The End of The End

Chapter 5

Axle jumped out and about fell over, he saw nothing at first, but then looked down. He let out a huge sigh of relief and laughed, it was only a dog, a Border Collie, from the coloring and look of it. He reached down and petted the head. “Well hey buddy. Are you just trying to give me a fucking heart attack? Next time bark or something. You are cute, but it looks as though you could give some of those monster’s a scare, you sure as hell did me.” Axle thought about it for a second. “If you want to be my traveling companion, just follow me, I could use the help. I guess you need a name too, don’t you?”

The dog looked up at him and licked his face, Axle smiled slightly and wiped the drool off. “How about I name you Honor? Do you like that name, boy?” The excited Border Collie barked. “Okay, Honor it is then!” Axle stood back up and looked around, knowing there was nothing he could use, but instincts making him check one more time. After securing his pack and giving Honor a friendly pat on the head, they walked out of the store and went to go take a look next door.

Axle stood outside of the former lending company, staring at the unassuming building that could be stocked with things to help him get through the city. He walked up to the front door and noticed that is was a strong steel door, which Axle knew wasn't very rare in Chicago due to the high crime rate, but considering this was one of the more upscale divisions of the city, was still odd, if the danger wasn't immediate, most people didn't bother preparing for it. He pulled the door open and it made a loud scraping noise as it slid. Axle quickly looked around to see if the noise had attracted anything, but the coast seemed clear. He looked down at Honor, who seemed pretty content, which makes sense seeing that he has been alone for who knows how long.

Axle stepped inside, closing the door behind him and making that same scraping noise. The light was fading outside, night was coming fast, but there was enough light to see by for now. He searched what he assumed to have once been a small waiting area judging from the chairs lined up along the wall with a couple tables breaking them up. He didn't expect to find anything, but searching every inch of a place was a habit Axle had picked up over the years and it had payed off a few times. He found nothing in the waiting room as he expected and moved to the small office area that looked out into the waiting room. He found old files which he piled on one of the desks as he searched, finding nothing else that needed a second glance, the only computer in the small office having a busted screen.

Axle sat down in the old rolling chair, hoping it didn't break and spill him onto the floor, and began quickly looking through all the files. After about a half hour, he looked through the last file, he had found nothing of any use in the files, which he guessed made sense, if they were running some sort of illegal business, they wouldn't keep the evidence where anyone could pretty easily find it. He stood up and stretched, looking around until he saw Honor laying on one of the chairs. “Tired, boy?” Axle laughed and walked over, setting down and unrolling his pack and bedroll by the tired-looking dog. “How about you stay here and rest while I go down to the basement and see what is stored away down there?”

Honor raised his head to look at Axle and the lowered it again, closing his eyes. Axle laughed to himself and grabbed the flashlight out of his pack. Checking to be sure his knife was still at his side, he walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a long staircase that led down into the pure darkness below. Axle turned on his flashlight, well aware that he was running out of batteries, but also knowing anything that could make it easier to get through the psychopaths and monsters roaming the streets would be well worth the wasted batteries. “Assuming there is supplies here, don't fucking forget that,” he said to himself as he began his descent down the stairs.

He followed the staircase for a good twenty minutes before he finally reached the bottom of it, he stepped off the last step and shined the flashlight around the basement. It was a medium sized basement with boxes stacked all along the walls. At the other side of the basement, the flashlight revealed what appeared to be a medium-seized vault. He walked over to it and saw that it was locked using a still-running terminal much like the dead one in the office upstairs. He saw that, although it was password protected, much like the one from next door, it was a much longer password with a much more complicated system. He knew he could hack it, but it would take time and he was tired. He thought it over, “Fuck it,” he said aloud, “I will go get some sleep and then figure this out in the morning, it really isn't going to make that much difference anyway, not like I am in a hurry, if Triton is gone by the time I get there, it is probably a good thing I missed it anyway.”