melted into his.

“I won’t broken any every again, Alexa,” Jimmy released Alexa so he could speak. He kissed her once more on the lips and then on the hand. Alexa couldn’t say anything. She lay on her stomach and beckoned for everyone to come out.

“Girls, close your eyes and sit on the floor,” Don said before they crawled out. Jimmy opened the door that connected their room to the other one they had rented for the night. He dragged the five bodies through the door into the other room and hid them under the bed as best he could.

“Okay, girls, open your eyes,” Jimmy said. While he had been cleaning up the mess the grandma had found some chocolate that was taken from Don’s house. She held a bar out to each of the girls.

“Chocolate!” Molly shouted. “Oh, thank you, grandma!”

“Thank you,” Michelle said quietly. Those were the first words Alexa had heard her say yet. She wanted a piece of chocolate, but figured it was better for the little girls to have all of it.

Jimmy packed the Jeep and the Toyota while the girls were eating their chocolate. Michelle’s was gone in less than a minute, but Molly nibbled hers the entire time Jimmy was packing up the vehicles. Alexa wondered how many times she had eaten chocolate before.

“Are we leaving soon?” the grandma asked Jimmy.

“As soon as we can,” Jimmy smiled. “We have to get through a blockade before we get to our next stop.”

“Oh, yes,” the grandma nodded. She looked at Jimmy and around the room then back at Jimmy.

“What may I call you?” Jimmy asked. Alexa was watching the conversation and saw the flush rise in Jimmy’s cheeks as he asked the old lady this. He was so used to protocol that this must have seemed most informal.

“Just call me Grandma, Jimmy,” she smiled. “I am the grandma of all children I know.”

“Thank you…Grandma, but I’m not exactly a child,” Jimmy’s cheeks were normally a cinnamon brown, but right now they looked like russet-colored apples.

“If you are younger than me, you are a child,” Grandma smiled. She kissed him on the cheek and spoke next to his ear. “Thank you for saving us, Jimmy.”

Jimmy gave an awkward shrug and went back outside. Alexa was holding Molly on her lap and talking to her about what she wanted to be when she was older. When Molly said she wanted to have a house like the motel they were in Alexa switched gears and told Molly about the games she used to play when she was little.

“My favorite game was when my friends and I would pretend we were lost princesses,” Alexa described her adventures as a child. “We would have to travel around the world and fight demons and make friends. At the end, we would find our family.”

“Weren’t scared of fighting demons?” Molly’s eyes were wide with curiosity and excitement.

“Oh no,” Alexa wiped that idea away with her hand. “We were the strongest princesses ever. Nobody could beat us at sword fighting. We would go into the woods and grab long sticks and pretend there were bad people that were chasing us. There is always a prince, too.

“If the demons capture you, then your prince would come to save you. My prince was tall. He had dark, dark brown hair that hung just above his eyes. His skin was the color of gingerbread cookies, and he smelled almost as good. My favorite color has always been green, so his eyes were always green,” Alexa created an image in her mind with the attributes she described. To her surprise, it was Jimmy.

“I wish I could have played that game,” Molly’s shoulders slumped. “I only have my dolly that I made when I was little, but she is back at Jack’s.”

“Uh…Grandma?” Jimmy came back into the motel with a plastic bag rolled into a ball. “Is this yours? I found it in the corner of the Jeep where you guys were…er…hiding.”

“Oh, yes!” Grandma stood up and rushed to him. “I forgot about it. Thank you, Jimmy!”

Grandma took the bag and sat next to Molly. She untangled the bag so she could open it. From within she pulled a pile of rags and put it into Molly’s hand. The little girl had a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

“Grandma!” Molly hugged her then hugged Alexa. “Alexa! This is her! This is my dolly!”

Alexa held the doll carefully. She couldn’t tell how it was anything more than a ball of rags, but that’s what Molly had where she came from. There were two rags that were tied together in a series of knots. The red rag was folded in half and knotted near the top to make the head. With the two tails that hung down from this each was folded in half and noted at the midsection of the doll to make legs. A blue rag was much smaller. It was tied across the red rag just under the head so it made, what could be called, arms.

