Chapter Six
The Crew
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“Six months? Like, gone? With no way back home? And you might die? It’s not about the money. I’m worried about the fact that you, oh I don’t know, die!” Rae had taken the news fairly well until Adam provided the small detail up for discussion. At this point, Adam was very glad their daughter was staying across the road where Rae’s parents lived. “Hun, I got it under control... Mostly,” Adam rebutted weakly. Rae slammed her now empty pop can down, “All I have is a check for way more money than we have ever seen at once and a very crazy story of how you quit your job and now this? Does our insurance even cover death from fighting some evil something something from Hell in a portal universe?”
Adam put his hands up and rolled his sleeves up slowly, in a manner akin to a magician about to perform a slight of hand, “Watch this.” He opened up his inventory and pulled the clothes out of thin air and handed it to his wife. She stared blankly at him, disbelief apparent on her face. “Wait. This is probably the coolest thing, next to the whole saving the world thing.” Adam took the next few minutes going through the house and storing all the things he thought would have made the inventory as impressive as possible. She stopped him after he started shoving the bar stools into apparent nothing. “Nope. Nope. Put everything back."
The argument was successfully deescalated to a discussion and Adam went over everything as he put the house back together. This took much longer as he had to place things where they belonged versus the supermarket sweep grabbing he just did. They both plopped down on the couch and leaned into one another. “Can we agree that what is going on is not normal and is truly wild?” Adam asked Rae. She gave a grunt in acknowledgement. “Can we table this till tomorrow?” She gave a second grunt, “Are you leaving tomorrow?” Adam shook his head, “Not tomorrow. I have three things I need to do tomorrow. Clean out my van, put the check in the bank, then kidnap Michael and Damien and all of us can go to Simon’s to talk more. Simon said he needs to vet them before we commit to our six month incarceration.” “Good,” Rae said, “Let’s get some sleep. I’m exhausted from working all day and this is too much to deal with this late at night. Maybe tomorrow, this will all have been a dream.” They went through their evening routines and laid down for the night.
The morning went much like normal. Rae took their daughter to school then she went to work. Adam got up with Rae but instead of going into work, he cleaned off his van of all his tools. He took his time, seeing this as an opportunity for training. He put every single tool, even his Packouts and ladders in his inventory. He had no successful deposits without having the inventory open. The direct placement was much harder than he imagined to get down.
He played around with adding his Milwaukee Packouts with and without the tools to see if they stored the same. He found he could use storage units that were full of tools and place them in his inventory with no penalties. He was not able to take out anything in the box but he could see a detailed list of what was in the box. I’ll have to ask Simon about that. He put everything back and noticed he was only about three quarters full.
Adam made a quick call to his former employer informing them his van was cleaned out and the key was in the ignition. He parked it out of the way and got into his car and drove straight to the bank. There were a few questions and the branch manager had to call Simon's bank to confirm there was no fraud and it was legit. His bank confirmed Simon had called and let them know about the transaction and informed Adam there would be a short hold on the check but the funds would be released in a few days. Satisfied, Adam had the teller withdraw a thousand dollars from savings and place them in five envelopes and left.
Adam sent a text to Rae informing her that they were rich and he had to kidnap his friends. Michael was working and Adam figured it would be easier to get him afterwards. Adam called Damien while he was hitting the on-ramp, “Yo, what it is?” The deep voice rang through Adam's earbud. “Yo, brother. You got an order?” Adam asked. “Nah. I just finished one up. A pretty easy one. Only one store and five items.” It was the best one I got so far.”
Damien worked as a driver for all the major delivery companies. He had the best success lately with personal shopping but still did the fast food deliveries and taxi services when it slowed down. “Well I need to borrow you for a day or so. I’ll even pay you. Also, this isn’t a request. I got a grand for you and you can’t say no. So I can scoop you in…” Adam had set a waypoint using his interface map. It had navigation on it and looked better than Google Maps. “Nav says I’ll be there in about an hour and a half. I suggest you get things for an extended stay cause if you are down for this I don’t want to drive you back home.”
Damien laughed, “For real? You got a grand for me?” “Real talk.” That settled it. When Adam and Damien were growing up, they had a code word for one hundred percent truth. When used, they were not able to lie. To date, it has been a sacred tradition. “Oh. Oh alright. I’ll pack for a few days. Did you get breakfast yet?” Damien asked. “No sir. It will be lunch by then. You want to stop somewhere once I get you?” Adam asked. “Nah. I got some chorizo I don't want to go bad. I’ll make some breakfast tacos by the time you get here.” “Awesome sauce. I’ll see you soon brother.” “Alright, peace,” Damien said as they both hung up.
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Adam pulled up to Damien’s apartment and enjoyed a late breakfast with his childhood friend. Damien had gone to a French culinary school and worked as a chef for a few years before working as a driver. He could make a whole lot more money that way and he slowly saved for opening up his own food truck. When they lived together during college, Adam loved to be the guinea pig for the new food creations.
Damien was a very stocky and a very bald black man with a trimmed beard. He was a half a foot taller than Adam’s modest five foot nine. After their time in Texas they had both adopted a more country style for their clothes. Adam couldn’t pull off the cowboy hat as well as Damien did.
Adam did the dishes while Damien finished packing his suitcase. “Hypothetically,” Adam started, “If you were going into a survival situation where you may or may not be in danger, what would you bring?” Damien went through his closet and got his bugout bag. “After watching enough survival videos I made me a bag. I kept it pretty up to date. Just that and my Glock 21.” “Go ahead and grab the Glock and whatever extra mags you got. I got one heck of a surprise for you.” Adam pulled out one the envelopes with a thousand dollars in it and tossed it on the counter while he finished drying the last plate.
