Torn Apart

I was running. I’d been running a long distance for a long time, but no matter how fast I ran, no matter how far I went, the shadow man always found me. He was always a few steps ahead of me, a few steps behind me, and he surrounded me, knowing where I was headed, even when I dod not. I always ran into traps and dead ends, which made my pursuer laugh maliciously as he watched me scramble around. My heart was pumping so fast as I was scared, terrified of what may come next. I stopped to catch my breath as beads of sweat ran down my face. When I regained my breath, I studied my surroundings, scrutinizing every detail. There were huge buildings that were so tall, they reached the sky. They loomed over you, dark and abandoned, creating an ominous atmosphere. Short, fat buildings were also crowded into spaces next to the taller ones. All of these buildings were desolate and run down, falling apart from negligence. The street that I walked down had big, meandering cracks, and the sidewalks looked just as bad. Debris was scattered all over the ground from the materials that had fallen from the surrounding buildings. Plant life was nonexistent as the ground was full of debris. Trees that once stood proudly were now bare and hollow. Vehicles were still on the streets of this city with broken windshields and dents, and some were on their side as if a giant toddler just kicked them over in a rage. Some streetlamps barely work, emitting a dull glow to gave me limited visibility. The lights did help to a certain extent, but the towering buildings still cast shadows all around me, in which the shadow man stayed hidden. He was in all of these shadows, keeping a close watch on me.

As I hesitantly walked, I came to an intersection. I did not know which way to go, as I could not see far enough to tell if the roads were dead ends. I made a right turn and noticed a yellow taxi car turned over on its side with flames coming from within. Looking behind me as I stopped, I wondered if this could be a trap, as this was the only vehicle down this road. My heart started beating rapidly. I couldn hear its thumps in my ears as I began to walk closer to the vehicle. There was a strange noise coming from the car. Maybe someone needed help. Walking closer, the noise became louder, the sound reminding me of someone hyperventilating during a panic attack. I got down on my hands and knees to peer through the window of the taxi. It was unusually dark inside, but it was still apparent that no one was in there. If there was, there would be some type of movement within the car. But if no one was in there, then where was that noise coming from?

Climbing back up on my feet, I slowly made my way past the car and saw a naked body sitting down in the fetal position. The way that this person was positioned made it hard to distinguish if they were male or female. The person had their hands covering their face as they made that horrendous noise. The individual also had no hair on his or her head, arms, or legs. This person was trembling with fear, as if they had lost someone or something important. I stopped in my tracks to process this image. I had seen this person here before, but this scene scared me so badly that I usually just ran away. Maybe this person was trapped here like I was.