Though Alexa could not find anything in the doll that she could have made a comradeship with, Molly loved the doll. She hugged the thin bundle of rags tightly to her chest until she fell asleep in the Jeep. Grandma was stroking her back and attempting to untangles the child’s hair.

“Don, can you hear me?” Jimmy held the phone between his shoulder and chin as he tuned the radio. “Okay, good. Just keep the radio on. The quickest way to get to Chicago is to take I-80 to I-90, but the road blocks are in the way. If we head towards Cleveland it may be easier to evade them because there will be a lot of traffic going that way. What are you thinking on that side, Don?”

Alexa tried to listen to the men’s conversation but she was only hearing Jimmy’s half of it and was utterly confused about what they were planning on doing.

“Did I hear you say we are flying?” Alexa was trying to stretch out in the front seat as she spoke.

“You having troubles over there?” Jimmy flashed his smile at Alexa and squeezed her thigh. “I’m not sure about the flying. We really don’t know what we are going to do. I want to drive through, but he thinks it may cause too much attention. I think if we switch vehicles in Cleveland we will be fine. Don is a perfectionist though and didn’t get to test the guns in the vehicles, so he is unsure about whether or not they will work.”

“Guns?”

“There is a machine gun installed on both sides of the engine in the vehicles,” Jimmy pointed with his hand as he drove. “The wires of the radio were rewired so one connects to the gun. If you press the ‘FM/AM’ button the headlights move up and the guns are clear of obstruction. When you press ‘Play’ the guns will fire. They will fire until you press ‘Stop’.”

“How do you aim?”

“I thought you hated anything to do with guns?” Jimmy laughed. “First you kill a guy and now you want to know how to use this weapon of mass destruction? There is no turning mechanism. We didn’t have time to make it.”

Alexa went numb when Jimmy mentioned her killing that man. She had forgotten all about it. In all her life she had never felt feelings she had when kneeling with her gun at the guy’s chest. It was feelings for Jimmy and for her country. She was disgusted and scared that these people go out and kill people with no emotion at all.

“Are you crying?” Jimmy asked. He put his hand on her thigh. “Alex, are you okay?”

Grandma looked out the window. She could feel the emotions flood from Alexa. They were very different from the peaceful waves that were being emitted by her granddaughter. The rag doll was clutched in Grandma’s hand now.

“You haven’t called me that in a long time,” Alexa sniffed.

“I haven’t seen you in a long time,” Jimmy whispered. “I wish I had never had to leave you. I wish things had been different. Or that they were different now.”

“Yeah, me too,” Alexa wiped her nose with her arm. “I can’t believe I killed that man.”

“If you think too much about it, you will drive yourself crazy,” Jimmy turned the radio up a little bit. The static didn’t decrease, but you could almost hear a voice. “If you think too much when you have the gun in your hand, they will kill you first.”

“Mr. Bennett,” a voice came through the radio. Grandma’s head snapped to attention. Jimmy and Alexa were just as attentive. “Mr. Bennett, we just received information from the first blockade to the North saying that they took off on foot to East.”

“They just came from the East, where could they be going?” Mr. Bennett’s voice was American with no trace of an accent.

“We think they are trying to get to the coast,” the man answered. “There is a ship leaving tomorrow morning. If they still another car they could easily get there by then.”

“Why did they go East, though? Why not continue West?”

“If they had taken the road past the North blockade they would have made good timing, but if they went West they would have to walk about 10 more miles to find a car than they would to the East, and they would have to drive about 70 miles more to get to the ship than they would going East.”

“Wow, nice research,” Mr. Bennett’s voice came on the radio again. “You will be rewarded.”

“Thank you so much, sir.”

“Good bye.”

The radio went static again as they talkers left it. Jimmy drove on in silence, his face a wall of ice. The phone rang.

“Hello?” Jimmy answered the phone. It was Don, who had just heard the radio too. “Do you think it’s a trap? Who could it be though? Who would have helped us? No. Positive. Hold on.”

“What?” Alexa could tell something was wrong with their conversation, but neither Jimmy’s voice nor face gave away anything.

“Grandma, did anybody know that you left?” Jimmy watched the Grandma’s face change in the rear view mirror.

