Final Hurdle

[Salic]

When she woke up, the first thing that hit her was the smell. The smell of her own insides, of Anatoly's corpse, of the dank, dusty basement, it was too much. It was overpowering. If Claudia had the strength to do so, she would've retched. But she didn't. All she could really do was close her eyes.

She had no idea what time it was. She waited for the announcements, as she had been for the last three days, but they didn't come. Did she sleep through them? She had no idea. All she felt was pain in her abdomen and a chill seeping into the deepest depths of her body. It was so, so cold.

Claudia cursed internally. She had lived. She had lived for so long in this hell. She had done so much. Escape was at her fingertips, but then she fell at the final hurdle. The race was almost over, and she was immobilized just before the end. She couldn't even cry about it. She was too dehydrated.

She let her head fall, eyes still closed, silently waiting for existence to be behind her.

[Applesintime]

((Stephen Sanders continued from Your Uber Has Arrived))

It didn't take him too long to find her. She was at the bottom of the stairs, the light barely reaching her. Clicking on his flashlight, Stephen winced.

"Claudia?" What had - did Anatoly do this to her? It looked like someone had ripped her open. It was a miracle she was still alive — no, don't think like that. Just get her to a hospital or a doctor and she'll be fine. "Claudia! It's me. Stephen."

[Salic]

Steve?

Claudia opened her eyes briefly, and she was greeted with the bright light of a flashlight. Steve's flashlight.

"St-Steve? Help... please..."

She struggled for breath.

"Legs... can't move 'em..."

She had another thought.

"Why are y-you here? Sh-sh-shouldn't you be gone...? Where's E-Emily?"

[Applesintime]

"I- Something happened to the people who ran this game, we're, everyone's free to go, we got a car." His thoughts came out disjointed, trying to avoid the subject of Emily. That wasn't a good memory. "I'll, uh, do you need water or anything? We've got a lot, we won't need much anyway with a car."

It didn't look good. But he was damned if he'd leave a friend to die. If they could just get her to a hospital, she'd be fine.

[Salic]

A look of confusion etched Claudia's face? They were free to go? They had a car?

"Wha... you... have a car? What..."

She groaned, her abdomen flaring up in agony.

"The... announcements... what's going on?"

[Applesintime]

"I dunno. The guy told us to run. Here, I'll help you up," He wasn't strong, and this was risky. He could break something, but that was a faint thought in his head right now. Setting the flashlight down on the steps so he had a good view of her, Stephen moved around, sliding his hands underneath her and grunting in exertion as he strained to lift her.

She was so cold.

[Salic]

She felt Steve try to lift her up. Moving was agonizing. She cried out in pain as her innards shifted.

"I'm... sorry. Don't... b-break anything j-just to... help... me... leave me, i-if you have to."

She meant it. Even if they had a car, how long could she really last? How far away was the nearest village, much less hospital?

[Applesintime]

"No. I'm not leaving you. I had... I had to leave Emily. I'm not going to do it again."

His arms shook, but he grit his teeth, starting to slowly move up the stairs.

[Salic]

He had to leave Emily behind? What... what did that mean? Was she... was she...?

Steve had gotten her up fully now. She inhaled and exhaled erratically, her every breath sending fire down to her torn midriff.

"Th-thank... you..."

Eventually, she saw the light of first floor of the compound. They were almost there.

[Applesintime]

Like he had said, most people, innately, wanted to help each other. He didn't know if Claudia could be helped now.

But he wasn't just going to leave her to die.

((Stephen Sanders and Claudia Salgado continued in Your Uber Has Arrived))