When All Was Lost...

Chapter Twenty-One

21

The Great Escape

I could hear the sound of the waves...I smelled salt in the air. Mixed with smog, smoke and possibly sulfer. It wasn't a pleasant smell...but a familiar one...

"Oh no! There's a girl out here on the ground!" I heard a voice shriek in worry,"Is she okay...?" I felt a gentle poking on my body. "Hey...get up...are you okay!? Pull yourself together!"

"Mmmnh...?" I slowly blinked open my eyes...my vision was blurred.

Where...am I?

Who...am I...?

I tried to think back. I remembered...running. I ran all the way to the docks. I didn't stop running. My body hurt... but I crawled my way onto a barge. And I fell, and slept amongst the trash. My body gave out, and I just couldn't move anymore...

"Thank goodness you seem to have come to..." a young ginger's face soon cleared its way into my vision. "Say...you look...kinda familiar?" the child seemed to be no older than 13 or 14...and though his looks seemed rather feminine...his voice came to me like that of a boy,"Have we met somewhere before?"

"I don't...think so..." I groaned as I sat up and came to,"Who are you?"
"Me? Oh...My name is Rally!" he beamed,"Rally Dawson...I just kinda found you here...you look exhausted...were you running all night?" with a look of concern he helped sit me up and carefully checked my body for injuries."Good...it doesn't seem like you're injured." he sighed in relief,"Doesn't seem like you were attacked by thugs either...thank goodness for that, still though it's dangerous for a girl to be sleeping around here on the ground...!"

This boy...

This ginger haired boy...reminds me of someone.

Someone...important...

Someone...I must remember...

...Who?

I grunted and held my forehead.

Who am I?

"So...what were you doing just laying around in an alley?" Rally asked, as he tried to help me stand.

"I'm...not sure.." I answered, trying to recall anything that could have brought me here. Flashes would come from time to time.

"I think I... just got dumped here."

"Dumped?" Rally blinked,"You mean like garbage? Were you trying to escape from here on a boat or something? Some people try to do that."

I shook my head slowly back and forth.

"No...I was running."

"Running?" Rally gasped,"Running from what?"

"I can't remember..." I groaned,"A...person I think?"

"Oh no...a bad guy!?"

"Maybe?"

"Well that's no good! Don't worry, you seem to be safe now...I won't hurt you~" He smiled sweetly. It was warm and kind as he helped me stand.

"So...what do they call you?"

"I...I'm sorry..." I said softly." But I'm afraid I...can't remember."

"What? You don't remember your own name!?" said Rally,"Wow...that's really serious...Well...Let's see if I can help you out!" he said,"Uhm...well for starters...this is Satellite. I guess this place used to be called Domino City a long time ago...does any of that ring any bells?"

"Satellite!?" I gasped and winced as my head began to hurt, I must have hit it whenever I fell here.

"Yes Satellite...I remember, I...I was trying to run here."

"What? You were trying to run TO Satellite!? That's so weird...most people usually try to run AWAY from this place." Rally chuckled,"Why on earth would you want to run here?"

"I'm not sure..." I said softly,"But I think...I was trying...to find someone..."

Someone...with wild...ginger hair...

"I see...so you have a friend here in Satellite...hmm...Can you tell me their name? Maybe I know them, then I could help you find this person!"

I sighed and shook my head.

"I see...well that's a bust." Rally sighed,"Seems like you have Amnesia or somthin..." he sighed,"That's a tough one...and the only clue we have is that you were running away from someone trying to find someone else here in the Satellite..."

"Yeah...I wonder..." I sighed.

I closed my eyes, trying to replay the scene in my head. it was coming, but in cuts. Like I was remembering some things, while trying to block out some other things.

What is this!?
I'm...running.

From what!?

I was escaping...

I was kidnapped...

I...lost who I was...then I found it...and then...

And...And Now...

I groaned.

"Hey don't push yourself too hard tryin' to remember, surely everything will come back on its own time."

"Someone was after me...and I...was escaping?

"Wait for real!?" Rally gasped,"Were you kidnapped or somthin'!?"

"Yeah...I was." I said as I tried to organizes the image that played in my mind,"But...I escaped..."

I remember...

I was running...I escaped from...somewere...and I ran.

I ran and ran and kept running...I hopped a garbage barge...because I knew it was coming here...coming back... and I fell into the trash, unable to move anything anymore...

So I slept. Rocked by the waves.

"Home." I muttered softly.

"Wait...what?"

"Satellite..." I said to him softly,"This is...my home."

"Wait...so you mean...you're actually from here?" Rally grinned,"So then maybe we really did meet before!" he paused for a moment trying to think,"Mm...No maybe not...I would have remembered. I'm good about things like that." he said and focused his gaze on me,"...But I swear...I have seen you before..." Rally thought long and hard for a moment before heaving a sigh. "Well whatever...I'll figure it out later. Meanwhile...I can't just leave you out here." he said taking my hand in his,"Come with me, we have a hide out in an abandoned subway station...you can stay there until we can figure out a little more about who you are."

I didn't have much choice. I couldn't remember much at the current moment. Sleeping in the streets didn't seem like a good idea...I simply nodded and trusted in Rally. Because Something inside me told me that I could...

To Be Continued