“Oh, would you look who’s come crawling back. What happened to your little adventure? Did someone get cold feet?”
Claire’s amused voice sounded akin to a child looking forward to rubbing their victory into the loser’s face. Paired perfectly with her tone, she had a smug smile smeared across her face.
Looking at her, Liam was having doubts about his decision. It was never his intention to irritate her, but somehow, he managed to do just that. After only speaking a few words to her, he was already on her bad side. He wondered if that was a new world record for the fastest time to piss someone off.
Seeing him silenced, Claire continued.
“Don’t tell me you were expecting to work with us, not after turning us down so coldly before… Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind. But first, I’ll need to hear a nice and sincere apology from you.”
Liam wasn’t someone who liked to lower his head, but at the same time, if it meant they could move on quickly, then he didn’t mind. But before he could offer up an apology, the redhead cut in with an upbeat voice.
“What Claire meant to say was, she’s really sorry for earlier and would love to work together… By the way, I’m Alexandra, and this is Erika.”
Alexandra pointed at the blonde girl, identifying her as Erika.
Liam was relieved. From her warm smile and cheery tone, it seemed that she also wanted to forget about the incident earlier and quickly move on.
“No, that’s not-!”
“Claire shut it.”
As soon as Claire tried to cut in, Alexandra sent her an icy glance as if saying, “be quiet, or I’ll kill you”. After a brief staring match, Claire turned her head, letting out a short snort.
“Hmph!”
Alexandra sighed.
“Again, I’m sorry about Claire. I know she can come off a bit rude, but deep down, she’s a nice person. So, try not to hold it against her, okay?”
Liam shook his head.
“No, it’s fine. I’m also at fault.”
As Liam joined the group, the man in the football jersey extended his hand.
“I’m Aaron Miller! Glad you changed your mind and decided to work with us. You know what they say, ‘the more, the merrier,’ right?”
Habitually Liam took Aaron’s outstretched hand.
“Yeah, sure… I’m Liam.”
“Nice to meet you, Liam!”
Aaron vigorously shook his hand, making Liam wonder if he was trying to tear it off. Between his height and muscular physique, there was a significant difference in strength. Finally releasing him, Aaron took a step back, allowing Alexandra to speak.
“Um, Liam… why did you slam the door shut in such a hurry? Was there something outside?”
Liam stopped rubbing his sore arm and though for a moment. He didn’t know how to tell them. After all, he hardly believed it himself. A two-headed dog wasn’t something you saw every day; it wasn’t something that should exist. So, how was he supposed to explain it? To anyone listening, he would sound crazy, and after his rough start, he didn’t want to make their impression of him any worse.
After thinking for a moment, he gave up. No matter how he tried to phrase it, each sounded crazier than the last. He resumed rubbing his arm.
“Yeah. There was a two-headed dog outside.”
“A what? Sorry, can you say that again?”
Alexandra raised her eyebrows as she leaned forward. The disconnect between his words and casual tone, which sounded as if he was simply recounting what he had for breakfast, made her believe she had misheard him.
“A two-headed dog.”
Liam repeated himself. He didn’t know how else to describe it. What was he supposed to say? That there wasn’t a two-headed dog when there clearly was? While it was hard for him to accept, it was what he saw.
Aaron jumped into the conversation while Alexandra was still trying to process the information.
“Um, are you sure about that? Maybe it was two dogs next to each other, and you mistakenly thought it had two heads? I, for one, don’t know of any dogs with two heads.”
His voice was full of doubt. He didn’t want to outright accuse Liam of lying, but it was hard to believe.
Liam didn’t blame him. If someone told him that’s what they saw, he would call them crazy. With a shrug, he gestured towards the door.
“You can check if you want.”
“...I think I’ll do that. It’s not that I think your lying. It just hard to believe it… that’s all.”
With a tinge of uncertainty in his eyes, Aaron approached the door. He pulled it open and…
Slam!
As fast as he opened it, he slammed it shut. The room waited silently. Aaron stood like a stone statue, fixed in place, still holding the door handle tightly.
Raising one eyebrow, Liam spoke.
“Well?”
Stiffly, like an unoiled machine, Aaron turned around. From the mixture of horror, surprise, and confusion on his face, it was clear what he saw.
“T-There’s… a two-headed dog outside...”
