𝟏𝟏𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

10th Dimension

I darted between buildings, lurking in the shadows to make it to the convenience store a few blocks down. I readjusted the messenger bag on my shoulder and ran across the street, stepping through the shattered window of the door. I froze and looked around, waiting for a noise or any movement. After about a minute of silence, I rushed the aisles, stuffing my bag with the little remaining food on the shelves.

"Maybe there's something left in here," I heard a voice just outside. I quieted, tiptoeing to peak over the aisle to find a group of men, armed with baseball bats and chains, wearing dark denim vests. I ducked back down, looking around for an escape. My eyes locked with the emergency exit sign towards the back. As their footsteps entered, I looked at the floor for a path, wanting to make sure I didn't step on any debris that would make a noise and draw attention, and began creeping towards the back of the store. Thankfully, the men rambled about nonsense, so I wasn't too worried that they'd hear me. But, as I made it to the last aisle, my overconfidence got the best of me as some broken glass crushed beneath the sole of my combat boot.

They rushed me as I hurried to that backdoor. As the door was closing behind me, I was stopped with a jolt as the strap of my messenger bag was grabbed. I pulled on the strap for slack, looping it around the man's hand, and kicked backwards as hard as I could, hearing the cracking of his knee and his screams of pain. I released his hand, and he crumbled to the ground, still crying out and writhing in pain.

Another one of them trailed after, only to trip over his friend just outside the door and hit head head on the pavement with a loud 'thud.' I turned to find that the other two had looped around from the front, waiting at the back corner to close in on that back door in case I made an escape. The parking lot around the back of the store was completely enclosed in tall cinderblock walls. But the corner opposite of where the other two came from was a chain link fence that led to the small alleyway between the shops. I quickly climbed the gate and hopped down into the alleyway on the other side, grabbing a handful of dirt as I landed. I turned around to find the two struggling to lift their heavy bodies to climb over, and I threw the dirt at them through the gate, both of them releasing and falling back down as they covered their burning eyes.

"Hey!" a man who looked like a slightly more kempt version of them called out to me, "In here!" He was halfway stepping out of a small portion of a factory building. The outside was completely bolted with metal, and the door was water-tight and military grade. I turned my attention back towards the screams of the guys, hearing each other calling out where they were heading to in order to find me. "Come on," the man urged, holding out a hand for me. I placed my hand in his, accepting that this could have been a huge mistake.

"Thanks," I replied, though still skeptical of him.

"Julian," he held out his hand. I placed mine in his, introducing myself as well. I rested my hand on the knife handle poking out from the sheath clipped to my belt. Julian took notice and looked back up at me, "I'm not gonna hurt you." I nodded, but my hand didn't dare leave the handle of my knife. "You want a drink?" he offered.

"What do you got?" I asked, causing him to rummage through the cupboards.

"Water, beer..." he listed. I took this time to peek around for any signs of hostility, taking a step towards the desk and lifting a few pieces of paper with scribbled lyrics on them out of the way. No weapons, no sign of blood anywhere. I snapped out of my thoughts when I noticed he wasn't talking anymore. I quickly turned around to find him watching me.

"Beer," I forced an innocent smile. He nodded, handing me a bottle as he took one for himself. It looked like he spent most of his time locked up in that tiny office with some instruments and music gear he'd been able to collect over the years. He walked me just out of that office area and to the railing that overlooked the deserted factory. We both took a seat, letting our legs dangle over the edge. "So what's your story?" I asked him, wanting to know how he ended up here alone.