The Adventures of Dario & Athena

It was a sunny warm day with a slight cool breeze. The perfect day for a baseball game.

I reached across the counter for my hot dog. Like a gentleman, he paid before I finished taking my food.

He was such a good man. From the day I met him. Sweet, funny, and tall. I loved that he was tall. But that was far from the point. What is important to know is that he was a protector. And he taught me how to allow myself to be protected. I liked that most of all.

As I ate my hot dog, we walked back to our seats. The nosebleeds work just fine for us. We can see the whole field, and we get the best view of the city. As I readied to take my last bite, the stadium erupted in cheers!

On our way back to our seats, a baseball flew overhead.

“Freaking Sweet!” I said as we walked toward the cut in the wall.

The cut in the wall was more than just a cut. It was a crack in foundation. The ball had not just stopped in the cut. It had dropped down onto a lower level. We hopped into the nearest elevator to the next level. That was where we had seen the cut continue. Learning that it extended to the lowest of levels, we continued.

As the elevator reached the bottom level, we crept off the elevator. It was clear that we were not supposed to be down there. We found our way to the bottom of the cut. Five structural levels with a crack in the foundation? “Holy Crack”, I said as I looked around for the ball.

“Maybe we shouldn’t hang here too long. Let us just find the ball and head to lunch.”

He was right, he is always right. We split up and looked around. Just as I went to pick up the ball things took a turn for the worst. This was soon to be the most memorable, uneventful, baseball game ever.

“She didn’t see anything.”

He moved his hand from the curve in her back to cover her eyes. He spun her around the corner and charged.

A protector, a lover, a friend. Dario loved Athena. They were exact opposites and yet they blended perfectly. He was sure that he would do anything to protect her. Anything for her.

Today was the day that he would prove it.

As he charged forward the only thing, he had in his mind was Athena.

I must save her. I must protect her. I will not let her down.

As she pulled herself up, she heard a loud noise. She rounded the corner Dario had tossed her around and saw scorch marks throughout the hallway.

He was gone. And so were whatever those…those things were.

They took him.

She dropped to her knees. Paralyzed in heartache. And For one minute she let herself bellow his name in fear.

As she sprinted through halls and down stairs, in any direction that seemed to lead out, she cried silently, determined to find him. Athena needed a plan, a strategy. Who would help her? How could she even ask? What were those things? Where di they come from? These were questions that she could not answer. For sure her story would seem crazy.

Metallic. Smooth. Silent.

That is all she could think of to describe the glimpse of what she did see.

“I’ll find you. Ill save you. I am coming for you Dario. Just hold on!”

As she ran through the wooded lands just south of the stadium, she looked back and only saw the building that held her beloved captive. She stopped short as she covered the hill. She saw those things patrolling. No specific formation she had seen before. Not that she had any real education or knowledge on the matter. She slid in her tracks, stopping, and crawled into a nearby bush.

What in the world in happening?!

As she peered through the branches and leaves, she saw them come out of an apartment complex. It looked destroyed. Abandoned. As soon as the patrol team was out of site she ran. She ran as fast as she could, looking in all directions for a clear path.

When Athena and Dario arrive at the stadium for a lovely summer date day, all was well and right in the world. Or so they thought.

Metallic. Smooth. Silent. Armed. Armored. Not human?

She could not see any skin like features at all. They were completely covered from hear to toe. If they had toes.

As she came up to the complex, doors were chained shut. Windows were boarded up and there was no sign of life. She rounded the building, thinking to herself, there must be a way in. She was right. She came across a basement window with the board unsecured in the top left corner. she sat on the ground and used her foot to pry the board from the window. A nearby rock was used to break the glass. Athena slid into the window; she scratched her back in a way that caused a dark red steak to stain her shirt from her mid back to the top of her jeans.

She ran through the halls checking every door. Maybe she could find a place to gather her thoughts. Figure out what she was going to do. Right now, the most pressing issue was the wound on her back. She winced with every step. She could feel the skin on her back sticky and hot.

As she cleared a dark, tossed apartment she locked herself in and made next to no noise. Not knowing what happened to this building or if anyone or anything would come back. She scoured the bathroom looking for anything that could be used for first aid.

Athena patched herself up with some shirts she found and ripped. Tape was a stretch, she just used longer pieces to secure the makeshift bandages with knots.

