Page 58 - The Muse 2021

it, the door whipped open and there stood Headmistress Mongomery, towering over us. As fast as I could, I pulled down the lever, but as soon as I did, a blaring alarm sounded. The Headmistress tried to grab us, but we ran away fast enough to escape her. Frantically, we ran down the stairs and to the first door outside we could find.
Right as I was about to open the exit, Max and I turned to each other and said, “Laurel.”
I replied, “I’ll go. This is my responsibility.”
Right as I turned the corner at the top of the staircase, I saw Laurel running full speed at me. At least a dozen
guards were chasing her. My eyes widened with fear as I saw one of the guards aim their gun at her head.
I screamed hysterically, “Laurel! Watch out!”
I watched in disbelief as I saw the bullet go into her head. In slow motion, her body fell to the ground, and blood
trickle out of her mouth. The feeling of guilt overcame me, and all I could think about was how I did this to her. I ran to her and held her in my arms as she took her last breath, as I did to my mother. As I watched the life drain out of her, she murmured softly,
“Run.”
I picked myself off the floor with every ounce of vitality I had left, and ran down to Max, who was waiting at the door. He looked down at my blood covered hands, looked back at my tear-filled eyes, heartbroken, knowing what had happened without me having to tell him.
He yelled, “We can’t leave her! No. No. No!”
With all my might, I pushed the door open and pulled him outside just as I heard the guards coming down the stairs. After we exited the building, Max began to get a hold of himself, and together we bolted to try and find somewhere to hide. I didn’t have much time to look around, but it was the first time in five years that I saw what the outside world looked like, beyond the IOI. Everywhere I looked, the ground was scattered with plants, trees, and everything was full of color. I spotted a shrub we could hide behind. As fast as we could, we sat down behind it and listened to see if the guards had followed us. Miraculously, we heard no footsteps. As I turned my head to look at Max, he burst into tears. I sat next to him for almost an hour as he wept. I couldn’t help but feel responsible for her death. I know he loved her, and seeing him in this much pain made me sick to my stomach.
“Max, listen to me. Even though you lost someone you love, you need to keep on fighting. We did not come all of this way to give up now. We need to go,” I told him.
Without saying a word, he stood up, and lost all emotion in his face. The next thing on the map said that we had to walk east until we found a river. I was rather confused with the lack of detail, and my hopes of finding the safehouse lessened. Regardless, we walked in silence for thirty minutes, and not one word was said. Out of nowhere, Max started yelling.
“I hate you! I hate all of you! You horrible, evil people! You took her away from me!” “Max-”
“What Adeline. What in the world could you possibly want? All you-”
“Max! Shut up! Do you hear that! Water! I hear water!”
We sprinted towards the noise, and eventually located its source. A wave of relief washed over me, and my hope was restored. I ran into the river and splashed the water on my face with a smile from ear to ear. Max, however, stood there, just as motionless as before. Immediately, the happiness left my face. I stood up and pulled the map out once again. The last direction was to follow the river down until we reached the safehouse. It said we should be looking for a building with a green door with the numbers 425 engraved on it.
After thirty minutes passed, we found no building, for there was solely forest surrounding us. It was starting to get dark outside, and the temperature began to drop. We had never been outside at night while we were staying at the IOI, so the temperature change was completely new to us. We were both wearing short sleeves, the opposite type of clothes we should be wearing. We started to shiver, and the temperature continued to drop to an almost unbearable degree. Up ahead, I vaguely saw a run-down looking, two-story building. At the corresponding time, I heard someone shout something from behind us. As I turned around, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The guards had found us. Immediately we broke into a run, going as fast as we possibly could. The rush of adrenaline aided me, but just as we were about to reach the door, Max tripped and fell over a tree branch.
I thought to myself, “I can’t lose him. He is the only person I have left.”
With all of my might, I pulled him off the ground. I looked down and saw his knee badly cut and gushing blood. I put his arm around my shoulder and dragged him along with me until I reached the door. I banged on the door aggressively, but nobody was answering. I glanced behind me, and saw the guards were approaching us rapidly. I screamed and yelled for someone to come to the door, but still no answer. I quietly cried to myself thinking this was the end. I turned my head to Max, who looked as if he was about to faint. I closed my eyes, praying for some sort of miracle. I reopened my eyes and saw the door swing open. It was the woman I saw on the television screen.
58