I'm not broken

Chapter 4

"Ready, set, GO!" Everyone ran to the fence, then stopped, because there was... a fence. A guy I recognized as Michael Cooper began climbing the fence, but I knew it wouldn't work. The physics were all wrong. Other's started to follow his example, but I was looking for something in the fence, a hinge, then...

I opened the gate and sprinted across the yard. I heard a snarl coming from a dog, then the painful scream from a human. My heart began to work over-time. I sprinted towards the back of the house. I took a second to catch my breath, then tried to look for something to open the back door. Since it was pitch black, I saw nada. I remembered that I was wearing a bobby pin, but that wouldn't work...

"I can't believe I'm doing this." I muttered as I kneeled down and began to work. Suddenly, I heard the popping of a bullet being shot.

"stupidkidsbettergetoutofmyyardorIwillshoottheirassesofmyfuckingyard" It was Crazy Chad himself, cursing and shooting out in the front. Just as well, the door opened just then. I tip-toed in the hot, humid home and headed towards the first room to the right. I saw the faint outline of a bed and almost wept.

I could do this.

I went to the right wall and saw the shot gun. I pulled it off the wall, and not a moment too soon.

"Iswearthesekidsbettergetofmyfuckinglawnthesejackasses" I went out the same way I came in, then stood to listen, the shotgun like a cold stone in my hands.

The shooting seemed to be going towards the far right of the yard, so I had to make my escape from the left. I took a shaky breath, counted up to five, then whispered a prayer.

"I thank you for all the years you gave me to live, even if it was in Brook." I ran like a wild person, careful to stay near the left side of the fence. I didn't look back.

I got to the gate.

I opened the gate and rushed out just when a dog was about to attack my ass.

I didn't stop there though. I kept on running until I was far away from Crazy Chad's house, the shotgun still tucked underneath my arm. I could of ran all the way back home, but my legs said otherwise. I sat down on a log, still clinging on to the shotgun. Donald Logan and Frank Lee were the first to approach me.

"Holy shit!" Donald cried, blue eyes wide. Frank was whooping and hollering, screaming back at the people watching

"She got the gun! She got the fucking gun!" and people rushing over to me.

But I was terrified.

"Oh my god, Natalie, that was CRAZY!"

"How in the world did you do that?!"

"Are you sure that you didn't get shot?"

But I was silent, the facts of what I had just done just beginning to sink in.

"Well, now we know who is joining the challenges! Natalie Marks, welcome to the challenges!" a cheer went up, but I didn't want this. I didn't want any of this. I wanted to be home watching a movie with Ray, laughing until we squirted soda out of our nose and making fun of each other.

But my desire of leaving Brook was greater than that.

So I thanked everyone who would congratulate me, and I would smile whenever something funny was said, all the while keeping the shotgun close to me.

Maybe I felt close to it because it had taken my Father's life.