On the Lam (Wistful Beast and Vermiciro)

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Flashlight still illuminating the attic entrance, Judith didn't even turn to greet her partner. "I already know."came her distracted reply. Setting her bag down, Judith jumped, fingers finding only a modicum of purchase against the panel as she tried to move it. Undaunted, she tried again, this time with the flashlight as extension. The lip surrounding the bulb made contact. Though muted against the softer drywall, the sound seemed to echo in Judith's ears. Flecks of dust and debris sifted down through the slit her efforts made. They spangled her face and hair, but Judith could only focus on the ink-black sliver of attic.

Without even glancing in askance, Judith told Callie to move the panel. "We're going to stay in the attic for the night." she stated more than explained. "These fucks won't know and once we get an opening we can rob 'em blind and bolt." It was a plan with only a thin veil of safety. The rewards were minuscule in comparison to the risk of detection, but all Judith could think of was getting some sleep. The gun tucked into her waist was all the security she needed in that moment.
 
Callie watched as Judith jumped towards a panel in the ceiling. Callie assumed that it was the attic, the safest place they could try to hide in. People usually didn't enter their attics very often and Callie sure hoped it was true for these inhabitants considering that this was their only option considering their lack of energy and time. Callie was still scared in this situation though, but her exhaustion dulled her usual panic and made her unable to do much about her nagging suspicions. She just allowed her hands to fidget, grasping nervously at the flashlight and bag in her grip.

"Alright."she managed groggily, moving in beside Judith. She set her bag and flashlight down on the floor and reached upwards, fingertips brushing the panel. She stood on her tip toes and bit her lip, nails reaching the edge and pushing. She closed her eyes as the panel gave way and in turn showered her face with dust. She dropped her arms once the panel had been pushed a bit, rubbing the dust from her face. Then Callie went at it again, grasping a narrow ladder that was pulled down to allow entering and exiting.
 
The ladder may as well have been a holy relic, a gold fortune, or an incarnate virtue. The promise of sleep it offered was sweet, as good as water for the parched. Judith wasn't even thinking about being caught. She knew her sleep would be too deep for even the nightmare they left in Nebraska to reach her. All she needed was one night, just one night's rest. Then she and Callie could alternate driving and stay at shit motels. But for tonight, it was another's attic.

After making a quick sweep of the carpet with her hands, debris flicked to the edges of the closet, Judith climbed the ladder with what little haste remained in her body. What she found at the top was hardly paradise even for the homeless. The square of attic storage Judith entered into was almost sixteen cubic feet, but thankfully empty with exception for the omnipresent cobwebs that even bridged the gap between the slanted walls, cords of dust-choked web hung like garland there. Judith didn't pay it any mind.

"Don't forget to close the closet door before heading up." she spoke quietly down to Callie.
 
Callie kept looking behind hee, though there was no one there. She was just paranoid now that she knew that others would be returning at one point soon. She just hoped they didn't bother to check the attic or Judith would probably have to take care of the home owners in an aggressive fashion.

Right now all Callie really wanted to do was get into the attic and sleep. She closed the closet door after hearing Judith's request. Then she climbed up the ladder and reached the attic, observing the small, dark space. She pulled the ladder up and replaced the panel as it had been, hoping it looked untouched.
 
There was something almost puerile about hiding in the cramped attic space with with Callie. It reminded Judith of the tents and blanket forts in her youth, flashlights bobbing in the dark before ducking into confined spaces of avowed security. She smiled in recollection as she tucked her bag into a corner. The last thing she wanted was to kick it in her sleep and draw suspicion. Lacking blankets wasn't a problem, the heat in the attic was almost cloying. Judith wouldn't have declined a pillow though.

Tucking her arm under her cheek, she lay on her stomach. Her eyelids felt weighted, lead curtains that slipped over her vision without volition. Judith didn't mind though. Sleep was what she had intended upon entering their secret little place. All other worries and stress could wait until tomorrow.

"If you snore, I'll kill you." Judith mumbled one last threat before sleep claimed her consciousness. Memories of her prior deal in the stolen car, alcohol for favors, never came to mind.
 
Callie didn't waste any time and crawled forwards, laying down a few feet away from Judith. She took her hoodie off and bunched it under her cheek to make a lumpy, impromptu pillow of sorts. She also brought her knees up towards her chest and rested her arm on the ground above her head. Her fingers idly traced the wood grain of the attic floor, nails scratching soundlessly. She allowed herself to close her eyes, almost unable to keep them open anymore. While she wanted to worry about being caught, she felt a clam wash over her body to indicate that she wouldn't be awake for much longer.

