Chapter 11
Instincts move us to act. They always protect us. They’re always fighting for us. They always choose us. But it’s for us to decide, whether to follow or to go against them.
We’re going to die. No, we were not. We’re going to die.
“We’ll give you a blade. No funny business. Try turning on us, and we’ll cut your throats. Before you even know it. Now. Who goes first?”
Everyone stood still, not making a sound. No one wanted to become a murderer.
“This isn’t a trick, is it?”
Francis broke the silence.
Why was he asking? We weren’t supposed to agree. We couldn’t pander to them. There were more of us. We had to do something.
But what could we do?
The bald guy sneered and turned to look at Samael. The other guy was smiling, too. It’s like we were at a bar, playing darts.
“What choice do you have?”
There was none.
“Who hired you? Why are you killing everyone?”
Everyone’s head snapped to look at my classmate.
“Is this an interrogation, officer?”
The bald guy chuckled and nudged Samael.
Once he was done cackling, the bald guy came up to him, pushing the smaller guy back with his whole body.
He was a head taller and much bigger than him.
My classmate looked back at him defiantly.
Some could say he was brave. I thought he had a death wish.
Why was he drawing attention to himself?
“Because we fucking can. Any more questions, whelp?”
Think. Think. Think.
If someone were to distract them somehow, we’d find a way out. We’d have time to run to the woods. If we started running, what were the chances they’d start throwing knives or shooting at us?
Could they shoot us?
I didn’t see firearms on them, but that didn’t mean they had none. Maybe they got off on torture and guns were too boring for them. If they missed their chance to throw a knife, they’d open fire. We’d have to zig-zag.
It’d take about a minute to get to the woodline.
So long.
Is there another way out? Going back to the dorms wasn’t an option. Might as well stay here. I couldn’t run into the town, their tinted minivans with no license plates were parked on the lawn, blocking the road back to town.
There’s only the woods. Nothing but the woods.
People used to party in the woods. I knew where the party spot was, but had no idea, how wide the woods really were. What if I get lost? What if I never find my way back?
Doesn’t matter. I’d rather get lost than killed.
Screams to the left of us pulled me out of my thoughts. Everyone turned towards it and saw a guy fall to the ground. A knife was sticking out of his back, and one of the freaks kept throwing knives at his wounded frame. I quickly turned away.
“If you don’t wanna play, suit yourself.”
The bald guy took a few steps back, turned around and slammed the machete into my classmate’s head. Blood sprayed the left side of my face and my clothes .
Everyone screamed, but I just stood there, too shocked to react. I didn’t make a sound. Didn’t turn my head. Didn’t wipe the blood off. I stared at the forest.
Run to the forest. Run. Hurry. Run.
I heard the machete being pulled out of the skull with a squelch that made my stomach turn, threatening to expel its contents. The sound was becoming familiar. Like a nauseating song stuck in my head.
The guy’s body dropped to the ground, hitting my legs.
I was afraid to look down. Too afraid to look or think. I tried not to panic, to still my shaking knees.
Was I next?
“I’ll do it.”
Francis yelled and took a step forward.
The bald guy grinned, shaking his machete. Dark blood splatter stained the green grass, mixing with the crystal-clear raindrops.
Francis came up to Samael and the guy put the blade in his hand. Francis looked all of us over.
Was he going to choose? Was he really going to do it? Was he ready to kill?
I stood there, watching the woods, trying to ignore my own thoughts screaming at me.
“You.”
The choice was made.
I turned my head and saw Francis pointing at Lea.
Why her? He could have chosen anyone.
She came forward, like that was an order.
Francis approached her and put the blade to her neck. Lea looked him right in the eye. Her face was expressionless.
“I’ve never done this before. Show me how to do it right.”
Was he kidding? Was he really asking these freaks to show him the way to slaughter his girlfriend?
The bald guy and Samael broke into laughter .
“Grab it from the other side. You’re twisting your arm too much. Can’t cut a throat like this. And hold it closer to the base,” Samael explained.
“Like that?”
“No.”
Samael dropped his machete to the ground and came up to him, snatching the knife from his hand. He showed him how to hold the knife and gave it back to Francis.
Francis took it, turned back to Samael and drove the knife deep into his wind pipe in one swoop. The bald guy was about to strike them when Lea pulled out a pepper spray, spraying him in the face.
“Run!”
The moment Lea shouted, a knife hit her chest. It went in halfway. The bald guy threw it.
Run. Run. Run!
I tore off and ran so fast I got to the woodline in less than a minute.
Adrenaline fueled me. Twigs slashed my face, leaving tiny scrapes.
I was sliding on the wet grass. I almost fell, grabbing a tree branch to catch myself and scratching my right hand in the process.
It was like the woods were trying to stop me, but I didn’t care.
