Fugitive

Chapter 19

People pressed against the walls as I ran past. A man attempted to grab my arm as I ran past, I shoved him off easily. My heart was in my throat. A minute later I'd reached the exit. Outside were taxis and shuttles of all varieties. There was a taxi almost directly in front of me, the driver was assisting a woman with her luggage. The door was open. I ran to it and leapt into the seat shutting the door and turning the key in the ignition. It started and I drove off quickly, ignoring the colourful yelling from the driver. The trunk slammed shut as I went over a speed bump. I turned left to get back on the main road. The horn got everyone out of the way. I pulled the car into the airport road driving as fast as I could without crashing. Trees lining the road to my right casting shadows, and making the light do funny things. I turned right at the intersection pulling off the airport road and heading towards Jacksonville. Before long cop cars were behind me. They were gaining. I put more pressure on the accelerator. In a few minutes, I was passing Lake Catherine. Cat was named after Lake Catherine. It was where Mom and Dad met. Except they didn't like how it was spelt so they spelt it with a 'K' at the beginning instead. Katherine. If it weren't for the sirens and flashing lights it would have been a beautiful and bittersweet moment. We came here as kids once. Mom and Dad showed us where they met. The very spot. Cat thought it was sweet. I couldn't have cared less at the time. It seems more important now. I kept driving, the police hot on my trail. I could see another cop car at an intersection up ahead. Ready to cut me off. I made a sharp turn and drove another block before making another turn back onto the main road, avoiding the cop. I could see them in the mirror. God, I wasn't going to get out of this. Either way I wasn't going to make it easy for them. They seemed to get closer and closer yet I felt like going any faster would surely cause a crash. That was the last thing I wanted. A sure way to get myself killed. Or caught. There was nothing but highway for a while. Every time I looked back they were right on my tail. I knew that backup would be heading from the other direction, they may have even had a road block in place. A car picked up speed and was suddenly right behind me. Moving my hands on the wheel I directed the car in front so the cops wouldn't be able to get past me. I kept doing this as they swerved trying to find an opening. I never gave them one. I could faintly hear a loudspeaker telling me to pull over. The roar of the engine was too loud for any other sound to be recognised properly. Moments later bullets were fired at the car. I ducked my head low while trying to keep the car straight. Were they really on shoot to kill orders? The tires. They'll be going for the tires. I swerved unpredictably. I continued to swerve left and right, right, left and right. The back window shattered. I didn't know how many bullets had hit the car. Other cars had pulled off the road. Some swerved to avoid me, in turn blocking up one part of the road making it harder for the cops to follow. It felt like I'd been driving forever. As soon as I got into Jacksonville I could lose them in the streets. There, in the distance. Flashing lights. They looked like a mirage. My imagination playing tricks. It wasn't. A whole detail of cars. There must have been six all lined up across the road. There was nowhere I could go. A road block guarded one side of the road while a fenced paddock guarded the other. I didn't slow down as I got closer. "Oh shit". I was going to do it. What the hell am I doing. The cars got closer and closer. I was practically on top of them. It was too late to stop now... "Fuck", I yelled as men leapt to the sides and I smashed into the front of the police car. It all happened very quickly. Before I knew it, I was up and over the police car. Momentum and speed the only thing getting me over. The taxi turned at an odd angle, twisting in the air. More a moment I thought I would tip, or end up upside down. Somehow it straightened out. The car crushed below me, twisting to an odd angle. The taxi I'd stolen received an even worse fate. Still I kept going. There were screeches on the road behind me. Cop cars coming to a sharp halt. The car I'd basically driven over was in wrecks. The right side crushed beyond repair. The taxi had pushed it to the side, sacrificing the front of the vehicle. It wasn't going to go as fast now. I knew that. But the cops own road block would give me some time. Shots were fired as I drove away swiftly. None of them doing enough damage to be a problem. Minutes later I could see Jacksonville in the distance. I could also see police cars. They were still in pursuit. Closing in quickly. I sped up, knowing I needed to reach Jacksonville before they did. The street names twisted in my mind and the buildings while familiar had no meaning to me whatsoever. I crossed the bridge going over New River continuing past a police station. No cars outside. They must have been the ones involved in the road block. I continued onto Johnson Boulevard before making a series of meaningless turns onto side