It's getting harder to think now... I want to go on with the story, I need to tell you what happened...but somehow it's hard to think. Like my thoughts are disconnected, broken trains running up and down twisted tracks in all different ways. I'll try though. I'll take a deep breath and try to tell you what happened, though I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. Long enough to get to this part, anyway, I think. I can make it as far as here, sitting in the Konami Burger by the bridge, soda in one hand, tape recorder next to...ha, well, let's call it my other hand. I'll make it this far before I let myself stop telling you. It's almost time to go on, though the clocks don't work here and there's no sun, I can feel it. It's almost time.
So there I was, at the mercy of some jumped-up kid. Some idiot girl with the nerve, the god-damned nerve to call me 'motherfucker'. I could break this bitch in half right here, I thought, but then she told me she had another knife. And if I tried to draw my gun, I'd be skewered before I could aim. The kid was young, but I was at one hell of a disadvantage, I'm an honest man, know my limits, and there's no sense gettin gutted unnecessarily. I raised my hands, slowly.
"Easy, kid. I'm not out to hurt you. I'm not armed"
She didn't believe me, of course. Not that there was any reason to. But then she took the knife up to my neck, and then frisked me. Damn. So that was that for my revolver, of course. Greedy bitch took it for herself, spun me round and pushed me back. I fell over onto my ass, facing her, feeling just that little bit angry with her. Hell, all I'd wanted to do was follow her, watch how beautiful she was, maybe even meet her and...talk to her a little. That's all. Then those things jumped me, the place filled up with fog and monsters. And that guy in the coat. Somehow he gives me the creeps worst of all. Him and that damn Dog. So yeah, I was following her, I had to if I wanted to get out in one piece. She's asking me my name, calling me insults, like I tried to jump her, like I'm a monster myself. I'll bet she's just fine, though, that shaking's just her gloating over having me at her mercy. She didn't see those things, she doesn't know what I've been through. She wouldn't care either.
"You know, kid, you got a hell of a mouth on you..." I start. Bang! She shoots at my hand, missing it by inches. If she was shooting to miss or not I don't know, and don't rightly care. Now I'm getting pissed at her, and she's still trying to interrogate me. Hell, this is not the vacation I had in mind. Sure, young blondes were definitely something I wanted to include, but not like this. And while I'm freezing on the cold ground, that Dog could be anywhere, it could be right behind me. I look over my shoulder, I know it ran off in that direction.
"Hey, dick!" The girl's mouthing off again. Damn but that's a good mouth, if only it weren't so dirty. "I'm not boring you here, am I?" I turn back to her, back exposed to whatever might be out there in the fog. Ok, so I guess we'll have a 'chat', I thought. I raised a hand, palm open, nice and slow.
"Ok, sweetheart, you want a chat? So let's chat. My name's Nathan Crawley, I'm here on vacation, I just got here, so just relax a little, wouldya?" I've always had a way with the ladies, and this one, so young and full of life, would be a real great prize. I could see her softening as I talked. "I was out in the woods, just like you, when the fog hit, I saw you ahead of me and followed you to try to get out of the forest, that's all. I guess you're twitchy cause of the wolves, huh?" Nice and easy, Nate, nice and easy. She's simmering down now, you might still have a chance here, fella.
We talked about the woods, about our time in there, the weird fog, and if we'd had time I guess we coulda gone on to talk of many things. Of sailing ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. But we were both still pretty freaked at the woods and the fog, she especially cause of the wolves, and me because of those things. I mentioned them to her, just in a roundabout way, but she hadn't seen anything other than those wolves and that damn Dog. She seemed to like it, though, how's that for fucked up? Some big furry demon from Hell itself and she acts like its a great big teddy bear. We both agreed, though, that it wasn't a good idea to stay out in such thick fog with...things nearby, and she, being local, knew that we were just a little bit away from a local mall. So we set off to cross the park and get to the mall.
We'd walked for about five minutes before we hit a concrete path. Following it up and out, we crossed a miniature train track, on which small rollercoaster-type cars made to look like steam trains run round and round with noisy screaming kids. No noises or screaming, though, nothing but nothing. The cold, empty fog, the tracks at our feet, and the two of us there alone, crossing a chill void together.
She, my golden angel, being younger and faster, outpaced me pretty quick. Which is why I was hurrying to keep up and not paying attention to much else. So when I saw a shadow of a woman in the fog to my right, I didn't know if I'd seen it properly or not, so I went after it. Whoever it was, she looked too much like Lisa, nobody else walked quite like that. I called to Kate, but she'd passed outta sight. Lisa was gone, too, and I had no idea if it'd even been her, so I went back to the path, and found myself at an entrance to the mall before long. No sign of Kate, though. I entered and hit the service stairs. Somehow I didn't want to stay on the first floor even long enough to find the elevators or anything, there was a bad feel to the place, though the Happy Burger looked inviting enough, and I figured I'd go back later to see if I could scrounge some food. I got off the stairs at the second floor, and went in the first door that'd open. Fred's Fashions, the sign on the door said. Well, it seemed like Fred hadn't been making many fashions lately, the only clothes there were three different outfits, all for young women. A skirt and jacket, jeans and a sweater, and some kind of army pants with a tough shirt, all in a kind of gray-white color. A piece of paper was pinned to the jeans and sweater. 'KATE - These will be useful'.