Run Through the Dark With Them Behind Me

 Run Through the Dark With Them Behind Me VIDEO

I wait.

The breathing continues. Fast. Uneven. Like someone who’s been running.

I press my fingers against the wooden wall. I don’t have a weapon. I left it inside, next to the bed.

The breathing stops.

Then a whisper. A voice I recognize.

“Jack.”

It’s Valeria.

I step out from behind the corner. Valeria is crouched among the bushes, dressed in dark clothes. Her face is sweaty, and she’s breathing hard.

“What are you doing here?” I ask in a low voice.

“I didn’t have a choice. The organization knows where they are. Mitchell too.”

“How?”

“They followed me. I couldn’t shake them. I got here ten minutes ago. I didn’t want to get close to the house without making sure it was you.”

I look toward the forest behind her. Everything is dark and still.

“Are you alone?”

“Yes. But they’re coming. I heard radios on the way. They’re less than an hour away.”

“How many?”

“I don’t know. At least two cars. Maybe more.”

Valeria stands up. She brushes twigs off her clothes.

“They have to leave now. There’s no time to prepare anything.”

“Emma and Sam are sleeping.”

“Wake them. Now.”

I go back into the house. I cross the living room. I reach the bedroom and open the door.

“Emma.”

She opens her eyes immediately.

“What’s happening?”

“We have to go. Now.”

She sits up. She doesn’t ask anything else. She wakes Sam. The boy protests, but she picks him up.

We step into the hallway. Valeria is at the entrance.

“The car won’t work,” she says. “You’ll have to go on foot. There’s a trail to the west that leads to the road. About three kilometers.”

“And you?”

“I’ll cover you. I have a weapon. I’ll buy you time.”

“Valeria…”

“Don’t argue. Go.”

Emma walks past me with Sam in her arms. She looks at me.

“Jack.”

“Let’s go.”

We step out through the back door. The forest receives us with its darkness. We start walking.

The ground is uneven. Roots and stones tangle under my feet. Sam complains in Emma’s arms. She soothes him in a low voice as she walks.

Branches hit my face. I extend an arm to push them aside and clear the way. Behind us, the house disappears among the trees. Only darkness remains.

“Which way?” Emma asks.

“Straight west. To the road.”

“Will Valeria catch up with us?”

“I don’t know.”

She falls silent. Sam rests his head on her shoulder. I walk ahead, pushing aside the lower branches. The trail is barely visible—just a slight depression in the ground covered with pine needles.

A sound behind us. A branch snapping.

I stop. Emma stops too. I listen.

Silence.

Then another crack. Closer.

“Run,” I say.

Emma tightens her hold on Sam and starts running. I follow her. Branches scratch my arms. Darkness swallows everything.

The trail slopes downward. The ground turns soft, full of mud. Emma slips. She recovers. Keeps running.

Sam starts crying.

“Shh, my love,” Emma says. “It’s okay.”

But it’s not okay.

Behind us, I hear voices. Distant—but getting closer.

We keep running.

My feet pound the soft ground. Mud splashes onto my pants. Ahead of me, Emma runs with Sam in her arms. Her breathing is ragged.

The voices behind us grow clearer. I hear orders. Fragments of words carried by the wind.

“Over there! They went into the woods!”

I pick up the pace. I reach Emma and touch her shoulder.

“Give me Sam.”

“I can’t.”

“Give him to me.”

She hesitates for a second. Then she hands me the boy. Sam whimpers. I hold him against my chest with one arm. With the other, I push branches aside.

We keep moving. The trail becomes more defined. Moonlight filters through the trees. I see the edge of the forest. Beyond it, a strip of asphalt.

“The road,” I say.

Emma nods. She quickens her pace.

We emerge from the forest. The road is empty. On both sides, open fields. No cars. No lights.

“Now what?” Emma asks.

I look back. The forest is still dark. But I know they’re there.

“We cross. We head into the field on the other side.”

“And then?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Emma takes Sam from my arms. We run across the road. We jump a ditch. We enter a cornfield. Dry stalks surround us. The leaves cut like blades.

Sam cries louder.

“Shh, my love,” Emma says. “Almost there.”

We push deeper into the corn. The ground is uneven. The plants close in around us.

A light behind us. Headlights.

A car stops on the road.