Fools of us All - Chapter 20

I was trying to sleep without much success. Beside me Caz was breathing heavily, having passed out as soon as she laid down, exhausted from the whole ordeal. She had finally told me who it was that I had shot earlier that day. I looked down at her, glad to see that at least while she was sleeping she seemed able to put all of the betrayal and rough times behind her and look peaceful.

Rubbing my face with my hand, I rose to my feet, giving up on the idea of sleep for at least a little while. Dim lights still shone in a few places around this formerly secret hideout. I had wanted to leave, but Caz had been too exhausted to go anywhere, and it was her opinion that there would not be anyone coming to check this place out tonight, not with everything that happened at the warehouse. I hoped she was right.

We were currently in a back room that had largely escaped damage in the attack. The door closed tightly, which helped keep the rats out. I had noticed a few picking on the remains of the bodies, but I had not mentioned that to Caz. Carefully I swung the door open just far enough to sneak out, closing it behind me just as cautiously. Going outside would be a bad idea I knew, so I decided instead that I would explore the rest of the base. It was not very large, mostly consisting of the one large room which had been destroyed in the fight. There were some offices along the back and side, and I had hopes that there would be something useful in one of them. I moved to the first one, disappointed to see that it was completely empty. The door on the next office had been twisted in the fight and did not budge no matter how hard I pulled. I moved to the third one, finding that the door was slightly ajar. Listening carefully, I did not hear any sounds, so I swung the door fully open.

I don’t know who was more surprised - me, or the kid with whom I found myself face to face.