When It's Time to Move On

Door 2 - Chapter 23 - Wake up

It had all happened within a few moments, as Harris recollected – Jake stopping the car, Adrian and Silas's terrified faces as they approached, Harris's temporary paralysis subsiding almost as quickly as the car now sped down the road. 

The two brothers had watched in fright as Jake had exited the car and collapsed on the ground clutching his head – not being familiar with those pangs of guilt as Harris had become. They were gracious on their part, however, as they'd allowed Harris and Jake to come along.

Now with the city almost towering before them as the truck moved closer, the central boulevard was the only destination that had been discussed. But after the unpleasant incident Jake had pulled, Harris doubted the brothers would be keen on heeding that suggestion. 

Harris was incensed at the events that had transpired. He couldn't help but feel disappointed at himself – disappointed that he'd spent all those days thinking Jake had amended his ways, that he held some value to those other than himself. That he, Harris, had helped in bringing about that change, that he had considered him a friend...

He glanced at Jake, who was lying with his back turned away as if having fallen asleep. But Harris knew this was just another one of his self-pity sessions. How many times they'd discussed it, Harris could not remember; he was tired by now. 

What was hitting him the hardest of all was the fact that Jake had planned on taking him along. This frustrated him the most. That they had had a bond there in the shanty town, even if Jake hadn't been enlightened by his faith. Harris had some kind of an impact on him. But he didn't want to be part of someone who could so easily look the other way when the time came to face troubles head-on.

They were slowing down. They were inside the city now, but just barely, and fortunately, no one was in sight. Adrian and Silas exited the car.

"Why have we stopped?" Harris asked the pair.

"Because we've never been here," replied Silas, "and we have no idea where the central boulevard is."

"But more important than that," Adrian interjected. "We don't know whether you two told us the truth."

Harris noticed him holding his gun close, perhaps thinking his chances of defending himself were better with Jake out of commission for the time being.

"What can we do to prove it?"

"Tell us what the place is like."

"I've never been there before," said Harris, the brothers exchanged unsure glances.

"Then how did you know about it in the first place?"

"We... we came across a letter that told us," Harris revealed timidly. It wasn't much of an answer. "But I know what's there."

The brothers looked at him with a mixture of hope and skepticism.

"It's a sort of, um, a closed-off refuge that people go to... rescue helicopters are sent in periodically to take them to safety."

"And how do you know that, exactly?"

The vivid memory of being among many other escapees sprung to Harris's mind. The previous time he'd been there, it had taken him hardly a half hour to get to safety. He'd been at the right place at the right time. Not this time, though.

"I can't explain." He replied plainly, unable to formulate the words needed.

Adrian and Silas moved over to the side to discuss their plans. Harris looked at Jake, who was still lying on the back of the truck. Regardless, he had no intention to speak to him. He interjected himself between the brothers.