Bella POV.

My breath,

Gasp. Gasp. Gasp.

I can't catch my breath.

Gasp. Gasp. Gasp.

I looked around me to see where I could hide. No where, we're trapped. I looked down at the small girl resting in my arms as my lungs screamed for air. Don't you dare die on me Alice! Don't you dare leave me alone in this sick world. I looked over and there was a dumpster by the bridge; across the street. Maybe… if they were really stupid, but do I honestly have a choice? I quickly looked around. Nope. As exhausted as I was I ran towards it. I lifted Alice's 89 pounds over the metal side and dumped her in, hoping she landed on something soft, while climbing in myself.

I held my breath as I heard foot steps coming close. Hugging Alice's body closer to mine I prayed to whoever and whatever was out there that if they let poor Alice live and help us get out of here I would do whatever was in my power to have Alice live a healthy and happy life, with or without me. I looked out the small slit on the sliding door on the side of the dumpster as the cops retreated down the next alleyway. Stupid cops, you'll never catch me.

I touched Alice's cheek; it felt like I was touching a warm stove. Her fever had gotten worse. What the hell should I do? If I take her to the hospital she'd end up going to a home, but if I don't she will die. Tears formed in my eyes. Thinking about Alice dead white and still in my arms broke my heart.

Alice had been with me since she was eight years old. Nine years ago, looking for food, I found her in a dumpster. She was raped, beaten, and left for dead. She was so fragile when I found her that I didn't have any hope of her living out the night. But Alice being Alice held on. I had never known someone so small to be so strong and bent on living; Alice never gave up a challenge, even when the challenge was just to live. She was extremely shy and talked to no one but me. Yet, even with me I had only heard her say a few things; mostly her favorite phrase, "Holy shit Batman!" then silence would follow, keeping me guessing on what made her so excited that she had talked. Though I don't think she had ever watched a single episode of Batman in her life.

Alice hasn't said a word in over a week; getting more and more sick. I started to worry about her when she began coughing, but she would always give me a reassuring smile that said she was ok. Then last Tuesday she fell over and could hardly pick her self up; coughing up blood in the meanwhile. I ran over to her to help her and realized she was burning up. I chided her on not keeping me up to date that she was getting worse. The blood terrified me. I didn't know what it meant but she just smiled at me like always, wiping her mouth and blowing it off like it was no big deal. Last night after she went to bed I used a cold wet t-shirt that I had found and tried to clean and placed it on her forehead, trying to get her fever to come down. She never woke up this morning and I knew that if I didn't get her help and fast, Alice would die.

Looking out of my peep-hole, I searched the streets for the cops and saw no one. It looked safe enough to head out again. I looked back over at Alice, her breathing was slowing down. My eyes prickled from heavy despair; pushing the picture of a dead Alice out of my mind. I opened the sliding doors wide and slid out. Bending my body over the medal side I reached for Alice. I grabbed a hold of her tiny arm and heaved her through the small opening using all of my strength. Her body fell with a thump on the ground and I cursed myself to Hell and back for dropping her.

As I gently slung her limp body over my back I heard yelling from a couple blocks behind me. My heart dropped. No no no! They can't find us, not now. Not ever! I took off running under the bridge trying to put as much distance as I could between the voices and me. I heard the cops yelling for us to stop as they came closer and closer, so I did the only thing I could think of doing. I pulled out a piece of paper that I always had hiding in the back pocket of my jeans that I kept for emergencies such as this. I looked over to the left and there by the brick wall was a bunch of cardboard boxes. Just my luck! I grabbed a medium size box and ran it down by the river, setting it in the bank. I gently put Alice in it and wrapped her hand around the piece of paper. I kissed her forehead as the tears started to run down my face.

"I love you babe. Get better and live for both of us." I whispered to her as I backed away.

I ran down six more blocks, tripping and falling every couple of steps from the tears running down my face. My mood started to pick back up as I heard the cops getting further and further away. Thinking I had escaped I slowed down until I was slow jogging; gasping trying to catch my breath. Shit, I'm so out of shape!

I was planning on doing a very large loop and then circling back around to pick Alice back up, until a very large, burly man in a blue suit side swiped me, knocking me head first into the concrete. I heard the loud crack of my head as the world and my vision shook. My sight started to get fuzzy around the edges and white sparks flew as the yelling got softer. Panicking, the last thing that went through my mind was a prayer for Alice's life. Save her. Anyone.