To Be A Runner

Chapter 45: The Getaway

I wrap my arms around myself as I lean against one of the concrete buildings. The sun has long since set, and the darkness of night helps cloak us and keep the three of us hidden, but with it being the winter months, the darkness also breathes unbearable cold.

A flash of light shines by, and I shrink back in order to not be seen. A guard walks by, waving his flashlight around as his beady black eyes search for us. I push myself further into the building's brick wall and grit my teeth together painfully as the brick rubs against my skin harshly.

But I don't relax, not until the guard seems satisfied with his search near here. He scampers off, feet padding into the ground like a soft beat. When the soft beat fades away, Maxine practically pounces onto me.

"You saw who that was, right?" She whispers as she grabs onto my arm. Her short nails dig into my skin, causing me to wince, but she doesn't seem to notice. She just watches me with wide, fearful eyes.

"Keep quiet and stay low," Sarah instructs, peering around the building. "I kept my eyes open as we came in. There should be some low lying buildings here that we can climb to the top of. They're near enough to the perimeter that we can escape and climb down the walls."

She turns back to me and the doctor as if waiting for an agreement, but Maxine is still in shock and I am staring in confusion wondering how the hell we'll climb down that wall. Eight seems to read my mind and pulls out a bit of rope from her backpack.

"You learn to come prepared after being a runner this long," She says. "The rope isn't long enough for us to make it the whole way down, but it's long enough that when we drop we won't break any bones. And we should have enough time to make it because they're expecting us to double back and head for the entrance."

"But you saw who that was?" Maxine questions, her fingers digging into my bicep hard enough to draw blood.

"I saw."

"Tell me what you saw, so I know I'm not crazy." She looks at the two of us desperately, and while I know she wants to believe she's not crazy her eyes are begging me to tell her it wasn't him-that she imagined it.

But I can't.

"It was Pro. Van Ark," Sarah replies, "with a healed bite wound to his arm."

"And that's not possible."

"Must be possible. We've just seen it."

'Do you think he might be immune?' I sign, tearing my arm away from the doctor's grasp. We've never met anyone immune, but there have been rumors.

"We can discuss it later," Eight snaps. "Now stay low. We're heading for those long buildings to the left-the ones with the skylights."

She points up ahead just as one of the speakers shrieks to life, and for a small fleeting moment my heart stops beating because of the fear of Van Ark coming on and announcing he knows where we are and that we surrender.

But it's not him. It's just a voice, one that's barely audible over the loud shots about finding the Abel runners and the gust of wind that blows by.

"Commencing second phase on my mark."

Maxine's pauses for a moment, her eyes shifting around almost manically. "What was that?"

"Quit standing there, Doc. We need to go now."

I grab her hand and give a squeeze while a small reassuring smile plays on my face. At least, I hope it's reassuring. It's kind of hard to know what exactly I look like when my heart is in my throat and my stomach is in knots.

She nods, and with a nod from Sarah, we sprint across to the next building, pressing ourselves against the wall and waiting to make sure the coast is clear. The low buildings that we're heading for is still a good ways away, but it's away from the entrance so there's a good chance it won't be heavily guarded.