WhiteScratch

No Escape. Only Death. Only Death.

Panicked, Jake yells at me as best as he can through the screams, "Can you run?!" I yell back, "Yes!!" and he gently drops me to my feet, takes my hand, and starts to sprint through the bodies. Grayson follows behind us as we race to find safety but it seems to be no where in sight. The place is so tightly packed with bodies that there is no place to get away from them. We jump over them as they crawl and push through them if they decide to stand up and take a grab at us. I can feel fingertips brush against my legs and arms as I push through everyone, sending a shiver up and down my spine. I can feel blood trickle down from my ears as the screaming continues but we keep running, never stopping for even a second. We dart our gaze back and forth looking for an exit but there is nothing. 
"Just keep running, Rachel." I tell myself repeatedly. Its difficult to hear my own thoughts and my limbs start to burn as I push them as hard as I can but in the faint glow of Jake's flashlight, I see an arm reach out that breaks my hold from Jake. Immediately, I feel four hands cup around my ankles and wrists and pin me to the ground. I desperately call out to Jake, screaming for his help. He whips around at the sound of my voice, bringing the light of his flashlight with him. I can see the faces of my attackers. They all have the same look that woman did. Eyes, open wide and white as snow as their mouths hang open, revealing a broken jaw. All of them are male, seeming to be in their teen years and all of a sudden time seems to slow down. Everything moves in slow motion as I see both Jake and Grayson race to my rescue. I look back at the men holding me down. They begin to jab at my face, neck, shoulders, and arms trying to take a bite out of me as I hear their whispers in my head. "The youth. Take it and live. The life. Take it and survive. Death, we will not condone any longer." The whispers start to get more intense; more harsh. It feels like little needles keep poking at my brain and then all of a sudden time goes back to normal and the screaming continues. I can feel two sets of teeth, one set on my shoulder and one set on my neck where that one man had torn a piece of flesh off in the dark city closer to home. I slowly start to feel the teeth penetrate my skin which makes me scream in agony. It feels as though two bear traps were slowly being triggered on my body. The other two men that hold me down tear the stitches out of my arms and begin to suck the blood right out of me. This furthers my pain and I slowly start to black out. At the very last second, I see Jake and Grayson kick the men on my arms off of me, leaving many bloody holes in my arm. Jake hesitates as he sees them attached to my shoulder and neck and motions for Grayson to wait but its too late. Grayson kicks them both off me as they both take a chunk of flesh with then as their teeth tear out. I scream even worse than before as tears trickle down from my eyes from the pain. I can barely hear Jake talking to Grayson in a livid tone while they push more people back. 
"You idiot! Why would you do that?! You clearly saw the situation!!" He pushes Grayson to the ground quite harshly. 
"Look at what you've done! The hole in her neck just got two times worse and now she has a gaping hole on her shoulder!! You've made everything worse!" Grayson ignores him, takes his flashlight, and picks me up roughly which irritates my wounds even more, making me yell again.
"They needed to come off so I got them off." Grayson says before he starts running. I get distracted from my pain as I study the situation in my head right now. I don't feel nearly as protected and safe in Grayson's arms like I do in Jake's and he isn't even careful. He's just running as though I'm not even there with a determined face like he knows where he is going. I'm brought back to reality with what feels like a sharp jab in my neck. I try to look at Jake as he runs behind and I try to reach out my hand toward him but just as he is about to grab it, he gets tripped up by someone grabbing his ankles and falls the the ground, hitting his head on a rock. He goes still for a moment, clearly unconscious and I shout his name at the top of my lungs. Grayson turns around to look at him but doesn't do anything. He just stands there, fending off everyone that comes within five feet of us. 
"What are you doing?! Go help him!!" I yell at Grayson with tears in my eyes. He doesn't even acknowledge I said anything as he just stands there and watches people crawl all over Jake. I look back at him, panicked, praying to God that he gets up. 
"Jake, get up!! Please!!" I yell aloud, desperately. A few moments pass before I see movement at the bottom of the pile and Jake crawling out from underneath. A breath taking feeling of relief overwhelms me before I realize that we aren't out of danger yet. He runs toward me and tries to pull me from Grayson but he withholds me from Jake and starts running again. Anger fills me and I can see the same thing behind Jake's eyes as he starts running behind us again. I look at Grayson's face, the same determined, focused look as before and then I look ahead, trying to see what he's seeing but nothing comes into view. The screaming starts to quiet down as the whispers return, filling my head as it repeats over and over again.
"No escape. Only death. Only death." The further we run, the fewer bodies we see and the whispers get softer. Grayson makes a sharp turn to the right, runs a couple miles and makes another sharp turn to the left. He puts his head down over me like he's embracing for impact and picks up speed just a little. A couple more feet of running and we were out, passed the border, into the sunlight and heat again with the faint whispers to our backs. Once we are a good distance away from the big black wall, Grayson sits down and holds me close, squeezing against my neck and shoulder. I yell in pain but he doesn't stop and instead kisses my cheek. I get so mad and push through the pain in order to get away from him. I push him back and roll over onto the ground reaching for Jake. I can feel his strong arms gently pull me towards him and he finally gets a chance hold me closer. He makes enough room so that my wounds are in the open, trying not to hurt me. He kisses my forehead and I take a huge sigh of relief as I am back under his protection. We just sit there for who knows how long like this as Grayson glares at us angrily. Jake ignores him and looks down at me with a worried smile. 
"You were just starting to get better."