Endangered/Issue 7 (Old)

This is Issue 7 of Endangered and is titled ''Packer. ''This is the first issue of Volume 2.

Packer
''The sun shined bright across the rural lands of Georgia as the soft, cool wind went around the land. Many farmers stood outside as they worked around their farms. Crop pulling, grass mowing, feeding the animals and planting crops. This was the daily life in this area. ''

''Well it was daily to the young seventeen year old Daniel Packer as he currently was pulling weeds out from around the farm. Hard working, full of sweat and dashing were the words to describe Daniel, as he was a man who believed that work was the most important thing in life. ''

''Pulling up some weeds he glances to his left, where he notices a tall, bulking man walking toward him. Daniel could instantly tell that this was his father Ben Packer, who for some reason seemed happy today. Letting go of the weeds Daniel makes his way toward him, curious on why he is happy. “What’s up Dad?”''

''“Daniel my boy I got great news.” Ben says with a smile as he puts his arm around Daniel, something he rarely does, and Daniel knew something was up. ''

“What is it?”

“Well,” Ben starts off and Daniel could immediately tell it involved a catch “I sorta got you a scholarship.”

''“Scholarship?” Daniel asks confused. Sure he wanted a scholarship sure Daniel in his senior year and Daniel didn’t even know what he wanted to be.''

“I talked to the people over at Harvard an-”

''“Harvard? Dad I don't want to go to Harvard. Only thing there is like lawyers.”''

''“Exactly.” Ben says with a smirk “Lawyers get money, loads of it, and my boy you are gonna get money.” However instead of Daniel being happy, like Ben expected, Daniel found himself being angry. He didn’t want to be some lawyer and he hated the fact that Ben sent Daniel to be one so he can get money, due to the fact that Ben only cares about money.''

''“I’m not going there.” This causes the smile to wipe off Ben’s face. ''

“What the hell do you mean you aren’t going there?”

''“I’m not going there because you want me to be rich. I don’t even want to be a lawyer.”''

''“Does it look like I care what you want to be? Money is the most important thing in this world and a lawyer will give us money.”''

“I don’t-”

“Listen you are going to Harvard and that is final.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Daniel Brown quickly jumps out of his luxurious bed, his eyes still tired, sweat coming from his hair and his frantic painting indicate that he had some some trouble sleeping. Glancing around his bedroom he sees that for once there wasn’t a girl next to him. Shocker really as Daniel always had someone next to him. But today he didn’t want anyone. Today was a special day in his life.

Throwing the blanket off him Daniel hops onto his feet, stretching out his back as he does. Once on his feet he slowly walks over to the bathroom, his private one in his room. Once inside his beautifully decorated bathroom he stops at his marble sink, taking some breaths. There was no denying that he had a rough night.

He glances at the window that lays in front of him. Instead of having that his good looking, asshole smirk like usual Daniel looked more ragged up. Tired eyes, after shadow and raggy brown hair. He looked like a grieving person.

Grieving.

Something Daniel never did, infact, he didn’t have many regrets in his life. He was one of those people who never looked back, even if it meant hurting someone. Hell he hurt many people actually but that wasn’t the point, not in his mind anyway.

Tuning on the sink he waits for the cold water to kick in, before he digs his face into the cold water. The cold, freezing in fact, water does cause Daniel to wake up more. Quickly lifting his head out he takes in deep breath as he fully wakes up. Now awake he now gets a better picture of himself from the window. He looked like a man ready to have a shitty day.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

“Could I get you some coffee, sir?” Edward asks the wide awake Dessi, who is currently sitting on the red couch reading a sports magazine. The question hit Dessi, who now glanced up toward Edwand.

“I can make it Edward.” Dessi says with his famous grand smile, not wanting the fragile old man to do anywork.

“Nonsense I’ll make it. It’s my job anyway.” Edward says as he begins to slowly walk toward the kitchen, Dessi watching him as he goes. Edward had to be one of the nicest person ever met. He was always ready to do something for people, even despite his old age. Still that’s also why Dessi felt bad for him because Daniel treated him like shit.

Then again Daniel treated everyone like shit now that he thinks about it.

Deciding to talk with Edward, Dessi hops off the couch and places the magazine on the marble table. He walks out of the penthouse living room and over to the kitchen, which even Dessi admits it’s over decorated. The marble floors, ruby tables. It was too “perfect” to Dessi.

Dessi than looks over to Edward, who is putting some coffee into the coffee machine with that same, fragile smile on his face. For some reason Edward enjoys helping other people, something Dessi wishes he could have. “Hey Edward.” He calls over, to which the old man turns around.

