Between Two Worlds
The Lioness

“What is happening?” I ask no one in particular. I step forward, towards the gates. The two guards, at the gate, are so engrossed in their conversation, that they don’t seem to notice me.

“What happens if she gets in?” One of the guards asks.

“She won’t get in.” the other says. “Electricity. Remember?”

“In all my years of guard duty, I’ve never seen an actual lion, or even heard one.”

“No one has seen one in fifty years, since the earthquake first destroyed the place.”

“Suppose she does.” The first guard says.

“Suppose who does what?” the second asks, confused.

“Suppose the lion gets in. What do we do?”

“We shoot her. That’s what the tranquilizers are for.”

“Can’t we use the bullets?”

“Only as a last resort. Those babies are hard to come by. Unless you suddenly remembered a hidden talent for gunsmithing.”

“No.” he says, sounding disappointed.

By this point, the sun is almost completely set, and natural light is almost nonexistent. But the glow of the torches, on the ground on either side of the gate, reflects in the lioness’ eyes, making them appear golden. I see the outline of something moving towards the gates at a rapid pace and then hear a sound that is a cross between a roar and a scream at the same time I hear something hit the gate.

“What was that? Was that the lioness?” I ask, surprised.

“Yes. She seems to be testing the gate.” The guard that asked about the bullet, replies. He doesn’t even turn around; he keeps all of his focus on the gate.

“Will that gate hold?” I ask, worried, as another roar\scream fills the air.

“It has so far. But if she keeps it up, she may cause a short, causing the fence to shut off.” He says.

“Is that possible? Can she really cause the electricity to shut off? And what happens if the gate turns off?” I ask, trying my best to push down the ever-reaching fingers of panic that are starting to squeeze my chest.

“Death. Bloody and painful.”

“Can’t we just hide inside the buildings?” I ask.

“No.” says the other guard. “There are so many holes, in the walls and ceilings, of each building, that they would eventually get in and no one would be safe.”

“So, what do we do?” I ask.

“Pray.” Says the second guard.

Pray. There’s that word again. Am I even religious? Do I believe in a god? I’m not really sure what to do, so I send up a quick little prayer to whatever god is listening. If we ever make it to where we are going, I’ll have to meet with some religious leaders. That is if I don’t die, first.

“Go on to sleep.” Says the first guard. “Not much you can do, anyways.”

Another scream\roar fills my ears. The smell of burning hair and flesh fills the air, making me want to gag. “I’m not sure I can, with everything going on out here.”

“Don’t worry. If any gets in, we will use the tranquilizers and bullets. Everything will be fine.”

A pair of glowing, golden eyes, races towards the gate and I can hear the screeching roar, again. I turn around and start to walk away when I hear a loud crack and the sounds of chaos. Turning back, I see, a small tree forcing the fence line to sag.

“You have got to be kidding me!” someone shouts.

“Shoot her! Shoot her!” Someone else shouts.

I turn around and see movement on the tree and hear several loud roars. The Lions! My feet seem to be frozen to the ground, in fear. Then I hear something even more terrifying, the sound of several heavy thuds. I squint into the dim night and see at least two lions have made it over the fence. I see the shadow of a lion pounce on the shadow of a human.

“Shoot her! Shoot her!” someone screams, as the sound of gunfire fills the air. Screams mixed with roars, mix in with the gunfire, making a melody of chaos and death. I smell something odd; it gives off a faint metallic smell. Blood. And suddenly that person is quiet. A pair of glowing eyes looks up and starts heading in my direction. That’s all it takes to get my legs moving again. Panic and adrenaline flood my veins and I take off running. This was probably a dumb idea; my running will probably cause some sort of prey drive to kick in. But I don’t really care. Whoever I just saw the lion eat, wasn’t running, they were just standing still, and that didn’t save them.

I make a mad dash for the nearby building, not even bothering to turn around and see if I’m being followed. I scramble up a couple of stairs and fling the door open, running inside. I hear something heavy hit the door and then the sounds of nails clicking on the hard floor. Yep. Definitely being followed. I jump over holes in the floor and dodge loose, low-hanging wires. At one point, I can feel hot breath on the back of my legs, and I think, this is it. This is where I die. I duck past a low-hanging, live wire, and then jump over another live wire. Almost there. Just a little further. Please, oh, please, let me make it, and shut a metal door in between us. I hear a roar; the lights flicker and for a moment I’m afraid I’ll be left in the dark. But thankfully they come back on, and I risk a look back.

The lion appears to have tried to jump me and hit the live wire instead. Stopping, I can see that the lion doesn’t appear to be moving. Suddenly, I see movement from behind her. Another lioness! I turn and continue running, and a few doors open along the way. “Back inside!” I shout. “Lions. Inside. Killing.” The people slam their doors shut. I finally see what I’ve been looking for, my room. I pound the button to get in and the doors, ease slowly open. I slip in as soon as I can fit through and pound on the button to close the doors. I see the female lion running in my direction. The doors slide closed, and I hear a bang as she hits the metal door.

I made it. I’m safe. I hear a screeching sound that hurts my ears. What was that? I really hope Wolfe is ready to leave here, I don’t think I can handle staying here much longer. Of course, in order to leave, we would have to leave the safety of the electric gates. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. I must fall asleep at some point because I am rudely pulled from my dreams by the sound of someone pounding on my door. I blink and look around me. I must have fallen asleep with my back against the door.

“Get up already, Rain!” Wolfe yells through the door.

“I’m up already, chill!” I shout back. Wait a minute. This feels familiar. Is today my birthday? Are we headed for the lottery? I jump up and pound the open button. No sign of Wolfe, anywhere. Everything is exactly the same as it was last night when I fell asleep. I must have been having that weird dream, again. I close my door back and throw some clothes on. I open the door again and remember the lions. I turn and shut the door back and see long claw marks on the metal. I walk through the twisting halls and find a lioness’s body lying on the floor. The one that tried to pounce and eat me. Guess she didn’t survive the electricity. I keep walking towards the gates, eager to get out of here.

As I approach the gates, I see that they are open, just as they have been every other day, since I arrived. It appears that they got the tree off. I wearily step outside the gates and look around, no signs of the lions, anywhere. What I do see is teams of men cutting down all trees near the wall of the city. I walk over to a nearby tree and inspect it. I see deep claw marks running down the trunk. I run my hand down the claw mark. The lions were definitely here, last night.

“I heard a pride of lions showed up, last night.” Wolfe says from behind me.

I turn around startled. “Yeah, they did. I happened to be out late and saw them. They were testing the gate. They knocked a tree down and then jumped inside. No telling how many people died.”

“That’s what I heard. I think now is a good time to leave, before it’s too late.” He says, staring off into the woods.

“What if we run into the lions?” I ask.

“As long as we leave now, I think we will be fine.”

“Should I pack my things?”

“Yes. We will leave right after breakfast.”

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