Tex tossed her like a rag doll down the stairs to the basement. She cried out as she fell hard on her arm, yet another pain to deal with. Then she was thrown into darkness once again as Tex shut the door behind her.
Aby knew she had to act fast. She didn’t want to die there in the basement. She didn’t want the rats to get her. Her hands were shaking badly from the pain and her arm felt out of place, but she reached in her pocket to find the matches.
They weren’t there.
Aby cursed. They must’ve fallen out of her pocket as she fell. Struggling against the pain and still only half mobile because of the ties around her wrists and ankles, she fumbled around for them. By the time she found the matchbox, she was clinging hard to consciousness. She knew if she could just light a match and burn away her ties she would be okay…
But the pain was too much. Her feeble fingers wouldn’t work in her favour. As she tried desperately just to light the match, she felt herself slipping away...
Eighteen
Jake
Running for his life was starting to feel far too familiar to Jake. As he and Megan raced away from the gang, he felt adrenaline rise in him once again. But he was running on fumes. He was tired of trying to escape. It felt like there was always something to run from and the thought was exhausting. Maybe he could just slow down...maybe he could just let the gang catch him and allow Megan to get away...after all, once again, he’d gotten her into trouble.
But his feet kept moving regardless. They’d had a good head start so in theory, they should be able to outrun the group of men. They were all bigger than Jake and Megan, built for force, not for speed. But the pair of them were injured. Smoke still clung to their lungs and Jake found himself getting breathless a lot quicker. Even though when Jake looked over his shoulder and saw that the four men were carrying large, heavy branches as weapons, they were gaining on them quickly. Unless the men lost stamina quickly, they were eventually going to catch up.
“What are we going to do?” Jake panted. “They’re nearly on us.”
“What else can we do? Just keep running,” Aby rasped. “And hope to God they don’t catch us.”
Jake knew that the plan wasn’t going to save them, but he didn’t have a better one. He felt like an antelope being chased by a pack of lions. Everyone knew what the outcome would be. Only the strong survive, after all.
And Jake wasn’t strong anymore.
He tripped up as he ran and Megan scurried back to help him onto his feet, but the precious seconds lost by the slip up were dangerous. The men were so close now that Jake could make out their faces closer. They were led by the one who had beaten him up. The one he’d rescued from the fire was the only one not present. Maybe he’d tried to stick up for Megan and Jake again...maybe they’d finished him off too…
Jake couldn’t let his thoughts cloud his desperation to survive. Instead, he thought of Aby. It made him run harder even though his legs and his lungs burn. He wondered if maybe they should stop and fight. It was two on one and Megan wasn’t a great fighter, but it was better than running out of steam from running and being unable to fight for their lives. He almost suggested it aloud, but he knew that he was the reason they were running in the first place. Megan would never go for that idea.
The thudding of his heart and the sound of footsteps behind him fell in time with one another. Megan veered off ahead of him, clearly attempting to confuse the gang with sudden movements. Her body was more nimble than theirs and more capable of quick changes. Jake crashed after her through the trees, feeling less and less in control of his own movements as his body tired out. Aby kept rushing through his mind. If she was here, he’d stand beside her and fight. They could survive or die together. How could he convince himself to keep doing this when he wasn't even sure she was the light at the end of the tunnel? If she was dead, then all of these struggles were for nothing.
But he owed it to Megan to keep going. She’d be safe now if it wasn’t for him and his poor judgement. She’d saved his life. He couldn’t just throw it away.
They were running alongside the main road now. There were houses in view. Megan glanced over her shoulder at Jake and it was clear they were thinking the same thing. This could be their salvation. Maybe they’d find someone to take pity on them. Maybe they’d have a fighting chance if they could find someone to take their side.
Jake leapt over a garden fence and ran to a window to knock and try to catch someone’s attention, but in his eagerness, his shoulder crashed against the glass and it cracked a little before shattering. Jake couldn’t contain his shock, but Megan pushed him forward.
“Climb in,” she insisted. “It might be our only way to escape now.”
Jake did as she asked. He’d caused enough trouble. He winced as he scratched his leg on some glass, but he tumbled inside, looking around him. The house was dark without any lights, but it still seemed like it was abandoned.
Megan clambered in behind him, breathing hard. She wiped sweat from her brow.
“I don’t think they saw us go in here...we might have just slipped away from
