Chapter 28: 8.3 Sounds on the Wind

  Jack scoops Sarah up and turns about to see the crowd approaching them. Stairs move away from them on two sides, traveling a story in each direction. The stairs up lead to the large commercial building next to them while the others lead down to a street. Several of the converging personnel wear brown or blue uniforms as star shaped affiliations sit high on their chest.

  “Try not to harm any of them,” Jack yells to Wolf as Sarah’s limp form lulls in his cradling grasp.

  “I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” Wolf says back into him.

  “Then try to keep up.”

  Wolf looks back as Jack jumps vertically, landing on the upper story where the stairs lead. His eyes grow wide as he sees this but shakes off the new information and leaps towards the ledge. He doesn’t leap as high, but still higher than he expected, where he hooks one elbow over the ledge, then heaves his sword over onto the upper level.

  Jack waits, holding Sarah and looking to see the brown and blue uniforms turn to travel back up the stairs, a tide that suddenly shifted directions.

  Wolf regains his feet and locks his sword into place, dropping down to all fours as the two begin to run across the building’s highly manicured grass. Orders are screamed among the brown and blue tide as sirens continue to sing, growing louder in their approach.

  The two run with their burdens, traversing the property’s grass as they move around the building’s entrance to sprint alongside it. They cross to a ledge and leap back down to the sidewalk below. Jack pauses, turning back only long enough to see Wolf’s barreling down in a pounce as he leaves the upper level. Jack is running again before he lands, only to jump again as they move to the street below. Cars honk horns and swerve as the two cross traffic.

  The two bound down new streets as the people and cars become a blur in their vision. Sights and sounds become indistinguishable as the wind moves past Wolf so fast that he feels like he’s back on the moving train. The only things he can distinguish are him and Jack like they’re moving on top of the same train car, their footfalls thundering against the pavement, the sound of his own heart beating like a card rigged to clatter against the spokes of a moving bicycle, and Jack’s breathing—the slow draw in through his nostrils, followed by the deliberate exhale passing through his lips.

  The certainty and calm of Jack’s breathing are a dissonance to the far surpassing cadence of his foot falls. It speaks to a side of Jack that he does not flaunt, and Wolf’s new knowledge of this side allows his own anxiety to recede.

  Wolf’s respect deepens, but then his disquiet does as well when his focus shifts to Sarah’s jostled braid that hangs over Jack’s arm. As confused as he now is about following Sarah, he realizes that Jack—despite whatever vast strength is at his disposal—supports Sarah completely, and to him, she is beyond reproach.

 

  Their pace finally slows. After traversing many streets and alleyways, they pass into a narrow space between two abandoned commercial buildings. The place has a concrete floor and brick walls, but no ceiling. Strewn paper and empty bottles fill the area and the three pass inside, hoping to become just another forgotten thing in a part of the city that seems far less active.

  Jack lays Sarah down and begins constructing fire with nearby trash. Wolf remains on all fours as he settles into a seated position. His locked blade forces him to sit on the side of his hip and his tail gets wedged against the wall, though neither get corrected. He pants, his mouth hanging open and his tongue out. He had always been self-conscious about panting, never doing it so blatantly. But as Jack continues doing things around their developing camp, Wolf is some place else, noticing none of what is happening around his body.

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