"Hurry! They're coming." I heard the strain in Anita's voice. She was scared, but she didn't want to show it. We never expected they'd find us.
"I thought were a long way away from the city. How were they able to follow us?" I asked, bewildered.
"We know the Church's secret. They'll do everything they can to silence us. We're fugitives now." Anita said - the loneliness evident in her voice. We could never go back. Ever.
"Are you sure you're just leaving like this? Why didn't you tell him about the child? He should take responsibility. Maybe his family can protect us." Philip finally talked after being quiet for hours.
"Are you out of your mind? The Council leader will have us beheaded. He'll protect his son, that's for sure, and he'll throw us under the bus." Anita said firmly. "Come on. Let's go."
I threw the last piece of clothing from the bed onto my backpack. We had been staying at the motel for days. We were too complacent, thinking they wouldn't be able to follow us there. We were so wrong. The Knights of the Church were more capable than we expected. It lead to us getting caught in a dilemma. We got out of the room and almost ran down the hallway to the nearest staircase. We started going down but then heard footsteps from below. The Knights were coming. It was the end.
"Come on!" Philip pulled me by the arm and we ran to the opposite direction. "The emergency exit is at the end of this hallway. Stop daydreaming and run!" He snapped me out of the trance.
I was an idiot. There was no point dreading the time we'd get caught. The only choice we had was to run and survive. The two were in the situation because of me. If I hadn't gotten them involved, they would have been enjoying their lives like they used to.
"Stop right there!" We heard a shout from behind. We didn't stop to look who it was. We knew exactly who they'd be. We heard a gunshot and the wall next to my head exploded.
We reached the end of the hallway and immediately opened the emergency exit. I couldn't remember everything that happened then. We just ran for our lives. I only remembered the pain in the soles of my feet and my hand turning red as I grabbed the rails while running down the staircase. Knights were waiting by the exit and Philip almost had his head cracked from the brawl. If it wasn't for Philip, we would have gotten caught already. Anita picked up the guns from the unconscious men. She lightly threw one at me and I got startled. I barely caught it.
"No way. I'm not using a gun." I said.
"Don't be such a baby. Do you want to get your head blown off?" She asked rhetorically.
"But—" I started to argue, but we heard more people shouting at us.
We ran outside across the wide pebbled parking lot. We swiftly hid behind a flashy red car. We tried to open it but to no avail. It was lock shut. Then we saw a truck ahead, with its windows rolled down. We thought the driver must be inside the motel for a quick errand but couldn't leave quickly due to the commotion. It was our only way to escape. But it was a few meters away. Running to the car seemed like a risky move.
"Go. I'll cover you." Anita said.
"What? No way! I'm not leaving you." I strongly disagreed.
"I'm not staying, silly. What I mean is you go first and I'll watch your backs." She explained.
"No. It's too dangerous. If you watch our backs then who'll watch yours?" Philip said. "I'll do it. You ladies go first."
"No. If anything happens to you, who'll protect Krista? You're the only one who can keep her safe to the end. I'll be fine." She gave us a reassuring smile, but it didn't make me feel reassured. Not one bit.
"On three. One, Two, go!"
We ran. Bullets flew everywhere. I ducked and ran as hard as I could. I risked a glance behind me and Anita was releasing bullets to the enemies while slowly moving towards us. She kept firing at the Knights without actually firing at them. She was shooting at the cars, at the concrete building, anywhere near the men. Of course, we weren't murderers after all. It was only a distraction. We reached the truck and relief flushed through me when I saw the key in the ignition. Fate was helping us. We hastily got into the truck. The Knights stopped firing at us and kept hiding from Anita's bullets.
"Anita! Let's go!" I called out to her.
She stopped shooting at them, and I realized she was out of bullets. Then she ran towards the truck. She was even smiling as she ran. Anita had always been the quiet, reserved type. The excitement must be overwhelming her and for the first time, she felt a thrill in her life. She was almost at the truck, but…
"Nooooo!" I screamed.
She stopped running a few feet from us and we watched in horror as a patch of blood started forming on her chest. She looked at us and opened her mouth. Go. That was the only thing she said, then she fell to the ground. The pebbles made a loud weird sound as her body fell over them. I grabbed the handle and tried to open the door, but Philip stopped me. Then bullets flew at us. Philip covered my head and ducked. A bullet hit the side mirror. Another bullet pierced through the car door and buried itself on my right knee. I cried in pain. Philip started the engine and drove off at full speed. The truck made a weird sound in revolt but Philip just stepped harder on the pedal.
I stared at the blood flowing from my knee. I didn't feel anything. The pain was overpowered by the grief I was feeling. It was slowly swallowing me whole. I let the tears fall and cried out loud. I heard Philip's silent sobs next to me. I knew he was feeling the same way. I knew he wanted to collapse and cry out loud. I also knew he was trying hard to fight it. To keep me safe. It was my entire fault. None of it would have happened if I hadn't gotten them involved. I should've kept things to myself and ran away on my own. But if I only ran away from the problem without doing anything, it wouldn't have been right. If we didn't destroy the research and set fire to the lab, the experiments would have gone on and more people would have been sacrificed. Then later, the war would ignite and more people would be put to danger. It was the right thing to do, but the sacrifice was just unbearable. I looked at Philip who had his eyes fixed on the road. Tears were flowing from his eyes but he didn't say anything. His hands were clenched tightly on the wheel, his knuckles almost turning white.
We drove for hours in silence. Neither of us talked while the rain poured and amplified the loneliness we were feeling. The rain grew even louder and the winds grew stronger. The truck growled – its body making weird metal noises. We wouldn't survive, the car wouldn't last. The thought kept repeating on my head. Philip drove more slowly and his face showed signs of fatigue.
"Pull over. Let me drive. You've been driving for hours." I said.
"No. I'm fine." He protested.
"No, you're not! Stop being so stubborn and just pull over!" I was practically yelling. I couldn't control the emotions that were trying to find their way out.
"I'm being stubborn? Tell yourself that!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I didn't know why. But those words stabbed me. I was getting overly sensitive, I knew then. But I couldn't help get angry.
"Nothing. Just go to sleep, okay?" He said, probably feeling sorry for what he said.
"No! I want to know what you mean by that. Is that what you think? Are those your real feelings? You blame me too, don't you? Then you shouldn't have gotten yourself involved in the first place. I didn't force you!" I was making excuses for my failure. I hated myself.
"No. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I---"
We saw a flash of light and heard the loud sound of a car horn. Everything happened so fast. Philip avoided the car and the car swerved. The car flipped off the road and I only saw darkness ahead as the car tumbled off a cliff. The car crashed down the cliff and I felt the hot sticky blood trickling down my face.
I stared at Philip's face next to me as I closed my eyes…