Nemesis: Inception

by G. Michael Hopf

  “Lexi, here!”

  In front of Lexi she found two men, one was holding Carey down while the other desperately fought to pull her pants down.

  Acting purely on instinct, Lexi rushed the man grabbing at Carey’s pants and smacked him in the head with the can. The man’s head bounced off the side of the counter. She then turned her attention to the man wrestling with Carey’s upper body. She drew back to hit him but was instantly brought down by the first man, who had quickly recovered from her strike. As she fell to the ground, her head hit the corner of the opposite counter. When her limp body finally fell, it landed on top of Carey. She rose to get up, but the second man kicked her in the head. It was the last thing she remembered.

  December 6, 2014

  “Courage is being scared to death…and saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne

  Solana Beach, CA

  Faint voices were the first thing that came to Lexi. She could hear them, but something made them seem distant. A pain soon became noticeable. Then the memory of the men in the grocery flashed in her mind. She sat up and began swinging and kicking.

  “Easy, easy, you’re okay,” Jeff said.

  “Huh, what? I don’t understand,” Lexi said, her eyes wide and her breath rapid. She looked around the room. It was her condo, but she didn’t know how she had gotten there. “Carey, where’s Carey?”

  “I’m here, please rest,” Carey said, coming up behind Lexi.

  Lexi turned and asked, “The men, what happened to the men?”

  Carey sat next to her on the bed and soothed her. “They ran away. Right after you hit your head, several others came to help.”

  “But are you all right? Did they hurt you?” Lexi asked, genuinely concerned for her sister.

  “A bit scraped up, some bruises, but I’m okay. I’ll be okay,” Carey said, rubbing Lexi’s arm.

  Lexi reached up and touched the knot on her head. “Ouch.”

  “You got a real egg there,” Jeff joked.

  Lexi swung her legs off the bed and sat up.

  “Sweetie, you need to rest,” Carey said.

  “No, nope, not going to happen,” Lexi replied.

  “Carey’s right, you need to rest,” Jeff insisted.

  Lexi craned her head and finally noticed the sun was beaming through the plantation shutters. “Did I, was I…um, how long was I out?” Lexi asked, confused.

  “You hit your head hard. You were semiconscious most of the night but slept like a baby for the rest,” Carey answered.

  “I was out all night?” Lexi asked.

  “Yeah,” Jeff said.

  Confusion was written all over Lexi’s face. She looked at Jeff then at Carey. “How did you get me back here?”

  “I carried you,” Jeff said. “You’re pretty light.”

  “We have to leave. We can’t stay here any longer,” Lexi mumbled with a panicked voice. She stood upon wobbly legs and braced her weight against the headboard.

  “You see, you can barely stand,” Carey said.

  “Greg was right. We need to get out of here; people are fucking crazy, you saw them. We have to find a way out of here.”

  “And go where?” Carey asked.

  “Out of the city,” Lexi said.

  “But where?”

  “Mom’s boyfriend, he has a ranch; it’s away from the city,” Lexi said.

  “Justin’s place outside of Vegas?” Carey asked.

  “Yes, it’s gotta be safe there. It’s far enough away from any city; he has hundreds of acres. We can hide there, wait this out,” Lexi said.

  “I don’t know about that, it’s so far away,” Carey replied.

  “She’s got a point. It’s not a bad idea,” Jeff said, agreeing with Lexi.

  “You’re freaking out, Lex,” Carey snapped.

  Lexi turned and snapped back, “I’m not freaking out; I’m trying to make sure we survive. Go put a bag together, we’re leaving.”

  “And exactly how are we getting there?” Carey barked.

  She was right and Lexi knew it. Walking wasn’t the best way, but if she had to do it, she would. Lexi ran her fingers through her long hair as she thought.

  Carey gave her an irritated shrug.

  “I hated when you did that as a kid and I hate it now; stop acting like that. We don’t need attitude, smart-ass comments or negative bullshit; we need creative and logical ideas.”