“Jack did,” she murmured softly so Molly wouldn’t wake up. “He would have noticed if we left. I was his income.”

“Don, they know we have Grandma and Molly,” Jimmy sped the car up and dodged the traffic as he spoke on the phone. “Damn it, I don’t know. They didn’t give any information at all. I know, I know. That’s an idea. I’ll drive. Bye.”

“What are you guys doing?” Grandma shuffled her feet in the backseat and moved Molly higher on her lap.

“Well, Grandma,” Jimmy looked at Alexa and then back at Grandma. “Don is going to have his daughter call Mr. Bennett and tell him that she spotted us in the town just east of us. She will say that she overheard us talking about running from Mr. Bennett and she drove to this town where her aunt lives to use the phone. If they track her call, which they should, then there will be cars flying to this location. We are going to continue on our way to I-80. If we happen to run into any of Mr. Bennett’s cars then I will have the guns ready and I will make the way for our car and Don’s.”

“You’re using the little girl?” Alexa leaned her seat back as she spoke. “Why do you have to do that?”

“Because they know his voice too well, Alexa,” Jimmy’s patience was waning. “I would appreciate it if you stop questioning everything I do.”

“I wouldn’t question you if you didn’t pull guns on children and use them for bait,” Alexa snapped back. “Or me, for that matter.”

“Anyways, Grandma,” Jimmy ignored Alexa and looked at Grandma in the rear view mirror. She looked frightened. “You should get yourself and Molly down on the floor as low as you can get. I don’t want you to get hurt by a stray bullet or anything else. With luck, they will think that you are not with us anymore. If Mr. Bennett asks Don’s daughter what people she saw she is supposed to say that she only saw me and Don.

“Alexa, you have to get down in your seat too. If there is not enough room you can try lying down in the back under all the bags, but it might not be too comfortable for you.”

“I want to stay seated,” she said stubbornly. “I want to see what is going on.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Alexa, no.”

“Jimmy,” Alexa squeezed his hand. “You know I will win this. I don’t back down as easy as you remember.”

“Don’t fool yourself,” Jimmy returned the squeeze and smiled. “You’re not being brave, just pigheaded.”

Alexa couldn’t help but laugh at this remark. It reminded her of their relationship before he left her. He would call her pigheaded, but she would refer to it as stubborn or knowing what she wanted. The grandma was giggling in the backseat too.

“Jimmy, can we eat before Michelle calls Mr. Bennett?” Alexa said sweetly. She put her hand lightly on his shoulder and smiled. He laughed.

“You can’t pull any tricks on me now, Alexa,” Jimmy pulled his car over in front of a small house. “I have been trained to withstand all sorts of things, and that is one of them.”

“Is that a no?” Grandma leaned forward to get into the conversation. Jimmy nibbled his lip and looked around at the buildings on the narrow street. There were no restaurants or gas stations in eye sight.

“Uh…yes, that is a no,” Jimmy nodded. Alexa thought that he may be able to be persuaded by Grandma; he looked as though he regretted his answer.

“I understand,” Grandma sat back into her seat and looked down at the sleeping child in her lap.

“We will get some food after we get on I-80 and up that a couple of miles,” Jimmy smiled at Grandma. She nodded and started moving Molly onto the floor.

Don parked his car behind Jimmy’s. Alexa crossed her fingers childishly, wishing Michelle good luck. It took no more than two minutes for Michelle to run to the payphone, make the call, and buckle herself back into her seat. Everyone was silent. Jimmy drove the car back onto the street and headed towards the highway. The phone rang and interrupted the silence abruptly. Molly woke from her nap and looked around at the new location groggily.

“Hello? Yeah, I can see that,” Jimmy grumbled into the speaker. “Damn, I don’t know. I don’t know, Don. Okay.”

He snapped his flip phone shut and tossed it into the cup holder. Alexa stared at his face and then looked into all the mirrors several times. She was positive there were no sirens or tires screeching in hot pursuit of them, but his confidence had disappeared and he looked scared.

“What’s wrong? What is happening?” Alexa finally asked after seeing the scared expression on Grandma’s face.