Callie didn't really mind Judith's threat, not being one to snore. in fact, as a child her parents often entered her room in the night to see if she had died in her sleep because she was that quiet. Callie wasn't known to be a very loud person, especially in sleep. A wave of drowsiness soon overtook her, mind losing the battle against sleep. Now her breathing became steadier, body finally able to rest after the rather eventful and stressful day.
 
Despite the certainty Judith had felt, expecting a deep dreamless sleep, she experienced neither. Periodically, every hour or two, Judith would wake, restless. The dark of the attic was absolute. Such blindness proved claustrophobic and Judith would shut her eyes, trying to deny the sensation that wormed into her dreams. Like segments of films taped together, there was no story. Images of places that looked familiar. Faces she couldn't name. Impossible laws and physics. And fragments of conversation, like a poem spoken between radio stations.

An engine turned over in her dream.

"There's somebody in the house."

Judith awoke with a surge of adrenaline, her spine rigid, every muscle tense in wait. In the master bedroom a cacophonous alarm clock rang, almost avian and electric in its sound. Judith tried to even her breathing as she listened. She didn't know what time it was, not even a window to gauge by the sun. But she knew that her time for sleep had gone. They needed to move again when the opportunity presented itself.
 
Callie had little trouble sleeping, dreams rather uneventful and regular. She was thankful for peaceful dreams, having yearned for them after having a vision of being disowned and stabbed by her own father. Tonight she just dreamed of random bits and pieces like menial conversations and what not. She wouldn't remember any of the interactions within her dream, as they were not important enough to leave an imprint. Callie only awoke a few times in the night, quickly falling asleep when she realized that she was safe for the time being.

Callie awoke quickly to the sound of an alarm clock, panicked by the noise. She sat up in an instant, what peace she had quickly disappearing. She soon recognized the sound as the alarm in the bedroom below them, which was to her horror, now occupied. Callie's eyes were wide as they struggled to adjust to the darkness, looking around to find that Judith had also been roused and alert. Callie realized her sense of grogginess from the alcohol and medicine were gone now, only leaving a mild head ache that she could manage to ignore.
 
The alarm was eventually silenced, being kicked over to a radio. Oldies music, perhaps 60's or 70's, softly filtered up through the ceiling. Its sunshine and apple pie cadence only put Judith more on edge. Two people were talking, but she couldn't make out their conversation through the music. She tried to imagine what they might be saying, wondered if they were going out to eat or were expecting company. The latter made Judith's hunger fade. The attic felt more like a cage than a hiding spot under such fantasies.

"Can you understand what they're saying?" Judith asked, voice below a whisper, enunciating every word so as not to repeat them. If they could figure out what the people here were doing, or planning to do, then it would be easier to slip out undetected. Pessimism weighed heavily on Judith's conscience though. Nothing was ever so easy.
 
Callie was back to being shaky, muscles twitching with her apprehension. Her eyes were trained on the floor of the attic intently as if it could somehow help her understand what the voices below were saying. She hoped that they would get ready for their day and just leave. That way Callie and Judith could slip out unnoticed and continue to move on and distance themselves from this area. With a sinking feeling, Callie wondered how they would acquire another car. Especially now that they were in a populated place instead of by the woods on an almost abandoned road.

Callie looked over when she heard Judith whisper, flinching lightly when her thoughts were broken so suddenly. She shook her head to show that she wasn't sure. Then she used slow and a careful movements to ease herself closer to the panel. She leaned down and placed her ear to the floor of the attic, hoping to make out what the people were speaking of.
 
Judith didn't like the situation she had put them in. Though she couldn't say Callie's preferred course of action would have been any better. The decision had passed. There wasn't any use dwelling on it. Their objective was clear enough. They would surreptitiously leave the attic, steal anything they could carry off, and steal another car, likely off the road and not on someone's property. They just needed to find their opening. They had to wait.

Trying to regain her equanimity with slow breaths, Judith pulled herself upright into a seated position. She had to be confident, snuff any hesitation, even if that feeling she would have to dissemble. It was obvious Callie wasn't going to be making any brazen moves if the situation demanded such.