streets. The police were no longer appearing in my mirror, sirens no longer ringing in my ears. I'd lost them. I parked the car down a side street that didn't look like it led anywhere. As I got out of the car the full extent of the damage to the front was apparent. Really it was a miracle it was still going. I still couldn't believe I'd done that. I practically jumped a police car. With my bag slung over my shoulder I ran through the streets, over fences and through backyards. I took shelter in a small shed at the end of a property that looked like it hadn't been occupied in a while. Judging by the state of the house I'd say the owners are simply away on vacation. The latch on the shed door was rusted and broke easily. Cobwebs covered the windows and dust settled on every bare surface inside. The corners were so dark it felt like my eyes were closed. No windows, no cracks in the timber. Nothing much of anything. Police would commence a search soon. I'd watched enough TV to know how procedures like this work. They would put road blocks on the roads out of Jacksonville. Which is ok, because I don't want to leave. Not yet. Jacksonville is a reasonable sized place. Big enough to mean the police wouldn't go door to door searching properties. They would wait for a witness report, or a sighting, some kind of lead. Maybe if they don't get anything they'll search foreclosed properties, abandon warehouses or empty houses. Even so they'll probably wait me out, same way I'm sort of waiting them out. They'll think I want out of Jacksonville so they'll be watching all the traffic going out. They'll probably stop that after about a week assuming they missed me somehow. So, for now, I'll bunker down here. Rest up a bit. I didn't have much in my bag. I had no food and only one bottle of water. I took the time to take off the rest of my disguise. I removed the contacts and simply left them on the ground. I had nowhere else to put them, and I wouldn't be using them again. My wig was long gone. Still in the car, I think. I pulled off the rubbery stuff around my nose. It felt good to be myself. The houses next door looked almost as abandoned as the one I was at now. The sound of a door slamming was the only sign of life. I didn't see anyone, and I was sure no one saw me. I took a moment to catch my breath. My muscles were aching and my heart still beating at 100 miles an hour. I sat on an old dusty sack and took a sip of the water, my throat parched. I could feel myself getting sick. It was getting colder. Even with the sun shining outside and all the sweating I'd been doing I was almost shivering. There wasn't much I could do anyway. There was some netting, the type gardeners put over their plants to stop the birds getting in. If provided little warmth but I draped it over my body. Before I knew it, I was waking up. The darkness gave me no clue as to how much time I'd lost. An hour? Six? I felt around for my bag. My eyes were getting used to the darkness now. I opened the pocket and felt for my phone at the bottom. The battery was still looking pretty good. It was 1:00pm on the 21st of October. On cue, my stomach growled. I got up slowly, almost banging my head on the shelf overhead. I opened the door the sunlight blinding me. It still wasn't very warm. Dust danced in the light. I was covered in dirt and grime. My hair was sticking up all over the place. In no way was I even the slightest bit presentable. I couldn't walk around the streets like this. It would draw too much attention. This isn't the kind of area where you would find a public bathroom. The neighbouring properties were quiet so I made my way to the back door of the house in front of the shed. The door was locked but I easily found a spare key under the mat. How original. The house didn't have any alarm systems thankfully. Because I had no idea how to stop them from going off. Despite what you see in movies, disabling alarm systems is not common knowledge. Or in any case, it wasn't common knowledge for me. After a quick wander around I found the bathroom and decided to take a shower. The water was cold for a long time before it went hot. There were some small hotel soaps obviously smuggled from a past trip beside the shower that I didn't trust but used anyway. It wasn't until I got out that I realised I had no towel. After a quick search in some of the cupboards I determined there were no towels in the bathroom. They must keep them in the hall or something. I wasn't prepared to go searching through their house naked dripping water on the floor so I used my dirty clothes turned inside out. There was a laundry basket in the corner that had two towels in it and I know it was kind of dodgy but drying myself with my clothes just wasn't working for me so I used the towels. I changed into the fresh clothes I had in my backpack. It felt good. I didn't want anyone to know that I had been there so I wiped the floors and the shower glass with the towels and placed them back in the basket. I disposed of the half-used soap and the wrapper and positioned everything exactly as I'd found it. After putting a hat on I left the house, replaced the key and snuck around the back of the property, over the fence.