Love Gone Mad by Rubinstein Mark

Author:Rubinstein, Mark [Rubinstein, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thunder Lake Press
Published: 2013-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-two

It’s the first slope of Ambler Hills, bathed in murky moonlight—an enormous undulating expanse of hills where dairy farms once dotted the land. Now it lies unused; it’s fallow pastureland—been this way for years. The fields are crisscrossed by man-made stone walls a few feet high. Over time, the hillsides have been overgrown with thistle, brambles, and thick field grasses. There are no trees or swales; Adrian knows he’ll be a clear target on open range.

But he knows he has no choice if he’s ever going to reach civilization. Gotta take the chance; gotta go this route. He guesses he’s been running for ten minutes, maybe more, but he can’t really tell. He breaks into a slow trot, jogging uphill through yellow, knee-high field grass. He churns his way upward, thrashing through the weeds and clogged growth of vegetation.

Adrian’s cheeks burn. He swipes at them. In the moonlight, he sees a dark bloodstain on his hand. Thorns, bristles, and branches did it, lashed and cut him. This night’s insane, but if he’s going to live, he’s gotta keep going.

Fighting gravity, he churns uphill. He’s underestimated the incline’s steepness and the toll it would take on him.

Keep going … Just keep moving. There’s no time to think or worry … Just run.

His pace slows, but he slogs forward. His legs get heavier, more leaden.

Staggering and gasping, Adrian closes in on a stone wall. It’s a low outcropping, and he drops onto the stones, rolls over them, and tumbles to the other side, feeling spent. It’s been years since he played baseball, ran laps around the field, did crunches, or lifted weights. His body’s gone to hell.

He’s gagging, legs quivering, muscles burning, vision fading. A spasm begins in his right leg, an incipient cramp that’ll cripple him. If it happens, it’ll all be over.

Wait … wait … muscle fatigue passes … You need time.

Lying there, looking up at the night sky, Adrian feels the violent drubbing of his heart and a crushing sensation in his chest. For a moment, he thinks he might be having a heart attack—just like Dad did all those years ago. That night in the Chinese restaurant flashes before his eyes.

But Adrian waits, knowing his heart rate will slow; he’s certain his breathing will get less ragged with time. Time … need more time, maybe a minute or two. Slowly—forever, it seems—the burn in his legs subsides; the cramping sensation eases too, and his breathing’s less coarse, not as labored. Oxygen will get to his muscles—burn off the lactic acid—and fresh blood will pump its way to his heart, lungs, and brain. He’ll think clearly and devise a plan.

What fucking plan? Just run for your life. Keep going. That’s all you can do.

Adrian struggles to his knees; he leans on the wall and peers at the woodland below. It’s a black shadowline in the night, a distant mass at the edge of the downward slope. He sees only a dark heap of forest—a dense backdrop. He knows he’s come a long way since the brook—through forest and tangled brush, up this endless incline.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.