[Day 249] Eugenia, part 10

Read part 9 here!

We spent only a few hours more in the cell. They soon led us outside again and marched us to a bus that resembled a smaller version of the bus I’d originally been taken away in. Again, we were not tied to anything, as we hadn’t given them much of a fight. The wardens assumed we’d given up by choice.

Asher may have given up, but Gruber and I weren’t done fighting. One tap on my shoulder from him and we were off running.

“Oi! Not again!” A shot rang out, and my stomach dropped. This time, they weren’t messing around. It didn’t matter how we died this time, as long as we were dead.

Gruber grabbed my arm and all but dragged my short legs alongside of his long ones. Everyone was yelling, but eventually my heavy breathing drowned out everything else. We ducked around corners, finally making our way onto a crowded street. People stared at us like we were crazy, and I didn’t blame them. We hadn’t been allowed to bathe since our newest bout of captivity. Shouting from behind us lit the adrenaline in our veins again, and we resumed running. After a while, I stopped apologizing to the people I ran into, saving my breath for what I knew would be a long run. Only one more shot was fired, and Gruber stumbled a bit, but we didn’t stop.

We stopped running as twilight fell, and when the oxygen returned to my brain I wondered aloud why they’d stopped pursuing us.

“This.” Gruber sat down, hard, and lifted his shirt. The shot I’d heard had hit its target.

“Jesus, Gruber, you’re bleeding like mad!” I yanked his shirt the rest of the way off and placed it carefully over the gushing wound.

“It’s too late, Meg. Don’t bother.” he croaked, patting me weakly on the shoulder. “I’m sure they figured I’d be dead soon, and you’d turn yourself in because no one is left to take care of you.”

“Well, they’re wrong! You’re not dying!” Although my face was numb, I could feel the warm tears trailing down my dirty cheeks.

“Yes, kid, I am. Promise me you’ll keep going, ok? There’s still a chance to change these policies. Don’t let me die in vain.”

“Gruber, you’re not going to-”

“Like hell am I going to die while arguing with you, Meg. Shut up for a second.”

I complied, sitting back on my heels. My hands were shaking, so I crossed my arms across my body.

“Alright. What have we learned today?” Gruber finally asked, quietly.

“Not to trust anyone?”

He chuckled. “Wrong. Don’t date younger men.”

My laugh mixed with my sobs as I gripped Gruber’s hands, long after they’d gone cold.

Continued in part 11