Stranger No Danger

Simplestreet

I didn't even realize I fell asleep until Arlen gently shook me awake at our stop. I raised my head up from his shoulder and squinted through the blur of sleep up at the sign on the wall, which read: "4:59 AM, arriving at Simplestreet Station."

We placed the tracking anklet on my seat and quietly exited the train onto the platform. I looked around; the station was deserted. The sky was transforming into a royal indigo and violet as the planet rotated us closer to the sun.

Almost instinctively and embarrassed that I did so, I reached for Arlen's hand. He grasped mine tightly and we exited the station onto what appeared to be a dirt road in the rural Oregon countryside.

"Where are we?" I whispered.

"Um... let's see..." Arlen had pulled out his cellphone and was tapping at it. "Damn... there's hardly any service here." 

We waited a few minutes for his map to load. 

"So... Simplestreet. It's a small town probably a 10 minute drive away from the Washington border."

"What do we do now?" I asked nervously, glancing around in the dawn darkness.

"We need to find a police station," he replied, typing into his phone. "If it'll ever load... okay, there's one a 20 minute walk away."

I was exhausted at this point but didn't complain. I wouldn't rest until I was somewhere safe. Arlen and I began trekking slowly down the road, which lacked a sidewalk and was lit rather poorly by flickering street lights. The sky continued to brighten, illuminating wildflower fields and evergreen tree-covered hills stretching into the distant countryside. It wasn't until we approached the first set of buildings that I realized I was still holding Arlen's hand.

"Oh, sorry..." I said in embarrassment, dislodging my hand from his.

He looked at me and I thought I saw an expression of disappointment flash across his face for a split second, but he smiled nonchalantly and shrugged. "It's okay, no worries."

He glanced down at his phone. "Looks like we're 10 minutes away now... Damn, I'm at six percent."

I suddenly realized he'd left all his other belongings in the hotel. "Oh my god," I exclaimed. "Is all your stuff still back in that hotel?"

Arlen grimaced. "Yeah, tunnel vision got the best of me when I went back to my room to get my phone. It's okay, though, don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" I insisted. "Sorry you had to leave everything behind..."

"It's fine, seriously," he reassured. "I can go back and collect everything when this is all over. I still have my key card," he took it out of his pocket and showed me, "and my stay is scheduled for a few more days anyway."

I opened my mouth to object but couldn't find anything else to say.

"Besides, making sure you're safe is way more important than my clothes."

I looked down at my feet to hide my sheepish smile. He was making me feel truly safe in this otherwise unsafe situation. We continued on in silence until we reached the Simplestreet police station. By then the sky had transformed into a brilliant ombre of sunrise colors: tangerine orange reached up from the horizon and melted into a lovely pink and purple hue. I could hardly keep my eyes open at this point but knew I had to talk to the police before I could sleep.

The station itself was small, nearly shack-like. Only a few actual desks and computers were inside with just one interrogation room. Arlen told them most of the story while I did my best to provide additional details, but I was just too tired to speak. Two policemen interrogated me and made some phone calls.

"I'm so sorry, I'm about to pass out. Is there some place I can sleep?" I eventually asked.

They nodded and led me into the back to a set of tiny holding cells. "We won't lock the doors," they told me as they shut the jail cell, but honestly, I couldn't have cared less. I laid down on the floor with a thin sheet they provided me and promptly fell asleep.

I was woken up by a hot beam of sunlight blazing down straight into my eyes from the tiny window of the holding cell. I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, looking around for Arlen. I left the cell and went back into the police station.

"Arlen?" I called out.

There were only a few people in the station, but Arlen was nowhere to be found. My heart began to thud in my chest.

I approached the woman working at the front desk. "Hey, do you know where the guy I came with is?"

She shook her head.

I started trembling. What was I supposed to do now? I thought there would at least be officers waiting to talk to me, but then again this was a tiny rural police station. I rushed out the front doors and frantically looked around. I almost cried out in relief when I saw Arlen walking towards me in the distance, holding some brown paper bags. Once he approached I shamelessly hugged him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

I shook my head and tried hard to keep myself from crying again.

"I'm sorry, I went to go get us some food... I didn't know you'd be awake by now." The paper bags crinkled as he returned the embrace.

We went back inside the police station and sat at one of the empty police desks to eat what was a brunch meal from a local diner: pancakes, eggs, sausage, and some fresh fruit.

"Is someone supposed to be talking to us right now?" I asked Arlen once we had satisfied our appetites.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin and shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied. "They told me you went to go sleep, and that they would talk to us some more after you woke up. But nobody seems to be around." He surveyed the empty station.

At that moment the desk phone rang, and the receptionist answered it. Her face fell, and she glanced up at me with a grave expression on her face. The food in my stomach suddenly felt too heavy.

"I don't have the authority to give that kind of information out... no, we can't allow you to... please stop, there's no need to hurt anyone..."

The phone call appeared to end abruptly and she paused before relaying to us, "Your captors tracked you to Whitehorn Creek and know you aren't there. They somehow figured out you're here in Simplestreet. They made some... unpleasant threats. I don't know where they are but it sounds like they're heading here now. I need to make some phone calls and update the deputy on the situation. I'm really sorry."