CHAPTER TWO-THE WAIT

Jay woke up first. Alex was poking at him. He opened his eyes and nearly jumped a foot, hoping it had all been a dream. Even the good sex with Jess, he had hoped was a fucking dream. But it wasn't. Alex's pale face illuminated by a flash light. "What are we doing here, Jayson?" He demanded. More angry than scared, he waited for an answer.

"Keeping you safe." Jay answered.

"From what?"

"It's complicated." Jay yawned, sitting up. He pulled Alex onto his lap. "There's some really scary stuff happening right now. It's best if you don't know. For right now."

"It's dark in here. And I can't play on my iPad."

"Neither can I." Jay replied. "I swear this won't last long. We won't be here long, I mean. We have to wait, then if things don't get better, then we'll move again."

"Move where? That's all we do, Jay? Back to Sandy's?"

"Alex, I don't have the answers."

"Does Julia have the answers? Who does have the answers?"

"That's a good question, Alex. I don't know. But for right now, it's up to me to keep you safe. Keep everyone safe."

"This is safe?" He asked, crawling off Jay's lap. He took his flash light and left him where he sat.

Julia lay awake listening to Jayson. He had told Alex he didn't know anything in 5 different ways. But Alex was correct. Who does know anything? She pulled her cell from her pocket and checked the screen. Her dad hadn't called and neither had Tavin. Jay encouraged her to go back to sleep, but she crawled onto Jay's lap and took Alex's spot. Jay held her tight, his breathing was heavy and she could feel his tears dropping onto her face below his. Julia felt numb and un-phased by any of the events that had unfolded. She didn't know what they'd face outside the 4 walls of the house. She didn't know what tomorrow would bring any more than she did the day before. He tried to stop his tears, but Julia told him to let it go. They'd said there would be a time to cry when they got settled out of the house, away and hidden from the horror that they'd seen in the basement or Jess's front porch. However horrifying it had been, the time came to be mournful and let the tears flow.

She reminded him, "It's just you and me here. While you got the chance, let it out. It's us that have to come up with the answers."

"I don't have answers, Julia. I'm scared. I can't let them see that."

"Jay, you can let me see that. Ok, that's what I'm here for. You took care of me, remember?"

"I don't want to have to do that again. It took me this long to get it outta my head, to get us back to a place where-"

"This is different, Jay. We're gonna have to do what needs to be done. If it comes to that, Jay. We're all going to have to make that choice."

"I know." he said. "I Know."

They sat for a bit quietly till the tears stopped flowing. Chess poked his head inside and then left when Julia waved him away. Jay ran through his mind all that needed to be done inside this temporary shelter. They needed to organize and plan. Aside from a routine, they had to figure out how to get past the little things and onto the big things. Jay felt assured they wouldn't be there long. They had no heat source short of a space heater, no food source once they ran out. Where exactly are they going to use the bathroom? A million questions and no answers. They'd need to get creative.

The explosion brought them out of their thoughts. Jay and Julia jumped up and ran through the hall to the kids. "Everyone ok?" Jay yelled.

"Yeah, we're all in here." Chess answered, meeting him at the doorway. Alex and Tatia started crying, everyone stood still waiting. "What the fuck was that?" Chess asked, then the next explosion was heard not too far away from the first.

"I have to look and see." Jay told Julia. "Chess, let's go."

"Go where? Jayson!" Julia yelled as the two tore down the steps. Jay unlocked the front door and before he could open it, Chess stopped him.

"No, no one can know we're here. What are we gonna do?"

"The basement, we'll go out the basement." Jay flicked on the flashlight and they crept through the basement. Old stuff littering the way to the basement entrance. They went outside, fearing what they'd see. Staying low, they crept out and hid by the bushes near the front of the house. No flames, just plumes of smoke from 2 separate areas, which gave them no clues. Several people were on the street, packing their vehicles. It appeared they were clearing out. Jay knew his neighbors. The families on the block. He counted heads as they hurried around the street in front of them. No one was noticing them in their panic. Mothers stuffed their children into cars. Everyone's leaving.

"Jay." Chess said nervously. " I know what's causing the explosions, Jay." Chess frantically pulled at his shirt, getting his cousin's attention.

"What, Chess?" Jay asked. Chess pointed to the overcast clouds above them. An airplane was flying low, way too low. They didn't live near an airport.