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you like working here?” The question did get Edward off guard, judging by his change in facial expression.

“Why wouldn’t I? I got food, clean water, money-”

“I mean with Daniel.” Dessi says, a little louder than he intended. “He treats us like crap.” He says lower, not wanting Daniel to hear them.

“He may or may not but he probably has his reasons.”

“What reasons would he have for treating us like his playthings?”

“He’s a billionaire and is on the front of every magazine. Who knows what he did to end up in that position. The stuff he saw. It could change a man.”

Dessi prepares to say something else, wanting to speak his mind about Daniel. However he can soon hear the footsteps of someone coming down the stairs which immediately causes Dessi to hush. Turning his head he watches as Daniel, who for some reason looks different today, makes his way down the stairs. Both him and Edward remain silent as Daniel walks into the kitchen. “Coffee.” He simply says as he passes Edward.

Not even a good morning.

Edward nods and goes back to making the coffee as Daniel walks over to where Dessi is sitting. Daniel playfully smirks and eyes him as Dessie looks at him. “Well Big D I think you’re in my seat.”

“I told you I don’t like that nickname.”

“Whatever just get out of my seat.” Daniel says to which Dessi, although reluctant, gets out of his seat. With that done Daniel plops down onto the chair, putting his head onto the table as he does. After a moment Edward walks over with the hot coffee in his hand. Once on the table Daniel quickly grabs it, with not even a single ‘Thank you.’

______________________________________________________________________________________________

''Daniel Packer sits down on a bed, just by a glance you could tell he was stressed out. Something that stands out is that he isn’t in his bedroom. Pink colored walls, fluffy animals, boy posters. This was definitely a girl’s bedroom.''

''This is confirmed when Daniel glances over to the girl on the other side of the room. Shoulder length brown hair, dark blue eyes and tan skin made it so that she could easily stand out in a crowd. What made her stand out right now was the fact she was half naked, only wearing a pair of blue panties. As she stood there drying her hair however, Daniel didn’t seem to care that he could see her breast. He isn’t really that type of guy.''

“So…”  The woman starts off as she throws her towel to the ground, finishing her hair drying “What happened?”

''“I’m sick of him.” Daniel mutters as the girl walks over, having put on a bra to cover up her naked chest. She then walks toward him and grabs her shirt, throwing it on as Daniel continues “He doesn’t care about my future or me in general. All he cares about is himself.”''

''“Maybe he’s just trying to help you.” The girl says as she now sits next to him, putting her arm around his shoulder. ''

''“No he’s not.” Daniel angrily blurts. “He’s a selfish asshole who only cares about money.”''

''“Daniel like it or not he’s your father and-” She begins to say before Daniel immediately cuts her off. ''

''“We may be blood related but he is not my father. I am nothing like him.” Daniel says, not knowing that in the future he will be very much like him. “I just want to leave, Lia.” Daniel says to the female, now identified as Lia. ''

''“Leave?” Lia asks, knowing what Daniel means but not believing it to be true. Truth was she cared about Daniel and only wanted the best for him. ''

''“I,” Daniel says, slightly hesitating “I want to leave. I want to run away.”''

''“Run away? But Dan where would you go. No money. no one with you.” ''

''“You can come with me.” Daniel says with a smile however Lia grows an uneasy smile. She would love to go with Daniel but to leave her family? She doesn’t know if she can do that. ''

''Daniel notices her uneasy face and he puts his arm around her, pulling her close. “C’mon imagine it. Me and you out on the road. Free of strings. Shaping our own lives.” Taking his arm off from around her, he places it into Lia’s hand. ''

“What do you say?” He asks, waiting for a response.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

The car ride was pretty silent, then again Daniel was alone which once again was pretty unusual. All alone in the backseat of his black limo. Wearing his black suit, purple collared shirt, jeans and fancy brown boots he looked like he was ready for something. Like something formal. Gripping the wine that sat in the mini-fridge he quickly took a few sips, just wanting this ride to be over.

He glances out the window and looks into the streets of New York. People sleeping in the streets, reckless kids, rich people. It was a city full of all kinds of people. People that would bow down to him and kiss his feet if they had the chance. People he basically controlled. If there was one thing good about his life it’s that Daniel felt better than everyone else. He was worth something.

He glanced at the camera’s as they even took pictures of the limo, the flashing going on and off. How desperate were they to just get a glimpse at Daniel? Those lesser people were desperate. Very desperate.

