Every Man For Himself (Slow Updates)

Two

Chapter Two

My body felt sore, especially my right arm, no doubt that it was broken. I had landed in a pile of black rubbish bags filled with... rubbish. Duh.

Ugh, my head was spinning like mad; it was a wonder why I hadn’t fainted yet. All I wanted was to get a good night’s rest without any problems. It wasn’t only the physical pain that was causing my head to spin, but the tension and worrying thoughts that was messing with my brain.

It would be nice if for once, I could have a day off from all the worry. Sitting under the blazing hot sun with my sunglasses on and lying on a mat at the beach under one of those beach umbrellas, plus some really nice music blaring loudly in my ears. I definitely needed a holiday, filled with ice cold lollies and cocktails. I needed a break from life and reality. I felt the nice breeze blow softly against my skin. I must be dreaming.

Hearing shouting from overhead, I finally came to my senses. Panicking, I scrambled to get up. While doing so, I managed to roll off onto the hard concrete, like when you roll off those bean bag chairs. Except I didn’t feel comfortable, at all. I stood up feeling my knee burn, so I quickly bent over to examine the aching area; I found peeled skin and shiny hot blood on its surface. Deciding that I would live, I ignored the pain, it was a mere injury after all. There was nothing to worry about, hopefully.

A thud sounded from my left and I took off frantically, arms flailing and all. Heavy shoes clip-clopped on the concrete floor and I found myself walking onto the straight and empty road ahead. I wasn’t going to end up in those scumbags’ hands, so I ran as fast as I could, begging my feet to co-operate and trying to ignore the pain on my knee.

Now I wished that it was King Kong who was coming after me. He would’ve plunged his head into a garbage bag and have left me to be. My God, imagine how that would’ve reeked. You never know what a bunch of grown-up-on-the-outside-but-on-the-inside-they’re-just-like-three-year-olds kind of guys could produce. Scrunching up my face at that, I remained oblivious to the sound of footsteps but I daren't turn around to check. Instead, like any sane human would, I kept running for my life.

The more I ran, the louder my panting got, and my legs felt like they were having cramps. I was getting tired as I avoided the painful sensation all over my body. My legs wobbled under the weight of my body. I could feel the pounding of my heart and the pain tugging in my chest. I took sharp intakes of breath, having the feeling that I would suffer from serious heart problems if I didn’t stop.

Civilization seemed miles away from where I was. Halfway there, the first thing I saw was a building with a shaggy and broken board indicating that it was a gas station. It would take forever to reach there, I thought as I slowed down a bit. Gathering up the courage, I dared myself to look back. I was astonished. There was no one chasing me, no one at all. Not even King Kong who seemed very determined not to let me escape at the time.

I yearned to take a break from running so I slowed to a walk. I felt insecure, very insecure, and completely remote. As minutes ticked by, I felt my eyes drooping. My head was throbbing and I swear it felt like it would explode any second. Not only that, but my arms felt lifeless and my legs hurt like hell.

Tears threatened to spill but I refused to let them fall. I couldn’t let myself cry, because if I did, I knew I would lose confidence in myself and that was not going to happen. Besides, it wasn’t like sobbing like a helpless baby would make any difference. I had to accept the fact that I, Regine Sparks, was on my own.

I was only a few feet away from the gas station when I heard an engine coming up from behind me. No, scratch that. Two engines roared from behind me as I twirled around to face a laughing King Kong on a jeep from an opened window. He occupied one jeep alone and the other was occupied with four other strong looking men. My eyes widened with fear and once again, I ran for my life.