Hunted By The Devil

"Emilio hurry, we have to go now. They found us!" I yell as I run into our crappy one bedroom apartment. 

Emilio runs out of the bedroom eyes wide with panic. "Are you sure it was them?" He asks, grabbing my shoulders with both hands to steady me. 

"I didn't see him, but I saw some of his guys." I say breathing heavily. 

"His guys? Are you one hundred percent sure it was them Hannah?" Emilio asks and I can hear the fear in his voice. 

"No!" I shout. "I'm not one hundred percent sure Emilio, but I don't know who else it could have been. It might not have been them, I don't know but I don't want to wait around for them to come snatch us up either if it was! So we need to get the money and the bag now! We have to get out of here!"

Emilio drops his hands from my shoulder, looking like he's on the verge of tears. Honestly, I'm right there with him, but we don't have time for that. Not right now. We have to get out of this damn town.

I grab the go back we keep packed with our clothes and a few essentials. Emilio grabs the duffle bag with the money and we head out the door. Our apartment is on the fourth floor and there isn't an elevator so we take the stairs two at a time, running as fast as we can. 

Emilio stops me at the front door once we get to the ground floor. "Do you think they followed you?"

"I don't think so. This is the only way out no matter if they did or not. We just have to go quick you know the plan?" I say breathing heavily, my voice breaking at the end. 

Emilio nods his head. "Yes, I know the plan!"

"Say it!" I say, taking his hand in mine. 

Emilio squeezes my hand. "We run as fast and as far as we can, find a bus stop as far away from the last place we spotted him. Take the bus to the next closest city, take a different bus or rent a car to get to our next planned destination." 

I raise an eyebrow at him and he shakes his head no. "Emilio what is the rest of it?"

Emilio bites his lip. "If either of us get caught, or if we get separated, we don't stop running. We follow the next step of the plan, but we change the destination for our next life."

"Why?" I ask when he stops talking again.

"In case they capture and torture us for information about the other."

"Good." I say pulling him into a hug. "I love you Emilio."

"I love you too Hannah." 

I let go of him and open the door, looking around the streets. I don't see anything or anyone out of the ordinary. "I saw them at the Cowboy Club on East 7th Street." 

Emilio nods, and we take off running in the opposite direction. "I think the next bus stop is on Blanchard Avenue." Emilio says between heavy pants after we have been running for about thirty minutes. 

"Okay, that's about three more blocks away." I say back, grabbing my side when I get a sharp pain from running. 

The last three blocks feel like an eternity, every second we are out on the streets with his guys loose in the city is another second closer to being our last. Every person we pass gives us strange looks. If I was in their shoes I would probably be looking at us the same way. The sun is dipping lower and lower in the sky, casting creepy shadows in every ally. We have to get to the bus stop before it's dark. 

I keep my eye out looking for anyone I recognize or anyone acting suspicious. We are almost there, I can see the bus stop up ahead. Pushing through the pain I run harder, my leg muscles burn, my throat feels raw from the heavy breathing and I feel like I could collapse at any second. 

"We finally made it." Emilio says turning around to look at me, I bend over putting my hands on my legs trying to catch my breath. I have ran more in the last six months than I ever have in my entire life. 

We make our way inside and a young redhead girl smiles at us. "Where are you guys headed?"

"We need two tickets to the closest city, on the next bus out." I say breathing heavily. 

The young girl furrows her eyebrows at us. "Okay." She types a few things into her computer and looks up at us. "The next bus leaves in ten minutes. It's from Dallas to Lancaster."

"Sounds good." I say throwing some cash down on the desk. 

She prints out our tickets and we head to the passenger pickup area. I glance around at all the other people waiting to catch the bus. No one looks suspicious but I can't let my guard down.

The bus arrives and we find a seat towards the back where I can keep an eye on everyone around us. I take my pocket knife out of my pocket, clutching it tightly in my fist.

Emilio's eyes widen. "What are you doing? Put that thing away."

"No. I want it close in case I am forced to use it." The way I did before. I think to myself, but I don't say that trying to force the images of bloody bodies out of my head.

"Just relax Hannah." Emilio says touching my arm and I force a smile. 

I can't relax, I haven't relaxed in six months. That's the only thing that has kept the two of us safe. I have to stay alert and prepared. "I'll try." I say forcing my voice to sound sincere. 

Emilio smiles at that, turning to look out the window. The bus starts moving and Dallas the city we have called home for the past three weeks, turns into a blur of buildings and faces. Faces I will never see again. 

The bus ride is short, but when you are constantly on edge a twenty minute bus ride feels like days. We exit the bus and make our way across the street to a car rental place. "We will drive to our next place, in case we need to change our plan." I say looking around at all the new faces. 

Emilio nods nervously. We rent a car, a simple white car. Something a college student is likely to drive. We need to blend in the best we can. Once all the paperwork is signed and we get on the road we chunk our cell phones out the window. 

"Are we still going to Fayetteville?" Emilio asks. 

I take a deep breath, finally able to relax a little bit. "Yes."

"New names?" Emilio asks.

I nod my head. "Yeah. What's next on the list?" I ask, unable to remember. We have had so many different names and lived in so many places the past six months. It is hard to keep it all straight.

Emilio pulls a tiny notebook out of the money bag that we keep our future plans and possible back up plans in. He puts his finger on his chin and I can't help but laugh.