Jim

But instead of a fiery death, the car shot up into the air like a giant bouncing balloon.

“Woooo,” Baba yelled in delight as the vehicle slowly drifted down. “So much fun, but not good on suspension.”

Jim cowered in the backseat hyperventilating with his head turned to the side.

Baba laughed. “You want to do again?”

“No!” Jim yelled, trying to breathe slowly. That’s when he noticed the supplies in the back cargo area. There was an oversized white Chinese takeout box with red lettering and a few large duffel bags chocked full of gear. Protruding out the back of the duffel bag was the unmistakable grip of a handgun. What the hell was that for? “Baba, is the Danakil Depression safe?”

“Of course.”

“Then why is there a pistol in your bag?”

“Oh no worries, side arm is precaution for Shrimpi Mishigi.”

Jim shook his head. He was probably going to regret this. “Did you say shrimp? Why do you need a gun for a shrimp?”

“Shrimpi Mishigi, eh, big shrimp in English, I think. Very nasty if it thinks you are in its territory. Of course, no one knows its territory, so I take precaution. But no worries, really, you know when it is coming, it’s very large, it can’t hide.”

Jim shook his head. “A large territorial shrimp? So, we shouldn’t be worried?”

“No, no, unless you start making a lot of noise, it won’t bother you. Baba has been doing this trip for many years, only time it made a fuss was annoying brat kid start knocking boulders over and splashing acid pools where Shrimpi eats. Shrimpi did not like this.”

“What happened to the annoying brat kid?” Jim pressed.

“Like I said, Baba carry sidearm now.”

After a while their path took them through rocky canyons and more rugged mountainous terrain. The air started to smell of rotten eggs as the vehicle descended into a vast wasteland of green and yellow pools of sulfuric acid. Orange boulders weathered into peaks poked out among the pools which bubbled and gurgled as if they were alive and ready to swallow you whole. When the vehicle stopped, everyone except Federico eagerly got out and spread out looking at the bizarre world they had entered.

“Now whatever you do, do not fall into the pools, it’s uh…not so good on your skin, and of course, don’t go toppling boulders,” Baba said, laughing. “But seriously, be careful.”

Ying stepped right up to the edge of a yellow pool edged by white crystals. She leaned down and picked at the white edges and put a piece in her mouth and crunched on it.

This was more than disturbing. Jim huffed, “what are you doing?”

She held her hand up to Jim, offering a taste. “It’s salt, see?”

“Yeah okay, I believe you.” Jim wandered over to Adelfried who was leaning close to another pool and said in a quiet voice, “alright, how do we find Sahir?”

“This is the same place as in the images I saw, so we are heading in the right direction.”

“Baba,” Ying called out. “How far do these pools go on for?”

“Miles and miles,” Baba replied, with his trademark coffee-stained smile.

Jim shook his head. “Of course they do, so now what?”

Evan

Later that evening Evan was getting ready for bed and let Zarg out one more time with no fits of barking. The cat must have moved on to torment another dog, much to his relief. He did a double take when he saw Kae in the living room talking to Kyle on her phone. He whispered, “I thought you were going out?”

She shrugged and whispered back holding her hand over the receiver. “Since you nearly wet your britches earlier, I figured I would stay in case you needed me to change your diaper.” She gave him a wiseass smile.

Evan flipped her off, much to her enjoyment. He had to admit, he kind of liked this version of Kae.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The doorbell rang. Evan tapped his pocket. He had left his phone in the basement. “Hey, check who it is.”

“Hey Kyle, someone’s ringing the doorbell. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She pulled up the doorbell camera feed on her phone.

“But seriously, why didn’t you go out?” Evan said, still a little surprised she hadn’t.

As the app loaded, she added, “with everything going on, it didn’t feel right leaving you here by yourself, okay?”

“Wait, who are you and what did you do with Kae?” Evan laughed.

She flipped him off, much to his enjoyment.

When the image on her phone came up, he could make out two figures with construction hats, but the distortion was so bad on the camera he couldn’t make out much detail other than one of them was taller and thin, mostly swallowed up by the large blue construction overalls he wore with long blonde hair, while the other one was thicker and shorter.

This felt a little off to Evan. “The gas workers? Maybe try restarting the app.”

“Yeah, good idea.” After the restart, the distortion reappeared. She pressed the microphone button in frustration. “Hello?”

“Hi, ma’am.” Evan heard a familiar voice but couldn’t place it. “We think there is a potential gas leak in your house, and we need to come in to make sure it is safe.”

Kae looked around as if she could see natural gas. She hopped up and started sniffing the air deeply, darting about. “I don’t smell anything.”

