The Purge: Surviving The Night

Epilogue

7:14 am, 364 days, 11 hours, and 46 minutes until The Annual Purge.

"Michael?"

"James?! Holy shit! You're alive?!"

"Yeah," I replied with a chuckle. "I'm alive."

"Oh, my God... When you didn't show up last night, I thought that... You know..."

"I know. You'd be surprised how much I went through to find him."

There was a pause before he asked, "So... Is Mark...?"

"Yeah," I told him. "He's gone."

I heard my brother sigh through the phone.

"You didn't torture him or anything, did you?" he asked.

"Hell no! I just shot him in the head! I doubt he felt anything!"

"Good, good."

"How are you doing, anyway?" I asked, changing the subject. "Is the house still in one piece?"

"Yeah, it's fine," he replied. "Not much action happens too much in this neighborhood. There were a few attempted burglars, but nothing I couldn't stop."

"That's a relief; the last thing I need is another one of my homes destroyed on The Purge."

"Yeah, I know..."

"Anyway, I can't talk too much right now; I'm at a public payphone and there's a decently long line behind me. I just wanted to let you know I'm safe and I may not be home for a while; the roads are backed up and I kinda lost my car."

"That's alright. As long as you make it home in one piece, I'm fine."

"Good. And hey, is it possible to make room for... Another person?"

Another long pause.

"I guess so. Why?" he finally asked.

"I might be bringing someone else home with me."

"What, a new friend?"

"Yeah," I said with a slight smile. "You could say that."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you!"

"No problem. Just try to be home soon, okay?"

"Of course. I'll do my best."

"Good. Well, see you then!"

"You, too!"

I then hung up and got out of the way to allow the middle-aged woman behind me to make her phone call. Normally I wouldn't use a payphone, but a lack of a cell phone caused me to resort to it.

"James! James!"

I turned around and saw Kelsey running towards me with a shopping cart full of all the food we gathered a little while earlier!

"It was still in front of the store!" She exclaimed in joy. "Nobody took it!"

"That's great!" I said with a smile.

I'm not sure why, but knowing our snacks were still there made me feel better, as if something good came out of The Purge. Well, other than me actually Purging.

"So now what?" she asked as she started opening a box of Oreos.

"We find a way out of here," I replied. "Of course, that might not be for a while."

"So what do we do until then?" she then proceeded to stuff some cookies into her mouth.

"Well, maybe we could walk around the city a bit. You know, in the daytime."

"I think I'd like that!"

She smiled big and I could see black crumbs all over her mouth.

"But before that... Can I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

"Well, you said you wouldn't mind not going back to your old house, right?"

"Right..."

"Well, that means you don't have anywhere else to stay, right?"

"I guess..."

I could tell she was confused about where I was going with this.

"Well, I've been wondering... How would you like to live with me?"

She just stared at me with wide eyes as she slowly chewed.

"Why?" she asked.

"You need somewhere to live, and... Truth be told... I like having you around."

"Really?"

"Yeah... You kind of remind me of Logan... and you help me remember other people need me. Even if it's just you."

"Awww..." she just smiled. "I like having you around, too. I like knowing someone cares about me!"

We then just smiled at each other. It was nice to know we had each other, even if we only knew each other for less than 12 hours. We then pushed the cart along the sidewalk to begin our proper visit of Chicago. Now that it was daytime, crime was legal again, and we had both severely Purged, I could tell this was going to be a great morning. Of course, every morning is a good morning when you survive The Night.

THE END