Phil Williams - 2050 - Psycho Island

Once near the top, he peered over, scanning the area. Gavin sat on top of the wall and motioned with his hand, indicating that the coast was clear. Derek tossed the rope to Gavin, who caught it and hoisted the attached bin up the wall. Summer and Derek copied Gavin’s technique of scaling the walls, both making it to the top without too much trouble. Javier crouched in the alley as the lookout, their bags at his feet.

The walls were thick, six-feet wide at the top. Probably the main reason the concrete bunker of a house was still intact. Where they stood, the sprawling house nearly touched the concrete wall, but they’d have to jump about a six-foot gap between the wall and the roof. Also, the roof wasn’t level with the top of the wall. There was a one-foot drop.

Gavin went first, taking a few quick steps and jumping, easily clearing the gap and landing on the roof. This part of the plan worried Summer. She’d expressed concern that their footfalls would be heard, but Derek had said that they were jumping on the garage, and he didn’t think anyone slept there. Derek went next, also easily clearing the gap.

Summer glanced down at the fifteen-foot crevasse between the top of the wall and the ground below. She took a few baby steps back, so she was on the edge of the wall. Summer took a deep breath and a few quick steps, then she jumped. Her legs cycled through the air, like she was doing the long jump in track and field. She landed on the EPDM rubber roof, still on her feet, her momentum carrying her a few steps forward.

From their vantage point, they saw two Aryan guards at the back gate, slumped in their seats, their heads lolled to the side, obviously dozing on the job. The guards in front were too close to the house to see over the eaves, but Summer smelled their skunky marijuana.

They tiptoed on the roof to the opposite side of the house. Solar panels were bolted to the roof and angled toward the sun. Derek showed them the tarp that covered the hole in the roof. They moved aside the stones that held the tarp in place, exposing the dark bedroom. They peered inside, the moonlight casting a dim glow. Nothing appeared out of order. Three people slept in the king-size bed, no blankets needed for the humid night. Wade’s snoring was audible.

The rope was tied in a loop at one end, large enough for Derek to fit around his waist. The other end was tied to the plastic recycling bin. Gavin placed the bin through the hole in the roof and lowered it inside Wade’s bedroom. Derek stepped into the loop and situated the rope around his waist. Summer, being the lightest, shimmied down the rope, into the bedroom.

She glanced toward the bed, her heart racing. Wade Wallace snored, his gut rising and falling with his breath. A naked woman slept on each side of him, both of them thin with leathery tans. The room smelled like body odor and sex. Summer found the boxes of MREs along the wall, right where Derek said they’d be.

She tiptoed to the boxes and grabbed one. It was heavy, maybe twenty pounds. As they’d planned, she put two boxes into the bin, and Derek hoisted the MREs to the roof. Summer crept back to the boxes, and glanced at Wade and the women again. They still slept. She carried two more boxes to the hole in the roof. Derek had already lowered the empty bin. Summer placed those two boxes inside and again Derek hoisted the bin and the MREs skyward.

They did this six times. There were twenty boxes, but they’d only planned to take twelve, figuring that was the maximum they could carry. On the sixth and final time, Summer looked up, watching the bin move upward. A rustle from the bed caused her head and gaze to snap that way. Her heart skipped a beat.

One of the women stared at her, the whites of her eyes visible in the dim light.

Summer put her finger to her lips. The woman didn’t react.

Once they emptied the bin, Gavin sent the rope back down for Summer, Derek with the rope end around his waist to hold Summer’s weight. She shifted her weight back and forth on the floor quietly, from one foot to the other, eager to get out of there. She glanced to the woman again.

The woman still stared at Summer, unblinking eyes peering from the darkness.

Summer grabbed the rope and climbed, using the well-positioned knots to push off with her legs. Once Summer was on the roof, Gavin extracted the rope and the bin, hoping to keep the valuable materials.

Summer whispered to Gavin, her hands trembling from stress. “One of the women saw me.”

“Let’s get outta here,” he whispered back.

They carried the boxes across the roof, back to where they’d jumped across. The cover of darkness was waning; the first hint of sunlight peeked through the trees. Gavin sliced open the boxes with his pocketknife.

The return jump was more difficult because the top of the wall was one-foot higher than the roof. On the plus side, they had more room for a running start. Gavin went first, easily making the jump. Summer took a running start, doing another long jump, clearing the wall with a bit too much momentum. Gavin grabbed her, saving her from going over the other side of the wall and plummeting into the alley.

Derek tossed the empty container with the rope across the six-foot gap. Then he tossed the MREs one by one to Gavin, who handed the MREs to Summer. She placed the MREs into the plastic recycling bin, careful not to make a sound. Once the bin was full, they lowered it to Javier, who packed the MREs into their bags. Voices in the distance stopped them in their tracks. It went quiet, and they resumed their tossing, packing, and lowering. They didn’t talk to each other at all during this process, hypersensitive to making noise. They did this six times, each one taking about five minutes.

Once all 144 meals were delivered to Javier at the base of the wall, Derek jumped across the chasm. He took a running start but didn’t jump high enough. His foot caught the side of the wall, and he fell forward on top of the wall, his outstretched hands and his knees saving his face. Derek winced, rolled over, and sat up. He pulled up his pant legs, blood already leaking from his skinned knees.

“You all right?” Gavin asked, whispering.

Derek nodded and stood, his face twisted in pain.

In the alley, Javier had packed the MREs into the four duffel bags and the four backpacks, putting roughly twenty ready-to-eat meals in each bag. Gavin hung from the fifteen-foot wall and dropped. Summer did the same, Javier and Gavin bracing Summer’s fall. Gavin supported Derek’s fall, but Summer and Javier wanted nothing to do with him. Derek grunted as his feet hit the pavement.

Each bag was filled with roughly thirty pounds worth of MREs. Between the four of them, they had to carry 240 pounds worth of bootie. Derek, Javier, and Gavin each carried about sixty-five pounds, leaving Summer with forty-five. Everyone had a backpack on their back and a duffel bag over their chest.

Not wanting to be seen by the guards in front, they took the alleyway to the back and took a big loop around to the river. Derek walked with a limp, but he didn’t complain. Gavin and Javier walked slightly hunched over from the weight on their backs. Summer’s shoulders and lower back ached.

Despite the rising sun, most of the Aryans still slept. As the four crept through the park, a few Aryans stirred in their hovels and makeshift houses, but nobody sounded the alarm.

By the time they reached the river, the night was gone, replaced by a bright morning sun. They found their canoes and tossed their bags inside. Just before they launched their canoes into the river, they heard, “Stop!” and “Get ’em!”

Javier pushed their canoe into the river, hopping into the back as he did so. Summer was in the front, already paddling. Gavin and Derek were one boat length ahead of them. A gunshot snapped passed Summer’s ear. She bent down reflexively, her head between her knees. Then another shot. Summer flinched and bent lower.