The Harlen Chronicles – Chapter 3
It’s not a hard decision to make. Unless you’re walking a tightrope between the two. Any insignificant detail can push you over the edge. But when it comes to live or die, nothing is insignificant.
Not the blood draining from a rain gutter, pooling into the cracks of the sidewalk. Not the silhouettes passing across the brick wall. Not the syringe, snapping under the sole of your shoe.
I was in hell.
As it turns out, hell is inhabited by rabid, flesh eating Dobermans. And they were coming for me.
I didn’t hear them until I got to the freeway overpass. Freeway’s are never empty – this was my final confirmation. This town was empty of life, and it had something to do with a virus or quarantine or something. What choice did I have, but to walk until I found something familiar? Something tangible?
Tangible does not always mean safe. I heard a banging, like the lid of a dumpster slamming shut, and then barking. Not a cheap yapping, but a deep, resounding howl. And it wasn’t far behind.
Instinct said run, logic said stay still. I hovered in a shadow, just underneath the overpass. Thirty seconds passed, I leaned toward the graffitied wall and rested my shoulder against it. My bones still felt like they were made of slushy, just from walking. I couldn’t run.
Double check that statement. Two silhouettes appeared in the back glow of the flickering street light. I knew they were dogs, and not some puppies either. Their teeth shone, as if they’d caught a firebug inbetween their teeth. A low snarl erupted, their jaws trembled.
You run when you have to, and I ran. Duffel bag over my shoulder, flashlight jerking back and forth like a strobe light, tendons shaking in my muscles – I ran. But it didn’t take long to for me to realize I couldn’t outrun them. Not by a long shot, so I’d have to outsmart them.
The cloaked shadow of the overpass gave way to another sidewalk, and another forever extending row of boarded up buildings. I couldn’t hide. Not unless something was unlocked by some miracle. I made my first mistake by taking an alleyway. As soon as I heard their barks behind me, I swerved to the right and down an unlit back street. No time to check the doors. They were closing in.
And of course, the street dead ended into a five-foot chainlink fence. I had a millisecond to decide whether I was going to jump and catapult myself over it. It’s those decisions you make at the inbetween moment that decide for you – live or die.
I don’t know where the strength came from, or when I decided to do it, but I threw the duffel bag over first and went diving after it. The footholds were too small, I scrambled up, slicing my palm on an exposed piece of mesh. My shoe caught, slipped, caught again. Two sets of paws hit the concrete behind me like solid steel. I threw my leg over top of the fence, ripping my jeans straight through to the flesh, and thrust my other leg over. I didn’t climb down, I jumped, landed in a heap on the floor and scrambled to my feet.
They weren’t following me. They stood a few feet from the gate, snarling and drooling froth inbetween their paws. I grabbed my dufflebag, and made my second mistake. I caught my breath. They backed up and got a running start.
I took off down the street as soon as I heard them coming. I had a head start, but it wouldn’t be enough. I could only hope there weren’t any other fences I’d have to be jumping. My pace had slowed down to a rushed walk. My inner thigh was bleeding down my leg like a line of piss and my fingers throbbed from nail to palm.
I was going to have to drop the bag, it was weighing me down. I should’ve brought the gun, dammit. I should’ve brought the gun. I let it slide off my shoulder – there went the food, the pills, the bandages, and the weapon. Now, all I had was a flashlight and my own strength.
I kept running, they weren’t slowing down. The barking resonated through the streets, and I hoped the sound wouldn’t awaken anything else. Maybe someone would hear it and come to my rescue. No time for hoping.
There was an open gate in a chainlink fence ahead of me. If I could just get there quick enough to close it, I might be safe. Nevermind, these demonic dogs could jump. It was no use. But maybe it would slow them down until I had a better idea.
I dove through it, and the sound of my footsteps changed. I was running on wood, and it trembled under my weight. I kept running, realized I was on a dock. And there was Lake Michigan. The dark waters extended for miles, against the frame of black, towering buildings. Everything was in shadows here. I didn’t know where to go.
But I would have to figure it out quick, because they were getting closer. Their paws hit the dock not more than five seconds after me. They had stopped barking and were now snarling and grunting. I saw an end in the dock ahead and ran for it. Sink or swim. Live or die.
There was a second when I thought twice about what I was about to do – who knew what was living in these waters, if they were infested or what, or if the dogs would just jump in after me. No time to decide, I flung myself over the edge, in what would’ve been an epic moment had I not been terrified, and hit the water.
It broke around me like glass, the force punching the air out of my chest. It was freezing and every hair on my body felt suddenly electrocuted. I came up for air gasping – I’d never been a good swimmer. Never even really liked water and everything in my body said to get back to shore. I did a 360 in the water, making sure I hadn’t just thrown myself into a shark pool or something. I heard the pounding foot falls slow and come to a stop, the barking setting the air afire, ruining the silence and striking every inhale with terror.
There was another set of footsteps. It took me a second to realize it wasn’t paws anymore, but something that sounded more like Army boots. I suffered a mild heart attack and swallowed my breath back down my throat. They ran down the dock and the dogs screamed, howled. I heard two shots fired. A gun. Whoever was up there had a gun. And there was a soft whining and an inhuman wail.
The dogs were dead, but I was still panicking. I had to breathe, I let out a slow exhale that was much too loud for the thick silence. I tried not to move, my face just barely parting the even water. The footsteps shook the dock, they slowed and I saw her silhouette.
It was a girl, that was for sure. She had long hair, that was all I could really make out. And she had a gun – correction, two. One in each hand, pointed down at the water. She saw me and I saw her, decision time.
“Swim over!” She yelled. Against my better judgment, I did. She put down one gun and kneeled, leaning her hand over the dock. Pale fingers dangled in front of me. I didn’t reach up. “Take my hand.”
I looked up at her. Could she be trusted? She might try to kill me to. I could just swim away, try to get out later, but she might shoot me. I hesitated too long.
“Grab my hand!” She screamed. Finally, I reached up. She pulled, but I resisted. I was still unsure. Was it better to just stay here?
“Do you want to live or die?” She sounded annoyed now. Her grip on my hand loosened. I didn’t have an answer. “Choose!”
I chose, for better or worse.
I peddled with my feet and crawled back up onto the dock. I was on my knees when she dropped my hand and took two strides back.
“Who are you?” She said. Without me even realizing, she’d grabbed her other gun from the ground and now was pointing both at me. I thrust my hands into the air, like I’d seen in the movies. Global symbol for surrender.
“Harlen. My name’s Harlen.” I said in one breath. “Don’t shoot – please.”
“How did you get here?” She said. I couldn’t see her face, but I felt her eyes analyzing me. Inspecting my ripped blue jeans, my striped t-shirt, all soaked and clinging to my body.
“I, I don’t know. I just woke up.” Her face seemed to soften, but it might’ve just been the blue glow of a light on the dock.
“Where?” She lowered her guns a fraction. I eased up onto my knees.
“Uh, a meat factory. Or under it. What is going on?” I said. She had a holster on either side of her hips and slid her guns into them. She didn’t answer, just shook her head.
“Do you know how to use a gun?” She said. I shook my head.
“Okay. Then just shut up and stay behind me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Home.”
