by Kim Faulks
I hit the corner and lurched toward the stairs as the outer door closed with a bang! They were getting away, taking stuff that belonged to me!
Touching my things. Things that belonged to my dad.
Taking everything...the image stayed with me as I lunged, hitting the stairs.
The sudden jolt buckled my knees. I held on to the railing, clawing through the agony and the need...and stared at the faint crack of light under the outer door.
This was my home...this was my place...they were taking it from me.
I hobbled forward, reached out to grasp the corner of the door, and yanked.
I couldn't hear them, not through the rumble of the rain. Not through the panic in my own head.
Heavy drops smacked into my eyes as I took a step outside, and stalled, protected by the steel sheeting.
Red glowed against the bruised clouds. I lifted my head...and stared at the omen. War was right. Dark days had come.
13
The grumble of thunder grew louder. I gripped my thigh and stared at the clouds overhead until I realized...that wasn't thunder.
The words were a pinch to my chest.
Not thunder...not thunder.
A scream followed, piercing and brutal.
I gripped the edge of the sheeting and limped forward. Shadows moved at the end of the alley and then slipped away. There was a growl of a male voice...and then the cry of a woman.
I glanced over my shoulder and moved out from the behind the metal barrier. Something was happening...something I caused.
"Do your job...bitch!"
The growl cut through the din of the rain. I stumbled forward as a woman raced across the entrance to the lane.
I hesitated, heart hammering, and stared at the edge of the building.
It was her. The girl. The one I’d saved...running, with no limp.
I opened my mouth and stumbled forward, ready to call her, ready to see if she was okay...until one of The Mighty stepped into view.
He stared across the street, his back to me, and lifted his hand, motioning to someone out of view.
Until a deafening boom shook the air.
The sound carried, mingling with another.
The corner wall of my home exploded. Bricks flew like missiles through the air to smash against the opposite building.
My feet left the ground, air was all I felt. Air and burning, searing deep. Something hit my side...pain flared deep, clawing my face, my head...and my thigh.
I hit the ground hard, My head smashed against the concrete.
Another blast shot into the sky. I rolled, curling into a ball as glass and bricks rained down.
Something heavy crashed into my side. I jolted, again...and again, burrowing my head under my arms. Water pushed into my nose and mouth. I closed my eyes and dragged my knees higher until I was a ball.
Screams erupted...screams so cruel they burned my throat with the sound. I coughed, choking on water and blood, and waited for the end.
My ears rang with the deafening sounds, echoes of screams now muffled and strange. I dragged my leg higher and tried to roll.
Agony impaled me, punching a lance through my thigh. I gripped the muscle and rolled. Soft brown eyes invaded my mind. Pestilence and War. My heart hammered, shoving the pain aside.
They weren't in the building...they went out.
A scream took flight as I speared my fingers into the cracked asphalt and shoved. Blinding flashes invaded, and with them came the heady scent of blood...I lifted my hand and my fingers skimmed my side, and stopped.
Warmth seeped from my side. I probed, finding nothing but a sense of emptiness, and lifted my fingers. My blood glistened, neon red in the gloom.
Rain smacked against my head, and still I laid there, watching the rain wash the bright slick away.
The rumble of thunder pressed in, forcing me to lift my head, and, through the haze of the blast, I saw it. The truck...the one we’d piled the bodies onto that day.
It was all a game for them.
Living.
Dying.
All a game.
Run Harlow! RUN!
Dad's words were resurrected with the sight.
I tried to shove upwards and felt the ground beneath me sway. "It's all my fault."
The words were a dull sound inside my head. But I felt them. I felt every one of them as I shoved and crawled to my hands and knees.
My feet were slow to move. I breathed through the pain, holding onto that dull feeling inside my head and dragged my foot higher to drive against the ground.
Shadows blurred through the dust-filled haze. Rain cut through the mess, finding the jagged opening of the building. I stood, swayed, and tried to find them. My saviors...my lovers...they were out here...somewhere.
"Harlow?"
My name closed in, whispered not by the voices inside my head, or my lover's tongue.
The shadow moved closer...outline sharpening with every step as they climbed over bricks and debris...until they stumbled through.
Blood and dirt. That's all she looked like.
But inside my head, I wanted to call her something else as the outline sharpened and the young girl stumbled close.
Sarah. That's what I wanted to murmur.
That's what I wanted to say. I lifted my hand, the mess of my blood still fresh as I reached for her.
She looked at my hand, and then lifted her gaze to whisper, “You have to come with me. The others...The Mighty...they're searching for you.”
14
Pain cleaved as I shook my head. She stumbled forward and lifted her hand, desperation darkening her eyes as she leaned close.
Her lips moved, the dull roar in my head sharpening as I tried to catch the words. “They know about you…about the men you’re with. You have to come with me. You have to hide.”
Behind her, the haze parted. Someone stumbled, scrambled over a chunk of wall on the ground, and then lifted their head.
Dark gray hair stuck to the blood on her face as she found my gaze.
“Mary.” Her name was fire in my throat.
