Run Faster

The crew had spotted us, and they were hot on our heels. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I broke into a run, the other girls following close behind.

At this point I carried the dry voice girl as I have come to describe her due to the absence of her name on my back, she was close to weightless anyway.

We followed the purple haired girl as she ran.

"This way!" the purple-haired girl yelled, her voice frantic.

We rounded a corner, the lifeboat now in sight. A burst of hope surged through me, but it was quickly extinguished as the sound of a gunshot rang out. One of the crew members had taken aim, the bullet lodging itself into the wood just inches from my head.

"They're shooting at us!" I cried, my body tensing. "Keep moving!"

We raced towards the lifeboat, ignoring the bullets whizzing past us.

We got into the boat, bullets flew around like flies.

Thank God the boat was a big one, before another, the boat was full. There were five girls remaining.

“We have to carry each other so we can make space for the others, we won’t sink if we row fast enough” i said. To be honest, I myself didn’t believe what I just said, if there was too much weight on the boat, It’ll sink. I only hope it doesn’t.

The girls did as I said.

Dry voice girl still on my back, I carried her like a baby. I was used to caring for others, my papa had been sick all my life and we never give up on him. I just hope he is alright and that the news of my disappearance doesn’t hurt him much.

“Bang!” 

That was the sound of some receiving a bullet

“Splash!

It was a really big splash, I turned my head to see one of the girls fall overboard, her scream cut short as the frigid water swallowed her whole. The terror on her face etched itself into my mind like a permanent scar. One of the girls fell into the water, she had been shot just before my eyes.

In the midst of chaos, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. 

They were screams from all the girls around me.

“If you girls return back, we won’t see a need to kill you but if you don’t, we’ll keep shooting. Just come back like the really good girls that you are”

That psychotic voice I had now grown accustomed to, the voice that belonged to my tormentor spoke as eerie and calmly as possible into the voice amplifier.

I knew he was lying. If the girls went back, they’d be killed. That is the truth.

“Row, row, just keep rowing!” I told the girls. We kept going.

“What if he is telling the truth?” A girl asked.

“You expect someone who had us locked in a ship for months to say a word of truth? You must be joking.”

Months? Some of these girls had been here for months?

“Bang!“

One of the girls rowing the boat received a bullet on her right arm. 

She let out a loud scream. And fell to the wooden floor of the boat. Another girl took after her rowing spot. 

One of the girls quickly placed her hand on the spot where the other girl had been shot so as to help her not lose a lot of blood.

As we rowed a little far from the ship, I saw from a distance other life boats coming our way, they were shooting at us.

“They are coming! Row, row, keep rowing, don’t give up!” I urged the girls, panic growing inside of me.

As the lifeboats closed in, the tension thickened, the air heavy with the stench of fear and sweat. My hands tightened around the oars, my fingers numb with fatigue. But I pushed on, driven by a primal urge to survive.

"Keep rowing!" I screamed, my voice hoarse from desperation. "We're almost there!"

The bullets continued to fly, ricocheting off the lifeboat and splintering the wood around us. One of the girls cried out in pain, her hand gripping her shoulder as she slumped against the side of the boat. But we couldn't stop.

I saw a dark place, it looked like a forest not so far from us

“Let’s row to this forest” I screamed as I motioned to the forest I was talking about.

“Yes, we are able to get there, we can use the darkness to hide and escape”

The purple haired girl responded.

The whimper of fear girls and the painful winces from the wounded girls broke my heart.

With a newfound sense of hope, we rowed harder, faster. Each stroke of the oars felt like a lifeline, each drop of sweat a testament to our determination.

We reached the edge of the forest, its shadows reaching out to us, beckoning us into their embrace. We leapt out of the lifeboat, the sandy shore welcoming our weary feet. I helped the wounded girls onto the shore, the purple-haired girl dragging the boat further inland, leaving it well-hidden from sight.

"We need to move quickly," I said, surveying the forest.

The forest was a labyrinth of shadows and moonlight, the rustle of leaves and snapping of branches our only companions. My legs were on fire, every muscle screaming for rest. Yet, I pushed onward, desperation fueling my strides.

We could hear the men's heavy footfalls, their voices growing louder as they closed in. Purple-haired girl glanced at me, her eyes mirroring the fear I knew was etched into my own face.

"There," she said, pointing to a cluster of bushes up ahead. "We can hide there."

Just as we were about to take a step, we were surrounded by an army of men. Panic ensued all of us.

“Everyone, scatter!” I screamed out loud. “Run, run just keep run!” I screamed. It is better to run individually to wherever your heart leads than to run in a group

The night erupted into chaos. Our bodies moved in different directions, each of us darting through the underbrush like frightened animals. My lungs burned as I pushed myself forward, my eyes fixed on the maze of trees ahead.