Never The End

Chapter 31 - Running

Jason started looking round, his brain analysing our escape route. He walked slowly in a circle.

Suddenly, my head began spinning wildly. The sound from my heart beating was deafening. I got a horrific flashback of the murder. His face slowing down as he fell. The sound of the gun going off. The thud of the body as it slammed on the floor.

Everything around me went blurred as I grabbed onto Jason to steady myself. Then I blacked out.

I opened one eye slowly. A bright light shone in my face. Shielding myself, I tried to reach out to see where I was. "Jason?" My voice came out as no more than a croak.

“It’s ok, I’m here. You were only out a few seconds.”

That didn’t make me feel any more comfort. We were still stuck inside a prison with no obvious escape route. As Jason walked over to the wall, I saw a grin appear on his face. “Olivia, come here.” He beckoned me to follow him.

He was pointing at something on the wall. As I drew nearer, I was still oblivious to what he was indicating at. “The stones are really jagged; we could probably climb over the wall if we used them.”

“Do you think so?”

“Look, we have to try, more policemen will find us if we don’t hurry up.”

He gesticulated towards me. “Lift your leg up. Stand on my knee and I’ll try and boost you up.”

I lifted my aching leg as high as I could. It reached just over Jason’s knee. I leant all my weight on it as I tried to grab onto the stone wall. My foot slipped and I scraped my hand down the stones. I bit my lip to stop myself yelling in pain. My hand had a large, bleeding gash right down the centre. The pain was overwhelming but I knew I had to try again.

I pushed off Jason’s knee. My hand gripped a stone. Relief. I lifted my leg to a higher rock. I used all my strength to hoist my other leg onto a suitable platform. I grunted as pain seared through me. I grasped the rock above my head. My leg only had a few inches to move to reach the higher stone but it was still immensely hard.

Jason started climbing.

He was faster than me. He used his arm to push up on my leg. I managed to climb a few metres before my arms started to shake. The pain of holding all my body weight made my arms completely powerless. Jason tried his hardest to help me but he was holding himself up too.

“Olivia, listen to me. You have to keep climbing. I know it hurts, I’m in pain too but you have no choice. If you don’t, we will be caught.”

I nodded, not daring to look down. The top of the wall was only a few metres above me. I summoned all my inner strength to lift myself higher. The stones were slightly slippery. I clutched the platforms for dear life. I was at least 20 metres off the ground. If I fell there was a high chance that I would die.

My hand reached over the top of the wall. Relief. I managed to hoist myself up. The ledge wasn’t spacious but I had enough room to sit. I grabbed Jason’s hand. He pushed himself up using his arm.