41 (b)

The Lives of Many

+ Kevin +

“Please stop doing that.”

I looked over at Howie with pleading eyes. I tried not to say anything but after about fifteen minutes of him tapping the table with his fingertips, I had to say something. Thank God there were no pens in sight otherwise it would have been the relentless clicking on and off. Those were his nervous habits and I couldn’t really blame him for being nervous. I was a wreck myself.

“Sorry.”

“That’s okay.”

“I just want to get this over with.”

“You and me both.”

It was enlightening hearing the events that brought this world to the breaking point from Nick. To think how quickly this place turned into what it is now made me actually shudder.

“Do you think this will actually work?”

AJ walked over and sat down. He had been pacing back and forth between this room and the living room where Charlie and his family were, stopping briefly to try to eavesdrop on Brian and Nick in the bedroom.

“I don’t know.”

He bit his bottom lip and stood up to start his pacing once more. A sudden crashing sound in the living room brought us all to our feet behind him as we ran to see what was going on.

When we reached the sound of the kerfuffle, Alan was laying on the ground with Charlie right by his side. Don was pacing and both Matt and Larry were standing behind them not looking very hopeful.

“What happened?” I asked walking over to Larry and whispering into his ear.

“He was complaining of chest pains and then just collapsed to the floor.”

“Shouldn’t we call an…” AJ stopped when everyone looked at him incredulously. Of course there would be no one to call. They couldn’t take the risk of calling for help and getting caught, not after all they had worked for.

“Dad, please….” Charlie pleaded with his father who looked up at him and smiled.

“I have horrible timing son…” He was barely able to get out.

Charlie smiled back at his father and then gave his brother a glance. “It’s okay dad.”

“I love you both.” He whispered before closing his eyes for the very last time.

The silence hung in the room, thick with emotions and regret. Charlie hugging his father and Don standing over his little brother, hand on shoulder. He looked vulnerable just for a moment before trying to resume that stoic tone of his.

“At least he didn’t have to blow himself up.” He said as he glanced our way and resumed the role of hardass.

We watched as Don walked out of the room, pausing by Nick and Brian who had snuck in amidst all the commotion. He turned around and said, “We leave in ten minutes.”

“But what about Alan’s post?”

Matt asked, seeming anxious and unsympathetic. It annoyed me until I realized that Alan just happened to die a little earlier in the day then he had originally planned. What an odd thought that is to try to wrap your head around.

“We’ll just have to make due with what we have.”

I cleared my throat. This was the time to step up and do something. It’s odd how I knew exactly what I needed to do. I remained silent though, even if I knew in my heart that I needed to take Alan’s place. What good would it be to announce it to the world? The guys would try to talk me out of it and I might just let them. I took a deep breath and sighed, it’s not every day you make this kind of decision.

The lives of many were worth more than the life of one. Within a few hours I would be dead but maybe I would have succeeded in saving so many more people.

“Kevin?”

I looked up to the concerned face of my cousin. His hand was on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

I swallowed hard before I answered, “Yes.”

“We should get ready. He was serious about ten minutes and I think Charlie needs some time alone with his dad.”

We both looked over at Charlie as he hugged his father. I nodded and led everyone out the living room door and back into the kitchen. Nick lingered behind, not able to take his eyes off of the somber scene.

“Come on little man.” I found myself calling him my Nick’s pet name. Although at this point, what did it matter?

Don was in the kitchen sipping on a cup of coffee when I walked over to him, out of earshot of the rest, “I’m in.”

He glanced at me, “What do you mean?”

“I mean I’ll take your father’s place.”

I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I was expecting. Maybe I was hoping for a huge argument, but all he did was shrug, “Yeah…okay.”

“We can’t tell the guys though. They would never go through with leaving if they knew I was going to do this.”

“Fine.”

“Good.” I said, surprisingly calm since sealing my fate.

“I’m going to get my brother and then we’re going to roll. After they go through the portal, we’ll fill you in on the plan.”

I nodded, “Okay.”

It’s funny how quickly an attitude can change when one knows he’s going to die. I felt a sense of peace come over me once the initial shock of my decision was over and done with. Before we left the house we all took turns saying our goodbyes to Alan.

