January-Surge pt. 2

Rachel's eyes burn into me as she stares down at me from her bedroom window. The sound of the passenger side door opening draws my attention from the window. I clear my throat and smile, pushing away any memory of Rachel. “Good Morning.” She smiles lightly, sadness lurks in her eyes. “The best way to start the day is with coffee.” I put the SUV in drive and we head to one of the best coffee stands in town, “Ok, so you live on what we call the loop. It’ll take you from one side of town to the other.” She sits quietly with her hands folded nicely in her lap. As I approach the stoplight it turns red, “So this is WestSide, hippie/college students/rich people.” I pull into the coffee hut and push my sleeves up. “What kind of coffee do you like?” this cracks a smile onto her face, “White Chocolate Mocha with marshmallows.” I flash a flirty smile at the barista, “I need an americano, a white mocha with marshmallows, and two bagels,” the barista bats her eyes, “sure thing.” I look at Katherine, “Ok, so down this road goes towards, Walmart, the mall, and a few other places,” the barista pops back to the window. “That’ll be 15 dollars.” I reach into my pocket and pull out a wad of cash and hand her a 20. “Keep the rest.” She hands me our food and drinks. “The first stop on our tour is the mall, have you been there yet?” She smiles softly as she sips from her coffee cup. “Nope, this marks day three of my frozen wasteland adventure.” I turn left onto college, “alright California girl, be prepared to be blown away. Our mall is pretty impressive.” I chuckle at my own joke. We drive in silence as we slowly munch on our bagels. I can't help be watch her out the corner of my eye watching the way the sun reflects off her skin. “This is it, in all its glory.” The mall stretches from one end of a parking lot to the other. She lets out a laugh that sounds like waves crashing into the sand on the beach, it's music to my ears. I put the SUV in park inside a parking square. I quickly jump out and race to her side.

Inside is basically a hallway. Off to the right is another hallway that leads to a grocery store. We turn the small corner into the main part of the mall and run right into my ex-girlfriend and her best friend. “Hey Surge,” she says coolly as she runs her finger down my bicep. Her long golden hair flows just past her shoulders. Her deep blue eyes draw me in. “Who's the chick?” She asks while flipping her hair over her shoulder. I clear my throat and pull away from her touch. “This is Kat.” I toss my arm over her shoulder like she belongs to me. “She is the baddest.” Both of the girls laugh, “She's gotta be bad to be with you.” They walk away giggling. “You seem to know a lot of people.” She leans into me a little harder making my heart race. “Don't worry about them. They're just jealous.” We make a few more silent laps before stopping at my favorite clothing store. I pull her in, "let's get you a real coat, an Alaskan coat." She smiles and I twirl her in a circle making her giggle and knock into a clothes rack. We find a pretty purple Carhartt and it's the perfect fit. We both reach for our wallets at the same time, "My treat." I push her hand away and give the cashier money. She sighs and leans into my shoulder like she's giving me a half hug. "Thanks." her voice is soft, it stirs things inside me.

We walk hand and hand back to the SUV, “Do you want to see my favorite place?” She nods.

We drive on the bridge over the frozen river. People stumble below as they walk across the icy pathway. “Ok, this is downtown, to the right is the courthouse.” The courthouse stands tall on the edge of downtown along First Ave. the further south we go the buildings and the sidewalks crack with old age. She looks around aimlessly as the sun glares off the snow making her squint. We approach a red light just a few blocks down, “This is Airport, this is the road that divides the town, once we cross this we are on south side.” She rolls her eyes at my mention of south side. “I'm from California, I know south-side's.” Her words ooze sarcasm, I look at her through the corner of my eye, “You may think differently if you ever find yourself alone over here, we may not be big city dangerous, but this area holds a lot of secrets and you should be worried if you ever happen across one.” Finally, the road changes from smooth asphalt to broken snow cover dirt road. “This is called the dikes.” I pull the truck onto the top of a small hill. “This is here to keep the river that is through those woods from taking out our town, not that I think it's ever come close.” We slowly cruise down the dike like a boat riding waves in the ocean, “Tell me about you.” She snaps her head at me like I offended her. “What do you want to know?” I smile at her, “Look, I don't know you and you don't know me, but I'd like to.” She smiles an ear-to-ear smile, “Well, I'm from Bakersfield, ca,” she bites her lip, “I want to be an artist, I love drawing and painting I can also play the guitar and piano. My plan was to finish high school and go to a prestigious art school in New York, now I'm not entirely sure.” She folds her hands in her lap and looks down. The emotion she was showing faded and her mask is back in place. She looks at me, the light zapped from her amazing blue eyes, “What about you,” I shrug, “there’s a lot I want to do, I want to get my pilot's license and fly bush planes to the villages, I also like drawing, most of these tattoos I've done myself. I even thought of becoming an architect, but I can't leave the state for school.” She furrows her brows, “Well why not?” I shrug again, “Family first.” She nods and looks out the window.