"Shit, Chess. Oh, shit."

They watched the plane as it approached lower and lower as if it was being steered down, but to land where? The cousins watched as it flew too low, pitching down by the school. This explosion shook the ground beneath them, the fireball that followed billowed into the Maverick sky. They dove beneath the bushes despite being out of the debris field. They were terrified that the plane's was closer to them than they thought. The two howled a scream when Julia's body dove in between them, thinking at first they'd been hit by something off the plane or that they'd been caught somewhere they shouldn't be.

"It's me. It's me. What the hell? Was that a fucking air plane?" Julia cried out. "How many more could there be up there?" She asked, her voice frightened as she spoke.

Jay straightened himself and returned to his knees, watching the people on his street clear out. We're alone here now, he thought. Now Julia's house was empty. More than half of the houses were. There was no movement from at least two other homes. They were already gone, sick or hiding out like his people were in the not so vacant house.

"This is a good thing," Jay told them as they knelt behind the bushes.

"How, Jay, in the world could this be a good thing?"

"We're going shopping. Look, all these people are leaving. Let's get back inside."

"What about the planes?"

"We're gonna hope they don't land on us."

It took hours, but the 4 of them got the house up and running on the second floor. Jess occupied the kids and kept them calm. They went through the basement the first floor of the house and took what they could use upstairs. Crates and boxes, old laundry baskets and bags. They separated all their belongings and stored them into specific bins according to need. They separated out what they couldn't or wouldn't use and rebagged everything and moved that stuff to the living room by the door. Jay didn't want to have to pack if they had to leave right away. He wanted everything ready to go, the most important stuff first. He reminded them they would not be staying here.

Jess emerged from the back bedroom once the kids had eaten and fallen asleep. She stepped inside the master bedroom and asked for a water bottle. Chess handed her one.

"Guys, where is the bathroom? I mean what are we going to use? I need to and I have been holding it for a long time."

"The toilet Jess."

"It can't flush."

"I know Jess." Julia mumbled. "We didn't get that far yet."

"When are you going to get that far? I mean-"

"Jess, yes, we know." Jay answered.

They set up a make shift table by the window, turned over buckets to use for seats. Julia tossed a notebook on the table with a pen. The Diaries of Julia Fry, she thought. Jess still stood uncomfortably in the doorway, crying again.

"Jess, please stop crying." Jay told her. "Go pee."

"I don't have to pee. " She cried.

"Well, Julia? Any ideas? Short of outside?"

"No, not outside." Jess cried.

Julia flipped over the bucket and lined it with a bag from Mr G's store. She handed it to Jess who started bawling her eyes out.

"Do you want help or something?" Julia snapped. Jess turned and left the room. "Jess, wait." She followed Jess down the hall to the bathroom adjacent to the room that Alex and Tatia slept in. "Jess, babe, I'm sorry. If I could go first I would."

"This is wrong, just eww and all." Jess groaned. Julia swore Jess was stomping her feet tantrum-like behind the closed bathroom door.

"Jess, I am sorry. I don't know what else to fucking do." Julia said through the door. "I really wish I had an alternative, Jess."

"OK, just go away." She cried.

The four of them took seats around the table. The notebook open and Julia with her pen, ready for ideas. Jess returned, embarrassed and upset.

"What do I do with the bag?"

"Jay? Put it in a trash can. We'll get rid of it." Jay shrugged. 

"Who's doing that?" Julia asked, cringing at the thought.

"Well, she's Chess's girlfriend." Jay laughed.

"Oh, God." Jess mumbled.

"I don't know. Come sit down, please." Jay said, becoming serious again.

Julia penned the date and time at the top of the page. "It's been a long fucking day. For all of us. Nothing else is going to happen tonight. We've done all we can. We're all spent. Tonight we wait. We watch and we listen. There's still more that needs to be done. On the agenda for tomorrow morning is- suggestions?"

"A bigger vehicle." Chess suggested. Julia wrote that down.

"Heat. How long is that heater gonna last? Fuel wise. It'll only last so long. So we need more or an alternative." Julia said, writing that down as well.

"Cooking. How to cook a meal. And a fucking can opener. All those fucking cans and we can't open them." Andy said, tears falling from his already red eyes, which he caught with a sleeve. Julia wrote that down as well.

