Public Enemy Zero

6

Mitchell took a step back as Rachel leaped forward. Her fingers came at his chest, clawing like an animal.

His right foot overstepped onto the stairs and he stumbled backward. He felt the railing with his right hand and clung to it so he didn’t fall down the steps.

One of Rachel’s hands grabbed his shirt and yanked at it. He could feel the elastic neckband burn against his neck as she pulled. His trip had actually helped him stay out of her reach. Rachel overshot where he stood and fell down on the edge of the stairs with the upper half of her body hanging over them. The aluminum railing made a gong-like sound as her spine hit it.

Frustrated and furious, she let out a scream and started kicking at his shins. Mitchell jumped up, spreading his legs to avoid the blows.

“Rache…” he started to ask.

He was trying to understand what was happening. Had she fell? Was it like the night before?

All he could do was react.

She looked up at him and reached a hand toward his belt and tried to pull him toward her.

The hand slid and latched onto his ankle. Mitchell yanked his foot away and reflexively stomped on it, pinning it to the ground.

Rachel’s left foot hit him in the knee, and he let her hand go.

She was beginning to pull herself up.

Mitchell looked at the open door. Should he try to make it inside and lock her out?

Just then a male voice called out from inside. “What the fuck is going on?”

Mitchell ran down the stairs in two bounds.

Rachel got up and chased after him.

He rounded the edge of the complex and headed down the sidewalk. He could hear her running behind him.

They used to jog together. He was the faster sprinter while she had better stamina.

Behind him he heard her pace quickening. She was gaining. He made a quick left and ran down a shortcut he used to take. Rachel overshot it before turning around.

He could hear her snarling behind him.

Mitchell ran down the gap between the buildings and took another turn. He’d made some distance from her, but she was still gaining on the straight-away.

Across the street he could see an apartment complex with a white metal gate between an alley. The gate was open. If he could reach the gate, he could close it and separate Rachel from him, at least temporarily.

Mitchell ran up the steps and jumped through the entrance. He shut the gate as Rachel’s body slammed into it.

The latch had no lock on it so he held it shut with his hands.

Rachel pulled at the bars and screamed. Her eyes widened as they saw where his knuckles were vulnerable on the outside of the bars. Her mouth snapped at his fingers, trying to bite them off. Mitch pulled his hand free and her head slammed into the metal bars. She furiously banged her head against the gate and then she tried to bite his other hand. What the hell?

Mitchell moved his hand to another part of the gate and tried to hold it shut. How long could he do that before she bit one of his fingers off? He hoped somebody would call for help soon. The entire neighborhood had to hear her screaming and the sound of her body thrashing against the gate.

He could hear the sound of someone running down the alley he had just came from.

Her boyfriend, Rick, ran into the street. Still in his boxers, he was Mitchell’s height but much more athletic.

He looked over at them and came charging.

Rick let out a guttural cry, leaped up the small set of stairs and slammed into the gate with his shoulder. The concrete fitting where the gate was bolted into began to crack. Bits of painted plaster fell away in chips.

Rachel stretched her hands through the gate and tried to claw at Mitchell’s throat. He let go of the gate entirely and stepped back. Rick charged at the gate again. Mitchell could hear the sound of metal bending.

Mitchell looked at them confused. Their eyes were bloodshot and their teeth bared all the way to their gums.

Something was going to give. He could either stay there and wait for help to come or use what time he had before they bothered to just undo the latch and come for him.

Screw it. Mitchell ran down the alley and hopped over the low wooden fence that separated it from the service road in back of the complex. He spotted a large trashcan and pushed it in front of the fence. It might trip one of them up if they didn’t see it.

He headed up the service alley and came to the cross street. A car drove by. He tried to flag it down. It kept going. From behind he heard the sound of aluminum hitting the ground. The crashing gate echoed down the canyon of buildings that lined the service road.

Mitchell turned around to see Rick leap over the fence and pass right over the trashcan. Fuck.

Rick looked to his right, then to his left and stared right at Mitchell. He pumped his arms and came at him like a sprinter out of the starting blocks. Mitchell ran into the street, not caring about traffic, and ran straight down the middle.

His best hope was to spot a cop or someone who could help.

Already in pain, his body was crying out to stop. He could feel bile build up in the back of his throat. He couldn’t keep this up much longer.

The only thing that kept him going was the thought of what would happen if Rick caught up with him.

The sound of bare feet hitting the pavement was getting louder. Rick was letting out the loud puffs of air sprinters sometimes do when they are trying to use their lungs as a muscle to pull themselves forward.

A smaller set of footprints was farther back. Rachel was following them.

Mitchell heard a scream right behind his ear. Something reached out and touched his backpack. The adrenaline gave him a burst of energy. For a brief moment, he felt something of a high.

He reached another intersection. A car was driving across it. Fuck, it was going to be close.

Mitchell jumped. His could feel the wind of the car. The driver slammed on his brakes as Mitchell flew past his windshield. The driver turned to watch as Mitchell kept running. He never saw the other man run into his car at full speed.

The front bumper sent Rick flying into the ground. There was a snap as his right leg broke from the impact.

Mitchell turned around and saw Rick crumpled on the asphalt. His leg was at a funny angle. Rick was still staring right at Mitchell. He struggled to his feet and fell down. Blood spurted from where bone stuck out of the skin.

Rachel ran around the car and blew right past Rick as he struggled to get up. She never looked back.

The fear, the adrenaline, it all went numb as Mitchell saw Rachel ignore Rick as she dodged between him and the car without missing a beat.

Mitchell ran down the next service road. He immediately took a turn through another alley and toward his car. He hoped this would confuse Rachel when she got to the service road.

On one side of the alley was a wooden maintenance shack. He ran around the back of it and waited.

He could hear footsteps as Rachel raced to where she last saw him. The footsteps grew louder and then passed where he was hiding.

Should he call for help now?

He reached for his iPhone and then froze when he heard another sound. It wasn’t as fast as Rachel, but it was definitely footsteps.

Near the entrance to the service road he could hear a footfall and then the sound of something being dragged. Step. Drag. Step. Drag.

Rick.

Mitchell decide to break for his car and call for help from there.

He rushed down the alley and onto the street where he parked his car.

He prayed that Rachel didn’t decide to emerge from the service road as he ran by.

Finally he reached his car. He opened the passenger side door and slid in as he caught his first relieved breath of air.

A tire squeak made him jump. He slid away the sunshade as a parking enforcement officer pulled up in her three-wheeled cart to ticket the car in front of Mitchell.

Thank god for meter maids, thought Mitchell as he got out of the car to ask for help.