Taking his attention off them he looks to the small TV that sits in the back of the limo, flipping through channels. Nothing seems to get his attention until he sees a mangled up, eaten body on the news, something that catches his eye.

''“Another infection sighting has been sighted as we report another cannibal attack. This disease, which we nicknamed the X-Virus, has slowly spread around as officials still remain curious on to what this is. Why it has been shown to not be contagious people are advised to stay away from products until they get the mandatory vaccine shots, which can be found at every pharmacy….”''

Before the girl can finish Daniel flipped the channels, not wanting to hear anymore crap about that infection. It was nothing more than stupid paranoia. As long as no cannibals hit Daniel he was fine.

“Mr. Brown,” Daniel can hear the driver say “we are almost there.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

''A older Daniel Packer, with shaggy brown hair and a small beard, walks down the rainy beaches of Long Island, New York. The rain making him wet and tired, although he had nowhere to sleep that night. Then again he didn’t have a lot of places to sleep anymore.''

''It’s been about five years since he ran away with Lia. Five years since he last saw his father. For the past five years him and Lia lived a happy life. Sure they weren’t the richest but they lived a free life. That was until a few weeks ago.''

''Lia began missing home lately and she kept talking about her family, something Daniel tried to keep distracting her from. However he woke up one morning and she was gone.''

Gone.

''She left him despite after everything he did with her. It was stupid and he sorta hated her for it. Yet he loved her too much to let her go. So here he was  looking like a fool as he searched the beaches for her, not wanting her to leave him.''

''He strolls down the beaches as he looks left to right, seeing nothing but an empty beach. The slow moving ocean, the soft sand, the dark night sky, the cool wind and the bright moon. It was just a normal night.''

''But there was something that caused it not to be a normal night. Something that made this the most important night in Daniel’s life actually. Because as he walked down these beaches he noticed something that seemed off to him. Something completely off. Looking off into the ocean he saw something white. Like a white boat. A sunken white boat. ''

''He begins to walk toward the edge of the beach and toward the beginning of the water, his eyes content on the boat. It’s only a small fishing boat but it still catches Daniel’s eye as he noticed something. Something movie. A human.''

''Without hesitating or even double checking to see if it was human, he runs into the ocean before he begins to swim. Sure it was cold and dark but no way he was gonna let someone drown. He swam as fast as he could.''

''Soon he comes up across to what he saw. An older man who had to be in his fifties with bald head and brown eyes. He appeared to be almost drowning, probably for deciding to go out on his fishing boat this late. Before the man can even see Daniel he grips him by the shoulder and begins to swim back to shore.''

''After a moment or two he arrives back on shore, the man in his hands. Once his feet get out of the water he drops the man onto the beach, who just lays there and gasps for breath over and over again as Daniel does the same. It is this moment however that Daniel finally catches a good glimpse of him. This isn't just any old man, this is John Tallie. Now John Tallie was one of the richest people on the island. War hero, Harvard graduate and rich, this was the man everyone wanted to meet even despite his arrogant personality.''

''After a while of coughing, Tallie looks up at him. “T-thank you.” He says out, coughing up water as he does.''

“Sure thing.” Daniel softly says as he sits down onto the beach, rubbing his head.

''“What’s your name?” Are the next few words Daniel hears. Sure he could just tell Tallie his real name but this was his chance. He’s been trying to get a new life for a while now and this was it. He could finally start new.''

“My name is Daniel…” He starts off, choosing his next words carefully.

“...Daniel Brown.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Daniel Brown, the once Daniel Packer, now stands in front of a grave deep in the graveyard. Small sadness in his eyes and a rose in his hand, this was obviously someone close to him. Someone Daniel once loved. Lowering the rose onto the gray tombstone he reads the name of the person.

BEN PACKER

1942 - 2001.

An intelligent man who stood as a great friend.

This was his father’s grave. Daniel still remembers the last time he saw him, pressuring him to make money. Well Daniel did. He got all the money in the world, even though Ben never got to witness it. Ben a few months after Daniel ran away, his dying wish that he would be able to see Daniel again.

Too bad that wish didn’t come true. Ben never got to see who Daniel became. His humble, hard working teenager turned into the playboy, selfish, arrogant man who made money twenty four-seven. The man his father wanted him to become.

Placing the rose on the grave Daniel takes one last look at the grave before walking away, leaving the last shred of Daniel Packer right behind him.

Because truth was Daniel Packer died a long time ago. Died that night on the beach. So in Daniel’s mind thats where Packer was buried. Buried with his past and away from his future.