Chapter 3: Fate
Stepping off the bus, Eleanor surveyed her surroundings. The highway stretched ahead; she looked at the security cameras positioned near the zebra crossings. If she followed the designated path, there was a risk her image would be captured. Something she couldn't afford now.
Instead, she deviated further down the road, away from the crossing, her footsteps quick but careful. She glanced left, then right. The road was empty.
She stepped onto the asphalt, her heartbeat accelerating with every step. The cold wind nipped at her exposed skin, but she barely noticed. She was so close, just a few more feet, and she'd hurried to cross the road.
Then she heard it. A deafening roar. The aggressive growl of a high-performance engine shattered the silence, reverberating in her ears.
Her head snapped toward the sound just as the shiny frame of a sports car came dashing toward her, headlights glaring like twin suns in the dim light.
Panic surged through her veins, and she bolted. But her body, weakened from exhaustion and hunger, failed her. Her foot caught on a loose stone, and before she could recover, she stumbled forward.
Brakes screeched... metal against rubber, the scent of burning tires filling the air. The blinding glare of headlights came in front of her.
Then pain exploded through her body. The world spun in a dizzying blur. Darkness swallowed her whole world.
**
A low, rhythmic beeping pulled Eleanor from the void of unconsciousness. Her eyelids fluttered, the dim glow of fluorescent light stabbing through the haze. A dull throbbing coursed through her body; her limbs heavy as stone.
As her vision slightly adjusted, her gaze landed on a bizarre sight... a woman seated nearby, scrolling through a phone. But it wasn't the woman's presence that made Eleanor's breath hitch.