Her Only Hope

The Beginning of the End

The only source of light in the otherwise pitch black structure was the glaring bulbs. The red flashes pulsed like a rapid heartbeat, signalling a breach in security. The wailing of an alarm echoed throughout the corridors.

A girl careened around a corner and nearly stumbled, her momentum making it difficult to stay upright. She righted herself before sprinting down this new hallway. The girl's sneakers slapped on the linoleum floor and her breaths came in short, ragged gasps. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep up this pace for long. She needed to catch her breath even if for only a few seconds. She needed all the strength she could get if she was going to make it out of this place alive.

The girl, Macy, noticed a stairway coming up on the right. She collapsed wearily onto the steps as soon as she reached them. Leaning her head against the wall, she shut her eyes and took in gasping breaths. Her heart thumped wildly in her ribcage, threatening to beat out of her chest if the surge of adrenaline coursing through her body didn't let up soon.

Everything hurt. Every muscle in Macy's aching body screamed and her head pounded with every glare of the sickeningly red lights. Her body was trembling violently though she couldn't tell if she was cold or not. Weeks of constant fighting matches had taken their toll on the young adult's body. That combined with the insufficient meals had brought Macy to a new low, physically and mentally. She opened her eyes, suddenly afraid she'd fall asleep if she kept them shut.

The girl raised a tremulous hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Wisps of black hair had found their way out of the tightly plaited braid that reached halfway down Macy's back, and she shoved the strands behind her ears. She brought her fingers down to find them stained with blood. She reached up again to find the source and winced when her fingertips made contact with a cut above her right eyebrow. When had that happened? It didn't matter. None of this would matter soon.

An exasperated sigh rushed past Macy's lips as she gazed up at the stairs above her. What kind of rescue plan was this, anyway? What kind of idiot would plan something so risky, so impractical, while still being held captive? Who in their right mind would attempt to plan and execute a rescue mission from the inside? David, that's who. And Macy wasn't even sure he was in his right mind. But she couldn't really blame him. After all, she'd been naïve enough to help him with his plans. She cursed her stupidity.

It had all gone wrong. After weeks of waiting for the perfect opportunity to execute their plan, a door had finally opened for them. But now it seemed like what they had thought would be their liberation had turned out to be their demise. Macy shuddered to think of what the cost would be. How many would get hurt? Would lives be lost? Would even one of them make it out alive to get help? Right now she wasn't sure of anything, only that she had to keep moving. She had to find the others, and then a way out.

The girl shook her head weakly. It was laughable, really. This entire situation. It was all so bizarre and implausible that Macy herself had trouble believing it was real. The events over the past seven weeks had turned her life completely upside down. Only seven weeks... It felt like an eternity had passed since that fateful day.

Stiffly, Macy rose to her feet, her whole being screaming in protest. Her legs wobbled as she leaned a hand on a wall to steady herself. She took a deep breath. And stepped back into the empty corridor with the flickering lights. Continuing on her path, she kept her pace at a brisk jog so she wouldn't exert herself. She knew at any moment she might have to fight for her life, and when she did, she would need all the energy she could save.