Five Minutes

                                                                              xXThe NightXx

          Oh yes I remember the rave, the lights, the faces, what she was wearing that night, the way that deck glided through my hands, we were playing black jack. Just for kicks and seeing how these things normally went. I had brought a knife, and a lockbox of refreshments, Chilled. Nothing that could be tampered with for anyone who wasn’t interested in sleeping with everyone or anyone that thought they looked good. We held it in alley intersection, off Woodworth & Starlet Street. Across the street was Jeff's place and an abandoned train station. It was our regular place to meet; we'd set up some makeshift tables and, counter space. The graffiti decorating the walls, the overcast sky and the flickering back light gave it that foreboding, local feel. What we were gathering for I can't even remember. However, it became increasingly clear to me, that someone had leaked the news, as more than the usual number of strange faces walked through the alley’s gates.
        She stirs only for a second "wait, where are we? What’s your name again" Knight, Eden Knight... but you already knew that... It's all right I said as her head slid slowly found its place on my shoulder... as she shut her eyes wearily "escape this town for a little while” I remember that pill, the first time; I'd never seen anything like it. Shawn that was his name, he was a good kid. Green Eyes, brown hair, clever, strong willed the kind of guy you wanted on your side. Brave and he just had this way of knowing. His fatal flaw, he always had to try the next "biggest thrill" and he let himself become blissfully unaware of their consequences... intended or not.
          He called it "INSTANT GRATIFICATION" it was dark red, translucent and it looked a lot like a liquigel it was stamped with -NC153- he said it was a cure for all of life's ills, that it made all of his problems melt away, I casually shifted my glass away. It turns out he could not of made a poorer choice of words. After that and some added, showmanship as he dropped it in, his punch fizzed and foamed. The weaker willed of us, just could not resist, and joined him in what I can only now describe as a mass suicide..., but that was later. The Festivities continued, and I stuck to my position in the dealer seat, and watched the fireworks, lit by among other things the entire atmosphere. Some people were clearly getting a little punch drunk, staggering in uneven lines, yelling and then laughing at each other.
        Laurence yeah he took it upon himself to lovingly embrace the wall. And as walls have a tendency to do, it rejected his "tender advances" Everyone who had sampled with Shawn however acted even odder, I could swear her eyes were sparkling, bright purple, some fell. Spencer that was his name, at my table, he developed a completely new kind of twitch. He couldn't even keep his hands, on his hand. Lena, probably the most dependable, silently stubborn girl I had ever known; had become more hyperactive, than a kid in a candy store.
        And then the storm rolled in, with a crack of lightning that disrupted the infinitely repeating flash of the strobe lights, blue, red, yellow, green, yellow, blue, red The rain fell in sheets, as Shawn laid down his hand, Black Jack and went to pick up his winnings... I cannot get her scream out of my head... It pierced everything, watching her stagger, stumble and fall into a newly formed puddle, tear out her own hair... I have seen people do some crazy things mid trip. Before but, but nothing could prepare me for what I saw when I turned her over.... Her eyes empty, dead... a distressed look all over her face... blood pulsing liberally through sores that just appeared all over.... she took on an orangish tint....  and then another scream, another body dropped, again and again getting louder as I got closer. It was like a chorus of horror.
When I got back to the alley, the music was stuck, in a way that would only make sense if someone were holding the turntable. The DJ had obviously joined someone in a toast, to how crazy this party was. As his body was slumped, bleeding on top of the turntable, I snapped out of my shock and horror as I could hear the sirens, now not so far off in the distance. I watched as what was left of the party, dissipated, friends leaving friends, some one in a white sweatshirt ran off with my lockbox.  In addition, knocked Spencer, well more of his body out of his seat while making a break for it.  I sighed as I looked into his eyes, that same panicked look that was in Hope’s eyes. I shut his eyes, picked up what I could of my deck of cards, and as I was leaving, I ran into a delirious and dizzy Mikaela.