  Carey responded by shaking her head, a disgusted look on her face.

  “Are you two done yelling at each other?” Jeff asked.

  “Sorry, yes, we are,” Lexi replied while keeping her eyes glued on Carey.

  “Good, because I have an idea on where we can find a car,” Jeff said, smiling.

  “There it is, South Coast Auto,” Jeff said with a grin stretched across his face.

  “Smart move for a security guard,” Lexi quipped. She didn’t really know Jeff, but during the time they had spent together, she found him capable and even physically attractive.

  The lack of operational vehicles made life and getting anywhere impossible, but they both became quickly aware that older cars worked. Jeff got the idea to go to used-car dealerships and see if any on the lot would run. The closest to her place was South Coast Auto on Pacific Coast Highway in Solana Beach. The car lot itself was small, only covering three-quarters of an acre, but it had several classic cars on the back lot.

  “How did you know there would be cars here that might work?” Lexi asked as she happily strutted onto the lot. She was wearing tight jeans, an old Ramones T-shirt and a leather jacket. After the incident yesterday she wasn’t taking chances, so she took several knives from her kitchen. Her lack of adequate weaponry and zero knowledge on how to effectively fight brought great frustration. The thought that she’d be struggling to survive in an apocalyptic world was not on her radar before; now she wished it was.

  Having Jeff with her gave her some comfort, but she wanted weapons and she needed training.

  Jeff ran to the short white trailer that operated as the offices for the car lot. He checked the doorknob but found it locked.

  Lexi came up right behind him.

  A large window was inches from the front door; he peered in. “Bingo.”

  “What?”

  “Found the lockbox.”

  “Listen,” she said.

  He paused. “Listen for what?”

  “The ocean, you can hear it from here, so strange and yet wonderful.”

  “How about watching my back while I figure out how to get in here.” Jeff smirked.

  Lexi turned and scanned the full lot. All makes and models of cars were there, but the ones they were interested in occupied the back four spaces.

  The thick marine layer cast a gloom over the area.

  She still hadn’t seen anyone and still didn’t understand why.

  The sound of glass breaking tore her away from her post. She turned to see Jeff’s elbow in the window.

  “I think I cut myself,” Jeff grunted.

  “Why not use that brick over there?” Lexi asked and pointed to a small red brick lying at the bottom of the medal stairs.

  Jeff looked and smirked. “Too late now.” He reached in with his long arm and unlocked the door’s deadbolt latch. He grabbed the handle and opened the door. “Voila.”

  “Let’s just pray one of those cars runs,” she said and followed Jeff inside.

  He went directly for the lockbox mounted on the far wall of an office, turned the knob and opened it up. “Now which keys do I need?”

  “One second,” Lexi said and stepped in front of him. She looked small next to his big frame. She grabbed the bottom of the lockbox and pushed up.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “This,” she replied and banged on the bottom of the box until it popped up an inch. She grasped it and pulled it off the wall.

  “Nice!” Jeff said.

  “I saw the screws and knew it was just hanging on them, nothing more.”

  �
�Let’s go car shopping.” Jeff laughed.

  They turned, exited and froze when they heard the action of a pump shotgun.

  Jeff was in front of her and immediately protected her by pushing Lexi back inside.

  His forceful shove sent her flying back inside the trailer and against the wall. She lost control of the lockbox and dropped it. She looked up but only saw the white metal door, as Jeff had slammed it closed.

  Yells came from outside.

  Jeff replied, but she couldn’t understand what he said.

  Silence.

  She stood and took a step towards the door when a shotgun fired outside.

  The door burst open and Jeff’s lifeless body fell back onto the floor.

  Lexi froze. She looked into Jeff’s open but lifeless eyes.

  “Get the girl!” a man ordered.

  She gasped for breath, as she had been holding it out of fear. She quickly looked in both directions and saw a back door that exited out of the far right office. Unsure if anyone was waiting on the other side, she ran for it. She reached it just as someone raced inside the front. There weren’t stairs beneath, so she tumbled five feet to the pavement. Not taking a moment to look around, she bolted for the back of the lot and cleared a small chain-link fence.

