He'll come through

Chapter 5 - On the run

Quinn’s eyes were fixed on the road, he was accelerating all the time and the bumping and unsteadiness of the road, coupled with Lilah ducking out of view meant she was in agony all over again.

Looking up at him she could see his eyes darting through the darkness.

                “I’m going to have to go off road....”

With that he swerved heavily to the right, as he did he switched off the headlights.  The car bounced across the scrub and she clung on to the handle above the door, for grim life. As she lifted her head she spotted the car to her left, across the road at an angle, Quinn had cut past the rear of the car and immediately the red car started to reverse trying to catch them in their head lights. Quinn trundled at a ridiculous speed over the rough ground before driving past a few isolated trees.

The other car was trying to turn as quickly as possible, but they were still at right angles to the road. Quinn knew they could hardly see them in the dark night, so he turned dramatically and drove across the road and off in the opposite direction. They could barely make out hills in the distance, but they hit so many potholes and divots that he knew they’d soon have to abandon the car.  Less than a minute later there was a bang and he knew that the last few metres had ruined at least one tyre.

                “We’ve got to make it on foot, stay in front of me; I’ll keep an eye out behind.”

Lilah climbed out of the car, they had nothing other than the bag of bottled water, and the gun she spotted Quinn grab from the foot well.

                “Up there!” he gestured to the hillside in the distance and they set off at a run.

When she glanced back she could see headlights behind them, “are they catching us?”

                “Don’t look back, just keep going...”

Her lungs felt ready to explode as she dragged in chilly night air, this was ridiculous she thought, all those hours she’d spent in the gym, the first adrenaline flushed run and she was panting like a dog. Quinn on the other hand seemed to have night vision, skipping over rocks, grabbing her arm every time she stumbled.  The ground was hard, but covered in light sand that made it slippery, every now and again she reached out for a branch, or Quinn to steady herself.

The incline was steep and Lilah could think of nothing but reaching the top as she scrambled after him. They were half way up when the headlights of the red car illuminated the vehicle they’d abandoned, but keeping up their pace, soon they’d left any hint of those lights behind and in the absence of any obvious following footfall, they slowed a little.

                “You ok?” Quinn whispered as they scaled a particularly steep rocky outcrop.

                “I’m fine. Where are we going?”

He climbed onto a flat ledge of rock then turned to help her, pulling her arm as she scrambled up to him. When she was level with him and drawing breath, he answered, “I’m thinking there must be some form of village or town near here. The only issue is whether the men who took us are local. We could be walking into a trap.” He reached into the sack and pulled out one of the bottles of water and a packet of crackers. Opening the bottle he tipped his head back and swallowed a few mouthfuls, then handed it to her as he unpeeled the wrapping on the crackers.

For a second Lilah turned up her nose at the thought of sharing a bottle of water with a virtual stranger, but drank when he laughed, it was after all drink or die!  The crackers were dry, but her empty stomach appreciated the influx of matter, even if it was so little an amount.  She squatted down glad to find her breath and watched as he studied his watch.