watchings

part four

I heard a voice behind me, “Hey wait up,” I step into the blind spot behind a parked car and wait for him to catch up.

“Hey Sam.”

“Casey, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.” He says, a smile breaking over his face.

“Yea it has, what have you been up to?” Seeing Sam always made my day better, so he was a welcome sight.

“I’ve been doing a ton of work over at the plant. I finally got a promotion a few days ago-“

I stopped listening when the tree across the road started turning towards us. I barely noticed it in my peripherals, but it was definitely moving. Normally it wouldn’t be A big deal, the scenery gets adjusted all the time, but this tree was a watchthing. They never move the watchthings. I turn my gaze to bench at the bus stop that looked at who came and went into the city. It was shifting too. The streetlight on the corner, the cash register in the bakery, the three crows on the roof above us. There were all moving to lay their eye on the blind spot.
In the car, now.” I say, cutting Stefan off and pulling him down low.

“What? We can’t break into someone’s car for no reason.” He said.

“It isn’t for no reason, the watchthings are converging their eyes on this spot, we need to get out of sight.” I told him, pulling a device out from under the car and attach it to the car’s lock.

“Wait, what the hell is that?” He said, lowering down to get a closer look at the device.

“It’ll override the magnetic lock so we can get in.” The lock clicks and I pull the door open.

“I am not hiding in the trunk of a random car.” He said, getting up to leave.

“Yes, you are.” I say, pushing him into the cramped space. Then I climb in next to him and close the door, making sure to take off the disruptor beforehand.

“You are insane”

“Mmhmm. I just don’t want to get caught.”

“For what? You’ve never done anything.”

“Doesn’t matter. The fact that i saw the watchthings moving is good enough for them.”

“Well at least let me out, I didn’t do anything.”

“ association” He didn’t say anything after that, and even though i couldn’t see, i could just  feel his eyes rolling back into his head.

“Oh shu-“

“This is the _____ Police department. You are surrounded. Come out with your hands up.” Said a voice outside. Whoever just rudely interrupted was using  a megaphone that modulated the users voice to be more scary.

“Shit.” I turn the disruptor back on and start working.

“What are you doing?” He asked, shifting to try and see the screen.

“Taking control of the car.” I say, turning the car on, and revving it.

“Stop what you are doing and get out of the vehicle with your hands up.” The megaphone repeated, sounding a little bit deeper this time.

“What? No. We’re getting out of the car now.” He said, trying to grab the device from me.

“You can jump out if you want, but you’ll get smashed.” I say over my shoulder. I turn away from him and punch the gas pedal to the ground. We sped down the street, knocking over the Blockade the police set up to stop us. By the time they were in their cars to chase us we were already most of the way down the road.

”What are you doing. Stop! We can‘t get away from them, the watchthings will find us wherever we go.“

“Duh. the point isn’t not getting caught, it’s making it as much of a pain in the ass as we can.”

“You’re insane.”

“I prefer the term idealistic. Left or right?” I asked him as we neared the end of the road.

“Nowhere.” He said, rolling his eyes, “Just stop the car.”

“Straight it is.” Before he can even widen his eyes I lock the steering wheel and we ram straight through the doors of an abandoned subway station. We’re both screaming, myself in excitement and him in fear, as we fly through the terminal. We don’t stop until the car crashes into the wall and we fall onto the railroad tracks.

Sam kicks open the trunk and practically oozes out onto the ground and just lays there for a minute. I jump out after him and take a look around where we landed. We’re on the tracks of a abandoned subway station. It looks at least 20 years older than anywhere else in the city I’ve been. The walls were the dirty gray of a white never cleaned. It almost looks like storm clouds. Not to mention it’s sticky to the touch. Mold is growing through every crack and crevice in the place, and i can see some old shops and booths that were starting to fall apart. The only part of the entire place that wasn’t overrun with grime or green was the tracks, which looked like they were starting to rust from disrepair. I start investigating some of the drawings on the wall we crashed into, but before i can decipher any they were illuminated by flashing blue and red lights.

I kick Sam. “Hey bonehead, we gotta move.”

“What? Where are we going?” He asks as he gets to his feet.

“That way,” I point down the tracks. “ if we keep following the railway eventually we’ll get to another station without the police guarding it we can climb out of”

“ What’s taking them so long to get in here anyway? Aren’t they coming in to arrest us?”

“They’re scared. This station looks like is was abandoned before watchthings ever existed. They don’t know exactly where we are and think we have nowhere to go, so they’re just waiting for us to come back up to them.”

“Well lead the way then.” He gestured down the track. “ I guess we don’t have any other options.”

“Gladly” I say, turning around and walking through the tunnel.