Chapter 10: Ruined

There was a gun shot quickly followed by a scream. Danny's eyes shot open and he rose up quickly, nearly hitting his head on the bottom of the top bunk.

There was more noise coming from the front of the station. And that scream sounded like Maria. He quickly got off the bed and ran to the cell doors. He tried to open it but it was obviously locked.

Danny yanked on the cell doors trying to get it open somehow. The door coming from the front suddenly swung open and Danny tried his best to get a look down the hall. Maria came running towards his cell block with a ring of keys.

"What's going on?" he yelled as Maria fiddled with the key chain trying to get one out of three of them in key hole.

"That guy! The one with the scar that was chasing you. He's here and he shot a cop and is fighting with the other one!"

"There were only two!"

"Yeah. Got it."

On Maria's second try, she got Danny's cell open and he exited hurriedly.

"We can't go up front. He's still up there. And he might still have the gun," said Maria with panic in her voice.

"There's a window right there. C'mon!"

Maria obeyed Danny's command and they both ran to the window at the end of the hallway. Danny reached their only exit first and said,

"I'll lift you up. C'mon."

With no hesitation, Maria put her foot on Danny's hands and he lifted her up towards the window. She swiftly unlocked the window and climbed through. She reached her hand down to pull her ex-boyfriend up with her.

As they were halfway through, there was another gun shot. That was enough inspiration for Danny to hurry through the window and they both landed, with their feet, on the dirt ground.

They quickly ran down the road and then across the desert-like area. They were once again, in the middle of no where. They stopped for a breather a couple of yards from a bus station. Danny looked at Maria and asked,

"That guy was there? What exactly happened?"

Maria took a deep breath and started off by saying,

"I didn't know that was him. Or I would have warned that cop when he first entered. I was sitting there talking with the cop. He believed me completely. He was going to talk with the other cops after a while. That's when….he entered. I had a quick look at him, and I couldn't remember what made me double glance at him. That scar should have been enough of a clue. But I didn't pay him any attention. The cop told me that he would get back to me in a minute and I walked towards the water jug to get a drink. That's when I heard him say, 'That kid in that cell didn't burn the gas station. I did'. I turned around and saw the guy shoot….shoot…him in ….his face. I screamed and the cop called for some back up. The guy started fighting with the other cop. I grabbed the cell keys and came to let you out."

She was crying by then. Danny knew that this must have been hard for her. He shouldn't have made her repeat what she had seen. She had actually seen the guy take a bullet into the face. Maria finally got words through her sobbing.

"Danny. I'm scared. This isn't…good."

"It's alright. I'm here. We'll get out of this situation."

He then realized that he was comforting her for the first time since they'd met. And they weren't even an item anymore. It even amazed him that they were even talking. But this was a situation that you didn't want to be alone in.

The teenage boy looked at his surroundings and noticed the bus station. He then thought of an idea. Maybe one of the buses was heading back to Tulsa or somewhere close.

"Maria. Let's take a bus. It might be heading in our direction."

Maria looked at the bus station and started to wipe her eyes.

"Okay," she said after sniffing a little bit.

They walked on towards the station and bought themselves a ticket. The bus was heading towards a small city a little ways from Tulsa. They would just take it there. And it was good timing, the bus was approaching right then.

The two lost teenagers were standing in the line to get on the bus. Danny took a look at Maria saw they she looked a little calmer. He was pretty sure that she was still scared though. And to be truthful, he had fear in him too. He had wished about fifteen times that his dad would come and find him. Or at least one of his uncles.

They entered the bus and turned in their ticket. They made their way through the bus looking for two empty seats, walking past an old couple, a drunken middle aged man, a woman that looked like she was on drugs, and a dirty mean looking man.

The two sat three seats behind the mean guy and got settled.

"Were you able to call my uncle?"

Maria nodded and Danny decided to keep things quiet, knowing that she didn't want to talk right now. He decided to think more. He had never had this many thoughts in his head before. He remembered how different he and Alex were to everyone else. Yet, just about everyone was different. He and Alex liked to wear longer clothing while Jack was always wearing muscle shirts in the summer. Rachel seemed to wear plane shirts with no decorations, the same with Houston. Maria had a versatile line of wear. But then the biggest thought hit him. Ever since he came to Tulsa, he has been in more trouble than when he was in Atlanta.