4-87-09: Anomaly detected. Running Self-Check.
4-87-19: WARNING: UNIVERSE 25 COLLAPSE TRIGGERED BY UNKNOWN ENTITY.
4-87-20: Unknown Entity Located in Primordial Plane. Protocol: Entity Deletion activated.
4-87-25: WARNING: UNIVERSE COLLAPSE PROGRESSING RAPIDLY. UNIVERSE REMAINING: ~98%.
4-87-26: ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL COMPLETE UNIVERSAL COLLAPSE: 1 Universal Minute
4-87-40: WARNING: UNIVERSE COLLAPSE PROGRESSING RAPIDLY. UNIVERSE REMAINING: ~83%
4-87-54: WARNING: UNIVERSE COLLAPSE PROGRESSING RAPIDLY. UNIVERSE REMAINING: ~69%
* Excerpt from Universe 25 Error Report: Series 1.43.611, Log 707.32.02
"I'm such an idiot" I thought frantically as I ran as fast as I possibly could. There was still a runner inside of me, but it was fighting against the sedentary lifestyle of a student. I also didn't run for my life too often, so my body was just trying to keep up.
"Oi twat!! Where do you think you're goin'?" a slurred voice shouted behind me.
"Don't think you can get away ya fuckin yank!" a gruffer, yet still-slurred voice shouted. I didn't have the air in my lungs to correct him that I was from Canada and I thought we were supposed to get along better. Also running from their fists and knives was taking precedent.
When I went out tonight I had all these plans about what I was going to see and experience as a final hurrah. Running from a bunch of angry, testosterone-fueled morons was not on the list.
It had all happened so fast and I could barely believe it had gotten this far so rapidly. But, when I had seen them all ganging up on the one kid who looked to be a few years older than Kate, for some reason my rationality went out the door.
I had hoped it was just some roughhousing. When I was bullied that had never been my experience, but this was a different country, maybe the kids were nicer.
Then someone threw a punch.
And another.
Someone else threw one.
Then the lone teen was on the ground, and the kicking started. And then the worst part.
The laughing. Laughing at the defenseless kid who they were all older than, and therefore had power over.
I remembered those laughs. I thought I had moved past those laughs after I had learned to defend myself. Or after Kate had stopped being bullied a few years ago.
I had not.
Some part of me assumed that having a few years on these kids would instantly solve the issue. I was a university student. I was an adult. Adults always appeared so imposing and so much more in control of the world. I had never felt that way, but hoped I would at least appear that way to them.
At least they had left the kid alone I thought, trying to console myself as I squeezed more energy out of my already-exhausted body.
I turned sharply around another unfamiliar corner, hoping to find a sign that I recognized, or one of those constables you always see roaming the streets in movies,even a tunnel to the Tube, anywhere with more people. But, as I had intended earlier in the night, I was well and truly lost. The once-inviting streets of London now seemed intentionally confusing, especially in this foreign neighborhood.
Another corner. This time I gripped the street post and swung hard to give myself some leverage which allowed me to shoot up the dark street. It gave me a few extra seconds of lead. I saw a park and jumped the iron fence surrounding it. I hoped that my pursuers' advanced inebriation would make these maneuvers impossible and allow me to slip away. I was a little tipsy myself, but I was capable enough for this. Hopefully, I could just get far enough ahead that they would lose interest and move on.
But, I was the foreigner here, and this was their home. They knew where they were going and I very much did not. Even in this small park I got turned around for a second, eventually finding my way to what I hoped was a main road. Somehow, it was an even darker alley than the one before. My luck truly knew no bounds tonight.
“How many alleys does this city have??” I groaned though heaving breaths. I looked back, they were perhaps half a block or so behind me now. Taking the park had worked in my favor. I took out my phone, continuing to run down the alley. I had gotten a few more seconds ahead, hard won seconds that could turn around in an instant. I needed to get help and figure out where I was. I frantically opened up my map, clinging to my phone to not drop it. It loaded painfully slow. I was using my carrier's travel plan, but connecting to cell towers and getting data from them was never quick. When it finally did load, nothing looked familiar, but there was a Tube station several blocks from here. I clicked on it and kept running, straining to memorize the directions, and almost running into a wall in my distraction. I side stepped and stumbled before continuing down the tight street.
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They were slowly gaining on me. I could hear their razzing and jibes. That stumble had cost me time, too much time. I found energy within I didn’t know I had and picked up the pace, chest heaving with strain. My sides were aching as I hadn’t had to run this much in years.
Had I pissed off the London youth track team? How were these teens keeping up with me?
I couldn’t look at directions in this full-out run so I gave up and called 911 instead. I didn’t know the UK specific one and hoped it would just work. The dial tone took a few seconds to even make the call.
