Moonflower: Chapter Eleven

One Wrong Step

09/06/24

0 days until Ring inspection

   The last day finally came, and they were getting out.

   That late August morning was perfectly dreary for their plan. Diana woke Jacob before dawn, both of the wanderers weary and craving the fantasy of even a scrap of food, but the quiet knowledge that this was all they had been working towards kept their weary spirits as determined as they could be in their hungry fatigue. The rumbling gray clouds above them threatened rain and overshadowed the last of the summer sun. Jacob was grateful for the gift of darkness the final day had brought them. The gloom was a good sign—it would definitely assist them in the delicate stealthiness that would be required for their next moves, but unfortunately it was only a fraction of the luck they would need to make it out alive.

   For one, the breach was small. Every wall in the Ring was built high and impossibly steep—if not completely sheer—to keep the prey from crawling back out, like rats falling into a trap. Jacob hadn't gotten a thorough look at that specific weak point before he was caught by the creature that horrible day, but thankfully the hole was near enough to the ground that they should be able to crawl in without too much dangerous noise. Regrettably, there was no doubt it would also be a tight squeeze for his six-foot-three body to squirm through, and even worse, it was in Sector Three, placing it uncomfortably near to the prison entrance where they had installed the gate. Any guards on the roof hopefully wouldn’t be in their sightline, but that wasn't the only threat to be afraid of.

   Somewhere in Dawson City a ruthless monster from another world was lurking in the dark, saliva slipping to the cold concrete as it breathed deep, in search of something to fill its aching gut. It was starving, and they were the last pieces on the board.

   “There it is.” Jacob nodded solemnly towards the grassy crosswalk from their hidden refuge across the street. “Fourth and Crawford.”

   He watched Diana analyze the tranquil scene closely. It was just as he had left it, sitting in a calm and lonely silence, the impassible two-story wall nestled between two skyscrapers that framed the only way to freedom. You could barely see the low crack in the rough barrier from the hotel awning they were hidden under, but the shadows that formed the opening of the small gap were definitely still there.

   “My mom used to say ‘there’s no time like the present.’” Diana somberly tucked her stray bangs behind her ears and exhaled evenly. “I'm not sure I believe her now. C’mon, let's go.”

   “Wait!” The hold on her arm was careful as he stopped her from starting across the derelict street. Jacob shrugged with a small smile. “Isn't this the part where we huddle up?”

   His sentiment surprised her, the growing grin taking her face and lighting a fire in her dark eyes. He felt a hint of warmth in his cheeks as they huddled together as they had done once before.

   Their hold on each other was strong. He breathed in, tasting the fresh rain as it began to fall softly before them. Diana's eyes were closed as she began.

   “Remember. We stay side by side, we always stick together, we watch each other's backs and…”

   Jacob glanced up. She was smiling.

   “… And the coin slots in payphones go this way.”

   “Yes ma'am.”

   The spark in his chest faded as they let go, turning back to face their daunting escape shaded by the towers across the lonely street. His grip on the rifle strap tightened and his stomach growled quietly. Standing perfectly still, they watched as the puddle of water rippled with drops of rain and the occasional dragonfly dipping in and out again. They were ready, but neither was making a move. Jacob shifted on his good leg, eyes locked on the tears of the sky, his encouragement a gentle nudge to the woman beside him.

   “It's now or never.”

   The look in her eye was one of complete determination. Diana nodded, her steady hand touching his forearm to reassure him. “I'll check it out first.”

   She was accommodating his leg, he knew. The persistent limp was their biggest disadvantage, but she had never stopped trying—never. He dipped his chin gratefully and she prepared to move forward.

   After one final look around, her filthy shoes carried her as tactfully as possible across the empty street, dark raindrops beginning to stipple her coat. The dirty sheen left by time had melted to mud on the asphalt, painting her legs in the muck as she moved carefully around the large pond of water. Clambering up, Diana efficiently lifted herself up to the crevice, disappearing into the mess of rubble and out of his sight.

   Nothing happened for several minutes. Jacob checked his watch impatiently, keeping a vigilant lookout without a word through the soft city rain. The wait was agonizing, but it brought a big sigh of relief when she finally peeked back through. He squinted in the muted light. Wait, was she shaking her head?

   He mouthed what? and was forced to concentrate very intensely to read her lips at that distance. His eyes grew wide as what she was trying to tell him finally dawned on him.

   There's no way through.

   Jacob blinked slowly. No, n-no, it can’t be…

   But… he had seen it? The gap, the breach in Sector Three, the only escape from the hell of this ring of death! It was there, it had to be!

   She mouthed it again and he felt his pulse pounding in his ears drown out all other sound and focus his racing thoughts.

   Shit, Brayden. Damn it. The name he hadn’t considered in so long was the one variable he hadn’t accounted for. The youngest of the inmates could be a snob for sure, but he was as thorough as a foxhound. When Jacob hadn't come back from the perimeter check, Brayden must have called for another run ahead of schedule to be sure that the job was complete. Just another thing to check off of that damn list of his.

