Yellow Box
My lungs are on fire and my legs feel like spaghetti as my heart hammers against my chest.
My breathing is rapid and can’t quite catch up with my lungs, but I can’t stop now. They are coming for us. My teacher, Mrs. Harris, commanded us to run to the Museum as soon as she caught wind that they were in the area. She stayed behind to slow them down; I heard her screaming only minutes later. And she had just gotten back from maternity leave, after trying with her husband to have a baby for five years.
The air is thick, almost too thick for my lungs to peel the oxygen from it, and seems to have an orange hue to it. I see kids stopping, kneeling, crumpling to the ground like paper in the rain. Realization came flying at me — they poisoned the air. I ripped off the jacket I was wearing and shielded my mouth and nose from the toxic gas and continued to fight my body. I came upon the edge of the woods.
“Only a mile left,” I said to myself, half encouraging my body to not give out. I trudged on, slamming my concrete like feet onto the supple grass, crushing the life out of it with each step. I took in a strained wheeze, looking up to see that beautiful yellow box with a line of small children coming out of it. A wave of relief wash over me, cleansing my body of the worry I had three seconds ago.
But my relaxation came too soon as I am slammed against the closest tree. The small amount of air I had in my lungs was now gone and is replaced with impulsive gasping. A large hand was restricting any air from entering my body.
My eyes immediately reach the thing that is responsible for my forceful breathing. They were green with brown barely making an appearance on the edges, but full of hunger and hate. Adrenaline shoots through my veins and I start to fight back, kicking and kneeing, hoping to hit something to let his grip up a little. My foot made contact with something and he roared out in pain, his hand only getting tighter around my neck.
I tucker myself out with the outburst and I saw a sick grin crawl onto his face. I grimaced at his reaction to my lack of air.
I saw that my eyes start to play connect the dots with each other, blacking out my vision until I lay limp in his solid grasp.
