He dragged his weary legs through every step. He forced himself to breathe in air, he willed himself to go faster. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he could see no more. He stumbled upon a ditch on the road and fell, scathing his elbows and legs. He pushed the pain away and stood up. He had to go on running,

He knew that if he stopped, it would cost him dearly. Who knows what these men could do to him? Even though his lungs hurt with every breath, his legs aching from the long way he has gone, he couldn’t afford to stop because every second counted. He was tired and he felt that his feet might become ablaze any second, but instead of stopping for a short while to rest and give his sore muscles a break, he instead pumped his legs harder and strode faster. He could feel his heart pumping hard, his head throbbing and stomach aching with every step... but he could not stop. He kept on running.

He reached a neighborhood that he had never been to before. Rows of houses blurred past. Were they right behind him? Still he did not dare look back, he quickened his pace for all he could and tried harder to evade them. He did not know what plan they have cooked up to get him, but he did not try to think; all he can do for now is to run and try to lose them.

He could not take it any longer. He turned into an alley to stop to hide behind a big dumpster. His legs just literally collapsed under him and he fell onto the cold, wet pavement.

His mind was racing, and he could still feel his heart trying to pump enough blood and oxygen into every sore muscle. He was breathing heavily, he tried to gasp for air but no matter how big a breath he took, it was not enough, He rolled over on his hands and knees. He did not have time to rest, but he had to, so he will wait perhaps a couple of hours to regain some of the energy he lost. He needed all the strength he could get if he was going to try and escape.

He slowly crawled towards the dumpster. It may not seem enough, but to him, that was the only protection that he had for the night. As he wedged himself into the narrow nook, he felt the cold of the evening for the first time. The winds of darkness reached past the flimsy rags that clothed him and touched his bones. He shivered, but tried to stop himself. He had survived this—for now, at least—and to him, he did not think of it but somewhere in his mind, shivering was the first form of weakness that he had ever encountered throughout this whole ordeal. Scenes flashed before his eyes, reminding him that it was still not over, that he was not yet safe. Such scenes took place only a few hours ago, and yet he wanted to forget them already. He shook his head, as if to ward the thoughts away, and instead listened to the silence of the night. He knew that he can’t hide there forever; he had to think of a way to get out of his terrible position soon.

Lights. So bright that he was temporarily blinded; glowing vividly even with his eyes closed. He was roused from sleep by this brightness.

Lights. He opened his eyes. He could barely see where it was coming from—he heard the engine and he knew... they were headlights. A car was coming toward the bin where he was concealed. Did they finally find him? But how come? How could they possibly know where he is?

He heard car doors slam, men getting out of the car. He was helpless, and all he could do was curl up into a ball and try to hide himself even more.

Footsteps. They were coming closer. He was shivering, both from the cold and from fear. He hugged himself and listened to the darkness around him. He struggled to see, his eyes searching the sinister blackness but saw nothing. He felt something tickle his bare arm. An insect perhaps? He slowly turned his head—a cockroach. Its tiny legs brushing his skin. Its antennas prickling his wounds. He felt it creep onto his open flesh and more. He wanted to brush it away; he wanted to scream but he can’t. They were right there, right in front of him if only not concealed by the dumpster was he. He could not see them, but that’s a good sign, right? It means that they could not see him either. Still, he felt their presence, silent as they may be, he knew they were right there, waiting for him.

He heard scampering about beside him. He cautiously looked. Rats. There were rats behind the dumpster too. Not only that but a lot more roaches littered the pavement beside him. Sawing this, he wanted to just jump out, but he can’t. it’s just too dangerous.

He felt the roach go up from his arm to his sleeve, and proceeded to enter his shirt. He felt sick. He may not have noticed this before but the smell was overwhelming. Rotten fish, used diapers and sanitary napkins, fast food containers with its spoiled contents and about every other human trash that you can think of. The mixed aromas were carried into the night air, making him gag. He looked around. Maggots. Of course, what else do you expect to find? This is probably the most putrid sight he has ever seen.

He forced himself to remain calm. Were they still there? He could not hear, and he could only assume. Still, he did not dare move for he must take utmost care for his actions—he did not want to do something he might regret later. His hands felt numb. He shifted his position ever so slightly for fear of being seen or heard. His hand connected with something soggy on the floor. He saw that it was rice. It was probably four— five days old? It was starting to be covered completely by molds and decompose. A couple of roaches were feasting on it, too. A lot of other sick rubbish were behind the dumpster as well, but he did not want to see more.

He tried to strain his ears for any sound that would cue him if they were still there. He instead proceeded to look under the bin, into the small crack below to see. Feet. There was someone there, waiting. Waiting for him to make one wrong move and then... who knows what they could do?

He sat back, trying to make himself invisible. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and listened—nothing. Was the man still there? He must have known he was hiding right there, otherwise he would not have waited. Cowering and susceptible, he scanned the area once more, trying to look for a quick—and cautious escape. It seemed like he had nowhere else to go, he was trapped.

He was desperately looking for anything that might help him. Instead, all he saw was the sick waste that equally sick people had thrown. He looked to his left. Road kill. Yes, someone had actually thrown a dead cat into the back of the dumpster. Its side was flattened, as if a car slowly—deliberately tried to squash it dead. On its other side, the belly burst from the pressure and all the guts came out. Its intestines and other organs were in the open, decomposing and being feasted on by maggots and insects. Its tail was littered by its feces when they probably came out as it died. Its neck was open, half-crushed and dangling by only a few threads of tissue, the fur surrounding it was full of blood; so was its mouth, which was hanging open, as if crying to be saved. Its eyes were gazing at him, unblinking; you would have thought of the eyes as the only parts that remained alive, except that it was covered with maggots, and one was being eaten by a rat.

He looked away, his eyes brimming with tears from trying to hold back his vomit. He felt it come up his throat but forced himself to swallow, to push it back down again. It burned his throat and his eyes watered even more. He felt another gush up on his throat and this time, he could not restrain it. His puke just poured out of his mouth onto the front of his shirt, and another surge came out after that. He was drenched with his own vomit, his clothes stuck to his skin and he felt sick. He tried to control himself but he couldn’t help it. He gagged, he coughed and threw up some more. He wanted to run out, but his legs were not following him. Hot tears dribbled down his cheeks and he knew that he was helpless.

The dumpster was pushed away, not by him, but by someone from the other side. A grin was flashed, exposing rotten teeth.

“We found you at last...”

Author's note: I just thought of this scene one night, and decided to see if I could make a whole chapter out of it. It doesn't really have a story yet, so tell me what you guys think. If you have ideas to make this chapter a whole story, then e-mail me. Thank you.