After 30 Days

Fifty-One Day 61

Someone had built a surprisingly sturdy set of wooden steps that made the climb up to the door's level easy. Ducking under the yellow railing, I stepped closer to where the dog was now silently standing with his nose practically pressed to the heavy metal door. He spared me a quick glance, wagged his tail once, and then went back to his study of the door.

"What do you think it is?"

Shawn had come up next to me and was looking at the dog too. He looked around us, trying to see into the dark, and then turned back to stare hard at the door.

There were people in there. I was sure of it. But I had no idea who or how many or even if they were dangerous. I shrugged in answer.

Rex scratched at the door again.

"Only one way to find out," he sounded resigned. Scratching at his jaw again, Shawn stepped around me and expertly placed himself in between me and the door. I saw his hand tighten on the tire iron that he held for a second before he used the other hand to loudly knock on the door.

Silence.

The sound of the knocking echoed around us, bouncing back and forth off of the concrete walls hollowly. For several long heartbeats, it was the only sound. I could practically feel the presence of whoever was on the other side of the door, holding their breath, trying to decide what to do next.

And then the doorknob turned in the circle of light cast by my flashlight, and the door opened just a crack.

"What do you want?" The voice was heavily accented and deep. He did not sound friendly.

"Um," Shawn faltered, clearly not knowing how to answer that question.

I pushed around him to get a better look at the crack in the door. There was some sort of dim illumination beyond the man, casting the tiny glimpse of him in shadow. "Hi," I tried to sound friendly and non threatening. Tried to mask the nerves in my voice. "Um, we were just passing through but your road block stopped us. Then my dog escaped the car so we had to come get him."

Behind the door, the man said nothing.

I didn't know how to tell him that the dog wanted to come inside without sounding like a crazy person, and was trying to figure out what to say next, when Rex took matters into his own hands.

The dog had jammed his nose into the crack in the door the second it opened. Sniffing fiercely, he'd whined and scratched the metal again. Now he backed up a few steps and circled, full of nervous energy that he didn't seem to know what to do with. Then he lunged, slamming into the door and shouldering his way through the opening that was now a foot wide.

"Rex, no!"

I knew the command wasn't going to work the instant it left my lips. Whatever had the dog so worked up, he wasn't listening to me at the moment.

The man in front of us was cursing, at least I thought he was cursing, in a language I didn't understand. He tried to force the door shut but was too late. Rex slipped inside and disappeared from view.

The door slammed shut, just missing catching Rex's tail. A dull scraping sound came from the other side. Stunned, I stared at it for a second before reaching for the knob.

The metal knob was cold in my hand. It turned easily, but the door didn't budge when I pushed on it. My brain was starting to work again, starting to realize that Rex was shut inside with a stranger and we were trapped on the other side of the door, and the beginnings of panic began to creep in. I shoved the door again, harder, but it still didn't move.

"Sh!t," Shawn's more colorful language must have been rubbing off on me. I shoved the door again and said it louder. "Sh!t!"

"Here," he waited for me to get out of the way and tried to open the door himself. It didn't move.

I stared at the door in disbelief. The silence of the tunnel rang in my ears and I jumped when Shawn grabbed my arm and pulled.

"We have to go."

I didn't understand what he meant and he tugged my arm again.

"We have to go. Now."

Numbly, I stumbled after him as he pulled me back down the wooden steps. "Wait," I pulled to a stop when my feet hit the road again. "We can't leave Rex."

"Bri, we have no idea who is behind that door. And we're not getting it open. We have to go." He tugged my arm harder, urging me to follow him again.

"This was a bad idea," I whispered, maybe to myself. Why had we come into this stupid tunnel in the first place? How could we have thought that it was a good idea?

My eyes started to sting and the limited circle of my vision blurred. It occurred to me that I was crying as Shawn propelled me ahead of him and back through the opening that we had made in the barricade. The car was where we had left it, and he walked me to the passenger side, opening the door for me. I got inside woodenly, barely able to comprehend that we were about to drive away without Rex.

My door shut and Shawn was climbing behind the wheel just a second later. The engine turned over. Twisting around in my seat, I looked desperately through the back window, hoping for a glimpse of the dog.

There was nothing but darkness and the makeshift barricade. No Rex.

The car was in gear now and starting to move. In a fraction of a second, I knew that I wouldn't even be able to make out those vehicles and wooden pallets any more.

"I'm sorry, Bri."

I didn't reply, just kept watching out the back window. The darkness had erased all signs of life behind us, cold and indifferent.

I hated the dark.

And then Rex appeared in the small pool of light cast behind our car, running to catch up to us as we gained speed.

* * *
Hi guys!

After 30 Days is in it's final chapters... I know, right!?! It's been a looong process. But we are finally wrapping up this chapter of Bri and Shawn's story. The third and final book is in the planning stage and will be coming to Wattpad in the future. After 30 Days is now in the editing phase and will be going off to the publisher asap. With that being said, please do feel free to offer any constructive criticism that comes to mind. As always, your opinions and support of this story are invaluable <3

Much love to you all,
Lora