Dreamers [#Wattys2020]

8.

Rover.

My body is heavy as I wake up in a place I don't think I've ever seen before. It's unending darkness and I'm sitting on a chair as if I were a robot and someone had plugged me into an outlet to charge me up. The wires, I guess, in this case, represent the path that's laid out in front of me. It's straightforward until it's not, years upon years beat them up and cut them open to expose the electrical current to the world in the hope that maybe someone out there might notice that something isn't right anymore.

I blink my eyes, only once, and when I see the world around me once more I'm standing on sandy red dirt staring down at the boots on my feet. Metal clicks as I hear something lock in place and when I look up there's a man in a wide-brimmed hat pointing a revolver right at me about ten paces away. My heart quivers at the sight and for a second it feels like this might be it, this is where I die, but just as quickly I hear the same click, from somewhere else this time, and it's almost instantly followed by the fiery bang which sends a bullet right into the side of the man's head. I watch as blood flies onto the ground beside him.

Out from the side of a building, the girl appears. She's wearing a skirt that rests at the height of her ankles and her matching top is buttoned all the way up to her neck, it's worn quite a bit, but hanging from her right hand is another gun and she's walking towards me.

"I'm sorry about that," she says as she reaches me. "At least you being here woke me up from the dream."

I try to think of what to say, but I still feel completely lost.

"That guy was holding the town hostage and you showing up gave me my chance-" she goes on until I cut her off.

"We need to figure out what's going on, right now," I say.

The confidence my mysterious stranger had starts to dissolve as she looks around us. I hardly noticed the rest of the old wooden town that went up the street we just so happened to be standing on.

"What's wrong?" I question her erratic gazing.

"No- Nothing," she stutters, yet eventually goes on. "I'm just trying to make sense of all of this."

"But it's like you said, you knew that last night wouldn't be the last time this happened."

"I know," she tries to reassure me, "I wish I knew what to do about it."

"So, you don't want this to be real?" I ask her.

"No!" she answers, defending. "Of course, this is absolutely incredible. I just don't know how to react to all of this. You're Rover fucking Baxton. You scared the shit out of me yesterday, and I guess shooting the guy right in front of you and shoving you off the dock is kind of payback, but I'm kind of in awe that you are standing in front of me. I half expect this to be my brain tricking me and when I wake up this will only be another one of my dreams."

I take a step closer to her and she doesn't move away. Looking into her eyes I ask, "How do I prove it to you then?"

"You believe all of this?" she questions back.

I can't say for sure, but deep down I know there must be something bringing us together for a reason.

"I think so," I reply.

"Well-" she goes to say, but we're interrupted by the sound of glass shattering and a woman screaming from one of the buildings.

We both turn in the direction where the sound came from and I see a shattered window in the front of the convenience store. I don't hesitate as I run to assess the scene.

I slowly push the swinging door open and in the dim light, another rugged man has his left arm around a woman's neck and is holding her at gunpoint. The woman's skin grows pale as her hands shake in fear.