Jason Morrow - Anywhere but Here

I don’t know why, but this makes me laugh. It feels nice.

“I don’t know much about you,” I say.

The smile fades from his face and he looks away. “There’s not much to know,” he says. “I’ve lost the same as everyone else. Family. Friends. I’m all that’s left.”

I nod, knowing that going into details isn’t necessary. We all really have the same story, don’t we?

“But Crestwood will give us a bright future,” he says.

I just have to figure out how to keep Gilbert from dying.

My eyes feel so groggy when I hear a knock at my apartment door in the middle of the night. Actually it’s more like a pounding than a knock. At first, I think that it might be Ethan coming to tell me something is wrong, but when I unlock the door, it’s Gabe. My heart begins to pound at the sight of him. Every time I see his face, I can’t help but think of the vision I had before. His coming in the middle of the night can only be bad news.

“Paxton has ordered me to bring you to him,” he says. “I don’t know what it’s about, but he says it’s urgent.”

“Can’t it wait until morning?” I start to shut the door, but Gabe plants his foot at the bottom.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “He’s ordered it.”

I take my time getting my shoes and coat, all the while my mind reeling about what this could mean. I look at the clock above the kitchen stove and see that it’s still a couple of hours before dawn.

The cold night air bites at any exposed skin as I follow Gabe across the street to the building labeled Headquarters. The bell jingles at the front door as we walk into a room filled with chairs. It looks like it used to be one of those old-fashioned diners. He leads me up a flight of stairs to the second floor where I see Ethan and Gilbert sitting in front of a large desk. The two of them look as disheveled as I feel. There is an empty chair next to Ethan, and Gabe instructs me to take a seat and wait for Paxton to come down. Once I sit, I turn my head and look at the back of the room. Gabe stands with four other armed guards who never let their eyes leave us.

“What’s going on?” I ask, turning to Ethan and Gilbert.

Gilbert shrugs and Ethan shakes his head. “We know about as much as you. They came and got us a few minutes ago.”

The sound of slow footsteps echoes in the stairwell. I turn back to look through the door and see Paxton staring at the ground as he approaches us.

“What’s this about?” Gilbert says, as Paxton rounds the desk and sits across from us.

“Why don’t you tell me, Gilbert?” Paxton says, staring at the desk. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want to give us eye contact.

“What do you mean? I’ve barely left my apartment the past couple of days.”

“Well, I know that isn’t true,” he says. “For any of you.”

“Some things have gone missing from our storerooms,” Paxton says. His voice is barely above a whisper. “Guns. Food. General supplies.”

“And you think we took them?” Ethan asks. “We don’t even know where your storerooms are.”

A clap of thunder erupts outside.

It’s beginning!

I didn’t think I could possibly conceive of how the vision of Gilbert could come true, but now I start to see it. I sit in silence as my heart slowly pounds. I feel calm but scared. I’ve got to change this somehow.

“It was me,” I blurt out. I don’t know if this is the best way but it’s something.

Paxton finally looks up at me and he looks puzzled. Ethan and Gilbert also look at me with wide eyes.

“I was the one that took all the stuff,” I say. “Survival instinct.”

Paxton looks to be at a loss for words, but he just shakes his head and shrugs. “Well, if one of you is responsible, then all of you are, and I can’t have you in my town.”

“You’re throwing us out?” Gilbert snaps.

“Gabe will take the three of you away from here just before dawn,” he says.

It didn’t work. What can I do to make him just take me away instead of the three of us? “Why would you punish them for something that I did?” I ask.

“Because for all I know, you’re covering for them,” Paxton answers back. “Better safe than sorry.” He waves for his guards to come in.

I look back at them as they approach and Gabe stands near the door. He seems angry. I suppose he doesn’t like it when people steal from his town. A firm hand grabs my arm and I snatch it away. “I can walk without you holding me,” I say.

Ethan walks behind me and when I look at his face, I can tell his mind is racing. This all seems so abrupt. Setting my vision aside, it makes no sense. Why would they think that we broke into their storerooms? There is no proof. It isn’t fair. But I have already confessed to no avail. I don’t know what to do now.

“Wait!” Gilbert yells out. “I have valuable information. I will tell you if you let me go.”

I grit my teeth when he says me instead of us. Here I am trying to save his life and he only thinks of himself.

Paxton tells the guards to hold off for a moment. “What is it then?”

“You asked me if I had any special abilities.” My stomach lurches when he says this.

“Yes?” Paxton says.

Gilbert points at me. “She’s got them,” he says.

“Shut up!” Ethan yells. He grabs Gilbert by the shirt and tries to shove him but the guards are already wedged between them.

“She can see the future,” Gilbert continues. “I don’t know how she did it, but she somehow used that to break into your storerooms.”

Paxton stares at me for a long moment. My eyes go to Ethan who is glaring at Gilbert.

“Is it true?” Paxton asks. “That you can see into the future?”

If I say yes, he might keep me here. If I say no, he’ll make me leave. “Yes,” I say.

He continues to stare at me until he sits back down and rakes his fingers through his hair. He seems conflicted, and I wish I could tell what he is thinking. This whole situation feels so random to me. We barely got into Crestwood before they decided to kick us out for something we didn’t do.

Finally, Paxton looks up at the guards and nods. “Take them away.”

“What was that about?” Ethan snaps at Gilbert.

We have all been brought to the same room where we were questioned a couple of days ago. We sit, waiting for Gabe to take us away. Ethan seems like he wants to tear out Gilbert’s throat. I’m not as angry as I should be, mostly because I’m still trying to figure everything out.

“I was just trying to buy us some time,” he says and looks at me. “Besides, you admitted to it.”

“I didn’t actually steal anything,” I say. “I was just trying to…” I let out a deep breath and look away from him, “to fix the situation. I thought that if I could take the blame then we wouldn’t all get kicked out.”

“Fine idea that was,” Gilbert says.

“It’s more than what you did,” Ethan says. “At least she was thinking about someone other than herself.”

“And what did you do, Ethan? You just sat there, quiet as usual. I didn’t see you try to do anything about it.”

“Maybe that’s the problem,” I say, though I didn’t know I said it out loud until both of them are looking at me, waiting for an explanation. “Just that, maybe we were trying too hard. He saw the desperation and wanted us out regardless.”

“Nah,” Gilbert says. “He seemed pretty set on getting us out of here. Something’s fishy if you ask me. Wakes us up in the middle of the night, gets us out of here before dawn — before anyone in the town might think to question the reasoning.” A door opens on the other end of the room and Gabe stands ready to take us out. “Isn’t that right, Gabe?” Gilbert sneers.