The Family (VOL. 1)

Chapter 3

 Matt and I sprinted down the road as fast as our legs would carry us. My head whipped around occasionally only to catch a glimpse of our armed assailant's blurred shape gaining on us. Matt leaned heavily against my shoulder weighing me down, but the burst of adrenalin that surged through my veins and the fear of dying a grisly and violent death gave me the strength to continue practically dragging him along.

The chainsaws roar grew louder and louder until I could practically feel the wind on my neck. We won't ever make it out in the open, he's too fast and Matt can't run for much longer. Our best chance was to find somewhere to hide. In a millisecond, I was surveying the terrain for a place to hide, to conceal ourselves and keep out of their sight. The only place there was to shield ourselves in this stretch of endless, empty road was the field of corn stalks.

"THIS WAY!" I shouted as I pulled him into the dense field praying it would be enough to hide us long enough for us to put some distance between the chainsaw guy and ourselves.

The husks bashed me in the face as I pushed through the field. My lungs burned as we weaved through the stalks, struggling to shake our assailant. Sweat poured into my eyes and dampened my skin making my already tight jeans and t-shirt stick even closer to my body. It was definitely not the running-for-your-life type of outfit.

The heel of my boots caught on something protruding from the ground sending me tumbling forward. Matt fell to his knees with a thud, his chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath.

"RUN" he shouted, waving his hand for me to go. "I'll catch up!"

"No, I'm not leaving you!"

The beads of sweat and tears obscured my vision and I wiped them away with the back of my hand. Crying only made me heave more and I wondered if this was what it was like to hyperventilate. I needed to breathe, to rest until I caught my breath, we both did but there was no time; I could hear the chainsaw buzzing closer and closer each second. I dug my fingernails into his sleeve pleading with him to get back up. Glancing up, the stalks were bending and breaking in the distance. The sound of laughter mixed with squealing and the shrill chainsaw drawing nearer sent another wave of adrenalin through me and it was screaming to run for my life but I refused to leave Matt.

"JUST GO! I'll be..." he paused to heave for breath "I'll be right behind you!"

A spinning silver blade, spitting puffs of smoke and roaring deafeningly ripped through the stalks behind Matt followed by the massive man wielding it. All I could do was grab either side of my face and scream as he came rushing up behind us.

"GO!" he shouted, shoving me forwards out of the warpath of our assaulter and breaking me from the trance holding me in place.

I did just that. I didn't turn around. I didn't look back. I couldn't. My heart shattered at the sound of Matts agonized screams being drowned out by the sound of the revving engine but I still didn't stop. Pushing my way through the field, the thud of another set of footsteps echoed out behind me.

Someone wasn't far behind and they were fast. Faster than I was.

A flash of something red in the distance caught my eye. Even though my legs felt like jelly, I clawed for another yard until the cornfield spit me out in a clearing where a few different buildings stood, but my main focus was making it to the dilapidated barn ahead.

Bounding into the barn, I made it a few feet before slender arms wrapped around my waist, tackling me to the ground. I screamed till my ears were ringing and blindly struck whoever had me repeatedly with my fists. A thin man flipped me over on my back and climbed on top of me, straddling my waist and pinning my hands beneath his bony knees.