Living on the Run

A small town

   LIU'S POV:

  I silently slipped into the woods. It seemed to have rained the previous night, so everything was still damp. Not to mention it was a tad chilly as I ran deeper into the woods, pulling my scarf over my exposed face. I wouldn't stop running till I knew I was far enough from the hospital to be spotted by passersby. Plus, I am sure it would be easy to recognize me with all these stitches. 

    I had no idea if I was still running through the same state, or if I had drifted off to another one. The wooded terrain soon turned into a small, secluded town that I had never seen before. It was a old, and definitely not the suburbs of Philadelphia anymore. I decided to take a break here. 

    Everyone looked a bit sketchy in these parts of town. Lots of them gave me weird stares. I did not want the attention right now. I hoovered around the town, looking for a spot to rest. That spot so happened to be behind the dumpster trucks of one of the pubs. I squatted down, taking in deep breaths from my long trek through the woods. That was when I realized I was hungry as my belly cried out. It was more painful than I ever remember hungry to feel like. As pathetic as it may seem, I hopped up to the dumpster, searching for any moresels thrown away. I couldn't find much, just some spoiled, mostly eaten, hamburger. I guess this would suffice. I dug through more, but then a cop car passed by the alley I was in. I ducked below and out of sight. My scarf was wrapped around my neck now, but I decided maybe covering my stitches will allow me to hang undercover... well, to the best of my abilities. 

     When the cop car was gone, I casually stepped out of the alley, searching for another place for scraps of food. I had no money or anything with me, just the clothes I was wearing. I so badly regretted my decision of leaving my home. There was not much in this town. There was a tool supplies store, a school, some rusty homes, a grocery store, a diner, a pub, and lastly a farm in the distance of the town. I walked towards the grocery store, opening the door for a lady behind me who curtly thanked me before entering inside. I quickly followed. Living in a city before, I learned some skills to live on the streets, like pick-pocketing. This lady was all by herself and she seemed distracted on her phone. Her purse was dangling loosely over her arms, and there was no one watching. I searched causally around for cameras, to realize this town was so old, there would probably unlikely be cameras placed. So with a deft hand hand, I snatched the wallet in the woman's purse and walked in a different direction. 

     At the very back of the last aisle of the grocery store, I counted the amount of dollars in the wallet. It was only $62, but it should be enough to buy some food. I threw the wallet at the very back of the highest shelf and dashed to cookie aisle, where I got a box of frosted animal crackers. Then I got lunchables from the fridges. And lastly, a bought a red gatorade. The total was only about $14, but I figured I should save the rest for emergencies. Thankfully, I let before the woman realized her waller was missing. 

     I swung the plastic bag between my hands, figuring out the way out of this weird town. Some sparse woods littered the town, and I decided to bunk down for the night, as the sun was making its leave as the stars replaced it. There was an old log on the edges of one of the woods, so I sat down and hurriedly gulped my gatorade, tainting my teeth and tongue a reddish color. Then I opened the plastic from the lunchables. I made little sandwiches with the ham, cheese and crackers. Despite its simplicity, lunchables are amazing! I ate some of the animal crackers, but was surprisingly full after a couple bites. I threw my trash on the ground, neglecting to pick it up. I stuffed the box of cookies into my hoodie and stood up to leave. 

     I had no idea where to go or where I shall leave. I do not even have a plan for myself. I am just a wandering soul at this time. I could sleep in the motel for the night and figure out what I'll do? But there are the chances of getting caught. I could also just sleep in the woods tonight? But I do not know what kinds of things live there, and if they are friendly or not. 

     Now that I had food in my belly, and could think more properly, I realized I was fucked!! What to do, what to do?! I almost started hyperventilating. And I have no one left, not my parents nor my brother. Wait... is my brother even still alive? Why should I care anyway? 

     I started hyperventilating some more, tipping over onto my knees. My thoughts blurred as panic started to overcome my body. Then my surrounding began to blur. Where was I? Who was I? What time was it? I think I think I fell and hit my head....

??? POV:  

     "If Jeff was still alive, I want to kill him!!" 

    "Look at what he has done to us. There is no way I should let him live another day. If we just bunk down here, he'll get away, and I cannot allow that. Even if you don't want to, for the sake of your sanity, this must be done." 

     Digging through Liu's, I mean ours now, pockets, I found the cash we stole. We had plenty left, enough to buy what we needed to solve our problems. 

    I dashed into the tools store. It was still open, thankfully. The man behind the register gave me an odd glance, just like most people do now... because of him. I hummed to myself as I browsed through the selections: axes, saws, screwdrivers, hatchets, you name it. But then I saw a shiny new toy, the kind that ruined my face, sorry our face, forever. It looked pretty sturdy, and you can tell this object was definitely not blunt. How charming it would be to give Jeff the same fate as he did to myself... well he did have a mouth scar, but I want to see his lifeless corpse littered with scars and stitches. 

     I picked up the knife from its shelf and carelessly handed it over to the cashier. He looked suspicious at first, but I chose to ignore him. Instead, I was paying attention to the clock above his head. It read 11:38 PM. Wow, it's been a long time since the escape this morning. I looked out through the window to see a bright moon casting over the town. The man coughed to get my attention. "Why is a young man like yourself needing a knife like this?" 

     I rolled my eyes as I quickly came up with a lie, "My mother needs it to chop up the chickens." He did not seem to believe me, so I added, "I'll pay you an extra $10." He merely nodded his head, passing the knife back to me. 

     "The total will be $34." He had his palm sticking up, waiting for the cash to be handed to him. I took out the cash, and we made our trade. Then I was off into the night. 

      .....to hunt for a certain brother. 

Author's note: 

   I read somewhere that Jeff was born in Pennsylvania, so I decided to make the hometown near Philadelphia, as in this story Jeff is the younger brother, so it could be plausible that this could have been the last place they lived. 

   Also, sorry this chapter sounds a bit cringy DX