Joseph

The sound of my heart thudding inside my chest seemed to echo off the wall of the cement room I was locked in. The only thing that separated my most trusted men and I were thinly spaced metal bars. I literally felt like I was in prison for the crimes I'd committed. We'd sat in silence for the last couple of hours. No one daring to even whisper a word fearing the rage that was boiling just below my cool surface.

The door of the box we were encaged in opened for moment then slammed closed again. Just enough time for an enraged Cameron to slip through and stomp his way to me. I didn't give him the respect of looking at him. Instead I kept my eyes trained forward on one of the many metal bars that separated us.

He just stood there for a moment staring at me with his accusing eyes. "What have you done Joseph?" He whispered. "What have you done with her?!" His teenage voice continued getting louder and louder. For the first time in hours my face displayed emotion. My eyes shot up in surprise. Her. Could it be that he was taking about my Jessica. That she had escaped. "Where is she!" He burst and grabbed ahold of the metal bars separating us.

My mind swirled as hope spread through me, warming my entire body. My muscles unclenched from their frozen state. I rose to my feet and approached him. "I don't know Cameron." His hands were wrapped around the bars. When I was close enough I whipped my hand out and grabbed him by the shirt collar. When he realized what was happening he frantically tried to scramble backwards but it was too late. I pulled forward hard and his head came in contact with the metal. The sound echoed around the room. With my one hand holding him up I reached with my other hand and fished around in his pockets.

A wicked grin spread across my face and I felt the key card that locked the door. I pulled it out of his jeans pocket and let Cameron fall to the floor in a heap, blood trickling out of a gouge on his head. I slid the card in front of the electronic lock and held it there until the door beeped and opened slightly. I strolled out and stepped over my unconscious cousin's body.

I used the same card to unlock the cell next to mine and the rest of my crew was set free.

"Alright let's get out of here now. They wouldn't be expecting us to try escaping this early." I spoke confidently as to inspire courage in my exhausted team.

"But boss won't they be on even more alert with Jessica gone?" One of the strongest fellows on the team piped in.

"If anything it was have the people here spread more thin. We have to be really careful of the guys they have outside looking for her outside the compound. I know they won't just let her escape. We have to find her first."

At first they didn't seem too keen about the whole going out and looking for Jessica idea but I know that I wasn't about to leave without her, and they weren't about to leave without me. Pride swelled in my heart at the display of their loyalty.

"Right then. Let's go." I opened the door just wide enough for me to stick my head out and see if anyone was there. I stuck my head out and came face to face with a guard. "Hello there." I said casually as he panicked and grabbed a walkie-talkie off of his belt. Before he could say anything into it I shoved the door wide open smashing a guy I hadn't noticed standing there. I proceeded to snatch the walkie-talkie out of his hand. The young guy looked at me fearfully with hands held out in front of him.

"Please you can go. I won't tell anyone." I pleaded scampering backwards.

"Well how generous of you." Me men filed out of the room behind me into the dimly lit corridor. "But I have somewhere very important to be. And I can't have you running off and telling someone we've gotten out." With that I clocked him in the side of the head and he fell instantly to the floor.

"You know you've gotten everybody we've seen so far boss." I grinned and started forward.

"Don't worry. There will be a lot more to come."

Jessica

I laid on the ground after running as far as I could and then some. I tried to hide myself as much as I could by scooting slightly under a bush, burying my feet in the dirt, and pulling large loose leaves over myself. I lay frozen on the cold hard ground.

The thought of small critters didn't even cross my mind as I laid as still as a statue. Keeping even my breathing shallow and slow. The thought of being caught and brought back to the compound was terrifying.

The sun was beginning to rise making it infinitely harder for me to stay hidden. My mind screamed at me to get up and keep running, but my body physically refused to get up.

So I stayed put. My last thought was of Joseph and his brave men and their safety. I questioned my decision to leave until my body gave up and refused to stay conscious any longer.

