“Home is where the heart is.”

Pliny the Elder

They drove the rest of the way to the refinery on pins and needles as Rocky dodged the nocturnal monsters that pursued the truck across their territories. Bethany made sure Emily watched each one for as long as possible, so she could remember the creatures’ territories and behaviors. Knowledge was power, and right now, they had precious little of it.

The only time Rocky stopped the vehicle was when they drove through the main gate of the refinery. Rocky pulled out a flashlight, then hopped out of the driver’s seat, entered the guard shack, and engaged the chain link gate. The gate began to close behind them, and its loud rattles gave Bethany goosebumps. Rocky dashed back into the truck and slammed the door behind him, half expecting something to leap at him from the sha usedows. Only when the gate was fully shut and silent once more did all three companions let out a sigh of relief.

Rocky drove them right up to the front doors of their office building, backing up until the bumper was within inches of the door.

“For a quick getaway,” Rocky said, gazing out towards the city. “It’s best to be prepared, if even the shadows can be deadly.”

Rocky grabbed his axe and exited the car. Emily was next with her metal pole, and Bethany brought up the rear, ball-peen hammer clutched in her hand and ready to call upon her light. They had been away from the building for less than half a day, but they had decided not to take chances. There was no telling what sorts of dangers may have laid claim to their home in their absence.

Home? I’ve known Rocky and Emily for a day. I’ve spent one night in my room. We didn’t even have time for a tour before we left for Thoth’s Arena. So why do I look at this place and think of it as home?

Despite the terrors of the past two days - or, for that matter, the past eighteen years - Bethany found herself smiling.

She studied the entrance and pronounced the doorway free of an Arena plaque, and they entered cautiously.

The companions swept through the office building one room at a time, weapons ready. Bethany checked each doorway before they walked through, and once they were convinced it was safe, she took a moment to appreciate what lay within.

They descended into the basement first, taking the stairwell to the left of the main entrance. They started with a massive storage room that was piled high and deep with an assortment of old desks, chairs, computers, bookshelves, tables, wire racks, and row upon row of boxes containing paper files. It looked untouched since the 1990s, except for a tiny nook in the back corner where an industrious employee had dragged a flower-print couch in front of an old television to create a hidden procrastination oasis.

“That’s Ralph,” explained Rocky with a chuckle. “He’s seventy-three years old, and I’m pretty sure he mentally retired about the time that couch was made. He’s got so much corporate knowledge that no one wants to let him go, so he does just enough work to stay off the radar. I found his little hidey hole last year while I was doing my rounds, and I promised to keep his secret.”

“That bastard,” laughed Emily. “He’s living my dream job. How come you didn’t tell me about this?”

Rocky mimed zipping his mouth shut, then laughed and led the way to another room.

They worked their way through the janitor’s closet, packed full of toiletries and cleaning supplies, and the laundry room. Bethany availed herself of the opportunity to change back into her own clothes, relishing the lavender scent of the detergent. She took a moment to breath it in before they moved on.

The eastern half of the basement was the company’s gym and changing rooms. The gym was large enough to accommodate six treadmills, three ellipticals, a rowing machine, and a collection of free weights, with room left over for a half dozen yoga mats. Bethany peeked into the adjoining women’s change room and was excited to see a pair of shower stalls alongside the rows of lockers and wooden benches.

“Thank heavens,” Bethany exclaimed, “I haven’t had a proper shower in a week.”

“Trust me, Bethany, we noticed,” Emily laughed. She strolled into the change room and reached onto the top of the row of lockers, pulling down a key. She opened locker #17.

“This one is mine,” Emily said, swinging the door open and throwing the key back on top. “Help yourself to anything you need. I keep an extra bottle of shampoo and body wash in there. Being a technician at a refinery is greasy work.”

Emily grabbed her towel and gave it a sniff. “Eww. Except don’t borrow that. I don’t think I’ve washed it in a couple months.”

Emily looked over to Bethany, expecting judgment, but Bethany simply shrugged. “We didn’t have laundry in our house, and my father didn’t want to spend his booze money at a laundromat very much. I got use to wearing dirty clothes and having to wash them by hand.”

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“I’m sorry, Bethany,” Emily said, pulling her into a hug. “I’m sorry you had a shitty childhood. I’m sorry you had a shitty father. I’m sorry you had a shitty grandma. And I’m sorry that after all that shit, you wound up here, stuck in this God Contest.”

“Thanks,” Bethany whispered, leaning into the hug. “I don’t know how to feel right now. I have nothing left in my past I want to preserve. Who am I now?”

“You are Bethany,” answer Emily with confidence. “Bad-ass bitch with a golden hammer of light and an eye that can show her the future! Screw your past. Screw all our pasts. We all get a fresh start, and we are going to win this contest. Okay?”

“A fresh start,” Bethany agreed, confidence growing within her. “I like the sound of that.”

“And… maybe you can start with that shower,” Emily teased as she gave an exaggerated sniff of the air. “Rocky can pry open more of these lockers and find you a better towel than mine.”

“You girls coming?” called Rocky from outside the door. “You didn’t encounter an orb monster made of Emily’s smelly towels in there, did you? Because I’ll fight anything except that.”

