The woman in the woods.

Woman in the wood

“Fuuu…rgh!” Ashley gritted her teeth, trying to mute her scream, as she clutched her bare bloody foot. 
The warm breath steamed out of her lips like a boiling kettle.
Her eyes fumed at the small broken tree stump covered in her blood and flesh where it had punctured through her foot and crippled her to the floor. 
Realising she would only have a few minutes until they were upon her, she needed to find out if she could walk properly. 
So she bent her toes gently causing the pain to force its way through her foot. 
She sped up her breathing, like a woman in labour trying to push through the pain, and used a thin tree to pull herself up. 
She hopped on one foot, hovering her maimed other in the air. 
They were gaining on her she could feel it. 
And who knows what they would do to her this time if they caught her. 
The minimal pressure she put on her foot shot a lightning pain up her leg. 
It didn’t matter, she had to go. Now. 
Trying to hold onto anything for support, she quickly hobbled onwards. 
The fog that hid her amongst the trees began to clear. The stars above became visible and beautiful. She hadn’t seen such a beautiful night since the night they took her. 
Walking home from the shitty waitress job that she hated. 
That night was different from the get-go. 
Unusually, it had been a good night up to that point. Her boss wasn’t as much of an asshole as normal and neither were the regulars. 
She had a rare smile on her face gazing at the stars while her Walkman blasted pop songs that she usually would hate but that night she wanted to sing along. Then all she remembered was darkness. 
She woke up wearing nothing but a gown and tied to a bed. 
And then night after night she spent sitting up against the wall fearing what would happen to her. Going out of her mind. 
Now, what felt like years later, she had seen her opportunity to finally be free again and she took it. 
While she ambled along, the little all-in-one gown she had on, got caught in nettles and torn in several places partly revealing her bare dirty body underneath. 
Her fist clenched up trying to squeeze the cold out of her. 
Her body shivered. 
A dog barked in the distance behind. 
They’re near. Panic set in. She began to run, each step hurting more than the last. 
Fighting through the pain was exhausting and it forced her to a stop. 
It felt as if her foot was being forcibly held over a fire. 
“Please god. Don’t let them catch me!” She cried. 
Suddenly a light lit up the trees in front of her. 
Ashley backed up behind a tree until she could be sure it wasn’t them searching with a torch. 
She peered out over her shoulder to see two lights next door to each other moving in synchrony. 
A car. 
And with that, hope that she could be saved.
At last. 
Frantically, she ran to the road. 
Adrenaline pushed the pain to the back of her mind. The gown she wore got caught in branches and slowed her down so she ripped it off completely leaving her naked and running through the wood. 
Ashley could see the road now. 
And then the car. 
It was a state trooper. It was a few metres away. 
“Help!” She screamed, waving her arms frantically but her screams were almost silent through her dry mouth. 
She made it to the road but she was too late. 
The car had driven past seconds before. They hadn’t seen her.
“No!” She buckled to her knees on the hard tarmac, scraping off a layer of skin that she ignored as she cried, pleading with the sky. 
She heard a screech of tires. The car slammed to a full stop. The reverse light came on followed by those wonderful blue lights. No sound. 
The crushing relief hit her. She was saved. 
“Ma’am, are you okay?” The officer leapt out of his car to her side. 
“Please help me. I’m being chas... They kidnapped me they... Just help please!” Ashley croaked, as she frantically shuffled over to the car and pointed in the direction of the forest.
“Ma’am I need you to stay calm and tell me who is chasing you.”
“Two men… the forest.”
The officer quickly glanced into the forest behind him and when it was clear they hadn’t caught up to her yet, he thought to move Ashley off the road. 
“Okay, good ma’am. Other than your foot, are you hurt anywhere else?”
Ashley shook her head. 
“Okay, now we are going to get you into the passenger seat of my car. Okay?”
Ashley nodded. 
“Good. My name is officer James Penny. What’s your name?”
“Ashley.” Said quietly, struggling to find her voice. 
“Ashley! Okay, Ashley. I’m going to take off my coat and cover you up and get you warm okay and then I’m going to lift you and put you into my car. Is that okay?”
Officer Penny could see she struggled to speak. 
“No need to talk ma’am just give me a nod to say it’s okay to touch you.”
Ashley nodded. 
Officer penny rested his warm winter jacket over her midriff and wrapped it around a muddy and dried blood-covered body before then picking her up and putting her in the passenger seat of the car. 
“Okay, that’s great, Ashley. Now I’m going to call for backup and start looking for the suspects, okay?”
Ashley nodded again. 
“Dispatch, this is officer penny!”
“Go ahead officer penny.”
“I have a 10-31, I need backup at my location.”
“10-4. Backup is en route. ETA 10 minutes.”
“10-4.”
Officer penny got his torch out and pointed its light beam into the woods nervously awaiting the suspects. 
“Get ‘immmm!” Said a raspy chain smoker voice. 
“No!” Ashley's voice quivered. 
“Did you say something?” Officer penny said looking at Ashley sitting in the car alone. 
She shook her head with big pleading eyes. 
“Okay.” He rolled his eyes and turned to face the forest. 
“Officer Penny this is dispatch.”
“Go ahead dispatch.”
“Beware of a search for an escapee from the North Lancs asylum. She is considered extremely dangerous. Wanted for multiple murders in a restaurant. Do not approach!”
He raised his head and stared into the distance. 
The unmistakable crunch of a shotgun being loaded just behind his head. 
Officer penny, still holding his receiver pressed the button and said. 
“Dispatch, tell my wife and kids I love them!”
The shot rang out and echoed around the forestry. The black silhouette of birds shot out of the tall trees in a frenzy. 
Tires screeched as they sped off into the night.