Listening, Judith thought she heard them leave, maybe to go to the restroom or downstairs. She didn't hear their voices anymore. She couldn't be certain if one was still in the room though. Why would they leave the radio on otherwise? Would Callie or herself be able to hear them leave from the attic anyways?

"Anything?" she hissed to Callie. Judith wished her hearing was sharper, if only enough to hear words from the rooms below.
 
Callie closed her eyes as she tried to concentrate on the voices. She guessed there were two people, a man and a woman of unknown age. Mostly their voices heard like warbling, an unclear speech pattern. Upon closer examination, Callie made out the words "go," and "bathroom," from the more masculine voice. Then soft footsteps retreated towards where Callie believed was the bathroom, which would make sense. Callie couldn't really make out the feminine voice, as it was higher and therefore more difficult to hear. However, the female mentioned the word "leave."Callie listened for any more details like a time or place, but the woman also seemed to retreat. Her footsteps went further this time, suggesting she had went downstairs.

Callie slowly sat up and looked at Judith when the woman offered a hissed question. "One in the bathroom, the other downstairs."she whispered, mindful to make her words more pronounced so her lips could be read to clear up any mishearing. Her green eyes were wide, pupils expanded to try to acclimate her senses to the darkness that shrouded the attic.
 
Assuming Callie's hearing was dependable, Judith received the news well. Already her mind was forming a plan, retracing the first floor and counting what was worth purloining. The sooner the homeowners were moving about the better. Judith didn't know how long she could handle being contained in the attic space. Its hot, dust-dry air was near suffocating atop the impatience and apprehension of their impending departure.

"Good." Judith said, a solid whisper, no longer worried about being heard. "Hopefully we can find a pack or steal their suitcases, get rid of this noisy plastic shit." she gestured towards her bag as she spoke. If she never heard it's crinkling again it would be too soon. "Do you still have water?" Judith asked after a moment's pause. "I'm fucking parched."
 
Callie paused to hear the retreating footsteps of the man, assuming he was now downstairs as well. There was no telling whether or not they would be up soon to get ready for the day of anything, so Callie was still apprehensive. She remained generally motionless, still fixated on the panel that was their only escape now as if it were about to suddenly burst open at any moment. It was an unrealistic worry since they seemed to have flown under the radar for now, but Callie usually thought of unrealistic scenarios when nervous.

She nodded in agreement to Judith's idea, as plastic bags were far from stealthy to carry around. "yes."she replied when the request for water was made. Callie carefully reached into her bag, careful not to disturb the plastic. She pulled out a water bottle and set it before Judith, taking one for herself as well since she was also very thirsty. She downed half of the warm water quickly, not minding the unsavory temperature. Then she proceeded to set the plastic water bottle down. Her stomach was beginning to rumble and the last thing she needed was unnecessary noise so she pulled out the bag of beef jerky she had snagged from the store. Callie also thought it was wise to eat considering she vaguely remembered throwing up the contents of her stomach last night so she needed some energy.

Callie quietly opened the bag with her teeth and pulled out a piece of sub par dried meat. She began to gnaw on it, swallowing small bites. She held out the bag to Judith with no words, figuring the gesture clearly meant she was offering the food.
 
The bottle's seal cracked softly as Judith twisted the cap free. She didn't mind that it was warm, all the better that it was because as it sloshed into her empty stomach a roll of nausea rippled through her. The water felt heavy inside her, too much for her shrunken stomach to intake so fast. Judith closed her eyes and waited for the feeling to pass. She silently chastised herself for forgetting to eat, but hunger was fickle under so much stress and easily dismissed in favor of more pressing priorities.

As the knot of her stomach eased, Judith noticed Callie's gesture. She tried to discern in the attic gloom just what it was. The scent alone wasn't enough for her to recognize, but her system decidedly didn't care. Careful not to jostle the bag, Judith took a piece and nodded in appreciation. She stuck the entire chunk in her mouth impulsively and attempted to chew it without much result. Unable to move it in her mouth for better chewing, Judith only managed to soften it. With a mouth full of spit almost drooling down her chin, she pulled the glossy jerky from her maw and managed to tear away a piece. What excess saliva was on the meat rolled down her wrist. Judith tried to flick off into the dark.

Breakfast was not her meal.
 
Callie quietly chewed on her own piece of jerky, careful to pace her eating to avoid upsetting her empty and more vulnerable stomach. Alcohol and drugs hadn't treated her well and it didn't help that she hadn't eaten since officers fed her an overly processed cafeteria meal at the station before her transfer. She didn't even really taste the salty meat she was consuming, too focused on her thoughts and panic.

