On the Run

[Ohm]

((Serena Waters continued from Open Your Eyes and Look North))

It didn't take long for her to reach the asylum, running in a combination of hysteria and rage with a potential psycho behind her with a shotgun had gotten into her something fierce, but even as she reached the inside of it and the relative safety within she didn't stop. Which turned out to be a bad idea when she stumbled upon the steps of the asylum basement and made a tumble down the stairs with her bag flying down the hall and splashing in the distance.

Serena just laid there on the floor, she didn't care anymore how she looked like to whomever watching or how bad it hurt. Lying on her side with a blank stare on her face as she wondered on how she'd gotten to this point, she was on a halfbrained quest to get a reward from people who had kidnapped her and in a way, gotten her to kill someone. She had left Mel behind at the jeep to do so, would she listen to her and leave? Or stay and confront Matt? She should have stayed and made sure, instead she ran. Yet another mistake to the pile.

Hindsight being what it was, saving Matt looked more and more like a mistake. If he was willing to do that to someone who had gone out of their way to make sure he was still alive and well, then god knows what he'd do to people who'd done nothing at all. There were warning signs back there, the halfhazard way he waved off Jerry's death and left Bart behind. They should have seen it. Instead they just moved on, satisfied with what they had done. Damn it all.

She got herself up against the wall and looked at her right hand, a cut across her palm. Must have gotten it as she fell down. She forced herself up holding her right hand close to her chest as blood came out while holding to the wall with her left, stumbling along the hall til she saw it again, submerged in the dirty water. Picking it up with her left hand and got into one of the closer rooms she saw. She forced the strap of the bag over her shoulder as she made her way to the door as she inadvertedly kicked something.

Oh, hello there corpse of... Audrey was her name? She was two years younger than Serena, was in one the drama club and... that was about all Serena knew about her. Seemed nice, wasn't on the announcements as far as she knew. It looked as though her collar had gone off, such a shame.

She hurried down the hall, ignoring the heavy doors. She wasn't about to camp out in a room with a corpse in front of it. For a second though she swore she heard a bang or something coming from inside, probably just imagined it.

She started feeling unnerved by the area around her, there were cans hanging about and a corpse lying in the hallway, if she hurried up, she could get out of here quick and never come back. If what the man on the announcements said was right, it was the water treatment room. As she walked down the hall, there were occasions she was sure she heard something down there with her. Like a voice speaking out her name and out the corner of eye someone standing down the hall when would make a turn. She was starting to lose it. That was the scary part to her, it was not the death or what they would do to her body that made her so afraid during this game, but the idea of her mind falling apart, reduced to lunatic frenzies and murdering people. She had heard stories of people who had cracked while on SOTF, hell she was sure to have met a few. That was something she wanted to avoid, even more than death.

It didn't take long before she found it, the water treatment. As she ventured inside to get her prize, she found even more corpses lying around. Sanford was someone who was in art club and a few others. He was in her year and yet she felt she didn't know him at all. Poor guy had died early, one of the ones to have died by Nancy Kyle's hand. His face was a mess along with a bad wound around the stomach area. She turned away and continued to her prize, neatly setup on a bench for her. What looked like a machine gun lied there for the taking along with some food. What was it again? Currywurst? She believed it was called that. It had some fries on the side along with a bottle of sprite.

She felt her eyes widen as she looked over all this, this was hers. Did anyone else have a gun like that? She hadn't heard anything about it on the announcements, that placed her ahead of her school mates quite a bit.

She sat down beside it and got her bag open. Getting the alcohol wipes out along with bandages. She forced pressure onto the cut as blood came out, when it stopped she put the antiseptic wipes on it feeling the sting on her hand as she cleaned her cut, afterwards placing a bandage on it. She held it up infront of her eyes and gingerly checked to make sure it stuck. After finding it did so, she turned her attention away as a smile found its way to her face as she grabbed for the currywurst and ate away. Days of living on bars had made her hungry as can be and though she was sure she would regret it in the future, the hunger was just too much. When she was done and looked over the rest, she still felt the hunger knawing at her, but that didn't matter, she had promised them that she would bring back food, the fries were Mel's. The sprite too, if she wanted it.

Her attention then turned to the gun, she made the grab for the manual tucked neatly away with it and read away. It was called the FN SCAR and was classified as an assault rifle. She remembered having seen this in a shooter her brother would play when their parents were out, one of the little secrets he liked to have from them that she knew about. The thought of him watching her claiming this thing and taking lives with it gave her a pause. She turned her attention to a camera nearby watching her, like a voyeur.

"Jordan, if you're watching this... first of all, you're too young so you better not even be thinking of doing so!" Another secret of his. While their parents frowned upon violent entertainment, her brother would watch it in private behind their backs. Serena knew about it when she stumbled upon him watching Halloween, he desperately didn't want them to know. She knew that feeling all too well now. They meant good, but sometimes they could suffocating in how they want things to go at home."T-the same goes for you too Mom and Dad, Seriously, don't!" She looked at it as her words came out, her parents hated violence and any program that they thought would promote it. They were likely not watching.

"But if you are...I-I'm sorry I couldn't have been better to you guys, you deserve better than someone like me." There were many more words forming in her head, things that needed to be said, clarifications to be had. And yet none of them came out. "And just, please, forget all about me." She walked away from the Water Treament bag slung over her shoulder with the gun inside, fries and sprite in her hands as she stumbled her way through the halls of cans and met the corpse to the side again. "Hi again Audrey." For the second and hopefully last time she thought. She kneeled down as she closed the eyes of her corpse, it didn't make look her anymore peaceful in death.

"Not gonna loot your bag, just gonna let it be. With the way you died, it would just be an insult to you." For a moment silence filled the room as she turned to leave and the only sound coming forth were the splashes of her footsteps, but Serena swore she heard something else. She felt coldness sweep at her as she got to the stairs and briefly turned her head to see down the hall and saw her. it was only for a second, but she saw someone standing there just looking at her, that's when the sound of banging was heard down the hall, like the heavy doors from earlier were being violently ripped apart. Serena turned tail and ran as if her life depended on it.

((Serena Waters continued in Waiting for the End))