Dorian Walker's Journey

Silly paranoid fools. I left the town and walked dramatically to the center of the village. The silence throbbed. And I had only been in the area for several hours. These people had lived with the noise for their entire lives. Everyone followed me in silence as I swept away branches and vines. I kept expecting people to try and touch me hoping to heal their broken arm or cure their fever. I paused realizing that I had not ever thought about what I would tell the villagers.

The beasts are just giant presses. I saw some similar on a plant visit they made us do at work when I first got hired. They said they wanted us to see the people and products we supported. I think they just wanted the people in the plant to know me by name so they would feel comfortable calling me directly. Whatever.

I hope I get to stay here forever. Alexander stopped a few feet from where the shack door had left us and climbed a tree using the vines that grew on the tree as a ladder. He impatiently motioned for me to join him. We passed people without introduction. Nobody gave us more than a glance.

"Dorian, wake up. The door is about to open." I saw Alexander staring straight at a solid wall. I backed into a corner remembering the stomach flipping free fall that happened last time he stared at a wall.

Holy hell. Alexander walked back in at the first 1am with a plate full of pizza and a glass of water. “Eat this. You'll need to fill up. We'll be going on a long journey.”

It happened today. I knew I couldn't keep avoiding it forever. Nearly twenty years since the last time it happened. Only this time I didn't get so lucky. The idiot pulled in front of me for the fourth time in less than two minutes and then switched back to his old lane. The traffic flew along, but everybody went the same speed. Not the idiot, he was determined to break through the traffic. After that fourth time, I pulled even closer to the car in front of me and when he saw brake lights the next time, he had to fall in behind me.