When It's Time to Move On

Door 2 - Chapter 20 - Cleansing

"Move." The man instructed.

"Do what he says," said Jake. They were led into a small building.

"No need to be worried, boys. We'll just have a look-see in your car there." The man said with an air of cheerfulness. "And I feel especially generous today so we'll just leave you two here and be on our way."

This wasn't good news considering they had absolutely nothing with them. One of the men called in from outside.

"You must've had some good stuff on you." The man said and left. Jake turned to Harris instantly.

"These guys aren't just bandits, they're hunters. They don't just want to take our things, they enjoy killing people. So when they find out we don't have anything on us..."

Loud voices were heard from outside, they were not happy.

"What do we do then?" Harris asked quickly.

"It's dark in here. We'll just have to hide for now."

It was a pretty weak plan. The place wasn't expansive, with large racks taking up most of the space. However, they positioned themselves at the far back when the hunters entered.

"Ah, so you figured it out. Sorry, boys, you didn't really have much on you and you know what that means."

"If you don't, I'll show you." The man cocked the gun in his hand and shot straight ahead missing Harris, who fell back, landing on broken shards of glass. "Ah-ha, not the bravest of hearts in you, eh, boys?"

Their position had been given away as the men advanced. Jake got up quickly.

"All right, you got me." He said raising his arms, but the bottle in his hand wasn't visible until he used it to whack one of the hunters.

The man fell to the ground as the rest ran in. Harris sneaked past the dark racks to the entrance. The leader of the hunters stood a few yards away, as Harris crept behind him.

"Don't move. I've got a gun." He bluffed.

"Smart. One fights while the other takes out the boss. That's not too different from what we do."

"We're nothing like you."

"Oh? What we do is survive, dear boy, just like you, and look at your friend there. He's practically one of us, the way he fights."

"Call your men off."

"Why would I do that?" The man laughed. "Especially when you don't actually have a gun."

Harris stood back in surprise, as the man turned around.

"I didn't know you didn't have one but it was worth the shot, right?" He cackled, knocking Harris to the ground. "Hey, McLane! I got your boy, get off mine."

Jake, who was in the midst of fending off his attackers, pushed them away.

"Let him go."

"Why? This one's not like us. I can see it in yo. You are. You've been out here, you know what it takes to survive. We have to take out the weak – like this one. He's holding you back. You could help us take this city, drive out those invaders and cleanse the place of filth like this one right here. Join us, all you have to do..." The man held Harris in a chokehold, "... is get rid of the waste. Let's start cleaning."

"Fine, I'll join you... but not him, anyone else."

"A little mercy in you, that'll go away soon. But luckily we're prepared for this situation." One of the hunters disappeared behind a door and re-emerged with a man with his hands bound, throwing him near Jake. "There you go, boy, here's your initiation."

Jake had clearly not braced for this shocking reveal and stared from the helpless man to the hunter leader, and then to Harris.

"We're not a patient pack here, either you clean this man out or I'll clean both him and your boy, you've got an easy choice." The hunter leader said handing Jake a large rod. "This ought to make it easier for you."

It was an impossible decision to make and the effect was apparent in Jake. Harris watched, fearful of the inevitable conclusion. Jake's features switched from reluctance to chilling anticipation, shades of his former self.

"No, Jake," Harris shouted.

The hunters cackled louder than ever.

"I'm doing this for you. I can't let anyone else die because of me."

"This isn't killing, it's cleansing." The leader said. "Do it, boy. Be who you are."

"I'm sorry," said Jake and brought the rod above his head, the helpless man whimpered.

Harris looked from the leader – with his face stretched in a satisfied smile and eyes bulging with delight – to the henchmen, with an equal look of revelry, and to Jake, who could not look morose enough. He decided to throw caution to the wind and threw himself forward at Jake, just as he brought the rod down.

It hit the leader on the head, having been dragged with Harris, causing him to release his grip. The henchmen charged at them; Harris was able to catch one with a right hook while the other was subdued by Jake.

Harris quickly unbound the captured man and called for Jake, who stood fixed where he was, looking at the rod he held. The eyes shone with the familiar guilt once more. Harris helped the captured man into the car.

"If anything happens, drive away. Go to the central boulevard." He instructed and went back in.

He found Jake still staring at his hands and on his knees.

"I can't find a way out of this..."

"We can still make it out, let's go."

"No, I'm not worth it. Go on without me."

"You know I'm not doing that," said Harris, "Look, I even packed all the supplies we'll need, this is a grocery store we stumbled upon. Just a little ahead and we can get out of Invio."

"All you think of is protecting lives, and all I do is take them."

"We can discuss that later. Right now, we have to move."

"I was about to kill him..."

"Jake, we really need to – LOOK OUT!" The leader of the hunters had picked himself up and pointed a gun at Jake's back. Harris pushed him away, and the next moment an instant pain ran through his side. He fell to the ground. Jake's frantic cries ran in the air but he was in too much pain to hear them, the world around began to swirl.

"No, no, come on. We have to make it, you said it yourself." He could make out Jake's outline above him; he nodded but couldn't bring himself up. It was much easier to let the oncoming darkness take him away, which is what he did as everything faded away.