Chapter 15 – Runaway

October 28th 2027 04:51

‘You’re scared of vehicles?!’ Pov exclaimed.

… Carrie nodded.

‘Are you for real right now?! Just… Stop being ridiculous and enter this bus already! You’re going to die!! There are people with rifles outside, ready to shoot you!’

‘I’d rather die.’

‘Oh, for goodness sake, Carrie!’ Pov hopped off the bus, tried to grab Carrie. ‘Just get in!!’

‘There’s no way I’m entering that—’

Odyssey grabbed Carrie from behind. Once he had the grasp on her, as someone who was twice her size, he had no problem in bringing her onto the bus. Pov followed.

‘Let me go! Let me go!!’ Carrie was struggling in his hold. Her voice raised by many pitches. Hysteric.

Pov couldn’t relate to being scared of vehicles. If anything, she thought it ridiculous. What? Seriously. It was just vehicles. However, she could relate to that… fear. Just… to have something that one was personally scared of and never wanting to ever conquer that fear. At all.

‘Put the pedal to the metal!’ Odyssey ordered the driver once they were in.

‘Let me go!!’ She was screaming at the top of her lungs. Tears welling in her eyes. She did not want to be here. Scared of being in a vehicle.

I-I need to help her!

The bus went forward. Accelerating as fast as it could. Pressing anyone who was seated toward the back of the seat. Pov lost her balance and got thrown to the end of the bus.

The bus slammed the warehouse door open. Outside were people with guns, shooting at them. Thankfully, the shots couldn’t penetrate the bus. Odyssey’s caution had paid off; he had reinforced the bus during spare time. The bullets could penetrate the glass window though, so they all needed to duck. Needed to cover their head to shield themselves from the shards.

Throughout all this, Pov saw, Carrie’s main concern was still to get out of this vehicle. She would rather be shot than be here.

BAM! Something exploded.

The road toward the capital city had been blocked. Yes. Which was why an explosive had been set off to clear the way. That explosion was part of the signal they were waiting for. Such destruction should’ve sounded terrifying, but to them it sounded like a happy grand firework. Meant that their plan was, for the most part, succeeding.

Come on, come on. Pov thought, returning her focus to Carrie. I need something!

The bus’s acceleration made it difficult for her to go to the front, toward Odyssey and Carrie. Throughout this whole mess, in this chaos, Carrie was slipping away from Odyssey’s hold. That wasn’t good. She would jump out of this bus if given the opportunity. Pov could tell. Because that was what she would’ve also done if this bus was empty and she was all alone.

I need something hard! Anything!

Then, she noticed that Odyssey’s rifle was still slung on his shoulder. Metal. That was it!

The bus kept accelerating. The driver was still pressing his foot on the gas at full force. There was still gunfire outside. Time was not on her side; Carrie was about to free herself. Glass shards covered the floor, but…

Pov crawled forward anyway.

The glass shards pierced her palms and knees as she pressed onward. It hurt. Painful.

But it wasn’t the same pain as what Carrie was experiencing from her fear.

Compared to one’s personal fear, this physical pain was nothing!

I won’t be a burden today! Pov kept pressing onward. The people who were seated and ducking their heads saw her. And I won’t be someone who just gets by! They lent her their hands to hold onto, helping her go to the front. Today, I make a difference!

Pov finally got to the front. There, instead of helping Odyssey contain Carrie, she grabbed his rifle—and raised it high.

What was the best way to confront one’s fear? Simple. You don’t. If there was an escape, someway, somehow, take it. To prevent Carrie from having to confront her fear and from leaving the bus, this was Pov’s solution:

‘You’ll thank me later!’ Pov said to Carrie.

With the back of the rifle, Pov hit Carrie’s head hard. Causing her to go uncon—

‘That hurts!’ Carrie said. ‘You—’ she started swearing. Well, those were words Pov had never heard of before, but she believed those were swears. It seems that knocking someone unconscious is difficult…

She raised the rifle high.

Hit her head with the back of the rifle.

‘Pov! You—’ more swearing.

Is there a trick to this?! Why isn’t this working?!

‘The jaw, Pov!’ Odyssey advised. ‘The jaw!’

She raised the rifle high.

Hit her jaw with the back of the rifle.

Silence. For once, Pov was glad to hear that! She knocked her unconscious!

The third time is the charm after all!

‘Thank you, Pov!’

‘You’re welcome, Ody!’

‘My rifle, please!’

She returned his rifle to him. Then, from under the glassless window, he made sure to return fire. He wasn’t aiming at anyone. But, since he started firing, the sound of gunfire was less rapid.

‘Anyone who can shoot, shoot!’ he ordered. ‘The sides of the bus are reinforced, but they can still take down the tires and stop us! It’s difficult for them to aim the tires, but if they keep firing, one of them is bound to hit! Try to lessen their firing as much as possible with whatever method you can think of!’

Anything would work. As long as the gunfire lessened.

Pov took off her shoes and threw them outside.

She hoped that someone would mistake it for a grenade or something. Or, perhaps, someone would find it odd that she threw her shoes and would hesitate to fire.

Seeing this, the others followed. Took off their shoes and threw them outside.

No matter how anyone perceived this, this was a desperate attempt, made by desperate people. That was the truth about this whole ugly situation, and there was no way to beautify it.

‘We’ve reached the bridge!’ shouted the driver.

The bridge meant that they had passed the blockade. A bridge that coursed over a river. Whose road led to the capital ci—

Bam!

The tire exploded. One of the bullets had hit it.

The loss of that tire caused the driver to lose control over this vehicle. The bus started swerving to the left, toward the railing of the bridge. A metal bus, reinforced, filled with two dozen people was about to clash against a simple metal railing. The winner was obvious.

Slam!

The bus struck down the railing, pierced through, and started free-falling to the water below.

Gravity took hold of her. The sensation of falling wasn’t pleasant. Felt like the content of her stomach was rising.

Splash!

They were submerged into the water.

The landing, if it could be called that, hurt. It was dark. There was no air to breathe. The current was strong. Pov lost her sense of direction.

She coughed air. Felt everything slipping away…

… And she lost consciousness.