Audrey didn’t have time to think about any of that, even if it probably was the truth. She’d rather die than live like this, and that might be what happened. There were double-wired doors across from the cargo box, and although getting to it would have been impossible under normal circumstance given the fact there should be a guard, it was currently unattended, and the lock wasn’t state of the art. As long as she could find a piece of debris to pry open the latch, she could make her escape, or at least try.
She swallowed, knowing these might be her very last moments, but wanting to try and die trying than face a world where she didn’t have a life.
“You’ll die,” the woman said again, and Audrey stopped and looked at the woman that had warned her at first, and who was clearly concerned. Yet she wouldn’t look at her.
“I have to try.”
With the slavers trying to control the other woman, Audrey pushed open the cargo door and slipped out. Her heart was beating wildly as she moved toward the double gates, keeping her focus on the men that were now surrounding the woman. She’d managed to get a piece of what looked like metal and held it to her throat.
“Get the hell away,” the woman screamed.
“She’s worth a lot and due to be a breeder. Don’t harm her irreparably,” a slaver said to the men that were creeping closer to her.
Audrey wanted to help her, but she didn’t know what to do. And then the woman looked right at Audrey and screamed out, “Run.” She then moved the metal across her throat, red blood gushing out of the gaping wound.
Half of the slavers turned and stared at Audrey, started shouting, and that’s when she turned and ran toward the gate. Wrenching it open was far easier than she thought it would be, but then again seeing as this was a floating auction they had to be able to pick up and move to the next location without having to break down many things, fancy locks included.
But as she ran, she saw a pile of debris from the auction set up. Grabbing a piece of metal, which Audrey realized must have been where the woman got her weapon, Audrey shoved the shard in the latch, pulled, and heard a click as the latch came undone. She wrenched the door open with enough force she all but swung backward with the gate.
She heard shouting from the slavers, but she didn’t dare look behind her. The closer she got to the thickness of the woods, the more hope she had. Audrey could hide from them, and, she hoped, live through this. But no matter how positively she thought, there was that voice in the back of her head that told her if they caught her the life she’d lead would be far worse than death.
The terrain in this part of the country was rugged, with massive mountains in the background, snowcapped peaks topping them, and thick, dangerous forests surrounding them. She didn’t care though. Her village had been in the center of thick woods, and she knew she could survive enough to get away from the slavers.
I can do this.
But there was this strange whooshing of air behind her, and a second after she heard it there was a sharp pain in her side. Crying out, but forcing herself not to stop, or even slow down, Audrey pushed herself even harder. She ran faster, her lungs burning, her heart racing.
The shouting was so loud her ears rang, but she didn’t stop, not even when she felt wetness warm her flesh. She glanced down briefly, saw her white gown covered in blood at the side, but didn’t stop. She couldn’t.
She could hear their yelling the same words over and over again.
Barbarian.
Savage.
But Audrey ignored them, didn’t care what she faced in these unfamiliar woods. As long as she was away from her current situation she’d face off with a three-headed Ligra.
She may not be familiar with this part of the country, but a forest was a forest in the most elemental sense, right? There may be different beasts that resided within, but she’d been taught well enough how to survive, do minimal hunting and forage, and even survive in harsh weather. It was all they’d had living in poverty, almost like they were in a different time altogether. Whereas the cities of where she lived were thriving with science and technology, where Audrey was from was like a primal story.
It wasn’t until she made it into the woods that she dared a glanced behind her. The slaves were slowing, waving their arms in front of them, and looking among each other. She knitted her brows when they stopped altogether, not taking a step in the woods. But even if they’d stopped chasing her she didn’t slow.
The more she ran, the deeper she went into the woods and the darker everything became. The trees were thick, the canopy above her dense, blocking out a lot of light. But she refused to stop, not even when she became lightheaded, not when sweat covered every part of her, or when it felt like her heart would burst through her chest. Audrey didn’t stop when thorns and branches tore into her flesh as she pushed through the foliage.