Junie was not always good at remembering things. She remembered how to make coffee, and all the lyrics to La Bamba (in German), and where she hid her stash of statehood quarters (though she couldn’t recall why they needed to be hidden). But as she was being hauled down the escalator by Fipps and then wrangled towards the the JC Nickels, she remembered something.
She wasn’t sure what that something was. It was something, beyond the shadow of a doubt, but it was still vague.
Fipps kept hold of her hand as they followed the others through the department store, slinking around corners and dodging the military presence. Elliott had been hissing in her ear the whole time, telling her all about their fire fight with the soldiers.
“And she kissed me!” he said at the end.
Junie grinned at him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “That’s great! Did you kiss her back?”
“Of course I-“ Elliott’s eyes went wide. “I think I did.”
“You don’t know?” Junie asked him.
“I’m… just not sure now. She kind of caught me off guard.”
They were sneaking through mazes of racks and displays. Most of the lights had been turned off, though a few dim overheads still burned. It was eerily quiet. The whole store was empty and when they reached the back of the store they were able to slip through the flapping doors to the warehouse unaccosted. Shavian took the lead and urged them on at a faster pace.
“I think we’re in the clear,” she said in a hoarse whisper over her shoulder. She punched the button at the side of the loading bay door and it lifted slowly. Higgins covered one side of the door and Roger the other; Fipps seemed to be holding his breath until they were sure the coast was clear.
Which, to their shock, it was. Shavian and Higgins exchanged a look.
“I don’t like this,” Shavian muttered. “Too easy.”
Higgins shook his head. “Suspicious,” he agreed.
“Too easy?” Elliott said, choking. “There was a fire fight!”
There was a moment of seeming indecision that Junie broke singlehandedly by marching straight to the bay door and jumping down from the dock to the ground without looking back. She knew the others would follow.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Junie heard Shavian mutter from behind her. But she still followed.
The parking lot was abandoned.
“Way too easy,” Roger said, casting his eyes about. Junie couldn’t understand what the problem was; no one could just take things as they were. Shaking her head, she marched forward. Behind her, Shavian, Rog and Higgins kept their weapons drawn. For the first time, Junie noticed that Elliott was carrying a blonde mannequin head.
Odd. Elliott didn’t usually like blondes.
They reached the van with no interference. As they approached, Junie remembered what she’d remembered: Pat the dog! There was a loud barking from inside the van. She hoped the shepherd was okay in there.
Shavian slunk over to the van and unlatched the back door.
A hand shot out and looped around her neck, a pistol appearing beside her ear. Her only reaction was a look of shame and anger.
“It’s horrible, by the way,” said a voice from behind Shavian’s head. “Getting knocked out by a mannequin head.”
Elliott gasped. “Crap,” he said. He leaned over to Junie. “You know that part of the story where Shavian KO’d a guy with a mannequin head?”
“Yeah,” Junie said, and realization dawned on her. “Oh, is that the mannequin head you have there?”
Elliott looked at her. “Yes, but more to the point that’s the guy she knocked out. I don’t think he’s happy about it.”
The man holding Shavian was considerably taller than her, but was crouching behind her to keep cover. Higgins and Roger had immediately aimed weapons at the man but there was no way they could hit him without endangering Shavian. Inside the van, Pat was barking wildly and scratching at the partially opened door.
“Now, we’re all just going to head back inside,” the soldier said, tapping the barrel of the gun into Shavian’s head to drive home the point. “And someone is going to shut that dog up!”
“What do you want from us?” Elliott asked angrily. “We’re just trying to get by, man.”
The soldier shook his head at them. “This is a military operation now,” he said. “We’re trying to get you all somewhere you’ll be safe.”
“Yeah, I feel all warm and fuzzy already,” Shavian growled.
Movement behind them caught Junie’s attention: it was a dog. Another dog, with one blue eye and one brown. It was crouched, slinking closer, head down, its eyes intense and focused on the soldier.
“Shut up, kid,” the soldier snapped. “Look, I don’t know what your problem is. We’re setting up camps for everyone-“
“Concentration?” Higgins asked archly.
“For safety! Not… mass murder,” the soldier grouched.
“Sure, they are,” Roger said.
The dog lunged forward and nipped at the soldier’s calf. Startled, the soldier let go of Shavian and wheeled away. The redhead immediately lifted her gun again and aimed it at the soldier who had a lot more on his mind just at that moment, namely the dog with one blue eye that seemed to be herding him back towards the SWAT van, its teeth bared.
Elliott grinned, then pursed his lips and whistled loudly.
Pat the dog, summoned, broke through the back of the van at last and launched himself at the soldier.