   He touched his scar as the anxiety took control, frantically glancing around the street in a panicked paranoia.

   Now what?

   When he looked back up, Diana was still waiting for an answer, so he nervously gestured for her to come back down to the street to talk. They needed to decide on what to do next, and fast. They had no food, no supplies, and no hope… Out of all of the times she had rescued him from discouragement, Jacob needed that signature stubborn fortitude now. Her slim legs were beginning to slide out through the crevice and into the misty rain as his mind sorted through a million ideas, but none were holding water.

   We’re trapped here.

   After all that misery, all the pain and the sacrifices, to come so far only to have the door slammed in their—

   Bits of rubble tinkled down in front of the overhang Jacob was hidden under.

   What was…

   The second it hit him, it was already too late. The enormous creature lunged from the top of the hotel towards the perimeter wall, covering the street in two stretching bounds. Jacob yelled for Diana as she yanked her feet back inside the hole just in time and screamed in terror as it tore at the brick and debris around her, water flying from its quaking body, starving and wild desperation echoing in a thousand human wails from its damaged throat. The sound was piercing his mind. His hands grabbed at his head to try and stop that spine-chilling screech, but it was no use. Jacob was overwhelmed by it from where he was standing—the gnashing and snapping, the pale human-like face shoved into the rocks to seize its trapped prey with deadly jaws…

   He was cowering away from it. Another roar from the monstrous demon drew him back, slinking in reverse towards the glass hotel doors behind him, crouching low and too struck with fear to do anything other than hide.

   Diana's awful frantic screams tore at his heart. She was going to be eaten, he had to do something!

   But he couldn't.

   Death was digging through to her. It was only a weak wish that his legs would move forward into action, but the reality was altogether different. His legs were staying the fearful course, backing him into the safety of the shadows, keeping him alive. He had almost turned away when the next tortured cries of Diana carried his name.

   “Jacob!”

   The air was coming fast into his lungs.

   She needed him.

   You spineless monster! His internal voice was clearer than it had ever been as his eyes focused on the violent creature on the wall. For once in your life, fucking do something!

   “Shit.”

   He ripped the rifle from his back and settled the butt in his shoulder, struggling to set the aim through his trembling as the chaos of Diana's screeches jumbled his already-scared mind.

   One bullet in the chamber. Damn it, he would only have a single chance at this. He moved fast to wipe the damp hair from his eyes as he stepped out into the street for a clear shot and steadied his aim.

   His voice croaked in a sharp shout. “Hey!”

   The creature turned just in time for the shot. Jacob breathed out and squeezed the trigger. He watched as the fired bullet just barely whizzed past its exposed vivid green eye, missing by an inch at most.

   “Fuck.”

   The inch difference only enraged it. The crazed monster left the breach and tore across the street in a second, reaching the hotel just as Jacob threw himself inside it. Glass shattered on top of him and they both tumbled into the dilapidated lobby. 

   It cried after him as its limping meal scrambled up and away, that horrible face behind him contorted in rage, the unearthly sound from its injured throat still that same nightmarish chorus that sent the fear flowing through you. Jacob was just running, dropping the empty, useless rifle and bolting as fast as his leg would take him into the building, weaving through a maze of identical velvet red hotel hallways. The crashing and howling of the mutilated demon at his back penetrated his very mind as it struggled to fit through the narrow halls after him.

   The dark exit sign was looming high at the end of the corridor in front of him. He skidded and slammed into the heavy emergency door, his shaking fingers desperately shoving the push bar, but it was no use. It was being held shut, something heavy closing it off on the other side. He threw his shoulder into it painfully but the door wasn't budging.

   “C'mon, c'mon!”

   A glance back and those teeth were almost on him. At the last second, he nearly toppled through. Diana had appeared on the opposite side of the exit—apparently having doubled back to the hotel to free him and now yanking him out into the open air.

   “Run!”

   Her grip was iron on his wrist as she dragged him, stumbling and falling around the wet fleet of abandoned cars on the slippery pavement. The creature was through, its incredible weight crushing the vehicles like tin cans as it scrambled to right itself in its mad rush. The claws scraped metal as it finally lunged forward into the rain in a gallop on all fours.

   The huge gray building across the street provided no shelter as they sprinted towards it. It was too far—he knew they weren't going to make it up the ramp of rubble leading to its huge waiting doors.

   Jacob clawed desperately to climb the incline to safety, Diana right at his heels. The creature leapt at them with full force and her scream echoed in the empty city.

   He yanked her up just in time for a gate to come crashing down between them and the monster, pelting the two with rocks and mud. Its wailing roar echoed through the lattice of the bars, and Diana frantically crawled back against his chest as Jacob struggled through his relief and shock to comprehend what had just happened.