  Behind her she heard whoever it was yelling for her to stop.

  Lexi’s heart was pounding hard as she sprinted for her life away from the lot towards the coast. She didn’t run in a straight line, she took a right at the first street, then the first left down a small alleyway and another right. She ran and ran and ran until the voices of the men chasing her diminished.

  Weary and unsure what to do, she took shelter behind a dumpster and collected her thoughts. “Think, Lexi, think,” she panted. Visions of Jeff being shot rushed into her mind. She then questioned not helping him or doing something. “Oh, Jeff, I’m so sorry, argh! What is wrong with the fucking world?”

  Exhausted physically and emotionally, she allowed herself to relax. Sweat streamed down her face and stung her eyes. She pulled off the leather jacket and tossed it. Again, she thought of Jeff. How could that happen? Why did that happen? She needed to find a car, find a weapon, get Carey and leave.

  Something crashed behind her. She jumped up with fists raised. When she saw it was a cat, she cursed, “Fucking cat!”

  The large black and white cat purred and meowed. It approached Lexi with its back raised high.

  She stared at the cat and gave in. “Hi, kitty, what are you doing?” she said, scratching the cat’s back. Her mind then thought about how the cat didn’t know the world had ended, it was going about its business as usual. In fact, none of the animals cared except maybe for those thousands stuck in shelters never to be fed again. How many would starve? The images of dogs and cats dying like that made her then think of the zoos; then her mind shifted to the prisons around the country. All of those people imprisoned would possibly die. That could have been her fate had she not been bailed out by her sister. Then Carey came to mind. She was sitting in her condo, waiting for them to return victorious with a car, but now that wasn’t going to happen.

  A myriad of emotions ran through her; anger, rage, sadness, and regret all collided. She pushed them out and focused on not feeling sorry for herself, she needed to channel her emotions and find a way to get a car and get to the ranch in Nevada.

  The cat leaped from the top of the dumpster and pounced on a large mouse. It wrapped its jaws around the head and bit down.

  The mouse tried to flee, but the cat’s deadly clawed grasp was too much. When the cat’s sharp teeth penetrated its skull, the mouse squealed loudly then fell silent.

  The cat looked at what it had done and began to purr. It lifted its bloody paw and licked it clean.

  At first, Lexi was shocked but then impressed. The cat was surviving, even killing to do so. Lexi needed to take a lesson from this cat if she was going to survive the new world.

  Carey paced the balcony a hundred times, her fingers in and out of her mouth as she chewed away. She knew this nervous tic was disgusting but couldn’t stop even though her fingers and cuticles were bleeding.

  The sun was heading west towards the horizon, its rays shining down on her. Before she would have stopped and appreciated the beauty, but now the sun’s position made her fearful.

  “Where are you guys?” she groaned anxiously.

  “I think you’ve worn a groove,” a voice behind her said.

  Carey turned to see who was talking to her.

  Seeing she was startled, he said, “Sorry, my name is Frank. I’m your sister’s neighbor.”

  “Ah, yeah, I heard about you,” Carey replied, her arms folded and hugging her chest.

  “You seem worried?” Frank asked, stepping further out on the balcony. He pulled a cigar from the front pocket of his button-down shirt. He longingly admired it before moistening it with his tongue. With a flip he pulled out a pocketknife and opened it. Taking delicate care he snipped the tip off the end. Before placing it in his mouth again admired the cigar taking in the rich arouma of the tobacco. He shoved his knife pack into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. With a single click a thick blue flame shot out. He ran the flame over the other end and puffed. With each puff a yellow flame appeared near the end and smoke jutted from his lips. He turned off the lighter and blew a mouthful of smoke on the bright cherry end. “You smoke?” he asked mesmerized by the glow of the cigar.

  “Not cigars.”