The three girl’s eyes widened. It was clear they still held doubt, but none of them were quick to volunteer themselves to check outside again. It didn’t matter if there was a two-headed dog outside or something else; whatever it was, it caused fear in two people, that alone was enough for them.
Everyone’s mind worked to make sense of the information that went against common sense. Finally, Alexandra broke the silence that had enveloped the room.
“…What should we do?”
Kill it.
It was the answer on the tip of everyone’s tongue, but no one could say it. For most of them, the only experience they had with killing something was squashing a bug. There was a big jump between that and killing a two-headed dog.
Liam didn’t think fighting was a bad idea. Eight people versus one dog? The outcome was obvious. It would’ve been an easy decision if victory were all he was after, but – what good was victory if he was dead?
For a group that had no fighting experience outside of school playground roughhousing, it was unrealistic to think there would be no casualties. If it were the only option, then that was one thing, but there was another escape plan Liam had thought of. While it was a bit of a longshot for him alone, in a group, it was a viable option. It could prove to be a safer alternative to fighting too. At least, there wasn’t a risk of being bitten or mauled.
Suddenly, the man in a suit jumped up from his seat, dropping the documents that had consumed his attention.
“SHIT!!”
Immediately, all the eyes in the room fell on him, but he didn’t pay any attention. He was staring intently at the luxurious watch on his wrist. Ruffling his neat hair with his other hand, he shouted again.
“Damnit! I missed the presentation! How did it get so late!? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! My boss is going to kill me!”
He kicked a piece of rubble as hard as he could.
“FUCK!! THAT HURTS!”
The man bent over, grasping his foot with both hands. Judging by the look of anguish on his face, it might be broken. It was to be expected since he had kicked a rock the size of a cinderblock while wearing dress shoes. Not to mention, he kicked with his toes first, and they took the brunt of the impact.
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“Hey, are you okay, man? Why don’t you take a-?”
“DO I LOOK FINE!!”
The man sent Aaron a hateful glance as if he was an assault victim looking at the assailant.
“Sorry, I was-”
“Aaaaaaaahkk!!”
The man screamed as he put weight on his injured foot and fell back onto the wooden bench. While he gritted his teeth and kept his foot in the air, a calm voice came from behind.
“Don’t put pressure on it. It’s probably broken.”
The man in glasses stood up and began walking over to them. There was an air of maturity and calmness around him that Liam thought the others lacked. Unlike them, he was unfazed by the current situation, almost as if he had experience in dealing with similar ones.
He crouched down next to the man in the suit and pushed over a large stone. Tapping the rock, he spoke.
“Put your foot up here and let me have a look.”
“Why should I listen to you?”
“I’m an EMT. Just trust me, okay?”
“…”
Begrudgingly the man in a suit placed his foot up and let it be checked. After a few minutes of screaming and cursing, the EMT finished his evaluation and treatment.
“It’s broken. There isn’t much I can do except isolate the injury, so try and keep pressure off it.”
He turned to the others and introduced himself.
“Sorry for the late introduction. I’m Dan. I overheard your conversation and was wondering if I could help you guys out? I also wanna get the hell out of here.”
Aaron snapped out of the momentary daze he had been stuck in.
“S-Sure! That’d be great!”
Aaron turned and addressed the room, directing his words at the man in the suit and high-school girl.
“Um, what about you two? We could use all the help we can get.”
Immediately, the man snapped back.
“Fuck off! Don’t you see this!?”
He pointed at his injured foot.
“Does it look like I’m in any conditions to move around!?”
“Right, sorry, my bad.”
Aaron stepped back, slightly embarrassed that he hadn’t considered such an obvious fact. Without trying to press the man any further, he turned in the direction of the girl. She was sitting with her knees pulled close to her chest and arms tucked between them, curled into a small ball. She lifted her head, which was burrowed between her knees just enough for her eyes to peek over and send an annoyed glance Aarons way.
“Not interested… wait, give me that jersey.”
“Huh, mine? Why?”
Aaron pointed to himself in confusion, slightly caught off guard by the randomness of her statement.
She rolled her eyes.
“Yes, yours. Didn’t you say to want my help?”
“Well, I did but what does that have to do with-?”
“Suit yourself.”
Coldly, she cut him off and brought her head between her knees again.
“Wait! Never mind, it’s fine. Here.”