I didn’t feel pain, there were only soil under my shoes and adrenaline in my body.
I ran by the spot we used to party at. The circle of gray ash turned black. The grass here had been trampled down.
I looked at it for too long and tripped, falling on my left side. I hurt my hip on the solid ground. All the air got knocked out of my lungs.
I heard footsteps approaching and struggled to get to my feet. My hip hurt, feet were sliding in the mud. The girl with the bandage ran out from behind a tree.
What was her name?
She gave me a panicked, disoriented look. She ran up and put my left arm around her shoulder to help me up .
“He’s coming. He’s after us.”
She could barely speak through heavy breathing.
Her words hit me with a new wave of adrenaline, forcing me to get up through the pain.
“To the right,” I exhaled.
He knows we’re running straight ahead. We had to change our trajectory.
I ran so fast I lost sight of the girl for some time. I saw tall, dense bushes and hid behind them.
I saw the girl again after some time. Blood was dripping down her hand. She held her right hand close, trying to stop the bleeding. I peeked from behind the bushes and waved at her. She crouched down beside me and we began listening for any noises in the woods, trying to steady our breathing.
My heart was beating so fast I could feel the taste of blood in my mouth. We stayed quiet, looking ahead when we heard branches crunch to the left of us. I covered my mouth to hide the sounds of me breathing. I wanted to breathe through my mouth, but held myself back.
The bald guy ran, moving branches out of the way with one hand and holding the machete in the other. Suddenly, he stopped, listening for any sounds. His machete was stained crimson, just like the print on his sweatshirt.
Not this way.
He swore and ran ahead. Adrenaline began pumping through my body again, screaming for me to flee as fast as possible. The girl was about to get up, but I pulled her arm. I shook my head and she sat back down.
A few minutes passed, and we got to our feet.
We kept running. We ran so fast we didn’t even notice the woods had ended at first. A field with haystacks stretched out before us. We ran towards it and saw the bald guy to the left of us. He was standing there with his back to us. We got down quickly, hiding behind the first haystack.
“Piggies, I know you’re here. Come out.”
He was looking the opposite way. He’s bluffing. He didn’t know where we were.
I gripped the girl’s hand tight, looking in her eyes. She was pale, her eyes looked tired.
We were going to make it. We could. We just had to get to the next woodline.
I looked out gingerly and saw him walking by the haystacks on the opposite side of the field, checking them. We need to run. Run, while we still had the chance.
I peeked from the haystack again and saw him still jogging between the rolls of hay, looking for us. We ran out of our hide-out on bended knees, trying to crouch down as we ran.
We passed several more haystacks when I caught him walking towards us. I turned to look at her and saw her eyes were rolling back.
I slapped her cheeks lightly.
She raised her eyes to look at me.
“Run away.”
“No. We’ll go together.”
“Leave me here.”
“No.”
“Piggies, I’m getting really fucking sick of this shit. Come the hell out, or I’ll fucking kill you,” the bald guy’s voice was stomach-churning.
“I’m still scared of death, but I can feel it coming. I want to die knowing I paid her back.”
I pulled her right hand.
“Put your arm over my shoulder. We got only two haystacks left. Don’t give up. We’ll hide. I’ll hide you and run to find help.”
I tried lifting her up .
“I feel weak, my head’s spinning. Let me die. Let me repay my debt. I don’t want to die in vain.”
“You won’t die for nothing. I won’t let you die. I’ll stay with you.”
I lifted her up a bit.
She stood up straight. I tried pulling her back down before he noticed us, but she pushed me aside.
“Don’t,” I whispered.
She yelled out, looking his way,
“Hey, you, bald fuck, I’m here. Your dumbass couldn’t even find me right under your nose. And you call yourself a butcher?”
I jumped up and pulled her towards the woods.
“Please, let’s go. Please. We can still escape.”
Tears welled up in my eyes.
“You’re dead, bitch,” he roared.
I saw the bald guy running our way. Time was running out for us. He was too close.
“I made my choice. I choose death. Now make yours and choose this God-damn life.”
My heart broke when she said that.
Was I supposed to stay? Run? Fight him off together? With what? Should I look for a stick? Should I cover her? Was I supposed to die with her? What was I to do? What?
She got down on the ground and threw a handful of sand in his face when he was close. The bald creep screamed, spitting curses and swinging his machete every which way.
“Run!”
She yelled out, turning towards me, and the next moment I saw her head fly off her shoulders. It fell and rolled on the ground like a soccer ball. Her open eyes stared at me. Her body dropped on the side like it never even knew life.
The bald guy wiped the blood from his face in disgust, like it was her fault he got sprayed with it .
Adrenaline ran through my entire body like a high-voltage current, filling it with powerful energy.
I took off to the woods, only one word ringing in my head, “run”.