Fight For a Life

12. Bridges Burned

You wake up from a surprisingly good night's rest. Well, you kind of had no choice after trekking for four and a half hours through the snow. You slowly push yourself up off the old couch with a yawn and a stretch, your hair a mess as faint winter daylight breaks through the curtains on the nearby back door.

You blink rapidly, slowly coming to your senses. So it wasn't just a dream... you really did it.

You really escaped.

You roughly swipe your hair into an acceptable style before going out into the front shop part of the abandoned store.

Nobody had any reason to come in as far as you know, so it's a good bet you're safe here. Although it would be a good idea to block vision in through the windows...

Your stomach grumbles deeply. You hadn't eaten anything since that hunter let you have his sandwich yesterday.

Growing up with those foul parents of yours got you used to hunger, but without the constant fear distracting you these hunger pangs will quickly get pretty hard to ignore.

You step outside into the chilling outside air. Even with the coat, it was still pretty chilly out here

You walk for a few blocks, finding a fast food place. It's cheap, it works. With that twenty dollar bill the hunter gave you, that should last about two or three days if you're careful by your estimate.

You walk in, order a burger and sit down to eat. You sit in the seat in the corner, away from everyone. Paranoia is messing with you. You can't help but think that everyone is watching you. What if your parents have put a missing persons report? what if they've already got police and search teams looking for you?

You walk quickly, heading back to the furniture store. You see something on the curb of a street corner. it's an old tube TV, partially covered with a tarp. It's a huge risk, people might see you with it and think you stole it. Or they might not care.

You think it over. If you take it, you could get updates on the news and see if you've had a missing persons report put out on you.

...Fuck it.

You look around, seeing nobody on the street except for one man, turned away form you and walking the other way. The curtains in the windows of the house it's in front of are closed. If there's a time to do it, it's now. You move in, taking the TV before when nobody's looking.

You pick it up, covering it fully with the tarp and walking down the sidewalk. The furniture store is just down the street, so luckily it's a short walk. Nevertheless, anxiety is still messing with you. You feel like you're watched. You promised nobody would get hurt, and technically this wasn't break it. If this TV was on the curb, it's likely it was thrown out.

 You walk into the furniture store, putting down the TV on the counter and finding an outlet. This place surprisingly still has power. It fluctuates from time to time, but it works. You go to plug the TV in, but then you see that the wire's badly frayed, some of the insulation missing to reveal badly frayed wires.

You'd need to fix this to use the TV, so you refrain from plugging it in for now. You go into the back room, looking through the back for anything that could patch up the wire.

You find a small locker in the corner of the back room with an old, weathered label on it. "MAINTENANCE" It reads. You try to open it, but it's locked. Figures. You go back out to the front, looking for a paperclip or something similar.

You find a harpin on the floor under a shelf, and a paperclip in a drawer behind the counter. These would work...

You go back to the locker, open the curtains on the backdoor all the way for the best light, then get to picking the lock in the dim sunlight. It takes a good while, and no small amount of frustration, but you manage to get it unlocked. You pull open the locker, seeing a dusty toolbox inside. You pick it up, feeling the weight of the tools inside.

You take it out to the front counter, flipping the latch open and peering inside to see various tools. You take them out one by one, and spot a small roll of electrical tape. A slight smile grows across your face as you take it out, patching up the wire carefully, trying your best not to damage it further. You use a generous amount of electrical tape and then sit down in the chair behind the counter, wheeling it over and plugging the TV in before sitting in front of the TV.

After a few seconds, you start to lose hope this will work. After a few more though, the cracked screen slowly comes to life, revealing a blue, blank screen. You wheel in closer, about to switch the channel to the news channel your father always watched when you were younger.

However, you hear someone suddenly walk in. You dive behind the counter, unplugging the TV as the pungent smell of a certain smokable plant hits your nose. You hide in the shadow of the counter, your heart beginning to race.

You hear two voices, both sounding like males in their late teens.

"So, man, you heard anything from Mariah yet?"

"Nah, left me on read. Gonna call her later, see what's up."

You hear the click of a lighter, then the burning of something, probably some kind of cigarette or blunt.

"So, what about that job? At that pizza place? What's up with that, how they treating you?"

"It's fuckin' hard to get up that early after so long, man. But, hey, it pays well. I mean, I even saw a girl there, talked to her. Tonya, I think."

"She cute?"

"Damn right she is, man. Thinking of getting her number tomorrow."

"Let me know how that goes, man. Hey, save some for me." You hear a low chuckle.

"Alright, I'll see you, man." You hear one of them start to walk away, and you breathe a silent sigh of relief. Now there's there's only one left. Your heart is still racing, and you can't help but think they know you're here.

"Yo, who put this TV here?" The man still sitting on the counter says.

"Who knows, this is a good spot. People might've been here before." The other one says. "Anyway, I got to go, mom's gonna get pissed if I'm out much longer."

"Alright, man, call you when I get home." The one nearest to you says with a yawn, standing up. You momentarily see his hands as he grabs the TV, holding a blunt as he spins it around towards himself. He wipes some dust off the screen. "Huh..." He then lets go of it, walking off and finally leaving.

You sigh heavily, and at that moment your heart just about blew out of your chest. So close. Almost caught.

You point the TV back the way it was before, plugging it back in. You take a few moments to relax, before wheeling back over to the TV to change the channel. You change it to the local news, and are shocked by what you see, confirming your fears and draining the blood from your face.

   1222 Words

   -Rimadalc