Location: Warehouse
The sight of the opened fence swept away Natalie’s balance.
She stumbled forward. David snatched her back and pressed her up against the
wall. “Stay down or we’re dead.” With his hand covering her mouth, Natalie was
hard-pressed to turn her head, but she did notice the armed men standing on the
other side of the wall as well as lining the gate and outer bushes. “Ok, stay
behind me but try and keep up. We have maybe three minutes to get from here to
the other side of the woods before they realize we’re gone. You ready?”
Natalie nodded and knelt beside David who’d positioned
himself in a runner’s stance. Now was their chance! The guard on the fence turned
his back and the two of them darted from the side of the building and through
the opened gate. The moment their feet crossed the fence line, an alarm sounded
and Natalie could see over her shoulder several doors opened as men rushed to
their positions. “Go! We gotta move faster!” David urged, sprinting forward and
leaving a large gap between himself and Natalie.
The ringing siren behind them confused Natalie as she
furiously pumped her legs, trying to keep up. Back at the compound, Matthew had
purposely disabled all of the fire alarms and devices so they wouldn’t sound.
He did this to keep from alerting any hungry packs of zombies of their position
and leading them to their front door. The thought continued niggling at her,
and then it hit her. That gate was not left open by accident. As organized as
the group seemed when they attacked them, there was no way they’d be that
negligent. They wanted this. They wanted her to run!
Natalie’s pace began to slow and she lost sight of David. Turning
through the underbrush to her right, she started off in a completely opposite
direction of him. Unsure if David was in on it or not, she was not willing to
take the chance. Sweat beaded down her face, washing through the dried blood on
her forehead and stinging her eyes, but still she continued running. The sound of
footfall behind her confirmed what she was already thinking; the hunt was on.
Passing by a large rock situated on the edge of a cliff, Natalie considered her
options. Should she set a trap for her unsuspecting pursuers or keep running
until she reached a street? Someone had to be out here somewhere.
Sticking with the initial plan, Natalie thought better to
get as much distance as possible between her and the maniacs she encountered in
the woods. Digging her toes into the soft soil, she pushed off with each
stride, starting block style. Her legs responded with a burst of speed. The
distance between her and her pursuers grew. The tip of her boot caught on
something on the trail. Her leg buckled, she fell forward to the ground. Pain,
hot and sharp, surged through her knee. Her face struck the dirt. Blood flooded
her mouth.
Natalie tried to climb to her feet. Her right knee wobbled
as she tried to put weight on it and pain zipped from her toes to her hip. She
couldn’t inhale fast enough. Her lungs screamed, her knee throbbed and the ache
got worse with every racing beat of her heart. Something gritty crunched
between her teeth. Natalie spat a mouthful of blood and dirt into the bush beside
her.
“Well now,” a familiar voice resounded nearby and a chill
rushed up Natalie’s spine. “You weren’t planning on leaving without saying
goodbye, were you?” A man stepped out from behind the tree, a gun aimed at her
head. And although she’d never seen his face, Natalie recognized the voice and
the way it made her skin crawl. Reason told her to jump up and run or even call
for help, but her knee was a hot, pulsing mess, no way could she run, let alone
walk another step. Her heart slammed against her ribs. Fear dried her throat as
she tried once again to climb to her feet. The man laughed, hissing through his
teeth at the sight of his prey recoiled on the ground in front of him. “You
made it too easy, sweetheart. Next time…”
His sentence was cut short with the thundering crash of a
rock to his temple. The man fell. A pool of blood seeped into the ground
beneath him and Natalie looked up in fright at the sight of David standing
above her. “There you are,” he said coolly as he reached out a hand to help her
stand. “Come on, I saw a building not too far from here.”
“I can’t walk. My knee…”
“I got you,” David said, lifting Natalie into his chest.
“VERONICA!” Elise shouted and powered down the flight of
stairs. Not waiting on a reply, she rushed to the front door and quickly undid
the barricade. “Natalie! Where…?” Elise stopped midsentence, opening the door
to find her friend passed out in the arms of a stranger.
“Help. Someone’s after us and I think they’re getting close.”
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#4---->
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Well good to know that David wasn't in on it, or at least we hope. Still a little hard to trust anyone new right now. He did kill that guy, so it buys him some brownie points.
ReplyDeleteNatalie is hurt and in Roni's current state of mind, that may not be a good thing for her. Roni is in full every man for himself mode these days. hahaha
The groups are growing, wonder how that will work out.
I had to say Kinda with the escaping... lets be honest here... they're a weird Militia group that has now lost possibly two people they captured, they're going to be looking for them.
ReplyDeleteMy other worry, is that the group is growing (as Jazen mentioned), I have a feeling that bigger may not be better in this case!