More than just a game.
1016 Words
When I get closer, I can see someone crouched down with a flashlight in his hand. It's the passenger... I'm gripped with fear... I came to a stand still. Do I run towards him or do I run away from him?
"This way... I'll help you get out of here..."
He whisper yells, he rises and starts walking towards me...
"Hurry, they're coming."
***
I stopped at a local food stall and ordered take out for myself and my siblings and I added something for Beth too. Thinking about that night always leaves goose bumps on my skin. I'm still here. I made it, but at what cost? Are we as humans not supposed to love each other? Isn't that what the bible teaches us?
But then again, the bible teaches us so many things, yet we as humans fail over and over again. We disobey, disrespect, we lie, we steal, we cheat. We do everything the bible tells us not to. Then we have the nerve to blame God when things don't go our way or when something bad happens and when something bad happens we remember to pray.
I would agree that bad things sometimes happen to good people. I'll be the first to say that God gets the blame for it, because let's face it, that's what we do as humans. I blamed him for so many things that went wrong in my life, for taking my mum away from me, for not bringing her back, so I'm not here to judge anyone...
But what could make you lose so much of your humanity to make you want to hurt another person? To destroy their soul, to break their spirit like it was your right to do it? What could have made you so out of touch with who you once were to defile someone, to take someone's right to the word no?
Who gave you the damn right to hurt anyone? To make them feel dirty, useless and devoid of life? It felt as though God didn't want me, like he wanted me to die, but the devil decided he wasn't done with me. He wanted me to live with the things others did to me, like for the rest of my life the devil would never be finished with me.
My order number gets called, and I collect my food then walk the rest of the 10 minutes home... It's taking me longer because I'm in no rush to get home... the air is cold, and it nips at my bare arms. I shudder, but not because of the cold... it's the memory of that night. I hate to think about it, but it sneaks up on me when I least expect it to.
***
I ran towards him as he stalked forward towards me. He took me into his embrace as soon as I was within his reach and guided me towards what looked like a dirt road... when I fell to my knees... I doubled over in excruciating pain, something hit me in the back, something sharp enough to pierce through the back and stick out in the front.
The passenger guy helped me to my feet and looked at the place I was clutching. He shone the flashlight. I looked down and gasped. Those fuckers shot me with an arrow. This was more than just a game for them. I was slowly realizing that they would hunt me down like live f*****g cattle, like deer or a mousse.
They meant to cripple me by any means possible so that I wouldn't make it out. The arrow stuck out so far, the passenger guy broke off the tip and removed the arrow so fast it was over before it had even begun... the pain or maybe the loss of blood was making it hard for me to keep my eyes open.
"We have to keep going. They are not that far behind us."
I knew he was right. I knew that if we didn't keep moving they would catch up to us.
"I can't im so tired."
I whisper...
"Just a little more, I have a car waiting for us just over that hill."
I look up to where he is pointing and take a deep painful breath. I can make it, I tell myself, then look at him and give him a nod. He wraps an arm around my back, careful not to hurt me too much and half pulls me alongside him... we're almost there. I remind myself every few steps, just breath, one foot in front of the other...
It's awfully quiet, there are no more footsteps running towards us from behind, then it hits me. Those things I heard flying through the air were arrows. I stop and look up at the guy...
"Do you hear that?"
I asked him.
"Hear what? We need to keep going."
"Exactly, I don't hear anything. Maybe they left."
"Trust me, they didn't. Now let's move."
I started walking again, but something wasn't right...
***
I get to Beth's tent and Tayo is the first to get up and greet me, mostly because he wants to take the food from me first before the others get to it... I thank Beth hand her the food, pay her for the day, then gather the kids and food and head to our tent... Sammy is outside his tent drunk as a skunk sipping on a bottle of wine straight from the bottle.
"And there she is."
He slurrs
"Drinking again?"
I asked with a raised brow.
"I've only had one sip."
"That must have been one hell of a sip."
Arthur says to him, making us all laugh...
He mumbles some s**t about how the rain is coming. I tossed him a few bills, and I shook my head with a smile. There's no way I can stay mad at him, and get everyone inside... He's my best friend, but his drinking has become out of control... the guy can't even cope without a bottle of something strong in his hand.
- Writer
