They Will Run You Down

Twenty: Front to Front

Harley snorted at the sight just before there came a knock at the front door. Assuming it was John back from his driving lessons, she hopped up and paced casually down the stairs to the landing and heaved open the door.

"Hi, Alex," Kristen smiled sheepishly from the other side of the threshold.

Harley was jolted by the surprise of seeing Kris on her front step and reflexively motioned to slam the door in her face.

"Please! Could we just talk?" Kris begged as she halted the door from closing with her hand.

Harley backed up a few steps, staring at the floor as Kris let herself in. Clenching her jaw, Harley turned and paced up the stairs into the living room where she sat slouched on the love seat, pulling the beak of her cap down over her eyes and crossing her arms in discomfort.

Kris shut the front door and followed Harley up the stairs, sitting across from her on the sofa. She looked nervous and concerned.

"It's been so long, Alex. I mean just look at you, you're all grown up," Kris smiled weakly, "When I saw you I couldn't believe it, you know, it's just so rare these days to see people you knew from before"

Playing alone, as Rebel quickly discovered, was highly unappealing, so he sauntered over to where Harley sat and used the couch to hoist himself up onto his hind legs, waiting expectantly for Harley to pick him up. She did so tenderly, but kept her head down and said nothing to Kris.

"I'm so, so happy to see you alive. I really am. I just don't understand why you reacted the way you did in the market the other day, or why you left us back then for that matter.. I don't understand of it," Kris expressed sorrowfully.

Harley brought her hand up to her mouth and took to chewing on her thumb nail.

"We were friends weren't we? We were like sisters. I was so heartbroken when you ran away. We all were, but especially Shaun. You two were so close"

Harley pulled the beak of her cap down even further and began to anxiously rock her knee up and down.

"I just want to understand, Alex. Please talk to me?" Kris questioned, her eyes glossy with emotion.

There was a brief and painful silence between them, until all at once, there came a quick succession of sharp knocks on the front door. Harley looked toward the direction of the sound and as swiftly as she could, wiped a stray tear from her cheek. Before Harley could even think to get up from the loveseat though, the door swung open,

"Kris?" Shaun's worried voice echoed off of the high ceiling.

From the space between the spindles of the banister, Shaun could be seen. He made his way up the stairs quickly as Harley dropped her head, hooked her arms tightly around herself and froze in precisely that position.

"Hey?" Kris greeted, looking confused, "Everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I just couldn't find you," Shaun lied as he walked over to the couch and took a seat beside his wife.

"I just came to see Alex," Kris explained, looking over to her.

Shaun cleared his throat, "Right. It- it's really good to see you again. Been a long time"

Harley felt her heart hammer in her ribcage and her body began to tremble, overwhelmed but she was a statue of a person, physically unable to move or flee.

"We, uhm, well we heard about your immunity. It's incredible," Shaun continued nervously as he took Kris's hand into his own.

"It's a miracle. You're a miracle. You're going to save all of us," Kris added.