Hide or they will find you

"One hundred eight… One hundred nine… One hundred ten… One hundred eleven…." The numbers count up slowly, echoing from an intercom on the wall. "One hundred twelve… One hundred thirteen… One hundred fourteen…." Why do I hear these numbers? All I remember was feeling something metal hit the back of my skull and the next thing I know, I wake up on the floor in this dark, musty room. I stand up and wipe off my clothes as much as possible. I look around the room and I notice a glare on one of the walls from the single light hanging from the ceiling. I walk up to it and I suddenly hear a male voice over the intercom. "You’ve finally awoken, Anna", the voice says. Confused, I look at the wall with the odd glare.

Once I get close enough, I can tell that it's a one-way mirror. "Who are you?", I ask, trying to be calm. "You don't need to know who I am but you do want to know what happened, don't you?", he says. I take a large gulp and nod. "Let me ask one thing, do you remember your past at all?", he asks. I shake my head and look down. "Your parents were thieves and murderers, they always wanted you to be like them so you ran away", he says, stopping for a moment before continuing. "The lady you call mom found you crying in the rain and took you home with her", he says, trying not to show any weakness.

   "Can I ask something?", I ask, interrupting. "Indeed", he says. "Why do I hear these numbers?", I ask, confused. "It is slowly counting all the murders your biological parents have committed", he says without hesitation. "May I continue?", he asks. I stand there not saying a word. "I will continue", he says before clearing his throat. "The lady you call mom took care of you ever since then", he says before stopping. Moments pass before he speaks up again. "Your parents are searching for you, to kill you because they don't want their secret to come out to the public", he states.

   I stand there motionless and confused. Why would they? "I brought you here to protect you in any way I can", he says, interrupting my thoughts. "I am deeply sorry for hitting you and making you black out but I didn't want them to think I was helping for your own safety", he continues. Silence falls across the empty room, besides for the numbers that still count up, for what seems like an eternity. "I want you to feel as safe and comfortable as possible, so what would you like?", he says, waiting for a reply. I take a deep breath before replying. "Better living conditions, at least until this is over", I say, nervously. "As you wish", he says.

   A door opens up to my left and I slowly walk towards it. I peek inside and see a girls bedroom with a queen bed and a dresser with clothing inside. "Will that be all?", I hear the man say. "Yes, quick question if you don't mind me asking?", I say. "Ask away", he says. "There are no cameras in the bedroom is there?", I ask, sheepishly. "No, there isn't any cameras in the bedroom", he says, before I close the bedroom door and look around the room. There is a bathroom separate from the bedroom so I grab a towel from the rack and get cleaned up. Once I finish, I grab a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers from the dresser and get dressed.

   I lay down on the bed and the intercom comes on. "Comfortable?", he says, not expecting a reply. "Yes", I say, closing my eyes. "I will have someone bring in some food and water", he says before the intercom goes back off. I open my eyes and see a lady walk up to me and hand me my food. "Thank you", I say, smiling. She scurries away back to wherever she appeared from. I eat my food and walk into the room I woke up in. "Can we speak?" I ask. The intercom turns on and a different voice speaks. "The man left for a minute, don't worry", the lady says. I walk back into the bedroom and lay down to take a nap. Today has been very weird.

   Suddenly, the man over the intercom speaks, "Wake up", he says. I walk into the main room and stand there confused. "What's happening?", I ask, scared. "We believe they found the hideout, we need to leave", he says in a calm tone. I run into the bedroom and grab a backpack that sits at the foot of the bed. I grab it and stuff it with clothes before throwing it over my shoulder. Standing there in the silence, I take a quick glimpse at the room before I turn around and walk out of the room. "There you are, we have to hurry", says the lady, grabbing my arm and dragging me to a doorway that wasn't there before.

We run through the doorway into a long hallway with lights every ten feet. The grey concrete walls echo our foot steps through the empty corridor. Abruptly, I hear a gunshot and then a ringing sound fills my ears. I stop and turn around to see the lady I was running with lying down in a puddle of red. I stand there, frozen, scared of who shot her. I look up slowly to see the barrel of the gun aimed at my head from the end of the hall. I turn on my heal and start running the opposite direction. I reach the end of the hall and close the door. I stand there holding it closed until I hear their footsteps walk away.

