Beyond Darkness

Delayed Starts

Michael~

As the safety click of the gun resounded to both, a very faint but shuffling of feet alerted them. They stood still for a moment, was it in his head? Orion was alert and he looked at him. His eyes were dark, he signalled to Michael. He pointed to his eyes and then at the corner and then pointed to Michael and then to his back, that was what Michael understood. The actions were quite complex to Michael. He suspected those of to be a Soldier. Michael thought of the perfect diversion, he slowly got some spoons and threw them in the microwave, The Clank of the spoons made Orion turn to him with shock in his eyes and before Michael could follow, a gun shot rang in the house. Michael’s heartbeat sky rocketed as he saw Orion jump, hit his head on a nearby cabinet and drop to the floor.

Great! he thought to himself, “I just compromised our whereabouts!” Apparently, those detective movies taught Michael nothing. These people didn’t want to launch onto a monologue…. They wanted their heads….. Not even Law and Order had prepared him for this. Especially not with another injured human and his parcel that he had to transport. He had to get out of there alive. He imagined himself in situations like this, Saving a total babe from a shoot out like Batman, he wasn't Batman and neither Orion was a total babe. Not even close to Robin.

Seconds ticked away as the shuffling got louder, He saw Orion move and he rushed to him. “Orion!” He shook him. Orion grunted and pulled himself up. Michael hesitated but then he held Orion, his hold on him tightening, he slowly walked them out through the back door, trying not to make sudden movements.

Orion was breathing heavily now; he loosened his hold but kept him flush against his side. Michael felt a bit relieved as he had made this decision to build an escape route well in advance, but he also felt frustrated as this meant he had to move again. He heard the faint fizzing of electricity from inside the house and smiled to himself, delayed starts had never worked for him, until now.

Just a few strides more. They could do this, could they? They were lucky to have this small window, this once. It made Michael sneak a look at the dead weight he was dragging along. Orion grunted as they stumbled on the pavement. “Look at that… you’re still alive.” They reached the metal inversion. The best thing about this inversion was that this metal slab that gave the house a modern sleek look was actually snugly placed door that only opened with a tweak which Michael had imprinted into his system like breathing. He popped the third bolt from the bottom with one swift motion, the door slid to the left giving way to a small tunnel which led to the east face of the house, facing the thin patch of woods. Michael threw Orion inside and he landed with a big thud. That man was out cold. No reaction.

Michael jumped in horror as an explosion went off inside the house, sending the glass pane into projectile motion as it landed straight onto Michael’s blooming rosebuds. Michael might've gasped like one of those actresses in movies, but he did plant his roses by hand, He had even named them. Hazy but he could see the faint outline of David, completely smushed, With one last pained look at his garden and ignoring the screaming from the inside, Michael slid into the tunnel and slid the metal panel shut.

Practically invisible.

Michael knelt down and poked Orion. A grunt and no movement. He rolled his eyes and then hauled him up. They were safe now, Michael was led to believe that they were. After all if it was anyone else they would've left this lug of a man behind. But it wasn't just another lug... It was Orion. Michael felt a certain soft spot for him. He didn't know why. Neither he wanted to find out. He already had been to hell and back. He didn't want to even go near that dynamic ever again.

They reached the narrow end of the tunnel. He peeked to check if the area was clear and then once again, threw Orion outside as a bait. Chuckling he picked up the man who groaned and mumbled some unintelligible words. Michael was smart enough to decode them.

Profanities.

He picked up Orion and stationed him over his shoulder and as brisk as he could without making too sudden movements went directly into the thin patch of woods. With all kinds of nightly sounds surrounding them which made a feeling of being watched settled in Michael's conscience.

While walking on the trodden path Michael didn't know if he should've felt ironic thinking about the Road not taken by Frost. Michael thought about their situation, he was tired to the bone, lugging around a full grown human was already tiring in its own lineage, however he did have a busy day at the hospital with the back to back rounds and a few emergencies. He just wanted to lay down and disperse into the dream world. How cheeky.

Smiling to himself Michael might've regretted not looking where he was going because in a moment he was witnessing the ground coming closer as if the mother earth wanted a special hug. Though his first instinct was to not get crushed by the log. He had pushed Orion before he had layed flat on the ground. Rather too harshly.

"Self Defense..." he muttered in the silence. Sadly there was no one to laugh at the joke. He pulled himself up, dusting off. He suddenly felt dizzy but there was a strange sound which made him worry. It wasn't footsteps but it was faint. There could be an animal too, He didn't want to find out.