Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Axel
The barking has gotten closer, but it doesn’t sound like they’ve made it through the fence yet.
For once, I’m thankful that Everest decided to parade around their yard, because his scent scattered all over the place may provide a small distraction.
Hopefully. We just need long enough to get ahead of them.
I keep dragging Ev along with me, weaving back the way we came from.
He doesn’t have good visibility since I’m in front of him, so he keeps stumbling over roots and his own feet, slowing us down.
It’s not like I could let him lead the way though, because he has absolutely zero sense of direction.
We would be completely lost in less than ten minutes, guaranteed.
I don’t want him falling behind like he normally does either, which is exactly why I’m currently clinging onto him like our lives depend on it.
My legs ache after all the climbing we’ve done today, but I don’t slow down.
I can’t. At the pace we’re moving, we should be getting close to the ledge now.
It required a decent amount of climbing to get down, which means it’ll require just as much to get back up.
The dogs shouldn’t be able to reach us if we can get there before they catch up to us.
The foliage is starting to get thicker around us, so I slow down for just a second.
I use my teeth to tear a strip of fabric from my shirt and tightly wrap it around the cut on my arm to keep from dripping a trail of blood.
I use what’s left of it to thoroughly wipe the sweat off my face and then toss it off the trail behind a tree.
“The fuck did you do that for?” Ev admonishes as I start dragging him forward again.
“Give me your shirt.” I demand as I reach out with my other hand.
“No! I like this shirt!” He growls as he tugs it farther away from me.
I pull him to a stop and yank it from under his arm. I forcefully swipe it across his chest and head before I toss it in the other direction.
“Yeah, well, I like being alive more. Our scent should throw them off for a minute.” I say as I start jogging forward again.
“Jesus… Okay. Remind me to never do this again. Ever.”
I can see the rocks ahead of us now, so I turn hard right and drag him over to the area we were able to climb down earlier.
“This is our job, Everest. We have to do shit like this.”
“Then maybe I should invest in a gun… Yeah. That’s what I’ll do.” He huffs out through labored breaths.
“You’re more likely to kill us with a gun than we are to ever have something like this happen again. Statistics, Ev.” I huff out as I shove him ahead of me. He immediately starts climbing, but the barking is getting closer. Really close.
“Fuck you and your goddamn statistics, Axel! Now is not the time!”
“Faster, Ev. Faster.” I demand as I bounce on my toes impatiently.
He finally gets close enough to a small tree, using that to pull himself up onto the ledge.
He rolls himself over and leans down to offer me a hand.
I peek back over my shoulder as I start climbing, and I can actually see the dogs breaking through the fog now.
“Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Come on, Axel!“ He whimpers down to me. I scramble to climb up behind him, but I’m not paying close enough attention to my foot placement, and I slip.
“Shit!“ I yelp as I slide back down, scraping my palms against the terrain. Now I have to start over with three dogs on my ass. I try to slow down a little and pay attention to what I’m doing, but it’s so much harder than it seems when your whole body is shaking with adrenaline.
“Come on, Axel!” Everest demands. I look up and I’m grateful that I’m close enough to grab his hand. I’m bigger than him, so he struggles to move me. He gives me something solid to grasp onto though, so I walk myself up the rest of the steep slope until I roll over on top of him.
We’re both gasping for air as the dogs snarl below us.
I hear them trying to traverse the slope, so I lean over to see how far up they’re making it.
One of them has managed to get up the hill a pretty good way and practically snarls in my face.
I frantically twist around and kick it off balance.
Not hard enough to hurt it, but with enough force that I wouldn’t get bit and he’d end up back at the bottom.
It doesn’t even whimper as it rolls back down the incline.
I love dogs, and I feel kind of bad for doing that, but shit… I’d like to not get attacked right now.
“We have… to keep… going. I don’t… want to… find out… who let… them out.” Everest chokes out through his labored breaths.
“Absolutely-the-fuck-not. I am not catering to that asshole, Axel.”
“I vetted the place myself. It’s nothing like the coordinate house. It’s got a real address, it’s visible from maps, and it is definitely abandoned. It’s covered in graffiti and everything.”
He eyes me suspiciously before turning back to stare at his reflection in the elevator doors as he sips his fresh coffee.
It’s been three weeks, three, since the dreaded dog chase.
Still, Everest refuses to go to a single abandoned house.
He’s been writing fluff pieces just to get by, but I’m tired of sitting in this damn office. I’m about to go insane.
“Fine,” he concedes as the doors open, and we step off.
“But if anything goes wrong, and I mean anything, I’m quitting.
I’ll find a new job before we even get back to the car.
I’m dead serious, Axel.“ He says as he eyes me sternly. At this point, I actually believe him. It’s not like he loves this job anyway. Neither of us do.
“Thank God,” I say with relief. “We’ll hit it on Friday. It’s only a fifteen-minute walk, so pack light.”
He rolls his eyes at me as he splits off from me and steps into his office. I tap on his door frame once to get his attention. “Oh, and Ev…”
He turns to look at me, still very disgusted with the circumstances. “Yes, Axel?”
“Absolutely no guns.”
“Very funny. Now fuck off, you prick.”
I chuckle as I stroll over to my office right next to his. I can already hear him groaning and moaning through the wall. This is going to be fun.