Man Hunt

Chapter Twenty Eight - This is the End

Before I myself have a chance to think, Aaron grabs me by my wrist and pulls me towards the shattered window through which we entered. As we jump through, the sound of a tazer bolt smacking the wall beside us sounds – apparently these men can’t aim half as well as I can.

‘’Shit,’’ I mutter as the sound of electric sizzling resonates from the bolt beside us.

There is a curse from behind us and the men surge after us as one.

‘’Get them! Knock them unconscious and bring them to the room upstairs!’’ orders the man that seems to be over them.

Aaron and I sprint down the hall, the glass crunches loudly underfoot once more as we flee the men. They pursue us with their tazers and I feel the adrenaline pumping through my blood. I feel like I did whilst we were on the surface playing their ‘game’, I am dominated yet powered by fear. It is an indescribable feeling, all I know is that it fuels my exhausted body.

Too bad I’m not wearing their stupid bracelet anymore! They’re missing out on a lot of Exo-C, or whatever the hell it’s called.

‘’Come on Alice!’’ exclaims Aaron as we bound down the stairs two at a time, the three men hot on our heels.

‘’We can’t die now, we’re so close,’’ I say through heavy breaths.

‘’We won’t,’’ he vows.

‘’We should never have returned. We should have just left and never looked back,’’ I explain regretfully, I can sense that we are not going to make it off the island alive.

Aaron doesn’t respond, instead his grip on my hand grows tighter and he speeds up – pulling me along after him. The small squeeze is his way of telling me it will be alright. Despite how this has made me feel in the past, I cannot find solace in it this time. This is the end for us.

I sneak a look back up the stairs as I move and see the men gaining on us, their weapons trained on myself and the boy I love. I don’t know what would hurt more, before the first of the two of us to die, knowing I will be leaving Aaron alone momentarily to fight a battle he cannot win, or watch Aaron die first and do just that myself.

When we reach the bottom of the stairs, we burst out onto the beach. The sky has finally begun to lighten and the sun is tickling the horizon – it is just visible and it turns the surface of the blue water an orangey colour.

For a split second, my fear is pushed aside, and I recognise the beauty in the scene before me. It has been so long since I’ve seen something as beautiful and pure as a sunrise; I had almost forgotten such a thing existed. This rare moment of awe is overpowered practically instantly however, as the three men join us on the beach.

We move towards the wooden dock, where our boat awaits us. We are so unbelievably close to safety that I want to cry. If we reach that boat, we can leave this place for good. Surely we have enough information from what we stole from the filing cabinet to track down someone that will lead us to whoever is behind this. Otherwise we can simply wait until whoever comes forwards with the ‘cure’ for cancer.

Keep moving. We’re so close.

We sprint across the sand, the men behind us are yelling at us, however I am too scared to take in anything they are saying. Next, I hear the sound of something whizzing through the air and expect to feel the bolt from a tazer lodge into my back. Instead however, Aaron lets out a cry of pain from beside me and goes down as we run.

For a second I continue running, however I stop dead in my tracks as he hits the sand. He falls on his side and just before his body begins to convulse as the electricity surges through his body, he orders me to flee.

‘’Go Alice, get to the boat, do not stay here-‘’ he begins to warn.

He cannot finish his sentence however, his body shakes and then he goes still as he slips out of consciousness.

‘’Aaron!’’ I roar in horror and fall to my knees beside him.

As the men approach me, I cling to Aaron’s body. He is almost completely still, however his chest rises and falls ever so slightly. His lips are parted and he is breathing quietly.

I begin to cry.

This cannot be happening. This cannot be the end for us.

‘’Aaron! Wake up!’’ I scream.

He remains still.

‘’Please!’’

I feel as scared as I did when I thought he had drowned. My lifeguarding skills from a forgotten life proved life-saving, however this is a different story. Aaron is unconscious, and soon I will be. Then we will be able to do nothing to stop the people behind this from killing us.

When the three men reach me, they surround me and Aaron – forming a small triangle shape.

‘’Stand up,’’ orders the one standing closest to me, his tazer is trained on me.

I glance at him briefly however I ignore his orders and wrap my arms around Aaron. My tears fall and land on his dirty and torn shirt, I press my face against his side.

Please. This cannot be happening.

‘’I said stand up,’’ repeats the man.

‘’Screw you!’’ I roar and cling to the fabric of Aaron’s shirt tighter.

Please.

A few seconds pass and then I feel the bolt of the tazer enter my back. As it hits, I yelp and then an electric current surges throughout my body. My entire body shakes and I collapse on top of Aaron, my body limp over his.

This is the end.

As the darkness consumes me and I fall out of consciousness, I press my face against Aaron again fearfully and pray that our deaths are quick.