Chapter 7 - Marathon

                                        

                                              
I slept for an entire day – twenty-four straight hours, without waking up to pee even once. Pain wasn't a strong enough word for my head's current state of affairs – it was like someone had lit a ghost pepper on fire in my skull and let two wolverines fight over it. 
The rest of me wasn't feeling too hot, but at least I could move. Something hard and crusty was all over my face, and I shuddered to think exactly what it was – knowing full well it was dried streams of blood, snot, and tears. If the love of my life strode through my front door just then, it would have to be love at second sight because I probably looked like grim death.
I think I had missed an entire shift – I didn't even know where my phone was to check for messages – but Foodsave was the least of my worries. Now that I thought of it, I wasn't even sure what my worries were. Covered in my own blood was maybe a pretty damn good reason to head to the hospital, but I couldn't handle the idea of waiting in triage. All those sick people, half of them there because they had nothing better to do, staring at each other, trying to figure out what each other had – fuck that, there was only one place I needed to go.
Del's place. I could clean myself up there and see if my King of the Nerds friend could help me figure out any of this shit. I was still stuck on 'what the fuck happened in my closet' and hadn't even processed the fact that I thought I'd moved a mug with my mind. 
I stumbled to my feet, my head throbbing with every move. It didn't hurt as much, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that everything was all peaches and cream just yet. I looked down at my shirt, and it was a gory mess. Whatever hadn't ended up on my face had dribbled down onto my chest, and 'dribbled' was putting it mildly. I needed to change, but before I could dig through my heap of clothing (a dresser was a luxury I couldn't afford), a tingle at the base of my skull got my hackles up. 
Without a scrap of doubt in my mind, I knew I wasn't alone. Something or somebody was in the apartment with me. Before another thought trickled through my panicking skull, I was out the door. I wondered if I would ever see the apartment again, but didn't stop to say goodbye. I wanted to put as much distance between myself and whatever the fuck was waiting for me in there – if anything. 
Del didn't live crazy far away, but it was far enough to be a serious jog – and I was no runner. I had no money for a cab, no car of my own, and my last three bikes had been stolen from Foodsave. I was hoofing it – my lungs already ached just thinking about it. Gym class in high school had been a sweat-soaked hell, strapped under a sports bra and wishing I – no, wishing everyone else was dead – every single day. Jogging laps and 3K runs were my idea of what Hell might be like – just endless running, sweating, chafing, pinching off farts if someone was running right behind me. 
I started jogging, keeping to the streetlights as much as I could. I had a pretty good pace going, but that wouldn't last long. Soon enough, I'd pant and wheeze like a thousand-year-old smoker with one lung. 
But I just kept running. My lungs took good, clean breaths, and my legs didn't feel like two useless logs strapped to the bottom of my torso. Could I run like this forever? Probably not, and if I went any faster, I might just pass out, but if I kept this pace going, I would get to Del's quicker than walking.
This was the first time I'd ever had to run anywhere. Nothing else had ever been urgent like this. Dad took care of Mum's death, and after Dad left, Del and his family took me in without a moment's thought. Now, with dried nosebleed still crusted on my face and something or someone skulking around my shitty apartment, I needed help – now.
Del must have known something was wrong as I leaned against the intercom to his apartment building. Sure, I got there, but it had taken it out of me. 
"Mac?" Del's voice was groggy. I'd woken him up. I had no idea what time it was. It was dark, and there was no moon.