Monster War

Chapter 3

A knock on my door woke me up. Groggy, drowsy, sleepy, whatever you want to call it, I rolled off the couch feeling like that. Seeing Reta right under me though I had to do some quick maneuvering to avoid landing on top of her and waking her up. After that wake-up call I walked to the door and peeked through the peephole.

My first thought was "There are guys in body armor and guns outside my door." My second thought was "Run." My third thought was "Reta."

I grabbed the coat and shoes, rushed over to Reta and grabbed her arm, lifting her up onto her feet. She was surprisingly heavy. She yelped and woke up fairly quickly for a cat. "Wha-what's going on?"

"The High is here."

"Who is The High?"

I looked at her. "The guys who kidnapped you."

Her eyes widened in fear and shock, then turned to disbelief and anger. "Did you give me away?"

"No, but they found out somehow and we need to leave now!" I picked her up in my arms and rushed in the bedroom to the window. There was another knock on the door which made her squeak and cling to me for dear life.

I cracked the window open with one arm and looked out at the fire escape. There was no sign of the government. "Okay, the coast is clear. I'll go first and then we have to jump."

"Okay." She seemed pretty okay with jumping off a two story building. Honestly, I wasn't as confident but I've done it before. On a bet or two.

I got out quickly and she followed me closely behind. I heard the door get hit hard and figured we had about a minute before they burst through the door. "Jump now!" I leaped off the building, bending my legs so I could roll when I hit the pavement. It didn't work and I fell forward from the momentum. She landed gracefully though, using her hands and feet to break her fall. I groaned in pain and got up as fast as I could. I heard the sound of wood breaking and I grabbed her arm. "We need to leave now."

She nodded and we took off for the closest exit from the back alley. We got to a main road fairly fast then I realized she's exposed. I forced her into the winter coat, zipping it up while standing in front of her to block her from the view of passersby. Then I moved behind her and grabbed her tail. She squealed and turned around like she was about to scratch me through her gloves. I didn't care as I shoved her tail into her pants and pulled them up over the base.

"I could've hurt you for touching me there," she said angrily.

"You need me to survive and frankly, I don't want to give up the only person who trusts me," I said while grabbing her gloved right hand and pulling her down the street.

"Oh, so I'm special now?" she asked, glaring at me.

"Yes, to me," I said back.

She seemed taken aback by that but I didn't care. I waved down a taxi and pushed her in before taking a seat. The driver looked at us. "Where to, sir?" The driver had an accent that suggested he came from the Northeast of the other landmass, probably the Russia Region. Old white hair and stubble on his face with a mean look, he seemed like he didn't enjoy this job at all.

"As close to the next town as possible," I said as I flashed two hundred.

His eyes widened but he didn't ask any questions as he started driving down the street.

I noticed he was going to turn onto the street where my apartment was and I said, "Fifty bucks you keep going straight a few blocks."

"Yes, sir." He turned off the blinker and when the street light turned green he kept going forward past my street. I watched longingly at my home where several large black vehicles were parked and people in armored gear and military-grade weapons were searching the premises.

Reta looked at the apartment then said to me, "I'm sorry." She gloved hand on my shoulder.

I sigh and lean back into my seat, forcing her to take the hand away. "It's fine. We just need to find a new place to hide."

She nodded then seemed to get an idea. "How did they find out?"

"There are cameras everywhere, and there's thousands of people in this city. I don't know how but if we can get to a small town no one cares about then we might be able to hide for a while." I flashed her my wallet. "I have enough cash to last us a while too."

She stared at me and the wallet then nodded, turning forward and leaning back against the seat.

We drove for a while, possibly an hour, before the cab driver stopped on a bridge. He looked at me and said, "This is as far as I go."

"Thanks, mac." I handed him $250 then got out. Reta stepped out of the cab and then the driver turned around to go back to New Orleans.

I looked at Reta and asked, "You still have that cloak?"

She reached into her sweatpants and pulled out the cloak. "Yep."

Wondering how she fit that in there but not really wanting to ask, I said, "Okay. You don't have to keep on the jacket but if you do take it off then you'll have to put on the cloak."

"Okay." She wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and unzipped the face of the hooded jacket.

I nodded approvingly and started walking down the side of the road with her.

We walked for a few hours, passing cars and joggers alike. Whenever we saw a fast food restaurant I would grab enough food for us and then bolt. We would eat on the side of the road, Reta with her back to the road and me facing it, watching. Hours turned into a day and we slept in the woods, the only place where cameras could never be. When we woke up I resolved to find a place where I could buy camping gear. Took a couple of hours but we found a Walmart. I got a big backpack and a tent and some provisions that we could cook on a campfire. That night I realized I knew nothing about camping and our tent took an hour to put up. I used a lighter to make the fire but it took a long time for it to start burning. We ate and slept in the tent, but the backpack came with one sleeping bag. I got it because she was used to sleeping without covers but I found her snuggled up against my bag the next morning. A few days later, we found a motel that looked like whatever cameras were working were covered with mold.

We slept there on the floor, unaware our lives were on the path to something bigger than ourselves.