{ ? }

For the millionth time, She pulled out her phone and checked the map. "We've passed through quite a bit of states without anyone noticing us," she said, almost to herself. "I'm pretty skeptical about our good luck."

I said nothing, but looked around me. Pennsylvania didn't have much in it.

She put the phone away, letting out a sigh. "We're so close. All the walking, jumping into the backs of trucks and moving trucks, hitching rides on trains... We're almost there, He."

"Yep," was all I could say. My feet burned like they were on fire, and all of my muscles screamed at me to stop, to lay down, to take a break. "She?"

"Hm?"

"Can we take a break?"

She stopped and turned to face me. Her once beautiful face was gaunt and covered in dirt. Her hair hung in dirty strands that hadn't been washed or brushed in a while. I was sure I didn't look much better.

A sigh escaped her mouth and her hard glare softened. "Sure," she said simply. We laid against the side of a small brick building. People passed by, just harmless night prowlers, and the occasional owl called out into the night.

"Do we have any more food stored?"

She pulled the Pack off of her back and unzipped it, licking her chapped lips. After a minute of rummaging through the bag, she pulled out two packets of peanut butter crackers. "This is all we have left," she said darkly, handing me one packet.

We ate in silence, staring up at the stars as people passed by, hardly anyone paying mind to us. She checked the phone again. It was so strange in the world of iPhone 18s and 17s; a prehistoric iPhone 10.

As I was finishing my last cracker, I snuck a glance at She. She had put the phone away and her eyes were studying a cracker, turning it slowly in her fingers. Despite all her attention focused on the snack, I could tell her mind was somewhere else.

A sound that I knew all my life to fear cut through the dark night.

Both of our heads snapped toward the noise, two identical gasps coming from our dehydrated mouths.

Sirens.

Curses poured out of She's mouth like a faucet running polluted water. She shoved what was left of her crackers back in the Pack and thrust it at me. I shrugged it onto my shoulders as fast as I could.

Red and blue lights started flashing in between the buildings, and I knew we didn't have much time. Scared out of my wits, I squeaked out, "S-someone ratted on us?"

"No," She told me firmly, shoving on her shoes and standing. She grabbed my shoulders with urgency, her eyes boring into mine. "Nobody knows about you." I knew what she was going to say next, though I couldn't belive it.

"Someone ratted on me."

Without another word, we both turned and bolted down the street, the red and blue lights slowly coming closer, the sirens slowly growing louder. My adrenaline was coursing through my veins, making me run faster than I ever thought I could move. She was in step with me and we ran side by side.

How would someone recognize her? We were miles away from home.

"Veer left!"

I did as She said and veered to my left into the grass. Up ahead there was a small forest; we were going to make it! We were going to get away!

"Stop right where you are!" a loud voice, crackled by speakers, reached my ears. They had caught up with us.

Just a little bit more...

She was slowing down.

I didn't know how much longer she could keep going. She was in worse condition than I was. All the fighting and malnutrition and walking was causing her to become more and more tired as the days stretched endlessly on.

"If you don't stop right now, we're going to open fire!" the officer's voice said angrily.

"Don't stop," She huffed beside me. "Find them. Plan B. I love you."

I was about to tell her not to talk like that, but it was too late.

Everything started happening in slow motion.

Gunshots pierced the air, cracking like thunder in my ears.

Her footsteps stopped.

There was a loud thud.

I risked turning.

There she lay on the concrete, her eyes staring at me, her hand clutching her stomach as a dark red blob steadily grew past her fingers.

Her mouth formed the words "go" before her eyes glazed over and she was gone.

My voice was the only thing in the silent night besides the sirens as I screamed.

"Jenny!"

There was no point in hiding her identity now. They obviously knew who she was if they came after us.

Police streamed out of their cars and surrounded her body, talking into walkie-talkies.

One looked up and met eyes with me.

I knew they would take me in for questioining if they caught me. So I did the same thing I had been doing for all my life.

I ran.

Evey step tore a fresh hole in my heart. Tears flowed down my face. My teeth were clenched tight. My hands were balled into fists. My heart pumped violently in my aching chest. The pack flopped against my back, which was wet with cold sweat.

She was dead. Jenny was dead. The police killed her.

And it's all their fault.

I reached the forest but didn't slow in the slightest, shoving aside branches and jumping over bushes. My anguish turned into anger, and I let out a high-pitched scream, ripping a small branch off of a tree and slinging it at the trunk in my fury.

Don't stop.

I won't.

Find them.

I will.

I'll find them. I'll kill them all. Every last one.

I'll watch as each of them suffer in agony at my feet, screaming and crying and begging for mercy.

I'll watch as, one by one, the light dies from their eyes and they take their very last breaths; the last thing they see being my triumphant face standing over them.

I'll watch my enemies' lives completely fall apart from behind iron bars, and I'll smile.

I'll watch as they take me to court in chains and set me in front of the judge. I won't fight it. Play the insanity card; the psychopath card. Jail is inevitable.

I'll do it. For Jenny.

There, on that night, as the sirens and lights faded behind me and dissapeared into into the warm air, whatever was left of my sanity shriveled and died.

And, as much as it scared me, I was alright with that.