I look around the room and see light at the other end. Slowly, I walk towards it. When I reach it, I see the sun's blinding light. I look around and see that I am surrounded by nature. I bolt across the grass and hide inside an overhanging rock. While sitting there, I hear footsteps approach. A man turns the corner with a worried look, like he was looking for someone. "Who are you?", I ask nervously, holding my fists in the air waiting for him to strike. He suddenly is relieved when he sees who I am. "Do you not recognize my voice?", he asks. I think for a moment before realizing he is the guy who was over the intercom.

Putting my fists down, I sigh and sit on the ground. He sit down next to me and we sit in silence. "What is your name?", I ask him, breaking the silence. "If I tell you, my identity will be compromised and you will end up in more danger than you already are in", he says. "Just call me Gunner", he says with a grin. "I think you already know my name", I say rolling my eyes. "I know it was wrong to keep tabs on you your whole life but it was for your own safety", he says, defensively. "I understand and thank you", I say looking him in the eyes. "You're welcome", he says smiling and we both look away instantly. We sit in silence waiting until the sun goes down.

I peek out of our shelter and see a group of people standing around in all black. One man is talking to the rest and I can barely hear what they are saying. "You two, go towards the door and stay guard, don't move from your position or else", the guy says in a stern tone, pointing toward where I exited from. "The rest of you, go survey the area and report anything out of the ordinary back to me", he adds, in the same stern tone. "Crap", I say under my breath. I hear rustling behind me, "Is everything alright?", he asks. "No they are surveying the area so we want to escape we have to think strategically", I say, still looking towards the group of men.

"What do you think we should do?", Gunner says in a whisper. I stand there looking around for an escape. "We’re on an island with a hill and very few trees and cover to take", I say, whispering. "There's a bridge attaching the island to the mainland so maybe we could swim over?", he suggests. "That's a stupid plan", I say, still whispering. We sit in silence while I look around for a better plan. "We could try running behind any objects as we can", I say, turning to face him. He nods and we wait in the back of the overhanging rock until the guards to walk by.

The guards finally walk by and I nudge Gunner's shoulder. "Let's go", I whisper, and point to a tree. We run across and finally reach the bridge when are caught. "Hey, you!", yelled a guard. "Run!", I yell to Gunner and we quickly run towards the bridge. My arm suddenly gets yanked back and I fall to the ground. I look up and see the barrel of the gun inches away from my face. Instinctively, I kick the back of his knees and he falls down. Quickly, I grab the gun and through it over my arm. I run towards the bridge, holding the gun. "Gunner, wait for me!", I yell.

Finally, I catch up with him and hand the gun over to him. We continue running until we reach an alleyway. Standing there, I catch my breath. "Where… are…we… going?"I say between breaths. After a few minutes, he answers. "We are going to a friends base", he says. He walks over to me and whispers, "It's in the sewer but we will be safe". He grabs my arm and we start walking over to a manhole cover. "Ladies first", he says, taking off the cover. Taking a quick deep breath, I jump on and look up. I move over and Gunner jumps in moments after. He climbs back up the ladder and covers the hole to make sure we don't get followed.

We reach the base after what seems like hours. "What's the secret code?", says a woman's voice on the other side of the door. "Stop messing around Lyla", he says in a serious tone. She opens the door and sees me. "Is this the girl?", she asks him. He nods and pushes past her, I follow him and look around. I looks about the same as the other place, just with more people. "Follow me, I will lead you to your room", she says behind me. I follow her and she brings me into a room that had bed, dresser and an attached bathroom. "Thank you", I say, walking into the room. She closes the door and I sit on the bed. Moments later, Gunner walks in and stands in front of me. "I'm sorry but this is your life now until your parents stop trying or until they are dead", he says, looking sincere. He turns back to the bedroom door and starts walking towards it. Before he opens the door, he places his hand on the doorknob and says only a few words that have so much meaning behind them. Words that I will never forget, "Hide or they will find you."