Larry came out of the room in tears, choosing to look down instead of meet my gaze.

When I walked into the bedroom, he was laying on the bed that Nick had occupied earlier. He had a look of peace on his face. For him this nightmare was finally over. It would be for me too.

“Don’t worry Alan; I’m taking care of it.” I promised him, “It’s the least I can do for all you’ve done for us.”

I walked out of the room and to the beginning of my destiny.

***

The ride to the museum was eerily quiet. I think maybe the presence of Nick lying dead on the floor was part of it; a grim reminder to those people who were not going to escape tonight, that soon they would be looking just like him. I know that was my thought whenever I allowed myself a glance at the floor of the van. We originally were going to leave him in the house with Alan, but truth was, none of us were ready to say goodbye to him just yet so we decided to take him with us. Leave him at the museum. Nick would have thought it would be cool to spend eternity with dinosaurs in the next room.

Once I made up my mind to do this, I made sure to let Nick know I’d be seeing him soon. I whispered in his ear and asked him to leave me a place at the table and to please let my dad know I was coming. That’s the other thing that I kept thinking about, the idea of seeing my father again. I pictured both he and Nick greeting me as I made my way up to heaven.  

The van came to such an abrupt halt; I thought we might have hit something. We all lurched forward slightly and Howie almost completely came off his seat if not for the instincts of Brian who pulled him back he would have ended on top of Nick.

“We’re here.”

Matt climbed out of the car and we all followed. I felt my heart beat just a little faster and my brain racing with doubt. My survival instincts were kicking in and with every step closer to the actual museum, I felt my bravery waning. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to go through that portal. I found myself walking slowly, behind everyone else as we approached the steps and started our assent up the building. It was huge and beautiful but eerily quiet.

“My brother told me what you plan on doing.”

I almost jumped at the sound of Charlie’s voice.

“It’s a very courageous decision but not wise.”

“Why is that? It’s what you’re doing.”

“I know, but like we’ve said, it’s imperative that five you of go through since five of you showed up here.”

“You’re not sure if that’s true or not though, right? I mean we’re not even sure if there is a portal in there in the first place.”

He nodded, “Maybe so, but you could be risking your friend’s lives by staying here.”

“That’s why I plan on letting Nick’s body go in my place.”

“That could work.” He said after a few moments of contemplation.

“I’m sure it doesn’t matter who goes through but more the mass, right? I mean according to your calculations.”

He nodded again, “I suppose…”

“Then let me help you.”

“Okay.”

At the front doors, Don did a quick scan of the place before opening them, “Stay together and keep your eyes out for other people. We should be safe, but just in case we need to be prepared for anything.”

“Yeah, this place is so bat shit crazy I wouldn’t be surprised if the dinosaurs came to life in there.” AJ added.  The scary part is, no one laughed or argued otherwise. It very well could happen. Maybe that’s how they became extinct in the first place. They took a wrong turn and ended up here.

We walked in and the first thing that hit me was the smell of the place. It smelled like the inside of a closet, complete with mothballs. The place was so big. It felt claustrophobic to me though. Our footsteps echoed across the room, bouncing off the walls. The acoustics in the room were pretty impressive. It was probably a great place to maybe record something, funny where your brain goes sometimes.

We were all following Charlie who held the map in his hand and would randomly stop and look around before leading us in one direction or another. He stopped once more giving me time to say the first of many goodbyes. It would be tricky saying goodbye to people without them realizing it was the end. I had to though. I had to let them know how much I loved and cared about them.

I grabbed AJ’s shoulder and he jumped, just like I knew he would.

“How you holding up?”

“I think before this is over I might just crap my pants a little.”

I laughed. I’ll miss his sense of humor.

“Look, I just wanted to tell you that I’m proud of you for getting out of that hole and finding us. We thought you were dead and you managed to do everything in your power to survive. I bet you didn’t even know you had it in you.”

“Funny what thinking you’re going to die, can do for someone.”

“As long as you keep that attitude, you’ll be fine. Can you promise you’ll do that? Keep that kind of drive, no matter what happens?”