Flustered, Aaron pulled off the jersey and brought it over to the girl. Since he still had a t-shirt on, giving up the jersey was a small price to pay for getting someone else’s cooperation. Not to mention, it looked like she could use it more than him seeing how tightly she was curled up.
He held out the jersey, and she snatched it away without saying anything.
“Can I ask what your name is? I’m Aaron.”
“Isabelle.”
She grumbled as she pulled the jersey over her head. It was baggy because of their difference in size, so it was closer to a poncho instead of a shirt. She pulled her arms inside and sat back down, returning to the position she was in earlier.
“Um, Isabelle? Didn’t you say you would-?”
“Don’t bother me.”
Brushing Aaron aside, she buried her head inside the jersey like it was a blanket, leaving him at a loss for words.
Aaron wasn’t shocked by the fact she had deceived him, but at how brazen she was in doing it. There was no sign of remorse or even an attempt to hide her lie. It was almost as if she didn’t fear any consequences. He couldn’t understand this. How could a girl, no more than seventeen years old, be this way? What kind of life did someone have to live to act so selfishly at such a young age?
Claire, having watched the entire scene unfold, was unable to keep quiet and shouted.
“You selfish bitch, just what the hell do you-mmmmphhh!?”
Immediately, Alexandra and Erika jumped on Claire and covered her mouth before she made the situation any worse.
After witnessing Claire’s anger blow up again in such a short time, Liam could feel a headache rising at the thought of working with her. He couldn’t imagine the amount of stress Alexandra and Erika must feel having to deal with her all the time.
Suddenly, Dan clapped his hands together, capturing the attention of everyone.
“Hey, let’s move on and focus on the situation at hand. There’s no point in getting caught up in these small conflicts when we should be worrying about how we’re are going to escape. So, does anyone have any ideas?”
Dan’s words resonated with everyone in the room. They needed food, water, shelter, a fire, warmer clothes, and more. None of that was available here. Maybe they could put together a fire after scavenging the debris, but that would only delay the inevitable need for other necessities. If they wanted to survive, they needed to get to work.
Aaron stood tall, his confusion from moments ago forgotten.
“It’s obvious what we need to do. Since a mutant dog is blocking the door, we just need to fight it. We have numbers on our side. I’m confident we can kill it.”
Aaron surveyed the expressions of everyone listening; their faces were all stiff. Patting his puffed-up chest, Aaron spoke with confidence.
“Don’t worry! Just leave all the dangerous stuff to me! I might not have any fighting experience, but I’m confident in my body. As a defensive linebacker on my University football team, I’m pretty tough. I’ll take the lead, so while I distract it, you guys can attack it from the sides. If I have to, I can tackle it and pin it to the ground. So, what do you think? Sound like a plan?”
Liam couldn’t deny that it was an enticing offer. With Aaron’s offer to act as the vanguard, the risk of anyone else being attacked was significantly reduced. Outside of a few technical details, Liam had no complaints. However, he wasn’t going to agree; his plan was still better. For one, the risk of casualties was close to nil, and wasn’t the best way to reduce casualties to avoid conflict altogether?
Having come to a decision, Liam spoke.
“Hang on, I have another idea. I’d like you to listen to it before we get committed to anything. I think it’s a good alternative, and it doesn’t involve fighting.”
Hearing Liam’s last sentence, everyone focused their attention on him. None of them were eager to fight that was clear from the look on their faces.
“It’s simple – we climb over that wall…”
Liam pointed at the front of the room where the statue was. He had concluded it was the best wall to climb. Not only did it have the most footholds, it also had mounds of debris nearby that they could use to climb partway up.
“…The wall is only ten feet tall, and there’s plenty of footholds left by the missing bricks. We can use the debris piled in front as a platform to get partway up. Then we’ll only need to climb seven to eight feet to get over.”
As soon as Liam finished, Aaron spoke up; his voice held the same skepticism that an investor would have after hearing a pitch for a useless product that solved a problem that didn’t exist in the first place.
“It’s a bit overkill, don’t you think? I mean, all that work just to avoid one dog when we outnumber it six to one? If that’s not overkill, then I don’t know what is.”
Liam disagreed. If his plan was a little too cautious, then so be it. Between caution and carelessness, he preferred the former over the latter. Decisions involving one’s life should never be taken lightly, no matter how inconsequential they may seem.
