NaNoWriMo Day 15

Angry Gary and Angry Larry the Leopard Slugs

Freedom
Gary wound his way through the grass as he searched for morsels to eat. He found himself next to a decomposing log covered over by the grasses and it was covered in white tendrils of mycorrhizae. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open at the sight and he sat staring at it, unmoving until he shook his eyes and quickly advanced on it. He took a big mouthful and devoured it rapidly before taking bite after bite. His excited eating was interrupted by the sound vehicles pulling into the yard, pausing as a person lifted the police tape to let them in. The rear doors swung open and a pair of suited men climbed out and walked to the front door of the house. The first one to the door pushed it open and they both went inside.
Gary’s chewing had slowed as he watched the men walk away and as they entered the house he stopped. His mind was working over what he was seeing, he was thinking hard where he had seen the men but was unable to place them. The noise from the house snapped him back to and he finished chewing the mouthful. The crashing and banging in the house boomed out the open door as the men worked through the house searching through the strewn items left after the initial search.
The men tossed things into one corner as they went piece by piece, piling them roughly were they fell. Gary listened to the banging continue continue until is began to subside as the items became lighter wight. The men went from room to room searching everything as they piled it. Gary had seen enough and decided to go see Larry. He wound his way back through the grass and to Larry’s nook where he entered as he called for Larry.
Gary’s eyes adjusted as he went and he became aware that Larry was not in his regular spots. He looked around the nook and saw him nowhere until he looked up and saw Larry tightened into a ball on the ceiling near the entrance. His trembling body exuded slime which had been running down the wall into a puddle below.
“Larry?” Gary asked. “You okay?”
Larry did not answer or move other than the trembling. Gary asked again, “Larry, you alright? What’s going on?”
Larry slowly raised on tentacle and pointed at the pda across the nook. Gary went to it and still on screen was the message, “We Know Who You Are”. He looked up from the pda and back at Larry huddled on the ceiling then pushed the pda aside and turned back to Larry.
“You know, since they wiped your channel there is no way for anyone to be able to find you. Those could have lead them to you but it was for the best that they are gone. Don’t be so afraid, just think about it,” Gary said from below Larry.
“I have thought about it,” Gary’s muffled voice replied.
“More agents are in the house searching everything again. I watched them go in the house then a bunch of banging and thuds started up. Pretty sure they were piling everything in a corner as they went. You want to go see what they did to the house?” Gary asked.
“No,” Gary mumbled.
“Maybe you should go out and eat something?”
“No,” Larry answered again.
Gary watched him continue to tremble for a while longer before giving up and as he began to leave said, “you can’t hide in here forever you know”. He exited the nook and took a turn towards the house, he was curious how bad it looked now. He could see the vehicle in the yard still and the men had appeared to have finished ransacking the house as they were standing talking amongst themselves.
“I didn’t shit. What do they think is going to happen, something magically show up that wasn’t here for the first search?”
“This place is a dump so no wonder didn’t find anything.”
“They should have let the bomb bot take the place down.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here, another complete waste of time.”
The men climbed back into the vehicles and drover out of the yard beneath the police tape. Gary watched them go then looking back at the house could see the front door was still open. He slugged his way across the yard and up the patio edge. Staying in the shadows he cautiously made his way to the doorway. Turning the corner around the frame he could see the massive pile of the man’s belongings, a lot of the item broken and destroyed. He looked around the room taking note of the possible bits of food lying scattered around. There were crumbs of almost every kind and he nibbled on the nearest one to him.
Across the room was the pile and out of it crawled a number of roaches and a pair of spiders scurried away from it for the safety of the walls. Gary kept scanning the room around him in caution and slowly made his way along the base of the wall. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for he just knew he was curious and wanted to explore. He made it to the doorway to the next room and when he rounded the door frame he found himself in the television room. The empty spot where it had sat now just held dangling wires and the same of the wifi box. The couch cushions were slashed open and emptied out on the floor then shoved into the pile.
