Jack and Alex got found out. That's the only thing it could be. The gang figured out who they are and turned on them.
Hidden in a crawlspace in the upstairs hallway, Awsten tries to breathe. He hopes Patty comes back soon, with Jack and Alex in tow.
The apartment is dead silent. The purple-haired boy lets the quiet drown him. It's a thick liquid that filled the apartment so quick he didn't have time to take a deep breath before being forced to go under.
The good thing about the quietness is it means he's alone. He isn't mentally prepared to use the gun on the floor next to him.
The purple-haired boy decides to go into the security room. He'll be able to see all of the entrances to the apartment on the cameras.
He carefully picks up the cold metal next him and leaves the crawlspace. Even though he's still inside of the apartment, he feels exposed and unsafe. He didn't realize how secure having Patty around made him feel until now. Patty made this apartment feel like a home, but now Awsten feels like he's in the Upside-Down version of it.
The security room is dark, but the black and white screens light it up slightly. There's scattered blueprints and manilla folders all over the desk. The whole room is filled with organized clutter.
In the corner is Patty's bed. The purple-haired boy figures that out of everyone, Patty is involved in this lifestyle the most. He's constantly surrounded by it.
The security monitors are making slightly off-putting white noise- high pitched t.v. static. It makes the room seem cold in a weird way. Awsten doesn't understand how Patty sleeps in here.
A voice laced with static comes from downstairs, and Awsten jumps, shakily grasping his gun. He can't understand what's being said, but he doesn't feel safe enough to go downstairs and get the radio.
Realizing it's his only way of knowing what's happening, Awsten inches toward the door. He peeks his head out into the hallway, keeping his gun aimed at the floor. He moves slowly, not making a single noise.
Once he finally reaches the top of the stairs, he stops. He can understand the voices coming from the walkie-talkie now.
"Patty's here but I can't find him! Does anyone have his location? This whole building is fucked!"
Awsten's stomachs drops. The voice sounds kind of like Alex. They can't find Patty. Where's Patty? Why is the building fucked? Alex is usually so upbeat- Awsten hasn't ever heard him sound so serious.
"I'm trying to find him! I have a drone going around the building. I'll let you know if I see him. How are we in terms of back-up?"
Awsten doesn't recognize this voice. He figures it must be either Rian, Jack, or Zack.
A beat of silence passes before Alex responds.
"Jack tried to tell Patty to call Jawn before the door got busted down. I don't know if he did. He contacted Kellin before Patty, so I know Kellin, Travis, and Geoff are on the way."
Geoff is about to be in the middle of a gun fight. The thought makes the purple-haired boy sick to his stomach.
Gunshots ring out from the radio, and Awsten nearly drops the gun in order to cover his ears. Did he just hear someone get shot?
Alex speaks up again after a moment.
"Damn, these guys don't give up! Any visual on Patty yet, Rian?"
"None! I can't fucking find him. How's Jack?"
"He's definitely gonna need a hospital. He's stable for the moment, but we can't move. We're cornered and Jack can't run or climb."
Something happened to Jack. Alex is with him, but they're stuck. Patty can't be found. God knows where Geoff is- Awsten can't breathe. He sinks down to his knees, shaking.
He tries to keep ahold of himself. He can't let his panic get the better of him right now. He has to keep a level head.
He takes a few deep breaths and stands back up. He carefully goes downstairs and shakily grabs the walkie-talkie. It'll be safer for him to keep listening from the security room, where he can keep an eye on things.
He makes it to the room and closes the door. He pushes Patty's bed up against the door, revealing a panel in the wall that opens up to a crawlspace. The crawlspace will lead him out of the apartment if he needs a quick way out.
He sets his gun and the radio on the desk atop some blueprints and watches the monitors, waiting for something else to be said.
A new voice comes over the radio, but it isn't one that Awsten doesn't recognize.
"Listen carefully! Jack, Alex- I see you both on the drone camera. There's a vent shaft above you- get it open and start crawling. It'll lead you outside. As soon as you get to the end of the vent shaft, look outside and see if there's a truck underneath you. I've sent Zack to pick you up. There's a mattress in the back of the pickup truck- just drop down and stay low. There aren't many gang members outside, but Geoff will handle the ones that are out there from the passenger seat."
Patty.
Awsten tries to focus on the fact that Patty isn't laying dead somewhere instead of the fact that Geoff is going to be in the truck head straight for the shootout.
Alex responds immediately.
"There you fucking are! Finally decided to show up to the party, huh? Where were you? What took so long?"
"I had a few calls to make. Jawn's almost here with his people. They're gonna blow the building."
A new voice chimes in, seeming to be just now joining the frequency- Travis.
"Where is everyone? Is anyone still in the building?"
Patty answers his question quickly.
"Rian and I are in the RV down the street. Zack and Geoff are on the way to get Jack and Alex, who are currently climbing through a vent to get outside. Is Kellin with you? Where are y'all? Come to the RV."
"He's with me. We dropped Geoff off at the RV and parked across the street from the building. This whole side of town is abandoned, but I expected the cops to show up by now. We're on our way to you."
A few moments of silence pass, and the purple-haired boy uses the quiet minute to press his ear to the door, making sure he doesn't hear anything downstairs or in the hallway.
Patty's voice comes through the radio with a bit of panic.
"Where's Remington and Emerson?"
At first, Awsten is confused- he didn't know Remington and Emerson were there in the first place.
Rian answers- he and Patty must be in different parts of the RV.
"We still haven't heard from them. I knew we shouldn't have sent them in to try to find you."
More silence.
The purple-haired boy realizes that the first few radio transmissions that he heard but couldn't understand must've been about the two missing boys.
As far as he knows, Remington and Emerson aren't field agents, so Awsten can only imagine how mad Patty is at Rian for sending them into the fray to try to find him.
The radio goes quiet for a while. The silence makes Awsten's chest tighten. So many bad things could be happening out there, and he wouldn't know. He wouldn't know until whatever is left of the boys show up to deliver the bad news.
The purple-haired boy begins to pace the room. He keeps his footsteps quiet so they can't be heard from downstairs. Even though he's watching every entrance on a live feed- glancing at the monitors carefully as he paces past them- he still feels like someone could get in and just be strolling around the livingroom without him knowing.
Patty's voice rings out again.
"I talked to Jawn. He's going to find them. Everyone just focus on getting back to the RV. As soon as we're all safe inside we'll get ready to go. We're not leaving without Remington and Emerson, but we'll need to get out of here as soon as Jawn's guys get them to us. Zack, Geoff- have you got Jack and Alex?"
The next transmission makes Awsten's heart stop.
"There was a few gang members patrolling outside the building, making sure Jack and Alex didn't get out. They have-"
The sound of squealing brakes interrupt Zack's sentence.
"-they have cars! They're giving-"
Another interruption, but this time by the sound of gunshots and breaking glass.
"-they're giving chase. Jack and Alex are in the back. Geoff's aiming for their tires-"
This time, the transmission is interrupted by a sobbing Awsten. He turns the radio off, unable to hear anymore.
Geoff and Zack are being shot at and chased. Remington and Emerson are missing. Jack's hurt, and he and Alex are rolling around in the bed of a truck that's being shot at.
There's no possible way anything else could go wrong.
Awsten tries to calm down, but nothing seems to be able to silence his panic. He tries breathing. He tries thinking happy thoughts. He tries pacing. He tries hugging himself. Nothing works.
Then something catches his eye. His panic disappears for a moment before coming back with double the force. He stares at one of the camera monitors.
The front door is wide open.
...