AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Carlo. Was he alive?
I managed to roll onto my stomach, panting with the effort. The exertion almost proved too much. My vision blurred more than once. I rested my cheek on the roof as I breathed, focusing on staying conscious.
Outside, the steady trickle of water lapped at the edges of the cab and slowly began to leak inside. Through the broken glass, I could see where the headlights illuminated the body of rippling water, scattered rocks, and a forest on the other side of the creek bed.
We must have traveled at least a mile downhill. I couldn’t hear vehicles on the highway above us—only the babbling of the creek and the creaking of metal. The cab shifted as I began to move, lifting to my hands and knees. I worried it might start to float along the creek. Or was it a river? I couldn’t tell from inside.
Until this moment, Carlo had been silent, but I heard him groan far too close to my position. I had to crawl within inches of his body to climb out one of the windows. If I didn’t hurry, I might get stuck in here with that crazy asshole.
Lowering back to my stomach, I began to army crawl toward the window, using my elbows to propel myself forward. I thought I knew pain after becoming a ballerina and a dancer. I’d broken a toe once and danced through a recital in excruciating pain. That was nothing compared to using a dislocated shoulder to move across the roof of a cab while upside down in a wrecked cab. The water level was rising and splashed my face and clothes with icy blasts of freezing water.
Halfway there, I almost gave up. My body shook as my muscles seized and pulsed, refusing to cooperate. “No,” I whispered, “I can’t stop now.”
Thoughts of Benny renewed my purpose. I made it another foot, pausing to glance at Carlo. His eyes were closed, and I heard a rattle in his chest as he breathed. Fear that he could awaken and still hold his gun forced me to move again. I reached the window, relieved to see all the glass had shattered on this side, and I didn’t have to worry about being cut as I slipped through the opening.
My upper body and stomach rested on a large, flat rock as I struggled to pull myself higher, gripping the rock with chilled fingers. I kept slipping on the moss that covered the surface. A frustrated groan tumbled from my lips when my injured shoulder bounced off the edge.
I didn’t move for several minutes. I focused on my breathing and tried to motivate myself on what I needed to do. One task at a time. Just a little further...
As I reached upward, ready to tug my legs free of the cab, a hand shot out and wrapped around my ankle. I screamed as Carlo pulled me backward. He shouted my name as I kicked with my other foot, catching him in the face. I heard a crunch and knew I probably broke his nose. He released me as he roared obscenities, and I knew this was my final chance to escape.
A sudden burst of energy kicked in with my fight-or-flight response, and I scrambled up the rocks, finally pulling my body onto the embankment. I blinked as the taxi flooded with water and loosened enough to slide away from the shore.
Dio Santo!I got away just in time.
Maybe I should have felt bad for Carlo but couldn’t muster compassion for him or his fate.
Long minutes ticked by as I tried to get my bearings. I noticed the hill where the car veered off, but I couldn’t climb back up the same way. To the right, through a thickly cloistered row of trees, I saw an incline that led upward to the highway. It wasn’t much of a hike, but with my body in this condition, I would be lucky to make it before dawn.
If I stayed here, I would only become stiff, sore, and cold. At least moving kept my muscles warm and the blood pumping in my veins. The trip wasn’t easy. I fell a dozen times. My vision blurred every few minutes as the ache in my head increased. My injured shoulder and arm were useless.
By the time I returned to the highway, I had zero energy left. I collapsed to my knees outside the trees, fighting to stay awake. I lost the battle, realizing too late that I had no protection exposed to the elements and anyone who drove by.
IWOKE UP SOMETIMElater on the side of the road. By some miracle, nothing had harmed me further. No animals. No vehicles. To my knowledge, no one stopped or noticed me passed out on the ground in the dark.
How could anyone miss the overturned taxi?
I turned my head, shocked when I couldn’t see it from this distance. Had we traveled that far before the crash?
Merda!We did. I remembered rolling downhill now. The creek. The cab swallowed by the current with Carlo inside.
Groaning, I slowly sat up, hissing when the pain in my shoulder intensified. My head throbbed. I couldn’t be sure of my injuries, but it wasn’t too far-fetched to think that I had both a concussion and a dislocated shoulder. My stomach also hurt, and I lifted my shirt to see the bruising beneath my skin.
My left side was useless thanks to the shoulder injury, and I wobbled, flailing like a fish out of water until I could finally sit up. Exhausted, I almost gave up and rested on the asphalt again, but it was too cold to remain there. Nothing good would come from lingering on the side of the highway.
I knew I needed to text Benny. He was the only one who I trusted. Well, Benny and Craven. No one else. My vision blurred as I dug around in my purse, finally locating Rubio’s phone. My fingers fumbled as I sent two texts, hoping the messages made sense.
I’d seen enough horror movies to know that hitchhiking was a bad idea and decided to call 9-1-1. I swiped across the phone’s surface only to discover the battery was flashing, and the screen no longer appeared. It went black next. Oh no! I must have had enough juice left to send those texts, but nothing else.
Knowing I didn’t have any other choice, I managed to stand, nearly tipping over as my body refused to cooperate. I stumbled toward the road, noticing the headlights approaching. Waving the hand on my right arm, I hoped whoever was seated behind the wheel would stop.
The car slammed on its brakes and pulled to a stop beside me. My heart slammed into my chest as the window rolled down.
“Oh my God! Are you okay?”
I shook my head. “I need help.”
“What happened?”