“We don’t know if they believed Michelle or not,” Jimmy said shortly.

“Well, if they didn’t believe it isn’t that a good thing?” Alexa rearranged her position in the car seat so she could better see Jimmy. He sighed and kept his eyes from hers.

“If they believed her they would have come straight here and would have heard them on the radio or seen them by now. They have positions everywhere so it would not have been too hard for them to cut us off,” Jimmy flicked the radio off with his thumb before he continued. “If they didn’t believe her we would have a clear path to Chicago, but we would have heard that on the radio too. That is why we are not sure. This could be a trap, but it may not be. It just complicates the plans a little.”

“Michelle sounds a lot older than she looks,” Alexa began her conversation looking at Molly who looked considerably younger than she was. “Maybe, Mr. Bennett thought she was an older girl who was making false accusations.”

“That is a theory,” Jimmy explained to Alexa and Grandma what Michelle had said on the phone. She had told Mr. Bennett that she had seen only Jimmy and Don. He had asked about other passengers or a second vehicle and she said no. At the end of their short conversation Mr. Bennett told her to keep an eye out for two men with an old woman and two children. He apologized for not being able to give her a reward because he didn’t think that her information was accurate because he knew that Jimmy and Don had other people with them.

Grandma smiled when she heard that Mr. Bennett didn’t believe Michelle. She didn’t want to meet that man and she never wanted to see Jack again. Molly was sitting on her lap and looking out the window now. She was her only family, and she would do anything to protect her. It would be easier now that they were away from a man three times her size with a large temper and a big fist.

“It sounds like he isn’t coming this way,” Alexa concluded. “What’s the problem.

“The problem is that they didn’t radio it. We just don’t want to run into any traps,” Jimmy turned the radio back on and beat his thumb on the steering wheel to the rhythm. They drove for another twenty minutes on the highway before Jimmy took the off ramp.

It was the first decent city Alexa had seen on their way since they left her city. There were gas stations, restaurants, hair salons, a library, a church, a couple of schools, big houses, and business buildings. Molly had her face glued to the window now. She pointed at the tall building and made exclamations every block at the pretty things she saw. There was a park with green grass, bushy trees, and a water fountain. A little boy ran in a circle with a Golden Retriever chasing him, trying to get the ball clutched in the boy’s hand.

“Grandma, what’s that?” Molly was on her knees at the window now and hopping up and down on them. Grandma had moved further and further to the other side of the car and now had to scoot back over.

“Hold on, sweetie, hold on,” Grandma laughed. “Oh, that? That’s a fire truck.”

“Do you like that, Molly?” Jimmy asked. He had the smile that Alexa loved. She watched the affection he showed for the little girl and her insides turned warm.

“Yes, I do, sir,” Molly nodded vigorously. “It’s so shiny.”

“Call me Jimmy,” Jimmy drove around a couple of blocks with Don keeping pace as best he could with stop signs and stop lights. “We’re friends, right?”

Molly beamed at this. She hugged her rag doll and continued to look out the window. Alexa saw the sparkle in Grandma’s eye that may have been a tear of happiness and relief. They had definitely snuck into the right marine’s car, even though they were held at gun point for a couple of seconds.

The car came to stop before anyone realized where they were. Jimmy stepped out of the car and stretched up with his arms and then moved his arms as far out from is body as he could. Alexa watched his long, lean body lengthen and the sun shine on his bronze muscles. He opened the door and helped Molly out of the car. She looked around with big eyes but didn’t move anywhere. Grandma climbed out next and smiled.

“Alexa, darling, are you coming?” Grandma asked. She took Molly’s hand and led her towards the front door. Alexa got out of the car and stared cynically up at the golden arches.

“You took us to McDonald’s?” Alexa rose her eyebrows at Jimmy. Even before he went into training he didn’t eat fast food or most processed foods.

“I used to love to play in the jungle gym at McDonald’s when I was little,” Jimmy was caught up in his reminiscence when Alexa grabbed his hand. He looked down at her and could just see the tops of her round breasts.

“Thank you,” she said. He pulled her gently closer to him, carefully watching her reaction. A flush rose instantly to her cheeks and he could see the pulse in her neck quicken. He knew if he kissed her right there she would start to breathe heavy. Instead he lifted her chin and kissed her softly on the lips.

