Unforeseen

Chapter 1- The escape

October 6th, 2014

Blundering.

That was the word that would come to mind if she had to describe her escape attempt.

Everything hurt, her legs shook with fatigue as they struggled to keep up with the rest of her adrenaline-wearing body, puffs of air noisily burned against her throat, her bare feet echoed through the colourless hallway, cuts and bruises littered them and screamed at her every time they met the frigid, tiled floor but she didn't have the luxury of time for caring.

Her head swam with a lightness she couldn't describe, everything inside her was pleading with her to stop and give up but she couldn't. She refused to succumb to her body's demands, she wouldn't let exhaustion be the reason for failure.

When she found herself slowing down, the loud scuffles of booted footsteps and raised rageful voices from somewhere far behind her gave her the kick to painfully push her battered body into a quicker sprint.

With her hearts racing with a mixture of fear and exertion, she risked taking a look over her shoulder and sighed in relief when she saw there were no wolves snapping close to her heels just yet, she was still out of their view, she still had a chance.

When she returned her head to face forward, she gasped in surprise and slid to a sudden halt, with a hand on the tiled wall she was only just able to stop herself from toppling over.

The corridor had ended sooner than she was expecting and she was now in the dilemma of two diverging corners, her brain froze for a moment, she didn't think she would make it this far and had no idea what to do next.

Her hesitation was clear, the sound of something above her clearing its throat had her head snapping up in realisation before she hurriedly took a piece of crumpled paper from her pocket.

With jerky movements, she unfolded it and brought it up to her eye line, with a groan of frustration, the flashing overhead amber lights made it difficult for her to make out its contents with it being her only source of light.

She could hardly absorb any relevant information before the lights went out and she lost her place. She groaned again and shook the paper in desperation, her eyes stinging with fear of what would happen if she didn't get this right.

He may kill her, she would disappear before she could see the beauty of the sun or the twinkling lights of the stars.

Her companion above her saw her panicked expression and slowly lowered itself until he was just over her trembling hands. "Breathe," he said. "You can do this. We're here, see?"

With his long tail, he pointed at the scruffy pencilled drawing of the corridor on the map, she looked at it with undisclosed relief and brought her thumb up to mark the location before she ran left with hurried light footsteps.

"R-right" she breathed as the creature promptly followed on behind her.

Not wanting to lose their way again, she kept her focus on the map, she trusted her friend to keep an eye out for any incoming danger. They were lucky they hadn't run into anyone thus far, she prayed their current luck would continue.

Nobody ever listened to her prayers.

"J, we have company!" The shrill voice of her fluffy companion hissed two minutes later, just loud enough for her to hear and cause alarm as she halted to another stop.

The flapping of wings became evident as the creature drew closer, her hair slightly fluttered with the breeze they created, and her overheated skin welcomed the break from the sultry air of the lab.