Arnold sped towards his brother’s garage, his Jeep’s engine shattering the early-morning silence of the southern district.

He’d landed at the airport a little over an hour ago, picturing the look on Skeeter’s face when he realized his twin brother had come home a full day early and drenched him with bucket of cold water, when all the lights in the airport had begun flickering and then went out. A quick look through a window at the blacked-out city was all he’d needed to confirm his suspicions.

Unfortunately, though he would’ve preferred to leave as soon as possible, he’d had to wait for the power to come back on so that he could retrieve his luggage. He was transporting a large case of ammunition back to the family garage to add to their already impressive stockpile, as well as more rifle rounds for Allen. Leaving said case behind would’ve been almost as good as walking into a police station with a loaded gun, so he’d been forced to wait for the power to come back on.

Questions burned through his mind, mainly why the city had been shut down for a second time, as he finally approached his destination.

“Holy shit…” he breathed as a battle-weary Black Beauty came into view. The entire chassis was covered in dents and bullet holes of varying sizes, the windows were all gone, and the right mirror was missing. He also noticed that both of the taillights and one of the headlights had been shot out. All in all, it looked as though she too had been in a firefight overseas.

He pulled right up next to the poor beast, shut off the engine, and jogged straight inside. Looking around, he noticed Skeeter sitting alone at his worktable with his head in hands.

“Oi! Skeets!”

The mechanic suddenly jerked up and spun around, grinning when he saw Arnold in the doorway of his shop. “Arnie!? Ya’lls way early, man!”

“Aw, sorry. Ah can head back if ya’ll want.” Arnold joked.

“Man, get yer damn kit and get in here.”

Arnold sniggered as he went back out to retrieve his luggage from the back of his truck, hauling it upstairs to a storage area that had long since been converted into a guest bedroom. He gently set the cases containing the ammunition and his gun on the bed with his heavy duffle bag, then walked back downstairs with the full intention of finding out why he’d been stuck at the airport for over an hour.

He reached the ground floor and looked around, noticing Skeeter back in his prior position at the worktable. He pulled up a stool and took a seat, his brother looking over at him as he did so.

“So…what happened? Why’d the lights all go out again?”

Skeeter breathed a heavy sigh. “It’s kind of a long story. Ya’ll might wanna get comfortable.”

For the next half hour, Arnold listened as Skeeter recounted the events of the last week. He told him about Twilight and what she was capable of, how Allen had found her, the Goodman job, his late-night run to help Allen rescue her, and her eventual capture by the federal occupation.

He shook his head sadly as the story finished. “Where’s he at now?”

“Roof. Just leave him be.” Skeeter said as he saw him start toward the service ladder to the roof. “He’s in kind of a mood right now ‘causa what we found under the passenger seat.”

“What?” asked Arnold. Skeeter gestured toward the shattered remains of an extremely tiny device on the table.

“A beacon ‘r somethin’. He said their leader musta’ dropped it there at some point ‘r another. He thought they was watchin’ him through the cameras.”

“All that fer nothin’.” he said sadly, shaking his head again. “His boss musta’ been pissed.”

Skeeter visibly shuddered. “Yeah, fer about five seconds. After that, Ah ain’t never seen Allen so angry or heard him shout for so long. Ah don’t know what Admin said; but Allen threatened to, and Ah quote, ‘stuff his next word back down his throat with a sniper round if he heard from them any sooner than tomorrow evening’.”

“Damn…and ta think he used to be scared a’ them. Whaddya think made him so angry?”

“Honestly, Ah think he liked er’.” Skeeter replied.

“Yer kiddin’.”

“Ah asked him a’ course, and he denied it, but Ah saw the way he was lookin’ at ‘er the other day. He almost couldn’t take his eyes off ‘er.”

Arnold shook his head again. He, like Skeeter, remembered a time when Allen had been more than a little socially guarded. Years of surviving on the open streets had made it difficult for him to trust anyone who wasn’t family. He and Skeeter had become friends by accident when they’d both been caught stealing from the same corner store and had to make a getaway. Skeeter had invited him to hide out in his garage while they waited for the cops to give up, and the three had quickly become good friends.

Even after that, however, Allen’s trust issues had persisted. While he managed to give them both a variety of well thought-out excuses on why he didn’t have a girlfriend, they both secretly knew it was because he hadn’t achieved that level of trust yet.

So it must have been absolutely devastating, Arnold thought, to finally trust someone that much only to have her stolen from him.

When is this world gonna leave ya’ll be, Al?

((((((*******))))))

Allen sat in a lawn chair on the roof, still fuming over his most recent conversation with the Administrator.

No sooner had Skeeter discovered the pill-sized tracker hiding in the area next to his passenger seat than his boss had called and started screaming at him about the city-wide blackout he’d wasted. Allen, having already spent his vast reserves of patience for the day, had immediately begun screaming back. After a good five minutes of uninterrupted rage, followed by a death threat that he’d be more than happy to make good on, he’d finally hung up and told a wide-eyed Skeeter that he was going to the roof to cool down.

After a few minutes, his anger slowly began to simmer back down into guilt. He’d promised Twilight that he’d keep her safe. He’d promised her that she’d be back home with her friends and family in no time at all. And then he’d led her straight into a trap.

It had been the absolute simplest piece of technology. A radio no bigger than his thumbnail, dropped on the floor next to the seat without him noticing. He’d believed them to be safe when the virus had been activated, so he’d hidden in the parking garage to wait out the feds. He’d thought that finding them would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Instead, the situation had been similar to a cat waiting directly outside of a mouse hole.