   He opened his mouth to speak when an all-too-familiar name was called out from behind them.

   “Porter!”

   The deep voice froze him stiff. Wait, a gate?

   He scrambled to his feet, Diana holding his arm in a death grip as the terrible realization of where they were hit him like a truck.

   The entrance to Dawson City Jail loomed above them, the monster clawing behind the metal bars keeping them away from one side, and the growing crowd of convicts herding them back on the other. They stood together in the center of the danger, and Jacob could swear that the cage was closing in around them. A vivid red shirt appeared through the parting crowd to stop him cold—Goliath.

   The prison leader only had to lift his chin forward an inch for the men beside him to fire. Jacob squeezed his eyes shut… but the bullets weren't meant for him, instead pelting the wounded creature behind them, inflicting enough irritation for it to draw back from the gate after one last frustrated roar.

   “Fuck off,” the giant man shouted in that dreadful humorous tone, the glare of the frightening green alien eye nothing to him from the safety of the impregnable prison. His prideful gaze hadn't yet landed on the two survivors.

   Its clicking breath carried it away, but Jacob's eyes were still locked on the towering man before him, the orchestrator of all this cruelty. It felt almost surreal to watch it happen—this scenario that he had seen play out a hundred times before—now with himself playing as the rabbit caught in the hunter's snare. Finally Goliath glanced down his nose at the pair from the high ground of the incline with an unreadable expression in his dark, half-lidded eyes. Jacob stood slightly closer beside Diana, her hand still clenched around his arm, every nerve in his body torn between fight or flight… but there was nowhere to go. He was standing paralyzed—as though they wouldn’t see him if he remained still enough—but all of those sunken eyes were already trained on the panting pair of survivors. They were caught.

   “So there was a second person after all. Aw.”

   Goliath nodded for the two heavies to grab them and Jacob's heart leapt into his throat. He panicked as the men stepped up to him, but just like the hail of gunfire, they simply walked right past, wrenching Diana from his desperate grasp and violently beginning to drag her towards the open prison doors.

   “Excellent work bringin’ her to me.”

   Jacob stared back.

   Oh shit. Goliath believed he had led her to them on purpose, that he was still one of them. It was an out-of-body experience to watch Diana fight the inevitable end as Jacob stood shocked and dumbfounded, her limbs writhing and kicking furiously at the inmates who held her secure.

   “Hey, let go of me!”

   The trap had closed around their flesh—it was over, there was no escape now.

   It made his gut twist to see Goliath grab for her hips. He watched helplessly as the giant pulled her towards him, flipping the knife from her jacket pocket with a sly wink and a sneer.

   “Aw sweetie, you thought this'd save you?”

   She scowled with disgust at his obnoxious flippancy and spit in his face in an act of defiance. In a flash, he had backhanded her, Diana yelping from the ugly red spot it formed on her cheek. Jacob forced himself to swallow the revolt he felt in his gut at the act, every horrifying memory from years of his life dredged up in its cruel execution.

   “Bitch!”

   Goliath wiped the saliva from his chin and nodded to the men as he pocketed the blade. They tried dragging her away, but her fighting spirit would never give up. She struggled even harder in their severe hold, doggedly wrestling against all odds to get back to him.

   “No, let me go!”

   She screamed when one of the guards hit her again but she wouldn't stop. Her wild eyes landed on his and she cried out for his help.

   “Jacob?!”

   He opened his mouth, ready to shout at them—to make them stop hurting her—but in that vital moment he felt something deep inside him hold the words captive on his tongue. What would they do to him? The all-consuming thought stunk in like a needle in his skin. He knew what they did to those who didn’t play along—he had been there, he had seen it a hundred times before. The blood ran cold in his body as he watched the dangerous men violently muscling her into submission, their guns swaying threateningly on their backs in the effort, ready to fire at one swift order of their heartless leader. Would they even listen to anything he had to say?

   Fuck, he was petrified.

   He didn't know what to do. His fingers balled into fists at his side and he allowed his spent nerves to take control. His breathing slowed as his eyes met hers.

   “Jacob?”

   He couldn't do it.

   Only one of them could make it out of this alive. It felt like a nightmare, but deep down Jacob knew that it was reality. He needed to do this, to sacrifice to survive, he… he needed to sacrifice her.

   I don't have a choice—I never do.

   Jacob closed his mouth tightly, watching in dreadful silence as the realization slowly registered on her face as to what he had just done, the hope draining from those terribly beautiful eyes in an instant.

   “Everything in me told me not to trust you…” Her voice was cracking with disbelief. “I-I didn't listen.”

   His throat tightened as they dragged her away, feet scrabbling against the concrete as her betrayed stare tore through him until she disappeared inside his prison walls.

   “You did good, kid,” Goliath laughed, cracking him on the shoulder. “Looks like there'll be some huntin’ tomorrow!”