They Will Run You Down

Six: Hobson's Choice

Harley slid in and out of consciousness for hours. By the time she recovered enough to stay awake, the world had already become dark around her. Her eyes flitted open with difficulty, and she was startled to see John sitting on a short stool beside where she lay, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands.

John heard Harley stirring and looked up, instantly relieved to find her awake.

"How do you feel?" He asked as he took the wet cloth off of her forehead.

"Peachy," Harley replied with a raspy voice, as she propped herself up on her elbows to see her surroundings. She was lying on a couch in an unfamiliar house. Harley looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing only her underwear and a large T-shirt.

"What the hell, mate!" She complained.

"Your clothes were drenched in sweat," he explained as he popped the bottle of amoxicillin open, then grabbed a bottle of water.

"Take these," he instructed, dropping two capsules into her hand.

Harley grumbled but complied.

"Where's Rebel?" She asked after swallowing the pills with several gulps of water.

John bent over and grabbed Rebel who had been sleeping on his feet and handed him to Harley. The pup woke and proceeded to shower her chin with kisses. Harley smiled and pet him lovingly, "Has he eaten?"

"Yes, but you haven't," John said.

"I'm not hungry," Harley insisted as she sat up and pulled the T-shirt over her knees.

John stood from the stool, grabbed his backpack and paced into the darkened kitchen.

After looking around for some clothes to change into and finding none, Harley stood from the couch in search of her backpack which she knew held an extra pair of jeans. "Pants. Need pants," she mumbled to herself as she hunted around the dark living room.

John looked into the room, seeing nothing but Harley's stark white hair, which almost seemed to glow in the moonlight coming in through the window.

"What are you looking for?" He asked.

"Can't find my backpack"

John grabbed her backpack from the kitchen table and paced into the living room, handing it to Harley. She pulled the T-shirt down awkwardly with one hand, and grabbed the backpack with the other.

"What are you doing in there?" She asked as John walked back into the kitchen.

"Cooking"

Harley found the jeans in her backpack and slipped them on. "Cooking?" She asked confused, as she made her way to John to see for herself.

"Propane cooktop. Found propane under the sink," John explained as he lit the burner with a lighter. A quiet whoosh preceeded a lovely blue flame as the propane ignited.

"Warm food? Fancy," Harley teased.

"Close the blinds, yeah?" John asked as he pulled a small lantern from his bag.

Harley closed the blinds above the kitchen table then took a seat on one of the chairs.

"How long was I out?"

"About six hours"

John pulled a cast iron pot out of a drawer, rinsed it with a little water then emptied two bottles into it and placed the pot on the burner.

"Hmm, crazy. I'm gonna look around," Harley stated as she stood from the chair and left the kitchen.

Grabbing a small flashlight from her bag, she made her way up the stairs to the second level and rooted through each bedroom, looking for any items that might be useful. In the bathroom, she found a toothbrush that was still in its package but nothing else was of interest to her, so she descended back onto the main level, then down into the basement.