"Where to properly take a dump?" Jess laughed, as she watched Julia writing in the notebook.

"A way to get out of here quickly with at least the necessities. A day's worth of supplies." Julia suggested, writing that in her notebook.

'Where are we going, guys?" Jess asked, Andy agreeing with that question.

"Not yet. Hopefully after we secure a vehicle then we can secure a location." Julia replied. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Ok, and how long do we wait for Cal to get hold of us? What has happened with him? Sandy? Uncle John?" Jay asked. "We need to figure this out, which means going out. We're going to have to go out anyway."

"Who's going?" Andy asked.

"Me and Chess." Jay answered.

"No, me and you." Julia cut him off.

"I told you you're staying inside and I mean it."

"Chess, don't leave me." Jess said, taking his hand.

"Me and Chess. No exceptions."

Julia's phone rang across the room, that ringtone. "It's Tavin." Julia answered the phone and pointed at Jay. "Ok. Cool. Stay there."

"Him and Callie are outside." Julia said, clicking off her call. No one moved. "Jayson, go get them or I will." Julia took the flash light and strode down the hallway, down the flight of stairs and to the basement door. She made her way through the cleared out basement and then to the side entrance. In the dark, no street lights, Julia was near invisible. The two stood diagonal to her at the gate to Julia's house. Jay appeared next to her as she made her way through the yard to the front of the house. Tavin and Callie crossed the street to them. Jay pulled Julia back, held his hand up at them to stop.

"Are either of you sick?"

"Sick of walking. Fucking airplanes got in our way." Tavin answered, stepping forward.

Jay pulled a gun from his waistband, "I asked if either of you are sick?"

Tavin stepped in front of Callie, placing himself between his girlfriend and the pistol pointed at their faces. "No, Jay, we're not fucking sick."

"Coughing, vomiting blood? Let me see your eyes." Jay demanded, shining a flashlight at their faces.

Tavin stood still, hands up. Julia couldn't believe what she was witnessing. "We're not sick, Jayson." Tavin repeated. "Can you put the gun down?"

Jay clicked off the flashlight, lowered the gun and tucked it back into his waistband. Everyone breathed a deep sigh of relief that he shot no one, including himself. He'd never shot a gun before. He didn't wish to start there.

They went back through the basement and through the house to the second floor. They dropped their bags and took off their coats, relieved to be warm and out of the elements.

"How'd you find us?" Julia asked.

"We went to the house. Whatever or whoever is in that basement is desperate to get out. We didn't stay long. Saw the note you left for Uncle John." Tavin answered. "Where are the kids? Are they ok?"

"Asleep in the back."

"Nice set up you got here."  Callie pointed out. "Wow."

"You wouldn't happen to have a can opener?" Andy grumbled.

Since their meeting was concluded and Julia put the book away until the next day, she showed Tavin and Callie to the middle room. Andy opted to sleep in with the kids in the back bedroom. They were going to rotate sleeping on the floor in front of the door, so if one of them woke up and tried to get out, they'd know about it. Chess and Jess laid down on their side of the master bedroom, fooling around beneath blankets before falling asleep. Julia lay on the opposite side of the room beneath blankets waiting for Jay to come back to her. He and Tavin were in the hall and talked quietly in front of the bedroom door. Once he returned the light went out and it was pitch black. Jay and Julia were spent and exhausted from having used their brains and their bodies all day into the night with no sleep.

They lay facing each other, Jay explaining where the gun came from. Julia already knew the answer, but wanted to know why he had kept it. They listened to Jess moaning and Chess breathing heavy as they made love in the dark room across from them. Then Tavin and Callie started in the room next to them. Tavin and Callie had the floor boards creaking, but remained fairly quiet.

"It's locked in the box, Julia." Jay answered her.

"Why did you keep it? You said it was in the bottom of Shades' lake. Why'd you keep the fucking gun?" She asked again, feeling his hand on her ass, drawing her closer to him.

"I was going to shoot myself with it."

"But you didn't."

He buried his head in her hair against her neck, "No, I didn't." He agreed as they listened to Jess have her orgasm and the floor boards creek in the room next door.

She hoped her phone would ring. That her dad would call. The longer he didn't call, the more she believed that they'd never hear from him again. The next day brought more work and the development of another place to go. Would they be able to leave without their families?

All they could do was wait.