The girls laughed, and they moved on with their search.

They returned to the main entrance on the first floor and emerged into an open-concept office space. Dozens of haphazardly arranged cubicles were positioned across the room in no discernible pattern. Bethany thought it resembled a maze, and she wondered how anyone with a cubicle in the middle found their way in or out.

“That would be the office manager,” explained Emily with an eyeroll. “She wanted the arrangement to feel ‘organic’ rather than corporate. What she got was a mess. I spend most of my time working on the utility units, like the power and water systems, but Rocky’s got to make his way through the maze at the beginning and end of his shift.”

“Which reminds me,” Rocky said, and he started to weave his way through the maze. He sat down at a cubicle five deep in the maze and withdrew three keychains and a stack of swipe cards from the drawer. “The full set of security keys. One for each of us. It’ll give us access to everywhere at the refinery. He tossed a set to each of them.

They left the cubicles behind, and Rocky led them to the staff lunchroom, directly across from the main entrance lobby. “Now, this will be a treat,” Rocky said to Bethany. “This is the main reason I picked this building as our base of operations.” He opened the swinging door and stepped inside.

The staff lunchroom was sprawling, with tables and chairs for two hundred employees. There was an entire row of microwaves along the east-facing windows, a half dozen refrigerators for storing lunches, and a station for coffee and tea. There was a full-service cafeteria kitchen that stretched the length of the back wall, with a large black grill, deep fryer, sandwich bar, and walk-in pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. The groceries Rocky and Emily had grabbed from the North End Savers Supermarket were piled next to the cashier’s station to be sorted.

“I can see why,” admired Bethany. “You could feed a small army with this.”

The sight of the lunchroom made Bethany realize how hungry she was. They had not eaten since lunch. Her stomach growled, and she laughed in embarrassment.

Rocky grinned and strolled over to their stockpile. He grabbed a pack of chocolate-covered granola bars and tossed two to each of them. “I think we earned these today.”

The remainder of the first floor was composed of three hallways of smaller, middle management offices. They checked each one carefully before moving on, which was frustrating due to the sheer number of them, and Bethany was grateful when they finally moved to the top floor.

“Well, at least we have lots of bedrooms if we ever grow beyond the three of us,” Emily said with a yawn. It was the dead of night, and the adrenaline of the day had taken its toll.

Bethany was more familiar with this floor. The three offices they had claimed as bedrooms were at the end of the widest hallway. There was a massive boardroom, lined with deep oak bookshelves and a circular oak table that could sit twenty. The other two hallways held a mixture of smaller boardrooms and administrative cubicles.

They breathed a sigh of relief when they finished checking the final room, satisfied the building was safe.

“Clear! Well done, troops,” said Rocky as they concluded their patrol.

Emily tried to laugh, but all that came out was another yawn. “Okay, Commander MacMillian. Is the mission complete? Can we be dismissed?”

Rocky placed his hand under his chin, as if he was carefully considering the request. “Yes. Let’s get some R&R, and we’ll regroup in the morning. Dismissed!” He stomped his foot and stood at attention, which lasted two seconds before he lost his composure and a goofy grin spread across his face.

“You’re a nutter, Rocky,” Bethany said, grateful for the levity. With all the horror around them, a little laughter helped break the tension. “But I like that about you.”

“Oh, then we need to have some girl time, Bethany,” Emily said conspiratorially. “Because I have stories. And I can now recall every embarrassing thing Rocky has ever done in exquisite detail.”

“Don’t you dare,” rebuked Rocky, mortified. “Or you won’t get any healing from me.”

“But Rocky, your hands felt so good on me,” Emily teased, throwing him a wink.

Rocky turned a deep crimson, and Bethany struggled to contain her laughter.

“I’d better go…prepare…stuff,” sputtered Rocky. He pivoted and strode into his bedroom, and in doing so failed to notice the small blush that had started growing on Emily’s face as well.

Bethany held off until Rocky was out of sight, then confronted Emily.

“I may not have any experience in relationships, and I know it is not my business, but you two are made for each other,” Bethany said with utter certainty. “It’s obvious you care for him deeply. And its really obvious he has the hots for you. Why aren’t you two… you know… together?”

“What? We are just friends. Best friends. It’s just fun to tease him,” Emily denied, unconvincingly. “And even if that were not the case, this is hardly the time to change that.”

“Oh, it seems like this would be the perfect time. The world has gone to hell, so what do you have to lose?” Bethany countered.

“… Everything,” Emily said, her blush growing. “I… I’m going to take a shower.” She turned and headed for the stairs.

“You might want to make it a cold shower,” Bethany teased. “You’re looking a little flushed.”

Emily, without looking back, playfully flipped her middle finger and strode downstairs. Bethany caught Emily’s subtle smile before she disappeared.

Bethany grinned, feeling proud of herself. When she had woken up this morning, she’d had nothing. Friends and a home were a distant wish, crushed under the vicious weight of the God Contest.

Now, as the clock struck midnight, everything had changed. She had a home. She had friends.

And she had hope.