Runaway (ON HOLD)

(Mollie) Rumble

The morning sky was covered in dark grey clouds. The streets were almost empty, only a few people were walking the narrowly built sidewalks. A sharp gust of wind blew quickly into my scrunched face as I struggled to open my dry eyes.

On my left was Tara, who was carrying Asia tightly against her chest, her long brown hair blew in the wind. To my right, Tucker stood with his hands in his jeans pockets. His eyes were looking off into the distance.

My eyes wandered away from his beautiful face, to the shops across the street. I had my backpack slung over my shoulder, heavy with the money. And guilt.

There were a few things that I needed to get, and somehow I needed to get away from the group. Sigh.

"Hey, do you guys mind if I go off on my own for a while?" I said, asking nervously while biting my bottom lip, and clutching the strap of my bag tighter in my grip.

"Where are you going?" Tucker said instantly, his head turned to look at me, but I kept my head forward.

"Um, nowhere in particular. Just need time to myself." I felt bad for lying, but if I didn't lie he would eventually figure me out. And most likely turn me into the authorities.

"O-kay," he said, curiousness flooding his voice.

I glanced over at Tara who was staring back at me, trying to see if I would give off any clues. No. I'm trusting her with already so much, I can't afford to tell her anymore then she already knows.

***

By now the streets were getting more crowded. Their faces weren't all that friendly when you accidentally bump into them. Just up ahead I spotted an empty alley. I pushed my way passed the crowd of unhappy people and turned to the alley. It reeked of garbage and sewer, but it was the only quiet place I could find so I could think properly.

I sat on the soaked gravel beside the overflowing garbage bin and studied my surroundings.

Across from me was another overflowing garbage bin, and the building that I was sitting up against looked fairly old, with the bricks crumbling apart, and the one window on this side of the wall was smashed.

This city was not a top notch place by any means; everything was old and falling down. My eyes wandered the place until I spotted something interesting.
It was a ladder.

Sure it was old and rusted, but so was everything else in this town. Standing up I made my way to my finding. It looked to lead all the way to the roof.

Gripping my hand to the cold metal, I had managed to pull myself up to the first step. The amount of effort I put into it sent a stream of pain through my rib causing me to yelp in pain and almost let go. The first few steps were fine but after that it got really shaky, and at one point, one of the steps broke off.
I lost my breath. It nearly gave me a heart attack considering that I was about twenty something feet in the air. When the ladder had ended and I had reached the top, I gave into my body's pain and toppled to the brick floor that now laid beneath me, and curled into a ball trying to hold back the tears that stood at the gateway of my eyes.

For a good fifteen minutes my body laid there in agony, until the pain grew more bearable. Still laying on the ground in pain, my mind drifted to a deep thought.

Last night, when I was jumping roof from roof, I saw something, or someone.
Maybe I'm just losing it but, it felt strange, like it, or they, was following me.
Listen to me, I'm totally going crazy.
If it was someone, it doesn't mean they were following me, right?
The only people who are interested in me is the government people, and they're back in Kenna, and I doubt they had followed me all the way here.
They might have not have even seen me at all.
Or if they did, it's not hard to miss someone jumping from roof to roof with the floodlights as a spotlight.

I debated the possibilities in my head over and over again, thinking of a logical reason for each theory I came up with. So I didn't get anywhere with that. The only thing I knew was that I most likely broke a rib or two, and that I needed to see it fixed. I flipped over on to my back and stared at the cloudless dark blue sky. It should only be about one o'clock right now.

I closed my eyes and focused on the sounds of the city. Cars horns, tires, sirens, and the faint sound of birds chirping in the distance. One sound had caught my attention the most, the sound of a fight breaking out.

I sat up to listen as to what direction it was coming from.

The East.

I am totally going to go and check this out.
***

The yelling and cheering was growing louder and louder.

Just up the street I could see a group of people gathered around two teenage boys, around my age if not a little older. Slowly walking forward I could see that one of the two boys, the taller more built one, was beating down hard on the second more smaller boy. The people in the crowd were yelling and placing bets on who was going to win.

The roar of the crowd grew louder when the first boy took a small pocket knife out of his pocket and flipped it open.

"Come on, finish him already!" someone yelled.

"Stick it in!" another cheered.

He swung his arm up in the air.

And before I knew it, I was running to the beaten boy's aid.

Before he had time to plunge the blade into his back, I grabbed his arm and swung him around twisting his arm. His hand let go of the blade, he cried out in agonizing pain when I sliced the blade through his shoulder. As I let go of his arm he swung himself around and managed to throw his fist into my gut.

I stumbled back but soon regained my balance as he came towards me, ready to throw another blow to my head. I ducked just in the nick of time to avoid his punch, and pushed him back causing him to stumble backwards onto the pavement. I took advantage of his weakness and kicked him in the stomach.

The crowd grew quiet when I stood to my feet. I ran over to where the other boy laid beaten on the ground. I checked for his pulse; he was still alive. Blood was pouring from his mouth and nose, his shirt was drenched.

I helped him to stand up, giving him my shoulder for support. The people just stood in awe as I did all this, others were fleeing from the sound of sirens. They made a path for me as I carried him away from the crowd of people, their eyes never leaving me.