Two moose dart across the dike. The hind legs of the big moose clip the corner of my hood. The SUV jerks to the right pulling us down the embankment. “Fuck” I take a deep breath, “are you ok?” Kat sits wide-eyed next to me, she nods her head. I jump out of the truck and fall into waist-deep snow. Damn it! I get back into the SUV and put it in 4 wheel drive, I floor the reverse which just makes the front end sink a little more. I rub my hands on my face in frustration. “I'm sorry Kat, let me call my brother and have him bring my other truck out here and get us unstuck.” She laughs a little, “It could be worse surge.” I smile at her optimism and pull my phone out of the middle console. “Kyle, I need your help man, I'm stuck on the dike in the SUV. Go get my blue truck and come pull us out.” With a big yawn, “I guess man, let me get myself together.” I hang the phone up and with a sigh, I look at Kat, “He'll probably be about an hour.” The next few minutes we spend sitting in silence. “What's it like growing up here?” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Uh, well, it's like being born with a taste for adventure, it's not being afraid of the woods, the rivers, the night sky. Growing up here gives you a sense of respect for the fish in the streams, the birds in the trees, the bears in the woods. It's about accepting your inner animal and letting him be free. Growing up here is about sustainability, it's about the future. It's about taking care of ourselves and what the land has to offer, it's about overcoming challenges. It's about survival.” Her eyes burn into the side of my head, I look at her and she's in awe. Her lips perfectly parted, I'm pulled to her like a magnet. Our lips touch, and she gasps lightly sucking in a breath. Our lips dance, moving together as one. She presses her body against mine, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. Her mouthparts inviting me inside, our tongues tangle as a small moan escapes her lips. The honking of Kyle's arrival pulls us apart sharply, “I'll be right back.” I hop out of the SUV and make the steep climb to the top of the embankment. “Sticky situation bro.” Kyle has his ever-present laid-back attitude. “Look there's an open patch down there, I'll pull in and back as close to you as I can, then we can just strap it up and call it a day.” I nod my head and make my way back to Kat inside the truck. I open the door, “This should only take a few minutes.” I meet Kyle in the snow and grab the tow strap. I try to dig a hole to the tow bar under the car. My hands are numb, trying to fumble with the latch hurts. I give Kyle the thumbs up and jump inside the truck. It only takes a few pulls to pull it out. “Thanks, man!” I yell to Kyle as he unhooks the SUV. he waves in return.

The sun is setting in the West, the sky is alive with vibrant pinks, oranges, and purples. “Suppose I get you home before your family thinks I killed you or something,” she sighs and nods slightly. We drive back to her uncle's house in silence. My heart hammers in my chest thinking about today's events. Her eyes are locked on the window. I wonder what she's thinking about. Pulling back into her uncle's house there is a black SUV that kind of matches mine parked outside the house. My heart drops and my palms begin to sweat. My eyes stay locked on the car in front of me. Her lips kiss my cheek softly, “Thanks for showing me around, I had fun, even if we did get stuck,” I smile at her as she climbs out. I look up at Rachel's window and catch a glimpse of her and Tim. As soon as I'm at the end of the road, my phone rings, “Surge,” Brian's voice sends chills down my spine. I need you to meet up with Bram, and Crow. There's something that needs to be done. Make sure you have your gun. I’ll text you the address,” the line drops, and my phone rings in my hand, “1478 W. 28th St.” my heart races as I rush across town. I see a black SUV on the corner. They flash their lights at me. I leave my SUV on the side of the road. I put the cold gun in the back of my pants and walk up to the other SUV. Fuck, this is where I die. He rolls the window down. I'm face to face with a man with eyes so dark they look black, and his long black hair shadows his scruffy face. He climbs out of the SUV in all black clothes like me. “I’m guessing you’re Crow?” he nods, “you ever kill someone before?” Bram walks around the truck looking like Dracula with a Russian accent to match. I shake my head. Bram smiles showing his perfectly white teeth, “You’re about to,” my stomach knots, my palms sweat. I follow closely behind Bram and Crow.

Crow kicks open the door and we are under fire instantly. I open fire aiming for anyone shooting at me. Bullets fly all around me as grunts from people being hit the floor. I watched two of my bullets connect with a man about my age across the room. He drops the gun in his hands and his eyes lock with mine as he falls to the floor. A bullet strikes hard into my arm making me drop my gun. I drop to the floor behind the overturned couch. The sound of final gunshots rings through the air as the colors start to blur in my vision. “Come on kid.” Bram helps me to my feet. “We’ve got a doctor who will fix that right up. The drive back out to Headquarters seems like a blur. They bring me into the back room. It's clean and smells like a hospital. A guy dressed as a doctor comes in, “Let's have a look.” I pull off my sweater and wince. Bram rips my white shirt off so fast I flinch. “It isn’t bad kid, you’ll be ok.” They clean my wound and 12 stitches later it’s good to go.

“Surge, a word.” Brian pops in the room as I hop off the table. I follow him down the hall to the study. “Very well done,” he hands me another white shirt and a black zip-up hoodie. I slip the shirt on my head as Crow walks in with a slight smile on his face holding my gun. I grab it and put it in the back of my jeans. Martin clicks his tongue, “Is that how you are carrying that? Crow go get this boy a proper holster,” he disappears out of the room. “Surge, the cabin now has running water, and some other basic life items, it is ready for you. Also, here is 3,000 cash for your kill tonight. Welcome to the family.” Crow walks in the holster. “Oh also, here's the keys to your SUV.” I carefully put the hoodie on and head towards the door, “We’ll be in touch,” I nod my head, and stuff the money in my pocket. I drive to the address on the paper. The cabin is far back in the woods nestled nicely along the fast-flowing river. I open the door and warm air hits me. The wood stove is burning nice and hot. One room has a bed, my clothes from Shit’suus house and a few more pairs of jeans and plain t-shirts and hoodies. In the other room, there's a desk with a computer sitting on it. In the closet, there are three safes the codes are taped to the outside. One holds guns, a shotgun, a rifle, and two handguns. The second one holds ammo for all the guns and the third one has the drugs from my duffle bag, money, and a fake ID. I add the rest of my money to the stack and count it slowly with a grand total of 5,561. I grab a big empty ziplock back and mix all sorts of pills in it.