Liam looked Aaron in the eyes and responded, keeping as neutral a tone as possible.
“It’s a cautious plan, but I wouldn’t call it overkill. Since none of us have any fighting experience, it's overly optimistic to think no one will get hurt. Even if it’s just one dog, I don’t think we-”
Aaron cut him off before he finished; there was a hint of rising frustration in his voice.
“Liam be honest, you and I both saw the dog. It might have had two heads, but its frame was only a bit larger than a Pitbull. Not to mention it was mangy and starving; I could see its ribs. There’s nothing to be worried about, remember? I said I’d take the lead.”
Flashing a smile, Aaron flexed one of his biceps as if he was trying to reassure Liam that his strength alone would protect everyone from any danger they may encounter.
Unfortunately, Liam wasn’t convinced. There were too many factors that could go wrong, and Liam wasn’t about to put his life in Aaron’s hands off his word alone. Before he could say something along the lines of, “Isn’t a beast on the brink of starvation the most dangerous?” Dan jumped into the conversation.
“There’s no need to argue about this! Both the plans have their merits and demerits; I think we can all agree on that… Here, let’s put it to a vote. Sound good to both of you?”
Aaron and then Liam expressed their agreement.
“Fine by me.”
“Same.”
Satisfied with their response, Dan nodded and smiled at them. As his mouth opened to declare the vote, Liam saw something in the corner of his vision that made his heart sink. It was Claire who had a smirk on her face as she snuck a glance at him. He could only think…
‘Really, now of all times?’
It was evident that she was planning to vote against him. People like her were… difficult. Liam hated dealing with them. They let emotions get in the way of decisions. Rather than allowing you to succeed, they’d sooner sabotage you and watch it all burn just for the sake of a petty grudge.
“Okay, those in favor of Aaron’s plan raise your hands.”
Immediately following Dan’s words, four people raised their hands. It was Aaron, Claire, Isabelle and the man in the suit.
“Clairrrre…”
Alexandra dragged the end of Claire’s name on as if to imply the question, “what are you doing?”
“What? Is something wrong, Alex? Can’t I support whatever plan I want?”
Watching Claire cross her arms over her chest, Alexandra could only sigh. She knew her friend well enough to know the real reason behind this, but there was no point arguing with her as she was now. Since Claire wasn’t blowing up in anyone’s face or picking a fight, Alexandra and Erika knew it was better to remain uninvolved.
Liam had ignored Claire entirely. While her actions were meant to prevent him from winning, it didn’t bother him. She could do whatever she wanted; he didn’t care. He was too busy thinking about the man in the suit and Isabelle.
‘Why are they voting?’
Earlier, they made it clear that they had no intention of working together, so their sudden participation was unexpected. Disregarding the legitimacy of the vote, Liam could understand their choice, at least somewhat. For the man, his injury made climbing the wall impossible, so his choice was obvious. However, the girl’s decision was perplexing.
Given that she seemed like someone who would wretch in disgust at the slightest speck of dirt, her choice to fight was odd. Fighting would be dirtier and more gruesome than climbing a wall. Then Liam remembered the incident from earlier with Aaron’s jersey. He realized she probably never intended to help, but still wanted to vote. Between climbing a wall and walking through an opened door after the danger was gone, it was an easy choice.
Liam’s sharp eyes narrowed on the man and Isabelle. Would he do the same in their position? Truthfully, he didn’t know. Selfishness and entitlement weren't mutually inclusive. While Liam considered himself selfish, he also isolated himself from others. When he had to interact with people, he acted under the principle of equivalent exchange. If he wanted someone to do something, he needed to offer them something in return. Nothing was free; favors always needed to be repaid and taking advantage of others would only result in negative repercussions. Since Liam didn’t want to deal with those, unless necessary, he avoided most actions that make him stand out and kept his head down.
Seeing the many eyes staring at him, the man in the suit sneered.
“What am I not allowed to vote?”
Dan simply shook his head side to side, completely unprovoked by his underlying hostility.
“No, it's okay. Everyone can vote. It’s only fair.”
It wasn’t the answer Liam wanted to hear. However, it was too soon to worry; he hadn’t lost yet. Even with their votes, the amount in favor of Aaron’s plan was only four, exactly half. It was a stalemate. Then suddenly someone…
“Sorry, but…”