How I ran away

How I lost

Panic. What do I do? I have to think now. In five seconds he will be close enough to jump onto the top of the elevator and... he will kill me. I am a fifteen year old girl and even though I am trained in several martial arts, he has sheer size and experience over me. His biceps covered in black are as thick as my waist and it is obvious by his gait that he is used to doing this. Think quick.

The elevator. To move the panel underneath me blocking the only exit. It is open a crack and I just need to kick it a bit more. A distraction. He can't know I am moving it or he will jump down now. The elevator is slowly ascending. It is old and moves slowly. But it moves all the same.

A distraction? I wiggle my arms in the most random matter. It would have been funny. The way he pauses and stares. I know a look of confusion is plastered behind the mask. I would have laughed. If I wasn't this close to death.

That stops him for a moment. And my foot is kicking the panel steadily aside, widening the hole that leads down from the shaft to the elevator. It takes him a second to realize what I am doing but by then it is too late. I jump through the hole into the elevator as it ascends to his floor. He could wait until it stops there but he is not patient.

WHAM! I am right. That was him jumping on the top of the elevator. Where I just was. The impact shakes it so hard I am afraid it will stop. But the elevator keeps going.

Black covered legs. They climb down next to me. And then the doors open. And I run out of the elevator without a second thought but not before pressing the button for the fifth floor. It doesn't matter. He is too fast and gets down and out before it takes him up.

But I am already gone. I took off down the hallway that is lined with blue lockers and now there is a long stretch of white tiles between us. He lifts his gun. I look behind and realize I miscalculated. The staircase is on the other side of the hall. Behind the man. Out of reach. He takes aim. He aims at my leg. My right leg. That way I will still be alive. They will still be able to get the information from me and I won't run away.

Brrrinng

The hallway floods with students. Separating us. Nobody seems to notice the man with the gun or the girl with the bloody arm. For a few seconds at least.

Saved by the bell. How cliché.

I press my back against the wall of lockers. This floor has the most classes. Seven at least. And each class has twenty to thirty students that all poured out into the halls. Students and for once I'm just like them. A girl in the crowd. He struggles to find me. I see him out of the corner of my eye. With the pony on my wrist I take my black hair and wrap the pony around in a messy bun. He will look for a girl with her hair down. It's as much as I can do. And then he spots me. I am passed him, closer to the staircase. And then the crowd notices. A man with a gun in the hallway.

Screams. I disappear from his sight. And then I am by the stairs. I slip into the stairwell and I go down.

Down.

Second floor. I see the sign. And now, alone I am finally overcome by fear. If I don't keep on running they will take me. If I don't keep on going-they will keep on pursuing me until they get what they want. And I can't do that. I gave my word. I don't go back on my word.

I am flying down the stairs even as the fear covers me.

The ground floor. I bolt through the door and past the office where the secretary, Charlene McGriff stares after me. The double doors. That leads to outside. Beyond that is stairs. And past the playground, the gate. After that I am free.

I run to the double doors. Push. No, I have to pull them. That wastes me a precious second. How could I have forgotten? Jumping, Flying. Down the short case of steps. Thirteen steps. I am out in sunshine. It is a warm spring day with a gentle breeze. A perfect day. Or at least it would be.

I land in a tumble and scrape my legs against the asphalt. But I am frozen. Their masks are off and I see those wicked smiles. They stand past the playground by the gate. I look behind and the man from the elevator glares down just up the steps. I feel several guns trained at me. From my spot on the floor where I fell.

They have me.

I'm just not that easy to get. I jump to my feet. The scrapes on my legs burn but I enjoy that. Take that burn and train it into my movements. Perfect them. This is my last chance.

The playground. The school invested lots of money in it. Last year by the annual bake sale we decided on a new playground. Yes, Letters Academy is for seventh grade and up, but that is why they need an awesome playground. A simple playground won't cut it. It is complete with a swing set, stand-up seesaw, carousel and the main piece of giant slides connected by bridges and tunnels with nets to climb up. That is where I head.

I climb the yellow ladder and stand on the wooden bridge. It takes them a moment to realize that I am running away. One stays and stands guard at the double doors. One stays and stands guard at the gate. Three run to take me down. They can't shoot now. I am moving and they cannot perfect their aim. It has to be a shot that won't kill me. In a way that's harder than just killing me now.

Why isn't anyone coming out now? Surely they see something is happening. Are they calling the police? Did anyone die? I really hope not.

Monster, my official nickname for the biggest man of the group with a red face and oily hair, climbs after me on the ladder I climbed. Blondie, the blond dude, stands by the biggest slide as if to catch me when I go down, like I am five and my mother is waiting at the bottom. The other starts up the net. I immediately run down the bridge as anticipated. The only thing that follows is the blue tube slide. The biggest slide that Blondie stands by. But of course they overlooked the pole. Killers tend to overlook parts of playgrounds that no kid in their right mind would. The pole is green. I half jump half slide down it and run the second the ground reaches my feet.

Monster jumps off the ladder and runs after me. I jump over the seesaw and swerve around. He runs on the seesaw and I am by the other side. I jump and land with all my weight. He goes up but not as high as I hoped. Even with me jumping, my weight doesn't match his. Not nearly.

It distracts him and I run off. His side crashes to the ground and he falls backwards off. Blondie and the other guy are still chasing me. I run to the swing set. A pigeon rests peacefully on one.

It flies away as I approach. It has that instinct. I step on, slide into a sitting position and kick off the ground. Monster comes at me from behind and the other two in front. They obviously don't understand my swing talents.

Swish back, kick. Monster didn't manage to make a grab at me and my kick didn't manage to connect. Forward. I am high in the air. High enough. I can see past the gate, past the trees, there is the flower shop across the street, Flora's Flowers. Daisies are on display. Just before I fall back-

I jump. I let go of the swing and crash down. Blondie just manages to dive out of the way. the other isn't so fortunate. I land on his back and hear the crunch as we topple to the ground. He fell, face-first with me on his back. I grab his neck and twist it for good measure before I look up and see Blondie take careful aim.

I am up and running. This is my game with my rules in my playground. I don't usually let people win. This time was no exception.

Bang! A bullet at my feet. It hits the concrete and I run. I dash towards the gate beyond the carousel. Jump on it and over, careful not to lose my footing as it turns.

The man guarding the gate. He can be easily dealt with. I hope.

So close. I think of the best way to take the man out-

A sharp pain in my head. Falling through the air. Rough hands catching my body as the world fades to black.

Game Over.