“Your time is up, you better run!” was all the motivation I needed to sprint through the brush and thorns, desperate to get away from him. My lungs slowly begin to burn like a raging wildfire as I run, thorns cutting my face open like tiny razor blades. I couldn’t slow down, my legs doing the entirety of the work as I run, my eyes wide like a madman. Except the real madman was the person who had screamed at me to run. He explained his sick, twisted little game after he kidnapped me.

“There are bombs in the ground that will go off a certain amount of time after the next. Slow down and..” He had said, making a explosion motion with his hands.

My legs burned with agony as I kept running, not sure how much time was in between each explosion. I didn’t want to gamble either, though, so I kept running and running and running until I got out of the woods. He also explained that the game ended the moment I reached the end of the woods.

Somehow, I couldn’t stop running.

I ran past cars and streets until I was in the city. I was aware of where I was now and ran to the police station, my breath ragged and my face torn up from the thorns as I explained as best I could with what breath I had.

The policeman’s face grew darker and darker the more I explained.

“I see. This man has been doing this for decades now, y’know,” the policeman says casually. “Nobody has been able to give us a detailed description of the man. Until you came along.” He flashes me an exhausted smile and writes down every single bit of information I breathed out.

                                     **** It had been months since I had my near-death experience and I still woke up nightly with nightmares of the incident. Cool sweat dripped off my face every single night as I shot up. One day, the news finally gave me the announcement I had been waiting for forever. “Young girl finally helps police track down the man who has been playing a sick game of ‘Ticking Timebomb’ for decades.” I cringed at my interview, blood still dripping from my face from the thorns and my eyes still wide like I had seen a ghost. It was alright, though, because I was alive. I was the only reason the ticking time bomb exploded for the last time.