I lunged forward as the old woman lifted her hand.
The blast of a gun cut through the air. The old woman jerked and then stumbled, eyes wide with fear.
There was no pain, no terror. Nothing but a need to reach her. But I couldn’t move fast enough.
Her knees buckled and her hand flew wide as she crumpled and fell.
I grasped her arm, softening her fall as she hit the ground. There were no words, no whispers of goodbye. Death moved in silently, stealing her away before she took another breath. Unfocused eyes glistened, staring at a spot over my shoulder. Slack lips paled and then parted with a hiss of air.
A ping cut through the air at my right. Fragments of brick stung my arm. I jerked my hand from the old woman’s body and stumbled backwards.
“We have to hurry!” the girl screamed behind me.
I shoved, stumbled, as the first of The Mighty stepped around the corner, lifted his rifle, and took aim.
My feet slipped on the uneven ground as the first shot went wide.
“Harlow!”
My heart thundered as I turned and punched my heels against the ground, as I spun and shot forward.
The boom of my heart was deafening as the girl lifted her hand. “Harlow, please.”
A snap cut through the air as I reached her. A crack in the wall raced, opening wider as I struggled nearer. She scurried, head down, moving low, and made for the other end of the alley.
I tried to look for the others, tried to search for Pestilence and War. But there was nothing…there was no one.
And it was that fateful night all over again.
The night that left me on my own.
My building cracked and collapsed. A boom cut through the air behind me. I glanced over my shoulder as I hit the corner.
There was no more alley. Water gushed as a black water tank rolled out.
“Harlow, this way.”<
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I left the sight behind. Everything I worked for had been here. Everything that’d been mine. Now I had nothing.
My feet moved on their own, following her as she slipped around what was left of the building and cut across the street. Her darting glances were honed by years of survival.
She slipped around the corner of another apartment block, slowed to peek around the side, and moved lower.
My throat was on fire. I tried to swallow, tried to speak, but all that came out was a raw hiss. “Why are you helping me?”
She swung her gaze toward me. Her dark eyes felt so familiar as she answered. “I like you. I got no one else.”
She shoved from the wall and took a step before motioning me forward. “This way.”
There was nowhere else to go, no place I could hide, no weapon I could use to fight. I gripped my thigh, punching the tips of my fingers deep, and stumbled as we slipped through a narrow passage to the row of houses at the back.
Steps blurred into one as I stumbled along one street and into another.
“Over this way,” she called and glanced over her shoulder. “We can rest for a minute over here.”
I sucked in deep breaths and felt the burn all the way into my lungs. My open mouth caught heavy drops. I leaned out further and lifted my hand to catch the rain. A tiny rivulet slipped into my open mouth. I drank all I could and stared at the white plume of smoke that drifted into the sky in the distance.
“You didn’t need them anyway.”
I flinched with the words and turned toward her. She glanced toward the dust and the smoke and then turned away. “I’ve got someplace better. They’ll never find you. They’ll never hurt you. You’ll be safe.”
Fire flared in my chest and speared down my side. I touched my waist and whimpered. Red coated my fingers as I lifted my hand. “Where?”
She shook her head, glanced at my side, and answered, “Not far.”
I could make it, just a little further. Agony flared deep. I glanced at my darkening jeans. Warm blood soaked the denim. I needed to wash, needed to clean the wound.
I swiped my forehead, feeling the heat from my skin. I needed antibiotics. “Can you get me antibiotics?”
She glanced my way, and then at the dark patch of blood on my thigh. “My mom has some. She’ll help you. She helps everyone.”
I rocked forward and gripped my leg. The muscle trembled and shook.
Shock, Harlow, Dad whispered inside my head. You’re going into shock, honey. You need water, drink and keep yourself awake.
I leaned forward once more, cupping my hands for the rain, and swallowed.
That’s the way. You’re a survivor, kid, so you’ll survive.
Never give up, Harlow. I’m always here.
I whimpered against the flesh of my palm and swallowed.
“We need to keep going,” she muttered, watching me. “We don’t want to take too long.”
I pushed against the corner of the building. The whimper turned into a cry as I took a step.
“Gotta keep moving,” the girl called over her shoulder. “You stop and you’re dead. That’s what Momma says.”
I focused on her, using her as a way to fight through the pain. “Your Momma, she live with you?”
She gave a nod and kept moving.
I gripped my hip and lengthened my stride. “What’s your name?”
“Nat.”
“Were you with them…The Mighty?”
She stopped. I waited for her to turn her head, waited to see either truth or lies in her gaze. Instead, she stared at the water coursing across the tar and answered, “Sometimes. Momma tells me what to do, and I do it.”
My heart thundered, stomach clenched tight. The way she spoke…meant something else entirely. “Are your working with them, did they send you to get me?”
She shook her head. “No. I came here to save you. Momma says you’re special, says you need to be protected. Says we’re the only ones who can keep you safe.”
A chill raced along my spine. I glanced to the skyline. Pestilence and War were out there. Were they looking for me? Were they fighting The Mighty? Maybe I should stop, try and find someone.
