Prospero's Half-Life by Trevor Zaple Page B

trees in the middle distance. “We’re going
that way. Now”.
    Samantha
opened her mouth, shocked, but before she could voice her opinion
on that another shout came from behind them, louder this time.
Richard whirled around and saw that two of the men had come through
the broken window. To his dismay, he saw that it was the men with
the guns. There was a piercing female scream from inside the
building; someone had just realized what was happening.
    “ GO!” he screamed and sprinted across the street into the
parking lot waiting on the other side. He skidded to a halt on the
other side to make sure that Samantha was following, and when he
ascertained that she was he pushed forward and kept going. They ran
for the other side and halfway down the lot they saw another
alleyway leading off to the left and took it. They ran across the
street into another parking lot, this one paved with rough dirt and
featuring a couple of overturned, badly dented black vans. They
ducked behind one of these vans and put their backs to it. Neither
of them spoke; they were listening intently, trying to listen for
their pursuers over the rhythmic thudding of their own
hearts.
    Richard saw
that a street lead out of the parking lot directly across from
them; from what he could see the street lead downward towards the
ravine that cut through this part of town. He put the gun on the
knee and tried to get his breathing under control. There was a
stitch growing slowly in his side.
    “ We make for the ravine,” he panted and Samantha nodded, her
face a deep scowl. He looked at her, trying to gauge her, but she
refused to look at him. He shrugged internally; there was no time
to sort it out now. He pushed himself back to his feet and darted
forward, trying to make as much distance as he could out in the
open before anyone could catch their position. Samantha followed
behind him, glancing back the way they had come with nervous eyes.
They hit the slope downward and picked up speed; Richard stumbled
here and there as he tried to dodge around debris and felt himself
starting to get out of control. They passed by the burned-out
remains of a skate shop and the crack of a rifle shattered the air
behind them. Richard ducked instinctively as he continued running,
although he had no idea where the bullet may have gone. It hadn’t
hit either Samantha or himself, and beyond that he didn’t
care.
    The street
they ran on ended in a T-junction. A narrow walking bridge led off
of the end, crossing over a wide stretch of highway and then
disappearing into a forested area on the other side. They took it
without thinking; Samantha merged in behind Richard and they ran
across the foot bridge single-file, their footsteps echoing
metallically in the still summer air. Halfway through Richard saw
the Brock Tower rising at the end of the valley, the only man-made
structure he could see over the trees. They plunged into the woods
on the other side and stopped to catch their breath.
    Richard stared
wildly across the bridge they had just crossed, his newfound gun
pointed to cover the path. They crouched, panting and heaving, and
waited for the inevitable. It didn’t come. When five minutes had
passed and no one appeared to be following them, they got up and
made their way further into the mass of dense trees.
    The going was
rough but Richard was thankful for it. As the trees closed in
behind his back he felt himself relaxing; it would be very hard for
their pursuers to fire into the woods with any accuracy, and if
they tried to follow them their passing through the bed of leaves
and dried twigs would alert them easily. He let the gun fall to his
side and made a mental note to keep an eye out for a holster, or
something he could jury-rig to keep it strapped at his side. It was
heavy, and he thought that having to carry it like this for an
extended period of time would be hellish.
    Samantha
didn’t say anything as they were picking their way through the
woods, and she still