Lucy stumbled, groped in the darkness for something to soften her inevitable fall, nothing, and then fell. She was beyond feeling the pain that the fall brought along. Lacerations that were both fresh and old oozed blood. Dirt clung to the flesh spilling from the deeper cuts. A protruding rock jabbed at her stomach.
The girl remained on the ground. It would take too much effort to push herself onto her feet after having done it countless times already. The darkness that surrounded her was both an enemy and a friend; blinding her while hiding her from her pursuers.
Time ticked by bringing with its loss the urge to rest. Despite her arms bending in awkward positions beneath her body and the nightly chill creeping into her limbs, Lucy's eyelids drifted shut.
A sharp crunch caused her eyes to snap open. They were near; it was the sound of gravel beneath boots. Lucy shrugged away the fatigue that had clouded her mind before pushing herself upwards, arms trembling, before crashing into the earth again. Her body was still uncooperative. An involuntary moan slipped through her lips as she rolled over to her back. She was sure that her pursuers had heard it amidst the slithering of dry leaves against each other and the eerie singing of night birds.
Instead of trying to get up as before, Lucy pushed her torso upright then dragged herself backwards slowly and carefully so as to prevent any excessive noise, forcing her tired limbs to move. She yelped as her back knocked into something, a rotting tree she realized as it let out a protesting groan. She had no time to be covert anymore, her location was officially known.
She scrabbled up, grabbing the tree for leverage and flinching as it groaned again. She turned to the opposite direction of her pursuers and ran.
Lucy sped along, impervious to the stings of branches whipping her and her feet's cries of pain. She didn't get the opportunity to put on shoes in the heat of her escapade, resulting in blistered and swollen soles.
Her heart thumped loudly against its cage of ribs, sounding much like the staccato flurrying of a moth's wings. She huffed, chest tightening with each breath she gulped down greedily.
Lucy faltered against a log, pitching forward and grating her instinctively outstretched palms against the hard arid earth. Not giving herself any time to recover, the girl relentlessly crawled forward, wincing as alien objects lodged themselves in her palm wounds.
She staggered up; bowling into a dry tree then continued her frenzied running albeit noticeably slower. Her arms pumped steadily before shooting out sideways to balance her teetering body.
She peered down at the precariously steep drop that she had saved herself from, a foot still lingering half off the realms of solid matter. Her chest heaved as she shuffled backwards, breathing a sigh of relief as she was well away from the danger zone.
Lucy's attention riveted to the right as one of the sturdily built men broke through the darkness, startling her. She unconsciously shifted more to the left before realizing that another man had emerged from that side also. She glanced behind her, confirming her fears; she was surrounded.
The men stared at her apathetically; stalking forward armed with wicked looking cleavers. Panic roiled within her, stirring up a primitive desire to fight, an option she knew was impossible as she fought it into submission.
"Never," she spat at them then sprang backward, resolve and acceptance burning in her eyes.
The men watched, strangely calm, as her body was swallowed by the abysmal calm of unknown.