"Run!" Says the man closest to the road where the scream came from. The herd of stomping feet are still a mystery but none of us are going to wait and see what they are.
A moment later I find myself out of breath well past the hospital and into a stretch of woods that I've never been before. Donna stands there, white as a ghost. In the moonlight in the distance she can see what is going on. The screams continue and I notice that my knees are trembling as I try my best to stay silent.
Donna motions for me to quietly move deeper into the woods -- which I do. There is minimal visibility and I find myself using my hands stealthily to make my way. My heart and mind are both racing in competition with each other. One wants to focus on what is happening, while the other has no choice but to process the adrenaline in reaction to it.
I hear more screams and what sounds like the cracking of bones and so we continue to march forward into the night with no way of knowing if the path we are taking will lead us to safety.
Eventually we make our way to what seems like a cave on the other side of a brook and Donna motions for me to go into it. I try my best not to slip on the rocks as I balance myself across the water and then turn around to offer Donna my hand so that she can have an easier time of it.
But Donna is no longer standing right behind me.
And so, in that moment, I freeze.
