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28
ABRAM
Once I put a bounty on Cambria’s pretty head, I started getting calls every few minutes. Some of them were way off, but most of them seemed to pin her down to a small town in California.
She moved so far away that I’m certain she was running from something.
Maybe it was me.
I try not to think about it that way, but I have to realize that the lifestyle that my work afforded her was dangerous for her. It’s difficult for me to admit, but it’s the truth. She nearly lost her life in that shooting, and even though she survived, I know she’s suffered extensive mental harm because of it.
When I pull into the town that she’s hiding in, it feels like I’ve stepped back in time in an eerie sort of way. Every building looks like it was built in the 1950s and hasn’t received an update since. All of the storefront signs follow suit. I feel like I’m in an episode of the Twilight Zone.
At this point, I have to use some of my intellect to find her location. The town isn’t that big, so I resort to searching the residential areas around here for her car. It won’t be hard to find; she’s the only person I know with a “fuck your honor student” sticker on the back window.
There don’t seem to be that many apartment complexes out here, and I know she doesn’t have enough money for a house in California, not even in a place like this.
The first apartment complex is extremely run down, and there are multiple units with blankets over the windows and debris in the grass. Everything here is so different from our place in Chicago. It makes me wonder how she’s adjusted to it all.
The next complex isn’t nearly as awful, but it’s not anywhere near what Cambria is used to. There are only a few cars in the parking lot, and I immediately recognize hers. My heart skips a beat as I realize it: I’ve driven halfway across the country for her, and I actually found her. She’s just within my grasp.
Because it’s such a small town, the exterior gates of the complex are unlocked for anybody to roam in and out of. This strikes me as incredibly unsafe, bordering on idiotic, but I have to remind myself that people just live differently out here.
I find her name on one of the mailboxes at the entrance, pointing me in the direction of apartment number 213.
I can’t believe I found her.
Without running at full speed as I want to, I temper my excitement and walk casually towards her door, knocking a few times.
“I swear to god, if you come in here, I’ll blow your fucking head off!”
I jump back a bit, startled by her aggressive response. It’s certainly her. I’ve heard that scream many times since I met her. But why is she so anxious? There can’t be that many people to be afraid of out here.
I knock again.
“Don’t make me prove it!”
Just as I’m about to reply, I feel someone grab me from behind, pressing the cold steel of a large blade into my throat.
I can’t say it’s my first time, but I didn’t expect it to happen in a town like this.
Even still, my reaction is nearly instant. I throw the attacker over my shoulder, slamming him to the ground and spinning around to confront him.
He’s already getting up, preparing to attack again, when I realize who he is.
It’s the man from the Delirium apartments. The guy I thought was a cop.
Except cops don’t come at you with meat cleavers in broad daylight, and they also don’t look just like Cambria’s serial killer ex-boyfriend.
He lunges up at me, attempting to slice at me indiscriminately with the cleaver he had just been pressing into my throat. He has a feral, unhinged look in his eye, and I know for a fact that if I don’t act quickly enough, the weight of his insanity will beat out any tactical combat experience I have.
I reach for my gun, but it isn’t on my hip where it usually is. I left it in my car when I came in here. How was I supposed to know I’d need a gun just to come see Cambria? It’s such a fatal, stupid mistake that I wouldn’t have made under any other circumstances.
Just as he’s about to lunge at my throat again, Cambria’s front door flies open, and she points a gun right at him.
“Cambria, I-”
The deafening crack of her pistol drowns out his voice, and she doesn’t stop firing until she’s out of bullets.