Athena took advantage of the night and looked for answers. How could she sleep at such a pertinent time? Dario was gone. It had looked like the city had been attacked and overrun in a matter of hours. She searched for and held on to anything that could be of use to her.

Continuing her search of the apartment complex she had taken shelter in and the surrounding areas she loaded herself up in a way she had only imagined. She had guns now. Big guns. Small guns. Loud guns and quiet ones. From her time on the couch watching movies she knew she had a good arsenal. Could she efficiently use said items…maybe not as well as she would have liked to believe?

She thought about many things. Her main thought was getting Dario back. For right this very moment though, she needed to get back to her safe house and learn about these weapons.

“After all”, she thought, “I have to protect me now.”

Getting back to the safe house, was no easy task. She wasn’t able to move the same way she could getting out. She was weighed down with guns, wood and random bits of nothings that may come in handy at some point.

Athena began to feel lighter on her time back to the safehouse. She thought to herself, everything hurts. She was more nervous and cautious than before. Every snap of a twig and whoosh of the wind chilled her enough to stop and check the area before moving on. She found herself holding out guns and pointing into the wind at nothing, like she knew what she was doing.

She found it odd that she didn’t she a single person. Alive or dead, for that matter. What in the world was going on, she thought. Dario is so good at calling things out, he for sure knows what’s going on. Wherever he is.

She knew she needed to set some things straight, mentally. She needed a plan. As she got back to the safe house, she placed all her supplies accordingly.

“What am I doing?”, she laughed at herself quietly. She looked down and realized that she was organizing her weapons and supplies as though tonight was a normal night.

“At least I’m reliable” she thought.

She decided she would get a little shut eye and set out at daybreak.

In eight days’ time Athena gathered intel, weapons, supplies and food.

On a nightly scouting of the areas around the stadium she saw something for the first time in eight nights

Making her way back to her safe house she spotted a man, no older than she.

Out in the open? Walking so freely?

He’s either stupid or oblivious, she thought to herself.

Athena drew her weapon and slowly made her way to a t. As she approached him from behind, he seemed more clueless than dangerous. He seemed lost and confused. Afraid even.

“Turn around slowly and you just might live through the night.” Athena had gotten so close to him she was able to whisper in his ear without hearing her coming.

He was afraid. Just as afraid as she. She held the gun directly between his eyes. He could feel the barrel pressed between his brows.

“Who are you?” Athena asked him.

“I’m Killian.” He stuttered as his eyes crossed to look at the barrel of the gun, “p-p-please don’t kill me!” Terrified, he tried to plea for his life. Killian tried to explain that he was just trying to get away.

“After they took the stadium, everyone fleeing was either killed on site or taken away.”

The stadium? She wasn’t certain anyone had survived that day. Athena wasn’t surprised that the stadium had been taken over. After all, that is where Dario was taken. Never did she think that it would end up being where they set up camp.

“My son, he was taken, we got separated. I saw them take him, the crowd—the crowd took him in the wrong direction!”

They had taken his son. He just wanted to find him. She, herself, was still trying to find a way to get Dario back.

Athena had felt Killian’s pain. She could see it in his eyes. In this moment she had felt his hurt and anger. His confusion and fear. She lowered her gun and shoved him in a bush.

She heard footsteps.

So much for them being silent, she thought.

Killian peered through the bush and whispered, “What’s going on?”

Athena looked at him and looked down at the grass. It wasn’t her job to keep him informed. She grew angry. “What do you think”, she snapped.

He looked more confused. He had watched his son disappear before his eyes. He had woken up in the back of a concession stand with nine other people. He had escaped. He looked at Athena with more anger than fear.

“I don’t know what’s going on”, he snapped back quickly. “If I knew I wouldn’t have asked. I do know I need to find my son! When I escaped, I promised him I’d find my son” Killian stood up, just long enough to know he should get back down.

Sitting still and silent, they could hear footsteps getting closer and closer.

A silent lull had taken root. It felt like an hour, no, maybe two. Escaped? Him? It was clear that she needed to learn more about her new companion.

As the footsteps made their way into the distance Athena nodded at Killian, he returned with another. They dashed for the complex where she had been recouping.

Athena let Killian wash up and rest.

After returning, Athena had talked Killian into taking the rest of the night to gather himself. She figured, like herself, he would be best helpful to his son if he were at full strength.

Warm rays of sun brushed Killian awake.

He had dreams of his son, he woke up with tears in his eyes. Killian opened his eyes and looked over at Athena. She was already awake, alert, and peeking through the curtains. Killian quickly wiped his eyes and sat up. His head hung as heavy as the sun in the sky.