************************************************************************************

Alexa, Jimmy, Don, and Grandma sat at a blue, plastic table to eat their greasy food. Michelle took Molly through the jungle gym and the adults could hear them giggling and screaming with mirth somewhere in the ball pit.

“This was a great idea, Jim,” Don shoved a handful of fries covered with ketchup into his mouth. Grandma nodded.

“Thank you so much, James,” Grandma said. She faltered and wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Hm, sorry, that was my husband’s name.”

“No, it’s okay,” Jimmy smiled. “My mom used to call me that, when I was little.”

Alexa took Jimmy’s hand under the table and put it on her thigh. She stroked his palm with her fingers and then laced their fingers together. He hadn’t said a word about his mother for years. The only thing she knew about his mother was that she had died when he turned sixteen, and then his father killed himself with grief. They had loved each other so much. She had never realized how much he loved them, and missed them.

“Jimmy! Come play with us!” Molly shouted from inside a tunnel hanging in the air.

Jimmy shook his head and took another bite of his double cheeseburger. Alexa squeezed his hand.

“Go on, Jimmy,” she urged. “Go play with the girls. You’re friends, right?”

Everyone at the table laughed. He put the rest of the burger in his mouth and ran over to the entrance to the jungle gym. Don had just finished his meal and was leaning his back against the concrete wall.

“This is almost relaxing,” Don joked.

“It’s good for the girls, though,” Grandma looked up to the two girls now having Jimmy throw them into the ball pit. “It’s been really hard for Molly. This is like Disney World to her.”

Alexa couldn’t imagine living in the slums of a city her whole life and thinking that McDonald’s were a palace and the best place in the world. That is what Molly thought right now. You could see it in her smile. Though she was eight years old, she was playing like a younger child in that ball pit. Jimmy was holding her above his head right now and falling down into the balls with her.

“Do you and Jimmy have any children?” Grandma drank her soda and tried to look as if she were just making conversation and not being curious.

“Jimmy and I are not together,” Alexa looked away from Jimmy and out the window. “We were before he went into the Marines. So…uh…no, we don’t have any children.”

“Don’t worry, child,” Grandma put her hand over Alexa’s. They were very warm and thin. “You will have them someday, someday soon.”

The McDonald’s jungle gym all of a sudden seemed much louder than a moment ago; little children playing tag and running around the toddlers who were walking back and forth to their mothers. Alexa was almost thirty-one and didn’t even have a boyfriend. Since Jimmy had left her she would see happy couples walking down the streets or buying food at the grocery store and she would wish he were back. She knew that she wished she could have a child before she was thirty, but she didn’t realize that other people could see that longing in her heart.

“Okay, let’s go,” Jimmy appeared suddenly at the table. Don opened one of his eyes and looked around until he found his daughter next to him, then he closed them again and continued to doze on the wall. “Don, time go. Take your bathroom breaks, get some water, and meet me in the car. You have thirty seconds.”

Everyone stared at Jimmy as he walked out the door. Grandma took Molly’s hand and led her to the bathroom with Michelle following them. Don went to the counter and asked for six water cups.

“Thank you, sir,” Don balanced the cups on his arms.

“Here, give me some,” Alexa took some cups and walked with Don to the cars. “Is something going on? Why is Jimmy in a rush to go?”

“It’s just the way he is. He may be having one of his feelings right now.”

“Feelings?” Alexa opened the car door for Don and he set the cups inside. “How did you meet Jimmy?”

“We met back in college,” Jimmy came up behind Alexa and grabbed the remaining waters. “We should hit I-90 in no more than two hours, Don. Once we get on it, drive for an hour and there will be a motel in the town on the right. I can’t remember the name, but I will call you and tell you when to turn off.”

“Is it the town where Linda lives?” Don stepped into his truck as he spoke and rolled down his manual window.

“Ahem…yes,” Jimmy cleared his throat and answered him as quiet as he could, yet not quiet enough for Alexa to miss what he said. “Okay, I’ll see you there.”

