Chasing After My Wife

Since the door was also locked from the outside, Gabriel and the little girl had to climb the window as their way of escape.     

Working together, the pushed the cabinets and bed towards the wall where the window was located. They piled it up together until it could reach the window and they both climbed on it.     

"Be careful when you get down. Don't make any noise." Gabriel whispered to the little girl beside him. He held on to her hands and helped her get down on the other side of the wall.     

After she descended, he also jumped from the window to the ground full of grass. Even though it wasn't that really high, because of his wounds, Gabriel was in worse shape after jumping down. His wounds reopened and blood were oozing out.     

"Are you okay?" the little girl asked him in worry when she noticed that his wounds were reopened.     

"I'm fine. Let's make a move now before they noticed that we're gone."     

"Okay."     

With limping figure, Gabriel and the little girl walked to the forest at the back of the house. It was getting dark now after the sun sets and they were worried because they don't know what's in the forest.     

"Do you still have the knife with you?" Gabriel asked when they reached the forest which was even darker due to the absence of light. The trees and canopies were huge which will block the lights from the camp and the moon. "Let me borrow it and stay close to me."     

"Are we not going to save my friends? My friends are still inside the camp. I'm afraid that something will happen to them." the little girl paused on her step and looked at Gabriel while handing the knife she took earlier.     

Gabriel sighed and gently rubbed her hair. "I know you are worried. I feel the same because they also took two of my friends. I don't know what they will do. If we can escape from here, I can call for help. If we can't escape we will all die here."     

Understanding his words, the little girl nodded her head and started walking beside him again. They kept walking without knowing where to go. Their goal was just to ran away from the place and find someone who can help them.     

"What's your name by the way?" Gabriel asked the little girl who saved the both of them.     

"My name is Annie. And you?"     

"My name is Gabriel."     

"Soldiers must have known that this place is dangerous and that there are many anti-government groups here. Why did you still come?"     

"We were supposed to make peace with the group and to stop this endless fighting. We risked our life for that one percent chance. In the end, it was still impossible."     

"When you said earlier that you have two friends with you, is it the man with an anchor tattoo and the man with purplish blue hair?"     

"Yes. Have you seen them?"     

The little girl kept quiet in hesitation. She remembered that Gabriel will send help because of his friends but, his friends were dead already. She was worried that he won't send anyone to help her friends anymore.     

As they walked, Gabriel found a huge rock where they can take a seat and rest for a while. Annie was sitting beside him. Her knees were bent and she placed her chin on her knee cap.     

"You didn't answer my question, did you see my friends?" Gabriel asked her again in his softest voice to make sure that the girl won't be afraid of him.     

Annie stared directly in to his eyes and cried. "Will you still send help if I tell you that your friends are dead? Will you still save my friends? They're innocent. Our families were killed and even if I escape, without anyone to help them, they will be killed. Please brother Gabriel, please send help for my friends."     

Gabriel seemed like he was struck by a lightning. He thought that his friends were still alive since he was the only one inside the 'torture' house. 'I'm being foolish. In that place, no soldier can leave with their life. In my case, I did manage to escape but I'm barely holding on to my dear life.' Gabriel thought while he blink his tears away. Out of 35 soldiers, he's the only one who manage to survive. "Thirty-five." He whispered softly with his shaking voice.     

He looked at Annie who was still sobbing beside him from worry. "I will send help. Let's make sure to get out of here first."     

They started walking again. Even though they spent an hour of walking, they only covered a little space between them and the camp. Gabriel was walking slowly because of his wounds and he was getting dizzier every second that passed.     

"Find them! Find those bastards who killed our boss and kill them!" The words were loud and clear making Annie shiver from fear.     

Gabriel shook his head to clear his mind. He can't die yet when someone was hoping for them to survive. He can't let her effort become wasted.     

He walked faster than usual, disregarding the pain that he felt from his wounds. They walked deeper into the forest without knowing the direction.     

"Can you swim?" Gabriel asked Annie who was walking beside him.     

"I can."     

"Good. This is a do or die situation now. I heard the sound of a water not far from here, let's make a jump for it."     

"Okay."     

In Annie's mind, her goal was to survive and look for help and she knew that sticking with Gabriel will help her.     

They jogged towards the sound of the waterfall, blood staining the leaves and insects were biting them from everywhere as they make their way.     

When they reached the waterfall, Gabriel was more than thankful that they don't need to jump from a very high place, just a few feet.     

"Our goal is to swim forward to that rock over there. We can use that to hide from them." Gabriel told Annie who was looking at the water in front of them. "Don't be scared. We will make it out of here."     

With Gabriel's signal, the both of them jump on to the water.