Assassinated: The Lost City

Mad Chase

I obviously followed behind her. Thus, here we were running and my lungs felt like they were going to explode out of my chest. I had absolutely no clue why she thought chasing after people in robes would be a fine idea. This is crazy. We could die in here and no one would find our bodies. It was incredibly challenging to manoeuvre through the giant trees and roots snaking underneath the soil. I skidded to a halt as I saw from my left and right, two more black-robed people charged ahead of us. But they weren't chasing us. In fact, they were running away. I could hear the sound of water rushing. A river. These strangers were running towards a river.

I saw that Heather didn't stop and was heading straight for the sound of the rushing river. "Are you out of your mind?" I whisper-shouted. She signalled two of her fingers to the front and I just bolted after her. My ears caught the sound and we reached a stream. I could hear the rustling of trees as if they were swinging from them. Heather reared back and jumped across the river but she didn't have the right momentum and fell with a frightening splash into the water. I reared back and jumped impulsively across too, successfully landing on all fours on a patch of damp grass. I stared at her in horror as she flailed her arms and sputtered water out of her mouth, my mind racing to come up with ideas to rescue her. If the current was fast......

"Hat!" I yelled. Her head surfaced out of the water but she was being swept away by the current. I clumsily got up and sped along the river. She sputtered and gasped for breath.

"Em-it's too f-fast. Where do-does it lead?" Her arms were flailing viciously.

"It's-"

"Ouch!"

"What? What happened? Talk to me Hat!"

"I think I cut myself on-on a rock." The river was coming to an end and the current was faster now. I strained my eyes and I could see a large area of water where the river connected to. Once she reached there, it was impossible to get her out, I realized alarmingly. I hurried my pace and made sure I was leading. I dived to the ground on all fours and stretched out my hand as far as I could, my stomach leaning dangerously at the shore of the river. But the current swiftly changed to the left and she was too far to reach out. I let out a soft curse and scrabbled on my feet, running. I could hear the haunting laughs among the trees.

"Hurry Emma!" She cried. With a few more metres to the big lake left to spare, I dived and slid on my side both my hands reaching out.

"Swim to me, Heather! Grab a rock or something!" She wedged her feet between rocks and launched to me. I caught hold of her in a scooping motion and pulled her out. Heather crawled and laid her back on the grass, her clothes soaked, the sound of her breathing filling my ears.

I grabbed her hand and pulled her up with tremendous effort and a grunt. "You're crazy!" I said breathlessly. She settled for a quick wink and laughed, placing her hands on her hips and looking down. Then she gasped. "Emma!" She flung herself at me and we rolled onto our sides. My eyes met with a pair of boots just before the hem of a black robe covered it. I stood up and backed away. This was the moment. I was facing the.... robbers? Kidnappers? Who are these people?

Before I could say anything, they whirled around and leaped off a log. Given their incredible ability to jump far and our near-death escapade, we'd never catch up with them. "Wait!" Heather yelled and started after them but I frantically grasped her arm and yanked her back.

"What do you think you're doing? You nearly drowned." No matter how long I've been friends with her - since we were seven - she never fails to surprise me. Then again, acting out impulsively and sometimes recklessly is my dear Hat.