“That’s good, but we need come in be certain, we don’t want to run the risk of an explosion.”

“Yeah, alright,” Kae said, heading towards the front door.

Evan grabbed her arm holding her in the hallway. “Wait, you’re not going to let them in, are you?”

Kae flipped the mute on. “Yeah, I am dork. I don’t want the house to blow up.”

“Don’t you think this is just a little sus?” Evan firmed his grip on her arm just in case she decided to blow him off. “Think about it, they showed up the very same day Mom and Dad get attacked and stranded on the other side of the world. Why do they suddenly want in now, at nine o’clock at night?”

“Ma’am it’s really not safe, you two need to come out before there is an explosion,” the tall figure said, firming his tone.

A knot the size of basketball formed in Evan's stomach. “How do they know there are only two of us in here?”

Kae’s eyes widened as she flipped the mute button off. “Uh…you know what…I really don’t smell any gas. I think we’re fine.”

Evan started to wring his hands and pace. This could all be legit. There just might be an issue and if Dad was there he would deal with it. But Dad wasn't there. Neither was Mom, just him and Kae.

The blonde-haired figure’s voice started to become more impatient. “Ma’am, we have specialized equipment that can track down the leak so we can patch it. You are not safe. You need to leave the house immediately.”

Kae's tone raised in suspicion. “I’m sorry, is there a potential leak? Or are you saying there is a leak?”

Good. She was trying to catch them in their inconsistency. So she's got some snap outside of just studying after all.

The taller one hesitated before responding. “Ma’am I need you open this door immediately.”

Kae snapped back, “I know my rights. You can’t come in here. If you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the police.” For an instant, Evan would have sworn his mom was standing next to him the way Kae ripped into the man. It was comforting and disconcerting at the same time.

“That’s cute,” the blonde-haired man said. He turned back towards the street and spun a finger in the air as if he were signaling someone.

Evan squeezed his sister’s arm even tighter. “You better call Dad, something—” A ominous buzzing sound filled the house culminating in an ear rattling pop. All lights and electrical devices went out, including Kae’s cellphone. The house was completely quiet.

“What the hell was that?” Evan said trying to whisper.

Kae’s voice was now sharp. “Get Zarg. Go to the basement and wait for me there.”

“What are you going to—”

The glass from the window in the front room shattered as two dark figures crashed through. This was quickly followed by the sound of glass breaking in the kitchen, master bedroom and somewhere upstairs. The sound of furniture being knocked over and footsteps filled the blackness of the house. Evan ran to the hallway and yelled, “Zarg!” He had been on the couch, but he wasn’t there anymore. “Zarg!”

A sharp grip pulled at his arm, almost knocking him from his feet. “I got the boy!” a voice called out behind him.

There was an enraged growl. A sudden streak of grey flashed before Evan. The grip on his arm released. The man behind him shrieked in agony. Evan turned to see Zarg with a severed arm in his mouth. The blonde-haired man writhed around on the floor. Zarg let loose another fierce growl as he turned toward the second figure in the room. He dropped the bloody prize and before it hit the ground, he tore through the throat of the second figure. The figure fell instantly.

“Good boy!” Evan yelled. “Come on, let’s go.” They ran to the hallway closet door and Evan turned around to look for Kae. “Kae?” Two more figures were rapidly approaching from the master bedroom. They aimed their silver rifles directly at Evan. A metal folding chair shot down the hallway. It struck them both knocking them backwards into the master bedroom.

Kae yelled, “Get in the basement!” She was behind him. Two bolts of ESH tore a hole in the wall. Sheetrock and glass from a framed picture sprayed in all directions. A third bolt struck Kae in her shoulder. She shrieked before crumpling down. Evan turned to catch her.

“Don’t move!” one of the invaders from the living room yelled. Zarg let out a fearsome growl as he turned towards the intruder, preparing another charge.

“Yes, move again and you’re both dead.” the familiar voice said calmly from the front room. Evan turned, it was the blonde-haired Sov who had attacked them in the parking lot, sans most of his right arm. His nub of an arm glowed a faint red. He was using his powers to stop the bleeding, but he was wincing in pain as he did.

“What do you want?” Evan yelled back.

Zarg positioned himself between them and the intruders, eyeing each one trying to decide who to rip open next. He unleashed an enraged growl as the blonde-haired Sov took a step towards them.

“Shoot the dog,” The blonde-haired Sov yelled. A bolt of ESH tore into Zarg’s back sending him tumbling backwards down the stairs and into the basement yowling in pain.

“Zarg!” Evan screamed.

“Now that the mongrel has been dispatched, you will tell us where the Root is, or I will do the same to you and your sister.”