When It's Time to Move On

Door 2 - Chapter 17 - His Story

By the time Harris came to, Jake had concealed the hole in the wall. He used the rest of the wood to create a small fire in the center of the room. Jake didn't seem content enough to relax and kept diverting between stoking the fire and peering out into the street. Meanwhile, Harris flopped over to the fire and gratefully warmed himself.

"You should take it easy for a while." He suggested to Jake.

"You should rest," came the reply.

"They won't be back. I was here last night," said Harris.

"I know... I just wanted to make sure." Jake's voice sounded heavy with emotion, suddenly.

He set himself down across Harris, the flames reflecting on his eyes highlighting the face full of melancholy. Harris was certain it didn't have to do with the lives he had taken during the day. The easiness with which he had dispatched their enemies, the flawless brutality of it made it clear that this was a man of violence, someone who had been amongst it long enough to not let himself be bothered by it anymore.

This sorrow was for something more personal that held a certain amount of weight in the man's heart, and it was truly bothering him.

"We'll find them, the boy and his mother," said Harris assuredly. Jake looked up, perhaps taken aback by the forthright words or the transparency of the situation.

"I gave it away, huh? Because the blame does lie with me," said Jake abhorrently. "They're out there because I left them there."

"Were you trying to distract the guards away?"

"I wasn't talking about today."

"Are you saying you started this war?"

"It takes a bad man to spark a war, but it takes an even worse one to fuel it, which is what I was a part of, and I hate myself for it. It started out so differently, I want you to know that, I never thought things would escalate to this," said Jake earnestly. "But when things get out of control, so do people."

"That's true, but we all have to adapt and survive, don't we?"

"I did survive but I didn't adapt, I dominated."

"I really don't understand what's happening here," said Harris truthfully. "If you'll believe me, I woke up and then found myself in Invio. I have no idea what this unrest is about, who the insurgents or invaders are."

"I'm not sure I should tell you, it'll be easier if you just focus on getting to the exit point."

"I think I have a right to know, I did save your life back at the Plaza."

"All right." Jake sighed after some thought. "But once you know, I wouldn't fault you if you would want to go on by yourself."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that? Tell me who you are and how do you tie into all this?"

"That... is a really good question and the most difficult to answer." Jake sighed again. "Who I am right now is perhaps the most wanted man in Invio – neither the insurgents nor the invaders trust me – although I'd say it skewers more for the invaders considering I was a part of them once."

"What!?"

"That's right, you noticed I didn't seem like an Invian, and you weren't wrong, I'm not. I was one of the invaders of the country – it wasn't a full-scale invasion – we started out by infiltrating the bases in covert operations, and that's when I set foot here for the first time." Jake continued. "I learned their ways, their dialect, I became one of them, but I wasn't. I was the enemy."