If I Go

Chapter 21

I gasped in pain and collapsed in a heap onto the ground. I gently reached over to touch my wound, and grimaced. I pulled my hand back to reveal blood on my fingers. My back was covered with sweat from running; it stung my wound when the sweat pored down my back like a waterfall.

"She's over there!" Calvin yelled, his voice sounding like it was miles away.

I could hear them running towards me. However, I didn't have any strength left in me to fight. I was too weak to run any longer. My bullet wound was bleeding profusely as I sat there, waiting for my doom to approach. I lost the battle; they won. I sat still, in defeat, and wondered what they would do to me.

"Is she dead?" Ian whispered to Calvin. I sensed Calvin slowly walking towards me. He put his hand under my chin to get me to look up at him. As soon as he saw that my eyes were open, he dropped his hand.

"Nope," Calvin replied. "She's—" 

Calvin got interrupted by a bang. I instantly braced myself for another blow of pain to come. I closed my eyes in fear, waiting. But it didn't. I opened my eyes again, slightly relieved.

"You missed," Calvin stated. He walked over to Ian and snatched the gun right out of his hands. "If you're going to shoot, do it right." Calvin then turned his back to me, whispering something inaudible to Ian. Ian nodded in response. I just sat there, completely puzzled.

Before I could register what they were doing, Ian pinned me up against a tree, slamming my body into it as he did. I shrieked in pain as Calvin stepped closer, aiming the gun straight at my heart. Tears welled up in my eyes as I vigorously shook my head.

"No," I pleaded. "Don't do this to me. I'm only sixteen. Please."

Ian sneered. "It's over now, bitch." He turned to Calvin and nodded at him. Calvin slowly inched his finger on the trigger. Ian side stepped away from my body so that he wouldn't get shot. My heart was pounding, and my stomach was tied up in various knots. 

 Is this how my life is going to end?

Just as he pulled the trigger, a blur of things happened at once. I saw someone that pushed Ian in front of me. Ian screamed in pain, and Calvin dropped the gun in shock at what he did. Tears were blurring my vision. The same person that pushed Ian grabbed my hand and led me away from the chaos.

Once my emotions were in check, my eyes widened at who stood before me.

"Chloe?" My voice came out shaky. "How did you know where I was? How did you know we would be here? How—" 

Chloe put a finger to her lips and pressed herself up against the tree trunk. I leaned on it against my left shoulder, my right one still bleeding.

I heard Calvin's footsteps, heading towards Ian.

"Oh my god," Calvin whispered. "What did I do?"

Chloe and I took a peek at Calvin. Ian lay limp on the ground, a puddle of blood forming on his chest. Calvin put his face in his hands and wept. Chloe nudged me and motioned for me to follow her. I nodded at her and she carefully tip-toed away from the tree trunk and into the woods once again.

*  *  *

Chloe and I found an isolated woodsy area that has a big rock to fit the two of us on. She helped me with my shoulder wound by bandaging it to stop the excessive bleeding. Then, she got up from the rock. 

"Okay," Chloe began. "We need to get you to a hospital now."

I managed to slide off the big rock and stand next to her. "Okay. But where are we going to find a hospital in the middle of nowhere? And how did you find me back there, with Calvin and Ian? How did you know that Calvin was going to pull the trigger? How did you know that we left you in the closet area?"

Chloe held up a hand to silence me. "Hospital first, answers later." Without waiting for a response, she marched off and onto a dirt trail that we found while walking up here. Of course, I had to follow her or else I wouldn't last long.

The sun was starting to set in the distance, and the trees swayed in the soft breeze. The birds were lightly chirping high up in the sky.

"I wonder what it would be like to be a bird," I thought aloud. "I mean, wouldn't it be nice to just fly away from your problems? When times get rough, you could just flap your wings and fly high in the sky."

Chloe remained mute as we both kept walking on the path.

We kept walking for what seemed like forever until we finally ended up on a small parking lot. I looked at Chloe, confused.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"I found this little dirt road when I left the closet," Chloe began. "I heard some commotion under all the stuffed animals, but it was muffled so I couldn't hear anything well. Then, I heard footsteps fade away and up the stairs. Once I knew they were gone, I got out from under the pile of stuffed animals and darted out of there. I'll tell you more when we're in the car."

I nodded at her, completely speechless. When we got into the car, we buckled our seat belts and Chloe slowly backed out of the small dirt road. I looked out the window, the trees waving goodbye to us as we pulled out.