They Will Run You Down

Three: Blood Feather

Harley grabbed John by his shirt, pulling him along as she broke into a mad dash toward the closest apartment complex on the other side of the street.

The pair could hear the collective howling of as many as twelve Screamers getting louder as they approached. Reaching the apartment's entrance, John began throwing his body up against the door while Harley pulled the screwdriver from her pocket once more and cracked the lock.

Miraculously, the two of them made it inside the complex and managed to slam the heavy door shut just as the Screamer's bodies collided into it like a swarm of birds to a glass window.

The beasts screamed and clawed and bashed their heads against the door. Harley and John backed away and turned to the space within the building, warily scanning the darkened hallway and staircases, one going up and one going down.

John went into his backpack and retrieved a small flashlight before the two of them ascended the stairs. Harley thought it a good oppurtunity to search for food and water and whatever else might be useful while John was simply eager to get away from the Screamers and out of the sun.

Harley walked up to one of the closed doors, knocking and then listening for any signs of life, of which there was none.

Upon entering, the place was tidy, seemingly untouched by the world outside apart from the layer of dust blanketing each surface. John's eye was immediately drawn to a full water cooler beside the refrigerator and paced over to it to drink his fill and top up his bottle.

Digging through the cupboards, Harley found two cans of cherry pie filling, tomato soup, pink salmon and evaporated milk.

"Might as well rest here for a bit," Harley insisted as she went to the living room and sat on the floor, taking Rebel out from her backpack and checking him over.

John sat down on a pastel floral sofa and Harley stretched out on her tummy on the carpet and rested her head on her arm, watching Rebel moved around, still hopelessly uncoordinated. The pup found Harley's face and tried his very best to suckle on her nose, making Harley wince and smile.

"Have you ever owned a dog before?" John asked before he took a swig of water.

"Some of the homes I lived in had pets," she answered, still gazing at Rebel.

"Foster homes?"

"Mhhm"

John started digging through his backpack to find something to eat "Foster kid, huh? I'm sorry. That must've sucked"

"Nah, it was great," Harley replied sarcastically.

John breathed a silent chuckle.

"So, how much farther to the shop?" He asked as he opened a can of corned beef.

"Bout and hour, provided we don't run into anymore Screamers"

John went to the kitchen and divided the corned beef onto two small plates, then returned to the living room and handed one to Harley. She mashed up a little bit of her portion and hand fed tiny pieces to Rebel before eating what was left over.

It was to be a short-lived respite for the newly acquainted pair before they were packed back up and moving onward toward the mechanics shop.

Once there, Harley gave John her backpack, and climbed in through a small window, as the shop door had been boarded up from the inside. John followed, handing Harley her bag and his before crawling through the small opening. They entered into a dusty office that still smelled of motor oil and rusty metal, then carefully proceeded into the shop, eyes peeled, for neither of them knew what they might find.