Patrol

Bullets in my walls let the scorching red sun into my bedroom as my brother crawled into the bottom bunk.

"Your watch Darian, guns on the door."

"No, it's Markus'. Tell him to get his lazy ass off the couch."

I curled back into my old blanket to hide from the sunlight pouring into the dank room. Travelling during the day put us at risk of being taken by the Giwaani.

"The winged ones got him."

"Damn, I thought we finally found a good rest stop. What do we have left?"

"Twenty shells and two full clip-" he started snoring before he finished.

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the shotgun and went outside into the blazing heat.

A baby started crying down the road, and I prayed the Giwaani wouldn't hear them. It went quiet. I clutched my heart-shaped locket and ducked behind my truck as a poacher drove by.

The wind picked up, and I smelled smoke, fantastic! The range is open, and I have time to get more ammo. I walked in the shade along the road avoiding the open areas and turned left at the corner. Halfway there, the squawking started, and Carlos tackled me to the ground as a Giwaani cluster flew over.

"What were you thinking?"

"Don't you smell the smoke? We need weapons and ammunition!"

"Damn it, Dar! Fine, I'll walk with you."

He kissed my head then ducked into an old garage when more squawking approached. His grey eyes rested on mine. I backed into the light and kept walking with my gun ready.

"Go back, Carlos, the range doesn't like you anyway."

"Talk to me for a minute Dar."

"There's not a lot of cover until we get to the range. We can talk when we get back home, so keep your head low."

When we got to the smokestacks, I saw Terrence walking around with a semi-automatic that I wanted. He tilted his head at me, and I followed him to the back. Inside the barn, Terrence grinned when he showed me the many aisles filled with guns.

"Take yo pick Darian. I have bags o' bullets for ev'ry weapon. Not sure when I'll get 'nother shipment, so stawck up."

Carlos came in and grabbed a skid of bullets and rockets, and I put a few guns and some rocket launchers on top. We loaded up another for me to drag back to our place, then seized some rope to pull them. We tied them together and covered them with a tarp he pushed while I pulled them back.

Baby Giwaani dropped rocks on us as we struggled to get home. Part of me expected to see Markus waited for us to arrive, but he wasn't.

"They attacked at noon while you were asleep. I'm sorry about your brother."

"It's not your fault. I wish I could've been out here with my gun, but I know it probably happened so fast."

We loaded the skids into the shed and locked it up so poachers couldn't get inside. Carlos put his hand on my waist as we ran inside before another cluster flew over.

An hour later, loud shrieks filled the sky, and rocks started hitting our roof and breaking the windows. I grabbed my gun and aimed it at the blurry movements of black and brown feathers.

They came down and swarmed me, but I fought my way out and managed to kill one. Meals for a week, which is good cause food is scarce right now.

Carlos helped me carry the giant bird inside and put it in the cold room in the basement. I sliced a chunk off the meaty wing and began plucking the feathers.

"I'll start a fire when the sun goes down. Want me to grab the salt?"

"No, I will when I finish plucking. Go take your nap."

"Why are you avoiding me?"

I sighed and almost cut myself, trying to yank a feather out. We aren't a couple, but it still stung when I saw him with another girl from two towns over.

"You told me you liked me, then twenty minutes later, you're kissing that girl at the lounge."

"We didn't kiss Dar. I wouldn't do that."

He was sitting at eye level with me, pleading with those dazzling grey orbs.

"Then why'd she come back to our place?"

"Markus invited her, and they had a fun night while I patrolled around with you."

"I didn't see you anywhere that night."

The chain broke as I fidgeted with my necklace and fought the urge to look up.

"I went to the south side to avoid the noises they were making. Come with me, I can fix that."

"Give me a few minutes, I want to finish with the meat."

He sat cross-legged in front of me and continued to try to start a staring contest. When I took the last feather off, I decided to take a peek if he was still starry-eyed. In a matter of seconds, he lifted my chin and kissed me.

All of a sudden loud squawking came from above, pulling us back to our reality. We ran upstairs and grabbed our guns, then went outside. Giwaani surrounded us, and I managed to shoot a few down, but it took a solid hour before they cleared.

I looked around and saw my locket on the ground cracked in half, and Markus was gone.