“Is CHILDS NAME your son?” Athena made sure to use a calm and sympathetic tone. She had watched Killian cry in his sleep on her watch, calling out to NAME HERE.

“Yes. How do you know that name?!” Killian jolted alert. How could she know my sons name, he thought.

“I don’t mean to pry, and I’m sorry if that was strange,” she began, “It’s just, you were mumbling his name in your sleep…” Athena purposefully left out the small detail of seeing him cry in his sleep.

As they made eye contact, it was mutual. Neither one of them wanted to mention tears.

Athena hung her head and thought hard on what she would say next…

“So-“, she stopped mid-sentence.

“His name is CHILD NAME HERE.”

Killian could not keep the smile off his face. Even considering everything going on. The thought of his son’s smile made him smile as he told Athena everything and anything.

“He’s 14. He loves baseball. I took him to that game as a last hurrah. He was supposed to start his freshman year next month. He had gone to grab a helmet of ice cream when the stadium went dark.”

His smile turned into a grimace. So did Athena’s. She wasn’t at the stadium when it went dark. She had run from the stadium just before. When leaving was still an option.

“It was so subtle. The lights went out and the gates were locked. We were trapped. I ran to find CHILDS NAME HURR. I just missed his hand. The crowd, they just” -he paused- “swooped in and carried him away. It happened so fast. I couldn’t get to him.”

Kilian hung his head again. Athena felt his pain.

“We will get him back; I promise I will help any way I can.” She kneeled before him and put her hand on his knee. She tried to comfort him.

Athena gave him time before she started pressing her true concerns. She wanted to ask him about his capture and his escape. She needed to know how he got out. While she was curious about the ‘him’ Killian was saved by, she was more concerned with how he got out.

While Athena looked out the window, she couldn’t help but replay her first encounter with Killian.

Short, built, and to be frank, he looked like he had been through hell. It wasn’t how he looked, that had her mind on replay. It was what he said that was on replay the most.

“Whats going on”

“…when I escaped…”

She thought, how could someone who escaped not know what’s going on?

As suspect as it sounded, she tried to put it out of her mind. I mean, He could have been in a dark room, blindfolded, and tied up for all she knew.

But she didn’t and that was significant to her.

With his words on repeat in her head, she looked over to see Killian rise. With a firm look on his face, he said, “There are some things that I should tell you.”

She didn’t have time to think bad thoughts. The way he looked at her. Cold fear in his voice. Bad thoughts were the last thing on her mind.

What the hell happened to this guy?

Leaning against the cold wood bathroom door, Athena covered her mouth with a towel and cried. She had fought to hold back tears and sobs as Killian told her of how Dario-her Dario- had helped him escape. Her mind flooded with thoughts.

He’s alive!

He was alive.

He tried to escape.

He could have died since then.

Who thinks like that?!

He’s alive.

I will find him.

I will save him.

She washed her face and opened the door.

“Okay”, she said in credence. “We need a map. Sit.”

She cleared off the little table with one clean sweep. It was daytime, but keeping the windows covered made for a safer safe house. The room had a faint hue on the ceiling from the flashlight in the corner.

Athena made Killian repeat his story. And with more detail on the way out rather than the man that got him out. Athena was especially familiar with the ballpark and its surroundings. If not for the current situation, one would even say that it was beautiful. So, Athena drew a map. With a curtain ripped from a window and some paint she found in the next room, she went to work.

“This is the stadium. And this,” she drew wavy lines, “is-the-river.”

Killian nodded in agreement.

“Now, you said that you came out the south security gate. That’s here.” She pointed to the map.

“There’s only one way to get to where I found you from there. And that’s this way here.” Killian used his finger to trace the way he remembered running. He looked up at her and they both nodded.

They flipped over the curtain and began to map the route inside. This wouldn’t be the hardest part, she thought, getting him out will be. Killian managed to recall places to avoid and places that were safe. Athena knew that these, safe places, may be heavily guarded now. She looked at him and rolled her eyes. The idea that someone who thought that security hasn’t tightened up was someone she needed to depend on, made her angry.

Athena ran to the corner where she had a book set aside for this very moment.

This book was a logbook. She had filled it with her findings on scouting runs. The day, the time, what she found, what she saw. As she read the log, she noticed a patter in patrols.

Athena knew when she could get in to find Dario.