Even in sleep I couldn't find peace from my scary reality. Nightmares plagued me constantly. Nightmares of the people manifested as monsters in my life. No matter how much I tried to shake them out of my head they wouldn't go away.

I woke up when I heard people shouting around me. My heart picked up when my brain began to register sounds.

"Oh Jessica?" I heard the voices shout. "Come out come out where ever you are. No need to hide honey we won't hurt you.... much." I could hear multiple people laugh afterwards. I clenched my fists and prayed that if I was going to be found, that it wouldn't be by these bozos.

I watched them walk around where I was hid. I remembered all of the horror movies where the person was hiding while the killer walked around next to them. In the end the killer always knew they were there they were just taunting them. I prayed once again that this wasn't the case.

I didn't breath out relieved when they finally passed through the area. I knew that there would be more sooner or later. I waited for a long while, then summoned all of my strength and courage and slowly hauled myself up off the ground. I crept low to the ground quickly and quietly.

My mouth was completely dry. My scratchy throat begged me to drink something, but there was nothing to drink. My stomach growled and growled and didn't stop until I found a road. I know that if there was a road here there mush be a small town nearby. People nowadays didn't use cars unless it was within a town. Gas was hard to come by and not cheap. People traveled by plane and train, that were fueled with something different. I don't know I never paid much attention.

For there to be a paved here meant I was close to civilization again. I stayed in the green shrub until I got to a small building. I could see other small houses beyond that. When I looked even farther I could see a huge crowd of people gathered together in a huge town center.

"What the?" I whispered to myself and moved along the sides and backs of buildings until I was close enough to see what was going on. The crowd was huge. The whole town was here! I squinted to try and see to the front. I gasped when my eyes were finally able to see what was there. Romano was here. He looked to be addressing the crowd, however I couldn't hear. He was no doubt talking about me.

"Awesome." I growled and slinked back to the outskirts of town. Trying peoples doors to see if any of them were locked. I knew that it was obviously wrong to break into people's houses, but I was in desperate need of water.

"Thank goodness!" I huffed when finally a door swung open. I closed it carefully and tiptoed around to try and find the kitchen. I didn't want to make any noise invade someone was home. I entered the kitchen and searched the room for a water bottle. I found a metal container in a cupboard and quickly filled it with water. Then I raided the pantry. Grabbing only things that didn't need to be refrigerated. I held the items in my hands, but quickly decided that it would be worth it to search for a bag to carry the items. After finding one I left the house and closed the door. Leaving it just as I found it minus a water bottle, some food, and a backpack. Maybe they wouldn't even notice.

I ran back to the trees after. I kept running until the sun was down once again. I took a granola bar out of my bag and ate it slowly, hoping that if i did it would fill me up more.

My stitches ached and throbbed. My head pounded and my arm felt like it was dead. If only. The pain made it impossible to believe it was dead.

I sat there alone in complete darkness. I was afraid, but I was even more afraid of going to sleep. I could still picture the terrible images that plagued my dreams. So I sat wide awake. Paranoid about every sound that was made.

Now I was more concerned about animals. I knew there were some rabid beasts out here. Romanos men probably wouldn't be this far away from the house. I was counting on him thinking that I stopped at the small down. Little did he know I was long gone already.

The wind picked up making the air cooler around me. I hugged myself. I was still wearing a nightgown, and my feet were still bare. They bled from running through the trees.

The next morning I was exhausted. My feet moved much more sluggish and slow. But I forced them to keep moving forward. I wound glance wearily every so often to the side as I heard unseen animals moving around.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I found another road. I followed it. This time staying close to the side instead of hiking though the trees like I had before, trying to save my feet some pain. I walked into the town, I could only imagine what I looked like going by the stares the people on the streets gave me.

I walked into the train station. And found a decent looking man that might me generous. "Excuse me sir." I tapped his shoulder. "Could you spare a quarter or 2. I really need to use the phone."