Escape from Harrizel Read Free

Please don’t make
this difficult.”
    Another step.
    The door is right behind me. I’m closer to
it then Clarence, who hasn’t budged an inch. He sits deflated, as
if he has no intention of running after me. Will he when he must?
Or is that someone else’s job? A new thought fills me with terror
as I work out the possibility that maybe Clarence isn’t alone in
all this. The idea that someone could be waiting on the other side
of the door fills me with newfound terror. But it doesn’t matter at
this point.
    “Thank you for the water.”
    “And what do you think is out there?” he
flies to a stand, his hand outstretched, mocking the door like some
clichéd routine. “Salvation? Escape?” He walks closer as I back up,
gripping the handle in a closed fist. “Think really hard, Fallon. Think about it. What happened before you awoke?”
    “I…” my mouth drops and just as I’m about to
tell him it doesn’t matter, I see it. Hear it.
    Fire.
    Crackling as it cooks the night, the trees,
the houses and the bodies. Children screaming, running from black
clouds, desperately clutching bits of food, clothes, pieces of
once- somethings.
    “You see it, don’t you?” he steps closer.
“You remember now?” Another step.
    Grey skies linger as ashes lie strewn about
school graveyards. Nomads crossing deserts in the former cities,
garbage overflowing like water from a mountainous fountain.
    “Fallon,” Clarence approaches slowly,
extending his hand as he nearly closes the gap between us, “come
with me… let me help you. Let me take you home.”
    He moves for the final step but I swing
around, jetting out the door.
    A gravel driveway leads to the same type of
road ahead, the only interruption in an otherwise grassy field.
There are no houses, nothing other than the road, which disappears
into the distance both ways. Everything’s out in the open,
especially me, my heart racing as I quickly try to recalculate. I
jet to the side of the house, passing an open garage and round the
outside walls, keeping low, searching for a hiding place. But
there’s nothing.
    “Fallon?” he steps through the front
door.
    Pressed against the wall, I slide down,
inching my way toward the back. My pulse speeds, my breath coming
in and out in rapid beats.
    “I’d rather not do it this way…” his voice
travels.
    Behind the house, off in the distance, lies
a thicket of trees following the road in both directions. It’s a
good fifty yards away but offers a canopy of coverage. If I
sprinted, I might be able to—
    “You won’t make it,” he calls from above,
standing atop the roof. “But… might we hurry this up? I do have
other appointments.”
    My stomach drops.
    I’m running before I’m able to ponder,
darting to the front of the house and into the open garage. An old
Cadillac greets me, the walls lined with boxes and Christmas
decorations, tools and lawn chairs. There’s a door in the back and
I race to it, pulling it slightly ajar. It leads into the house,
across from the kitchen and dining room. Backing up, I head for a
blockade of boxes and shrink to the ground behind them,
waiting.
    Footsteps enter.
    They stop just as quickly. “Really, Fallon.
Why are we playing this game?” A heavy sigh escapes. “I’m only here
to help you.” He moves on the other side of the car, toward the
open door.
    I creep in the opposite direction, behind
the shield of boxes, back toward the outside light.
    “The sooner you trust me,” Clarence closes
the door, still in the garage, “the sooner this will all be
over.”
    He’s rounding the front of the Cadillac and
I’m nearly to its back bumper. I just need to slide out and make
for the tree line and then…
    …I’ll figure something out.
    “Fallon…” Clarence tries again but I’m
already slipping past the wall and out of the garage.
    Once outside, I book it. Running as fast as
possible, I take off for the trees behind the house. My heart’s
racing, threatening to explode, my