“Is everyone ready to go?” Jimmy asked as soon as he got in the car. Molly was still sporting a grin from ear to ear and Grandma was drinking from one of the water cups. “Okay. We are off, then.”

Jimmy sang to the music on the radio. It was some kind of rock music that Alexa couldn’t stand. Grandma was cringing at the music too, but Molly was as happy as she could be in the backseat.

“Jimmy, turn that down,” Alexa leaned forward and turned the station before he could do anything. “Who is Linda?”

The backseat was silent as usual. Grandma was now looking out the window and humming to herself. She was pretending not to listen, but Alexa knew she just gained attention from Grandma and Molly.

“Who?”

“Linda, Jimmy,” Alexa repeated the name with anger in her voice. Molly scooted towards Grandma and held her hand. Alexa saw the little girl’s fearful expression flash across her face in the rear view mirror. She took a deep breath to keep from starting a fight from jealousy. It wouldn’t be good for Molly to see them fighting.

“Just someone I know,” Jimmy turned the music up a couple of notches. It was Blue Grass.

“Where do you know her from?” Alexa knew he probably met the girl while he was in college, but she didn’t like learning about his past life now after she had been with him for six years.

“Around,” Jimmy kept his eyes on the road. He knew Grandma was watching him and could feel the heat coming off of Alexa’s eyes. “College, mostly.”

“What does around and mostly mean?”

“I met her in college and kept in contact with her for a couple of years afterwards.”

“Until you met me or while you were with me?”

“Until I was with you,” Jimmy broke down and took a breath to use for his explanation. “She was my college girlfriend. I met her and Don in Physics class and we started making things for extra credit. Don went into the military straight out of college and was sent home after two years because of his eyesight. Linda went into the Air Force a year before graduation.”

Alexa didn’t comment on his short anecdote. She felt anger well up in her chest and she wanted to cry until all her tears were gone. It wasn’t anything but jealousy that she felt.

“Jimmy, why didn’t you tell me about her before? Or even tell me about Don if you had been your best friend?”

“I had…loved Linda,” Jimmy paused to gauge Alexa’s reaction, which was an icy glare. “When she left I was sad, and then Don left for the military too. I was the only one who didn’t go into the military and I was really upset about it. When I met you I realized that you took my mind off it all. I didn’t want to tell you about because I had screwed up so bad.”

Grandma was not humming anymore, nor was she actively listening. She was playing with Molly and the rag doll. Molly would pretend that the rag doll was singing or dancing. Grandma told her that next time they will bring the rag doll into McDonald’s.

“How did you screw up, Jimmy?” Alexa whispered, for the sake of their conversation and the preservation of the innocent fun happening in the back seat.

“I told you that I taught Don how to fix up cars,” Jimmy began. He looked at Alexa’s eyes for the first time since they left McDonald’s. “Don, Linda, and I were messing around with the military vehicles in an abandoned bunker. I was charged with trespassing, breaking and entering, robbery, and illegal use of weaponry without a permit. Don and Linda were not charged with anything. It had been my idea, my designs and my fingerprints. They went into the military, and I stayed at school on probation and was not allowed into any sect of the military.”

Alexa was silent. She couldn’t believe that had happened to Jimmy, and couldn’t believe he was the only one to get in trouble. Her love had been charged with federal crimes and she hadn’t even known about it.

“How did they help you?” Alexa asked, biting her thumb nail.

“Don would test my plans on her computer to see if what I wanted would work, and Linda would forge signatures to get me the parts that I needed,” Jimmy shrugged. “I tried using junk parts when I could, but these were war vehicles that I was making. There are not too many spare machine guns or fire throwers lying around.”

Jimmy smiled but didn’t say anything more. The car ride to Linda’s house was long and uneventful. Everyone fell asleep at one point or another and left Jimmy alone to his thoughts. He hadn’t seen nor heard from Linda in six years. The last time was two days before his one year anniversary with Alexa. He hadn’t answered the phone, but he listened to the message. Linda had said that she really missed him and she was leaving for two years and really wanted to see him. Jimmy never returned her call or called her any other time.