Someone who’d lead me back to them.
My knee gave a shudder and then buckled. I gripped my leg as agony roared.
“You need medicine. You need Momma,” Nat murmured, staring at the dark patch on my jeans as it spread. “No time.”
She stepped closer, slipped under my arm, and wound hers around my waist. Momentum took me through the next step, the next building and the next wave of pain as we headed north.
The rumble of a truck halted her steps. Nat shoved and pulled, driving us toward an abandoned restaurant. Remnants of glass crunched under my boots as she shoved through the broken door and dragged me into the dark.
One kick and the door closed behind us.
“We wait here,” she growled, staring at the empty street.
I gripped her tight and closed my eyes. “I can’t go on. I need to rest.”
“Rest soon, Harlow,” she murmured. “We’re almost there.”
Her clipped words echoed with this world. Memories flooded through my mind, school and college, people who spoke with ease. “How old are you?”
She shook her head and stared at the street.
Memories were all I had. I held onto them as pain savaged my thigh. “I remember the time before, remember my life. I had a home and a family…a sister. You remind me of her a little.”
She stiffened and slipped her arm from my waist. “They’re gone now. We need to keep moving.”
There was no arm around my waist now, no more comfort—what little there had been. This was a different Nat as she strode toward the shattered door and looked out.
I ground my thumb into the muscle and followed. The low drone of the truck’s engine was swallowed by the beating rain. We stepped out, slipped alongside the front of the shop, and headed across the steet.
Shopfront blurred into agony. Apartments buildings into pain.
Nat walked in front, far enough to not talk, but not so far to leave me behind. I tried to figure out what happened, what I’d said to create this divide, but all I had was a blur of words.
She turned left and disappeared between a hall and an office building. I hobbled faster as desperation bloomed. She was going to leave me…going to…
The squeal of metal on metal cut through the air as I rounded the corner. She strained, lifting the corner of metal sheeting, and snarled, “Hurry, Harlow. This is heavy.”
I ducked my head as my knee gave way and moved through the only way I could…I crawled.
We were leaving the streets behind, sinking deeper into forgotten backyards riddled with rusted playgrounds and vines that snared. I stepped higher, heading toward what’d once been a church.
But this wasn’t like any church I’d ever seen, not back then...and not now.
The steepled roof was punctured with pinnacles and there was a large, caved-in bell tower. But it was the gray, mottled brick that made me grimace. The walls were blackened as though there’d once been a fire.
It was a ruin.
There had to be someplace else, a small building attached to the back, someplace no one else would know. Nat ducked under a tree and kept on walking, stopping at the fence in the back.
Razor wire ran along the top of the fencing, but she knew just where to grab. The panel slid upwards, caught on a nail that acted like a hinge. “Momma will help you,” she murmured and jerked her head, motioning for me to go through.
Momma better have what I needed, for I was too far from anything else. Sweat mingled with the beads of water on my skin. I ducked my head and shuffled through, taking longer to push up now…
Nat lifted her hand and motioned toward a black wooden door. “In there. Momma has what you need.”
There was no hint of malice in her gaze as she widened her eyes and motioned me forward. She could’ve hurt me at any time—could’
ve left me back there for The Mighty…instead, she brought me here.
“Okay,” I murmured and turned toward the doorway as the sheeting slid back down.
“You’re gonna love Momma,” she whispered, and moved past me toward the door. “She’s so pretty…just like you.”
Door hinges creaked as it swung inwards.
Darkness consumed Nat as she slipped inside.
My side gave a howl and my leg trembled, giving way as I limped, hobbled…and followed her into the dark
15
“Momma,” Nat whispered in the dark.
There was a shift in the shadows, followed by the scrape of a shoe.
“Momma, it’s me…Nat.”
Her voice was so fragile, so utterly exposed.
“I brought her with me…I brought Harlow.”
And in the emptiness, my heart sped.
The way she spoke my name…the way she looked at me. It was as though she knew me, as though she came specifically for me. Movement came on my right, slow, careful.
I inhaled the dank, bitter air as a thought tore free…But I never told her my name…I never told her anything at all.
The sudden exhale wrenched me from the thought. Nat jerked my arm, yanking me forward. “It’s okay…you’re going to be okay now…he’s here to help.”
And as the movement sharpened to a silhouette, I felt her move away. I flinched with the harsh breath at my right. Heart hammering, I tried to focus. “Hello?”
“You’ve come,” gravel grated with the sound of his voice. Shadows moved closer, something swung high in the air.
There was a second where I didn’t understand…a second where that internal voice was silent.
And a second was all it took as he growled, “I knew you would.”
I lunged backwards as the arc came crashing down. But there was no movement, no punch of my boots into the concrete, no scream from my throat. There was only a surge of spirit and a fumbled attempt to turn.
The crack at the back of my head was deafening. Pain followed, tearing along my spine and brought me down.
I hit the ground hard, falling into the faded light of the open doorway. Shadows gave birth to a monster as the outline grew behind me. I tried to turn, tried to fight…tried to do anything but crawl.