Callie hoped that the inhabitants of the house soon departed so that they could make their leave and escape this cramped attic. Each breath Callie drew in threatened to choke her, the heat combined with tension restricting her breathing. She wondered how they would even know when the people left the home, as it was difficult to hear from where they were located and it didn't help that both of the home owners were now downstairs. Callie finished her first piece of jerky and slowly started on another, still deep in thought.
 
After Judith's gauche eating display, she figured it was best to put off futher eating until they stole a car. She'd gorge on whatever they pilfered from the fucks downstairs then. A box of cereal would make an excellent day's rations, the sugar coated kind with a cartoon mascot of questionable sanity, not some bran and raisin shit. Judith would have even settled on an off brand kind that came in a bag. Cereal just sounded too good, especially compared to the piece of rawhide she had just consumed.

But amidst her daydreams of milk and sugar, Judith's impatience was slipping through. She couldn't hear shit and that made the wait feel even longer. If the couple had parked in the garage she doubted she and Callie would even hear them leave from their lofty nook. They needed to get closer, even if it was just slipping into the closet, or maybe even a little closer.

Absently clicking her flashlight on and off as she thought, Judith suggested quietly a plan possibly more brazen than the one that originally put them in the attic. "Say, what if we leave our bags here and," she shrugged, "I dunno, slip down into the closet, or," Judith grinned before elucidating with dissimulated eagerness, "We could slip under their bed. Shit you not, that thing had a bed skirt. They'd never see us. We might be able to hear them better too."
 
Callie was slightly annoyed by Judith's display of flicking the flashlight on and off. The constant switch between light and dark was messing with her already taut nerves. She closed her eyes to try to avoid having to watch the repeated transition between her visibility, but she could still sense the flashes of light so her efforts were futile. Sighing, she readjusted herself into a more comfortable sitting position with her legs crossed neatly. Callie began to toy with her shoelace with one hand, using the other to pick off random burs and needles she had gained on her footwear from the forest trek.

Callie heard Judith speak up and lifted her focus from her shoes. "That...sounds risky...But, it's best we hear them I guess..."she said quietly, raising her eyes to the ceiling as she was re-immersed in her thoughts. She knew that they had to leave here at one point and wouldn't know when to go if they were stuck up here, but she was still worried. What if the people downstairs came upstairs as they were descending from the attic? What if the homeowners looked under the bed for something and found them? The risks were endless, but Callie knew they couldn't hide up here forever.
 
"I can't think of a damn thing we've done so far that hasn't been risky." Judith admitted, putting her flashlight aside. Trusting Trevor not to run to the police and divulge their location was perhaps the least endangering act they'd done, and there was still a modicum of risk in it. As long as there was someone in pursuit, someone who knew their faces, just walking outside would be a risk. The only reassurance Judith carried as she began opening the attic hatch, was that if they murdered the couple, the police may never connect the crime to Judith or Callie. As long as they didn't leave fingerprints. After all, they had both been booked, they're prints taken for record. But without prints left behind, anyone could have committed the crime.

"You wanna come down with me, so maybe we can defend each other if shit hits the fan?" Judith asked, dull light flooding up through opening in the floor, illuminating her features. "You can stay up here if you like." she offered. "But I can't guarantee what'll happen."
 
Callie shrugged her shoulders in response to Judith's comment. The woman certainly wasn't wrong. From the moment they had escaped the transport truck they were destined to have a life full of risk. They had to evade the law as much as they could, which meant trying to leave no traces of themselves and heading up north as far as they could to get to some lofty sense of safety. They weren't doing the best job of being more secretive considering they had left a man face down in the foliage, had left a woman unconscious in her own store, and they had left their getaway car too as a piece of evidence. Hopefully that peculiar Trevor man had sense enough to break it apart or at least tear off the license plate or something. Callie knew damn well that they had to get out of this place and on the road somehow, but she didn't want to go through with the dangerous and difficult process to do so. Too bad she had little choice in the matter so long as she wanted to survive outside of a barred cell, and she really did.

Callie observed as Judith opened the panel, allowing some light to enter the darkened attic. "I can't let you go alone. If you get your ass kicked them I'm screwed."she mumbled after a brief moment of thought. She crawled towards the panel in the floor of the attic, willing to follow Callie down out of this overheated attic.
 
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