Linda’s house was quite large with a bush lined driveway. There was a whitewashed porch with an old rocking chair sitting on it. Jimmy didn’t think about how awkward this was going to be, bringing his girlfriend to his ex-girlfriend’s house. When he did think about it, Alexa wasn’t really his girlfriend at the moment.

“Jimmy!” a thin girl in hip-huggers and a tiny, white tank top opened the door. Alexa glared as the girl threw her arms around Jimmy and he returned the embrace. “Oh my God, Jimmy! I haven’t seen you in six years. Oh, and you smell so good!”

The group of five stood behind Jimmy, each trying to get a look of the girl called Linda. Don edged himself around everyone and stood next to Jimmy.

“Hey, Linda,” Don smiled. The girl gave him a warm hug. It was nothing like the hug she had given to Jimmy seconds before. “How are you doing?”

“I am doing well, Donald,” Linda smiled. “How are you? I heard you got married.”

“Oh, uh…no,” Don looked at the ground and then grabbed Michelle and pulled her forth. “This is Michelle. I was going to marry her mother. She…uh, she passed several years ago.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Michelle,” Linda shook her head and touched her hair. “I’m so sorry Donald. Oh, and I’m sorry y’all. Why don’t you come in? Have a seat on the couch.”

Jimmy went behind Don and Michelle with Molly’s hand in his own. The rear was brought up by Alexa. She grumbled as she shut the door. When she turned around Molly was sitting on Grandma’s lap next to Jimmy and Linda was on the other side of Jimmy. Alexa sat down on the recliner and waited for Jimmy to introduce her.

“Would anybody like some coffee? Or tea?” Linda stood up and walked to the kitchen. “I have juice, Molly. Would ya like to come help me make it?”

“Yes, please!” Molly jumped up and rushed into the kitchen. Alexa stood and sat in the empty seat next to Jimmy.

“That’s where Linda’s sitting, Alexa,” Jimmy said as she sat down. Alexa felt as if she just swallowed a couple of ice cubes. She couldn’t speak, but felt as if she could cry and her heart was icy and sad.

“I thought you said you still love me, Jimmy?” Alexa whispered into his ear. “You haven’t even introduced me. And, what are you going to introduce me as?”

“I do love you, Alex,” Jimmy murmured back into her ear. It was so soft she doubted he wanted anyone else to hear it. “She is just a good friend that I haven’t seen in a long time.”

Grandma stood up and went to help in the kitchen. There was some bustling and clinking of glasses then Grandma came out behind Linda with a laden tray of sugar, cream, and spoons. A coffee pot and tea pot were set down on fancy hot plate on the mahogany coffee table. Michelle smiled and gasped at the pretty china she was going to drink her tea out of.

“Oh, I don’t think I have met you yet,” Linda looked at Alexa then at Jimmy. She assumed there was some sort of relationship between them.

“This is Alexa,” Jimmy said and grabbed the coffee pot. “Do you still take your coffee with cream and sugar?”

Linda smiled and sat down next to Jimmy. Her nails looked freshly manicured with identical white tips on each. You could see her toned stomach through her tank top and the muscle definition in her arms. She put her hand on Jimmy’s knee as she spoke and laughed at every other thing he said.

“So, what are y’all doing all the way over here?” Linda asked. She put down her coffee cup and curled her legs under her on the couch. “Last time I called ya I never got a call back.”

“War has been declared on the U.S. and there is a national marines meeting in Canada,” Jimmy started right in on their plans.

“Wait,” Linda butted in. “How do ya know already that it is in Canada? What about procedure?”

Alexa mimicked Linda’s voice in her head. She didn’t know what protocol or procedure was and hated it that Linda knew more about Jimmy than she did.

“We are going to meet Billy in Chicago, then to a mailbox to receive the location,” Jimmy answered. He had a smile on his face. “There is a set location in Canada in case someone can’t make it to the mailbox or if something happens to the mailbox. I still think the meeting will take place in Canada, but nothing is positive.”

“So, how long d’ya need to stay?” Linda rubbed Jimmy’s thigh. “You know y’re welcome as long as ya need. I have plenty of space here, living alone like I do.”

Alexa wanted to stand up and shout at the girl and at Jimmy. She felt rage coursing through her veins. Instead she poured herself some more coffee and drank it quietly in the corner of the couch.