                                                                xXAveryXx
It was almost winter break. I couldn’t wait to take a break from college. Not that I didn’t like campus life. Being a liberal arts major, I was well into the underground art scene. I was always on the lookout for the hottest events and parties, so when I heard of a rave in an old underground train station, I knew I had to go.
The night of the rave was rainy. I remember that well. It was misting when the cab pulled up to the entrance. Inside, the rave was already at its peak, the walls thumping with music, strobe lights slicing through the darkness of the night. I got out, looking around at the area. Across the alley from the train station, people were huddled around what looked like a card table. There were more people stumbling about, shouting, yelling in the street. This wasn’t unusual; after all it was a rave. I shrugged to myself and went on about my business, letting them have their fun.
Later that night I was dancing. Everyone danced at these sort of things, even if you didn’t normally. There was just something about the pulsing beat of a house mix that compelled you to dance even if you didn’t want to. That philosophy was for everyone who wasn’t drunk or in the love embrace of the night’s “magical”, feel good drug. I danced with many guys. I won’t lie, I’ve been known to be attractive. I’ve been told so many times. And hey, a girl’s ego needs to be stroked from time to time even if it is only from a drunk loser. The guy I was dancing with was tall, lean, and lanky. He didn’t have much meat on him but I figured he was a college student. I had come to known you can blame college for a LOT of things. Sparkling green eyes and mousey brown hair. He wasn’t too bad looking, just not my type. I’d figure I’d humor him for a while. He looked like he needed it.
“You having fun?” he whispered in my ear, moving closer under the pretense that we were dancing.
I looked at him, his green eyes dialated and flickering underneath the steady heartbeat of the strobe lights.
“What’s your name?” I asked, ignoring his question and flashing him a saucy smile.
“Sean. What’s yours?” he moved closer, pushing himself up against me. He was being too forward. I couldn’t really blame him, the floor was packed tight. Still, a girl has her morals.
“I’m Avery.” I replied with a sweet smile. I was having way too much fun with this.
“Can I show you something?” his eyes looked hopeful, almost shining with a boy like quality.
“Sure.” I figured if it turned ugly, I could easily lose him in the crowd.
He led me over to a small circular booth with a table. There were setups like these all around the floor. Most of them were trashed, the table tops littered with cigarettes, lighters, drinks, and razors, among other things. The one Sean led me to was quite clean. There was a cup of something dark red, almost black thick fluid, a knife, and a strongbox. Sean motioned me to sit.
“So what’s a pretty girl like you doing at a rave like this?” he questioned as he poured the red liquid into a plastic cup.
“It’s the Friday before winter break. I could use some fun.” I gave him the most simplistic answer. You never saw the people you met at these sort of things again anyway. He handed me the plastic cup. I looked at it, slightly repulsed and sniffed at it cautiously. I wasn’t a wimp when it came to stuff like this but whatever this was it smelled and looked revolting.
“What is this?” I asked, looking up at him in disbelief.
“Energy drink.” He replied, without missing a beat.
I looked at him suspiciously. College kids were always suckers for shelling out big money for energy drinks…was this a gimmick? I continued to stare at him intensly, looking for any sign that he may be out to make a buck off of me.
“Well go on,” he motioned to the cup with a little smile on his face. “Drink it. It’s good.”
I gave into the devil on my shoulder. A little fun wouldn’t hurt me. Even so, I kept my eyes on him the whole time I drank, looking for a tell- tale sign that he was fooling me. I drank the whole thing. It was sweet like berries but with a harder, bitter taste around the edges. Sean looked at me smiling.
“Tastes good, right?”
“Very good.”
Sean pulled me by the hand.
“Come on there’s something else I want to show you.”