He thought about it for a few seconds and then nodded, “I’ll try my hardest.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

“This way guys, up these stairs and to the left.”

We nodded and continued to follow Charlie.

I caught up with Howie next, “Hey man.”

“Hey.”

“I’ve always admired your positive attitude D. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that. Sometimes I wish I had your patience when it came to dealing with things. Never lose that, okay?”

“That seems random. Why are you saying that now?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know. It just came to me.”

I wanted to tell him that he needed to step up and take the leadership role in this group now, but I couldn’t. He would know. D was always the most perceptive of all of them and as much as I wanted to say goodbye to them, I couldn’t handle it the other way around. Instead, I’d just have to trust it would happen naturally. I know Howie will step up because that’s what he does. If they do decide to continue on as a group without me, they’d need him to keep them all in line, even though I’m sure this experience has matured us all beyond our years.

“It’s right around this corner,” Came Matt’s voice just as I stopped my cousin.

 “Brian…”

I felt my voice cracking; this one was going to be hard.

“What?”

There was so much I wanted to tell him. So many things flowing through my mind but especially I wanted him to be the one to let my family know how much I love them and how sorry I was that I didn’t come back.

“Kev, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just wanted to say I love you buddy. You know, just in case…”

“Kevin, don’t think that way. We’ll make it through this.”

“I know.”

I smiled and wiped away my tears. I was really going to miss these guys.

“Okay we just need a sledge hammer but I think this is it.”

We all looked at the wall in disbelief. It was a wall, no biggie, nothing special about it. It’s not like it had a blinking, neon sign over it saying “Portal to another world” I was having my doubts until the hole Don made, revealed a slight humming sound. I actually had to cover my ears.

“This has to be it.” Charlie said, smiling at the guys before looking over at me and nodding.

“I’m not sure how much time you have but you might want to get going now.” Matt said, looking at me to make some kind of move.

“I think I’ll go last. Brian, why don’t you go first, you’re the adventurous type.”

He seemed kind of surprised by that. They all just naturally assumed I’d be the one to test it out. When he saw I wasn’t kidding he nodded, took a few deep breaths, kissed Nick on the forehead and crawled inside the hole. My heart caught in my throat when the humming suddenly intensified but then quickly diminished.

“AJ go!” I said giving him a gentle tap. “It’s okay.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do!” and I did for some reason, I knew they’d be just fine.

“I trust you.” He went down on all fours and did the same thing, once again hearing an intense humming and then a duller version.

Howie looked over at me, “Go D. I’ll be right behind Nick.”

“Okay.” He looked over at me and then the other Nick before joining AJ and Brian in the unknown.

I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that they were out of this world and would be okay. I had to believe that anyway.

“You don’t have to do this.” Nick said staring intently at me.

“Do what?”

“Stay behind.”

“How did you know?”

“I just had a feeling when you started saying your goodbyes.”

I take that back, Howie wasn’t the most perceptive one. It actually always has been Nick.

“I have to, it’s the only way.”

“No it’s not. Let me stay. I already told them I would as soon as their dad died.”

I glanced over at Don, feeling dumb. “He told me not to tell anyone, just like you did.” He said walking back to his brother, annoyed at the holdup.

“No.”

“Kevin, that isn’t my world anyway. I would be taking your friends place. I would never be able to be me. I’ll always be him. As much as I hate this place, it’s my home. You deserve to be with your friends and family. Let me do this one good thing. It’ll be my way to make it up to your Nick and myself.”

He went and picked up Nick’s body and gently handed it to me, “Go!”

I looked over at Charlie and the rest, unsure of what to do.

“Time is running out.” Don warned.

I looked Nick in the eyes, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, now go!” He had tears in his eyes. I could tell he was scared to death but I could also feel how much he needed redemption.

“Thanks for everything.” I said to everyone standing there. My eyes landing on Nick last.

“Your friends and family would be so proud of you, Nick.”

“Just remember not to let your world make the same mistakes we made.” Charlie said as Nick stepped back and was met by Matt’s hand on his shoulder.

I place our Nick down on the ground gently as I crawled through the hole, pulling him just as I was enveloped by darkness and a blaring sound of humming and chimes.