The worst part had been admitting defeat. The Administrator had never been able to locate their base of operations, which was obviously hidden somewhere outside of the city, and the soldiers that had captured them had made sure he stayed put until Twilight was long gone. He could get in the Mach 1 and start searching the outskirts for their base, but that could take hours and they probably wouldn’t stick around for long now that their mission was complete. Even if he did find them, he didn’t stand a chance against the entire federal occupation.

Allen removed his hat and ran a hand down his face as he slumped further into the chair, staring down at his boots. The day had been long and taxing, the night even more so, and already he could feel his eyelids drifting shut.

He made no effort to keep them open, instead praying for a dreamless sleep. Just a few hours of absolute ignorance.

He growled in annoyance as he heard his phone ring in his pocket.

Cursing quietly, he searched through his jacket pocket for the offending device and answered it. “Admin, what did I just fucking-”

“Ghost?” interrupted a familiar voice.

Allen sat stock still for a few seconds before getting to his feet, his anger returning full-force as he paced the rooftop. “And what the hell do you want? You call to gloat?”

“No, I-”

“You got what you wanted, right? You succeeded in kidnapping an innocent girl, and now all that’s left to do is for you to return to Area 51 or wherever it is you’re from, right!? What more could you possibly want!?”

“To tell you which route we’re taking out of Vegas so you can come pick her up.” Simmons replied calmly.

Allen abruptly stopped pacing and stared straight. “What?”

“I need you to listen carefully, because I don’t want to talk to you longer than I have to. We’re taking highway fifteen, the most capital-direct route out of the city. Your friend will be in a cell at the front of a semi trailer, which will be surrounded by four heavily armored SUVs. I suggest you hurry up and get in position, because we’re leaving soon.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Simmons sighed. “Let’s just say our conversation in the desert is starting to hit home. I thought I was doing the right thing, but now I’m not so sure. I want to give her back to you, but I also want to conceal my involvement. So…I need you to miraculously find out what route we’re taking and intercept us.”

Allen chewed his lip in thought. On one hand, this might be his only chance to save Twilight. On the other, he could be walking into another trap.

He shook his head. Trap or not, he was getting Twilight back from the feds.

“Alright, then.” he said to Simmons. “See you in a bit.”

“Good luck, sir.” the captain replied before hanging up. Allen put the phone back in his pocket, picked up his hat, and slid down the ladder to the lot below.

Skeeter and Arnold looked up as he reentered the garage, staring at him as he began pacing around the garage and muttering to himself. Both men exchanged confused looks before Arnold spoke up. “Hey Al? Ya’ll uhh…ya’ll okay?”

Allen abruptly stopped and spun around, looking at him in surprise. “Arnold? When did you get here?”

“Bout twenty minutes ago.”

“Oh.” Allen replied, still staring at him in surprise. He suddenly shook his head and gave him a serious look. “Did you bring your SMG?”

“Yeah, got it upstairs.” Arnold replied, eyebrow raised in confusion. “Why?”

“Go get it. Skeeter, grab your lever-action and the keys to October. I’ll explain everything on the way to my house. We don’t have much time.”

((((((*******))))))

Simmons sighed as he ended the call, then put the phone to his ear again. “Well, my faithful accomplice, that’s that. We are officially guilty of treason.”

“Meh.” Myles replied flatly. “So, is this the part where you go into hiding? Shall I get to work on your falsified credentials?”

“No, I can’t. I need to stay.”

“What!? That’s suicide! You’re seriously going to stick around after pissing in Remus’ beer like that!?”

“If we’re going to bring Remus down, we’re going to need to know all of his dirty little secrets. All we have to go on right now are hunches and the words of two questionably innocent people. The only way I’ll be able to get more dirt on him is by working closely with him.”

“You’re insane.”

“Possibly, which is why I’m telling you to back out now. The only way they’re going to find out about my involvement in this is if someone has managed to break into the secure connection you established between me and Ghost. If they’ve managed to do that, then they’ll be after both of us. It’ll be the end for me, but you still have a chance.”

“Screw that.” Myles snapped.

“Myles, please. I’m not asking as your superior. I’m asking as your friend.”

“We already discussed this. If you’re gonna to be digging up skeletons on anyone, you know you’re going to need me. That, and if worse comes worst, I at least want to know what happened to you.”

Simmons sighed in exasperation. “Fine. God, you’re stubborn.”

“Likewise.”

There was a long pause as the two men took in the gravity of the commitment they’d just made. Suddenly, Simmons heard someone shouting behind him. He turned to see his newly-promoted lieutenant waving him back to the convoy.

“Looks like we’re heading out. I’ll call you back after it happens.”

“I’ll be waiting. And Simmons?”

“Yeah?”

“No matter what happens after this, I just want you to know that it’s been a pleasure working with you.”

Simmons smiled warmly. “The pleasure was mine, Mr. Avalon. Now do me a favor and turn back into your regular cocky self. I miss the jokes.”

Myles chuckled. “Can do, boss. See ya in a bit!”

“Peace.” Simmons said before hanging up and making his way back to the trailer.

Author's Note

It takes a brave man to stand up against the odds for what he believes is right, but it takes a braver man to stand alone.
I'd like to thank you guys for all the positive feedback I received after completing the revisions. It means a lot to me that you guys are still so invested in this story.
As usual, be sure to give me a thumbs-up if you're enjoying and leave a comment with your thoughts.
Peace.