We went outside, drinking the cool freshness of the falling rain in. I leaned against the side of the train station, catching my breath. Venues like these always got hot and sweaty and the drink I had just had wasn’t helping things. My vision started to blur and I slumped down to sit on the wet asphalt. I couldn’t see anything straight in front of me, everything was tilting and my head was rushing. I was vaguely aware that Sean was asking if I was alright , but I couldn’t speak to give him an answer. My head rolled to the side and I could feel Sean shaking me trying to get a response out of me. The wet asphalt was seeping through my jeans and my hair was wet hanging in my face. A night wind kissed my face gently and lulled me into a drowsy state. I slowly closed my eyes.

                                                                          xX”Progress”Xx
Shh… I whispered, as she came to. As I concluded my attempts at explaining what I had seen, and consoling her for what had happened to Laurence. She began to sob hysterically, and at that moment, it finally came together. I had always noticed that she and Laurence were always close, but the full depth of their relationship manifested itself by that dumpster. Her tears made it sacred grounds that green dumpster a memorial to him.  I’d carried her, dragged her, and when she could manage to stay out of a grief induced coma led her away from the site of the rave, We’d been running for at least two days now out of what would later be known as “the Initiatory Ground”, “Park 3”, and the first site officially declared in “The Infected Zone”.
Why Run? Karma seemed to be rather quick acting, as I had watched the kid, who’d taken my lockbox trip and smash his head on one of the cop and some other federal agencies cars that had pulled up. As I offered Mikaela my hand and let her, know that we needed to move. I watched, as one of the Feds got a little hostile. I don’t blame them considering the scene, they’d probably just now seen. (and my own personal grudge against the would of been thief)Then I remembered my lock box, no point in denying my being at the rave. Luckily, for me, Mikaela intervened before another stare off in shock or surprise episode. And we slowly made our way across the abandoned lot, stumbling through the wet grass into the urban jungle. There wasn’t a lot of time, or enough light to tell if we were being followed, aside from the occasional crack of lightning as I managed to lead us, staggering with her leaning on me into a warehouse, before collapsing from exhaustion….
As to how we got to our present situation of cowering behind a dumpster? I can only vaguely recall. The smooth surface of the warehouse floor, the pounding of the rain on the sheet metal roof, and the dusty air within did not exactly promote a great night’s or rather hour’s sleep. As it what only seemed to be a matter of minutes after collapsing, I heard the sound of cars rolling to a stop, and just faintly disharmonious with the rain, the sounds of footsteps on pavement. Unfortunately, they had clearly not ID’d my body at the site, nor did the thief resemble me. As the people outside called me by name, at first insisting that they were only here to return my box, but after my silent treatment, informed me that they needed me and the girl they saw me with for “Testing” and Questioning for my own benefit.
Moreover, that from the number of pictures and several letters that I’d kept in that box, that they really did not want to pin 16+ dead people on well a “local legend” such as myself. Mikaela Came to around now, and I saw the panicked expression in her eyes that filled those of the dead, but instead of screaming hysterically, she shot me a look that simply asked “Why Not?” I gasped in shock, as she slowly walked to the door and opened it. I remember pushing her out of the way as a misaligned taser’s probes shot and bounced off the doorframe. Lucky for us the rain had clearly thrown off their aim. Looking behind me for something to defend myself with, I remembered this place had at least four different exits.  So taking Mikaela, much to her chagrin by the hand took of running through the warehouse... It was at this point I discovered the FBI, was pursuing us as one of the men who just tried to taze me, yelled out… However, I remember as I took off through the warehouse, Mikaela was… what I would describe as decidedly hesitant.

“Eden, wait. What are you running from”… what do you think? Guys with government issue blazers, the guys who tried to taze me?, Eden you do realize that we’re resisting , heck now evading arrest.” Yeah and? I don’t tend to trust people who want nothing more than to “question me”…. Our conversation broke as we had found our way out into the chilling rain. Until eventually we must of collapsed in front of the green dumpster.    As the sun came up, it appears the feds resumed their chase, with a set of fresh suits, calling Mikaela’s name.
