Rise Against (Book II)

Chapter Seven - Scars

Chapter Seven – Scars

Zack stood where he was while Holly ran with her baby in the direction I pointed. Why wasn’t Zack following? I felt anger boil inside of me as he just stood there.  

"I'll distract them. Take her and the baby to safety!" I demanded through clenched teeth.

"No! It’s too dangerous!"

I ran down the hall without saying another word. Zack ran after me. We both heard a scream from Holly and ran after her. If I saw his face, it would have been torture. And I don't mean to do that. I need to make sure they are protected.

"Over here jerks!" I shouted. The men ran after me. I darted out of the familiar doors to the yard. 

I threw myself forwards and climbed the wall as fast as I could. I heard a gunshot and ran faster. The gate opened and several men poured out. I ran as quickly as I could, but the exhaustion was over taking me. My breathing was coming in pants and my sides were killing me. Something  suddenly hit my back hard.

"Ouch!" I screeched and went rolling on the ground, adding several more injuries to the list.

The fastest runner in the group had tackled me and it hurt like heck. I could hear the other men coming and tried to scramble to my feet.

"Fast little one aren't ya?" The man laughed, pulling me off the ground and into a tight grasp.

"Let. Me. GO!!" I screamed, then bit so hard on his arm. I tasted blood.

"Ah! You animal!" He kicked me.

I whimpered as he dragged me by the hair towards the building. It was incredibly painful and though I may have deserved it after taking out a few of their men, I was being treated like an animal. An idea popped into my head and I quickly pulled my emergency gun out and aimed it at him. Not even a second later I shot him in the leg.

"Ah!" he cried and fell to the ground and grabbed his leg.

 I took off running towards the woods. Not looking back. My side hurt terribly and so did my neck and head from being strangled and dragged. It was a miracle that I was still alive and kicking. Was it just instinct or had I learned these moves? Jack was such a great teacher when it came to fighting. No, I couldn’t think about him; especially now of all times.

I ran over a mile until I collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. I'm getting out of shape. Last year I ran like ten miles in one day… I leaned against a tree and tried to rest. But my arm was stinging.

"Aw," I whimpered. My arm had a gash in it, which I had probably scraped myself on a branch while being dragged.

I had brought a tiny first aid kit. I'm always prepared. Well sort of. I wished I had brought a jacket. I was freezing. I cleaned the gash with an antiseptic wipe and then put a big band aid on and then rested against the giant tree and dozed off…

                                                                        *****

I was running through the forest like a deer being hunted. I could hear their footsteps loud and close behind me. My feet went faster as I headed to a tree and climbed it in hopes of hiding from them. 

Then I saw Zack, running past me at an incredibly speed. I wanted to call out for him. But they were coming. They past me and took him. Zack struggled and they cuffed him. I was crying. Not him. 

I climbed out of the tree ready to kill with my tiny knife. My body felt strangely weak in so many ways. I leaped onto one of the men and killed him with hardly any effort.