A Plagued Winter

Chapter 20

The screams that echo within the confinements of these thick concrete walls, imprint themselves inside the rusty caverns of my hope. I know that soon, this will all come to an end. I find myself dreading what these horrors will change once it does.

Andre

I want to carry her and run forever. I want to take her far away from here and hide my worst fears inside the warmth of her embrace. The screams of the people I find myself despising in the defense of Carlee's condition, run through and past me as if their voices alone are traveling through these barricaded walls. I can't stop running away from this hell but I know that in order to actually get out of it I needed to confirm with Carlee that we were going on the right track.

Unwillingly, I placed Carlee down onto her feet. Her socks were silent against it as they slid smoothly on the concrete. She slouched against my arm with her eyes halfway closed and my initial fear from earlier towards the force of her head sent itself up to the base of my throat.

I knew she wasn't supposed to sleep after a traumatic hit to her skull. I tapped the side of her face with my palm. Her eyelids flickered and then she opened them and looked upwards; not really seeing me despite my face being immediate to hers.

"Carlee." I struggled to keep my voice leveled while my nervousness bubbled up in my throat. I was so tired of running.

"You can't go to sleep right now Carlee. We have to get out of here still. Do you think you could show me the way?"

Carlee straightened against the tunnel wall and held her head in her hands. She winced as she proded the back of her skull and I tried my hardest to not rush her response. Did she hit her head hard enough for her to not be able to understand the urgency of our departure?

"We just need to keep walking down the tunnel, we'll reach the exit soon. It should only be about 10 minutes away I think." She held my gaze and it looked as if she was struggling to regain her focus.

"Let me check your head." I motioned for her to turn around to which she obliged.
I stood behind her and carefully searched for the point of sensitivity. Quickly I found a throbbing lump the size of a golf ball on the back of her head.
I pushed her hair out of my view and used my flashlight to see it better. A cherry red bump beat underneath my flashlight saying a hello that brought anxiety to the roof of my mouth, alerting me of a close calling vomit session. I focused my attention elsewhere and attempted to place my finger on the base of her injury but Carlee hissed in pain and flinched away from my touch before I could even graze it. Like an unexpected sixth sense warned her of my movement.

"Come on." I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me in a hurried rush.
Carlee tried her best to walk at my speed without wobbling and falling over. Soon, it looked like she was actually getting the hang of it and we approached a steady run next. Up ahead, as we got closer, I smiled at the feeling of a gentle breeze wafting towards my face. The opening of the tunnel revealed the wonderful gift of a dark blue morning sky in front of me. Suddenly, as I felt myself growing near the end of this night, the urge to cry and laugh bubbled out from my lips startling Carlee and myself.

We sprinted towards the tunnel eager to finally leave this hell hole with more meaning to our strides than there ever was tonight. After all of this... We were going home. Carlee and I would make it out alive.

My heart slowly sunk to the pit of my stomach when the opening of the tunnel began to darken as quickly as it had revealed our escape. So clouded over by blackness I could barely see it even as my pace picked up. The air around me was still like the atmosphere itself was holding it's breath waiting for us to make it out. Harsh and uneven breaths emitted from beside me and I knew that Carlee noticed it too. The exit was slowly darkening, turning into the space of unlit tunnel.