He found an especially tasty large crumb of cake and sat munching away on it. Outside the house another vehicle pulled into the yard and car doors opened then slammed shut. Gary heard the sound of footsteps enter the house and heard them stop abruptly.
“What the hell happened to my house?” the man yelled. “What the fuck did they do? Why would they pile everything in the god damned corner?”
His footsteps booming as he stomped through the house. Gary found himself suddenly unsure what to do. He wanted out but he would have to go back the way he came and there is no guarantee the door would still be open when he got there. He scanned the television room but only saw the screened window with their bush perch outside. Resigned to the fact he turned around and began to retrace his tracks.
The man had entered his bedroom to find the mattress destroyed and his clothes in a pile against the wall. While he was out of view Gary moved as fast as he could towards the door. As he reached it the man stomped out of the bedroom and into the television room.
“Those bastards took my tv!” he yelled at the empty spot.
Gary heard the man yelling from the other room and as fast as he could slugged out the open door and off the edge of the patio. He went straight to Larry’s nook and went straight inside without a word. As he got inside he turned to look at Larry on the ceiling and said, “the man’s back”.
Larry was no longer trembling though still in his ball and he raised a tentacle to look at Gary. “Really?” he asked.
“Yeah, I was in the house and he came home. He is not happy about the house getting trashed. They really messed it up with the searches. The couch and bed got cut open and emptied,” Gary replied.
“If he is back then that might mean they aren’t going after me,” Larry said hopefully as he began to relax his tensed body.
“That’s what I’m thinking. So you don’t have to hide up there anymore,” Gary said. “You’re a mess, you really should get yourself together. We can go back to the log I found covered in myco when you’re ready.”
Larry climbed down from the ceiling as Gary exited the nook saying, “I’ll be outside”.
Gary sat outside the entrance to Larry’s nook and watched as the man stormed out of the house and over to his car. He got to the driver side door and he stopped cold, his hand out stretched as he reached for the handle. The inside of the car was exactly how he had left it, they had neglected to search it. He smiled wryly and opened the door, climbing into the driver seat. He reached his hand down between the passenger seat and the center console and pulled a small black .380 caliber semi automatic pistol out, slid the slide back checking if a round was in the chamber then slid it into his pocket.
A car pulled up and stopped in front of the house on the street and a woman stepped out of it. She had long brunette hair and a semi business attire. Her eyes roamed the property and house before she noticed the car door open and the man inside. She lifted the police tape and walked to the open door. The man saw her approaching and stepped out saying, “can I help you?”
Holding out her hand to shake his she said, “yes, hi, my name’s Vivian and I’m with the Veteran Defense League.”
“Veteran’s Defense League? What’s that?” the man said as he shook her hand.
“We are a nonprofit organization that was formed to help veterans who have been discriminated against or unfairly or unjustly been charged with crimes that they did not commit. We have a long history of helping our veterans to fight many different charges. We saw your case in the news and are here to offer our help,” she said in a direct and matter of fact tone.
“How much?” the man asked incredulously.
“Nothing. We are a nonprofit and our services are free to those veterans that need it. Would you be willing to sit down and talk? I feel like we can help you,” she said as she motioned to the house.
“I don’t think that’ll work. They destroyed my house in their searches. Even cut my couch and bed apart. I still don’t know what they were looking for exactly. They kept talking about tablets and pdas but I’ve never had any of that techy garbage,” he replied.
“Well, how bout we go for lunch and we can talk about this. I think we have a strong case and can quite easily get get you fully reimbursed for your troubles. What do you say?” Vivian asked him.
The man looked at the house then at his car, his gaze returning to her before saying, “sure. What could it hurt?”
“Come on, I’ll drive,” she said as she warily eyed his beat up car.
They walked to her car and after climbing inside drove off. Gary sat and listened to their conversation, his mind awash in conundrums. He wanted to go back into the house but Larry likely wouldn’t go. He knew they needed to get food and the log was the best option right now and as he thought about food more he realized that Larry was still not outside and he yelled into the entrance to the nook, “LARRY, COME ON!”