Cast The Die

Chapter Twenty-Three

I've been on the floor for over four days, I don't even know if my legs work anymore. I shuffle onto my knees and put my hands on the ground in front of me, my legs are already shaking, and my head is still throbbing. I push myself up slowly onto my feet because if I move too fast, I know I'll pass out. I put my hands on the wall, hoping my legs don't fail me. I take a step forward, gaining some balance but the muscles in my legs start to spasm and I fall against the shutter. Shit. I don't hear any footsteps at the end of the corridor so I'm assuming there is nobody there. I push myself up and wobble to the other side of the wall with my hands out in front of me, how am I supposed to run if I can't even walk?

After walking around the unit a few times, I regain the movement back in my legs and I'm able to stand without holding onto the wall. It's like being a toddler learning to walk for the first time, except I don't have my parents watching me, preparing to catch me when I fall.

The door at the end of the corridor opens and I hear the footsteps. When the shutter opens, Cole is stood there, holding a black duffle bag.

"Quick," he throws it to me. "I couldn't get anything else, there's a chocolate bar and another bottle of water" I opened the bag and pulled out a black zip-up hoody, is this his? "Put it on" he said sternly. I wrapped the jacket around my body and zipped it up, it was soft against my cold and tender skin. "Eat. And drink the water" he demanded. I did what he said.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"How do you feel? Can you walk?" his voice is stern, not soft like it was before.

"I'm fine. I can walk" I lied.

"I have a car at the other side of this building, we need to go now. We only have ten minutes or so before they come back and realise what I've done" he said. He turned to walk out of the unit but instead of turning left, he turned right. I don't know what's at the end of this corridor, I didn't prepare for this. I stumbled out of the unit and covered my eyes to shield them from the bright light. He's already ahead of me and my legs are starting to shake.

"Wait..." I said, trying to catch my breath. "I don't think I can" I gasped. He held out his hand to me and I staggered towards him. He's wearing gloves now.

"At the end of this corridor, we're turning right, there's another long corridor, about eight or nine units. At the end of that one, we turn left down another corridor, eight or nine units. At the end of..."

"I'm already lost" I interrupt him. When we turn right at the end, the door behind us opens.

"Hey!" a man's voice shouts.

"Fuck, we need to run!" Cole grabbed my arm and started running. My legs couldn't keep up, I was stumbling with every step. I could hear the footsteps behind us getting closer and my breath was getting shorter. I'm not going to make it. Cole continues to pull me along; he reaches into his pocket with his right hand and puts it over his left shoulder. What is that? Suddenly, my ears are ringing, and my vision goes blurry. I can't hear anything, it's like I've got my fingers in my ears and Cole's voice is echoing through my head. Gunshot sounds fill the corridor and I'm still being pulled like a dog that doesn't want to go on a walk. "If you don't run faster, we're both fucking dead" he shouted.

"You're dead anyway, you bastard!" the man shouted from behind us. Come on Macey, you can do this. I start running as fast as I can, tripping over my own feet. Cole pulled me up every time I nearly hit the deck, he's so strong.

"Left here, then through the door and down the stairs" Cole shouted. Stairs. Oh god. He kicked the door open with his foot and pushed me through, this time I hit the deck, hard. I flew down the first flight of stairs headfirst, somersaulting to the bottom, hitting every bone in my body on the metal steps. The ringing in my ears gets louder with every knock to the head. I hear more gun shots, but I don't see Cole anywhere. I reach up for the railing and drag myself to my feet. "Macey, run!" I looked up to see him running down the steps towards me. He's bleeding. I go as fast as I can down the next flight of stairs, I lean over the railing to see how far up we are and there's at least another six flights. More gunshots. I hear the bullets ricochet off the metal railing as well as the footsteps getting closer behind me. "Don't stop running" Cole shouted. I looked up to see him behind me, holding his arm.

"Are you hurt?" I asked him.

"Don't fucking stop! Run" he shouted. I looked up at him once more and saw the shadow behind him.

"Cole watch out!" I shouted. The man that was chasing us kicked Cole in the back and he bolted forward down the steps, taking me with him. We landed at the bottom in a heap, if my ribs weren't broken before, they are now.