I guess her next move really wasn’t that unpredictable taking into account the depth of her loss and her overbearingly altruistic personality. She quit sobbing, looked me dead in the eyes,  and stood up…walked a few paces before calling out “I’m here, I’m here,” sobbing once more for effect, that stupid jerk left me here at this dumpster…
The dry resolute voice, of an agent Sylver, or so he said came through with the words.  I’m glad one of you, is still thinking straight. Taking her by the hand and quickly wrapping a blanket around Mikaela. Lucky for me I was able to roll just out of sight, giving Mikaela a thumbs up and mouthing the words thank you as she was taken away. The only question on my mind, due to the clarity that comes with adrenaline came simply: What to do, what to do?

                    
                                                          Work In Progress
The first thing I thought of when I finally woke up was that my head hurt. Terribly. The second thing I was aware of was that I was not in my bed in my dorm and there was someone in the room. I sat up suddenly in bed, desperate to see where I was. Instantly, I regretted it. The massive amount of blood rushing to my head did nothing to relieve my headache. Dropping my head into my hands, I sat very still for a moment hoping that the pounding in my head would stop soon.
I slowly looked up. Someone was in the room. His back was to me and I could tell he was moving things around on a dresser. Whoever he was, he moved with grace and agility, deliberate in his actions. Avery moved her leg on the bed slightly. He turned slowly.
“Ah, I see you’re awake.”
It was Sean, the guy from the rave. All at once, the memories of the past night came rushing back, overwhelming her and causing her to fall back onto the bed in pain.
“Whoa, there nelly,” Sean put his hand on Avery’s shoulder. “You alright?”
“My head hurts,” Avery said “so do my legs.”
“Well you did take quite a tumble, falling on the asphalt like that. No doubt you probably have a couple of sick looking bruises tomorrow.” Sean made himself comfortable sitting on the edge of the bed, much to Avery’s annoyance.
“Great.” Her sarcasm matched her mood. Sitting up again, slowly this time, she looked around. The room had typical college student written all over it, although it was
much more tasteful than others she had come across. She was sitting on a twin bed, decorated with a gray comforter and red, scarlet red, sheets. There was a black beanbag in one corner and a desk in another. The space was tight, but very cozy.
“Where am I?”
Sean chuckled. “You want to know the truth?” He knew she was going to freak when she found out.
“Preferably.” Avery said with a steely gaze.
“Well. You’re in my room.”
“And I assume this is your bed?”
“Well yeah.”
“And you brought me here last night?”
“Yup.”
That was it. It was time to get going. Avery mentally hit herself on the head for thinking that Sean would be any different from any other college guy. She felt her body shudder, not wanting to think of what might have happened last night.
“Well Sean, thank you for your hospitality but I best be going now.” Avery swung her legs out from under the covers, and went to stand up. Slowly, she reminded herself. She didn’t want a repeat of earlier, not now when she was trying to make an exit.
Finding her feet on the ground, she pushed off the bed. Almost simultaneously, she fell to the floor. Sean gasped; he had thought the side effects would have worn off by now. Moving quickly, he knelt next to Avery.
“I didn’t do anything last night. If you look at yourself, you’ll find that you’re still in your own clothes. You need to stay here though. At least until you’re better.”
Avery looked down at her clothes, surprised to find that Sean was telling the truth. She considered her options. She could leave, go back to her dorm, pack her things, and go home as planned with this horrible sickness. She doubted that she would even get back to
her dorm, let alone get on a plane in this condition. Or she could stay in this stranger’s apartment. Avery debated for a minute and then looked up at Sean.
“Ok,” she said quietly.
Sean gently picked her up in his arms and laid her back in the bed. He looked at her carefully, as if he was considering asking her something. Sean cleared his throat carefully.
“Would you….would you um..like to sleep in something more comfortable?”
Avery stared at Sean.
“I mean I have an old t-shirt you could sleep in…maybe some sweatpants or something…”
His awkwardness almost made Avery want to laugh.
“Sure, thanks.”
(THIS PART ISN’T FINISHED YET)