Janie and The Gray: Part 21
Resolve. Part twenty-one of a dystopian science-fantasy serial.
Fear chased me. Fear that he would follow. Fear that I would need to use the gun clutched in my hand. Fear that I would have to kill the closest thing to a friend I've had in years. I didn't want to, but I would put him down.
On the main floor, I walked quickly down the hallway. When I reached the front door, I stopped, spun around, and pointed the pistol at the basement doorway — expecting him to burst out and rush me at any moment. I listened intently. All was quiet.
I opened the door and crossed the threshold into the cold, still night. I ran opposite the direction we'd come yesterday — pressing deeper into the sprawling neighborhood. The sound of my boots clopping on the pavement shattered the post-apocalyptic silence. The moon and stars were hiding behind a thick veil of clouds. Light came from street lamps at each intersection and from many of the empty houses.
As the minutes passed, my senses came alive and my fear took the shape of something wilder. I was the tiger again — fierce and free. The Gray couldn't stop me. Ryan the Choker couldn't kill me. I would survive.