Outliers

Chapter 4: Running

I lay on my back for a moment, trying to breathe. The whiplash made me feel like I was choking. We'd made sure to bend our knees when we fell, but the aftershock and the speedy tumble forward had left me motionless.

          My legs ached, though I didn't think they were broken. Shards of glass poked into my flesh from various spots. My vision was spotted with the blood from a stinging cut above my right eye.

          A few classmates were screaming above us. Why won't the air go into my lungs? I needed to breathe. All that noise. Someone was yelling.

          Suddenly, I was hauled to my feet. Everything spun around me. I gripped one of the strong arms for balance. The air finally started to reach my lungs. I breathed heavily, focusing on the owner of the arms that were holding me up.

          "Thanks," I breathed. I stood up straighter, trying to put the pain out of my mind.

          "Don't thank me yet," Xavier said. "We gotta go." He dropped his hold on my arms and grabbed my hand, pulling me into a run.

          The Takers were storming out of the building. Within a minute or two, Ariana found us. We ran away from the building in a random direction. Adrenaline took care of the pain. A couple other kids were running as well, but in the opposite direction. Seemed we weren't the only ones the Takers were targeting.

          I looked back, hair flying over my shoulder. We hadn't lost the Takers. Xavier sent a spiral of fire propelling at them, which they scrambled to dodge. It wasn't enough to stop them entirely. We raced into the woods that bordered the school campus. They were still coming.

           "They're catching up!" Ariana breathed heavily as we ran. The Takers' boots  crunched on the ground behind us, closer and closer. I forced myself to pick up pace, but it wasn't going to be enough.

          "Xavier, you have to...set fire," I said.

          "What?" He gave me an incredulous look. "That'll kill us."

          "The alternative is dying anyway. Just light the trees behind us," I panted. "It's the only...way we'll...outrun them."

          Xavier took a breath and shot Ariana and me a wry smile. "You guys should run," he said. "I'll catch up." That was a good idea. Not all of us could withstand the intense heat of a forest fire. Ariana and I gave a quick agreement. "Here goes nothing."

          I couldn't help but look over my shoulder as we ran. Xavier blanketed the trees behind us with a wave of flames. Then another. And another, until the back line of trees was ablaze. Soon, we were trying to outrun the flames instead of the Takers.

          I forced my feet to keep moving forward as my lungs starved in the smoke-filled forest. Thin beams of sun peeked through a gap in the trees. We had to keep going. Almost there.

          The forest's smoky entrapment finally ended what seemed like an eternity later. My knees buckled under me, hitting the cool grass. I doubled over, coughing and fighting for oxygen. Ariana heaved loudly to my side. Xavier stood against a tree, bent over slightly, trying to catch his breath too by the sounds of it. The heat hadn't taken much of a toll on him, but his coughs were as intense as ours. The smoke must have filled his lungs just the same.

          "We can't...stop," I wheezed. We all knew it was true. The Takers could be onto us any second.

          I stumbled onto my feet, still coughing and struggling for air. I took one wobbly step forward, beyond dizzy. Still, I took another step.