  “That’s right; your generation are all dopers. Always getting high,” he mocked.

  “Do you want something?” Carey asked.

  “Nope, just wanting to chat, nothing more.”

  “Hmm,” Carey replied and went back to pacing.

  “So where did your sister go?”

  “She went to look for a car,” Carey answered, then asked, “How did you know she was gone?”

  “Because you must have asked where she was a thousand times. It’s not like you’re quiet.”

  “Oh.”

  “So her and the big guy went to go find a car?” Frank laughed. His laugh quickly turned to a heavy cough.

  “Why is that so funny?” Carey asked, spinning around and glaring at him.

  He cleared his throat and answered, “I wish her luck.” He then took a long puff.

  “So what’s your story?”

  “No story, just an old, divorced, federal employee who’s dying.”

  “Huh?”

  Frank took another puff, looked at the cigar and replied, “Inoperable lung cancer.”

  Carey took a couple steps towards him and asked, “You’re joking, right?”

  “Yeah, found out six months ago.”

  “Then why the hell are you smoking?” Carey smirked.

  “You must have missed the word inoperable,” Frank quipped.

  “That sucks, I’m sorry.”

  “It does, but what can I do?”

  “Well, sorry.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “I heard you think it’s the end of the world,” Carey said.

  “Pretty much.”

  “Why aren’t you leaving or doing something?” Carey asked.

  “Doing what? Going where? When I die, I want to be in my bed.”

  Carey chewed on her finger and thought. “I guess that makes sense.”

  “Um, if you’re looking for a car, I think I can help you.”

  “You can?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How?”

  Frank took a long puff and reflected on his past. “My ex had the best attorney, or maybe I had the worst. Anyway, my prized possession, the one thing I loved more than anything, even her.” Frank laughed then paused. “Maybe that’s why we’re divorced.”

  “A car?”

  “Not just any car, but a 1961 Impala SS 409.”

  “Sounds nice.”

  Frank had been leaning against the railing and stood up. “You see, she bought it for me as a birthday present years ago. Well, me bein
g a trusting dumb ass, I didn’t think twice about the title being in her name.”

  Carey took another step towards him, interested in his story.

  “You see, they don’t pay Border Patrol agents that much, and I lucked out and married a rich girl. While the car was a gift, I couldn’t prove it was during the divorce proceedings, and possession is nine-tenths of the law, they say.”

  “Are you sure it runs?”

  “From what I’ve seen, I’d be willing to bet my left testicle.”

  Carey gave him a sour look when he made the disgusting comment.

  “Anyway, the car is yours. I don’t need it and I’m almost dead anyway.”

  She perked up and stepped closer. “Where is it, and how can we get it from your wife’s house?”

  Frank tapped the cigar and watched the ash fall to the ground. He gave Carey a smile and clarified his previous comment. “The car is in La Jolla and she’s not there, so go help yourself.”

  The mention of La Jolla made Carey think about her mother. If there was a car, she and Lexi could go and check on their mother. There would be no way for Lexi to say no. The main problem was convincing Lexi to allow their mother to come to Nevada with them.

  To say Lexi was terrified was an understatement. Never in her life had she been so scared. As the minutes ticked away and turned into hours, she sat hidden behind the dumpster. A battle was waging in her mind whether to leave or just wait a bit longer. With only a knife for defense and no real skills on how to use it, she felt vulnerable, especially after what had just happened to Jeff. How was she really going to keep herself and Carey alive if she couldn’t help Jeff? She resented her actions back at the car lot; she couldn’t stop thinking that maybe she could have done something, anything to help. Grief racked her thoughts when she imagined him not dead but suffering and now possibly being tortured by those men.

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid, you’re so fucking stupid,” she muttered while slapping her head with an open palm.

  Fearful of being seen, she had even forgone getting up to urinate, instead settling on the safe way, which was going in her pants. Fear, humiliation and a feeling of being inept overcame her. She had to find the strength, she had to. Carey depended on her; she couldn’t let her down.