First ring. There was a tight squeeze ahead of me, some delivery truck blocking the street. Seriously, where was I? I dipped right and flew down a side passage, rushing past garbage and alley doors.
Second ring. The alley followed a gentle curve, a curve that went away from the subway tunnel I was aiming for. I needed to go left. Hopefully, it would turn left.
Third rings. Really? This number won’t call anyone here? I could probably look up the police number. Hopefully..
Someone picked up. Please be someone helpful.
“911. Police, Fire or Ambulance?” Relief filled me, energizing me.
“Oh thank god! Uh..Police! Please I’m being chased down by some angry teenagers with knives I think” I shouted.
A beat. “You have the police, where are you?”
“Ugh, I’m not sure. I was heading for a subway entrance, but I got turned around. I was at a pub and it’s my last night here and I was enjoying the night air and went down a couple side streets and came upon a group of teens beating up another one and I stepped in to stop them and there was a bunch of back and forth and they shoved me and I shoved them back and I didn’t mean to, I never really fight and it just kept escalating and one pulled out a knife and told me to get lost and I told them to leave the kid alone and now they’re chasing me and they have knives and I’m just visiting from Canada and I have no idea where I am.” I practically cried out, not even sure what I was saying. I wheezed, still frantically looking ahead for where I should go.
“That’s ok, do you see any landmarks, do you remember the name of the pub?”
I looked around frantically, there were signs, but it was dark, and I was somehow in some industrial area. “Ugh yeah there seems to be some large brick buildings nearby. Factories I think. And I saw some small brick housing back a bit. I was just following the river to see where it would take me. The pub was called…I’m so sorry” I cried, cursing my memory, I was terrible with names at the best of times. “I can’t remember the name, I think it was just named after the area I was in. But I don’t remember where that is.” All I could think of was how to escape, words were slow at hand. There was only action.
“It’s okay, keep running, you’ll be okay, we’re getting a trace on your phone's location and will be sending someone out to find you, tell them the cops are on the way, that may scare them off. Could you also describe them?”
I turned immediately “HEY! The cops are on their way! They’ll be here any second!!”
The young buzzcut one shouted ahead "They won’t get ‘ere in time to save you!” his three friends laughed and continued to chase me. Great.
I tried to remain focused and decided to describe them “ugh one of them is white, buzzcut, black chain tattoo on his neck, they’re all wearing coats. Ugh the other is..” I looked back to check his details and in so doing missed the most important one. The fire escape support in front of me.
I struck a pole with the right side of my body. It felt like I had been struck with a gong, and I barely managed to maintain my balance. Horrifyingly, I felt my phone catch on the pole as my arm ran along and in the midst of gathering myself, my phone was ripped from my hands. I heard it clatter to the dark pavement and slide to a stop near a wall. I didn’t have time to stop and retrieve it. I was off, running.
Idiot! Now I was really toast. No time to think about that now. I could only focus on escape. I buried my exhaustion and pushed myself, tasting blood in my mouth, from the exertion or the impact I didn’t know, I didn’t have time to care.
Why could've I have just gone back to my hostel for the night? I’d been here for a week, hadn’t I seen enough? No, I had to be Mr. World Traveler and keep wandering down random streets when I should’ve been in bed.
To be fair, up until now the evening had been fantastic. I had found a few old cathedrals I hadn't seen yet, and even some old ruins in a park that made me wish I hadn’t left my drawing pad in my room. And the food in the pub I had stopped at had been so delicious and comforting I wanted to live in it. The few drinks I had had were pretty good as well, though I still wasn't a huge fan of Guinness. Saying that out loud had almost gotten me beaten to a pulp there, but they just laughed it off, saying a “Yank wouldn't know good booze from piss.”
Why did everyone keep assuming I was American? My mom had wanted me to put a Canadian flag on my bag so people would be nicer to me, or think I was nice, or something. I was never really sure. I wish I had one now. Maybe they would’ve laughed it off, saying something like “silly Canadians, so kind, so friendly”. Two pieces of advice that I had ignored that might have saved me. If I got away from these assholes I'd be sure to praise and write down every single thought that woman had for the rest of her life.
I just wanted to be with her now, not here, in some dark street, on the other side of the world from any family I had left.
Left. Right. Left. Straight. I was completely lost, and the drunk assholes were practically breathing down my neck. I had shouted for help, but it was beyond midnight and I was now deep into some industrial district.
Curse my luck. Curse my choices. Every choice in the last hour had been terrible. If I could circle back to my phone, maybe the police would be there. I had gone left last, so maybe if I went left again I’d start looping around. I took a hard left at the next opening.
Right into a dead-end.