“Get out of there!” I heard a woman’s hoarse voice scream as I raced through the tunnels. I had no idea where I was but everything felt familiar. I yelled the woman’s name, but when I tried to picture her face everything looked blurry. It made no sense, but I felt as if someone or something was keeping me from remembering.
Running nonstop, my legs were burning, but I knew I couldn’t slow down. As I hurtled down the tracks I could only hope I wasn’t being followed; I had to survive. One last time I heard the woman shriek “Ruby get out!” A series of gunshots went off silencing her cries. Now there were tears coming out of my eyes, I felt a stab of pain but I didn’t know why I was crying. I couldn’t remember the woman.
Deafening trains came thundering down the tracks quickly advancing down the narrow tunnel. They were coming towards me at stupendous speeds; much faster than the regulated speed limits. I was sure it was the hunters trying to trap me on this side of the tracks. I had been running for so long I was beginning to feel faint and light headed. I started stumbling only yards away from being able to cross the train tracks. My legs felt so heavy and tired, but I continued plodding towards the tracks. I heard someone running up behind me. There were only two more strides before I would be across the tracks, but I tripped. With my face in the dirt, I tried to pick myself up but my legs wouldn’t work. They had gone numb. The train’s headlights, shining brightly, momentarily blinded me. I knew I had only seconds before the train would overtake me.
In the seconds it took for the train to come closer, it felt like an eternity. I closed my eyes bracing myself for the impact. As I awaited my impending doom, I heard beating almost like footsteps becoming louder. The pace was increasing and coming closer.
I felt someone grab my arm and pull me across the tracks behind him. From the force of the pull I slid into the dirt on the other side of the tracks. I looked up at the train flying by in a streak of silver with blue lights emanating from underneath the cars.
Head pounding, I slowly scrambled to my knees straining my eyes to focus on the figure standing above me. I saw his lips moving, but I struggled to understand what he was saying. I was still slowly trying to come to my senses. With the adrenaline rush passing, I began to feel the pain. Almost like surfacing from a pool I was hit with a strong wave of agony. I struggled to concentrate on what the figure was saying as he came into focus. “Ruby, you’ve been shot. We have to get you somewhere safe before I can fix you.” I must have looked the way I felt because he asked “Ruby can you hear me? It’s Lukas.” I opened my mouth to respond but a weak voice that didn’t sound much like me squeaked out a “Yes.”
Nausea fading away, I felt the throbbing pain in my abdomen. I tried to keep pressure on the wound to keep it from bleeding as much as possible. He propped me up on his shoulder and began moving again.
We made our way over to the wall of the tunnel, fumbling around in the dark searching for an escape route. Groping blindly, I felt my way along the wall with one hand until I found a small abandoned passageway concealed in the dark. Scrambling up the steep passage was difficult, but we soon emerged finding ourselves in a dimly lit room.
This room we had stumbled on was covered wall to wall in dusty shelves. Everything appeared undisturbed as if no one had been there for several years. Everything appeared undisturbed as if no one had been here for years. The surrounded shelves were littered with strange objects.
Lukas helped me hobble over to a wooden desk sitting in the corner of the room. I was able to get a good look at the bullet hole in my stomach. There were first aid supplies in the room, which I was able to make good use of to get the bullet out. Once it was out I made some crude stitches to close the wound.
TO BE CONTINUED…