Damien looked through it and whistled, “Daaaaang. For real? Man, I don’t know what you got going on but I’m down.” They grabbed everything needed and loaded up in Adam’s car and headed back towards Adam’s house. On the way there he called Michael. “Brother Adam. How are you?” Michael answered as always. “Brother Michael. I’m good. I got a question for you. Unfortunately for you, I already know the answer.” Michael chuckled, “Well I am always happy to help. What do you have going on this evening?”
Michael was also in the heating and cooling industry. His day to day was installation of new construction and replacement units, depending on the work coming in. The two of them, along with Adam’s father-in-law Grant, did a lot of work together during the evenings and weekends. The majority of the work was remodel work but they occasionally had some quick one day jobs. “This one will be the best paying job we have ever done. Can you swing by my house when you are finished up with work and we can go over it?” “Well sure thing,” Michael replied. “I can be there in an hour or so. We only had some pidley things to finish on this one anyways. I’ll see you then. God bless.”
"God bless, brother," Adam said and hung up. He and Damien continued on their way back to Adam's house. They would arrive around an hour or so. “So what is this super secret thing you got going on?” Damien asked. Adam hesitated. He was not a fan of leaving people in the dark. Adam wasn’t sure the best way to explain it other than the same way he did with his wife. The thought of him and Michael being introduced to magic while Adam sat back and enjoyed their reactions won out. “I want to tell you. But I’m not even going to beat around the bush about this. What is about to happen is going to blow your mind and I want you to experience this just like I did. I kinda jumbled around when I told Rae.”
“Hold up. You told your wife before telling me?” Damien asked with a hint of incredulity in his voice. Adam gave his friend a deadpan side glance, as to not side swipe a car while he was changing lanes. “Bro, she is my wife. Of course I told her first. But, you are my brother. I’m taking you with me to a magical place, no homo. Now, no more questions. We're almost here so let's focus on an evening of awesomeness.” Damien decided not to push the subject further. The rest of the drive back was fairly uneventful.
To Adam's surprise, Michael was already waiting in his car when they pulled into the driveway. “Hey, brother,” Michael started, “I asked my helper to finish up. I think he can finish taping and doing a bit of the clean up. Hey Damien. It’s good to see you again.” They all shook hands. “Good to see you too,” Damien said. Michael popped his trunk, “What all will I need for this job?” He asked. Adam smirked, trying to keep his excitement contained. “No tools necessary for this job. Here.”
Adam handed another envelope to Michael. “What is this?” Michael asked. “It’s your payment for getting into the car.” He stared at the money for a moment, thinking things over. “What are we doing that Damien is helping us with? Are you getting into heating and cooling too?” Damien looked caught off guard, not expecting any further questioning. “Huh? Oh, naw. Adam came and scooped me and said to pack a bag and gave me some cash to not ask questions essentially. I trust him.”
“Wait, do I need to go home and get stuff?” Michael closed the trunk and put the envelope in the center console. “No, sir,” Adam said, “I just didn’t want to drive back and forth when you guys want to sign up for this. This is… an interview if you will. You live close enough that if you accept or decline you can just go on your way. Damien doesn’t know but this isn’t something he has a choice on.” Damien puffed up with indignation, “Now hold up. We may have known each other for like twenty years but no one is kidnapping me.” Adam pulled out another envelope for each of his friends, seemingly out of nowhere, and handed them over. “No more questions. Please fellas. This is compensation for your evening and any mental trauma you may suffer. Let me get Rae and we can bounce. We should be able to make good time to see the sunset.”
Once Rae came out and pleasantries were exchanged, Adam, Rae, Michael and Damien got into Rae’s SUV and drove off to Simon’s isolated home. Turning on the back road that led down to his driveway, the vehicle went quiet. The gravel road shook the car and the shocks squeaked as they trudged towards the unknown purpose of the evening. Damien was the first one to break the silence, “I’m just saying, I’m not going to be the first one to die out here.” Everyone erupted in laughter. “Well, Michael is the whitest person here. I reckon he is the minority here.” Adam said. Adam and Rae had enough Native American in them that they stayed darker year round. Michael was of Irish and other European descent, making the sun his natural enemy. “What? Come on guys,” Michael said as they all laughed. The car rounded the last bend and Rae parked over towards the stables.
They all got out and saw the larger than life Simon walking up from around the back of the house. “Bro, you are for sure dying first,” Damien said, slapping Michael on the shoulder. They waited by the car to be greeted by Simon. Introductions were made and Simon took a moment to size up the two men. Damien was far superior in stature and bulk compared to Michaels short and lean build. Adam was the outlier between the three of them being much more out of shape but still possessing surprising speed and strength.
Simon’s eyes landed on Adam, “How much did you tell them?” Adam merely shrugged, “Nothing really. I wouldn’t believe it without seeing it. Rae knows a good bit though so we will be enjoying the reactions here. “Well young man, I got bad news for you. You aren’t coming through at first. I’ll come get you one way or another.” Adam turned to his friends, “Well fellas. I need you guys to go with this man and accept your destinies. Hurry up so Rae can see the sunset on the other side. Oh, and Damien,” Adam held out his hand, gesturing for him to hand something over. After a moment Damien took his Glock out of his appendix holster, cleared the chamber and handed it over to Adam. “I’m trusting you brother,” Damien said. “I know. Real talk. This is what we have hoped for all our lives. Michael, this is something you will find is worth doing. Good luck fellas.” Adam and Rae watched the three men turn the corner, left alone save for the whinnies of the horses.