book of one shots

[3] Run! (From The Scientist Who Wronged You) [Thinknoodles]

I made it! I'm free!
My instinct is to cheer or sigh, but I've got to be quiet. God knows what security he's got. I clench my fists and begin to run as fast as possible towards the darkened horizon.
Unfortunately, I'm quite slow. I'm Thinknoodles, 42 years of age and a general old person. I've lost any sporting ability that I had in my youth - which to be honest wasn't a lot - and I generally walk or take transport to places.
I'm running pretty quickly right now, though I'm probably going slower than I think.
You see, one of my best friends - Dan was his name - snapped. He was a scientist, and he just...I don't even know what happened to him. But when I next saw him, he wasn't the same.
He was insane.
I don't know what happened to the others. I saw their cells but I didn't - no, couldn't risk getting them out.
I just hope they'll be okay.
I run into a forest and throw a slightly broken stick in the opposite direction that I'm going in, so hopefully he'll lose my track. Then I keep running.
I run through the forest, not following a singular path but rather just running in and around the trees. I think it's a birch forest, but I can't be sure. I can feel the wind flowing through my hair, hitting against my skin. It's not my problem.
The moon sometimes shines a path that I can take, but I only stay on a path for about 1 minute. I can't be predictable.
Whenever I hear the cracking of a skeleton's bones or the hissing of a spider, I run in the opposite direction. I'm in no position to take them on. I just need to keep going, keep going until I find safety.
Eventually, I begin to lose feeling in my legs. I'm still stuck in the same forest and I feel like I've just been running in circles. The rims of daylight seem to be appearing, and I know I've got to keep going. The mobs will disappear.
I'll run out of stamina soon and will need to eat. But I haven't got a chance at that yet.
Who knows how long I've been running for? One hour? Five hours? I can't have been running for so long, I would have collapsed by now.
Maybe what he did to me has a factor, but what he did wasn't meant to be helpful, right? He's not dumb, he'd know I'd have tried to escape. So what did he do to me?
All I know is that I can run. And so I do.
It's when I hear the beeping that I begin to feel my heart beat again, hear my breathing. He must be around here, where would he be? I look around and try and run faster but I'm stuck at one pace and it doesn't seem to be getting closer or father. In fact, it seems to be right by me.
I look to my side and notice a glow in my arm. Out of all the possibilities, only one thing pops into my mind.
A tracking device.
Dan must have woken up and noticed I went missing, turned it on and will be looking for me. Crap, crap, crap!
I grab the nearest loose stick off a tree as I pass by it and try my best to make an incision with it. If I'm actually moving, I've at least got a head start.
It takes some time, but I finally get a cut and without thinking stick my hand in it. It's not even painful, but there's quite a bit of blood.
That doesn't matter right now.
I dig around and pull out the grey and red device. It's beeping pretty loudly, so I quickly throw it to the side and run in a different direction.
I use my hand and my gloves to staunch the flow. If he's not put off by the tracker, he'll notice the bloodstream and follow that.
It's pretty much daylight, and I spot a flaming zombie by a tree. Rachelle sometimes told me, when she was out doing medical stuff, she would sometimes set smaller blood vessels alight to stop the flow. That's perfect.
I set the stick that I have in my hand and poke the zombie with it. The tell-tale orange and yellow flames appear and I put it by the cut.
This is probably the dumbest thing I've ever done. It's. So. PAINFUL.
I think this is only for SMALL cuts. When I hit water, I'll need to use it. For now, I allow my glove to burn up.
I haven't burned myself before. I was a careful child, so I wasn't ever hurt in that way.
I still think the worst kind of pain is shortness of breath.
I hit a river. It's good, but I'll need to deviate off it soon. For now, I pick up water with one hand and throw it onto the wound on the other. It calms the pain instantly, so after about 5 minutes of this, I run off.
Who knows how long I've been going for? The sun is beating down on me and is getting in my eyes, so it must be early morning. The fact I'm seeing changes in terrain means I must be moving away. Thank god.
I feel a slightly warmer breeze brush against my face. I look down, and what do I see? Sand.
I'm in a desert.
I know this is really bad. I can easily hurt myself on cacti and it's easy to see me if Dan wanted me back.
I've hit a bad situation.
My legs are completely numb so I can't stop them when they go straight in. I'm trying my best to turn and stop myself, but I can't.
The terrain is flat and easy to navigate though., so I keep running. I even manage to slide across the floor.
So I continue running like my life depends on it (which it does) through the desert.
Morning turns into afternoon somewhat quickly. I'm seeing things, people running at me, mobs coming at my face, phantoms flying above... Then my luck suddenly strikes up.
Things get dark and as I look around, I notice I'm in a place with tall trees, rough terrain and lots of vines. It's a biome I've been in before but I can't place the name. I see bushes, cats, villagers, snails, things that I shouldn't be seeing and I can't put my name on them. I proceed.
Well, I proceed for as long as I can before I start to feel woozy. I try to stop myself from running but I can't stop. I slip into a major panic.
Oh god oh god I'm probably having an attack I'm gonna die I don't have an inhaler
Then I notice the drop, and the ravine in the distance. I try to turn but I can't.
I can't stop I can't stop stop stop stop sTOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP
I feel myself floating for a few seconds as I fall. Then everything goes dark as I hear a thud on the floor.
~~~
A/N WHOOPS I FORGOT TO UPDATE THIS DAILY AGAIIIIINNNN so you'll just get updates as I remember I suppose, anyways I'm really feeling the 'there's not enough Thinknoodles fics that aren't weird' vibes so have a (relatively old, this was from before Justin's 43rd birthday (2020)) fic which is Justin centered which isn't NSFW : ) but then again he did nearly die at the end so maybe it is still off