“Just one night,” Jimmy said. “I wish we could stay longer, but I have to get places fast. There is a design I want, too.”

“A design?”

“One of mine,” Jimmy turned his back to Alexa as he talked to Linda. They were in their own little world in the middle of everyone else who was trying to make conversation with each other. “I gave it to you to keep safe. Do you remember it?”

“Oh, of course I do,” Linda exclaimed and stood up. “I thought y’re drawing of it was so well done that I hung it up on my wall. And, ya signed it to me so I have kept very close.”

Linda leaned down far enough for Alexa to see straight down her shirt. She hugged Jimmy and kissed him on the cheek.

“I am so glad y’re here, Jimmy.”

“Okay, Michelle,” Don stood up. “It’s getting late. No more coffee, or tea, or whatever you’re drinking. Let’s go find you a bed room.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Grandma stood up and picked up Molly whose eyelids were drooping. “Don, would you help find a room for Molly and me?”

“Of course, Grandma,” Don beckoned for her to follow him down the stairs. It was an awkward silence for Alexa until Don came back up the stairs. “Okay, I’m going to stay downstairs with Michelle. She is a bit scared to be sleeping in a stranger’s house.”

“Good night, Don,” Alexa smiled and waved. He nodded to her and Jimmy and went back down the stairs. “Jimmy, how many bed rooms do they have down there?”

“I think there are five downstairs and two or three upstairs,” Jimmy shared his information a little too fast. He cleared his throat and was about to say something but Linda came back in.

“Here it is,” Linda said. Alexa took a quick glance at the drawing. It was of some sort of vehicle with objects projecting out of it and measurements written all over it. There was also a kiss mark done in red lipstick under an autographed ‘I’ll love you forever’. “You gave this to me right before I left for Air Navy.”

“Excuse me?” Alexa interrupted the conversation. “Is there a place that I can sleep tonight?”

“Oh, of course!” Linda exclaimed. “Go down those stairs and pick a bed room. My grandfather was in the military and bought this house because he had a lot of children. When he died he left to me, but I have no family to live with me. Isn’t that funny?”

Alexa wanted to say no but smiled politely and went down the stairs. She took the room at the end of the hallway and was surprised that the bed had sheets and covers. They were Egyptian cotton sheets and a down feather comforter. There were four pillows on the bed, all of which were down feather. Alexa shed most of her clothing, locked the door and crawled into the bed. She felt as if she were sleeping in the clouds. The dream of being safe above the earth in the clouds dragged her into sleep.

Knock, knock, knock!

Knock, knock, knock!

The rap on the door scared Alexa awake. Last time there was a knock on the door and three men with guns charged into the motel room. The time before that the door was broken down and a big man chased her into the bathroom. This time she decided to answer the door before either of those things happened.

“Who is it?”

“Jimmy.”

“What do you want?” Alexa was surprised that he was at her door. She wanted to know what time it was, to see if he went to her room first.

“I want to stay the night with you.”

“Why not Linda’s room?”

“Alexa,” Jimmy hit the door again. Alexa guessed it was with his head. “Alexa, I told she is just a friend.”

“So am I. Why don’t you sleep on the couch?”

“You’re more than a friend, Alex,” Jimmy said softly.

“I don’t believe you,” Alexa snapped. She thought she was going to try and was trying to get mad so she wouldn’t. “You didn’t tell Linda that I meant anything to you. You didn’t even say I was your friend. And it’s the middle of the night and you still won’t say I matter to you in more than a whisper!”

“Alex, are you crying?” Jimmy’s voice was concerned now.

“Don’t change the subject,” Alexa sobbed. She wiped her face and tried to disappear in her blankets.

“I love you,” Jimmy said. “How loud do you want me to say it?”

“What?” Alexa sniffled and sat up in the bed.

“I love you, Alexa!” Jimmy shouted. “I love you!”

Alexa could hear Jimmy’s loud voice as clear as a bell, and she was sure that everyone else in the house could have heard him too. She went to the door and opened it.

“Alexa, I love you,” Jimmy grabbed her by the waist and kissed her hard.